shonokin

Hi all... I've searched around through the forums and have found some threads about Brazilian retailers who ship internationally, but the threads are all pretty old. Has anyone found a decent international retailer from more recently than 2005?

I've also checked the sticky at the top of this sub-forum and there are a few Brazilian listings, though several are dead links now.

dvdworld.com.br seems sort of promising from its past reviews on this forum but I am not inclined to give out so much incredibly personal information. Does anyone know if they've changed that policy? BTW are there any of these outfits that take paypal?

Also submarino.com.br seems promising and has what I'm looking for, but I could not find anything about an international shipping policy.

How about Saraiva.com.br?

I'm looking for one very particular 7 DVD tin box set of National Kid and that's it. I know it's my first post here, but any help in getting this figured out would be really appreciated. Thank you!

BuddhaWake

try cdpoint.com.br, livrariasaraiva.com.br and dvdworld.com.br even fnac.com.br

shonokin

Does dvdworld still require all sorts of over the top paperwork?
at saraiva (who has the set for the best price before shipping) I could not find an international shipping policy. I emailed them through their help widget but have never heard back.

BuddhaWake

yes. saraiva does ship internationally. I'm not sure what the confusion on your part is, the information is right there on your cart. all you have to do is to pick the continent and it will tell you what the shipping is. I can't post the link because it leads to the root and you didn't say where you were. guessing north america. so shipping is $84 for 1st item, $30 for each after that.

shonokin

Thanks for your response and investigation.

BTW DVDWorld now takes Paypal, which when using it does not ask for any of the very personal paperwork.

BuddhaWake

that is very good news regarding dvdworld, do they send you a request for funds already converted in US dollars? I ask because dvdmuseum in Argentina does but the rates is not as favorable as if you just faxed the form to them with the OK.

TheDoug

Can anyone inform me as to why shipping from Brazil is so damn expensive? Also I've tried dvdworld.com.br but even with Google translate I can't seem to set up an account. Any suggestions of whose site is easiest to order from?
I'm attempting to order the blu-ray of BAARIA: A Portado Vento.

BuddhaWake

cdpoint.com.br is the easiest but also most expensive. shipping is high because the Real is strong and the dollar sucks so the combination kills.

flixtime

TheDoug, are you interested in the Brazilian Blu-ray because of the 2.35 OAR? I haven't yet picked up the 1.78 U.S. Blu-ray. But in checking out the 2.35 trailer (on youtube) vs. the 1.78 trailer (on youtube), I actually much prefer the framing on the 1.78 trailer. It actually looks like the 1.78 trailer simply opened up the frame on the 2.35 trailer, so you are actually gaining more picture information (and not losing any off the sides). Setting aside OAR and director intent, I actually think the 2.35 framing looks a little tight (especially with all the Italian talking with their hands stuff...haha). I don't know for sure that the U.S. Blu-ray is indeed a replication of the 1.78 (seemingly open-matte) trailer but it seems a fair bet, versus the U.S. Blu-ray being an entirely different 1.78 cropping which differs from the 1.78 open matte trailer.

Anyway, this is all how things look to my eyes...the 1.78 framing in the trailer looks better than the 2.35 framing in the trailer...and the 1.78 framing in the trailer is actually giving you more information at the top and bottom of the picture without cutting off any information on the sides. If the 1.78 U.S. Blu-ray indeed replicates the 1.78 trailer on youtube, then I'm happy with getting the U.S. Blu-ray.

TheDoug

Thanks Flixtime for your aspect ratio observations of the framing on both the U.S. blu-ray vs the Brazilian one which is 2.35 OAR. That was my main incentive for investing in the Brazilian dvd....but the cost being prohibitive in buying single disc dvd for over $80.00 has since squelched my interest. I may first rent this from Netflix and if I like the film invest in the Region A dvd.

flixtime

Hi TheDoug, if you do end up renting the U.S. release, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the framing. Just for those who might be curious, here are a couple of youtube links:

1 - Appears to be a 1.78 trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_ZaT8zqWok

2 - Appears to be a 2.35 trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaP2Fy35M_Y

Now first simply set aside that the 1.78 trailer is higher resolution. The fact that these are different trailers makes it a little tougher to compare, but there are many shots common to both trailers where you can see that they are both framed the same on the sides of the picture...while the 1.78 trailer is giving you more information at the top and bottom. As I said before, I think the 2.35 framing is too tight on the top and bottom. Also, from an artistic perspective, I believe the 1.78 framing seems a better choice...it seems to better communicate the visual information. After my previous post, I did look at the U.S. Blu-ray screen caps at DVDBeaver. They actually look fairly well composed in terms of side-to-side. Adding a matte top and bottom seems to hurt a couple of the shots, but the others seem not to suffer, and even those two shots might play to my feeling that the 2.35 was simply too tight on the top and bottom.

Anyway, back to the youtube trailer comparison. Some time markers to compare what appear to be exact shots:

:07 seconds on the first trailer, against :08 seconds on the second trailer - look at all the detail (wooden frame of the mirror at the top left, horse statues along the bottom left)...all this detail looks like it belongs in the shot, but in the 2.35 trailer it is being matted out

1:07 on the first trailer, against 1:08 on the second trailer - you are seeing more info. on the first 1.78 trailer.

