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RagingNoodles · #26 Post by **RagingNoodles** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 2:58 pm

Really great to see Los Olvidados on there.

codam · #27 Post by **codam** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 3:07 pm

Great news! I don't know why the Fin de Cinema blog thinks they will be lousy transfers - the previous Lionsgate set had very acceptable transfers. Maybe he's thinking of the poor quality of the Facets / Cinemateca Bunuels.

miless · #28 Post by **miless** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 3:51 pm

codam wrote:I don't know why the Fin de Cinema blog thinks they will be lousy transfers - the previous Lionsgate set had very acceptable transfers. Maybe he's thinking of the poor quality of the Facets / Cinemateca Bunuels.

not to mention that the recent Godard set featured some fantastic transfers... which gives me hope that Los Olvidados and Nazarin will look fantastic (especially since Los Olvidados has recently been restored).

addition: will 2008 be the year Buñuel gets his due on DVD?

El Manchego · #29 Post by **El Manchego** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 4:14 pm

While it's great to see more Mexican Bunuels on the way (especially Nazarin and Los Olvidados), I wish Ensayo de un crimen was included in the six. Does anyone know who has the rights?

tryavna · #30 Post by **tryavna** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 4:24 pm

This is very good news and makes a lot sense -- as Justeleblanc points out, the rights for these films all seem to belong to the same companies: they were released by Alter in Mexico and most have been released (in poor NTSC->PAL ports) in the UK by Yume. The only puzzling inclusion is Los Olvidados. Perhaps the litigation problems were exaggerated (or just wishful thinking) by Koch Lorber.... I guess we'll find out soon.

I also agree with Codam. The original blogger must be thinking of the more recent Facets releases -- though to be honest, they aren't as bad as Facets releases typically are.

To El Manchego: I don't know who owns the rights to Ensayo in the US. But there's a very good R2 French release with English subs and El as a second feature. You can grab it from any number of e-tailers, including Xploited.

I'm particularly looking forward to Daughter of Deceit and River and Death, since those are the only ones currently unavailable with English subs. But it would be fantastic if all the films end up looking as good as the Young One/Grand Casino Lionsgate release did.

justeleblanc · #31 Post by **justeleblanc** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 4:45 pm

These are not Studio Canal movies, nor are they part of the Luis Bunuel Collection. I created a new thread since these double features appear to be a part of Lionsgate's greater Mexican double features trend. Don't assume good transfers at all.

tryavna · #32 Post by **tryavna** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 4:52 pm

I was under the impresssion that this news was somehow related the Lionsgate's previous Bunuel release. If it's not, then chances are that the A/V quality won't be similar.

MichaelB · #33 Post by **MichaelB** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 5:46 pm

tryavna wrote: I don't know who owns the rights to Ensayo in the US. But there's a very good R2 French release with English subs and El as a second feature.

Believe it or not, despite being a French disc (on the Films Sans Frontières label), it's region-free NTSC - I've just checked the actual DVD in my MacBook, and the 'Disc Info' settings confirm it.

bunuelian · #34 Post by **bunuelian** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 6:20 pm

Yes the Ensayo/El double feature is NTSC and region free. They're also good transfers. No reason not to pick it up.

Los Olvidados is certainly a surprise here. If it's not the restored print in a good transfer, though, it'll be a disappointment. Given the weird paths these films seem to travel on their way to DVD, I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch in this instance.

I think El Rio y la Muerte will be the first English-subbed disc of that film (just off the top of my head). It'll be a bittersweet day when I've got the complete works on my shelf . . .

jsteffe · #35 Post by **jsteffe** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 12:53 am

Let's hope that the Lionsgate LOS OLVIDADOS release indeed becomes a reality together with all those other Bunuel films!

I have a question about running times for LOS OLVIDADOS. In his comparison, DVDBeaver lists the running time for the FsF disc at 77 minutes and the Alterfilms disc at 80. Once you take PAL speedup into account, this would suggest they're both using an 80 minute version. But the old Connoisseur Video/Mirada VHS tape is supposedly 88 minutes long, and WorldCat lists some 16mm prints at 85 minutes. Is the otherwise superior FsF disc in fact from a cut version?

