Third Window Films Discussion Thread

[DjangoDiabolik]

Originally Posted by Yami

Just out of interest, what currently unlicensed title would you consider "safe"?

I think Lesson of the Evil and Ace Attorney are incredibly safe, but there's strong political issues that stops one being released (in the US at least), and I would presume Capcom may be demanding too much for Ace Attorney?

Hopefully some of these boutique labels will be able to license some of the older Godzilla titles when the new one comes out next year. I would assume those rights are tied up though.

[deepbreathsanddeath]

Originally Posted by Yami

Just out of interest, what currently unlicensed title would you consider "safe"?

I think a Suicide Club/Noriko's Dinner Table set with some great new special features produced would be an easy sell. Sono has a fan base world wide and more specifically, Suicide Club is a cult classic. Slap a sticker on the shrink wrapping stating that NDT is the sequel and you'd catch plenty of people's attention I would think.

Also a little while back in the thread I mentioned some Korean directors who are very, very popular worldwide now but there's several titles from them that are in desperate need of a blu-ray release outside Asia.

I think I read a while ago that TWF are planning on releasing two Korean comedies this year. I watched the trailers and couldn't help but groan. They looked awful as well. It's just my opinion but I think TWF needs to try and nab some easy, safe and popular titles otherwise they'll be gone before we know it and that'd be a shame. I dig them but they make a lot of questionable decisions when it comes to titles they choose to release.

[Yami]

Suicide Club is already licensed in the UK though.

[Mansinthe]

Ace Attorney <- we got that one in germany already for only something like 10 GBP (new amazon)


i have the HK release of "lesson of the evil" and its a great miike movie. probably my favorite ! but i dont think this one will get a US release without any troubles.

[Show spoiler] teacher having sex with one of the girls, shooting other kids with a shotgun in the back after they try to escape

i asked adam about releasing some more "mainstream" stuff. but he says "vulgaria" and "for loves sake" is already the mainstream stuff. but he does think about releasing shield of straw

[deepbreathsanddeath]

Originally Posted by Yami

Suicide Club is already licensed in the UK though.

I'm not an expert on how licensing works but as far as I know, deals can be made and some studios are pretty co-operative in giving up the rights to some movies they don't give a crap about. I don't know. There's got to be better movies they can release than Vulgaria and the upcoming Korean comedies.

[Yami]

I'm no expert either but if a film is already licensed it will unavoidably cost more than it normally would to wrestle the rights away from the current rightsholder.

I'm also no expert in recent Asian cinema and the only ones that have impressed me have already been released (Confessions, Love Exposure, Tokyo Sonata, City of Life and Death) as I don't tend to actively seek it out. I'd love for TW to release more 80s/90s stuff than they do but I doubt that would set their sales numbers on fire either. Edward Yang, Shinji Somai, Shunji Iwai and Juzo Itami (to name but a few) deserve at least one UK home video release though. Thankfully, Yang's Yi Yi received sterling treatment from Criterion and most of Iwai's stuff is available with English subtitles. I was disappointed when the Somai retrospective at the Edinburgh Film Festival didn't lead to any home video releases. Sailor Suit and Machine Gun is probably the most sellable of his work but Typhoon Club and Moving are almost masterpieces.

[Mansinthe]

CJ entertaiment has a lot of great movies that have no release outside of korea... some get released in the US, but most are only avaible in korea as a expensiv limited edition.

i just ordered " A muse" yesterday. and think about ordering "breathless" and "sunny" from korea
and i wish someone put out a UK release of "spellbound" .. the Korean trailer looks funny but the movie has the price of 2 criterion movies in the B&N sale lol...

and i bought " a Werewolf boy" recently for 33euro (lol )

[logboy]

Originally Posted by Mansinthe

Ace Attorney <- we got that one in germany already for only something like 10 GBP (new amazon)


i have the HK release of "lesson of the evil" and its a great miike movie. probably my favorite ! but i dont think this one will get a US release without any troubles.

[Show spoiler] teacher having sex with one of the girls, shooting other kids with a shotgun in the back after they try to escape

i asked adam about releasing some more "mainstream" stuff. but he says "vulgaria" and "for loves sake" is already the mainstream stuff. but he does think about releasing shield of straw

shield of straw is out in HK cinemas in september, so there'll be a blu-ray there a few weeks later. from what i hear, it's something of an unintentional parody of terrible japanese action movies - not in an intentional way - but i'm interested none the less.

don't know about the idea of third window releasing easier sells, as i guess the tone of the label is largely based around that theory - maybe not named directors as much as something of a quirky comedy feel, though with many named directors also figuring in there. these bigger name directors - sono, miike for example - were around some time before people seemed to flood towards them around ten years back.

you won't get interesting films and new big name directors unless you can take risks, and i don't suppose risks are going to happen if you haven't go the money try that - ultimately, they go hand-in-hand, and a successful risk should lead to others, and then builds towards something a bit more vibrant. don't think this is quite happening though, and i think there's far too much second guessing of the audiences interest and not enough single-minded confidence in figuring out what people don't know they need right now, and that's a downward spiral that needs breaking.

[Pooch]

Hi,

One release that Third Window should absolutely do is TETSUO: THE BULLET MAN (TETSUO 3). I know the first two didn't do that well for them, which I find odd, but they should really complete the series for fans who did buy the first set double-pack.

