The Arrow Thread

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

They haven't given up on censorship it's just that today's movies are too lame to even think about cutting.

A Serbian Film and The Human Centipede were cut to hell and created press outcries so nothing has changed it's just that cinema has become too PC and lost all it's cutting edge.

[Rob4]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

They haven't given up on censorship it's just that today's movies are too lame to even think about cutting.

A Serbian Film and The Human Centipede were cut to hell and created press outcries so nothing has changed it's just that cinema has become too PC and lost all it's cutting edge.

No, not saying it went altogether, just that the guidelines were severely relaxed.

You have used two extreme examples to illustrate a point. No one would have even contemplated making movies like that in the 80s - not even Deodata/Lenzi would have contemplated those concepts.

Compared to pre-1999 most films get through unscathed and many previously banned/cut have been reinstated. Not saying it is censorship free just that it is many times more relaxed than before.

Agreed that many producers are practicing self-censorship to gain lower ratings. But even within the rating system there has been relaxation. For example would films like Kick-Ass really have gotten a 15 certificate in 1995? 18 cert at best and probably cut too.

[Justin101]

These days films are made in partnership with the classification board, particularly in America, so bits are getting removed before they're even shot so that they can get the best, or most commercial, rating for the film. Anything too exciting will get NC17 and won't get a cinema release as the big chains won't show anything stronger than R.

I think that a UK 18 is stronger than an American R so by this point there is nothing left to cut, unless the studio wants a 15.

I think that's why World Cinema and indie films are more enticing these days.

[Paul@TheOverlook]

Originally Posted by Justin101

These days films are made in partnership with the classification board, particularly in America, so bits are getting removed before they're even shot so that they can get the best, or most commercial, rating for the film. Anything too exciting will get NC17 and won't get a cinema release as the big chains won't show anything stronger than R.

I think that a UK 18 is stronger than an American R so by this point there is nothing left to cut, unless the studio wants a 15.

I think that's why World Cinema and indie films are more enticing these days.

This is true here too - a lot of films are sent pre-official submission for advice before they're properly edited - there are loads of examples of this but the one that comes to mind instantly is Casino Royale - the board made suggestions, Sony took it away and submitted a revised edited that was passed uncut for 12A.

That said, Demdike is right - most mainstream films are made with a certain rating in sites of producers/studios (usually PG-13) so what we're left with is an abundance of toothless films that would have ben made for older audiences 20 years ago.

[J Harker]

The Arrow Announcements today seem to have been leaked by DawnoftheDiscs on hamstergram.

Crash 4K UHD
King of New York 4K UHD
The William Grefe Collection (?)
Burst City
and
Lake Michigan Monster.

Can't say I'm much interested in the first two personally and have never heard of the rest.Screenshot_20200828-142255_Instagram.jpg

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

[Susan Foreman]

FrightFest sale August 28th - 31st

https://arrowfilms.com/shop/frightfest-sale-2020?pi=1

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by J Harker

The Arrow Announcements today seem to have been leaked by DawnoftheDiscs on hamstergram.

Crash 4K UHD
King of New York 4K UHD
The William Grefe Collection (?)
Burst City
and
Lake Michigan Monster.

Can't say I'm much interested in the first two personally and have never heard of the rest.Attachment 227276

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

Looking on IMDB this William Grefe Collection could actually be the most interesting release from Wheelbarrow in some time. I didn't realise he was the director of Live and Let Die on of my favourite Bonds. I've never seen or even heard of the films included but I'm certainly intrigued.

He Came From the Swamp: The William Grefe Collection

Sting of Death (1966)
Death Curse of Tartu (1966)
The Hooked Generation (1968)
The Psychedelic Priest (1971)
The Naked Zoo (1971)
and
Whiskey Mountain (1977)

[Justin101]

Burst City sounds really good (to me at least)

From 1982
Punk rock gangs and music groups clash with one another and the brutal police force in a futuristic Tokyo setting.

[Susan Foreman]

Full details:

NEW UK TITLE: King of New York (4K UHD)

Release date: November 16

King of New York returns with guns blazing in this definitive special edition, including a new director-approved 4K restoration

"NOT EVERYONE WHO RUNS A CITY IS ELECTED.

