Foreign Film Preorder List (1 Viewer)

[Pascal A]

Brook, I couldn't wait for this one either, so I bought the VHS and - I'm not kidding - the first 18 minutes are all "Coming Attractions". After all the "Coming to VHS" trailers were "Coming to DVD", using the same bloody footage that they showed for the VHS section. Argh!

Al, the Image site lists both Festen and The Idiots as cancelled.
Ike, I liked both Aguirre: Wrath of God and Kwaidan and pre-ordered both. Kwaidan is atmospheric and beautifully composed, but the ghost stories are definitely not what most people are used to seeing. I haven't made it through all of the DVD yet, but the transfer is excellent, nice color detail, and is anamorphic. I haven't received Aguirre: Wrath of God yet, but it's definitely a must-have as well.
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[Jay Gregory]

Show Me Love(Fucking Amal) is supposed to be available NOW per the most recent Image Entertainment update (10/20/00):
Show Me Love
ID: STP9907DVD - $29.95 - Not Rated
UPC: 712267990726 - 89 min. - 1998
Preorder: NOW - Steeplechase
Street: NOW - Drama,Foreign1.85:1 - Color - Swedish - Surround - Sub: English
Alexandra Dahlstrom, Erica Carlson, Josefin Nyberg, Mathias Rust, Rebecka Liljeberg, Stefan Horberg - Dir:Lukas Moodysson
"Show Me Love" is the comic and heartbreaking story of Agnes, Elin and their teenage friends growing up in the small town of Amal. Nothing ever happens until Elin shows up at Agnes' birthday party and Elin's life takes an unexpected turn. Stuck in the middle of two love interests, Elin tries to come to terms with her real self and the courage it takes to be different.

 

[Brook K]

Pascal, 18 minutes of previews??!! That would be annoying. I've about given up hope on a R1 DVD. This is the only film I know of that was theatrically released last year that isn't on DVD here. It's an SE in R2 and has an Amenabar commentary.
Festen cancelled?! Arrgh, will I ever get to see this film? I'm REALLY regretting that I didn't take the time to see this when it was in theaters. I was ready to make it one of my rare sight unseen DVD purchases and had it on preorder.
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[Denis]

Jay, Thanks for the info on Show Me Love. If you or anyone else who reads this has a chance to check it out, please post your findings in this thread... I really want to know what features are on this DVD. I'll probably buy it anyway but still....nice to know
Neither Express nor Amazon has it in stock though, and it's not even listed on DVDEmpire. Please tell me it hasn't been cancelled or something. I WANT THIS MOVIE!
Thanks again, and bye bye
Denis

 

[Joel Turpin]

Thanks for the great thread!
It's great to see all of these titles listed together.
My Austrian girlfriend is always wanting me to pick up more European titles and it's nice to see them listed together here.

 

[DonaldB]

Pascal, the two by Powell/Pressburger from Criterion have been pushed back until 1/23/2001.

 

[Pascal A]

Updated the list per everyone's input.
The Story of O [Region 2] is listed as being available on 10/30 at Blackstar, so I pushed it back a week.
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[Ted Todorov]

Fantastic list! Thank you! Is there something similar for the movies that have already been released? Yes, I do have a list of ALL DVDs but extracting the real goodies can be a pain.
Quote: "Guy Maddin is the George Lucas of the Winnipeg film scene. Nice (and a tad strange) to see him getting some international recognition."
I think that George Lucas is owed an apology. At least all his films have been in focus and none were shot with an inch of Vaseline on the lens. "Careful" is by FAR the worst movie I ever saw at the New York Film Festival (and I have seen well over 100 movies at NYFF over the years). It is certainly the only one that gave me a headache due to its literal unwatchability and the end was greeted by loud booing from the 1/3 of the audience that hadn't already walked out.
Ted

 

[Rich Malloy]

"Careful" is by FAR the worst movie I ever saw at the New York Film Festival (and I have seen well over 100 movies at NYFF over the years). It is certainly the only one that gave me a headache due to its literal unwatchability and the end was greeted by loud booing from the 1/3 of the audience that hadn't already walked out.

My god, man, you say that as though it were a bad thing!

One has to love film festival crowds, music festival crowds, and hoity-toity crowds of all types. They make such great fodder for future generations. Just think of all the horrible, so-called 'art' these festival crowds have witnessed, derided, despised, and rioted over. To name but a few:

• Dylan 'going electric' at the Newport Folk Festival
• Jodorowsky's Fando y lis at the Acapulco Film Festival
• Stravinsky/Nijinsky's Rite of Spring at the Théatre des Champs-Elysées
• Manet's Olympia at the annual Salon exhibition of 1865

God, I love a festival crowd!
And no one owes George Lucas an apology for anything!

 

[Gary Tooze]

Have to agree with that Al,
I for one ain't apologizing to Lucas. On the contrary, I think he owes us all one ... ( Star Wars indeed... )
... and I think, yes, "Popularity is but of a sign of mediocrity". When everyone else in the cinema laughs, I am usually stone-faced ( or shaking my head ), and I tend to blurt out a chuckle ( or cackle ) when no one else seems to "get it"...
Kudos to Guy Maddin, for at least illiciting some emotion from the crowd. This might have been the same crowd to glower over "Titanic" claiming it Citizen Kane's successor...
People who go to festivals aren't wizened critics, just normal joe-six-packs...
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[Rich Malloy]

Ted, I can tell you really know your stuff about the movies - I don't wanna sound dismissive of your opinions. I'm worried I came off that way. I think it's great that we can have these kinds of disagreements and I hope you feel free to slag Guy Maddin relentlessly... it wouldn't be the first time I've been forced to defend the indefensible!
And I have a hard time getting too worked up about anyone's dismissal of Careful, even though I do find the film positively hilarious. I mean, what exactly is one to make of a 'pro-repression' spoof of '30's-era German mountain films, shot replete with tinted gels and filters, jump-cuts, silent-era iris-ins, Stockhausen-style audio static, and Maddin/Tole's signature purplish and perverse dialog... all of which is intended to be played for laughs?
(Oh yeah, and everyone speaks in really hushed tones and all the animals have their vocal cords removed so as not to set off any avalanches.)
Hmmmm... to say 'it's not for all tastes' might be quite the understatement.
Still, no one, and I mean no one owes George Lucas a damn thing, much less an apology!

 

[Pascal A]

I went through Blackstar's site last night to place an order, and found the following Region 2 DVD's available on preorder (Hmm...If this keeps up, I'm going to need a more reliable multi-region player than my Raite

).
Region 2
New Release
Breathless - Godard
11/20/00
Beau Travail - Claire Denis
L'Appartement - Gilles Mimouni
11/27/00
Girl on the Bridge - Patrice Leconte
12/27/00
Alice et Martin - Andre Techine
Jamon Jamon - Bigas Luna
1/15/01
Life and Death of Colonel Blimp - Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
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[Ted Todorov]

Quote: "I went through Blackstar's site last night to place an order, and found the following Region 2 DVD's available on preorder ...
Breathless - Godard
...
L'Appartement - Gilles Mimouni"
I already got both of those from cinestore.com a French web site (their prices are better than they look because they will deduct the 20%(??) TVA for non EU orders). "L'appartement" has English subtitles (& a DTS soundtrack), no subtitles on "Breathless".
Quote: "One has to love film festival crowds..."
I am certainly not offended by anything you say about the NYFF crowds -- there have been plenty of walkouts from movies that I loved. Nor do I wish to defend George Lucas -- he doesn't need my help and he's been more of a corporation than a filmmaker over the last 20 years. However, lets face it: "American Graffiti" and "Star Wars" will survive long after the works of Guy Maddin and those of directors of considerably (IMHO) more talent are forgotten. Sure Lucas stole from (for instance) Kurosawa, but guess what: those wipe cuts in "Star Wars" that seemingly come from Kurosawa's "Hidden Fortress" were in fact all over Melville's "Bob Le Flambeur" three years earlier. (Someone with considerably more knowledge than me can tell us where they REALLY come from).
To get back on the topic of out there, visually amazing "foreign" films that ought to be on DVD -- Alexei Balabanov's "Of Freaks and Men". It might appeal to "Careful" fans -- it's wildly original without causing eye strain...
Ted

 

[Rich Malloy]

To get back on the topic of out there, visually amazing "foreign" films that ought to be on DVD -- Alexei Balabanov's "Of Freaks and Men"...

I wonder if Kino Video holds the rights to this one?

 

[Gary Tooze]

Hmmm.... Aleksei Balabanov's "Of Freaks and Men" (Pro urodov i lyudej)

...The film is excellent at giving us the feel of a situation in which bad elements of the psyche rule. It is a bleak exercise - the characters who seem to escape to the West cannot escape their perverse desires (which bring them no happiness) and the idealist filmmaker portrayed is finally a sell-out...

I like it already...although it would be hard to match his "Happy Days" ( Schastlivye dni ) from 91'... I like it where Potsie waits all day in the bread-line and then The Fonz just takes it from him...
sorry, guess I'm getting of topic...
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"I am Death"

[email protected] My DVD Collection
Graphic AFI 100 ,Graphic BFI 100 ,My Home Theatre
My coveted Criterions! Standing Count... 24 25 26 27 28 29 33!
My Most Recommended DVD's !

 

[Pascal A]

Updated. No confirmation on Portraits Chinois or Son of Gascogne, so I'll leave them as-is for now.
Added: Secrets of the Heart (Montxo Armendariz, Spain) 11/14
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[Pascal A]

Added the following films:
1/2/01
Woman Called Sada Abe - Noboru Tanaka, Japan
Kon-Tiki - Thor Heyerdahl, Norway
Nosferatu - F.W. Murnau, Germany – remastered, 5.1 audio, commentary
1/16/01
The New Eve - Catherine Corsini, France
1/23/01
Simone Barbes ou la Vertu - Marie Claude Treilhou, France
1/30/01
La Guerre Est Finie - Alain Resnais, France
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[Rich Malloy]

Hey... a new disc of Nosferatu? Does anyone have any more info on this? WOW!

 

[Pascal A]

Here is Image's description of the forthcoming Nosferatu DVD. From what I've gleaned, it seems to be similar to the old Image DVD (which is very good), but the soundtrack has been replaced by the Silent Orchestra DD 5.1 recording.
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[Brook K]

I know that I should know this, but does Nosferatu have a specific soundtrack that this orchestra is playing, or is this like the Phillip Glass Dracula/Passion of Joan of Arc, where new music has been composed for the film?
I've never quite gotten around to buying this, I purchased that Masterworks of German Horror box, but sent it back after reading all the bad reviews.
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