"KEEP BUSTIN'."

Time For a New List

Remember how I posted about ROLLING THUNDER coming to DVD and how that means John Flynn’s never-on-DVD Parker adaptation THE OUTFIT was “now officially #1 on my list of Shit That Needs To Come Out”?

I guess the Warner Archive people saw that and their response is:

theoutfitIt’s not clear yet when ROLLING THUNDER can be ordered, but THE OUTFIT is already available here. Says it’s widescreen and newly remastered, too, so it shouldn’t be the version I heard played on some HD channels.

It’s all happening so fast, I haven’t had time to formulate a new list. There are two Parker adaptations that have never even been on VHS (at least that I’ve ever heard of). Those are THE SPLIT and MISE EN SAC. The first one I’ve seen and it’s good, the second I haven’t but I’ve heard it’s good and it’s based on a real cinematic book where Parker and crew try to take down an entire mining town.

I’m not sure what should be number one on the list though. I know THE WOMAN CHASER is on there somewhere, and I’d like people to be able to rent PENTATHLON and LAST NIGHT AT THE ALAMO,  but what’s left with the same urgency as ROLLING THUNDER and THE OUTFIT?

I usually think it’s corny when a blog (short for weblog) post ends with “What do you guys think?,” but I guarantee sincerity here. I wrote this post first to let everybody know about THE OUTFIT and second to ask what movies you love or are dying to see still haven’t made it to a legitimate DVD at all.

So, uh, what do you guys think?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 at 12:39 pm and is filed under Blog Post (short for weblog). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

67 Responses to “Time For a New List”

  1. I was going to say Jodorowsky’s SANTA SANGRE, which I’ve never seen all of because my bootleg copy was faulty, but looks like it’s getting a DVD and Blu Ray release in January. Holy shit!

  2. Well personally I would like a R1 release of four films by Polish master Piotr Szulkin: GOLEM; THE WAR OF THE WORLD – NEXT CENTURY; O-BI, O-BA – THE END OF CIVILIZATION; and GA-GA – GLORY TO THE HEROES. Blu Rays would be nice too. I understand why they’re not releasing them here though as I’m probably the only person who would buy them. There’s a R2 release but I can’t play those and I don’t really trust ordering stuff from eBay Poland.

  3. MAIDSTONE! It’s Maileriffic!

    Speaking of Mailer, Vern, have you ever seen TOUGH GUYS DON’T DANCE? I’d love to hear your reaction to it. One of the most batshit-insane movies ever made. Not unlike, uh, MAIDSTONE.

  4. Used to be Night of the Creeps, but that finally got taken care of. Hmmmm. . .the only thing that comes to mind is something that’s ALREADY on DVD, but is a full-frame bullshit transfer (audio and video) with no extras at all, and that’s Extreme Prejudice. Gimme at least the original fucking trailer if you’re not gonna get the great Walter Hill do a commentary. And full-frame can suck my balls.

  5. 1) Ninja III – The Domination
    2) Kiss vs. The Phantom of the Park
    3) uh… Star Wars Holiday Special?

  6. I’d love it if Jacques Rivette’s CELINE AND JULIE GO BOATING got a US release. One of the more charmingly bizarre and unique films of the 70’s. And I’d love it if his L’AMOUR FOU was released, just to see a copy with legible subtitles so I could actually watch the whole thing.

    ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE got a real raw deal and has never been released, despite being one of the most entertaining slasher films of the past decade.

  7. No question: HICKEY & BOGGS.

  8. Give me Mann’s THE KEEP and I will be very very happy.

  9. I was gonna say Vanishing Point, I have only got that on tape (not even got a video player anymore). I just looked it up and have seen its on dvd. Yep, I’m gonna buy it.

  10. An American-International film from the mid-70s called The Farmer. I saw that and The Town That Dreaded Sundown as a double feature when I was about 14. Wanted to see it again ever since. Thanks, Vern!

  11. I vote for THE KEEP also.

  12. For me , right now , it’s “Pulgasari” , that giant monster movie made in North Korea by a Japanese director kidnapped by Kim Jong il . It’s entirely watchable online at Google Video , but as far as I know , no DVD , not even one of those on demand. I sure hope that when/if a DVD of this comes out , it will be packed with extras on the crazy story behind this movie . That’s a making of that’s probably a better story than the movie itself!

  13. Kermit,

    I don’t know, wouldn’t paying for that movie kind of be like a financial endorsement of the kidnapping, and by an extension an endorsement of Kim Jong Il? I say, if you have to watch the movie at all, stick with the bootlegs.