Arguably maverick filmmaker Abel Ferrara’s most accessible and explosive film, King of New York’s status as an urban gangster classic is cemented by a magnetic, career-best central performance by Christopher Walken, as well as riveting support from Laurence Fishburne, Wesley Snipes, Giancarlo Esposito, Steve Buscemi and David Caruso.

After years inside, drug lord Frank White (Walken) is fresh out of jail and back on the streets of New York City. Seeing himself as half Scarface, half Robin Hood, Frank and his enforcers brutally take back control of the city, turf by turf – with starry dreams of using the millions to benefit the community and save a local hospital. Before Frank can fulfil his ruthless lust for power, though, he’s got to get past the crooked cops determined to take him down, and the criminal competition that won’t bend to his will.

Still just as relevant and incendiary now as it was three decades ago, King of New York returns with guns blazing in this definitive special edition, including a new director-approved 4K restoration."

4K ULTRA HD SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• New 4K restoration from the original negative by Arrow Films, approved by director Abel Ferrara and cinematographer Bojan Bazelli
• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• LPCM original stereo and remixed DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio options
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by director Abel Ferrara
• Audio commentary with composer Joe Delia, producer Mary Kane, casting director Randy Sabusawa and editor Anthony Redman
• Interview with director Abel Ferrara
• Interview with producer Augusto Caminito
• Abel Ferrara: Not Guilty, a documentary on the director from the French TV show Cinéastes de notre temps
• A Short Film About the Long Career of Abel Ferrara, a documentary looking back at the director’s career, including interviews with his key collaborators
• Original theatrical trailers and TV spots
• Image gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned artwork by Tracie Ching
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collectors’ booklet containing essays on the film by Iain Sinclair and Abel Ferrara biographer Brad Stevens

[Susan Foreman]

Full details:

NEW UK TITLE: NEW UK TITLE: Crash (Limited Edition 4K UHD) also Crash (Limited Edition Blu-ray)

Release date: November 30

An incredibly subversive and confrontational piece of cinema – now newly refurbished in a stunning 4K restoration.

"Technology and sexuality meet in a head-on collision in Crash – director David Cronenberg’s controversial adaptation of writer J.G. Ballard’s hugely transgressive 1973 novel starring James Spader and Holly Hunter.

Spader stars as James Ballard, an advertising executive whose deviant sexual desires are awakened by a near fatal automobile accident with Dr Helen Remington (Hunter). Soon the pair, alongside Ballard’s wife Catherine (Deborah Kara Unger), are drawn into an underground world of car crash fetishism presided over by renegade scientist Vaughan (Elias Koteas). Danger, sex and death become entwined as eroticism and technology join together in a disturbing, deadly union.

Awarded the Special Jury Prize at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival for originality, daring and audacity, Crash remains an incredibly subversive and confrontational piece of cinema – Cronenberg himself describes it as “a dangerous film” – now newly refurbished in a stunning 4K restoration."

Special features:

• Brand new restoration of the uncut NC-17 version from the original 35mm camera negative, supervised by writer-director David Cronenberg and director of photography Peter Suschitzky
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo DTS-HD Master Audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Brand new audio commentary with film scholar Adrian Martin
• Cronenberg Challenge – new interview with director of photography Peter Suschitzky
• Mechanical Animals – new interview with executive producer Jeremy Thomas
• The Shore Thing – new interview with composer Howard Shore
• License to Drive – new interview with casting director Deirdre Bowen
• Archival "Behind the Scenes" featurette
• Archival interviews with David Cronenberg, J.G. Ballard and actors James Spader, Holly Hunter, Deborah Kara Unger and Elias Koteas
• Cronenberg: Concrete Cowboy – brand new video essay by Caelum Vatnsdal on Cronenberg’s use of Toronto as a filming location
• Original Trailers
• Fully illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Vanessa Morgan and Araceli Molina, alongside a reprinted excerpt from Cronenberg on Cronenberg
• Fold-out double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork
• Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx