Park Circus

[Gropius]

There's been a few Man of Aran releases in the UK that I'm aware of.

Ah, so there have. Why does this one keep getting re-released then - because it was a British production? Some company ought to have released Nanook and Louisiana Story by now.

[andyli]

Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book on blu-ray (May 9th).

[MichaelB]

Robert Flaherty's Man of Aran in March.

Somewhat absurd that it's taken more than a decade for a Flaherty feature to get a UK DVD release. And still no sign of Nanook.

There's been a few Man of Aran releases in the UK that I'm aware of. MovieMail's own label Film First issued a disc a while back (though it may very well have been exclusive to their website/mail order catalogue). And then there's the British Sea Power album/alternative soundtrack which included the film on DVD alongside the CD.

Don't forget Elephant Boy was co-directed by Flaherty too - Network have put out a disc of that.

...and Industrial Britain opens the BFI's Land of Promise box, though admittedly that's not a feature.

[antnield]

It's included as an extra on the Park Circus Man of Aran alongside Flaherty's 1933 short The English Potter. You also get George C. Stoney's 1978 doc on Man of Aran and the Aran-set doc Return of the Islander narrated by Richard Harris.

[perkizitore]

Boudu Saved From Drowning blu-ray in April

[Matt]

The only reason I haven't already pre-ordered the Boudu BD is because of the overwhelmingly negative impression I get of the quality of Park Circus' releases from this thread. Am I being overly cautious?

[peerpee]

Unless they've scrubbed the grain out and cropped the 1.19:1 to 1.37:1, this has the propensity to be their best Blu-ray yet.

Having said that, it's almost certainly on Criterion's radar now for an upgrade. Extra footage, aspect ratio correction, etc.

[eerik]

I caught another lunch deals sale (10% off everything) at TheHut.com and pre-ordered Boudu. I would not count on Criterion. They still haven't (re)released Rashomon, for example.

[tojoed]

The Park Circus listing for Greenaway's The Pillow Book suggests the aspect ratio will be correct. Which is good news for all (especially Tommaso).

[DanV]

Blu-ray definition on Boudu.

[martin]

Blu-ray definition on Boudu.

Great! The screenshots in that review are in the correct 1.19:1 aspect ratio (although the review specs erroneously says 1.37:1)!

It's difficult to say wheter there's still some cropping without having exact frame comparisons with other releases, but it looks pretty good aspect wise.

[manicsounds]

No one seems to have reviewed Chaplin's "Limelight" yet. Currently 50% off at Amazon

[doc mccoy]

I wonder why Park went with separate DVD/Blu releases for Boudu, when it had opted for dual releases previously.

[ellipsis7]

Just to say the Park Circus Blu of the recently restored BOUDU is simply superb... What is apparent are the different diffusion filters and lagging focus pulls that Renoir uses on certain shots, contrasting with the sharper images of unfiltered shots and lovely deep focus tracking shots, the kind of fine detail that isn't so readily apparent on DVD...

[RossyG]

FWIW, the BBFC have just passed Patrice Leconte's La Veuve de Saint-Pierre as submitted by Park Circus.

[tojoed]

A rave for "Boudu" from BluRay.com.

[ellipsis7]

A rave for "Boudu" from BluRay.com.

Absolutely agree, as I say above, the Blu is revelation in terms of the depth and detail of the visual compositions it shows, whereas on the previous DVDs much of this is simply blurred and obscured in that lower resolution medium...

[antnield]

The Digital Fix on The Brothers and Floodtide.

[colinr0380]

Mondo Digital on The Pillow Book blu. I have not seen the previous DVD releases, but it does look absolutely stunning on Blu and on comparing it with an old television broadcast in which the aspect ratios were kept intact (On the night of Film4's launch back in 1998 - I think that also marked the last time that a Greenaway film was broadcast on British terrestrial television), nothing seems to be missing. In fact there even seems to be a little bit of extra information on the left hand side of the frame, though I cannot be too sure of that due to the pillarboxing of the Blu-Ray and overscanning of my television that I have simultaneously been playing the VHS on!

[Tommaso]

I have only seen the SD version, but can assure everyone that for the most part it looks stunning (especially colourwise), not only compared to the old dvd which was awful in every respect. The way they solved the aspect ratio problem looked convincing to me, with sometimes quite a lot of extra information now visible, and especially revealing how often the ratio actually changes. It's too long ago since I saw this theatrically that I really can't comment on how accurately the transfer represents the way the film was shown in the cinema, but I'm more than happy with the result here (and apparently the transfer was approved by Greenaway, anyhow). I really hope Park Circus can get the rights for "Prospero", too. That one still needs a fully satisfactory release.

[MichaelB]

It's inevitable that a film that underwent extensive postproduction using analogue video technology (albeit hi-def) can never look as pristine as a film-sourced 1080p transfer - I imagine the same will be true of Prospero's Books, which looked distinctly fuzzy on the big screen compared with a film that never strayed from 35mm in the path from camera negative to release print.

But it sounds as though the Park Circus edition is as good as it can realistically get.

[Hail_Cesar]

Any details on this?

[Calvin]

Any details on this?

In Q4 they're releasing Charlie Chaplin: The Collection which includes THE CHAPLIN REVUE, THE CIRCUS, CITY LIGHTS, THE GOLD RUSH, THE GREAT DICTATOR, THE KID, A KING IN NEW YORK, LIMELIGHT, MODERN TIMES, MONSIEUR VERDOUX and A WOMAN OF PARIS.

Park Circus are also releasing Stanley Donen's Charade on October 24th and Rupert Julian's The Phantom of the Opera (1925 & 1929) on November 21st. (Source: blu-ray.com)

[bigP]

Also on the October / November roster:
Der Rosenkavalier - October 24th [DVD]
Orphans - October 31st [DVD]
Taking Off - November 7th [DVD though keeping my fingers crossed for Blu or Dual announcment]
Chaplin Collection
Phantom of the Opera - November 21st [DVD] [Blu]
La Piscine - November 28th [DVD] [Blu]

[MichaelB]

Taking Off - November 7th [DVD though keeping my fingers crossed for Blu or Dual announcment]

Probably quite a safe bet, since it's out on Blu-ray in France.