British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[Cremildo]

Does one need to be a right-winger to dislike being patronized?

[Guernica78]

Originally Posted by havalina

re: current disclaimers. They should standardise having a QR code on the back of box that links to a disclaimer page for this kind of thing and guidance for parents etc. People who want to get this info can access it, people who don't care can ignore.

This is a very good point. You need the disclaimer BEFORE someone buys it. It’s a bit pointless after they have forked out money and literally sat on the sofa planning their time round the film to encounter it and then go…. It watching that.

Also with physical media now being niche and only bought be collectors not randomly by grannies (which grannie would buy this as a blind buy lol) it’s weird to think someone would be uniformed or put off their hobby by it

[fatboyslim142]

From Ben Stoddart in the Facebook Group:

**DATE CHANGE** Chantal Akerman Vol.2 is moving back one week to June 23rd.

[JackyJacquard]

Yeah it does seem a bit weird if you need warnings beyond the Age Rating to not have them on the outside

[trobrianders]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

Does one need to be a right-winger to dislike being patronized?

It's a last gasp insult from people who know the game's up.

[redunbeck]

I guess some of y’all need a trigger warning about the content warning. Sheesh

[TheEndisNigh]

I don't think you'll find anyone here who's actually deeply pro-disclaimers. Most of us are just bored that every few months the usual suspects show up to derail a thread by piling the outrage on something that's ultimately fairly meaningless.

[beamish13]

Originally Posted by redunbeck

I guess some of y’all need a trigger warning about the content warning. Sheesh

They need to get off message boards a bit and get laid

[trobrianders]

Originally Posted by TheEndisNigh

the usual suspects show up to derail a thread

Originally Posted by beamish13

They need to get off message boards a bit and get laid

It's the guys that are quick to throw insults that are the turnoff for women

[T4ffer]

Originally Posted by fatboyslim142

From Ben Stoddart in the Facebook Group:

That's great news, I can maybe reduce my watch pile before then and tackle the set immediately when it arrives.

[RossyG]

Originally Posted by beamish13

They need to get off message boards a bit and get laid

I would but my wife would kill me.

[Guernica78]

Originally Posted by redunbeck

I guess some of y’all need a trigger warning about the content warning. Sheesh

Great an American comes to the British forum on a British lable to give their opinion. Just what we need

[RossyG]

Originally Posted by TheEndisNigh

I don't think you'll find anyone here who's actually deeply pro-disclaimers. Most of us are just bored that every few months the usual suspects show up to derail a thread by piling the outrage on something that's ultimately fairly meaningless.

People who use usual suspects as a derogative term should remember that they're also usual suspects, just coming from a different angle.

My dislike of disclaimers is similar to my dislike of copyright warnings or Canal Plus slapping their annoying ident on the beginning of 1960s British films. It's unnecessary clutter.

When I hit play I want the film to start. I'll accept period-relevant BBFC cards and company idents, but that's it.

I'm not triggered by them; I'm not enraged by them, but I find them tiresome and if they come with a modern (soon to be very dated) political component then that gets a sigh and an eyeroll.

I simply don't care if some BFI employee thinks a sixty year old film is -phobic or -ist. His opinion is irrelevant to me.

As for doing it to avoid getting complaints, I can kind of accept that if it was Triumph of the Will. But even then the disclaimer should be on the sleeve not the disc.

You can bet that if the BFI put out a disc of Stalin-era Soviet propaganda films they wouldn't bother with a disclaimer, though, even though both ideologies end up in a recursive loop of how many more people do they need to send to death camps to reach utopia.

My DEFA SF box set is on the way. If that has "Communism was wrong then and is wrong now, m'kay," type disclaimers before the film then I'd complain about that too. I don't need a finger wag before I watch a film I've bought.

If it does and I complain, then I wonder if the usual suspects will call me a usual suspect again?

TL;DR: I hate crap at the beginning of films. I want to pretend I've gone back in time and am in a cinema in the 60s/70s etc. CGI idents and "Oh, ma gorrrrrd, this is waycis" messages tend to detract from that.

