^ The only thing I don’t get about that one is they released it seven years ago and I can’t tell if there’s anything different about it. Slipcover? New scan, maybe? Both films are pretty bad, but in a good way, so I’m assuming it’s just a reissue due to demand (?) or maybe because AGFA didn’t have anything else in the hopper for this month?

And, as mentioned, some of those partner slips – oof!

What? Are you saying this art is exciting and interesting? It looks like they spent a whole...3uh, 30 minutes on it.

Severance (2006) is in their new partner releases. I have seen it a couple of times and I remember it to be a lot of fun. Not sure if I want to own it though. It has been several years since I watched it last.

It at least has some decent slipcover art.

Severance – Vinegar Syndrome

Yup. Anyone who can doodle can now get a commission to doodle a VS slip. Even better, you often only need to do a sketch for one side and slap the logo on the other! I can see why a lot of people passing by the VS store here look in the window and think it might be a greeting card store from a distance!

The laziest one this month has got to be LOVE CRIME. I mean, unless the characters spend time making art with with construction paper and scissors, this offers just the thinnest of thematic relevance.

Haha. Yeah, I saw that one and thought about posting it but I hesistated to even call that "art" which is why I didn't post it.

That one reminds me a lot of many of those old lazy-ass steelbooks from the past:

Wow - I never saw any of those before. Its almost insulting that these companies take it for granted that someone, somewhere, will collect anything that’s shovelled at them. I must be old-fashioned, but if it wouldn’t have passed muster as an actual original theatrical release poster – or at least come close, like some of the more painterly slip artists attempt to – then don’t use it. I get that the slip should differ from the sleeve art, but at this rate these things might become impediments to purchases at some point. Of course I say that while noting that the usual numbers have already bought into many of this month’s VS partner slips and one of the better ones (BONE SICKNESS) has sold out, even though it duplicates the sleeve and the back is a weak still photo.

I think the "laziness" of some of those stem from likeness rights, especially with some boutique labels. They can't afford to pay the stars more money, so they tell the artist to whip up some abstract works instead. Now with major labels doing that, well, yes, they are being lazy and cheap since they can afford to pay stars more money for their likenesses. Arrow Video does this a lot but that's why they have reversible artwork.

I wonder what changed about likeness rights in recent years, or if it is just that they don't want to go through the approval process, and I am guessing that is why Shout/Scream Factory 4Ks only include the original art and do not include the newer art that they originally included with their blu-ray releases.

The likeness rights have certainly seemed to become an issue, and it’s come up a few times on these boards in recent days, largely whenever a boutique unleashed a whack of substandard clip-art-y slips. I suppose there is an advantage to the boutiques that have spent years getting people hooked on packaging, when they can just commission bare-minimum design work and still move a substantial number of copies to the ‘day one’ crowd that should really know better, or at least expect better at this point. Maybe future actor contracts will need clauses stipulating that their work on this or that particular film may be reinterpreted within reason by graphic designers and artists for future home video editions, or streaming menu thumbnails, etc. That might be better than letting them or their unions (presumably?) veto such work unless they get paid even more money for projects they may have made 30 years ago. I am glad that several boutiques at least offer the reversible sleeve, but a few of them (88 Films and Eureka in particular) are maddeningly inconsistent about it, and that’s on their releases of old Hong Kong films, where likeness rights are likely not an issue at all.

It looks like the Last Tango in Paris LE box is close to selling out on the VS website but there's a separate LE box that's exclusive to Melusine that has plenty in stock.

I just bought my first partner label title this weekend with the "Hey its intermission time" bluray from AGFA. I've seen bits of the Something Weird tapes on YouTube and I loved seeing all these old theater promos they played in front of movies when we had the Alamo Drafthouse in KC. I should get my copy on Thursday. I also got the LE box set of Southern Comfort off of Ebay. I missed out on this one right before it sold out on the VS Website.

Look at Kino Lorber -- they always use the theatrical U.S. posters - 100% of the time from I can tell.

That’s a fantastic set, and great value if you’re into that stuff because it’s got nearly 12 hours of content. I bought it early on and I still haven’t finished it. Because it has a lot of similar content, I tend to put on one of the segments (which are nearly two hours apiece) from time to time.

