British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[RossyG]

Originally Posted by NeilZ

Has anyone made a list of what other titles might be potential candidates for 4K upgrades from BFI?

If they did it'd just be speculation.

[rapta]

Originally Posted by NeilZ

Has anyone made a list of what other titles might be potential candidates for 4K upgrades from BFI?

So far they’ve not upgraded anything, all UHD titles have been new acquisitions.

[Nedoflanders]

Originally Posted by fatboyslim142

Well Bait certainly didn't. The LE/first pressing sold out BEFORE it's release date.

Bait was a rarity for the BFI. The mere fact that the LE of Out of the Blue is still available (nearly four months after its release date) suggests it could kick around for, at least, a couple more.

[theater dreamer]

Hey all, I’d like to begin exploring BFI’s blu-ray releases for my collection. I was wondering if a few of you could suggest five “must have” titles from their line.

Currently, I have only these:

Napoleon (1927)-the standard release
Paris Blues-(1961)
Marlene Dietrich at Universal, 1940-1942
Piccadilly (1929)

Piccadilly was just ordered through Ebay.

I am region free, and love classic and silent film, so I’m open to any suggestions. I love learning and exploring.

Even if there’s a great release, and I already own another copy of the film-ie, a domestic blu-ray-if the BFI issue contains unique extras that would fundamentally enhance my understanding of, and enjoyment of the film, I would definitely consider it.

Thank you in advance, and have a great rest of your weekend, everybody.

Bill

[raphph]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

Hey all, I’d like to begin exploring BFI’s blu-ray releases for my collection. I was wondering if a few of you could suggest five “must have” titles from their line.

Currently, I have only these:

Napoleon (1927)-the standard release
Paris Blues-(1961)
Marlene Dietrich at Universal, 1940-1942
Piccadilly (1929)

Piccadilly was just ordered through Ebay.

I am region free, and love classic and silent film, so I’m open to any suggestions. I love learning and exploring.

Even if there’s a great release, and I already own another copy of the film-ie, a domestic blu-ray-if the BFI issue contains unique extras that would fundamentally enhance my understanding of, and enjoyment of the film, I would definitely consider it.

Thank you in advance, and have a great rest of your weekend, everybody.

Bill

The Pawnbroker
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Naked
Room At The Top
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956)
Woodfall boxset (currently £29 on Amazon )
Deep End
Radio On
Mademoiselle

[wabrit]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

Hey all, I’d like to begin exploring BFI’s blu-ray releases for my collection. I was wondering if a few of you could suggest five “must have” titles from their line.

Currently, I have only these:

Napoleon (1927)-the standard release
Paris Blues-(1961)
Marlene Dietrich at Universal, 1940-1942
Piccadilly (1929)

Piccadilly was just ordered through Ebay.

I am region free, and love classic and silent film, so I’m open to any suggestions. I love learning and exploring.

Even if there’s a great release, and I already own another copy of the film-ie, a domestic blu-ray-if the BFI issue contains unique extras that would fundamentally enhance my understanding of, and enjoyment of the film, I would definitely consider it.

Thank you in advance, and have a great rest of your weekend, everybody.

Bill

Alan Clarke Dissent & Disruption
Deep End
Play for today (bit of a cheat - all volumes)
London / Robinson in Space
Family Values: Three Films by Hirokazu Kore-eda

[fatboyslim142]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

Hey all, I’d like to begin exploring BFI’s blu-ray releases for my collection. I was wondering if a few of you could suggest five “must have” titles from their line.

Currently, I have only these:

Napoleon (1927)-the standard release
Paris Blues-(1961)
Marlene Dietrich at Universal, 1940-1942
Piccadilly (1929)

Piccadilly was just ordered through Ebay.

I am region free, and love classic and silent film, so I’m open to any suggestions. I love learning and exploring.

Even if there’s a great release, and I already own another copy of the film-ie, a domestic blu-ray-if the BFI issue contains unique extras that would fundamentally enhance my understanding of, and enjoyment of the film, I would definitely consider it.

Thank you in advance, and have a great rest of your weekend, everybody.

