German "StudioCanal Collection" from Kinowelt with films from Bunuel, Kurosawa, Lynch, Pollack, Resnais, Cimino, Godard and Schloendorff

#1

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7/16/09 at 9:52am

ChristianLiemke
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German Label Kinowelt will release eight Blu-ray discs in their new "StudioCanal Collection" on 09/18/09.

These are the titles:

"Belle de jour” [F / I 1967, Luis Bunuel]
"Three Days of the Condor” [USA 1975, Sydney Pollack]
"L’année dernière à Marienbad / Last Year at Marienbad” [F / I 1961, Alain Resnais]
“Ran” [J / F 1985, Akira Kurosawa]
"Le mépris” [F / I 1963, Jean-Luc Godard]
“Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum / The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum” [GER 1975, Volker Schlöndorff, Margarethe von Trotta]
"The Elephant Man” [USA 1980, David Lynch]
"The Deer Hunter” [USA / GB 1978, Michael Cimino]

All will feature bonus materials as you can see here (in German). Take a look at the cover artworks.

#2

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7/16/09 at 10:19am

blimey
Chaoran Li
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Covers and designs are almost the same as Optimum's StudioCanal Collection in UK. Germany seems to have one more title than UK which is Three Days of the Condor.

#3

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9/20/09 at 12:09pm

John Hodson
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All these titles are coming from Studio Canal (obviously); where they have rights they'll be released by Kinowelt in Germany, Optimum in the UK, Studio Canal in France, and interestingly DVD Times reports here:

"All 3 discs we tested (Le Mepris, The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum and Ran) played on Region A and B machines...The 3 discs we've got all open with a list of countries to choose from which determines what studio logos are played, what piracy warnings you see and of course the language the menu is displayed in. I mention this because it's worth noting that Ran and Le Mepris both have a 'USA' option which leads to the Lionsgate logo suggesting you'll see some of these released in North America through them at some point"

More detail on the Collection here.

3 Days of The Condor, you'll note, has the Sydney Pollack commentary that blessed the old Kinowelt DVD, and is available now from Amazon.de.

So many films, so little time...
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Harold Shand: What I'm looking for is someone who can contribute to what England has given to the world: culture, sophistication, genius. A little bit more than an 'ot dog, know what I mean?

#4

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9/20/09 at 11:18pm

Dick
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That these titles and others play on Region 1 machines is one thing, but if they are in the PAL format they are going to be distorted in some way, either displaying terrible shimmying and aliasing or broken motion, or both. I would love to own THE ELEPHANT MAN on Blu, especially as it appears Paramount is backing off its domestic plans for release (as well as those for SUNSET BOULEVARD), but I'd rather upconvert the standard releases than have to put up with pulldown issues.

#5

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9/21/09 at 1:12am

Bruce Morrison
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Dick

That these titles and others play on Region 1 machines is one thing, but if they are in the PAL format they are going to be distorted in some way, either displaying terrible shimmying and aliasing or broken motion, or both.

These are Blu-ray discs with the films presented in HD. PAL is a SD format.

Bruce Morrison

#6

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9/21/09 at 11:52am

Peter Neski
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I hope someone gets that Deer Hunter BR and comfirms that it plays on region A

#7

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9/21/09 at 1:14pm

John Hodson
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I seriously doubt that it will.

So many films, so little time...
Film Journal Blog
Harold Shand: What I'm looking for is someone who can contribute to what England has given to the world: culture, sophistication, genius. A little bit more than an 'ot dog, know what I mean?

#8

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9/21/09 at 6:41pm

blimey
Chaoran Li
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according to this site StudioCanal Collection, not only The Ladykillers and The Go-Between will be the next two titles in this series, but also at least some titles from the series will be available to Australia, Japan, and the USA in early 2010.

Awesome!

#9

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9/23/09 at 6:25am

Ben Cheshire
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The title of this thread is misleading, because Kinowelt is just the German distributor of this collection, which was produced by Studio Canal.

Still, I hope others have been enjoying this fabulous collection and encouraging this burgeoning project to transform itself into the flower that is Criterion.

Ran and Deer Hunter both: FABULOUS PQ, massive upgrade from DVD. Disc says Region A and B, but I don't have the facilities to test that, as I only have a region B player.

Le Mepris: haven't checked it yet, but PQ has been reviewed on DVDTimes.co.uk as really good. Disc says same as above, Region A and B.

Last Year at Marienbad and Belle du Jour: discs say region B only.

To clarify some misconceptions about this collection: the discs will not get damaged, as the company has changed plans, I'm guessing, based on online feedback. The packaging still contains the slit that the discs would have slipped into, but a plastic dome has been glued on, which the disc sits comfortably on, emulating the bluray and dvd cases we have all come to know and love. No need to not buy because of this.

P.S Tarantino has finally bested Pulp Fiction.