  14. Dan : Yeah , a bootleg DVD ! I don’t think that NK still makes money with that movie . Hell , I really don’t think that it never made any money ever . It’s a pretty obscure movie even by giant monsters fans standards , and since it’s fully available online , I don’t think the rights are an issue anymore . Look at it this way : Night of the Living Dead is supposedly public domain ( you can watch it all at the Internet Archive ) , but every year some kind of new DVD edition comes out , with stupid extras and whatnot . Someone is making money with a public domain movie that we all love , and I don’t think it’s Romero . So , with “Pulgasari” , I’m just hoping for a similar release , mostly because I want to own this oddity in my monster movie collection. CallMeKermiT does not endorse Kim Jong Il.

  15. What am I, talking to myself? PULGASARI bootleg DVD. Link in my comment above. Seven bucks. You’re welcome. Anything else anybody need me to find? I got a gift.

  16. Mr. Majestyk : That looks really suspicious . First , the only image on that site is the poster of the movie that you can also see on IMDB. Second , I think it’s just a homemade DVD with the Google Video version burned inside . I can make that same DVD right now with a printer and a CD-burner ! But thanks anyway !

    Now this is more like it :

    http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=GNBF-5018

    But it only has Japanese subtitles , and no extras . So I can make a better copy of that by miself . And , no , I’m not going to buy it for the packaging alone .

  17. But , damn , I’m tempted !

  18. Well, you said you wanted a bootleg. That’s about as bootleg as you can get.

    Seriously, though, I love that site. Best kept secret on the internet. You can find damn near anything there for peanuts.

  19. De Palmas’ Dionysus 69′ and Altmans’ Come Back To The Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. From Noon Til Three with Bronson which has a Mgm dvd I rented from Netflix but it’s not available to buy. Decent transfers of Sleepless and Starman would be nice. Pan and Scan Carpenter? Really? Love And Bullets.

  20. Mr. Majestyk : You’re absolutely right , I said that I wanted a bootleg and there it is , along with a nice site that I didn’t know of . Thanks again , and I’m not joking . What I wanted to say is that I want the Super Criterion Legacy Collection of Bootlegs Version for Pulgasari !!! With extras , interviews , documentaries , making-of , deleted scenes and red-blue 3D glasses included !!

  21. Andy C,

    I’m pretty sure there are widescreen DVDs of STARMAN. In fact, I’m fairly certain I own one.

  22. Vern – THE CHALLENGE mate. It has Ninjas, Mifune, John Frakenheimer, you can’t go wrong.

    And THE KEEP as well, easily Michael Mann’s most wackiest movie yet.

  23. Dan Prestwich – You know, I dont get why we Americans never got all those John Carpenter DVDs where he did commentary tracks for them like he did for Europe.

    I mean THEY LIVE with Roddy Piper? STARMAN with Jeff Bridges?

    Hello Hollywood, you fucked up. Again.

  24. RRA,

    My guess: the Republicans suppressed them in retaliation for THEY LIVE.

  25. The THEY LIVE commentary is awesome. Roddy Piper is such a big, lovable galoot, and his admiration, respect, and gratitude for Carpenter really shines through in everything he says (even if he can’t quite get his facts straight).

  26. Dan I looked it up and there are, Thanks. It’s on Blu-ray now so I might just wait until I convert. Don’t know when that will be though.

  27. Oh snap, STARMAN blu ray? I may have to add that to the collection at some point.

  28. Enter The Ninja and Ninja III – They have the Revenge of The Ninja but not the first or third in the series? What the hell?

    Grindhouse – This is bullshit that it’s going to blu-ray and not DVD. I would add Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair but since it was never released theatrically to my knowledge, I’ll let that one slide.

    I Know My First Name is Steven – A made for TV movie but a really good one. At least it’s on Youtube.

    The Legend of Billie Jean – It’s a lame 80’s movie, but I like lame 80’s movies. I was also going to add Moving Violations but Amazon says it’s already on DVD.

    Freddy’s Nightmares – Not as cool as the Friday the 13th series (that I can remember) but it was still pretty cool. (as far as I can remember)

  29. THE DION BROTHERS / GRAVY TRAIN, written by Terence Malick, directed by Jack Starrett–the greatest 70s buddy action movie nobody’s seen. There’s a decent bootleg floating around out there but this really deserves a top-quality release with remastered sound and image, a Tarantino commentary track (he’s a huge fan), interviews with stars Stacey Keach and Fredric Forrest, ect. Hell, this’d worthy of Criterion–it’s that good. (In fact, they could do a whole Eclipse series of “Early Films Of Terrence Malick” with Dion Brothers, Deadhead Miles, Pocket Money, Drive He Said, Dirty Harry and maybe even the legendary short Lanton Mills.)

