Cohen Media Film Collection

[kinotek]

Originally Posted by nicwood

kinotek, are you by any chance equipped for making screenshots of La Belle Noiseuse and Up, Down, Fragile?

Hey, thanks for checking all of those out. So strange that your editions (and JMK's) of La Belle Noiseuse and Up, Down, Fragile don't have the optional subs. Unfortunately, no, I can't do screenshots aside from taking pics of my TV screen, since I only have a DVD drive for my computer. All I can tell you is that La Belle Noiseuse is labeled as a Cohen release while Up, Down, Fragile has the Kino label. Neither seems to have been printed in Mexico. Anything else I can look for?

[TheHistorian]

Note that there can be two or three versions of some Cohen titles. I thought the differences were only packaging, but it could be on disc as well.

First iteration: with booklet and interior cover art
Second: with booklet
Third: neither (these are from the point where Kino took over distribution since the end of 2020)

Likely not all titles have all versions, but it might be a clue to your question.

[kinotek]

Originally Posted by TheHistorian

Note that there can be two or three versions of some Cohen titles. I thought the differences were only packaging, but it could be on disc as well.

First iteration: with booklet and interior cover art
Second: with booklet
Third: neither (these are from the point where Kino took over distribution since the end of 2020)

Likely not all titles have all versions, but it might be a clue to your question.

Wow, I had no idea. None of my Cohen discs came with booklets. But then, it took me a while to finally pull the trigger on any of them due to the subtitle situation, until I finally just gave in. Looks like I lucked out in the case of the Rivettes. Thanks for that info.

[nicwood]

Originally Posted by kinotek

Hey, thanks for checking all of those out. So strange that your editions (and JMK's) of La Belle Noiseuse and Up, Down, Fragile don't have the optional subs. Unfortunately, no, I can't do screenshots aside from taking pics of my TV screen, since I only have a DVD drive for my computer. All I can tell you is that La Belle Noiseuse is labeled as a Cohen release while Up, Down, Fragile has the Kino label. Neither seems to have been printed in Mexico. Anything else I can look for?

No worries, it’s all fine. Your discs were surely printed in Mexico just like mine. Kino have all their discs manufactured there. You can identify this on most Blu-ray cases on the back with a blue, all-caps "Disc Made in Mexico" writing as well as looking for four small black dots on the front side of the disc in the outer area at the edge of the disc where there’s no printing. There’s one on top, one at the bottom, one left and one right. This is likely a byproduct of their disc artwork printing method.

Also, in case you don’t know, I’d recommend you check your discs for scratches as that particular Mexican pressing plant is prone to ship out scratched discs. I’ll always check my discs that were made there to be on the safe side.

[kinotek]

Originally Posted by nicwood

...Your discs were surely printed in Mexico just like mine. Kino have all their discs manufactured there. You can identify this on most Blu-ray cases on the back with a blue, all-caps "Disc Made in Mexico" writing as well as looking for four small black dots on the front side of the disc in the outer area at the edge of the disc where there’s no printing...

Also, in case you don’t know, I’d recommend you check your discs for scratches as that particular Mexican pressing plant is prone to ship out scratched discs. I’ll always check my discs that were made there to be on the safe side.

I had already looked for the "Made in Mexico" labeling on the case, but as for dots on the disc, well, my eyesight--even using readers--just can't do the job anymore (I recently made a similar attempt with those 2006-2008 DVDs everyone's been talking about and had to give up).

Great to know about the scratches, thanks. Will keep a lookout for that going forward.

[JMK]

Forced vs. burnt in is a distinction without a difference on this site. Our field for that spec is clearly labeled "forced", which is why that term is used by reviewers. I would remind posters here that advocating ripping discs is forbidden and is a very quick ticket toward suspension/banning.

[nicwood]

Originally Posted by JMK

Forced vs. burnt in is a distinction without a difference on this site. Our field for that spec is clearly labeled "forced", which is why that term is used by reviewers. I would remind posters here that advocating ripping discs is forbidden and is a very quick ticket toward suspension/banning.

If you indirectly referred to my earlier post, for the record, I did not advocate for what you described and merely attempted to contribute a reproducible, "scientific" solution in best interest towards understanding the "forced" vs. "burnt-in" difference after thinking that there is still confusion I could clear up at this point in the discussion.

I’m sorry that my argument led to further confusion. Now that you’ve made me aware of how the site handles cases like this and explained how the site handles this particular subtitle debate, thus cleared up the misunderstanding, I have deleted the entirety of my reply to your post #1039 and hope that this is an amicable solution for everyone concerned without any other steps necessary re. my account.

[nicwood]

Re-posted reply to kinotek earlier on this page:

Here’s my Cohen collection with the respective type of subtitles:

Optional subs:

- City of Women (reprint in blue case, with booklet, disc made in Mexico, original Cohen encode)
- Daughter of the Nile (reprint in blue case, no booklet, disc made in Mexico, original Cohen encode)
- For Ever Mozart (original pressing in white case, with booklet, disc made at a Sony plant)
- Hail Mary (reprint in blue case, with booklet, disc made in Mexico, original Cohen encode)
- A Married Woman (reprint in blue case, no booklet, disc made in Mexico, original Cohen encode)

Forced subs:
- La Belle Noiseuse (reprint in blue case, with booklet, disc made in Mexico, original Cohen encodes)
- The Gang of Four (first print in blue case, Kino encode)
- The Official Story (reprint in blue case, no booklet, disc made in Mexico, original Cohen encode)
- Les parents terribles (reprint in blue case, with booklet, disc made in Mexico, original Cohen encode)
- Peppermint Soda (reprint in blue case, with booklet, disc made in Mexico, original Cohen encode)
- Up, Down, Fragile (first print in blue case, Kino encode)

Burnt-in subs: (all first prints in blue case and Kino encodes)
- Entre Nous
- Going Places
- Journeys Through French Cinema
- Love on the Ground
- Monsieur Hire
- Secret Defense
- Symphony for a Massacre

All in all, despite Cohen having started with forced subs, Kino’s authoring house isn’t innocent in this case as it was them who started doing the even worse burnt-in subs. They clearly did the disc encodes for Cohen from the ground up (FBI screens, Cohen intro, trailers and the menu layout), so they could’ve easily avoided all the cases with burnt-in subs and used forced subs at the very least. The fact that two random Rivette discs which they did encode have forced subs shows how sloppy they worked. (All the Cohen Rivette titles except for La belle noiseuse come from the same licensor.)

