Rarewave Sale?

[Russ44]

I've participated in past BFI sales and have a decent number of their titles. For the most part I've been quite pleased with them. I've never, however, purchased any of their Flipside discs. The covers have always given me the impression of cheapness and exploitation cinema. Am I wrong? Should I give them a chance? If yes, does anyone have any must-have recommendations? Although my primary interest is 1920 - 1970 narrative film, I am quite open to independent, alternative types. I'm willing to pick-up four or five of them, I just need some guidance. Thanks!

Russ

[dr727]

Originally Posted by filmlover22

I put ? in the title because I didn't see this listed as an official sale, but I am seeing literally 100's of Blurays at about $10 - mainly from BFI

This isn’t so much a sale as standard practice for Rarewaves (and Base.com which used to ship int’l until Second Sight’s Day of the Dead boxset permanently ended that). The titles fluctuate and rotate over time but often hold their prices for a long time. It’s something like Amazon’s prices for WAC titles (although those fluctuate much more often.)

Originally Posted by Russ44

I've participated in past BFI sales and have a decent number of their titles. For the most part I've been quite pleased with them. I've never, however, purchased any of their Flipside discs. The covers have always given me the impression of cheapness and exploitation cinema. Am I wrong? Should I give them a chance? If yes, does anyone have any must-have recommendations?

The Flipside catalog is about lesser-seen British films. There’s a few with exploitation elements but a wide array including kitchen-sink dramas, crime/genre films, etc. Hidden gem territory and highly curatorial.

The BFI Flipside charts "the untold history of British film", and includes performances by such celebrated actors as John Hurt, Jane Asher, Ian McNeice, Richard O'Brien, Tom Bell, Peter Cook, Barry Evans, Denholm Elliott and Judy Geeson in films directed by the likes of Clive Donner, Richard Lester, Barney Platts-Mills, John Irvin, Stuart Cooper, Guy Hamilton, Peter Watkins and James Hill. Each BFI Flipside edition includes a feature film presentation that is complemented by additional film content (sometimes a second feature film by the same director, or a selection of short films which are related to the main feature by subject, era, actor or director). Each release is packaged in distinctive artwork which carries the volume number on the spine and with a comprehensive booklet containing informative essays, full cast and credit information, original film reviews and reproductions of original promotional material.

The Flipside is dedicated to releasing British film titles which have never been available on any home video format before (though some exceptions have been noted by the label's founder and programmer) and all films are newly mastered to High Definition from the best available film materials from the BFI National Archive or from the collections of filmmakers.

[dr727]

I’d suggest this list for anyone wanting to explore the Flipside catalog. It can be filtered by genres and sorted by rating/popularity, year, etc:

https://letterboxd.com/lemoncurry/li...-bfi-flipside/

[noiradelic]

Originally Posted by Russ44

I've never, however, purchased any of their Flipside discs. The covers have always given me the impression of cheapness and exploitation cinema. Am I wrong?
Russ

I can unreservedly recommend Deep End (1970), helmed by Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski. If I were to make a list of movies deserving to be better-known, this would be near the top.

[Rayjg]

Originally Posted by noiradelic

I can unreservedly recommend Deep End (1970), helmed by Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski. If I were to make a list of movies deserving to be better-known, this would be near the top.

I'm still amazed no one in the U.S. has released this yet. Criterion must be sitting on it.