Mike Spence
28May13
Thanks! I saw the Wang film on Amazon a few days ago. I will update ASAP.
Ben Russell has put "Let Each One Go Where He May" on his Vimeo account. https://vimeo.com/39846969
Borowczyk's THE BLOOD OF DR JEKYLL (http://mubi.com/films/the-blood-of-dr-jekyll).
Thanks! I don't know how I forgot this one since i used to be obsessed with finding it. I will add it ASAP.
Thank you! I appreciate the support, and you reminded me that I have an update I still need to post.
Haha, thanks. I thought about changing it to make it more friendly but I still like the somewhat admonishing tone. It's very much in the spirit of the whole " complained about having no shoes until..." thing.
ioffer has a dvd of Where is The Fiends Home if you don'd have it already along with Through The Olive Trees and an excellent selection of films unavailable in region 1 from a great seller. The Mother and The Whore is on there as well..
Thanks, David. ioffer is a great site and I've found many great things there. The Mother and the Whore is an outstanding print, by the way. I won't remove the items from the list, however, since bootlegs don't count for my purposes. It's not because I feel you have to have nice packaging, it's that you never know when they're going to be arrested or shut down so it doesn't count as a real release. (or maybe I'm just too lazy to look up all the bootlegs:)) Thanks for looking out!
Seems like "The Connection" will be released by Milestone Films this coming winter. So just a bit of patience on this one: http://milestone-films.myshopify.com/products/the-connection
That is great news. Thanks! If only Wiseman's Zipporah Films would finally release The Cool World we'd be getting somewhere with Clarke. Thanks again!
Had it not been for a nearby theater bringing the Cremaster Cycle to me this week, I'd still be at 0 for this one. There are just too many great films on this list that deserve quality releases.
Agreed. The thing about the Cremasters is that I believe Barney has a thing against his work being seen a certain way which precludes home video. I respect this and those who would say that to get the films and view them in way the artist is against is wrong, but I had to see it and doubt I will ever be as lucky as you are to have it show anywhere near me so I guess I have to be wrong. Very jealous of your getting to see it on the big screen. On a another note this whole streaming thing is getting exciting since stuff that was never on DVD is suddenly appearing in this format. Still, the pessimist in me thinks some of these works will never be available.
Well, there's always the sad and terrible way of settling for YouTube because amusingly enough, most of Cremaster is on YouTube. I think it's a little bit silly for the Cycle to only have been given 20 sets of DVDs (sold for $100k each) rather than just being handed over to Criterion or someone who would genuinely be able to treat it with the care it deserves. But alas, I'm not Matthew Barney so I have no control over how it will be seen. I hope you get lucky enough to watch it someday on the big screen - it's an interesting experience.
Haha, yes, it has occured to me that this list is dated by the very fact that hard copy ownership will soon be something we tell our kids about while they roll their eyes at us for being so old. Still, it's more than the hard copy for me, it's just getting the word out there that Netflix, contrary to a popularly held belief, doesn't have everythiing. Of course, you already know that so maybe I'm preaching to the choir but when a man's gotta preach a man's gotta preach!!!:)
Creative Nonfiction is going to be included on the forthcoming Criterion release of Tiny Furniture.
Thanks! Judicial Joe gave me a heads up but I am ever cautious. i will update immediately!
Excellent list! To contribute; all of Fred Kelemen's films are unavailable on DVD. Given that Susan Sontag praised his films as being some of the best of the 90s this is a serious issue.
Thank you! I added one that sounds interesting to me since I am not familiar with his work.
Thank you Brian Davvison AND Mike for informing me about an alternate DVD version of "Days and Nights in the Forest", one of my favorites. There was a French edition and because I am so fond of the film I was going to try to put my rusty French to use. Mike or Brian, has either one of you confirmed that the one sold on the website linked here has English subtitles? If so I will happily pick that one up. Thanks.
Brian says "Yes, it has English subs. The only problem is that they don’t list the films in English, just in Bengali. You have to do a search for Aranyer Dinratri."
Maybe you could add some Mario O'Hara (http://mubi.com/films/three-godless-years).
