Second Sight Films (UK)

[John Hodson]

Coming up November, Losey's Boom, Audie Murphy in To Hell and Back and Gambit, complete with Ronald Neame commentary.

[Matt]

Coming up November, Losey's Boom

Holy crap! I might have bought this as a R1 Universal cheapie, but I don't know if I can bring myself to spring for a pricey import.

[ellipsis7]

Interesting microsite on LOLA MONTES from the Cinematheque Francaise including notes on the restoration & the various versions...

[John Hodson]

FWIW, Gambit boasts a beautiful OAR 'scope transfer; strong colours, excellent detail, and very, very clean indeed. The mono soundtrack is equally good.

Boom! on the other hand isn't quite so pretty - it comes with the 'scope transfer slightly window boxed, it's a little muddy and murky but watchable.

[Florinaldo]

How would you rate the documentary on the making of Lola Montès? I am thinking of double-dipping by getting the Second Sight DVD (my CC BR is on the way).

[MichaelB]

According to their website they are releasing Derek Jarman's Edward the second, but no date is given.

Firm thumbs up for this - great anamorphic transfer, optional subtitles for those who struggle with the Elizabethan English (with additional Anglo-Saxon interpolations in this case), and I thought the retrospective documentary was pretty good too, with Peter Tatchell effectively standing in for Derek Jarman by providing context about the period when the film was made, from the perspective of someone who was a high-profile activist at the time.

[tojoed]

In May and June, "Jane Eyre", Fassbinder's "World on a Wire" and Peter Yates's wonderful film, "Breaking Away" (already released in region 1 some time ago).

[Duncan Hopper]

In May and June, Fassbinder's "World on a Wire"

Nice, I'll be picking that up.

[TMDaines]

Provided the subs are optional (absurdly the subs on their BA set weren't) and they don't drop the ball, I'll probably pick up World on a Wire. The main additional extras on the German Arthaus set that aren't listed on this Second Sight release are in the boxsets by Arrow - the two Fassbinder shorts and the 1977 documentary. I'm not going to lose sleep over a photogallery, a pdf or two and thin booklet. They're both priced about the same too.

It's only £12.99 for preorder at Play right now.

[JamesF]

Peter Yates' 1979 Oscar winner Breaking Away is being listed as an upcoming release on the front page. I'll be very interested to see if it's any improvement on the old flipper disc Fox released in the US several years ago.

[tojoed]

Also in June Heimat Parts 1 and 2.

[perkizitore]

Will these discs feature a new transfer and extras? I think i noticed new German pre-orders as well!

[Yojimbo]

Also in June Heimat Parts 1 and 2.

I must confess to being massively disappointed by 'Heimat': it started off so well, reminded me, in parts of 'All My Good Countrymen', and 'Satantango', but degenerated to superior soap opera
(not dissimilar to the similarly overrated, 'Best of Youth')

[TMDaines]

I think I'll pick up the German three set release (with no English subs).

[MichaelB]

Will these discs feature a new transfer and extras? I think i noticed new German pre-orders as well!

There wasn't anything seriously wrong with the old Tartan transfer, so my guess is that it'll be a straightforward port. Not least because redoing it would cost a bomb, and the market really can't be big enough to justify that extra expense - I doubt there'd be a reissue at all if Tartan hadn't gone under.

[perkizitore]

I was wondering if the new German set will be improved compared to the Tartan sets. If the Germans created new extras, it may not be very expensive to licence them for the UK market.

[Stefan Andersson]

There are plans to restore HEIMAT 1 digitally, but money´s not in place yet. Reitz is involved. This info is from a German site, called something like heimat123.de, containing info from sources near Reitz.

[manicsounds]

September 6th!

[Murdoch]

Original poster art!

[Stefan Andersson]

Heimat Fragments The Women announced by Second Sight for Sept. 13.

[ellipsis7]

And MODESTY BLAISE on September 20th!...

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

And MODESTY BLAISE on September 20th!...

With the fabulous Dork Bogarde! Seriously, is he any good in this?

[ellipsis7]

If I remember correctly it's a bit all over the place, and and not a little over the top, camp spoof 60's secret agent thriller, but reunites Bogarde with director Joseph Losey (together they made THE SERVANT, KING & COUNTRY, & ACCIDENT) and features Monica Vitti in a comic role as the titular MODESTY BLAISE, and Terence Stamp as the male lead, so it can't be all bad... It was while Michelangelo Antonioni was accompanying Vitti to London to make the film, that he started to hatch his own swinging sixties project, BLOW UP... The MODESTY BLAISE trailer gives an idea...

[Matt]

so it can't be all bad

No, it is all bad. Absolutely unwatchable.

[otis]

What's not to love?