chente

The copy I have is non-anamorphic but it is english subtitled. Check the link in my signature and go to "owned - other region" to see what the box set looks like.

pro-bassoonist

Such English-friendly disc does not exist. The only anamorphic disc is a French edition where the distrib did their own transfer. Aside from the even teh Scandinavian prints are non-16/9 (hence the non-16/9 post you see in the UK box).

For the best and likely cheaper version with subs you will have to look at Strand's disc (given you don't need to own the UK box).

Pro-B

toddly6666

PRO-BASS or anyone else,
How is it watching the Strand Disc on an HDTV? Does the English subtitles go off the screen when watching it zoomed or you have to watch it in Wide Zoom? I don't mind English-dialogue letterboxed DVDs, but I'm getting tired of watching letterboxed foreign films, because I have to compromise the video quality in order to see the subtitles normally. What's the best way of watching this film on an HDTV? I don't want to buy it unless it's not gonna be a big deal...

pro-bassoonist

Toddly,

I have SONY XBR3 and lately have been running all of my DVDs through my S300-Blu-Ray player. It upconverts them to 1080 and all of the non-anamorphic discs I have are framed-in (there are black bars on all four sides of the picture).
If I run the same discs through my Oppo I can still watch the film but on selected discs, if the subs are very low towards the bottom, zooming via the TV does not help much. I also keep a second older player, Cyberhome, which believe it or not does a better job with some of the problematic discs.

Regarding Fucking Amal, R1, the subs are not too low so you should be able to watch the feature without any major issues. What player do you have? Does it have a zoom feature like the old Malatas had?

Ciao,
Pro-B

toddly6666

PRO-BASS, the multi-region DVD player I have now is just a plain ol' Panasonic one, no great zoom feature like on my Malata (which i left in the USA). I only have the choice of using Widescreen, Wide Zoom, 14/9, and Zoom. i'm assuming that I would have to watch Fucking Amal in a bit distorted Wide Zoom if I wanted to fill the screen and see the subtitles. You know my taste, is this Strand Fucking Amal worth it? Will I like it? haha...I didn't like Lilya-For-Ever, but i'm assuming Lilya is totally different. From what i can tell from the Fucking Amal trailer, I do love coming-of-age, exploring sexuality, high school kid movies that aren't too depressing.


PRO-BASS, in an unrelated topic. Have you bought yourself an HD/Blu Ray DVD player yet? I think that you have the best DVD collection at DVD Talk with your majority of films being obscure, foreign, arty flicks, so I'm just curious of what kind of HD/Blu Ray DVDs you would have or already have? I can't imagine it being like what all the other HD/Blu Ray buyers are doing - buying up typical Blockbusters like Hot Fuzz, Matrix, The Patriot, etc...

pro-bassoonist

Fucking Amal is the least depressing of Moodysson's films (perhaps together with Together). So, yes I do believe that you will enjoy it tremendously.

I do not support HDDVD. So, I only have a S300 BR and a PS3 which have been with me roughly since last March.

Some of the local titles I have are:

Almodovar's Volver
The Lives of Others
Black Book
Reds
Babel
Immortal Beloved
Eyes Wide Shut
Old Boy
Good Night and Good Luck


It was also just confirmed that Run Lola Run is coming as well so I will have it in my collection on day 1 (Das Boot's release date should be up shortly)

Run Lola Run
Release Date: February 19th
Studio: Sony
MSRP $28.95

As to imports I have a couple of discs:

The UK's Algerian Oscar entry Days of Glory
Ne le dis à personne...and two more on order (Bergman is there)

There are some great import BR titles coming soon though. It was just confirmed that Cinema Paradiso (I will attach the cover work below), Trainspotting, Vidocq, and Michel Vaillant are coming very early 2008 in Japan and they are the same region as us, the US.