    Paul Schrader’s PATTY HEARST.

    Somebody mentioned HICKEY AND BOGGS: I’d say yes to that.

    And a non-public domain DVD of the 1972 Milius scripted, absolutely awesome EVIL KNIEVAL. This is up there with DION BROS. as one of the great forgotten films of the 70s. There is an existing DVD, but like I said, the film is in the public domain, and while the current disc is watchable, whatever print they used to master it from was so faded and spliced up that…Well, let’s just put it this way: I’ve used it to demonstrate to people what they were trying to do with the fake print wear and damage in Grindhouse. This is another one that needs remastering, a Milius and George Hamilton commentary, ect….

  30. I’m confused, I said “The Keep” is a keeper just this month under “Vern’s Underrated Horror A-Z”.

    https://outlawvern.com/2010/10/31/verns-underrated-horror-a-z/#comment-105684

    RRA/ Jek Porkins/ Darryll: you can’t even get it on DVD?

    That’s some sort of crime against humanity… and that’s hyperbole, but I fourth the motion on “THE KEEP”.

    I also did some Googling and found an interesting tidbit-

    http://www.horror-movies.ca/horror_9272.html

    There are rumors that it is coming to DVD

    There is apparently a THREE HOUR version out there somewhere, that I have never seen myself.

  31. All of those Robbe-Grillet movies like THE MAN WHO LIES and L’IMMORTELLE that never made it to North America in any format.

    And David Lynch’s ON THE AIR. And that 4 hour cut of the TWIN PEAKS movie.

    Also, it’s a crime that DROWNING BY NUMBERS is out of print.

  32. Ken Loach’s Kes and Poor Cow. Kes is a Netflix streamer now but that isn’t an option for me.

  33. I am so with you on this one. Not being able to see THE OUTFIT was the basis for one of the most digressive articles I ever wrote (http://www.mapcidy.com/?q=node/54).

    I also agree with all the guys who nominated THE KEEP. (I digressed about that one too: http://chud.com/articles/blogs/1273/Slow-Motion-Quick-Draw-25-a-Michael-Mann-Part-One-a-The-Keep.html)

    I actually just used the Warner Archive service for the first time this past week. I’ve been searching for a long time for a blaxploitation movie called HIT MAN with Bernie Casey and Pam Grier and I ordered it through them. Haven’t gotten to watch it yet, or write about it. I’m sure I’ll hit you up with a link when I do!

  34. One Guy From Andromeda

    November 18th, 2010 at 11:10 am

    I only know most movies from DVD’s so i don’t have much to contribute. Then again, there’s a porn scene that Swedish 70s pornstar Tiny Tove shot with her real mother, that has never turned up anywhere yet and is supposedly lost. I’d love to see that in my lifetime. So there. Sorry to drag down the level of class around here : )

  35. At least you didn’t do it on the THIS AIN’T AVATAR or JACKASS 3D threads. Lot of sophisticated conversations going on over there that you don’t want to interrupt.

  36. Gee, Majestyk, I was going to make a joke about how we need EVIL DEAD reissued on dvd. Now I feel like we have standards to maintain.

  37. Damn , a new DVD , with the restored footage recently found ( and , maybe , all the extras that they can think of !) , of Nightbreed is another good thing to wish for ! Barker’s original vision for that movie with some extras on make-up and practical effects ? Yes please !

    We’re currently fighting for it here :

    http://clivebarker.info/morenightbreed.html

    Because the only thing , it seems , preventing it from happening , is the limited mass-market appeal of the movie.

  38. Baraka – THE KEEP got hijacked from Michael Mann and Paramount cut the total shit out of it into an incoherent, if compellingly provocatively weird. mess. Notice Mann didn’t work with The Mountain again for another twenty-sum years until COLLATERAL.

    This of course back in the 1980s, when we got all those studio-mandated “superior” edits which were totally ill-advised and unquestionably inferior from BLADE RUNNER to BRAZIL to LEGEND to some (thankfully aborted) we-dodged-a-bullet-here-cuts like THE THING, which you can still catch on TV time to time.

    Not saying THE KEEP was gold in the first place, because another rumor I’ve heard for years was that Mann was embarrased by it, seeing it as an early failure he would rather get buried and not dug back up like Kubrick was with his first picture.

    I dunno, I always KEEP. Funny enough, I’m definately a minority in saying that I think its more interesting than the book.

