Asian Cinema Thread

Well I actually cancelled my copy of that on Zavvi and ordered it over at base.com

Also got a very short answer back from Eureka regarding them charging UK VAT to non-UK citizens

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Hi there,

We don't remove the VAT as we offer free shipping worldwide which offsets this cost.

Nonetheless, I will pass on your feedback to management for consideration.


Many thanks,


Customer Services
Eureka Entertainment Ltd
 
Curzon have scheduled a Bong Joon-ho Blu-ray collection for 29th March 2021, which contains Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000), Memories of Murder (2003), The Host (2006), Mother (2009), Snowpiercer (2013), and Parasite (2019).

Note: Studio Canal released The Host and Mother on Blu-ray while Lionsgate released Snowpiercer, so it's quite possible it's basically re-used discs rather than newly encoded ones.
 
NormanicGrav said:
Curzon have scheduled a Bong Joon-ho Blu-ray collection for 29th March 2021, which contains Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000), Memories of Murder (2003), The Host (2006), Mother (2009), Snowpiercer (2013), and Parasite (2019).

Note: Studio Canal released The Host and Mother on Blu-ray while Lionsgate released Snowpiercer, so it's quite possible it's basically re-used discs rather than newly encoded ones.
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I guess I’m buying Parasite for the third time then.
 
They're not breeding much good will with their customer base, coming less than 6 months after a Barking Dogs / Memories of Murder double pack that was widely criticised for being barebones and overpriced. You'd surely feel a little cheated now they're in a set with four other films for less than double the price.
 
Coming soon from 88 Films is Erotic Ghost Story (dir: Lam Ngai Kai) and Forbidden City Cop (dir: Vincent Kok, Stephen Chow), both are currently scheduled for 21st June.

UPDATE:

Some Hong Kong announcements to finish off the evening and the first CATIII reveal of 2021! NEW Artwork will be revealed next week.
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Forbidden City Cop (1996)
Starring Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer)

"A wild and hilariously anachronistic tale of an imperial guard of the Forbidden City who has no martial arts abilities but a talent for making futuristic machines and must save the kidnapped emperor."
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Erotic Ghost Story (1990) [UNCUT] - CATIII
LIMITED TO 2000 UNITS

"From the director of the legendarily bonkers The Story of Ricky comes an altogether more lubricious slice of adults-only action, one that more than lives up to its title. Our ghosts are a trio of saucy spirits with nothing better to do than to deceive unwary (and/ or horny) men, but that's until all three of them get the hots for a hunky scholar. They settle down to show him the pleasures of the flesh. Except the path of true lust does not run smooth..."

Branded with Hong Kong's infamous Category III rating for its commitment to carnality and starring amply endowed icon of Sino sex cinema Amy Yip (Sex and Zen), the supernatural studs at 88 Films are proud to present the UK Blu-ray premier of this soft-core classic – completely UNCUT.
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NormanicGrav said:
Coming soon from 88 Films is Erotic Ghost Story (dir: Lam Ngai Kai) and Forbidden City Cop (dir: Vincent Kok, Stephen Chow), both are currently scheduled for 21st June.
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Not Asian but noticed 88 also putting out a standard edition of Street Fighter after specifically stating they'd be no repress of the JCVDs... 😂
(Not mad, good for them it sold so much)
 
Jon O Fun said:
Not Asian but noticed 88 also putting out a standard edition of Street Fighter after specifically stating they'd be no repress of the JCVDs... 😂
(Not mad, good for them it sold so much)
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They did respond on the Blu-ray forum about that, it seems to be only Street Fighter and maybe 1-2 other titles and that's it.
Sorry if it come across badly, it sold out so quickly that we couldn’t even meet all of our contributor copies quota which we were really surprised about. The other titles won’t be repressed but we’ve had so many emails from people disappointed they missed out who won’t buy the rest without getting this one too we felt on balance it was probably worth buying some more unit allowance from our licensor. This will be a stripped back edition with no poster etc and certainly not numbered so you still have an exclusive product.
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88 Films has revealed on Facebook that Snake in the Eagle's Shadow was delayed to April in order to include a one hour special with actor Roy Horan (you'll recognise him if you saw the shocked pikachu face from the film).

Release Date SCHEDULE CHANGE

Both Snake in the Eagles Shadow and Legionnaire are now locked in!

Sorry for the delay in these. We have been busy creating a 1hr bonus feature with the legendary Roy Horan for Snake in the Eagles Shadow and a stack of extras for Legionnaire. We will be revealing all our extras for these two titles very shortly.
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A Blu-ray forum user has confirmed BFI's 2020 Blu-ray release for Ozu's The Flavour of Green Tea Over Rice on Amazon UK will no longer have the booklet - so it sounds like the first print has sold out, so any copies you may find now will just include the film.

I don't know if Funeral Parade of Roses still has its booklet and bonus Blu-ray disc though nowadays.
 
