Imprint

[ryannichols7]

The Scorsese box at least makes sense as a collection and the commentaries seem interesting, but am I really going to invest in a non-UHD, not-even-new-transfers boxset of Scorsese films at this point?

I'm not a Scorcese fan at all, but calling in Stuart Galbraith for Silence got me to consider the release for half a second. very inspired choice!

[therewillbeblus]

Has Imprint ever released a new scan that bested a previous film already in HD? It would be cool if Last Temptation got one, or at least looks on part with the Criterion. I might actually buy this

[soundchaser]

A new scan for Last Temptation, or even just better compression, would also make me seriously consider the box.

[cdnchris]

It would have to be a new scan to make it worthwhile I would think. The Universal master is shit to begin with, and even spotless compression wouldn't help. Not even Indicator can polish the turds that Universal's older masters are (they do their best, though!) At any rate, I seriously doubt a new one has been done.

It's an interesting set, though, and despite not being super impressed with Imprint's releases so far, I'd probably get it if I didn't already have Tenptation and Kundun. Reminds me that i still need to pick up Silence. Some extras sound interesting, though.

My 11 year old son loves Kundun, which I find somewhat funny considering its supposed limited appeal. Maybe there was a market for it after all.

[Maltic]

He's a bit like me, I loved The Golden Child when I was a kid.

[therewillbeblus]

My 11 year old son loves Kundun, which I find somewhat funny considering its supposed limited appeal. Maybe there was a market for it after all.

That's great, I saw it around the same age while filling in Scorsese blind spots, and it was both jarring and disappointing. I'm thinking Adult-Me might appreciate what it's doing more

[beamish14]

I saw Kundun for the first time just last year, and in a theatrical setting. I think the finale of it in India and the creation of the mandala are some of the best things he has ever produced. Some of Thelma’s very finest editing work, and despite the age of the VFX, it looks excellent for the most part, as it does in Casino, too (a film with far more digital effects than most realize).

Melissa Matheson was an exemplary screenwriter, and I wish she’d had even more work produced

[therewillbeblus]

it looks excellent for the most part, as it does in Casino, too (a film with far more digital effects than most realize)

That's good to hear, and funnily enough I was just revisiting Casino (a film I've grown to appreciate a lot more recently, thanks in part to posters here) on 4K and specifically noticing how well the effects translate to the format

[swo17]

June Imprint Asia announcements:

The Wandering Earth II
Hero
Zu Warriors

[therewillbeblus]

After Dark: Neo-Noir Cinema 3 (Homicide, White Sands, The Crossing Guard, Heaven's Prisoners, Under Suspicion, Dirty Pretty Things)

Tried to make my way through the unseen titles here, hoping against hope this might actually be worth picking up. No dice. I didn't even bother trying to get into Under Suspicion after its cold first ten, but that was after my patience wore thin. I'm glad beamish likes Heaven's Prisoners because every movie needs a fan! I thought this was the most boring kind of trash; it didn't feel to have any sense of place, or idea of how to construct an interesting movie around its noir trappings. Any characters that come into play are archetypes whose eventual tweaks are transparent the minute they walk on screen, which is not exactly the literal form these films want their fatalism to play out. This is another neo-noir that has no business being so long, either. An 80-minute version could be fun, if focusing on hitting all the beats while grounding us to New Orleans' milieu, but nope, we get like 135 minutes of essentially a cahiers blurb summarizing a C-noir from the 40s.

White Sands isn't all bad - it's actually quite promising in its first act before falling apart: A kind of No Country with M. Emmet Walsh playing the Garret Dillahunt to Dafoe's Jones, who winds up getting cocky in rogue attempts to stimulate his lame life and make a small-time bust, getting roped into some unexpected scenarios with unpredictable characters. Sadly, this is where the film's lush fades. Walsh exits the picture for good way too early, and once Dafoe realizes what's going on (or the first version of it - this is a neo-noir after all, so it has to be super complicated yet hollow) the poor narrative trajectory and plotting dilute the value Dafoe and co. bring to their parts. It's a script problem, Rourke is entirely wasted and we never buy into Dafoe's motivations because the filmmakers are clearly too worried about squeezing all the material in there without making a two hour movie. That's a good thing, but it wouldn't bloat the picture to add a little pepper.

[cdnchris]

Heaven's Prisoners

I looked this one up and am absolutely positive I saw it, but I cannot recall a single scene or shot or anything.

I had White Sands on VHS and wouldn't mind revisiting it. Haven't seen it in a couple of decades, but I do remember liking the first half before it became needlessly complicated. I kinda remember the climax

SpoilerShow

and Samuel L. Jackson's involvment

, but not much else. More than I can say for Heaven's Prisoners.

[therewillbeblus]

That checks out - I barely remember anything about Heaven's Prisoners either, and I saw it today! I'd also probably stumble explaining all the intricacies of White Sands because, while the plot is relatively straightforward, the 'reveals' are eye-rolling as they're incessantly rolled out with no pronouncement or care.

