Under the Silver Lake (2019)

[The Debts]

Synopsis: Sam is a disenchanted 33-year-old who discovers a mysterious woman, Sarah, frolicking in his apartment's swimming pool. When she vanishes, Sam embarks on a surreal quest across Los Angeles to decode the secret behind her disappearance, leading him into the murkiest depths of mystery, scandal, and conspiracy in the City of Angels.

Pre-order link HERE.

[b_squared]

Such a disappointment that, after getting denied a legitimate theatrical release after multiple delays, it is now getting denied a proper, pressed blu ray release.

[GeoffOliver]

Boy, has this movie gotten the short end of the stick or what? Some movies just get no respect by their distributors, and this is just the latest example. Yes, it's a crazy off-the-walls neo-noir film that is by no means made for a mainstream audience, but it deserved better. A24 could've at least given it a limited theatrical release in the US to find an audience before dumping it onto VOD, but nope. Now Lionsgate is dumping the film to BD-R discs and it is the sad cherry on top. This is a film that demands rewatching, and deserves a better home video release.

I love A24, I really do, but at least Focus Features and NEON would've ATTEMPTED to give this film a limited theatrical release, and Universal would've still certainly given it a proper Blu-ray.

If you want to read more about this film, these interviews with director David Robert Mitchell (who my film professor went to film school with) are a nice place to start:
https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/shad...he-silver-lake
https://www.vulture.com/2019/04/davi...lver-lake.html

[tehthomas]

I enjoyed this movie and this is quite a shame. Maybe we'll get a Criterion some day.

[bonehica]

Never heard of this before now. I absolutely love Mitchell's It Follows and I am always up for a surreal neo-noir, so I would blind buy this instantly. It's a shame about the BD-R treatment, however. What a travesty.

[JupiterMission]

Such a great movie. Very bummed about the BD-R. This was going to be a day one purchase for me.

[DukeTogo84]

Was looking forward to owning this. Probably won't pick this up since it's a BD-R, unless I can get it for a few bucks.

[kevin87]

For those looking for pressed discs, the Japan release is out but everything is over 40 USD and there's a couple international releases that have been untested for A... if anybody's got a region free player or wants to roll the dice. They all seem to be English-friendly on the front covers except for the one from Spain. The France release is by WB, does anybody know if WB international releases locked often?

Denmark
Finland
France
Spain
Sweden

A UK release is also slated for August

[Bolty]

Don't know if anybody saw this or mentioned it but it if it's getting a Redbox release on June 18th. At least that's what it says on the Redbox coming soon section at the kiosk.

[jordan-r]

I really enjoyed this one. What a shame. Lousy cover art too!

[Copley]

Forgive my confusion, but where can you guys see that it's getting a BD-R release? I can't see it anywhere.

[andantelise]

Anybody know the bitrate on the German release by any chance?

[kevin87]

Originally Posted by Copley

Forgive my confusion, but where can you guys see that it's getting a BD-R release? I can't see it anywhere.

Since there is no BD logo on the case and since the spine says "Blu-ray Disc", those mean it's a BD-R. The actual case will also say "Blu-ray Disc" in place of the logo, because only official pressed discs can use it.

Why Lionsgate is using a completely unmarked case image is weird though... not as weird as how it was originally announced as an official pressed disc with a slipcover and digital copy before changing to BD-R 3 weeks before release, but still weird.

[andantelise]

Originally Posted by kevin87

Since there is no BD logo on the case and since the spine says "Blu-ray Disc", those mean it's a BD-R. The actual case will also say "Blu-ray Disc" in place of the logo, because only official pressed discs can use it.

Why Lionsgate is using a completely unmarked case image is weird though... not as weird as how it was originally announced as an official pressed disc with a slipcover and digital copy before changing to BD-R 3 weeks before release, but still weird.

So, the German release is a BD-R then, too?

[kevin87]

Originally Posted by andantelise

So, the German release is a BD-R then, too?

I'd assume no, I haven't heard of any international releases being BD-R. That's a dumb American idea.

EDIT: Actually I looked at the German release page, the back cover and case both show the BD logo, so no, they're not BD-R. It's the only international option that has been confirmed to not work on region A though so far.

[bluesparrow]

When I first watched this movie it felt a bit interminable but it's stuck with me in a way most movies don't. I can see a real cult following forming around this movie once people forget that hipsters were really like this and the characters in this movie can be mentally explained away as caricatures.

[UltraMario9]

Anyone feel the subject matter has anything to do with A24 kinda burying this film? I'm sure there's examples of lesser successes getting proper releases.

...or maybe that's just the kooky conspiracy theorist in me.

[BluProofie]

Originally Posted by kevin87

I'd assume no, I haven't heard of any international releases being BD-R. That's a dumb American idea.

EDIT: Actually I looked at the German release page, the back cover and case both show the BD logo, so no, they're not BD-R. It's the only international option that has been confirmed to not work on region A though so far.

Someone in the film thread said the French release is Region locked, too.

[GeoffOliver]

Originally Posted by UltraMario9

Anyone feel the subject matter has anything to do with A24 kinda burying this film? I'm sure there's examples of lesser successes getting proper releases.

...or maybe that's just the kooky conspiracy theorist in me.

I think it had to do with the very mixed Cannes reception. The thing with indie arthouse films is that negative reception can kill their chances of success almost completely. Films like this are very dependent on reviews to get positive word of mouth going. What sucks is that DRM fully expected a divisive reception because of the unusual approach of the film. It was borderline experimental.

A24 is always a little screwy with theatrical distribution. At the cinema I work at, if their films are lucky to play at all, they usually only play one week unless they’re Hereditary or Lady Bird. The vast majority of their catalog never gets big releases, and if reception is mixed, they don’t even try. How to Talk to Girls at Parties is another example. It also got a very divisive reception, and only played on two screens in the US. Focus Features, Neon, and Sony Pictures Classics all at least TRY to give each of their films small theatrical releases, and they expand accordingly if the audience is there.

[JupiterMission]

Thanks, Kevin87. I might hold out for that UK release. If it turns out to be region locked then that's all the more incentive for me to finally get a region-free player.

UltraMario9 - I do think the subject matter had something to do with the cool reception and quick burial of the film. I wouldn't describe "Under the Silver Lake" as aggressively anti-Hollywood, exactly, but to me it felt like a film subtly pushing back against the popular culture many of us are comfortable with (or at least used to) today, that cleverly used the protagonist's paranoia to shape a sharp critique. I don't know that everybody seated at the controls in the industry would see it, but I wouldn't be surprised if they felt it. Additionally: It is intricate. It is artistic and not propagandistic. It is long and

[Show spoiler]some elements lack clear resolution

, but it is not just a poorly structured story-and-a-half trying to bait you into the sequel like the average late-2010's blockbuster. It is aware of pop culture and Hollywood's past, but engaged with it rather than purely nostalgic - trying to build off of the art of the past and create something new rather than trying to recreate, remix, or revise the art of the past and recapture some high. (Watch how the director plays with Hitchcock and De Palma in this, and compare it to how he played with Carpenter in "It Follows," then contrast that to the manner in which other modern directors attempt to evoke or ape these masters.) The industry is simply not set up for something like this right now. It is likely set against it. And so we get a long-delayed, stifled theatrical release (the same weekend as "Avengers: Endgame," if I remember right) long after a VOD release, and then a BD-R to throw some salt in that wound. On a more urgent note, and one more directly related to where we started - with the subject matter and themes of the film -

[Show spoiler]THE OWL WOMEN ARE CLEARLY SUPPRESSING THIS FILM

.