    Note nerds, I didn’t say BETTER, just more interesting.

  39. There’s a TV cut of The Thing with brief voiceover (taken from the script’s character descriptions) introducing each character, that I remember seeing. Is that the studio cut?

    ‘Cause there’s a SECOND TV cut, without the voiceover, that’s almost identical to the movie, it’s just a little tighter and frankly, I think, a bit better in some ways. (For instance, there’s no awkward cutaway to MacReady playing electronic chess at the beginning, you see him the first time as the helicopter circles the camp and passes by his tower, where upon he steps out and peers up at the sky. A much better introduction, I think.) I’ve often wondered if Carpenter didn’t put that TV cut together himself and used the opportunity to fine-tune the movie.

  40. Hamslime – I forget who originally tipped me off to this (somebody on Ain’t It Cool talkbacks, and backed up by Canadians here) but apparently GRINDHOUSE has different distributors in Canada who are not the Weinsteins, so they chose to release it on the commonly used format of the DVD. I forget where you live but if you’re region 1 NTSC you (North America) you can order it from various Canadian web retailers. I got it for less than twenty bucks including shipping.

    Jon Abrams – isn’t HITMAN the one that’s basically a remake of GET CARTER? I love that they’re putting out movies like this. They also did CLEOPATRA JONES AND THE CASINO OF GOLD (which had been out in region 2 before but not here).

  41. CC – Yah that was the studio cut. Good job Carp had final cut on that one.

    As for that other cut, don’t forget those edits might have also been made for time constraints. You know that shit.

  42. Coteau’s The Eternal Return isn’t on DVD, if I’m not mistaken. It’s a strange, dreamlike film about the re-occurrence of myth throughout the ages. In fact, it’s a modern day retelling of the Tristan and Isolde tale. It was made during the days of the Vichy French government, and at times it comes dangerously close to Nazi propaganda (the two lovers are idealized Aryans), but it is a gorgeously shot film from one of cinema’s greatest directors. It also has a drunken midget in it.

  43. Yeah, the packaging says “A Gritty, Street-Smart Remake Of GET CARTER!” Then they mention it again in the extended summary. Apparently both movies were based on the same book (“Jack’s Return Home”).

    I agree, it’s really great that they’re making these movies available this way.

  44. Just wanted to toss my hat in with HICKEY AND BOGGS. I think I heard that it’s been playing on some HD movie classics channels so maybe something will happen with it soon.

  45. I’d go with HIT – reviewed by Vern a while ago. Very good movie with excellent turns by Richard Pryor and a (slightly disconcentingly) smiling Billy Dee Williams. A more modern one – IDIOTS AND ANGELS by Bill Plympton… an animator that too few know about. There’s no dialogue, yet the story will stick with you. And lastly SICK & TWISTED: CARTOON’S KICK ASS, a savvy documentary from 2000 about adult animation. The VHS I use to teach animation with is wearing out… please just release the damn thing!
    There’s a weird pleasure to be had in finding a movie somewhere worldwide, though. I had to pick up the full version of DERANGED from Germany, along with the superb BLAST OF SILENCE (a couple of years before Criterion got it). People bitch about the internet, but we’re in an era where you can find almost anything. Great times. Even greater now ROLLING THUNDER is coming out… can’t wait.

  46. I forgot to mention THE WAR GAME, which was only briefly released by BFI in the UK. This documentary-style tale of the devastation in post-nuclear Britain will depress the hell out of you. But it’s good, eye-opening stuff.

  47. You got it, Murder Slim. HIT is what I was forgetting. That’s the new #1 on my list. Preferably to be released with a “Vern Presents” logo on the front.

  48. 1. Great white
    2. Pandemonium
    3. Ghost town

  49. THE KEEP

    THE AMAZING MRS. HOLLIDAY
    Kind of off the radar for this crowd, but it pisses me off that Amazon has the rare North America-compatible DVD for this one available for $160. This needs to be corrected. It’s a 1943 film co-directed by Bruce Manning & Jean Renoir. It’s apparently Manning’s only director credit, so I suspect the great Renoir deserves a lot of the credit for this film, though Manning will always have a place in my heart for his involvement, however minor, with THAT MIDNIGHT KISS, one of the legendary Mario Lanza’s better films. Anyway, if you get a chance to open your eyes to the unorthodox illegal immigration practices of the previous American generations and see THE AMAZING MRS. HOLLIDAY, you should.

  50. Like CC above, my #1 choice is now THE DION BROTHERS/GRAVY TRAIN. Finally caught it back in ’07, in a beautiful 35mm print. I believe the film is now part of Sony’s archives, and they also have a DVD-on-demand service, so I don’t see why it can’t be available already.

