Hello all,

I'm new here, so glad to see an active forum about DVD.

I'm just wondering, other than Criterion Collection, is there any other company doing the same type of things about foregin film?

Thanks!!

Please let me know if I'm posting in the wrong area. Thanks for reading!!!

Try Kino Video at http://www.kino.com/

Plexifilim is another (www.plexifilm.com).

Although I haven't come across a title of theirs that has me the least bit curious.

Film Movement is a subscription-based company that releases a different foreign title each month.

The only two companies that come to mind are Kino (mentioned above) and Image.

Both explore both foreign and domestic films of note, and often offer extras that are at least as good as some of the Criterions.

Fox Lorber also produces a nice amount of rarer foreign films.

I'll add another vote for kino. I have a few Russian films that they put out (including one Academy Award winner Moscow Doesn't Beleive in Tears), and both had decent extras and a decent transfer.

FANTOMA is almost like a cult-Criterion. Most of the movies under Fantoma's banner are extremly rare films, that probably don't fit under Criterion's usually high-brow monicker. FANDO AND LIS, the Yasuzo Masumura films, THE GREAT SILENCE and their Fassbinder discs are all fine purchases of interesting films. Their disc of Francis Ford Coppola's ONE FROM THE HEART is a a real winner, too.

MILESTONE has a tendency to focus on silent films, very obscure foreign/independant films from recent years, and animation. I'd say their best releases are their animation discs...Cut Up: The Films of Grant Munroe (two disc set), Norman McLaren Collector's Edition (two disc set, contains 14 short films, feature length documentary with audio commentary, and a 104 page booklet), and the Winsor McCay: Master Edition (contains all of McCay's surviving work, audio commentaries, and a 20 minute documentary). They have some good discs for foreign films, including H.G. Clouzot's MYSTERY OF PICASSO (rather average transfer, but two fine audio commentaries, and Alain Resnais' short film Guernica, make it a very good disc). I believe they are also working on a definitive edition of F.W. Murnau's NOSFERATU for this year, as well.

FLICKER ALLEY is more of a silent film interest company, but on June 1st, they are releasing a two disc set of Louis Feuillade's 1916 serial series JUDEX, and next year, they will be releasing F.W. Murnau's Phantom. Their current DVD, Lewis Milestone's GARDEN OF EDEN, is one of the most well transferred silent films out there.

WELLSPRING occasionally does good work...their Fassbinder DVDs aren't quite Criterion quality, but they all range from decent to great.

And then we have newbie company KOCH LORBER, who did good work with THE UMBRELLAS OF CHEROURG, and are working on a DVD of Ermanno Olmi's masterpiece THE TREE OF WOODEN CLOGS and a double disc set of Fellini's LA DOLCE VITA.

KINO VIDEO is also quite good, as someone mentioned. They're mostly a silent film company (and their disc quality varies greatly in range), but their releases of foreign films tend to look better than alot of their silents. METROPOLIS could have been better (really awful commentary and improper speeding really drags the disc down), but the disc looks great, and Marcel Pagnol's Fanny Trilogy looks spectacular. They've also been working on a DVD of Luis Bunuel's L'AGE DOR since early last year.

Thank you all!!!
Really thanks for the information!
I'll look into those DVDs.

only problem is that sometimes, the transfer's for their movies aren't the greastest.

i'd suggest http://www.homevision.com/

they work very closely with Criterion & i'm not sure if they're the same compnay after all or if they're just partners on several releases...

Not exactly the same company, but there is a relation between the two (its kind of a convoluted story)

Oh, I forgot about www.silentera.com for foregin silent films. They'll usually have links to purchase DVDs they review.

the cover even looks like vaguely similiar (note where Rialto pictures logo is.. hmmm)

Thanks, excellent link. I don't know how I missed that one. The Galaxie 500 set looks sweet!

Criterion and Home Vision are both owned by the same people.

Home Vision distributes the Criterion Collection discs.

There is no Fox Lorber anymore - they've since become "Wellspring" and have done a lot of fine work - and they've been licencing some titles to Criterion, like the Antoine Doinel and Fassbinder boxed sets, as well as a rumoured "Jules et Jim" Criterion release.

Koch Lorber has nothing to do with the awful Fox Lorber except that Mr. Lorber was involved with both companies.

And Koch (the company) had no connection with Koch Lorber.

It's confusing - but there are a lot of good R1 releases from various companies.

One thing about moving away from R1 territory is I've let my foreign flick guard down. Can anybody recommend Image's Les vampires (1915) to me? Is it worth the cash?

Somewhat on thread: You can check out Blue Underground. Their movies aren't the artsy stuff but they do like cult movies a lot. Troma always has some different movies also. Of course, there's always Anchor Bay for your horror needs.