In addition to the subtitles, the terrible compression in ALL of the above Cohen titles notwithstanding who did the encodes and when is something that could and should be fixed to make these films look as good as they could.

[TheHistorian]

Originally Posted by kinotek

Wow, I had no idea. None of my Cohen discs came with booklets. But then, it took me a while to finally pull the trigger on any of them due to the subtitle situation, until I finally just gave in. Looks like I lucked out in the case of the Rivettes. Thanks for that info.

Note that most of the booklets are just a couple pages of stills and any with essays are quite brief. They are not a big deal (unless you're cuckoo like me).

[dr727]

Originally Posted by TheHistorian

Note that most of the booklets are just a couple pages of stills and any with essays are quite brief. They are not a big deal (unless you're cuckoo like me).

[MifuneFan]

Black Tea (2024)

https://kinolorber.com/product/black-tea-1

From Abderrahmane Sissako, the brilliant director of Timbuktu (2014), comes the gorgeous globe-hopping romance Black Tea. After saying no on her wedding day, Aya (Nina Melo) runs away from the Ivory Coast for a new life in the buzzing “Chocolate City” of Guangzhou, China. In this district where the African diaspora meets Chinese culture, she gets hired in a tea boutique owned by Cai (Han Chang), a Chinese man. In the secrecy of the back shop, Cai decides to initiate Aya into the secrets of the tea ceremony. Through the teaching of this ancient and intmate art, they slowly fall in love.

Extras

Berlin Film Festival Press Conference
Theatrical Trailer

Black Tea (2024) TRAILER - YouTube

[McCrutchy]

The Blu-ray of The President's Wife (Bernadette), which is out on the 24th of June, is now down to just $16.99 at Amazon and Walmart.

[MifuneFan]

Cohen Film Collection (via Kino distribution) will be releasing Merchant Ivory's Howard's End (1992) on 4K on November 18th! This is the first 4K release through the Cohen Film Collection.

https://kinolorber.com/product/11-18-2025

One of Merchant Ivory’s undisputed masterpieces, this adaptation of E.M. Forster’s classic novel won three Academy Awards®, including Emma Thompson for Best Actress. A saga of class relations and changing times in an Edwardian England on the brink of modernity, the film centers on liberal Margaret Schlegel (Thompson), who along with her sister Helen (Helena Bonham Carter), becomes involved with two couples: wealthy, conservative industrialist Henry Wilcox (Anthony Hopkins) and his wife Ruth (Vanessa Redgrave), and the downwardly mobile working-class Leonard Bast (Samuel West) and his mistress Jackie (Nicola Duffett). The interwoven fates and misfortunes of these three families and the diverging trajectories of the two sisters’ lives are connected to the ownership of Howards End, the dying Ruth’s beloved country home. Howards End is a compelling, brilliantly acted study of one woman’s struggle to maintain her ideals and integrity in the face of Edwardian society’s conformist values. Cohen Film Collection is proud to present a gorgeous 4K restoration from the original negative, overseen and approved by director James Ivory and cinematographer Tony Pierce-Roberts.

Extras

4K DISC 1 AND BLU-RAY DISC 1 SPECIAL FEATURES

• Audio Commentary by Film Critics Wade Major and Lael Lowenstein

BLU-RAY DISC 2 BONUS FEATURES

• Returning to Howards End: James Ivory in conversation with Laurence Kardish
• Interview with James Ivory and Vanessa Redgrave
• Q&A with James Ivory
• 1992 Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
• Building Howards End
• The Design of Howards End
• James Ivory Remembers Ismail Merchant
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• 2016 Re-Release Trailer

[BBC Enthusiast]

I wonder if they will go back and upgrade any other of the previously released films in the Cohen Film Collection.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by BBC Enthusiast

I wonder if they will go back and upgrade any other of the previously released films in the Cohen Film Collection.

I could see them doing The Old Dark House as well, since Eureka just put that out on 4K in the UK.

[ghostsofjoy]

I need Maurice in 4K!

[jedidarrick]

Originally Posted by BBC Enthusiast

I wonder if they will go back and upgrade any other of the previously released films in the Cohen Film Collection.

I would buy Buster Keaton UHDs.

[Egbert Souse]

The General, The Old Dark House, and Jamaica Inn would all be obvious picks. Maybe The General could be an ultimate edition that combines everything from Cohen, Lobster, and Kino in terms of scores. Not to mention an option with tints restored.

[sherlockjr]

Originally Posted by jedidarrick

I would buy Buster Keaton UHDs.

Do the OCN's of the Keaton silents exist? if they're using fine grains or old dupe negatives, let alone prints, there's just not going to be more than 2K of information there. You could do newer restorations--don't know if they need them, I haven't seen the most current BD versions--but UHD will most likely simply won't enhance what isn't there.

[TheHistorian]

I wouldn't take this as too strong a signal for Cohen releases generally. A 4K of this already exists (I have the German release), so it was possibly quite a bit less expensive of a project.