#10

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9/24/09 at 6:07pm

blimey
Chaoran Li
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Some of these titles mysteriously appeared on Amazon.com today with $22.49 pre-ordered as Studio Canal imports. Very strange as the price is too low for a regular amazon 101-DISTRIBUTION style import. I'll probably check out Deer Hunter next week if it's still there like this.

Links:

Belle de Jour

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002KGVB9Q

Deer Hunter

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002KGVB8W

The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002KGVBAK

Le Mepris (Contempt)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002PQ1P9W

Ran

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002KGVB9G

Elephant Man

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002KGVB96

#11

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9/24/09 at 11:08pm

Dick
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I'm sorry, I'm not a geek -- are you saying that if I were to order a Blu-ray copy of, say, THE ELEPHANT MAN from overseas, it would be both region-free and be NTSC compatable? I could play this on an unmodified Sony Blu-ray player here in the U.S.? I'm confused.

#12

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9/24/09 at 11:29pm

John Hodson
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In their review of Le Mepris, DVD Times notes that not only is the BD region free, but the SD extras are in NTSC; whether that's the same for all these releases, I'm not sure. I would wait for a review, just to be sure.

So many films, so little time...
Film Journal Blog
Harold Shand: What I'm looking for is someone who can contribute to what England has given to the world: culture, sophistication, genius. A little bit more than an 'ot dog, know what I mean?

#13

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9/26/09 at 4:17pm

Craig Beam
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So.... whoever answers your questions IS a geek? Hmmmm.

Oh, what the hell. PAL and NTSC aren't concerns when it comes to blu-ray. HD is a different animal entirely. What IS a concern is region coding. As long a disc is region-free, or coded to play in region 1, it will work in any blu-ray player.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dick

I'm sorry, I'm not a geek -- are you saying that if I were to order a Blu-ray copy of, say, THE ELEPHANT MAN from overseas, it would be both region-free and be NTSC compatable? I could play this on an unmodified Sony Blu-ray player here in the U.S.? I'm confused.

They're round, they're shiny...

#14

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9/27/09 at 1:12am

Derrick King
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Bah, DVD times' review for RAN is not good.

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content/id/71575/ran.html

Quote:

I believe there exists a French blu-ray of this film of dubious quality, and not so long ago a very good standard definition edition was released by Optimum on these isles. Comparing this release to the standard definition release, I believe there is evidence of sharpening, greater edge enhancement, and a generally darker appearance overall. Looking at both together, I have to say that the more film-like of the two is definitely the technologically inferior one. This presentation does yield more detail, but in brighter sequences colours look excessive and in darker ones the image is very dark indeed.

#15

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9/27/09 at 2:32am

Ben Cheshire
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Wow, I didn't find that at all. Colours are much truer in the brighter sequences. Don't worry, if you like the film, get it and see for yourself.

P.S Tarantino has finally bested Pulp Fiction.

#16

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9/27/09 at 5:11am

Cees Alons
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Dick

I'm sorry, I'm not a geek -- are you saying that if I were to order a Blu-ray copy of, say, THE ELEPHANT MAN from overseas, it would be both region-free and be NTSC compatable? I could play this on an unmodified Sony Blu-ray player here in the U.S.? I'm confused.

Forgetting about the geek part, yes, probably.
Like Craig said, NTSC and PAL standards don't apply.

NTSC and PAL were in fact broadcasting standards originally. The only reason they made it to VHS and SDVD was because of the compatility (with existing TV sets).
They have not been ported to HD DVD and Blu-ray.

The region coding was introduced with SDVD, and has been modified (but retained) on the HD formats.

HD DVD discs were region free. Unfortunately in this case, that's the format I have Last Year in Marienbad on, so I cannot tell you if this particular BD is region-free or not. (But chances are it is region-free indeed, coming on HD DVD first.)

I still don't have a Region-B player, just an imported Region-A one. I play all imported US BD discs and many EU discs on that same player, without problems. (For the few region-B locked discs I buy, I will have to get me a region-B player soon, but I'm waiting to see if I can have a modified player of one of the top brands instead.) Of one or two European bought not-region-locked BD's, I have not been able to play extras, probably because they were in a local SDVD standard not recognized by my US player.

Cees

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#17

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9/27/09 at 8:07am

John Hodson
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There are instances, as I understand it, of extras on some BD discs being PAL or NTSC; perhaps your US player has a problem with PAL Cees?

So many films, so little time...
Film Journal Blog
Harold Shand: What I'm looking for is someone who can contribute to what England has given to the world: culture, sophistication, genius. A little bit more than an 'ot dog, know what I mean?

#18

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9/27/09 at 3:48pm

Cees Alons
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John,

If indeed there is PAL in the extras, I'm pretty sure the US Panasonic won't properly decode it.
So yes, that could be it.

