Third Window Films

[zedz]

And a box set of Ishii's 90s films please!

[Michael Kerpan]

It looks like my copy of the new Obayashi set (for which I paid the extra expense for "express") will take at least 2 weeks to arrive (and the tracking past departure from the UK has been next to non-existent -- so I don't even really know where it might be). So still waiting to see this.

[feihong]

And a box set of Ishii's 90s films please!

THIS. Definitely! Angel Dust is a favorite of mine from way back.

[swo17]

Ishii's come up on the Radiance Discord, and I think a member here mentioned there that Third Window would release more of his films if they could, but there are music rights and other issues. I don't know if this one film coming out now is an exception to that rule or a sign that there has been some positive movement in that regard

[Calvin]

Ishii's come up on the Radiance Discord, and I think a member here mentioned there that Third Window would release more of his films if they could, but there are music rights and other issues. I don't know if this one film coming out now is an exception to that rule or a sign that there has been some positive movement in that regard

It was a subject of discussion on the Third Window Podcast - I remember that August in the Water and Angel Dust were specifically mentioned but I'd need to listen again to confirm any others.

Third Window wrote last year that "Electric Dragon is a complicated one as the rights for some reason are handled by a major studio who not only don't seem too interested in making a new master, but at the same time told us we weren't allowed to make a new scan from our own accessible 35mm print of the film..." so it looks like that situation has thankfully been resolved.

[Calvin]

Gakuryu Ishii did post on Instagram a few weeks ago: "as a director, I am very grateful to know that many international people also love this August in the Water. When my current works are finished, I would like to start a project for high quality digital preservation and international distribution."

[beamish14]

Ishii’s Shuffle in HD would be tremendous. It was on a DVD box of his work in Japan that goes for stupid amounts of money today. The first film to ever be adapted from a manga by Katsuhiro Otomo, I believe (although Otomo himself made some experimental films in the late 70’s, I don’t think they’re based on works he had published)

[Michael Kerpan]

I finally got the Obayashi box set ("express" shipping across the Atlantic took 2 weeks) -- and can't play it. All I get is a map of the world -- with regions colored as A, B and C. No explanation as to how to pick Region A. No button does anything useful. Help.

[swo17]

It's a Region B release. Do you not have a region-free player? You would need to have one of those, and to set the player to be Region B

[Michael Kerpan]

I do (but I never use it by default). But why does it just show 3 regions with no explanation? Usually I get a message telling me something useful.

I assumed it was telling me I needed to specify a region somehow.

Thanks.

[swo17]

Oh good. Presumably that's their default screen for when your machine is set to the wrong region. The region code is not something you can select on a disc. It's generally something you change by entering a certain code on your remote while the disc tray is empty, and then resetting the player. If you share the model of your player, someone here can probably help you with the remote code

[Michael Kerpan]

I have an aged Seiki permanently set to Region B. I once knew how to change its region, but I haven't tried doing so for years and years.

So, I watched School in the Crosshairs. Odd little movie, Interesting seeing such a young Hiroko Yakushimaru. And nice seeing my friend Aaron Gerow in the interview with Obayashi's daughter (as I haven't seen him in real life since before coronavirus struck).

[colinr0380]

If it is anything like my multi-region player, it may be switchable with a button press. The instructions that I got with my player involve switching the player on with no disc inserted and pushing either the red button (Region A), green (Region B) or yellow (Region C) on the remote. Then opening the disc tray and playing the disc from the selected region. It may be a long shot but maybe that might work with your player too?

[theflirtydozen]

I have an aged Seiki permanently set to Region B. I once knew how to change its region, but I haven't tried doing so for years and years.

So, I watched School in the Crosshairs. Odd little movie, Interesting seeing such a young Hiroko Yakushimaru. And nice seeing my friend Aaron Gerow in the interview with Obayashi's daughter (as I haven't seen him in real life since before coronavirus struck).

Michael, please see the below regarding how to switch regions with Seiki! It's been my favorite player I've ever had but unfortunately mine lost its steam earlier this year.

So I'm not sure how easy it is to toggle back & forth if it's your sole player.

From what it seems like I've read a couple places, it's literally as simple as entering "8520" (think that was it) at the setup screen and you get taken to a back door that lets you change region coding. So assuming there's not a limit on the amount of times you can switch that out, that seems pretty simple.