#36 Post by **domino harvey** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 1:13 am

I saw a version on my campus that was sourced from a Mexican DVD that ran 88 minutes for whatever that's worth

davebert · #37 Post by **davebert** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 1:33 am

This is really exciting, because although I count Bunuel as one of my favorite directors, the only one I've heard of or seen clips from (having come of age in the R1 dvd market) is Los Olvidados. I don't expect to find any career-defining masterpieces, and I'll keep my hopes low for A/V quality, but the chance to expand my horizons is appreciated.

Who'd have expected in 2006 that Lionsgate would become a major blessing in the R1 foreign cinema market? Crazy!

Cinephrenic · #38 Post by **Cinephrenic** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 1:55 am

Criterion/Janus has the rights to Tristana, Simon of the Desert, The Exterminating Angel. I'm assuming they also have El and The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz. I don't mind them releasing his remaining Mexican films stand alone. They just need to get some good shit out.

Gregory · #39 Post by **Gregory** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 2:04 am

jsteffe: The rights in Mexico are controlled by AlterFilms/Televisa, and I was pretty sure there'd only been one DVD release, so I don't know who released the one Domino Harvey saw. I have two Buñuel filmographies published fairly recently and they both list the runtime as 88 minutes. I have not been able to figure out why the VHS/DVD releases tend to be shorter than that, but maybe someone else can shed some light on this.

Cabiria21 · #40 Post by **Cabiria21** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 11:39 am

awesome! after this I'll be missing just 2 of his films, That is the Dawn & The Fever Rises in El Pao.

MichaelB · #41 Post by **MichaelB** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 11:43 am

davebert wrote:This is really exciting, because although I count Bunuel as one of my favorite directors, the only one I've heard of or seen clips from (having come of age in the R1 dvd market) is Los Olvidados. I don't expect to find any career-defining masterpieces

Actually, I'd say two of those would count as career-defining masterpieces - definitely Los Olvidados (and how!), and arguably Nazarin too.

tryavna · #42 Post by **tryavna** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 12:40 pm

MichaelB wrote:Actually, I'd say two of those would count as career-defining masterpieces - definitely Los Olvidados (and how!), and arguably Nazarin too.

I think a lot of forum members would agree -- and would extend it to several other films from Bunuel's Mexican period. It really is an amazing body of work!

Nazarin, in particular, should appeal to fans of Viridiana, since it seems almost like a trial run for the later film -- only in a somewhat darker vein and with a male protagonist.

miless · #43 Post by **miless** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 2:17 pm

Nazarin was one of Andrei Tarkovsky's favorite films (he listed it in his top ten for sight & sound). And that's from a man who loved Buñuel, so you know there's something there.

Cinephrenic · #44 Post by **Cinephrenic** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 2:18 pm

Anyone else kinda disappointed that Nazarin is not coming from Criterion.

miless · #45 Post by **miless** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 2:34 pm

Cinephrenic wrote:Anyone else kinda disappointed that Nazarin is not coming from Criterion.

yes, and I'm also disappointed that Los Olvidados isn't coming from them... (and that the others are not coming from Eclipse)

Michael Kerpan · #46 Post by **Michael Kerpan** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 4:20 pm

If these have good image quality and good subtitles, I frankly don't care who releases them.

There is lots of information on Bunuel available already at everyone's local library (through inter-library loan, if worst comes to worst) -- and even a fair amount of material online. DVDs themselves are not necessarily the best method of gaining background information -- and (besides) Criterion's releases have already included most of the key documentary-esque materials.

kaujot · #47 Post by **kaujot** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 6:20 pm

Still waiting for a commentary on a Bunuel Criterion.

Michael Kerpan · #48 Post by **Michael Kerpan** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 6:35 pm

kaujot wrote:Still waiting for a commentary on a Bunuel Criterion.

Why? The only Bunuel commentary tracks I've heard have been quite unnecessary. (viz. the Miramax Belle DVD).

kaujot · #49 Post by **kaujot** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 6:37 pm

Michael Kerpan wrote:
kaujot wrote:Still waiting for a commentary on a Bunuel Criterion.
Why? The only Bunuel commentary tracks I've heard have been quite unnecessary. (viz. the Miramax Belle DVD).

Because I like commentary tracks?

#50 Post by **domino harvey** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 6:39 pm

Michael Kerpan wrote:
kaujot wrote:Still waiting for a commentary on a Bunuel Criterion.
Why?

Yeah every new DVD release should only contain the film and a library card