Masters of Cinema's spokesman confirmed via Twitter a few months ago that Out 1 is also going to be released in France and America, I believe sometime during 2012, though one can never be sure. (How he knows that, I don't know. Maybe he looked into the rights situation for MoC.) As Criterion has very obliquely hinted via its Facebook that they are considering releasing it (e.g. jokes to the effect that they'll do it if people buy dozens of copies), it's possible CC will handle the U.S. edition. Probably a Berlin Alexanderplatz situation where a foreign company has handled the bulk of the restoration. Certainly Criterion has padded its wallet enough recently with mainstream fare and blu-ray upgrades to take the risk. It'll sell itself to the hardcore arthouse contingent. Sites like Slant, Mubi, DVDBeaver, et. al. will go nuts with free promotion. Fingers crossed!
Thanks for the update, Ryan! It seems like it has to happen eventually. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed. Also, I wouild love for MOC to release it fiirst so I can snatch it up and have further reason to deride those who refuse to get a region-free player or who obsess over Criterion. Just kidding:) Wasn't Out 1 restorered years ago for it's "world" tour that Rosenbaum writes about so much? I realize that print isn't floating around anywhere on the web but I remember critic and MUBI member David Ehrenstein saying the print he saw a few years ago looked great. I realize his standards may be less exacting than Criterion's or MOC's but I just hope that if that is a factor they've already started, otherwise with the film's length we'll see it in 2018, just in time for hard-copy formats to become a thing of the past.
Wow! I'm getting sloppy. I actually bought that and didn't bother to look at the extras! Thanks.
"Valse Triste" is available in the Cinemad Short Film Almanac 2009 collection. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cinemad-Short-Film-Almanac-2009/dp/B0026BTRUU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315568483&sr=8-1 "Housekeeping" just got released through Sony's MOD service: http://www.wbshop.com/Housekeeping/1000249751,default,pd.html?cgid=ARCHIVENEW
Thanks! I will gladly remove Housekeeping. I'm a bit wary about Valse Triste. I realize I'm being ultra picky here, but I will have to leave it on the list until it's available in a package containing only Bruce Conner's work. I just don't think it's fair to have to buy a bunch of other stuff juist to get one short. That's why Shirley Clarke's Bridges Go Round remains on the list depsite being available in one of those Avant Guard collections. I will definitely mention it in an Update however, so thanks again.
I would fan this list if it didn't have TINY FURNITURE (which is definitely getting a Criterion release in first quarter 2012) and instead had LAST NIGHT AT THE ALAMO (Watchmaker Films says it's coming but haven't announced a date).
LAST NIGHT AT THE ALAMO has been on the list for some time now. It wasn't in the database so it's in the list above the database films. If it's in there now I'll change it later. I'll remove Tiny Furniture when I see an official announcement. I'n sure you're right, but if anything it serves as a reminder for me that the film is currently unavailable despite being released so long ago.
Wonderful list Mike. I do want to point out to you that "The Bitter Tea of General Yen" is available individually. I got a copy on Amazon.co.uk. No bonus features, but the quality is spectacular...the images on PAL DVDs is usually better anyway. That's why the greatest thing I ever bought for myself is a region free DVD player. Some of these titles are available on DVDs manufactured by their respective countries of origin. Unfortunately, most foreign official DVD releases don't come with English subtitles. Another film you may want to add is the Dutch film "The Assault" (1987). Again, it is available in the Netherlands on DVD but with no English subtitles. Also, the Indian film "Days and Nights in the Forest", which is available in France and, knowing Italian (which is similar), I think I can make out the subtitles. Please let me know if you hear anything about The Asthenic Syndrome, as I have wanted to see that for the longest time.
Thanks, Dan! I appreciate the info about the Capra film. I will add The Assault and the Ray film. I will definitely let you know about the Muratova.
No problem. It was on the list before but I removed it when I found a hong kong dvd on ebay. I no longer see it there or on yesasia even so it should definitely be added again. Thanks!
Caveh's feature films are available for rent or download here: http://www.sundancenow.com/servlets/search?param=caveh&x=0&y=0&ps=20
Damn, that's disappointing. That site is pretty old. I had assumed it was defunct until you mentioned he'd finally added the downloading feature.