Bill

1) The BFI Flipside series - Some of the Flipside titles are OOP.
2) Woodfall: A Revolution in British Cinema
3) The Werner Herzog Collection - Although there is some cross polonation with the Shout Herzog set, the US & UK sets each have films etc that are NOT in the other one.
4) La Haine - Has the most extras & a 4K transfer.
5) Inner Sanctums: Quay Brothers: The collected animated films 1979-2013 - Has more films than the US Quay Brothers set does.
6) Of Flesh and Blood: The Cinema of Hirokazu Koreeda
7) Wages of Fear - Contains the "Original French Theatrical Version" & is a 4K transfer whereas the Criterion rlease ONLY has the shorter "International version".
8) Play For Today series. There are 3 volumes so far.
9) Cría Cuervos
10) South & The Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration on Film
11) Cyrano de Bergerac (1990)
12) Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life - Quay Brothers film.
13) The Adventures of Prince Achmed
14) Charlie Chaplin: Essanay Comedies - Has additional extras over the US Flicker Alley release.
15) Charlie Chaplin: The Mutual Comedies - For the audio commentaries and featurettes, and the additional scores in lossless audio. The Flicker Alley release does have 2 2 lengthy documentaries so best bet would be to own BOTH the US & UK sets.
16) Dissent & Disruption: Alan Clarke at the BBC (1969 - 1989) - If you can get a copy I highly recommend getting the LE release. The non-LE re-release does NOT include the DVD & is also missing one of the TV plays (can't reember which one Ben Stoddart mentioned in thje BFI Facebook Group) for licensing reasons.

[fatboyslim142]

Originally Posted by wabrit

Alan Clarke Dissent & Disruption
Deep End
Play for today (bit of a cheat - all volumes)
London / Robinson in Space
Family Values: Three Films by Hirokazu Kore-eda

Family Values: Three Films by Hirokazu Kore-eda is an Arrow release. BFI released Of Flesh and Blood: The Cinema of Hirokazu Koreeda.

[edmonddantes]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

Hey all, I’d like to begin exploring BFI’s blu-ray releases for my collection. I was wondering if a few of you could suggest five “must have” titles from their line.

Currently, I have only these:

Napoleon (1927)-the standard release
Paris Blues-(1961)
Marlene Dietrich at Universal, 1940-1942
Piccadilly (1929)

Piccadilly was just ordered through Ebay.

I am region free, and love classic and silent film, so I’m open to any suggestions. I love learning and exploring.

Even if there’s a great release, and I already own another copy of the film-ie, a domestic blu-ray-if the BFI issue contains unique extras that would fundamentally enhance my understanding of, and enjoyment of the film, I would definitely consider it.

Thank you in advance, and have a great rest of your weekend, everybody.

Bill

someone already mentioned the pawnbroker, which is a definitive must. Its a tough movie though, but in the same way that life is tough.

Id definitely add Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes. Herzog was a master at that time, at the peak of his powers.

[Hammerlover]

BEAT GIRL and THE PLEASURE GIRLS are fun releases. HEROSTRATUS a little less so.

[sjt]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

Hey all, I’d like to begin exploring BFI’s blu-ray releases for my collection. I was wondering if a few of you could suggest five “must have” titles from their line.

Currently, I have only these:

Napoleon (1927)-the standard release
Paris Blues-(1961)
Marlene Dietrich at Universal, 1940-1942
Piccadilly (1929)

Piccadilly was just ordered through Ebay.

I am region free, and love classic and silent film, so I’m open to any suggestions. I love learning and exploring.

Even if there’s a great release, and I already own another copy of the film-ie, a domestic blu-ray-if the BFI issue contains unique extras that would fundamentally enhance my understanding of, and enjoyment of the film, I would definitely consider it.

Thank you in advance, and have a great rest of your weekend, everybody.

Bill

I assume that you'll already have the Criterion US editions of certain key works of the repertory - Teorema, Il deserto rosso, Women in Love, Orphée, The Seventh Seal, Les quatre cent coups, Tokyo Story, Throne of Blood, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Paris nous appartient, Seven Samurai and many others - which the BFI has here, in which case you can sit tight (though if you haven't, they are omissions worth rectifying soonest in either version).

Many of the BFI's best releases are, not surprisingly, of British films, amongst which I'd single out Room at the Top - less for any intrinsic filmic excellence than its value as a social document - and Distant Voices, Still Lives (which has both). Any of the Derek Jarman issues are worth investigating (especially Caravaggio), as are the Woodfall films of Tony Richardson, in particular The Entertainer, which enshrines one of Olivier's most remarkable assumptions.

The two sets devoted to some of Ken Russell's extensive BBC oeuvre are both excellent, and show the director at his relatively restrained early best, before OTT camp became his stock-in-trade. And though I'm sure it's a completely obscure title Stateside, I would heartily recommend The Bed Sitting Room, one of the shamefully underrated Richard Lester's most bizarrely funny films, made after his two Beatles' outings and starring a who's who of British comedic talent. Oh, and one of the great gems of cinema, Kusturica's Underground in an exemplary edition that looks a lot better than the US Kino Classics one.

