Oldboy

Discuss releases from Arrow and the films on them.

Moderator: yoloswegmaster

Message
Author
User avatar
Jean-Luc Garbo
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 1:55 am
Contact:

Re: Oldboy

#26 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Wed Sep 25, 2019 12:23 pm

This news is two weeks old now but this has been delayed to October 7th.

User avatar
DeprongMori
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2014 1:59 am
Location: San Francisco

Re: Oldboy

#27 Post by DeprongMori » Sun Sep 29, 2019 4:16 pm

I’m presuming that Arrow’s newly announced four-disc Vengeance Trilogy is exactly the same discs as the Oldboy Limited Edition but in different packaging, but I have not seen a definitive statement from Arrow confirming. This has certainly been a confusing release strategy.

nitin
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2014 6:49 am

Re: Oldboy

#28 Post by nitin » Sun Sep 29, 2019 10:58 pm

It loses the 100 page book and foldout poster from the LE release but retains all 4 discs.

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: Oldboy

#29 Post by tenia » Sat Oct 05, 2019 5:03 am

I'm still quite curious about the whole blur which is the technicals here.

We do know, since it's mentioned in the audio com' and in the Korean restoration featurette available on the Plain Archive disc that this is a 4K restoration sourced from the IP. However, Arrow sells it in their technical blurb (websites specs, backcover) as a 4K restoration from the OCN. Yet, the booklet's technical page is a very vague blurb, only stating the movie was "newly restored under the supervision of Park Chan-wook and delivered to Arrow Films in 4K resolution". How come Arrow can state explicitly on their specs "it's from the OCN" but make no mention of it in the technical page, which is the relevant more detailed place to make this kind of precision ?

Of course, since it's definitely not an Arrow job, there is not a lot of doubt left that this isn't the existing Korean restoration, but I find it surprising (to remain neutral about this kind of stunt) their backcover is now more detailed than their booklet (but is most certainly wrong). I might drop Arrow an email to ask what happened (or, maybe better, try and reach James Blackford or James White directly rather than having a very corporate answer).

User avatar
rapta
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2014 5:04 pm
Location: Hants, UK

Re: Oldboy

#30 Post by rapta » Sun Oct 06, 2019 12:14 pm

tenia wrote:
Sat Oct 05, 2019 5:03 am
I'm still quite curious about the whole blur which is the technicals here.

We do know, since it's mentioned in the audio com' and in the Korean restoration featurette available on the Plain Archive disc that this is a 4K restoration sourced from the IP. However, Arrow sells it in their technical blurb (websites specs, backcover) as a 4K restoration from the OCN. Yet, the booklet's technical page is a very vague blurb, only stating the movie was "newly restored under the supervision of Park Chan-wook and delivered to Arrow Films in 4K resolution". How come Arrow can state explicitly on their specs "it's from the OCN" but make no mention of it in the technical page, which is the relevant more detailed place to make this kind of precision ?

Of course, since it's definitely not an Arrow job, there is not a lot of doubt left that this isn't the existing Korean restoration, but I find it surprising (to remain neutral about this kind of stunt) their backcover is now more detailed than their booklet (but is most certainly wrong). I might drop Arrow an email to ask what happened (or, maybe better, try and reach James Blackford or James White directly rather than having a very corporate answer).
Someone on BR.com has uploaded some comparison caps with the Plain Archive and it does look quite different (i.e. better), so could this be an updated transfer? Jury's out on whether it's from the IP or OCN though (I'm certainly no expert).

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: Oldboy

#31 Post by tenia » Sun Oct 06, 2019 2:50 pm

The roof shot gets me curious. This level of grain in the darker areas usually happens with IPs, not OCNs, but right now, the blur got even blurrier for me so what do I know ?

nitin
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2014 6:49 am

Re: Oldboy

#32 Post by nitin » Sun Oct 06, 2019 10:22 pm

It does have heavy bleach bypass type post processing so that could be the reason for the grain.

User avatar
Caligula
Carthago delenda est
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 2:32 am
Location: George, South Africa

Re: Oldboy

#33 Post by Caligula » Mon Oct 14, 2019 6:38 am

The LE release is back in stock at Amazon.co.uk

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: Oldboy

#34 Post by tenia » Mon Oct 14, 2019 4:03 pm

Meanwhile, still waiting from Arrow and Sony to give me the tracking number or tell me where my tracked order is...

User avatar
Adam X
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:04 am

Re: Oldboy

#35 Post by Adam X » Mon Oct 14, 2019 5:33 pm

Have you asked? They don’t currently supply it automatically because their “new” website isn’t set up for this. Not sure why when pretty much any other online business has long been capable, but there you go.