To be even more specific, for future reference: At the home screen when you first start the player, press "setup" on the remote then type "8520" and another box will come up with the region settings. You can set the DVD region to "0" for all region but you have to change between "1," "2," or "3" for blu regions A, B, and C, respectively. After entering the numbers for the region settings, you can press "setup" again to close all the boxes. Pretty sure this can only be done when there's not a disc in the machine or when the tray is open.

[Michael Kerpan]

theflirtydozen -- Thanks.

[Calvin]

So, I watched School in the Crosshairs. Odd little movie, Interesting seeing such a young Hiroko Yakushimaru. And nice seeing my friend Aaron Gerow in the interview with Obayashi's daughter (as I haven't seen him in real life since before coronavirus struck).

I enjoyed School in the Crosshairs quite a bit. Obayashi's still playing in the same sandbox as House but takes a step towards his later character-driven dramas.

I thought that the only real weak link in the set was The Island Closest to Heaven - which plays a feature-length advertisement for New Caledonia'stourist board and is only a little more engaging. Obayashi would better address the same themes with greater complexity in later works, particularly Chizuko's Younger Sister. Third Window haven't ruled out releasing more Obayashi in the future so hopefully that one is under consideration.

[Michael Kerpan]

I should be tackling Girl Who Leapt Through Time tonight...

I really do hope we get another box set (which is why I made sure to buy these first two sets).

[Calvin]

Third Window will also release Katsuhito Ishii's Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl and another unnamed Tadanobu Asano film in 2023. Hopefully The Buried Forest as part of a Kohei Oguri set...

[Calvin]

Third Window will also release Katsuhito Ishii's Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl and another unnamed Tadanobu Asano film in 2023. Hopefully The Buried Forest as part of a Kohei Oguri set...

It's the hope that kills. The other one will be Katsuhito Ishii's Party 7

[colinr0380]

Instead of Sogo Ishii's 90s films, Third Window have just put up the trailer for the upcoming release of Gakuryû Ishii's 2018, and most recent, film Punk Samurai. With Tadanobu Asano!

[beamish14]

Seems their Takeshi Kitano titles are going OOP. Could better editions be on the horizon? Should I just snap them up?

[yoloswegmaster]

Third Window has revealed that they will be releasing one of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's lesser known films later in the year.

[colinr0380]

Maybe they will be upgrading their DVD double bill edition of Eyes of the Spider and Serpent's Path. The Guard From Underground would seem a good bet, since that only had a long OOP US edition from Artsmagic (which would mean they would already have a Tom Mes commentary track to add onto it!). Or hopefully something even earlier such as Kandagawa River Pervert Wars, after reading feihong's description of it a few years ago.

Or maybe even Sweet Home!

[beamish14]

Maybe they will be upgrading their DVD double bill edition of Eyes of the Spider and Serpent's Path. The Guard From Underground would seem a good bet, since that only had a long OOP US edition from Artsmagic (which would mean they would already have a Tom Mes commentary track to add onto it!). Or hopefully something even earlier such as Kangogawa Pervert Wars, after reading feihong's description of it a few years ago.

Or maybe even Sweet Home!

Is Sweet Home held by WB in every territory? I’d love a Blu that includes a download code for the video game

[Calvin]

The Guard from Underground was also recently restored so it seems probable. I'm not sure if there's anything preventing a release of Sweet Home, but I know that Kurosawa sued his producers over it so I suspect he doesn't want to see it come out again.

--




Both of the Ishii films are now available to pre-order to Terracotta.

With regards to August in the Water, Adam has said

the company who made the film went bankrupt, and the rights went into limbo, then were taken over by the Ministry of Education under the "Reuse System for Objects with Unknown Copyrights". So if you wanted to screen the film, you'd need to apply for a screening use to them and pay them $5000 to get one-time rights.
Though, physical releasing is separate to that.

Ishii is trying to use Japan's copyright law to make it so that he can become the copyright holder and get the rights back in order to work on a remaster, but it would need to go to court and essentially sue the Ministry of Education to claim the rights are his. Though this year he's busy making a new film (and releasing the one he made last year), so he can't handle the lawsuit.
Once it gets cleared we're fine to move forward as him and I have talked all remastering costs and such through, but it'll take a while