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L.A. wrote:Hopefully some Indian classics next year. When Arrow asked at Facebook about releasing Bollywood, have to say was a bit surprised of people's responses about the idea like "No way!" or "Gawd, no!". Pretty much something like that.

I know very little about Bollywood and would definitely like to correct that. Put out Mother India and Mughal-e-Azam (both the black-and-white and color versions) and I'd be most happy.

Something big like Mehboob Khan's Mother India might be a good place to start. Something that might fit in with their Academy range and test the waters for more Indian cinema?

Not technically Bollywood, but Arrow once released Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay! on DVD...and they've been known for upgrading from titles they've released before.

rapta wrote:

L.A. wrote:Hopefully some Indian classics next year. When Arrow asked at Facebook about releasing Bollywood, have to say was a bit surprised of people's responses about the idea like "No way!" or "Gawd, no!". Pretty much something like that.

I know very little about Bollywood and would definitely like to correct that. Put out Mother India and Mughal-e-Azam (both the black-and-white and color versions) and I'd be most happy.

Something big like Mehboob Khan's Mother India might be a good place to start. Something that might fit in with their Academy range and test the waters for more Indian cinema?

Good idea. Think so too.

They could do worse than start with say Vishal Bhardwaj's shakespeare trilogy. Modern enough, different enough from what most people think of Bollywood but still quality films.

Pakeezah

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia + Noon Wine

I recently read somewhere (NY Times?) that Guru Dutt's Pyaasaa was being restored. If so, it would be a very good choice for Arrow to consider.

+1 for
Pyaasa
Kaagaz ke Phool
Guru Dutt in general
Mother India
Mughal-e-Azam
Khandahar (recently restored)
Bhumika (The Role)
Mrinal Sen in general
Aar Paar
Perhaps a Shabana Azmi box set

Victor Erice box!

JabbaTheSlut wrote:Victor Erice box!

Seconded!

Krzysztof Zanussi

Victor Erice and Zanussi releases/box sets - excellent ideas!

An Erice box should if possible include all the various shorts etc. released on other DVDs.

Part of the booklet might deal with the unfilmed second part of the El Sur screenplay (producer Querejeta pulled the plug on it, according to a post in another thread), see also:
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_sur_(pel%C3%ADcula" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) - under Curiosidades
http://www.rtve.es/noticias/20110107/vi ... 3001.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://topentity.com/v%C3%ADctor-erice/ ... 3001.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://books.google.se/books?id=PmMYAg ... rt&f=false" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - p. 76
https://books.google.se/books?id=acm4AQ ... rt&f=false" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://alsolikelife.com/shooting/2009/1 ... tor-erice/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://books.google.se/books?id=12WuBA ... rt&f=false" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://sensesofcinema.com/2006/cteq/sur/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://thomas-hersey.wiki.uml.edu/file/ ... +Light.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://denseclarity-cleardensity.blogsp ... -1983.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://luciaburbano.files.wordpress.co ... oetry1.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

After watching the mind blowing Vol.1 film of the Battles Without Honour and Humanity set, I honestly feel that Arrow release Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur Part1+2 (2012). These films are still not out in UK, so get your acts together Arrow and get the rights before somebody else snatches it away.

chatterjees wrote:After watching the mind blowing Vol.1 film of the Battles Without Honour and Humanity set, I honestly feel that Arrow release Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur Part1+2 (2012). These films are still not out in UK, so get your acts together Arrow and get the rights before somebody else snatches it away.

I'd buy those in the blink of an eye. Was tempted to buy the imported Indian release but an Arrow edition would be outstanding. Not sure what the extras would entail though...might be a case of them just releasing them as part of Arrow Films with trailers and whatnot?

rapta wrote:

chatterjees wrote:After watching the mind blowing Vol.1 film of the Battles Without Honour and Humanity set, I honestly feel that Arrow release Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur Part1+2 (2012). These films are still not out in UK, so get your acts together Arrow and get the rights before somebody else snatches it away.

I'd buy those in the blink of an eye. Was tempted to buy the imported Indian release but an Arrow edition would be outstanding. Not sure what the extras would entail though...might be a case of them just releasing them as part of Arrow Films with trailers and whatnot?

One of the problems with licencing more recent titles is that licencors often stipulate that a company must also release a film into cinemas. And with a film the length of Gangs of Wasseypur that can be problematic, and costly.

The Cinelicious Blu-ray is region free and looks great. Although be warned the subtitles aren't great - they're SDH and prone to errors (closer to fansubs than proper subtitles).

Wasn't Gangs of Wasseypur released, albeit in very few cinemas, in the UK? And as I missed it in the cinema, would love to see it released by Arrow.

antnield wrote:

rapta wrote:

chatterjees wrote:After watching the mind blowing Vol.1 film of the Battles Without Honour and Humanity set, I honestly feel that Arrow release Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur Part1+2 (2012). These films are still not out in UK, so get your acts together Arrow and get the rights before somebody else snatches it away.

I'd buy those in the blink of an eye. Was tempted to buy the imported Indian release but an Arrow edition would be outstanding. Not sure what the extras would entail though...might be a case of them just releasing them as part of Arrow Films with trailers and whatnot?