[Guernica78]

Originally Posted by T4ffer

That's great news, I can maybe reduce my watch pile before then and tackle the set immediately when it arrives.

Agreed. I can’t wait for this and I know it will sell quickly - Vol 1 didn’t last long! But I also needed the release date closer to payday.

[Videojon]

Originally Posted by RossyG

TL;DR: I hate crap at the beginning of films. I want to pretend I've gone back in time and are in a cinema in the 60s/70s etc.

I can’t stop laughing.

“So, what’s your problem with a contextual card appearing before a film?”

“BECAUSE I WANT TO PRETEND I’VE GONE BACK IN TIME AND I *ARE* IN A CINEMA!!!!”

[JackyJacquard]

Originally Posted by Videojon

I can’t stop laughing.

“So, what’s your problem with a contextual card appearing before a film?”

“BECAUSE I WANT TO PRETEND I’VE GONE BACK IN TIME AND I *ARE* IN A CINEMA!!!!”

I think a lot of the fuss over warnings is overblown, although like I said yesterday I agree it would be better to put them on the outside of the packaging rather than on the movie. I think the only reason we get them on-disc instead is so they don’t have to make another master for streaming / VOD.

But yeah, I think the goal of the home release should be to get as close to the theatrical experience as possible. Why is that dumb?

[TheDot]

Originally Posted by Videojon

I can’t stop laughing.

“So, what’s your problem with a contextual card appearing before a film?”

“BECAUSE I WANT TO PRETEND I’VE GONE BACK IN TIME AND I *ARE* IN A CINEMA!!!!”

Those 5 second inserts are really ruining the cinematic experience for me.

The illusion is shattered. Cinema is dead.

[RossyG]

Originally Posted by RossyG

I'm not triggered by them; I'm not enraged by them, but I find them tiresome.

Originally Posted by TheDot

Those 5 second inserts are really ruining the cinematic experience for me.

The illusion is shattered. Cinema is dead.

Ladies and gentlemen, the internet.

[trobrianders]

Originally Posted by RossyG

People who use usual suspects as a derogative term should remember that they're also usual suspects, just coming from a different angle.

My dislike of disclaimers is similar to my dislike of copyright warnings or Canal Plus slapping their annoying ident on the beginning of 1960s British films. It's unnecessary clutter.

When I hit play I want the film to start. I'll accept period-relevant BBFC cards and company idents, but that's it.

I'm not triggered by them; I'm not enraged by them, but I find them tiresome and if they come with a modern (soon to be very dated) political component then that gets a sigh and an eyeroll.

I simply don't care if some BFI employee thinks a sixty year old film is -phobic or -ist. His opinion is irrelevant to me.

As for doing it to avoid getting complaints, I can kind of accept that if it was Triumph of the Will. But even then the disclaimer should be on the sleeve not the disc.

You can bet that if the BFI put out a disc of Stalin-era Soviet propaganda films they wouldn't bother with a disclaimer, though, even though both ideologies end up in a recursive loop of how many more people do they need to send to death camps to reach utopia.

My DEFA SF box set is on the way. If that has "Communism was wrong then and is wrong now, m'kay," type disclaimers before the film then I'd complain about that too. I don't need a finger wag before I watch a film I've bought.

If it does and I complain, then I wonder if the usual suspects will call me a usual suspect again?

TL;DR: I hate crap at the beginning of films. I want to pretend I've gone back in time and am in a cinema in the 60s/70s etc. CGI idents and "Oh, ma gorrrrrd, this is waycis" messages tend to detract from that.

Astonishing that you're even made to spell any of this out. I'm glad you spelled it out so clearly though.

[exidor]

Originally Posted by RossyG

TL;DR: I hate crap at the beginning of films. I want to pretend I've gone back in time and am in a cinema in the 60s/70s etc.

Pretty sure they had BBFC certification cards in the 60s/70s cinemas. And ads. I'll take a few seconds of text I don't have to read over ten minutes of Pearl and Dean and the local curry house.