Well said. Hi-def will only make a lot of these niche titles (which make up fully more than half of my own collection) look a bit better, not be any better. And with a lot of B-movies, exploitation and drive-in fare, Asian imports and what have you, getting the best picture is never the goal to a true fan as much as just seeing as much of this often wild stuff as you can.

In the case of that "one-out-of-ten-out-of-ten" title that's worth the upgrade, I feel your pain. I've actually got a grand total of 11 Blu-Ray discs, and even during these sales, I just can't find anything else worth upgrading (among the titles I already own). I certainly don't think SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE or FEAR OF A BLACK HAT or SHANGHAI EXPRESS or PHONE (a Tartan release) or SHUTTER (ditto) or just about any of the titles in the MIDNIGHT MOVIES lineup are really worth the upgrade just to get a potentially better picture for what are essentially enjoyable-as-is B-movies.

As for downloading, I'm generally for it as long as it exists alongside the packaged media formats, so I can buy the titles that I feel are worth owning on disc, and delete the others without having them cluttering my shelves and losing money when I sell or trade them. As long as I one day can have the ability to transfer downloads to my TV in reasonably good quality instead of hunching in front of a computer, I won't mind sacrificing a few extras just to see what's new from around the world (one of the reasons Jaman and its kin are worth a look). Downloading is a good way to sample films where hi-def detail just isn't that important and without paying $15 to $20 and getting stuck with more "sellers" than "keepers", which can easily happen when you're dealing with untested titles from niche distributors. It's coming whether we like it or not. I'm just hoping I can make the best of it and have a much tighter and more refined collection of packaged media as a result.

you will get some smaller labels do hi-def, but as to how many do and how well they manage to produce the discs, hard to tell, impossible. blue underground, MoC are doing BR. I suspect synapse will. others won't - we'll have a two-tier system, I'd guess, and as the next couple of years gradually pass I'll have to juggle choosing between DVD and BR editions according to cost and quality in more of a conjunction than has been necessary for years, if ever.

I see the "niche" labels having a tough time surviving in the current climate.

I think that, between five and ten years ago, you had this perfect storm for things like giallo and Asian cinema, where you had DVD making a huge consumer splash, as well as the internet peaking in its popularity. With the 'net, it allowed for these genres to receive a lot of exposre, and with DVD, it made these obscure movies available to the general public in a way that they weren't before.

The problem is, that this also created a bubble, where the perception of the demand for such material was greater than the actual demand. You'd have people hanging around message boards and websites looking for new things to watch on their fancy new DVD players, and they were introduced to John Woo, Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, and others.

The best material from these genres was released in that brief window, and demand for the material began to cool. A lot of people got their fill of the material, and moved on to other things, leaving only a small number of hardcore collectors.

i agree with the other things you say, but i think this is primarily wishful thinking (perhaps subconcious). it's partly also the way in which cult films have been marketed in a way that never quite takes it beyond brief periods where companies capitalise on a new generation or new-found interest or a new way to sell something that's been sold before. it's also a little too one-sided from the perspective of the companies opinions when they're the one's who failed to truly grasp how and where people's taste wanted and were willing to shift to - though fans often don't want to take chances even with supposedly adventurous choices also...

for me, i think these small areas of interest are done a disservice by the frequent use of the terms associated with it, that fans both want more people to love this stuff unquestionably and completely and want the sometimes contrary desire of keeping it obscure (a misunderstanding of the benefits of spreading the word, brought about by sudden dramatic blips in interest in small ares, for certain films), and that companies don't quite make the most of a chance to establish a more substantial and diverse range of choices - and the fans don't either, because they're often loathed or blind to the opportunity to place demands or dig for information and share it... instead, what we more often get is a temporary, cynical, manipulated and limited commercial exploitation of stuff that was once lost, has long been very familiar, or is newly-discovered to some or many but has a relatively visible history.

plenty of new and unusual stuff does get seen and loved, but i find it hard to connect with an idea of this being anything much beyond having resulted form a rampant appetite for the format and capitalising on the prices, realtive availability or some countries' output more than something able to be actively and conciously specific about the content of the films matching known requirements.

all too often the releases fit into a long-established range of understandings rather than stretching towards new ground of material ignored or unknown or dismissed, often for decades, often eternally. and when they stretch, the audience often doesn't know that the directions are diversifying if they're offered films that simply don't come across because of the advertising (marketing) or because people associate a certain range of material with "cult films" more than they associate an interest in more unusual, foreign, or old material with the desire to go on some kind of adventure to newer or unfamiliar material on a regular basis.

Well, everyone is going to want stuff in hi-def, but I was talking to my friend. If DVD slows down as a business, at least, enough for studios to focus primarily on Blu-Ray, then it's possible DVD could become a cheap outlet for things like this. Niche companies could flourish putting out titles that are hard-to-find and/or rare or out of print and aren't going to make it to BD in a million years, or films that are so damaged they wouldn't really benefit from hi-def, and studios would be more willing to license because there would no longer be a real chance THEY would be putting it out on DVD.

I think I need to hurry, suck it up and buy the Oldboy tin.

Have fun finding it as it's been OOP for a while now.

I've seen them at more than one FYE in my area recently.