Actually, if you want to keep an eye on the upcoming foreign BR titles I will maintain the following thread at Blu-Ray.com which was meant to be a replica of the one I had here at TALK in the HD section:

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=12596

I will do my best to keep it updated as it will be awhile before I come back to the HD section here. Here are the cover works I mentioned above:





Ciao,
Pro-B

splattii2

"The Paper will be Blue" (2006)

Threw in this DVD last night. It's a film based on the Romanian Revolution that took place in December of 1989. I'll admit I didn't read the back of the box before watching it, nor did I have much knowledge on the revolution itself. I found myself a bit confused at times wonder who was fighting who, but after watching the film and researching the actual events I realize this was most likely the intent of the film. It was shot well and kept me entertained. A nice little surprise, but not groundbreaking.


Flandres (2006)

I had heard pretty good things about this one. It's a film that for the most part revolves around the lifestyle, morals and actions of farmers who go to war as Soldiers for France during the war. I just didn't get into it, and I don't get the appeal of this film outside of some graphic violence that I think has sold this film more then the script itself. The acting was stiff, and I think the mere 90 minute run time hurt this one. It almost felt like the victim of bad editing (along with bad acting). I didn't have an emotional draw to any of the characters or story, and I wonder if this isn't a result of the run time. Very disappointing.

toddly6666

SPLATTI, where did you order the DVD of that Romanian war film from?

toddly6666

Machine Gun Molley - (2004 Canada - Canada NTSC DVD)

This is one of the worst films i've ever seen. My favorite Canadian actor - Roy Dupius - only shows up in the last third of the film. And the movie stars one of the ugliest actresses I have ever seen, Céline Bonnier, as a "sexy?" bank robber who's getting chased by mafia men. It's like a Canadian Bonnie and Clyde. The problem is not so that this actress is ugly, it's just disgusting that they had so many sex scenes/kissing scenes with her. She is basically part Annie Lenox and part horse. And then the movie itself is all over the place. The movie chronicles her life of crime, but nothing is developed, and events happen suddenly with no lead up. And then another poor factor is that everyone is miscast. This ugly actress starts off playing a 30 year old, whom actually looks 50, and she has parents that look the same age as her. And other characters don't age as well. Bad, bad film. Roy Dupius is good of course.

toddly6666

Would you like to know about the previous adventures of Kazim from Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade? Well, not quite, but I couldn't help myself from thinking that this was like an Indiana Jones film from the perspective of Kazim. This film could have easily been called "Knock Out Ali and The Evil British Invaders".

Knock Out Ali is a professionally-made Turkish film (made for about 3 million dollars) based on a Turkish superhero of the same name. I unfortunately couldn't find the original comic online, so I have no idea how well it was adapted from the comic, but from Turkish audience reviews, it seems to be a pretty well-received film in Turkey and accurate to the comic. The film is an entertaining adventure/espionage/resistance film, far from being as emotional/smart/excellent writing as Black Book, but this film is just an entertaining popcorn flick worth seeing, especially since it's a Turkish production. The action/fight scenes are well-staged, and this movie has one of the hottest Turkish actresses, Cansu Dere, i've ever seen.

The Turkish DVD is of excellent anamorphic/DD 5.1 Turkish quality. The English subtitles are fair though - sort of like mid-90s HK DVD English subtitles.

Here's the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcy8i...eature=related

flixtime

Antikorper (2005 Germany - DVD R1 US)
The English-language title is "Antibodies", and a DVD is also available via an English-friendly UK release. A serial killer/detective movie which openly salutes at least a couple of modern classics of the genre, yet also excels to still create something unique. Wow! What a riveting experience! The last time I was as gripped by a film might have been "La Sconosciuta" (see page 1 of this thread). I found this one to be excellent on every level, and I'm fairly surprised that the film seems to have come in somewhat under the radar. Not entirely though, as writer/director Christian Alvart seems to have caught Hollywood's eye as his follow-up to this effort will be an American horror/thriller entry entitled "Case 39" (2008) starring Renee Zellwegger. The U.S. release is a 2-discer, and some might be unhappy about the burnt-in, but otherwise perfectly fine, English subtitles (I believe the UK disc might have removable subs for those who might prefer it that way).