1:15 - 1:18 on the first, against 1:16 - 1:20 on the second - again more info. on the first

1:22 on the first, against 1:24 on the second - again more info. on the first, and as an example of frame compostion, to my eyes those two white lights on the top of the first trailer look like they belong in the shot instead of being matted out, the same for the instrument below the drum in the lower right corner of the shot (and with all three aforementioned examples there is no information being cut from the sides)

There are a number of more shots that match up if you go through the trailers:

:18 on the first, against :19 on the second

:44 on the first, against :45 on the second (to my eye that black pot along the bottom border at the center of the shot looks like it should be part of the shot composition...in the second 2.35 it looks too tight (aka chopped out of the bottom)).

Anyway, "yes" it appears I currently have too much time on my hands. Again, I don't know that the U.S. 1.78 framing matches the trailer (perhaps it doesn't and the U.S. Blu-ray has indeed been cropped). At the same time, the few screen caps at DVDBeaver do seem to look pretty good (aka nothing missing from the sides). I'd bet if Pro-B were still around he would be able to shed some light on things.

The fact that the two U.S. Blu-ray reviews I read proclaim that it was cropped does have me wondering though especially since they watched the entire movie...maybe the 1.78 trailer is not replicated on the Blu-ray. At the same time, maybe the director realized the 2.35 was a poor framing choice and simply opened it up for subsequent distribution in other markets, and the U.S. Blu-ray does indeed reflect that...wish I could see some footage from the U.S. Blu-ray or at least more screen caps to get an idea. Or maybe I just fumbled this whole thing with the aspect ratio of the trailers and all this theorizing has been a waste of breath.

So if anyone actually does sample the U.S. Blu-ray, please do compare the Blu-ray versus some of the aforementioned trailer scenes.



Hey TheDoug, I recall you reading some of my thoughts on LET THE RIGHT ONE IN in the Indian thread a long while back. I did watch the U.S. remake and my first reaction was that I liked it better. I can't say for sure that my familiarity with the story might have made it easier for me this second go 'round, and I don't recall too much of the original. That being said, I think the U.S. version smoothed out a lot of my issues with the original. I bought into the dynamic between the characters more in the U.S. version. The U.S. version has a few issues...the CGI attack scenes were really poor, the cinematography/atmosphere didn't seem as strong as the original, I didn't like that Abby goes to the nurses' desk at the hospital, and I thought the big brother of the bully didn't fit as well in this version....plus the deleted scene with the teacher really should have been left in the movie because that mini sidebar is just dropped from the movie without the deleted scene. Again, don't recall the original to say for sure how things played in that movie. But on the whole - and without revisiting the first movie - I'd say I liked the remake better. Though I still have some issues with the movie in general no matter which version...really don't care for the swimming pool setting of the climax, etc.

BuddhaWake

This was my second thought. My first thought was that you should be some sort of forensic.

flixtime

Like one of those CSI-types...don't think I could stomach the work and way too depressing a way to spend the day. And given that everything I've written on this BAARIA subject might be entirely wrong...maybe I'd be better off as some sort of conspiracy theorist. Still wanted to put my thoughts out there though considering the inconvenience/price of ordering from Brasil...don't see any harm in folks doing a double-check before diving in on the Brasilian Blu-ray.

Given all the cobwebs in the International forum these past many months, nice running into you and other familiar faces - TheDoug, nitin, toddly, logboy - after a long while.

BuddhaWake

the economy sucks, prices are too high and my backlog too deep so I don't get to give so much back and forth.

TheDoug

Wow! Flixtime you really did peruse those two BAARIA trailers on YouTube! Hopefully this weekend I'll be getting the BAARIA film from Netflix. I too saw the DVDBeaver screencaps but like the reviewer Gary Tooze was curious as to why the 2:35 aspect ratio wasn't utlized in the UK and USA blu-rays. Stay tuned for my follow-up comments to yours. Yeah, I haven't posted in quite awhile. I too have cut down on my buying dvds etc due to the economy, but once inawhile I splurge.

TheDoug

I have just finished watching the Image Entertainment blu-ray of BAARIA and found it a very rewarding film visually if not entirely on a story level. I concur with your 1:78 cropping evaluations in that the visual quality of the film did not suffer from these cropping concessions from the the original 2:35 OAR. As a film purest, although I would've liked to see the film in its original ratio, I didn't find this ratio adjustment an impediment from a storytelling viewpoint. I've always been a fan of Guiseppe Tornatore's films but found this one too political (dealing with the fascism) and a bit disjointed in its stortelling process. Worth a rental but glad I didn't invest in the Brazilian dvd since I don't think I'd rewatch this one anytime soon.

flixtime

TheDoug, thank you for taking the time to provide an update on the U.S. Blu-ray of BAARIA...good to know that it seems to be an opening up of the 2.35 framing versus a cropping. I suspect the director and/or cinematographer realized that the 2.35 framing was too tight and removed a lot of artistic detail from the shot compositions, so by going open matte to 1.78 the situation was remedied. Appreciate too your sharing your thoughts on the movie itself, I'll wait for a price drop or two before picking up the U.S. Blu-ray.