Another obvious choice, would be a Blu-Ray set of all of BRUCE LEE'S major works!

Now that Shout Factory have fecked-up the US set, here's a prime chance for him to beat Shout and release a truly, 100% definitive set. Not only is Bruce Lee popular with both Asian Cinema and non-Asian Cinema fans, it would also be a good way to take sales from outside of the UK, for people who were thoroughly let-down by Shout's monumental screw-up...

... which has got to be a good thing, for him, for Third Window Films and for UK film fans in general!

With that all said, I think most of us agree on one thing, though: namely, that Third Window films can't keep picking and releasing stuff that is so obscure, so offbeat and so utterly unheard of to UK films fans. Adam Torel needs to release some "classics" or re-release some older, more well-known titles, and mix those in with the newer, more obscure and esoteric stuff. Once he's built up a stronger, more solid and reliable customer base, then you can go for the riskier, more niche titles!

What he's currently doing, is great for (the few) Asian Cinema fans who live in the UK, but as has been amply demonstrated, it's not making him/the company any money, and I would absolutely hate it, if Third Window films had to wind-up their company, in say, 12 more months time, simply because he'd been choosing titles that were too high-risk for a UK-based audience.

He needs to release some well-known classics, and then add in the more obscure stuff afterwards, once people get to know the label, and the quality of the titles.


Pooch

[Mansinthe]

i dont think he will releases tetsuo 3. i did already ask him that a while back before tetsuo 1+2 was released and he said he doesnt like that part. and it looks like he will only release movie he likes

[Sinthetic]

There is a perfectly good and amazing looking Bullet Man Digibook from Germany. The film itself isn't as good as the prior 2, but it's still absolutely awesome in a totally different kind of way.

[Mansinthe]

Originally Posted by Sinthetic

There is a perfectly good and amazing looking Bullet Man Digibook from Germany. The film itself isn't as good as the prior 2, but it's still absolutely awesome in a totally different kind of way.

there is a cheaper amaray edition avaible as well probably im gonna order it cuz i dont think adam will release that one ever !

only 12,99€ + 2,99€ shipping
Link: http://www.gameware.at/info/space/Te...ag=bluray-disc

[Sinthetic]

Digibook is nicer man. Forget cheaper haha.

[Mansinthe]

im happy with the amaray version that has only testuo 3 on bluray i dont collect digibooks and stuff like that.

i just found out that tetsuo 2 is acutally "beschlagnahmt" in germany. probably thats why amazon.co.uk doesnt send that release to germany (zoverstocks did )

[BAKA]

I hope TWF are able to pick up Sono's next film, 'Why Don't You Play in Hell?'. I recently read a lot of amusing impressions, as it's about to hit the Toronto International Film Festival, I believe. I know it was snapped up for US release pretty quickly by Drafthouse films. Some of the impressions make it sound a bit more marketable than previous Sono films, despite the craziness, I've heard Kill Bill and Versus comparisons banded about. But perhaps they also want slightly more for the cost of the license.

[deepbreathsanddeath]

ALWAYS want more Sono from TWF. Love their long making of docs. Fascinating fly on the wall looks.

[SimBelm]

Yeah I'd love to see TWF get their hands on the latest Sono, I really regret missing it when it was streaming on the Venice Film Festival website last week. It's been picking up mostly great reviews and looks like a complete 180 from The Land of Hope which I'm in favour of.

[logboy]

Originally Posted by BAKA

I hope TWF are able to pick up Sono's next film, 'Why Don't You Play in Hell?'. I recently read a lot of amusing impressions, as it's about to hit the Toronto International Film Festival, I believe. I know it was snapped up for US release pretty quickly by Drafthouse films. Some of the impressions make it sound a bit more marketable than previous Sono films, despite the craziness, I've heard Kill Bill and Versus comparisons banded about. But perhaps they also want slightly more for the cost of the license.

i've managed to get drafthouse blu-rays for about £12 or so, in the past, so i'm probably going to give this a try. as long as it's complete.

the first really interesting sono film since 'love exposure', as i don't yet get much sense of it being too straightforwards.

[Pooch]

Hi,

Originally Posted by Mansinthe

i dont think he will releases tetsuo 3. i did already ask him that a while back before tetsuo 1+2 was released and he said he doesnt like that part. and it looks like he will only release movie he likes

I don't get that. So, Adam is happy to moan about no one buying the films he releases (because they're too obscure, too weird, unheard of, etc), yet in the same breath, he seems to be only willing to release films he personally likes?! What the feck?!

I'm sorry, but that's going to ruin his business! No wonder Third Window Films aren't doing that well, if that's his attitude.

I could understand him saying that he'd prefer to only release films that he personally likes, but just because he likes them, doesn't mean anyone else will. And vice-versa, titles he may hate, other people may love.

If he wants to remain in business, he needs to release stuff that people want to buy. Once those titles are making money, then he can afford to be more selective. But right now, he's losing money. Yet, he's unwilling to release titles people want, because he doesn't like them.




Pooch

[rewak]

That's the thing that gets me too, i asked about a film and got the same response. To ignore a customer actually asking outright for a film is pretty dumb business practice.