NormanicGrav said:
88 Films has revealed on Facebook that Snake in the Eagle's Shadow was delayed to April in order to include a one hour special with actor Roy Horan (you'll recognise him if you saw the shocked pikachu face from the film).
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I suppose locked in wasn't exactly that locked in. Snake In The Eagle's Shadow has slipped again to May 3rd.
Fine by me if it means a better release.
 
Coming soon from Eureka Entertainment is Jimmy Wang Yu's One Armed Boxer and Time and Tide via Eureka Classics. The latter is listed as 18 on Amazon so it's expected to be the Tsui Hark film.
 
Leaked Eureka titles officially revealed!

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Starting 24th May 2021, Eureka Classics will be releasing Tsui Hark's 2000 film Time and Tide (順流逆流). The first 2000 units will include a slipcover and collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Chinese-language film expert and author Stephen Teo.

Audio options include Cantonese, Mandarin and English audio with English & English HOH subtitles.
  • 1080p presentation on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK
  • All audio presented in 5.1 DTS-HD MA
  • Brand new feature length audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
  • Feature length audio commentary by writer, producer, and director Tsui Hark
  • Original trailer
Available to pre-order on Amazon UK.

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Also scheduled and under the same label is Jimmy Wang Yu's 1978 film One Armed Boxer (獨臂拳王). The first 2000 units will include a slipcover, reversible poster featuring new and original artwork and collector’s booklet featuring new writing by James Oliver and archival writing.

Audio options include Mandarin and English audio with English & English HOH subtitles.
  • 1080p presentation on Blu-ray from a new restoration of the original film elements (worldwide debut of this restoration on home video)
  • Brand new feature length audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
  • Stills Gallery
  • Original trailer
Available to pre-order on Amazon UK.

[Disclaimer: Links are affiliated + International Shipping Restrictions May Apply]
 
So I remembered that there was a mention for The Untold Story a while back on 88 Films' list which I believe ended up being an April Fools Joke (then again 88 Films seems to be getting more into the Category III films catalogue starting with Erotic Ghost Story).

That being said, recently I noticed that the film just got released on Blu-ray in North America and after reading a DVD Compare review, it seems the release is a pretty good transfer with three audio commentaries, an 83 minute lengthy documentary called 'Category III The Untold Story of Hong Kong Exploitation' and is reportedly all region.

Now I should clarify that this film is not for the faint of heart due to some very questionable content that many users on the Blu-ray forum mentioned that would require BBFC cuts.
 
Third Window Films has provided a mini-update on how things are going on the BD forum. Unfortunately they have no idea who Amazon isn't listing Pink Films Vol. 5 & 6 in the meantime (despite the set coming out at the end of the month).

In addition, the distributor has expressed interest in both Tetsuya Mariko's Miyamoto and Nobuhiko Obayashi's Labyrinth of Cinema, but their other titles Destruction Babies and Hanagatami have yet to reach the mark where sales-wise would be viable for the other films, plus BBFC is still a big issue for the latter.

Having just watched the extraordinary Labyrinth of Cinema and Miyamoto on the online Japan Film Festival, do Third Window Films have any plans for a physical media release of either of these?

Would like to release Labyrinth of Cinema, but to be honest its running time and BBFC costs would make it very hard. To just cover BBFC costs we'd need to sell over 200 units, and of course there are loads more costs involved in getting a film out there.

Personally loved MIYAMOTO, but his previous film DESTRUCTION BABIES, which is way more 'sellable' did not sell well and Miyamoto is a pretty hard film to market to be honest.
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How much did Love Exposure cost in BBFC fees?
(context: Love Exposure is a 4 hour film, and the longer the film is the more expensive the BBFC costs are)

Just over £1700, but
1) bbfc have raised their prices since then
2) that was a different time when you could recoup from theatricals, tv, etc plus dvd margins were greater and more people bought discs back then. a lot has changed since and brexit/covid not helping!
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Have you considered the crowdfunding route?

Crowdfunding is pretty complicated to be honest...
and in the end it comes down to demand I guess. just not enough people wanting these films I suppose. I'm still -£2000 on the Hanagatami release which everyone seemed to want at the time (and only release of the film outside of japan).

Know Labyrinth has been sold to US distributors so it'll get out there, and somewhere which doesn't require massive ratings fees either.
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I want Labyrinth of Cinema but, to be honest, it benefits so much from a wider understanding and appreciation of Obayashi's career that it feels somewhat wasted to release it into a market that only has two of his works available. It's a shame that Third Window are still in the negative on Hanagatami as it is a really extraordinary film and it's a release that I've tried hard to spread the word about in the hope that it would be successful.
 
Third Window Films has scheduled Macoto Tezka's live-action film adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's Barbara for 26th June.

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The Blu-ray & DVD combo pack will also be all region and have English & German subtitles.

On-disc extras include a 30 minute Behind-the-scenes, over 1 hour of interviews (Macoto Tezka, Christopher Doyle, Goro Inagaki, Fumi Nikaido) and 6 minutes of Deleted Scenes and Alternate Ending.

You can currently pre-order the film for SRP £19.99 on Arrow store.
 
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