Dogwoof Films

[samdvd1]

They are releasing their first blu-ray:

Dogwoof is delighted to announce the release of the multi-award winning breathtaking feature documentary Chasing Ice on DVD and as their first ever Blu-ray release.

In the spring of 2005, National Geographic photographer James Balog headed to the Arctic on a tricky assignment: to capture images to help tell the story of the Earth’s changing climate. That first trip north opened his eyes to the biggest story in human history and sparked a challenge within him that would put his career and his very well-being at risk. Chasing Ice is the story of one man’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of our changing planet.
The film gained huge critical acclaim on its cinematic release and helped convert even the most hardened climate change sceptics and now it comes to DVD and on Blu-ray, so its amazing imagery can be seen in its high-definition glory, on 10 June 2013.

Great news. Dogwoof release a lot of interesting documentaries.

[rapta]

Dogwoof are back to Blu-ray with the follow-up to Julian Oppenheimer's The Act Of Killing - The Look Of Silence - and it's out on Blu-ray on October 12th, alongside a double-pack of both films. Looking forward to seeing the film, and might just pre-order as the last disc had both cuts on it and special features too.

[CavebobSpongeman]

Originally Posted by rapta

Dogwoof are back to Blu-ray with the follow-up to Julian Oppenheimer's The Act Of Killing - The Look Of Silence - and it's out on Blu-ray on October 12th, alongside a double-pack of both films. Looking forward to seeing the film, and might just pre-order as the last disc had both cuts on it and special features too.

Going to the film+q&a on Sunday. Do I need to have seen AoC to fully appreciate this?

[rapta]

Originally Posted by CavebobSpongeman

Going to the film+q&a on Sunday. Do I need to have seen AoC to fully appreciate this?

With Louis Theroux? Yes, I'd imagine you should watch The Act Of Killing first - I've seen the Director's Cut, which is quite a bit longer, but the Theatrical Cut is on Netflix last I checked (if you want to see it sooner rather than later). The Blu-ray is in the HMV 5 for £30/3 for £20, and otherwise quite affordable elsewhere (if you can get it in time).

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by CavebobSpongeman

Going to the film+q&a on Sunday. Do I need to have seen AoC to fully appreciate this?

I was at an event with Josh Oppenheimer at the weekend and he was very much of the attitude that the new film is a companion piece to The Act Of Killing, but not essential towards understanding it. I imagine that in future audiences will discover both films either way around.

Personally speaking, the route he goes with the second film actually made me appreciate the first one a bit more.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by CavebobSpongeman

Going to the film+q&a on Sunday. Do I need to have seen AoC to fully appreciate this?

I wouldn't think it's essential, since Act of Killing is very self contained and I don't think there will be any sort of continuation. But I do think context wise, it might help to see it first.

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by Foggy

I wouldn't think it's essential, since Act of Killing is very self contained and I don't think there will be any sort of continuation. But I do think context wise, it might help to see it first.

The best way to look at it : Act Of Killing is about the perpetrators, Look Of Silence is about the victims and their relationship with the perpetrators.

[Dougienesses]

Grabbed a screener for The Look of Silence. Having not seen The Act of Killing but understanding the concept and story I still found it harrowing and brilliantly made.

[rapta]

So I just got hold of The Look of Silence on Blu-ray - being my joint favourite film of 2015 (and only £6.99 in the Doc/Fest Sale over at the Dogwoof shop right now) - and thought I would list the extras seeing as I couldn't seem to find them online anywhere.

• Theatrical Trailer
• Directors Q&A with Adi and Louis Theroux
• Berlinale Q&A footage with Herzog
• Indonesian Premiere
• EPK interview featurette
• Commentary with Errol Morris

As you can probably tell, I'm very happy about those extras. Herzog, Morris and Theroux all featured on the extras of one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. Highly recommended, and even more affecting than The Act of Killing.

[nekelstal]

Originally Posted by rapta

So I just got hold of The Look of Silence on Blu-ray - being my joint favourite film of 2015 (and only £6.99 in the Doc/Fest Sale over at the Dogwoof shop right now) - and thought I would list the extras seeing as I couldn't seem to find them online anywhere.

As you can probably tell, I'm very happy about those extras. Herzog, Morris and Theroux all featured on the extras of one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. Highly recommended, and even more affecting than The Act of Killing.

Extras seems promising. but how about audio? Dolby Digital like other previous releases of Dogwoof?

[rapta]

Excellent news - one of my most-anticipated films of this year is getting the Blu-ray treatment from Dogwoof: Werner Herzog's LO AND BEHOLD, REVERIES OF THE CONNECTED WORLD. Set for December 5th at the moment, and last I checked the theatrical release date was October 28th.

Looking forward to it, and glad to see more documentaries on Blu-ray from Dogwoof!

PS: I notice they're releasing Michael Moore's new film - WHERE TO INVADE NEXT - on Blu-ray next week (August 8th), for anyone that's interested.

[samdvd1]

Received Where to Invade Next.

The good news:
- 6.1 audio rather than the 5.1 found on US/German releases.
- Substantial couple of extras when US/German releases are vanilla.

The bad news:
- 1080/50i.

