British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[fatboyslim142]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

A follow-up to this, Stoddard has posted that Beat the Devil will be deleted on May 30th:



Still available from Amazon, and elsewhere while supplies last. It does not include a booklet for anyone wondering.

What Romulus titles has BFI released?

[GaryCouzens]

Originally Posted by darrellmaclaine

Always slightly bizarre when a licenced release of a public domain film gets deleted for rights reasons. The BFI can't legally keep theirs in print but you or I could rip the main feature and sell that!

It's not public domain in the UK. Very few films are.

[darrellmaclaine]

Originally Posted by GaryCouzens

It's not public domain in the UK. Very few films are.

Well I don't think there's a single example of a work that's public domain in the US where it hasn't held in practice in the UK even if in theory it shouldn't have done, and the UK's slightly more complicated, longer-lasting copyright stipulations are paper roads at best as the yield value of 99% of legacy copyright will never repay the cost of recovering it, so it never goes to precedent. They aren't fit for purpose and never really have been - you could make a very ornate, technical argument in a court that the UK's 'last surviving contributor' extension law for film is illegal on *discrimination* grounds as it encourages studios to hire younger directors over older ones to create a longer copyright! The crapness of our laws is without equal.

We're also in a strange world now where copyright enforcement - even if morally and legally correct - can be as much a major PR nightmare as it is a financial gamble, which is I think the biggest reason that Disney have massively reversed their stance on enforcement in the last 10 years, particularly after seeing how the Conan Doyle estate embarrassed themselves. They would rather let stuff fall out of tangentially recoverable control than hurt their already scarred image over it - and that's *Disney*! And because law is precedential much more than it is theoretical, copyright law in a globalised world is kind of evolving around us to the point where a formal overhaul is an imminent inevitability. I predict a massive overcorrection coming everywhere as AI firms seem to have the world in their pocket, so corporations will push for a pivot towards strengthening the protections of trademarks and IP instead - so you might see a situation where Bohemian Rhapsody is out of copyright but royalties are instead due to the "Queen IP", owned by some billionaire conglomerate or other in Dubai no doubt.

I'm really interested in media copyright law as it stands in the modern day because it's such a fascinating spaghetti of increasing contradictions and stipulations that don't go anywhere - localised pre-internet laws in a post-internet, post-globalisation world, where there is vanishingly little money in media libraries but the courts are still as expensive as they ever were. It's A Wonderful Life absolutely *is* still PD in the US on at least two counts (nested distribution rights and invalid copyright on The Greatest Gift), but there's no incentive for anyone to take it back to the courts so it stays in its weird zombie copyright. On the flipside to that, Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare is a cast-iron copyright infringement in the UK but they know a children's hospital won't take them to court.

Sorry for ramble, you poked one of my pet subjects!

[BarnDoor]

July line-up:

Bhaji on the Beach (Blu-ray)

Human Traffic (Blu-ray)

Human Traffic (4K UHD)

Women In Love (4K UHD)

[Aunt Peg]

So pleased to see Bhaji on the Beach getting released - day one purchase for me.

[wabrit]

Originally Posted by BarnDoor

July line-up:

Bhaji on the Beach (Blu-ray)

Human Traffic (Blu-ray)

Human Traffic (4K UHD)

Women In Love (4K UHD)

Not being a 4K dude, that's the first BFI slate in quite some time where there's nothing of huge interest to me.

[justwannaboogie]

Oliver Reed's sweaty knackers in 4K. What a time to be alive.

[GreatUncleBaal]

Oh wow, Human Traffic, finally.

My dvd is in a terrible state, so this is excellent news.

[rapta]

Human Traffic is good fun, haven't seen it since my teens (it was one of my best mate's favourite films). Seems BFI are resurrecting a bunch of Film4 titles which is interesting...would love to see them do The Straight Story and/or Sexy Beast eventually, probably both worth doing in 4K (there's definitely a master for the former, though StudioCanal did it). Death to Smoochy would be great fun too, though maybe not a priority for BFI.

Women in Love is quite surprising, but I suppose if there's a 4K master from MGM then it makes sense. Wonder if they have some other MGM titles lined up?

[grahams76]

Interesting that the links in the BFI email take you to HMV. Their website must be really screwed to still be down.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by grahams76

Interesting that the links in the BFI email take you to HMV. Their website must be really screwed to still be down.

Yeah, I have to imagine they hired an outside firm who are doing a thorough investigation/audit of their system to see how it happened, and how bad it is. That can be a lengthy process.

[MovieBuff647]

Originally Posted by wabrit

Not being a 4K dude, that's the first BFI slate in quite some time where there's nothing of huge interest to me.

I am a 4K person who liked WOMEN IN LOVE, but not enough to buy it.

[RossyG]

Originally Posted by justwannaboogie

Oliver Reed's sweaty knackers in 4K.

And Alan Bates' too.

4K = 4 Knackers.

Phun phact: Russell Harty, with a flair for anagrams, used to refer to his friend Alan Bates as Anal Beast.

[T4ffer]

Just bought BFI's Women in Love Blu-Ray last year, not going to upgrade before I watch it... maybe next year.

[trobrianders]

These are the dates the shop website was compromised. Turns out I dodged a bullet. My last order was 29 August.

18 September to 2 December 2024 (inclusive)
13 March to 1 April 2025 (inclusive)

[Mr. Thomsen]

I am trying to get hold of all the BFI Kurosawa releases from new masters.

I have Seven Samurai 4K with a slipcase and just got Yojimbo/ Sanjuro 4K, which has a slipcover.

Do any of the other titles come with a slipcover? I don't believe neither Stray Dog, High and Low or Ikiru did. How about Throne of Blood?

Just trying to decide out which retailer I should order from. If they have slipcovers or cases, I usually pay a bit more to get them from a seller who packs well. If they just come in a standard case, I am fine with ordering from Rarewaves.

[CouncilSpectre]

Originally Posted by Mr. Thomsen

I am trying to get hold of all the BFI Kurosawa releases from new masters.

I have Seven Samurai 4K with a slipcase and just got Yojimbo/ Sanjuro 4K, which has a slipcover.

Do any of the other titles come with a slipcover? I don't believe neither Stray Dog, High and Low or Ikiru did. How about Throne of Blood?

Just trying to decide out which retailer I should order from. If they have slipcovers or cases, I usually pay a bit more to get them from a seller who packs well. If they just come in a standard case, I am fine with ordering from Rarewaves.

Throne of Blood 4K isn't out yet but I'd be surprised if it doesn't come with a slip.

Pretty sure my copy of Stray Dog came with a slip (edit: no it didn't).

[justwannaboogie]

Originally Posted by Mr. Thomsen

I am trying to get hold of all the BFI Kurosawa releases from new masters.

I have Seven Samurai 4K with a slipcase and just got Yojimbo/ Sanjuro 4K, which has a slipcover.

Do any of the other titles come with a slipcover? I don't believe neither Stray Dog, High and Low or Ikiru did. How about Throne of Blood?

Just trying to decide out which retailer I should order from. If they have slipcovers or cases, I usually pay a bit more to get them from a seller who packs well. If they just come in a standard case, I am fine with ordering from Rarewaves.

I pre-ordered Stray Dog, High and Low and Ikiru. None came with a slipcover.

[Cinematt]

Originally Posted by justwannaboogie

I pre-ordered Stray Dog, High and Low and Ikiru. None came with a slipcover.

Same. If they have booklets they're the first pressings, everything else is the same on the second pressing.

[fdm]

I'm expecting Throne Of Blood to not come with a slipcover. (Based on orbit not indicating there is one.)