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: Oldboy

#36 Post by tenia » Tue Oct 15, 2019 2:34 am

I did ask for it, but had to tweet to Arrow Help for them to send a reminder to Sony DADC about getting the tracking number.
I still don't have it as of now, but I'm not sure of the "Reply to" Arrow's CS did also had Sony DADC since their email adress doesn't appear in the "To" field. I guess I'll send another reminder today if I don't get anything by then.

It is however silly indeed for them not to give the tracking numbers straight away, even more so now that Tracked is the only international option. It means I have to go through Arrow who seemingly don't have the number themselves either and thus have to request it to Sony. I've been waiting since Friday morning for it, I still don't have it, Arrow still don't have it. This is a crazy leadtime and number of people involved.

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: Oldboy

#37 Post by tenia » Tue Oct 15, 2019 7:42 am

Finally got an answer and the tracking ! Thing is : it looks like Arrow isnt putting the phone number on the package. It got sent through FedEx, but since they can't get inside the building I've moved into, and there is no phone number, it got stuck in FedEx process and was on the verge of being sent back to Arrow.
Fortunately, I managed to phone FedEx, stopped that and got a new delivery date, but obviously, having had the tracking number would have allowed me to react much earlier. Next time, I guess I'll ask that straight away at dispatch.


User avatar
feihong
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:20 pm

Re: Oldboy

#39 Post by feihong » Mon May 16, 2022 3:40 am

With the Kino Miklos Jansco Collection being released this week, I've been spoiled by the set's fantastic audio commentaries over the last couple of days. So much information, so much worthwhile interpretation of how the film is working and what it's doing. But I wanted a break, so I put on the 4th audio commentary on the Oldboy disc in this collection. This is Jasper Sharp––who's done some nice Shinji Aoyama commentary tracks before––and Simon Ward, whom I don't know from anywhere. And this is...this is so frustrating. They begin the commentary establishing their lack of credentials vis a vis this particular film. Ward has read the manga, and Jasper Sharp just says his expertise is on Japanese cinema, but he was alive and present when Oldboy first came out. I guess to flatter Ward's having read the manga, there is incessant reference to how this scene or that scene isn't like the manga––but they hardly ever explain the differences, and––more damning than that––they never even begin to speculate on why those differences could be. I feel like early on they could simply have established that the adaptation is deliberately loose, because Park Chan-Wook has his own themes he wants to approach. Weirdly, Jasper Sharp ends up speaking more about the manga as the commentary goes on, and Simon Ward turns out to have more knowledge of Korean cinema. Problem is, neither of them seems to know much about Korean cinema at the time, and so they miss a whole lot of where this movie comes from, and what it means. There's a hesitancy on the commentary and a lot of mumbling, which doesn't help make this any more entertaining––but the fact is that both facts and analysis are in short supply during most of this commentary. Sharp seems to have read an interview with Park on the film, and Simon Ward seems to have seen the Cannes coverage from 2003, but neither commentator has any behind-the-scenes information about the picture, and they really don't succeed in providing a context in which this film emerges in South Korea. Simon Ward seems to know a bit more about the film. What's more, the commentary is short on observation, as well––so many details fly by without any comment. Honestly, I think they should have hired the YMS guy from Youtube to do the commentary––his review of Spike Lee's remake contained so much astute appreciation of the original film. Would that have been less marketable than this thing? It isn't the worst commentary I've ever heard. It just leaves so much on the table. This is a film that offers a rich potential for an English-language commentary, but I don't think the English-language critical commentary that takes this movie seriously has ben done yet.

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: Oldboy

#40 Post by Orlac » Mon May 16, 2022 4:01 am

Reminds me of when Bey Logan was doing commentaries for Japanese and Korean films - you might as well have asked Roger Ebert!

User avatar
feihong
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:20 pm

Re: Oldboy

#41 Post by feihong » Mon May 16, 2022 11:47 pm

Totally. It's like these guys were just available, and because they were sort of "names" (at least Jasper Sharp is), then it didn't matter if they had any special insight into this particular film, or this particular kind of Asian cinema. Jasper Sharp keeps referring to the film as part of "Asia Extreme"––which he at first acknowledges is just marketing, not any kind of artistic movement. But eventually he starts analyzing the film from that angle, because he has so little experience with other South Korean films of the era. At one point Sharp suggests Choi Min-Sik essentially came out of nowhere to star in Oldboy, and Simon Ward has to point out that he was in Shiri and essentially decently well-known before the film (Sharp makes no acknowledgement of the name of that film––though it was the previous S. Korean box office champ Park's Joint Security Area unseated––which is something they were just discussing previously). No one mentions The Quiet Family, No. 3, Failan Happy End or Painted Fire––domestic successes (and, in the case of Painted Fire, international festival successes), all of which he made before this––nor do they mention the 1992 adaptation of the Korean literary classic, Our Twisted Hero, which was his film debut. In other words, they couldn't even be bothered to IMDB the film's lead actor before going live on the mic. Ward at least knows the names of Park Chan-Wook's first two films, The Moon is the Sun's Dream and Trio, but he doesn't point out anything about how director Ryoo Seung-Wan got his start as an assistant on Trio, and he doesn't point out anything about Ryoo's contribution to the corridor fight scene. It goes to show, I suppose, even after commentaries went out of style, and then returned, that there are still situations in which a commentary really just doesn't come together. But here I think there's just been a failure to source someone who can speak about the movie in more penetrating terms, with more background knowledge. They chose the wrong people to do this. Of course, there are three commentaries by Park Chan-Wook and various collaborators on the film, and the documentary, so they have hardly starved us for content. Personally, I just like putting on English language commentaries because I can work while they play, and yet I can get information and insight on a film I'm interested in while I do something else in the meantime. I miss the days when David Kalat would do these things.