[latehong]

Originally Posted by fatboyslim142

15) Charlie Chaplin: The Mutual Comedies - For the audio commentaries and featurettes, and the additional scores in lossless audio. The Flicker Alley release does have 2 2 lengthy documentaries so best bet would be to own BOTH the US & UK sets.

And more importantly, the US Flicker Alley set has the out-of-sync score issue (which made me double-dip the BFI release later)!

from the US Chaplin's Mutual Comedies (1916-1917) thread in 2016:

Originally Posted by bigshot

Flicker Alley has out of sync audio in several shorts. The Spanish disc is all in proper sync. BFI includes the music scores from the others in proper sync and adds the Carl Davis scores which are head and shoulders above the others. The BFI set is the one to get. I hear they are preparing a Essanay box. I'm hoping it includes alternate scores too.

[latehong]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

hey all, i’d like to begin exploring bfi’s blu-ray releases for my collection. I was wondering if a few of you could suggest five “must have” titles from their line.

Currently, i have only these:

napoleon (1927)-the standard release
paris blues-(1961)
marlene dietrich at universal, 1940-1942
piccadilly (1929)

piccadilly was just ordered through ebay.

I am region free, and love classic and silent film, so i’m open to any suggestions. I love learning and exploring.

Even if there’s a great release, and i already own another copy of the film-ie, a domestic blu-ray-if the bfi issue contains unique extras that would fundamentally enhance my understanding of, and enjoyment of the film, i would definitely consider it.

Thank you in advance, and have a great rest of your weekend, everybody.

Bill

on alternatives:

- Gaslight: The US Warner Archive Collection release of the 1944 version has this 1940 UK version as a supplement, but only in SD.

- Madame de...: Both the US Criterion and the French Gaumont release botched the picture using excessive digital correction, unlike this BFI release.

- One of Our Aircraft is Missing: The US Olive Films release is a barebone, while...

- The Otto Preminger Film Noir Collection: Twilight Time released Where the Sidewalk Ends (OOP now) and Whirlpool (still available) in the US separately, but not Fallen Angel. Considering it's a Fox film, there won't be any chance for another release for a while. BFI used an older master for Where the Sidewalk Ends, but it's decent enough and some people even prefer it to the newer master Twilight Time used because of the latter's too-smoothness and slightly murky black, which are characteristics of newer Fox restorations in general (see DVD Beaver review and Caps-a-holic.com screenshot comparisons).

[AnnThrope]

Asking people on here for a list of films ...
...well that's like catnip to a ...
...cat?


Me, I've managed to restrain myself
(mainly cos i've got lots of BFI BDs but not got round to watching hardly any of them yet)...
although i can say that
Naked
and
Out of the Blue
are both excellent films
(even though I've not got round to viewing the new(ish) BFI BDs of them I know the films of old.)

And, for the rest, Schalcken the Painter's supposed to be good.
Penda's Fen too.

And the 1968 Ken Russell film Song of Summer (from the BBC's Omnibus series and to be found on the 'Great Composers' BD set) is, for me, worth the price for David Collings' performance as Percy Grainger alone.
percy grainger.jpg
Russell apparently thought it was the best film he ever made.
And I have seen that one, although it was a while ago.

(Is that five?)

(...and if you want to invest in a marvellous, spooky DVD binge-box try the BFI's 'Ghost Stories For Christmas' set. And, much like a dog, it's for life, not just for Christmas.)

[yukito]

Bill Douglas trilogy is also a very good title.
As far as flipside titles go, I really enjoyed duffer and all 3 Gerry O'Hara are quite enjoyable, all the right noises, that kind of girl and the pleasure girls.

[CouncilSpectre]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

Hey all, I’d like to begin exploring BFI’s blu-ray releases for my collection. I was wondering if a few of you could suggest five “must have” titles from their line.

Far better selection of extras than the Kino.

[wabrit]

Originally Posted by fatboyslim142

Family Values: Three Films by Hirokazu Kore-eda is an Arrow release. BFI released Of Flesh and Blood: The Cinema of Hirokazu Koreeda.

Ooops you're absolutely correct! Anyway get them both :-)

[justwannaboogie]

After Love is down to £7.99 on Amazon and HMV.

[fatboyslim142]

Originally Posted by edmonddantes

someone already mentioned the pawnbroker, which is a definitive must. Its a tough movie though, but in the same way that life is tough.

Id definitely add Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes. Herzog was a master at that time, at the peak of his powers.

It would just be simpler to get the Herzog set than any of the films they released individually as you get more films as well as some films that are NOT in the Shout set.

[Yami]

If I had to keep just five BFI releases, they would probably be:

Comrades
Bill Douglas Trilogy
Ken Russell: The Great Composers
Maeve
The Wages of Fear