toddly6666

PRO-BASS,
thanks for the FUCKING AMAL Strand DVD recommendation. I just saw the movie. Good movie about those stressful teenage years, not as touching as I expected it to be, but basically a better version of THIRTEEN. Definitely reminded me of Sweden always making good movies ignoring political correctness, such as dealing with teenagers/kids/sex/real issues, etc..(I thought that My Life As a Dog was one the best foreign films that I saw when I was 10 years old). The DVD quality was excellent by the way for a letterboxed DVD.

pro-bassoonist

Sure thing! You should also take a look at Moodysson's Together, equally as easy going and far from his latest depressive-minimalistic obsession with reality.

Pro-B

flixtime

With the year coming to a close, I'd be interested to read if anyone found something to be thankful for in regard to Korean cinema for the year 2007?

As for me, I viewed only about six releases so far and found they made little impact. For the curious, the titles were:

The Old Garden
Voice of a Murderer
Soo
Beautiful Sunday
The Show Must Go On
Secret Sunshine

A few other titles, already released or soon to be released on DVD, have generated some mild curiousity:

Breath
Black House
Epitaph
Wide Awake
M
May 18
Shadows in the Palace
Hwang Jin Yi
Paradise Murdered
Beyond the Years

Candidly though, I'm finding Korea's recent output so bland and underwhelming that I find it hard to justify dropping $30 for some of these films.

If anything captivated you, I'm open to hearing about it.

logboy

korean films certainly had a bad year. i personally bought very little, found most value in a late addition of the lee chang-dong collection and his latest film 'secret sunshine' also.

i don't just think this is a case of many of "us" getting settled with korean film following several years since 'oldboy' cracked the country wide-open on international interest, but more likely a general downturn as more factually hinted at via the financial situations and tactics being applied to dealing with films widely accepted in korea also, as being sub-par, with their under-performance, general inability to deliver what the flash marketing might suggest.

personally, there's a certain amount of familiarity with what we'll get, little sense of the progress or imagination you feel you'll get initially, and i'm a little concerned korea is particulary or increasingly interested in sheen - both with the presentation / style / fashion elements of the stars (characters) and in production values in the films, with little actual sign of stories of orginality; well, i find it hard to navigate enough quality to make it worthwhile not being inclined to get much more selective and prejudiced towards the films coming from there... i find it hard to be interested in an industry which seems more inclined now to follow a model that doesn't have the vitality it seemed to have just 12 months or so back, and which is at least the dominant appearance it gives out if not the total sum of how things are being done there. that said, good, solid information and experienced opinion on korean films, on a film-by-film basis remains elusive at the moment beyond one or two sites.

as for recent viewing : tekkon kinkreet, both more impressive and accessible than satoshi kon's paprika. the blu-rays for both that were issued in america are both good stuff, but i think kon's a little too inclined to forget about the audience as there's precious little at the accessible end in this feature.

masaru konuma's 1970's romanporno examples have impressed me, and finally caught 'wife to be sacrificed', a film which seems to have a very alternative take on the concept of putting a relationship to the test - i prefer 'tattooed flower vase' which kino also released early november - and the accompanying documentary 'sadistic and masochistic' (by hideo nakata, made in 2000) is not intensively studying the pink film as nikkatsu made it, but gathering thoughts and information which make a suitable addition to watching the four films that kino selected so far.

over in HK, johnnie to (et al's) 'triangle' is flawed in ways typical of HK film, but manages to get increasingly impressive as the sections pass by - better than 'exiled' for story, not a match for style, neither are as impressively fresh as the 'election' films.