User avatar
aox
Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:02 pm
Location: nYc

Re: Oldboy

#42 Post by aox » Tue Jun 07, 2022 3:01 pm

Any clues to the distribution problems this film is seeming to have? It's not available to rent, stream, or e-purchase in the US. I know that hasn't always been the case. In fact, I think Netflix used to have the rights to stream it.

User avatar
ryannichols7
Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:26 pm

Re: Oldboy

#43 Post by ryannichols7 » Tue Jun 07, 2022 3:29 pm

glad to know it's not just me who's been left adrift by a Jasper Sharp-featuring commentary. I appreciate the work the man does (great job bringing the Masumura titles, etc out) but as a commentator I haven't really been convinced yet. if he does talk about his Japanese credentials in his Oldboy track, then his track for Kore-eda's Maborosi for the BFI will come as a shock to you. he sounds like he's dragging out what little facts he knows and then constantly doing the classic reductionist comparison of Kore-eda to Ozu (as a Japanese cinema "expert" he should know better) throughout the whole track, it's absurdly underwhelming. so as for Oldboy, a film that's substantially more popular and more prominent, I'd have expected Arrow to have done better by it. this is a case where it's best to know when to say no to an assignment - there's "knowing a film", "being an expert", and then "being able to fill a feature length commentary" and clearly these two weren't up to par on it. like you said, I guess Arrow felt they were giving enough with the other three commentaries, but still. if only Tony Rayns had done the full length track, but maybe he preferred to do the freeform interview this goaround?

and it's endlessly frustrating when scholars feel the need to constantly pigeonhole a film or director into a "movement" or whatever. again, just laziness all around.

User avatar
Computer Raheem
Joined: Wed Jun 16, 2021 7:45 pm

Re: Oldboy

#44 Post by Computer Raheem » Tue Jun 07, 2022 3:53 pm

aox wrote:
Tue Jun 07, 2022 3:01 pm
Any clues to the distribution problems this film is seeming to have? It's not available to rent, stream, or e-purchase in the US. I know that hasn't always been the case. In fact, I think Netflix used to have the rights to stream it.
If I were to guess (which is all I can really do, since I have no insider knowledge on these sorts of things), the rights are lingering in limbo with whatever remains of Tartan Films.

User avatar
feihong
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:20 pm

Re: Oldboy

#45 Post by feihong » Tue Jun 07, 2022 4:17 pm

I suppose that's what's happened to Memento Mori, also––one of my favorite Korean new wave films. A lot of films from that late-90s/early aughts era got released on blu ray in South Korea, but Memento Mori didn't get that upgrade. The highest-quality version available these days is the Tartan DVD.

User avatar
Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: Oldboy

#46 Post by Matt » Tue Jun 07, 2022 5:38 pm

IMDb Pro lists it as being with Neon in the US since 2021, but it's not on their website.

User avatar
yoloswegmaster
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 3:57 pm

Re: Oldboy

#47 Post by yoloswegmaster » Mon Aug 29, 2022 2:02 pm

Matt wrote:
Tue Jun 07, 2022 5:38 pm
IMDb Pro lists it as being with Neon in the US since 2021, but it's not on their website.
The U.S. rights are now with Neon. I wonder who the U.S. rightsholder is listed as for the other 2 Vengeance films on IMDB Pro. Regardless, I hope that Neon can grab the rights to the other 2 Vengeance films and release the entire trilogy on 4K.

User avatar
ryannichols7
Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:26 pm

Re: Oldboy

#48 Post by ryannichols7 » Mon Aug 29, 2022 2:26 pm

that, or I wonder if Arrow could potentially create a relationship with Neon like Criterion have. I feel a lot of the titles Neon go for would be more suited to Arrow over Criterion (notably Titane)

at the very least with Neon you know a film will generally be available, random issues like Memoria aside

Post Reply