Here are the specs:

Extras:
Satellite Q&A with director Michael Moore (56:13)
The Channel 4 Interview: Michael Moore (92:01)
Theatrical Trailer (1:21)

Subtitles:English

Aspect Ratio:1.78:1

Picture Format: 1080i 50Hz AVC MPEG-4

Soundtrack(s): English DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1, English Audio Descriptive DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1

[Justin101]

I'm quite disappointed that Dogwoof aren't consistently putting out their docs on BD, their recent Robert Mapplethorpe documentary is full of striking photography and presented on DVD only, you can buy the HD version on Amazon Video but downloads are not as good as physical discs as we all know!

[rapta]

Originally Posted by Justin101

I'm quite disappointed that Dogwoof aren't consistently putting out their docs on BD, their recent Robert Mapplethorpe documentary is full of striking photography and presented on DVD only, you can buy the HD version on Amazon Video but downloads are not as good as physical discs as we all know!

Not the sleight the film (I've not seen it) but it would be a huge financial gamble to try and release films like that on Blu-ray as well as DVD. Dogwoof are no doubt working with very tight margins, so anything they do release on Blu-ray has to see a good return. Hence why these days they only bother doing Blu-rays for documentaries that are either a) made by a famous documentarian (e.g. Michael Moore, Werner Herzog, Joshua Oppenheimer), b) have had a significant amount of festival buzz, strong reviews and word-of-mouth, often due to their subject matter, or c) both of those things combined.

When it looks like even the Nas documentary didn't sell as well as they'd hoped (it's now only £3.99, but it's kinda their fault for releasing it in a DVD-sized steelbook), it seems they're taking less and less risks with the films they choose for Blu-ray. There are several strong documentaries I reckon would've been great on Blu-ray but to be honest it's only really necessary for visually arresting films like you say - but if they don't fulfil the above criteria, I doubt it'll even be considered.

This all being said, I'm surprised Citizenfour didn't get a Blu-ray release. Laura Poitas is a well-known filmmaker, and Edward Snowden a hot topic at the moment. I guess because it took them so long to release it (for some reason, possibly even political pressure) they decided it was too risky to bring out on both formats.

I also thought they'd release Hitchcock/Truffaut on Blu-ray, since there's obviously a market for that one. But hey, if they're not even doing films by Errol Morris, Eugene Jarecki, Alex Gibney and Mark Cousins on Blu-ray, I guess Kent Jones doesn't even have a chance. It's a good documentary though, and anyone even vaguely interested in Hitchcock should check it out!

[Justin101]

I totally understand but yet it's still frustrating, especially when Criterion have released 2 pretty obscure docs in the UK on BD. Obviously the fact that they have not performed very well might prevent future documentary releases from them in the UK market.

That being said, the mastering of DVDs and the compression of the video are so much better these days that it's easy to make your peace with it.

[rapta]

Originally Posted by Justin101

I totally understand but yet it's still frustrating, especially when Criterion have released 2 pretty obscure docs in the UK on BD. Obviously the fact that they have not performed very well might prevent future documentary releases from them in the UK market.

That being said, the mastering of DVDs and the compression of the video are so much better these days that it's easy to make your peace with it.

Yeah, I do still buy Dogwoof films on DVD but I generally wait 'til they're cheap to be honest (unless it's something I really want). The difference with Criterion is that they can actually afford to release a documentary, and the ones they choose are generally older, more established films rather than brand new just-released titles that have only just started building up steam. Not to mention they've already produced them for the US market and only have to port them over here (which is not very difficult at all, and will just have to figure out specific rights and/or BBFC fees).

Documentaries heavily rely on word-of-mouth, so it might not be years until we see full appreciation of many of the films coming out now. A shame, but that's the reality. Most of them seem to end up on streaming services, for better or worse, so I guess there are HD options (e.g. Netflix, Amazon).

[OceanBlue]

Chasing Ice has been on my list of documentary titles which I've been meaning to get on Blu-ray (the others are US releases). Earlier this year I watched the annual Talking Movies special (on the BBC News Channel) to do with the Sundance Film Festival. Two of the films which stood out for me were about the same subject, Kate Plays Christine and Christine. The former is getting a DVD-only release by Dogwoof on Monday 31st October (source: Amazon UK).

[rapta]

Further great news - looks like Dogwoof have decided to release Jim Jarmusch's Iggy Pop documetary GIMME DANGER on Blu-ray in January: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gimme-Dange...dp/B01LYK6ESW/

Very happy about that! Was looking forward to seeing it, but thought it might be DVD-only. Soda will almost certainly release Paterson on Blu-ray as well, so at least two more Jarmusch titles on UK Blu-ray in 2017!

PS: shh...

[ParisTexan]

Originally Posted by rapta

Further great news - looks like Dogwoof have decided to release Jim Jarmusch's Iggy Pop documetary GIMME SHELTER on Blu-ray in January: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gimme-Dange...dp/B01LYK6ESW/

Very happy about that! Was looking forward to seeing it, but thought it might be DVD-only. Soda will almost certainly release Paterson on Blu-ray as well, so at least two more Jarmusch titles on UK Blu-ray in 2017!

You mean Gimme Danger Gimme Shelter is the Rolling Stones doc

[rapta]

Originally Posted by ParisTexan

You mean Gimme Danger Gimme Shelter is the Rolling Stones doc

Haha! Sorry yes I must've dozed off. As a Stooges fan I feel pretty ashamed right now (especially since I don't really listen to the Stones myself).