Sion Sono Films on Region A Blu-rays

[MurderTechnique]

I love psychologically disturbing movies, especially ones that are considered "art house." I am a huge fan of David Lynch films. I find Sion Sono movies to be quite comparable to Lynch movies. They're surreal, sexy, controversial, and they often play with your head. Though the subject of the film is off putting, I absolutely loved STRANGE CIRCUS. It felt like Twin Peaks and Mullholland Drive combined! What a mind bender! Sadly, only dvd format is currently available. Bummer. STRANGE CIRCUS is such a visual, cinematic film that it really needs a high definition release to do it justice. No word on a Blu Ray release though. I learned that Olive Films will distribute the full length version of GUILTY OF ROMANCE, which will be great, but when I visited Olive's website yesterday it was still unavailable. COLD FISH, LOVE EXPOSURE, & GUILTY OF ROMANCE seem to be the only Sion Sono movies released (or scheduled for release) on region A Blu Ray. I understand that there's only a "niche" market for Sono films but it's really a shame that so much trash out there gets released on Blu Ray while masterpieces by a critically acclaimed director like Sion Sono are left to the way side. SAD, SAD, SAD. I noticed that very few people on these forums mention the movie STRANGE CIRCUS. If any of you Sono fans haven't seen it, you definitely should! It's currently streamable on Netflix, believe it or not, but only in standard definition. There ARE torrents out there that offer HD remasters of it though; needless to say, solutions are definitely out there if you bother to do a little bit of research. Sadly, Sono will continue to miss out on sales from American fans because of the fact that his movies are so poorly marked in the U.S.; even people (like me) who WANT to show him support CAN'T...until region A Blu Ray versions are released!!! In the meantime, the only way English speaking fans can see Sion Sono works in HD is to download torrents that offer HD remasters of his films; complete with English subtitles. Until the day comes when Olive Films, or some other distributor, decides to release STRANGE CIRCUS, GUILTY OF ROMANCE, SUICIDE CLUB, NORIKO'S DINNER TABLE, etc, etc, etc in region A Blu Ray I guess we'll just have to be thankful for the beloved internet. For those feeling my frustration and in need of a current solution I have one word/name that you will probably thank me for. "JUNOON." Of course, you can type any title into TPB for success too. You'll find that Junoon uploads have OUTSTANDING picture quality as well as reliable, English subtitles. For those of you who can follow that train of thought, you're welcome. On another note, the French director, Gaspar Noe, is another film maker to keep your eyes on; IRREVERSIBLE and ENTER THE VOID are unforgettable movies. I can't wait to see what he does next. Viewers be warned though! You can stream both on Netflix. IRREVERSIBLE still lacks Blu Ray, unfortunately, but ENTER THE VOID does have a Blu Ray release...and it's the full length director's cut, not the shortened one Netflix offers. Enjoy!

[Leeon0]

Originally Posted by MurderTechnique

COLD FISH, LOVE EXPOSURE, & GUILTY OF ROMANCE seem to be the only Sion Sono movies released (or scheduled for release) on region A Blu Ray. )

You rightly point out it's a damn shame Sono's titles haven't caught on in the US. It boggles the mind.

Is Cold Fish available (or will it be) on region A? When and where?

[manicsounds]

Cold Fish is out in the US on DVD only.

[Mansinthe]

the UK releases are way better compared to the us release of olive films.


and for guilty of romance there is only the shorter international cut avaible with eng subs. (on the hK release too).. but the german release (no eng subs) has the longer japanese cut

[Grethiwha]

Watched a couple more Sono films last couple days – Hazard is a straight up masterpiece, his best after Love Exposure IMHO. This man has so many amazing films, it sucks so few are on blu-ray!

Just noticed that Guilty of Romance (both cuts) and Himizu are coming next month from Olive; that's pretty awesome – I'll definitely have to get Guilty of Romance at least. Olive's release of Love Exposure was sadly lacking the special features on the region B version, but it's still one of my favourite blu-rays ever, because it's a release of Love Exposure. So I'm happy to see them doing more.




Why Don't You Play In Hell? is gonna be coming from Drafthouse, this year or probably next. They do some really sweet-looking releases; that'll probably be a blind buy for me. And Tokyo Tribe seems like a good bet for a blu-ray from... someone.

But when are we gonna see Exte, Strange Circus, the Suicide Club movies, a region A Cold Fish, and on and on...? The Shion Sono Collection is a thing that really needs to happen. He's my favourite living director after Werner Herzog, and he has easily enough good material for a boxset of equivalent size to that Herzog set.

[Leeon0]

Originally Posted by Grethiwha

Just noticed that Guilty of Romance (both cuts) and Himizu are coming next month from Olive; that's pretty awesome – I'll definitely have to get Guilty of Romance at least. Olive's release of Love Exposure was sadly lacking the special features on the region B version, but it's still one of my favourite blu-rays ever, because it's a release of Love Exposure. So I'm happy to see them doing more.

So am I. I'm awaiting Guilty to arrive and look forward to seeing it. But for goodness' sake, why must the subtitles be burned in? At that price point, you'd expect removable subs to be a given.

[rewak]

Burned subs and the movie isn't seamlessly branched, they've just put 2 full encodes on the disc.