The Official Arrow Video Thread

[TheProf89]

Originally Posted by rapta

March announcements!

Fear Eats the Soul - March 28th



The Merchant of Four Seasons + Beware of a Holy *Woah There* - March 28th



WAKING LIFE - March 14th



.

Welllll...that really sucked. Zero there for me.

[rapta]

Originally Posted by huntauk

Already have the Fassbinder set paid for, so that rules out the 2 individual releases. Didn't mind Waking Life, but not desperate to revisit. So unless Eureka hit a home run, March should be a good chance to catch up with January's list of wants and grab the BFI's.

It's probably my favourite Linklater film to date, so of course I am very happy about this. All the extras sound great as well, and I can't wait to see what the rotoscoping looks like in HD. The only weird thing about this release is that it's Arrow Video rather than Arrow Academy - I wonder if that's an error, or there's some reason behind it?

March-wise, we'll probably have to wait 'til early January to find out what MoC have lined up...but if there aren't any delays to the BFI slate they've certainly got my attention (Farewell My Concubine, Bande à part, Culloden + The War Game). There are a few others that month I'm also considering - The Seven-Ups (Signal One), Horse Money (Second Run), and Dolls (Third Window). March is gonna be a tough one to prioritise!

Originally Posted by crazyman

Worst. Announcements. Ever.

I thought Comic Book Guy was a fictional character?

[Yami]

Waking Life! That's a brilliant announcement. It has a solid extras line-up as well; it'll be especially interesting to see the pre-rotoscoped footage - I wonder if they'll make it a Picture in Picture track as well? It would be fascinating to see it side by side and to switch between the two.

I'll be getting the Fassbinder box set, so I can overlook the standalones.

[rapta]

I'm skipping the Fassbinder box, so I'm glad they're doing Fear Eats the Soul separately first because that's the main one I'm interested in seeing.

Originally Posted by MichaelB

It's another of these borderline titles that could very easily have fallen into either strand. I suspect the attitude was that there's plenty of Academy stuff coming out already (and not just for Fassbinder fans: I'm currently working on non-Fassbinder Academy releases for April, May and June) and so it made sense to make it Arrow Video.

Interesting...I didn't really think there was a 'quota' for either banner. I'm not sure it's that borderline either - sure it has some famous names and faces in it, but it's definitely more 'arthouse' than most of the Arrow Video output. I guess it can also be seen as a 'cult film' though.

I'm just happy it's getting the Arrow treatment!

PS: any hints on those April-June Academy titles?

[OgamiittoMcJ]

Originally Posted by tomahawk

Well, I can't read any more of this without chiming in and saying that I for one find the book/booklets to be an invaluable part of the Arrow experience (and obviously other boutique labels where they are a regular feature); there are few things more satisfying to me after sitting down with a film than jumping right into a meaty piece of criticism or an insightful archival interview, and that consistency of thoughtful presentation and the sense that a well curated booklet will allow me to get "up to speed" in a sense, not just with historical context but intellectually, is a mighty part of why I am willing to take chances with lesser known titles. Michael, your hard work on the booklets is well appreciated by myself and many others, and is a huge contributing factor to the great worth I find in many Arrow releases.

fair enough,
but I don't understand how a booklet would make you take a chance on a lesser known title
just out of interest (not taking the piss), what is your favourite booklet/book ?

[huntauk]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

I'm currently working on non-Fassbinder Academy releases for April, May and June) and so it made sense to make it Arrow Video.

Without dropping any obvious hints, are you able to confirm any of these are Eastern European?

[TheProf89]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

It's another of these borderline titles that could very easily have fallen into either strand. I suspect the attitude was that there's plenty of Academy stuff coming out already .

That's is exactly how I see it. Because that should have been an Arrow Academy title as well.
Maybe I wouldn't be so let down if they had announced that it was all Academy releases and mostly stuff that was already announced for a boxset.

[super56k]

Kind of weird seeing this much indifference toward booklets with releases. They're generally densely packed with information in a way that video special features can't touch in that same amount of time (or budget).

I think I've re-read a few times each of the booklets from many of my Kurosawa Criterion films, but now with Criterion's changes I get weird little folded one-sheet things that are hard to handle and not that easy to read (like Ikiru). I'm just one of those that really loves getting a 20+ page booklet to dig into along with the rest. With Arrow and MoC going the same way I guess we'll get to look forward to 'fluffier' special features like some of the stuff on disc in the Yakuza Papers boxset compared to its excellent book.