finally, i caught an anthology from japan, released there a couple of years back which sneaked out in korea on dvd with subs, 'female' - the only edition i know of, and it's perhaps unlikely but plausible that it will appear elsewhere and surprise people who thought they'd never see it - helmed by the likes of ryuichi hiroki and shinya tsukamoto, based on stories written by women, that perhaps falls into erotic / romantic / reasonably pink territory. a couple of hours long, never rushed or too brief, the stories are refreshing, the mood is something quite relaxed and almost entirely dream-like. if you can catch, i'd recommend it highly.

spyfox

Hey Toddly I lol with your comment about Celine Bonnier.Since your favorite canadian actor is Roy Dupuis I should point to you that Celine was Roy girlfriend for quite a few year!I think they were still dating when the movie was filmed.Also Monica la mitraille is quite a cult figure here in Quebec.I didn't see the movie so I can't comment on it but at the time she commited her crimes she made the newspapers quite often.Almost as much as Jacques Mesrine(Can't wait to see the 2(!) movies that Vincent Casel will be doing about him)or the FLQ.

flixtime

The Savage Hunt of King Stakh (1979 Soviet Union – DVD R0 NTSC Russia)
This DVD is a RUSCICO release and therefore also received a R0 PAL release. IMDb lists a runtime of 134 minutes (but perhaps that is an error); the DVD runs 105 minutes, and is presented in what appears to be its original fullframe aspect ratio.

For more on this film (and you will find next to nothing as far as reviews at IMDb), I direct you to Tim Lucas' blog, just scroll down to the entry dated Thurday, March 27th, 2008. The link is as follows:

Tim Lucas - Video Watchblog

The film is sort of a Gothic Scooby-Doo Mystery, however do not let the latter portion of my description dissuade you from seeking out this film. Though some may find it a little on the slow side, I found "The Savage Hunt of King Stakh" to be a very impressive piece of filmmaking, and I salute Director Valeri Rubinchik for a job very well done. As is the case with some of the works by Bava, Argento, and other Italian cult filmmakers, this is the sort of film where you just need to kick back and let the marvelous marriage of visuals and sound lift you on a wave and carry you off to cinematic bliss. Why, oh, why is this film not much better known? It truly deserves to be brought out of obscurity.

Returning to the DVD, among other options, the film features Russian audio with English subtitles. It also features an English audio dub. To follow on the point raised by Tim Lucas where he speculates that the film might work better in its English dub form, I would agree. I watched the English dub and thought it was well done, with the dubbing artists speaking in British-accented English. Utilizing this English audio track gives you the feeling of watching an arthouse Hammer film. I sampled various scenes with the Russian audio but found that having to read the subtitles sort of took me out of the sense of immersion I had with the English audio (where I could be under greater influence of the top-notch imagery). An extra of merit on the DVD, is an okay twelve minute interview with the director; the interview does have English subtitles.

And here is a link to the technical details of the PAL release – just so you can take a look at about a dozen screen captures from the film (in addition to the image posted at Tim Lucas' site):

Screen captures via DVDFreak

flixtime

Elipsis (2006 Venezuela - DVD R4 Mexico)
I’m a little perturbed by the Red Sox and their continual bitching, bellyaching, and whining like little schoolgirls over their season-opening trip to Japan, so I will be brief.

Back on topic…this film - ELIPSIS - is a winner. It is stylish and nicely directed by Eduardo Arias-Nath. While the story is rather basic, the telling of the tale is entirely captivating. The performances by rising Hollywood star Edgar Ramirez and the rest of the cast are quite well-matched to the material. ELIPSIS might not be the most weighty film ever made, but it did prove very successful and made for an entertaining viewing.

For a more in-depth look at the film, you can read the following:

ELIPSIS review - by Charlie Prince at cinemastrikesback.com

flixtime

M (2007 South Korea – DVD R3 South Korea)
This is the latest directorial effort from director LEE Myung-se ("Duelist", "Nowhere to Hide"). Close and veteran readers of this forum might recall how much I loved [insert sarcasm] DUELIST.