One of the problems with licencing more recent titles is that licencors often stipulate that a company must also release a film into cinemas. And with a film the length of Gangs of Wasseypur that can be problematic, and costly.

The Cinelicious Blu-ray is region free and looks great. Although be warned the subtitles aren't great - they're SDH and prone to errors (closer to fansubs than proper subtitles).

That's true, I hadn't thought of that. Shame it wouldn't be likely then...unless it's rediscovered in a few years and someone takes up the challenge, I guess the import is the only option.

perkypat wrote:Wasn't Gangs of Wasseypur released, albeit in very few cinemas, in the UK? And as I missed it in the cinema, would love to see it released by Arrow.

I believe it was, yes, because I remember first reading about it in Little White Lies (but it wasn't shown anywhere near me). An Arrow release would be a dream...but unlikely after reading what Mr. Nield just wrote.

rapta wrote:

chatterjees wrote:After watching the mind blowing Vol.1 film of the Battles Without Honour and Humanity set, I honestly feel that Arrow release Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur Part1+2 (2012). These films are still not out in UK, so get your acts together Arrow and get the rights before somebody else snatches it away.

I'd buy those in the blink of an eye. Was tempted to buy the imported Indian release but an Arrow edition would be outstanding. Not sure what the extras would entail though...might be a case of them just releasing them as part of Arrow Films with trailers and whatnot?

The films just got a Blu-Ray release in USA. I have the Indian release, which has no extras. The US release actually have some extras - audio commentary, trailers and a 10-page booklet. I would wait before I get the US release. These films are screaming for Arrow release. I don't follow Indian film news too much, but I think Kashyap left India and now lives in France. He could do more extras if Arrow approach him. In my opinion, he is the best Indian director of this decade. Anyways, I will be delighted if Arrow can approach him.

Also, do you guys think that I should get Kino blu-ray release of Salaam Bombay!, or should I wait for an Arrow upgrade? If there is an Arrow upgrade in the pipeline, I am not buying from Kino.

The US release subtitles are not HoH, they have names of people speaking in the background sometimes (actually useful given some scenes involving multiple characters talking over each other).

I was looking for a Criterion wish list post to add Gangs of Wasseypur to it as I received the Cinelicious b-r a couple of months ago and think it is one of the best movies I've seen, so would like the full Criterion treatment.

My search showed this post and, as I also love Arrow, thought I'd add my two bits...

As nitin pointed out, the subs have the names of people speaking. I found this very useful in learning who was who or as a reminder.

One nice feature of the Cinelicious b-r is the song lyrics are also subtitled, although they are interrupted when any of the cast speaks. The lyrics of some are very raunchy (quite a surprise to me) and/or funny. Would be nice to have these subs reserved for the top and cast at bottom of the picture (like AnimEigo did with their samurai laserdiscs and DVDs).

Anyway, I'd love it if Arrow, Criterion or MoC to pick this brilliant movie up just so they could provide more extras, full lyric and more accurate cast subs. The latter have the odd spelling or grammar errors, but otherwise the Cinelicious subs are pretty good.

BTW, the soundtracks are also awesome IMO, although they are (or were) no longer available via Amazon UK and USA (I got the last). http://www.infibeam.com/ have them though.

I'd love to see you guys release Aleksandr Petrov's films on Blu. I saw the films in Bologna in 2009, and he was there in attendance and answered questions after the films. He was such a sweet person, completely unpretentious and often quite abashed — at least I interpreted it as such — when some questions from the audience steered more into the esoteric in terms of his film philosophy. He had the air of a quiet master artist who lets his art speak for itself.

I would like to see more Italian cinema:

La donna della domenica (1975) Dir. Luigi Comencini with Marcello Mastroianni, Jacqueline Bisset & Jean-Louis Trintignant;

Brutti, sporchi e cattivi (1976) Dir. Ettore Scola;

La dernière femme (1976) Dir. Marco Ferreri with Gerard Depardieu;

La mandragola (1965) Dir. Alberto Lattuada;

Tre fratelli (1981) Dir. Francesco Rosi;

Cadaveri eccellenti (1976) Dir. Francesco Rosi;

Cronaca di una morte annunciata (1987) Dir. Francesco Rosi;

Amici per la pelle (1955) Dir. Franco Rossi.

Let's hope they tackle Zurlini, Violent Summer and Girl With A Suitcase are a good place to start.

Dušan Makavejev and say Sweet Movie for starters.

Sweet Movie may well be undistributable in the UK (at least uncut) thanks to the 1978 Protection of Children Act - I'd have to examine the scene in question to be sure.

But I'm very happy to confirm more Italian arthouse cinema in prospect - I'm working on multiple titles, including one on Aunt Peg's list.

I'm guessing/hoping Cadaveri eccellenti.

MichaelB wrote:But I'm very happy to confirm more Italian arthouse cinema in prospect - I'm working on multiple titles, including one on Aunt Peg's list.

Obviously not expecting any confirmations but I'm guessing the one title from Peg's list is either the Scola or one of the Rosis or the Ferreri (especially if La Grande Bouffe sold well).