SpoilerShow

Oh, Rourke is CIA.. Well! All you have to do is watch Samuel L. Jackson's face go 'Damn!' at the news to know how big this one is - because in 90s movies, everyone knows CIA>FBI. By the halfway point of his first monologue-reveal, I just stopped caring about Jackson's character's historical record of his allegiance and what he did and didn't do completely. By the finale in the titular desert, I was ready to sell this box before I even own it

I love Homicide, remember next to nothing about The Crossing Guard (or, really anything about Penn's directorial work, now that I think about it) but I don't think I like it, and I haven't seen Dirty Pretty Things since right around its release but I remember liking it fine back then. Even if Under Suspicion is somehow a secret masterpiece, I doubt this would be worth it

[domino harvey]

It’s a remake of a French film, how many of those ever turn out well?

[therewillbeblus]

Monica Bellucci speaks French in it, so we're obviously fine

[John Cope]

I've watched White Sands an absurd amount of times. At this point what interests me most is what it is about it that compels me back time and time again. It's very good, very solid, but not exactly *great*. Still, what is very good about it always sucks me in and compels me on. I don't know whether it's the pacing of it or what but that always happens. It's unreal. Like some kind of magic talismanic hold. Anyway, it's great to see these particular actors play off of one another, too. Dafoe's part seems like it could have been played by '92 era Dennis Quaid but that would have been less special. Maybe it's the weird stew of that casting, taking a chance on the off beat rather than the all too typical. It may also be that this movie remains for me the last time we got to see Mickey Rourke still looking like himself before he became almost unrecognizably other right after this (save for somehow maybe his cameo in The Pledge). And it's a fun, fully embodied performance from him that doesn't just coast on his inherent weirdness indifferently deployed but does retain what is off kilter and idiosyncratic about him. Not everyone in the cast is as well served by the film, however. I've always wondered about Mimi Rogers' strangely abbreviated turn (not even credited); it seems likely that she had a much larger part winnowed down in the edit (still, if so that contributes to the clipped pacing). And it has to be admitted that as far as audience projection goes, Dafoe's plight, caught between Rogers and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is not a bad place to be caught at all, though a plight indeed. None of this though really adequately explains the bizarre hold this movie has over me. I find that every time I come across it I exhale quietly like Jeff Bridges in White Squall ("White...Sands...").

[beamish14]

The Crossing Guardis an interesting work. It starts off so well (and has that gorgeous Bruce Springsteen song from his “lost” mid-90’s trip-hop inspired record), but it ends in a fairly tedious and unfulfilling manhunt. I’m much more partial to what Penn directed before it and his two subsequent features. Having Nicholson and Huston act opposite each other just a few years after their very acrimonious and public real-life split was a risky choice that works out, and I love the scenes they share together

[therewillbeblus]

I'm sure this has been mentioned before, but what site do y'all use to import Imprint titles in the U.S.? I feel like I've only used either DD's bargain bin or JB Hi-fi during their sales, but I'd like to avoid that latter hassle if I can get something for a reasonable price from one of the main most-trusted sites

[swo17]

I've just always placed large orders directly (shipping gets capped at a certain point)

[therewillbeblus]

I've just always placed large orders directly (shipping gets capped at a certain point)

Does that become a cheaper option over, say, Orbit, if you buy a certain amount of titles?

[domino harvey]

I think most of mine have come from eBay or Diabolik

[swo17]

I've just always placed large orders directly (shipping gets capped at a certain point)

Does that become a cheaper option over, say, Orbit, if you buy a certain amount of titles?

Actually, it looks like they now do free international shipping above a certain threshold (AUD$400?). As examples, the new Prisoner set costs about $80 direct vs. $100 from Orbit. Or Beware My Lovely/Jennifer costs $16.50 direct vs. $22 from Orbit. And those are just normal, non-sale prices. If you'd like me to pick some things up for you the next time I place an order, let me know

[therewillbeblus]

Thanks swo!

[dwk]

July's limited editions:
Film Focus: Harvey Keitel (Bad Lieutenant /The Young Americans / Dangerous Games / Imaginary Crimes / Clockers / Holy Smoke)
Smoke & Blue in the Face
Men of Respect
8MM
The Juror

[Aunt Peg]

I wish that Imaginary Crimes was a stand-alone release as I'd love to revisit it.

A small gem that got some critical acclaim in it's day but disappeared and sadly largely forgotten since.

[jazzo]

That Smoke/Blue in the Face set is something I've been hoping for. Smoke in particular, maybe more than any other film except Hal Hartley's Trust, represents the things that excited me most about American independent cinema in the 90's.

Given their proclivity for Wayne Wang's pictures, anyone think something like this would come from Criterion? I'm not a huge fan of Imprint's overpriced and often underwhelming releases.