Living Deadpan

Sometimes it amuses me to see relatively "normal" movies released by boutique labels that have made their name distributing much edgier fare.

Some anomalies I can think of:

Blue Underground - My Brilliant Career, Newsdesk
Severin - Zulu Dawn, The Eagle Has Landed
Synapse - Triumph of the Will
Troma - Mad Dog Morgan

Any other "normal anomalies" you can think of from boutique labels?

On the opposite end, what are the sleaziest or most extreme titles given a proper video release by a major studio distributor?

coyoteblue

I'm not sure that Mad Dog Morgan qualifies for relatively "normal".

Lastdaysofrain

Blue Underground also released The Final Countdown which was a fairly mainstream movies if memory serves.

milo bloom

"What's normal for the spider is chaos for the fly."

After more than a decade of buying "normal" titles I thought I should own as a "normal" person, I'm finding that my true enjoyment of this hobby comes from the boutique labels. The Godzilla, Gamera and other kaiju films, collecting used Criterion titles, various anime titles. Even something like Star Trek has become so mainstream I only have the original series and the animated series on DVD, and just use Netflix for the rest.

Living Deadpan

I recently found an old Siskel & Ebert review of that! (Two Thumbs Down)

GoldenWheels

Oh it is TERRIBLY boring. I can't emphasize ENOUGH just how boring it is--especially since it has such a neat premise.

Living Deadpan

Maybe that's what I should have titled this thread: "Most boring movies released by cult/exploitation labels."

Yes, TFC is one of the most flat & mediocre films I've seen produced from an interesting concept. (Like a Peter Hyams film.)

GoldenWheels

Ha! I did try to come up with some that fit the thread too...hey Severin did Ashanti too!

You could flip it too, exploitation movies released by nomral labels....I think it's kind of weird Kino distributes Redemption films now. Fritz lang, Buster Keaton...and the Satanic Sluts Collection? WTH?

Living Deadpan

I never would have guessed Kino would release The Hills Have Eyes 2 or Zombie Lake. (FYI, Kino will be distributing Raro Video, too.)

I can't think of any other examples. Criterion's released a lot of edgy fare that qualifies as arthouse. (The most anomalous Criterion releases probably remain their Michael Bay DVDs.)

*sigh* Oh well, I created a thread with very limited possibilities.

[If we move into the music world, though, I was rather surprised that Roadrunner Records released the latest Rush album. Roadrunner's discography is filled mostly with more modern metal bands.]