[ravenus]

Also the booklets from Arrow/Eureka often contain archival material like interviews or contemporary articles that is superior to the video extras in a particular package.

[The Maltese Falcon]

The problem is that some people just don't read, full stop, so they're not going to read a booklet that comes with a blu ray. Hopefully those people don't influence the production of the booklets in future because they are one of the essential parts of a release for me.

[Yami]

I'm firmly in the pro-booklet camp. The aforementioned Hard to Be a God booklet may well be my favourite: the interview with Aleksei German is a fascinating read, and it really benefits from - nay, requires - the annotations. The Battles Without Honour and Humanity book is another recent highlight - the Kazuo Kasahara piece in particular is indispensible, and surely couldn't be replicated as a video piece without hosting a seance.

While it may be too much of an assumption, I would say that there is far more chance of relevant archival texts existing than of archival video interview - which obviously comes in handy if the individual in question is no longer with us.

Arrow really have been excelling in the area recently. So much so that Criterion's 44 page effort for The Apu Trilogy looks disappointinly paltry compared to the 80 pages that Arrow gave their Yoshida set - not to mention it being perfect-bound!

Lack of a booklet is also the main reason that I feel a bit disappointed when Artificial Eye announce a release. Think of what Arrow (or MoC/BFI, to give credit where credit's due) could cook up for Tarkovsky, Ray, Truffaut, Kieslowski...

[Blu MacReady]

Hope the sale starts tomorrow, need something to lift the slump from those March announcements. What are those?

Wish Arrow Video would remember it's start, 70s-90s cult horror Romero, Fulchi, Argento etc It's not like Hellraiser/Videodrome wouldn't have shown what the people want... Can't see these shift 5000 copies between them

[tomahawk]

Originally Posted by OgamiittoMcJ

fair enough,
but I don't understand how a booklet would make you take a chance on a lesser known title
just out of interest (not taking the piss), what is your favourite booklet/book ?

A book/booklet, as well as other on-disc supplements (for me they serve the same function; I can't sympathize with those who talk about reading as though it's some chore) can incline me towards taking a chance with a release because I know that the sum total of their inclusion will be an education in a certain swath of film landscape beyond simply the film being offered. So, for example, with the recent Kiju Yoshida box set, I bought it not because it was a certainty that I would love the films, but because I am curious to learn more about the Japanese New Wave, and understand that Yoshida is a key figure whose work has largely been neglected in the west, and so while I obviously hope the films are good, the real value of this release to me is learning more about this director and his place in a film movement I am curious to know more about. If the films had been bare bones releases then I probably would have been less inclined to purchase them, but with the wealth of supplemental material included - healthy book chief among them - it was easy for me to take a chance.

The books for the Yoshida set, Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne, L'Assassino are examples where my experience with the film was greatly enhanced because of their inclusion, but really for me this is generally the case to one degree or another.

[Yami]

Five Dolls for an August Moon and the American Horror Project are both out in February - mere weeks before Waking Life - so I don't really see what the problem is.

[Cinematt]

I'll definitely be picking up Waking Life, and I look forward to the further announcements this week.

[gap]

Put me down as another booklet/book lover. One of the thins I love most about boutique labels is taking a chance in a blind-buy and having a booklet with interviews/historical context/critical analysis to delve into afterward.
Obviously not every booklet is a winner (there are a few MoC booklets that I have found rather dull, no Arrow ones thus far) but if given a choice, I MUCH prefer to have 'extras' in written form rather than as a piece of film.
I do find that having printed media included with a release IS added-value. It creates a feeling of being a substantial release - taking the time and effort to create written work shows love for the film and respect for the collector.

[takeasneededforpain]

What exactly is this American Horror Project thing in a nutshell anywho?

[Willms]

I am willing to take a chance on a movie I am unfamiliar with if it is a movie with either a large fanbase, or a movie considered to be of importance in some way. But in order for me to do so, I need ekstras either on disc or in print which will help me understand what makes the movie stand out. When watching a movie I am both trying to enjoy the movie and to learn something. A booklet will often help me learn something about why people like the movie, even if I didn't.

One other example why a I love booklets, is the inclusion of the source material in the MoC release of Ugetsu.

[Ste7en]

Originally Posted by The Maltese Falcon

The problem is that some people just don't read, full stop, so they're not going to read a booklet that comes with a blu ray. Hopefully those people don't influence the production of the booklets in future because they are one of the essential parts of a release for me.

I read a lot.

Actually, I have no books on the go at the moment. Which IIRC the last time this happened I was 10. I'm now 48.

[Polaroid]

So.. whats the Arrow first they talked about?