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View Full Version : Criterion split off, Plexifilm, announce their first releases today !

f_drew
18-12-2001, 12:43
Well, according to their website they do - www.plexifilm.com

I'll be very interested to see what's in their initial line-up and which features they have !

Can somebody post the films if they see the announcement before me please ! :D
Joe91
18-12-2001, 21:25
DVD Release Announcement
Plexifilm is proud to announce its first batch of 2002 DVD releases: Benjamin Smoke by Jem Cohen and Peter Sillen; I Am Trying To Break Your Heart by Sam Jones; Mala Noche by Gus Van Sant; and Style Wars by Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant.
They definitely seem to be specialising in art house & indie films. "Style Wars" is a classic hip-hop/graf documentary, but I'm not familiar with any of the others.

Further details (of the films) are available on their web site. Not surprisingly there is no indication of special features or release dates yet - since the company has only just been launched I would think they will not be out for a while.

I'm really interested to see how their DVDs will compare with those of Criterion :)
Dxfatass
18-12-2001, 21:47
Gotta say I'm a little disappionted by this list...

I expect the majority to be films I hadn't ever heard off but I did think since it was their first batch, they would have at least 1 major, main-stream title. Although I knew it was impossible I was getting excited about them possibly announcing Face/Off, Trainspotting, Shawshank or some similarly popular film which is begging for the special treatment...

Set myself up for a fall there...
Cap'n Al
18-12-2001, 22:51
Sorry to sound like a Philistine, but I don't think Criterion have anything to worry about!!!
Tristan H
18-12-2001, 22:57
I really can't see them shifting many copies of these. It would have been wise to hold back until they had a few films that were better known and that might have started off a small following of people who would then take a risk on the above titles. I personally haven't heard of any of them. :confused:
feverpitch96
19-12-2001, 05:35
Originally posted by Tristan H
It would have been wise to hold back until they had a few films that were better known

"Europa"/"Zentropa" would have been nice, but perhaps Mr von Trier is only available to Criterion at present...
:)
Michael Brooke
19-12-2001, 08:14
I've certainly heard of <I>Mala Noche</I> - it had a brief repertory life in the late 1980s/early 1990s on the back of Gus Van Sant's better-known <I>Drugstore Cowboy</I> and <I>My Own Private Idaho</I>, while <I>Benjamin Smoke</I> had a brief run in London earlier this year.

And good for Plexifilm, I say - I'd far rather they released genuinely intriguing work that hasn't had a DVD outing at all than just repackaging titles already available.
Hendrik
19-12-2001, 08:39
...for the benefit of those who - like me - may never have heard of any of these films and/or their makers, here are a few reviews...

- Benjamin Smoke (2000):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/02/06/benjamin_smoke_2001_review.shtml

- Mala Noche (1985):

http://onfilm.chireader.com/MovieCaps/M/MA/05804_MALA_NOCHE.html

- style wars (1983):

http://onfilm.chireader.com/MovieCaps/S/ST/20431_STYLE_WARS.html

...couldn't find anything on the fourth movie...

. . . :o . . .
Michael Brooke
19-12-2001, 08:44
<B>...for the benefit of those who - like me - may never have heard of any of these films or their makers</B>

Have you <U>really</U> not heard of Gus Van Sant? Do please reassure me that you've heard of at least one of <I>Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, To Die For, Good Will Hunting</I> and his notorious <I>Psycho</I> remake!
Hendrik
19-12-2001, 08:58
...sorry Mr Brooke... I have corrected the phrase you quoted... of course I've heard of good ol' Gus - whose To Die For and My Own Private Idaho are particular favourites - and whose 1998 Psycho left me scratching my head and saying WTFWTAA???... but, no, I had never heard of Mala Noche, a movie which - to me, I hasten to add - seems to be the only really interesting one of PlexiFilm's initial releases...

. . . :D . . .
Hendrik
19-12-2001, 09:01
...oh... and I thought GWH was abjectly dismal schlock... so there!

. . . :D . . .
Michael Brooke
19-12-2001, 09:03
Can't argue with you there, largely because I haven't seen it!
Bolch
19-12-2001, 09:27
GWH sure aint the best film, but it's worth watching for the **** take of it in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back :D