OFFICIAL KINO International/KINO Video Thread

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by silentblu

I decided to finally join blu-ray.com because of this thread (see it did need stickied). I've been lurking around since 07, mainly to find out about releases. A great tool for working on my collection.

I'm happy that blu-ray is finally getting some silents. I'll be picking up The General and Battleship Potemkin next week.

Welcome, and nice that my rant yesterday actually did something.

[kndy]

I was checking and cheapest right now for "Fallen Angels" on Blu is Deep Discount which has it for over $18. Battleship Potemkin is also cheaper at $21.38 and Ballast is $20.89. So, Deep Discount has the cheapest prices. Granted, it takes 2-3 weeks if your order one title...but that's pretty low compared to BN/Amazon.

[ksc2303]

Originally Posted by CassavetesGodard

Is that positive or negative for me?

I guess thats up to how you look at it. I share the sentiment, it made me smile...

[KENTA]

Originally Posted by kndy

I was checking and cheapest right now for "Fallen Angels" on Blu is Deep Discount which has it for over $18. Battleship Potemkin is also cheaper at $21.38 and Ballast is $20.89. So, Deep Discount has the cheapest rates. Granted, it takes 2-3 weeks if your order one title...but that's pretty low compared to BN/Amazon.

Damnit, and I forgot to cancel my preorder for Potemkin at Amazon.com
I wanted to take a break with importing BDs, as the Euro is relatively weak at the moment and now I'll receive the more expensive disc...
but, well.. it is Potemkin, one of the greatest films of all time, so I guess paying 30$ is still alright.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by kndy

I was checking and cheapest right now for "Fallen Angels" on Blu is Deep Discount which has it for over $18. Battleship Potemkin is also cheaper at $21.38 and Ballast is $20.89. So, Deep Discount has the cheapest rates. Granted, it takes 2-3 weeks if your order one title...but that's pretty low compared to BN/Amazon.

I hate the prices you guys get on Kino & Criterion. Battleship is currently $27 here. Most Criterion are at $35+ There is quite a few I would love to own and watch more often but unless this prices get down I will have to wait. I still have to get Yojimbo that came out 3 weeks ago

[bluskies]

At the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival last night, I was sitting next to a distributing rep for the 1951 Ava Gardner-James Mason classic, "Pandora and the Flying Dutchman." We got talking about Blu-rays and DVDs and he said Kino will be releasing it on Blu-ray. As I said, he distributes the movie and doesn't work for Kino, who have not made the announcement yet, but he said it was okay for me to post the info.

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by ksc2303

I guess thats up to how you look at it. I share the sentiment, it made me smile...

Well as long as you know why I said it. I am already hated by "those" people on here it seems.

[kndy]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

I hate the prices you guys get on Kino & Criterion. Battleship is currently $27 here. Most Criterion are at $35+ There is quite a few I would love to own and watch more often but unless this prices get down I will have to wait. I still have to get Yojimbo that came out 3 weeks ago

It's funny, because I say the same thing about European releases. For example, I'm trying to find Claude Chabrol films. Kino has a box set (right now at $49) and a few individual titles but in the UK, they have the two Chabrol collection Arrow sets going for about $16 for 8 films. That's cheap! I went to look even further and the also have an 8-disc Rohmer set for the same price new.

So, it's good to keep a close eye on Amazon UK.

And to go even further, in the US...Laurel & Hardy has had a bum rap in releases while in the UK, Universal as released an ultimate set. In the US, Marilyn Monroe gets a set with 5 films each in a box set while in the UK gets 15 films in the box set from 20th Century Fox I believe for a similar price as the US 5-DVD set. And for Blu-rays, as seen on the bargains forum, there are Blu-ray sets from the UK much cheaper than the US and are region-free.
And last...once you add the films to your cart, they deduct the VAT charge, so it's even cheaper.

Of course, Criterion titles and Kino titles are expensive and fortunately, we are starting to see Kino titles. But it's also important to keep an eye out on Masters of Cinema as they have some of the titles that Kino has and have included more content in their DVD releases and the fact they are non-region for many of their Blu-rays, it does make things competitive.

It will be interesting to see how things go when "Metropolis" is released later this year and to see how much content MoC includes (I believe they are the ones releasing it in the UK right?) versus the Kino release.

[ccfixx]

So, since many of the Kino thread contributors are crossovers from the Criteron thread, I thought I'd see if I could get an answer to something I'm currently irked with.

Being unfamiliar with Keaton's "Steamboat Bill, Jr." I recorded it this past week from TCM. However, I have only made it halfway through the film so far. While I'm loving the actual filmed footage and the performances by the actors, I'm finding the musical accompaniment to the film to be a real letdown. For me, it's just bringing the whole beauty of the film down to a contrived/artificial level... it's much too modern sounding, in my opinion, to belong with such a great film. As I haven't made it through the whole film, yet, I'm not sure what musical piece it is that's playing throughout the film.

So, my question for all those that are more familiar with "Steamboat Bill, Jr.", and its various format releases, pertains to the known soundtracks. Is there one widely known soundtrack (maybe, the one I'm hearing on the TCM broadcast) that is recognized as the "better" of the music that has been associated with this film, or are there a variety of scores out there to equal the variety of releases over the years?

CC

[silentblu]

Originally Posted by ccfixx

So, since many of the Kino thread contributors are crossovers from the Criteron thread, I thought I'd see if I could get an answer to something I'm currently irked with.

Being unfamiliar with Keaton's "Steamboat Bill, Jr." I recorded it this past week from TCM. However, I have only made it halfway through the film so far. While I'm loving the actual filmed footage and the performances by the actors, I'm finding the musical accompaniment to the film to be a real letdown. For me, it's just bringing the whole beauty of the film down to a contrived/artificial level... it's much too modern sounding, in my opinion, to belong with such a great film. As I haven't made it through the whole film, yet, I'm not sure what musical piece it is that's playing throughout the film.

So, my question for all those that are more familiar with "Steamboat Bill, Jr." and its various format releases pertains to the known soundtracks. Is there one widely known soundtrack (maybe, the one I'm hearing on the TCM broadcast) that as recognized as the "better" of the music that has been associated with this film, or are there a variety of scores out there to equal the variety of releases over the years?

CC

I'm not really sure what score TCM is using.

Here is what the full version on youtube is using:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUNZPHbwA-U

Then I found a new score by Peter Blanchette on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqW2Ze9Pi2U

[P@t_Mtl]

The thing with silent movies is that they might have received new musical scores over the 70 plus years since their releases so. It's never quite clear what releases have what score and on DVD it's even more tricky

[kndy]

Originally Posted by ccfixx

So, since many of the Kino thread contributors are crossovers from the Criteron thread, I thought I'd see if I could get an answer to something I'm currently irked with.
So, my question for all those that are more familiar with "Steamboat Bill, Jr." and its various format releases pertains to the known soundtracks. Is there one widely known soundtrack (maybe, the one I'm hearing on the TCM broadcast) that as recognized as the "better" of the music that has been associated with this film, or are there a variety of scores out there to equal the variety of releases over the years?

CC

Fortunately, so far my experience with many major silents, you get different musical choices. As for the TCM broadcast, not sure but if you have DVDr'd it, can you see if the music is by Gaylord Carter. That's the version I have from Kino for the "Art of Buster Keaton" box set.

Just a note that Kino International has posted the following for "Steamboat Bill Jr." - Alternate take footage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkPkt...ayer_embedded#!

[ccfixx]

Okay, guys... I just skimmed through to the end of "Steamboat Bill, Jr." to see the music credit on the TCM broadcast version. The music is credited to The Alloy Orchestra... copyrighted 2003. So, have any of you seen it with that music? I've found it to be just plain hokey & uninspiring for such an amazing piece of cinema.

CC

[kndy]

Originally Posted by ccfixx

Okay, guys... I just skimmed through to the end of "Steamboat Bill, Jr." to see the music credit on the TCM broadcast version. The music is credited to The Alloy Orchestra... copyrighted 2003. So, have any of you seen it with that music? I've found it to be just plain hokey & uninspiring for such an amazing piece of cinema.

CC

Don't worry about it then. You are not the only one with that feeling towards the Alloy Orchestra. But more than likely, the release will probably have multiple scores as this is one thing that silent films fans are very picky about.

In fact, for "The General", Kino gave three scores to choose from which was cool! I expect the same with "Steamboat Bill, Jr.".

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by ccfixx

Okay, guys... I just skimmed through to the end of "Steamboat Bill, Jr." to see the music credit on the TCM broadcast version. The music is credited to The Alloy Orchestra... copyrighted 2003. So, have any of you seen it with that music? I've found it to be just plain hokey & uninspiring for such an amazing piece of cinema.

CC

Yeah, I actually caught the TCM showing last Sunday night and it was bland.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by bluskies

At the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival last night, I was sitting next to a distributing rep for the 1951 Ava Gardner-James Mason classic, "Pandora and the Flying Dutchman." We got talking about Blu-rays and DVDs and he said Kino will be releasing it on Blu-ray. As I said, he distributes the movie and doesn't work for Kino, who have not made the announcement yet, but he said it was okay for me to post the info.

Fantastic news.

Thank you for sharing it.

Pro-B

[BasicGreatGuy]

The new trailer for "Metropolis" looks grand. I am eagerly awaiting the Blu-ray release. You can see the new trailer on the home page here.

[ccfixx]

Originally Posted by kndy

Don't worry about it then. You are not the only one with that feeling towards the Alloy Orchestra.

Cool. I'm glad there are others that share my sentiment. When I read the news about the Alloy Orchestra providing the live music for "Metropolis" at the TCM Festival, I immediately cringed. It's quite unfair of me, for sure, since I'm only aware of hearing the one Alloy Orchestra score with "Steamboat Bill, Jr." It was just soooooo bad.

CC

[P@t_Mtl]

How or who decide how music will be added for silent movies? What kind of rights are on that? Is it just left to who ever release the DVD or Blu-ray to pick?

[silentblu]

Anyone attending the Metropolis premiere, please let us know about the Alloy Orchestra score.