Well, perhaps Blue Underground isn't feeling the heat just yet. For those who don't frequent the HD forum here, they finally updated the Blu-Ray section of their website.

http://www.blue-underground.com/blu-ray.php

The first releases (all catalogue stuff) are:

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE
MANIAC
VIGILANTE
FIRE AND ICE
THE STENDHAL SYNDROME

and, from the promotional video from their site:
TWO EVIL EYES
UNCLE SAM
DEAD AND BURIED

I have (or have had) five of these and feel no great need to see them in hi-def (maybe with a price drop . . . ;), but perhaps the unitiated or the gotta-have-everything-in-HD camp will find much to enjoy with these.

^Does anyone honestly NEED Uncle Sam in HD?

Precisely.


.

Think it has been back in stock on Amazon for a couple of months now if you are still looking for it.

what youre describing is the possibility of a fortunate honeymoon period. we've had that with DVD, and, I think, seen companies and fans suckered into thinking it lasts forever. it doesn't... it can, however, be an opportunity to change a cycle that repeats with each new format, one that's not yet been broken. it accounts for an introduction, seems to be a hope that the boom in obscurities in DVD can or should happen again with BR, but it doesn't account for an overall picture that accounts for having been through it already and having damaged the appetite for going through a revolution that we could have gone through and built upon if we could see all the aspects which pop-up and never become accepted as issues or problems.

I think the average dvd consumer has become much savvier over the last three years in their buying habits. Lots of people have moved to a rental only model of watching dvds which hurts the smaller independent companies. It's the real reason why dvd revenues are down. I do think at the beginning of the decade you had a perfect storm of events which propelled niche dvds to a height that we likely won't see again.

if the USA Market was geared towards those in the public who've been buying, I'd have expected online promotion to be obvious and consistent, when it's been more non-existent.

the alternative? if you consider how the system doesnt suit us, consider what we complain about, theyve been pitching to someone else wallet : the major chains and the blockbuster outlets, directly.

So true. This past decade has allowed me (and no doubt many others), after years of patchy but dedicated VHS and laserdisc collecting (and selling and donating :lol: ), to finally bring together an "ideal" collection of niche titles, stuff I've wanted to own as a collection for well over 25 years, and now I'm all but finished. The occasional title pops up on a U.S. label from time to time that piques my interest, but for all intents and purposes, that part of my collection--and it's a major part--is finished. And upgrading all of it to hi-def just isn't necessary when the DVDs, even upscaled, are perfectly acceptable. We're not talking the latest high-tech Hollywood blockbusters here! ;)

And while I'm glad that many of the films from distributors like Anchor Bay, Blue Underground, Tartan, Noshame (whoever gets those) and several others will eventually turn up on hi-def for a new generation to discover, there's just as many that won't be done any favours by the new format even if they come out on it thanks to the average to below-average quality of the extant materials: I'm thinking along the lines of some of the real B-movies released by Something Weird, Retromedia, Concorde/New Horizons, Crash, Redemption/Jezebel, BCI/Navarre (despite the latter already releasing stuff on Blu-Ray). And even if the original materials hold up to hi-def treatment, a lot of the films themselves still won't be worth a sticker price of more than the $5 or $10 they often go for now.



Not sure I'm reading this right. I've often used the websites of niche companies for information and browsing, but if they do more pitching to the major chains--real stores and virtual stores--where I've tended to buy this stuff anyways, what's so bad about that? Those places generally do spend more money on DVD than any home collector ever could. It's up to us to to the research at places like this if we want to take a chance on an untested title.

id like to be buried inside the oldboy tin when i die

Aside from Oldboy and Tale of Two Sisters, what are other people's Top 5 Tartan releases? [Since there's a consensus Tartan released some turkeys, this should help me and others not so well-aquainted with J/K-Horror] --Peter

1.Oldboy (
2. A Tale of Two Sisters
3. Lady Vengeance
4. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
5. Divergence
6. Marebito (This is a scary F-ed up movie even if it isnt that great of a film. Still ts got some spooky images.

As indicated by chris, the Park Chan Wook trilogy & A Tale of Two Sisters.

I also liked Tartan USA's releases of some Shinya Tsukamoto films like Tetsuo, A Snake of June & Vital.

1) The Hidden Blade
2) Red Road
3) Death of Mr. Lazarescu
4) The Page Turner
5) Battle in Heaven

I liked a lot of their releases, but they eventually started to just put out a lot of lame J-Horror titles which simply saturated their market.

Still, very sad to see them go. They filled a great niche. They really should have been more successful, but I blame poor execution on their part and a lack of quality titles. Criterion has a reputation for quality titles, so they can manage to squeeze a lesser title here and there.

yeah it would be cool if someone listed ALL of their must-have releases.

I'd go with the UK discs for Tetsuo, Battle in Heaven and The Death of Mr. Lazarescu -- the R1s are rather poor PAL-to-NTSC transfers.

I second Marebito. It deals heavily with Lovecraftian themes and (PRAISE THE LAWD!) there's no ghosts seeking vengeance! No ghosts at all. I found the story really fascinating.

And since lots of people hate it you can find it for decent prices on Ebay and Half.com.