(It happened to me on both UK "Life on Mars" BDs. Played fine, but of the extras I only get the sound and a black screen.)

Cees

HTF Rules (uhm ... and has Rules)

#19

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10/1/09 at 1:15am

ChristianLiemke
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Here are three screenshot comparisons. Note that the German Blu-ray discs are the same as the ones from Optimum Releasing. The different labels are just the distributors for the "StudioCanal Collection" discs.

The Elephant Man
Kinowelt/StudioCanal Germany Blu-ray "StudioCanal Collection" vs. Universal/StudioCanal Germany DVD vs. Paramount USA DVD

Contempt / Le mépris
Kinowelt/StudioCanal Germany Blu-ray "StudioCanal Collection" vs. Universal/StudioCanal Sweden DVD "Godard Collection" vs. Kinowelt Germany DVD vs. Criterion USA DVD

Three Days of the Condor

Kinowelt/StudioCanal Germany Blu-ray "StudioCanal Collection" vs. Kinowelt Germany DVD

#20

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10/1/09 at 4:18pm

Vincent_P
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THE DEER HUNTER reportedly has pitch issues with the 5.1 English audio, while the 2.0 English track is correct. The Studio Canal overseas HD-DVD of THE ELEPHANT MAN also had an audio pitch issue- as did a few other Studio Canal HD-DVDs- so I'm wondering if these Blu-ray versions correct this problem? Seeing as how THE DEER HUNTER still seems to have this issue, it doesn't look good...

Vincent

#21

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10/1/09 at 5:21pm

Patrick Mason
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Regarding PAL/NTSC issues when importing Blu-rays, problems can arise when a Blu-ray has PAL content that precedes the feature. An example would be the release of "Che" in the UK, which cannot be played on an NTSC-only capable player due to the forced PAL trailers that open the disc. I believe that particular release is Region B coded anyway, but it's still good to be aware of the possibility.

I received Ran, Contempt, and Belle de Jour from this series yesterday. I had a chance to sample the first two. I can't say I'll be throwing out my Criterion editions for either title, but the transfers are better than I had feared after reading some early reviews. The Contempt transfer is certainly the bigger improvement, Ran seems to suffer from some digital manipulation but it still quite pleasing.

It would have been nice to see what Criterion had planned for these films on Blu-ray, but I'm happy overall with what's been released. Now I just have to find time to watch them all in their entirety, along with Wizard of Oz.

#22

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10/1/09 at 6:18pm

Cees Alons
Cees Alons
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick Mason

Regarding PAL/NTSC issues when importing Blu-rays, problems can arise when a Blu-ray has PAL content that precedes the feature. An example would be the release of "Che" in the UK, which cannot be played on an NTSC-only capable player due to the forced PAL trailers that open the disc. I believe that particular release is Region B coded anyway, but it's still good to be aware of the possibility.

The PAL (supposedly, see above) extras on my Life on Mars BDs do not produce visible video output, but the sound tracks are audible in a quite normal way.
So, why not play those (forced) trailers and wait until the feature begins?

Of course, if it's region-B locked that would be quite another problem....

Cees

HTF Rules (uhm ... and has Rules)

#23

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11/11/09 at 7:31am

John Hodson
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Play.com is listing extras for the next wave due in the UK from Optimum February:

The Ladykillers
* Filmed interviews with: Allan Scott, Terence Davies and Ronald Harwood
* Audio Commentary with Philip Kemp: Mackendrick/Ladykillers expert
* Interview with James Mangold - BD live option only
* Forever Ealing Documentary (49:37)
* Introduction to The LadyKillers by Terry Gilliam (it’s 2′27″)
* HD Trailer

The Go-Between
# Filmed interviews with Josh Losey, Michael Billington, Patricia Losey, Gerry Fisher and John Heyman
# Horlicks advert directed by Joseph Losey
# Audio recording with Joseph Losey interviewed by Dilys Powell in 1973
# HD Trailer

Pierrot Le Fou
* Colin Maccabe Introduction (3min15)
* Comments by J.B. Pouy (01'45'00) (commentary surely?)
* Trailer (2')
* TV spot (German)
* Posters (2)
* Godard, l'amour, la poésie

Breathless
# Colin Maccabe Introduction (3min15)
# Chambre 12 (1h18)
# Photo Gallery (103)
# Trailer (2min5)
# Jean-Luc selon Luc
# Godard et l'Amérique
# Posters (2)

So many films, so little time...
Film Journal Blog
Harold Shand: What I'm looking for is someone who can contribute to what England has given to the world: culture, sophistication, genius. A little bit more than an 'ot dog, know what I mean?

#24

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11/11/09 at 7:40am

Jim_K
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Too bad Optimum region locks most of their releases.

I'd kill to get The Ladykillers on BD given they don't botch it up.

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