Let it not be said I am not the forgiving type…or I'm just a nutty film addict. A glutton for punishment, I actually dropped the cash on the recently released Korean 3-disc set for "M". Shall we see how things went this time around? "M" was a great visual exercise (and more than that alone), plentiful in passages which invoked a feel of film noir in color…mixing vibrant color with deep shadows, light and dark. I found the film to be ambitious and successful as Director Lee drew me in to his tale slowly but surely. The story contains scenes of romance which are touching and scenes of suspense which are effective. Ultimately, while not profound, "M" is certainly a meaningful look at what it is to live. Director LEE Myung-se…bravo!


A Love (2007 South Korea – DVD R3 South Korea)
Latest directorial effort from KWAK Kyung-taek ("Typhoon", "Friend"). There does not appear to be a listing at IMDb for this film. A by-the-book romance/gangster melodrama. It reminded me of a lesser version of "Sunflower". In the end, I'd call it only average and fairly disposable, but still entertaining…a decent viewing.

Here’s a review:
A Love aka Sarang review at lunapark6.com

BuddhaWake

I need to get M. I haven't picked up any korean movies in like 3 years. and after seeing Soo tonight I'm not shocked.

flixtime

Yeah, SOO, had its share of significant problems, didn't it. I've been unimpressed by Korea's recent output too, but am tempted to give it another go now that I've had some away time. I'm curious about OUR TOWN, THE DEVIL'S GAME, SEVEN DAYS (which DVDTalker Engel07 had a thread about), and some of the ones I mentioned up this page in post #64.

BuddhaWake

epitaph has been picked up by TLA and I would honestly wait as it was very difficult to follow. I enjoyed it but is out there. Black house reminded me a bit more of another korean movie, the one with the suicidal taxi driver from a few years ago. is more of a mystery that turns into a psychopathic murderer type thing. no rush to get it but it was still pretty good except for the last 10 minutes

flixtime

La Antena (2007 Argentina – DVD R4 Argentina)
From its opening scenes and throughout, I held significant admiration - from a technical viewpoint - for this film. However, I would admit that it took me about a third of the film's runtime before I was able to develop an attachment to the characters and plot. After that though, it was smooth sailing as I found myself increasingly captivated by the proceedings. There's lots of information on this at IMDb, so I'll spare you further musings.

samper

Le Grand Chef (Korean)

Seonsaeng Kim Bong-du (Korean)

Both, average.

flixtime

Two of Asia's leading filmmakers recently released their latest efforts on DVD...

Sparrow (2008 Hong Kong - DVD R1 (Tai Seng) U.S.)
The prolific Johnnie To misses the mark in his latest directorial effort. The movie is light and puffy; I found it substanceless and unengaging. Nothing much stood out as being of special merit. An effort like this required a higher degree of visual poetry in the telling…perhaps someone like Kim Ki-duk could have pulled it off, but Johnnie To could not…at least not this time around. What bothered me foremost among other things was that the musical score was just too overwhelming. Instead of being driven by visual storytelling, director To – especially in the first half hour – commits a serious error by letting the music become far too intrusive, such that the delicate balance between aural and visual communication is set off kilter. My suggestion…treat yourself instead to a double-feature of Demy's LOLA and Bresson's PICKPOCKET.

Kabei - Our Mother (2008 Japan - DVD R2 Japan (1-disc version))
No frills but all heart mark this return to form for director Yoji Yamada. This is simplicity at its finest…just the basics of strong character development and a meaningful tale to tell. While it doesn't reach the magnificence of THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI, it certainly engages on an emotional level. I appreciate that director Yamada doesn't feel the need to call attention to his undeniable skills by stomping any sort of technical filmmaking footprint all over the proceedings. His feel for creating characters you can care about is as good as anyone in the business.



Anyone have any recommendations in regard to recent films from Japan, China/Hong Kong, or South Korea? While I've watched an okay number of enjoyable efforts, I still get the feeling 2008 is registering as a rather down year for cinema from the Far East.