pro-bassoonist

Mr.Benson has an outstanding sale 2 for 20....many Art House titles and "regular" as well so take a look at it...

http://www.bensons-world.co.uk/dvd/promotion/wc0104.htm

"regular"
http://www.bensons-world.co.uk/dvd/promotion/whv999.htm


***
Shipping and handling is 0.50 per disc so total for two discs will be 21.00 pounds shipped to the US!

Lucas

Lots of good world cinema titles there. So many to recommend so I'll start with being negative and say keep away from:

Europa (AKA Zentropa for North America) -sadly, has the wrong AR.
A Ma Soeur! censored/cut
Hairdresser's Husband (AKA Le Mari de la coiffeuse) -not very good (non-anamorphic and there's something wrong with the AR) but better than nothing. Try to get the OOP French (try Ebay France) version which is lovely (thanks to funding by tax payers I might add). Great film.
La Haine -Awful! get the French disc which is very cheap at the moment from Amazon.fr (it's being re-rereleased in a budget range).


Best versions:

Idiots, The -Apparently the wrong aspect ratio but I can'tsay I noticed since it's meant to be rough. Uncut complete with full penetration (don't tell the MPAA!).
Matador -Great Almadovar film. The disc is 1.85:1 approx. Non-anamorphic and rather poor subs -it is however the only available legit DVD I know of.


Brilliant DVDs/films:

Beau Travail
Code Unknown (AKA Code inconnu) -A must see!
Under The Sand (beautiful film)
Angel At My Table, An -Anamorphic and better overall than the Austrailian disc. Magnificent film from the director of The Piano.


I don't have time to go through the rest sadly. If there's something specific someone wants to know and I can answer -I will

Lucas

AutumnNights

Yeah 50p is 0.5 UK pounds -that's roughly US$0.80 (http://www.xe.net/ucc/)

The UK PAL disc (Region 0 I believe) of L' Appartement is approx 1.85:1 non-anamorphic -if I recall correctly. I can't be more specific as it's been years since I had the disc, sorry. Best to check the price of the French disc first and see how much you're willing to pay. You could also email Bensons and ask them to confirm -they will take the disc back if they get it wrong.


Matador is magnificent. It's a story about killing and psychosis. I can't say more except check reviews for the director's other films and see if they appeal -I rarely recommend films and I certainly wouldn't recommend Matador unless I knew your taste in films.

pro-bassoonist

AutumnNights....

I would like to recommend that you DO NOT GET the British L'appartement and instead get the French disc which has DTS, English subs, a few extras, and GREAT quality.

http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/tg/...#more-pictures

You could have it shipped to the States for about 19.89$.
(for graphic comparison look at DVDBEAVER)

Same as La Haine (as Lukas already pointed out...price is 12.99...which means that they will knock off 2 euro, VAT...and you will have it for about 17$ shipped).
http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/tg/...#more-pictures

I own these...and...well.....just my 0.02 cents!

pro-bassoonist

I started entering all of my dvds then my computer crashed back in October. Then I went back home to Chicago and did the R1 titles...which have not been updated since then (more than 6 months?)???

No...R2 dvds(mostly French movies..not French dvds) I have not even started since I am mostly in Indiana now. Besides I run another databank that keeps track of nearly all of the French movies that come out and have english subs (not everything however as sometimes they have films I dont really like...but the art movies for example I keep track of).

I usually follow French Cinema esp. the new 90s wave...not sure I like that much EVERYTHING but in general I collect many of them.

***Too bad that lately many of the titles that I was waiting for are coming out without subs.....La Repentie for example...which many dislike but I adore!
So European cinema is a big part of my collection! (yes...I have non-French movies as well....but they do not rival my French titles).

pro-bassoonist

no that's not my site...but I /ve known it for awhile!

Yeah...I wish we had a "sticky" thread here just for French subbed movies but, o, well.....

AutumnNights...those are great Reno movies...if you like the CornedBeef....also check out Le Boulet....not a Reno flick but very funny!!
I still dont have Le Jaguar on a French disc....my brother gave me HK disc...obvious boot...which I gave to a friend....so..I should be getting it soon. Let me know what's the quailty like when you get it.

Lucas

Nice to see so many people reaching outside their region for films -that's the great thing about DVD, it opens up films to everyone

Another rather good French review site is DVDMaxx -complete with screen grabs.

If you don't speak French and wish to translate a page just enter the URL of the review here and choose the language eg if you enter the Barton Fink review you will get a rough translation like this (this link may get deleted on the site's update). Incidentally, Barton Fink is easily the worst French DVD I've seen -and I've seen a lot (it was so bad I sent it back).

zeitgeistsfo

Thanks for the info on the sale. Picked up Europa (despite the non-OAR, since the U.S. release has been cancelled) and Lovers of the Arctic Circle. Both blind buys, so we'll see...

Lucas

I think that Medem disc is quite nice IRRC. Some info here

If you decide to buy more Medem films buying them from Spain is the best option. All the Spanish discs I've bought have been excellent. There's a quite cheap 3 disc pack too.

Kumar J

So all this dvd's are in PAL?

pro-bassoonist

yes

Kumar J

All I wanted was some NTSC uncut dvd's of Tinto Brass.

Heliosphann

Yep, all of them are PAL...

I'm pissed that the Europa DVD isn't 2.35:1 !!! I put my copy in just to double check and sure enough it looks like it's at about 1.85:1. Doesn't seem to hurt the composition a whole lot though. I wonder why the **** they'd do such a thing. Tartan Retards. Although the funny thing is there is an intertitle that say somehting like "Frankfort Germany 1954" and the AR changes to 2.35:1 so the title can fit.

Dan Average

I should mention that the R2 Spanish disc of Europa is 2.35:1. However, it's nonanamorphic and has screwy English subtitles (all the dialogue, both English and German, is subtitled, so you have to keep switching them on and off unless you don't mind having subtitles for the English-language dialogue).