Totally agree. I really appreciate how they respect the original designers who were hired to help ‘sell’ the films, especially the ones from back in the ‘painted posters’ era, but also the modern designers. It’s an art form, and while there are some solid slipcover artists out there, I’ve seen very few that really nail it like the higher-end pros did, or do. It’s nice when the boutiques give us the reversible option on the sleeves, but it bugs me when they don’t, and aren’t consistent about (like Eureka, 88). I wonder if Kino can simply afford to use original artwork because they’re bigger than most boutiques with a larger library (consider all their sub-brands) and because they never go overboard on supplements and especially collector-baiting packaging like the competition does. With Kino / KL you generally get existing supplements if possible, maybe a new commentary, and a slip. Nice and simple.

This will likely be my first of many purchases from AGFA so I'm excited to finally have it. The way I look at it you can watch it for maybe 15-20 minutes before watching a movie at home and it'll be great pre-show entertainment. At almost 12 hours it'll take a long time to get through it so it'll be well worth the money.

Of all the Partner labels, I have more AGFA releases than any other. I was a huge fan of the Something Weird catalog going way back, and collected a large number of their DVD release, which I similarly considered fair value for what you got one each one: two or three Grindhouse features, some nudie/burlesque shorts, extensive trailer and still galleries, and even commentaries, so when it became apparent that AGFA was the primary beneficiary of the SW catalog I was stoked. I don’t have all the Blu-rays (the ‘mixtape’ discs without the uncut originals don’t really do it for me) but I’ve got most of them. If you dig that bottom-rung exploitation vibe, Something Weird was a treasure trove and it’s good to see AGFA (and a couple of companies, like Film Masters) stepping up, even though the pace of their releases isn’t as frequent as SW’s was.

I just finished revisiting THE DEFILERS / SMELL OF HONEY double feature. Both of those are legendary. The Blu doesn’t have anything that isn’t on my old SW discs except the booklet, but it was a nice upgrade of two very watchable films.

I have AGFA’s old DVD of SUPER SOUL BROTHER and THE GUY FROM HARLEM on an old Code Red double feature (with FORCE FOUR), so I’ve had my eye on AGFA’s recent Rene Martinez triple-feature – which adds ROAD OF DEATH, which I haven’t seen. Based on the other two, Martinez was a really low-end hack, but there’s a sincerity to his films that makes them quite amusing. Hoping that one finally turns up in the next sale.

The Blood-A-Rama and Shock-A-Rama triple features are also a lot of fun, and while Doris Wishman’s films can range from enjoyably corny to real chores, it’s nice to have so many of them collected in those three sets they did, albeit on sale, of course.

A couple of other real stunners from AGFA are SATAN’S CHILDREN, which I never saw before their Blu-ray, and SOMETIMES AUNT MARTHA DOES DREADFUL THINGS, which I had on their earlier DVD and happily upgraded. Both are highly deserving of cult status.

I really dug Satan's Children. It's a bit talky in parts (but what older exploitation films aren't?), there's some pretty outrageous ideas going on there, and the finale is a real gut punch. I second the recommendation.

I have Drafthouse Films Bluray called "Trailer War" and it's great to have along side the AGFA Intermission Time bluray. I want more of these AGFA blurays and next on my buy list is the Drug Scare Films and the Mystery Mixtape set.

You might also like the 42nd St. Forever compilations from Synapse as well as Garagehouse Pictures’ Trailer Trauma collections.

The fifth volume of 42nd St. Forever was produced in association with Drafthouse as well, and it’s my personal favorite trailer comp.

VS announced on Facebook they are doing a 4/20 flash sale tomorrow for 24 hours. Who knows what movies they'll put on sale but I'll check it out.

I had to get the AGFA Drug Scare films for $14.99 which is half off.

Meh, nothing for me.

I actually watched Story of a Junkie this past weekend, I didn't realize it was the same director as the classic punk rock documentary DOA.

It's bleak and plotless, you basically follow a junkie around the seedy areas of 80s NYC for an hour and half. That's pretty much it. No set up, denouement or conclusion. It's almost like "90 Minutes in a Junkie's life" even though the film encompasses multiple days. But oddly compelling, I can see myself revisiting it, despite the lack of narrative.

I got my 4/20 order in the mail today, and it's a experience from VS the same week that I ordered it. I also noticed that my copy of the VSA release of Red Surf was #4999 of #5000, which I have never noticed that those releases are hand numbered. Well, either I never noticed that or I knew and forgot. It kind of makes me want to back and check the other ones I have and see if I got any interesting numbers.

The VSA movies have always been numbered I got my 4/20 sale items in the mail too. That's got to be some sort of record for them.

If you buy from VS during a non-sale period, their shipping is remarkably fast. Even as a non-subscriber.