  51. I WENT DOWN. Great Irish film about low level criminal types. Brendan Gleeson would be the only person likely to be recognised in it. Was on DVD in Australia for a while for some reason but nowhere else.

  52. An uncut version of HARD TARGET would be nice too.

  53. Is EVEN HAND easily available in the States? That was a good movie, a low key cop movie with some fine performances.
    I second I WENT DOWN. The blonde lassie in that was nice.

  54. I just realized that THE REFLECTING SKIN isn’t out on DVD. That’s a creepy, well-made little movie that should really be better known.

  55. Aye, I WENT DOWN would be good. I heard that a murky distribution deal with Xtra vision back in the aul VHS days is the main reason for its continued disappearance…

  56. Man, there are so, so many I’d like to see get a legit R1 release–to name a few…

    [#1] A Bittersweet Life (2005) [Blu-Ray, Preferably…]
    – Dark Angel [I Come In Peace] (1990)
    – Enter The Ninja (1981)
    – Female Reporter [The Blonde Fury] (1989)
    – Firepower (1993)
    – Hard Target [Remastered Workprint, Edition] (1993)
    – Heroes Shed No Tears (1986)
    – High Strung (1991)
    – Joshua Tree [Army Of One][Uncut Edition] (1993)
    – Just Heroes (1989)
    – Malone (1987)
    – McBain (1991)
    – Men Of War [Uncut Edition] (1994)
    – No Dead Heroes (1986)
    – No Holds Barred (1989)
    – Rage (1995)
    – Raven Hawk (1996)
    – Riot (1997)
    – The Challenge (1982)
    – The Expert (1995)
    – The Flight Of The Dragons (1982)
    – The Legend Of Nigger Charlie (1972)
    – The Perfect Weapon (1991)
    – White Line Fever (1975)

    Not to mention the full, uncut, un-Weinsteined versions of my favorite Jackie Chan and Jet Li flicks:
    – Armour Of God 1&2
    – Drunken Master II
    – Gorgeous
    – High Risk
    – Mr. Nice Guy
    – My Father Is A Hero
    – New Fist Of Fury
    – Project A 1&2
    – Rumble In The Bronx
    – Police Story III: Super Cop
    – Police Story IV: First Strike
    – Who Am I?

    And when can we get a decent transfer of The Street Fighter? Hell, I’d settle for another shitty transfer, just so long as they included the original language track…

    Note: I do realize that many of the films I’ve listed are available on DVD somewhere or somehow (I’ve got most of ’em), I still mention them as I’d still like to see them on done right on R1 discs.

  57. Rantbo – not sure why I remembered this, but the dragon one you mentioned has already gotten the Warner Archive treatment:

    http://www.wbshop.com/Flight-of-the-Dragons-The/1000179884,default,pd.html?cgid=WACULT

    Good call on I COME IN PEACE.

  58. Flight of the Dragons–Fuck yeah, thanks man. Haven’t seen it since I was a wee-one but I remember loving it. (here’s hopin’ it’ll hold up).

    And yeah, it’s odd that I Come In Peace hasn’t gotten made or announced yet… Especially after it was chosen by the crowd (alongside Die Hard and over a bunch of other, more well known action films) to be a part of the special action-movie-marathon before The Expendables premier last August.

  59. Meat Loaf made a movie called Dead Ringer based on his maligned Dead Ringer album. I believe it only screened once and it’s buried somewhere. Would love to see that. He talks about it in his autobiography. He plays a double role of himself and his biggest fan trying to get to his performance.

  60. For those interested (and it looks like many of you will be), THE KEEP is now available streaming on Netflix.

    Also, Vern I am surprised you have not mentioned anything about the sad news that it looks like Wesley Snipes will be going to jail for 3 years.

    In addition I thought that everybody here would enjoy this and I don’t know where I should post it so I will include it here, but below is a link to a mixtape of the best of John Carpenter’s scores. It is great stuff.

    http://ra4.residentadvisor.net/audio/RA230_101025_Alan-Howarth-residentadvisor.net.mp3

    Also, here is a link to the site it came from.

    http://io9.com/5678486/a-free-mixtape-of-john-carpenters-greatest-soundtracks-by-alan-howarth

  61. billydeethrilliams

    November 23rd, 2010 at 8:24 am

    Anybody order this yet?

  62. billydeethrilliams

    December 4th, 2010 at 5:43 pm

    Why yes I have!- me

    Oh great! How is it?- also me

    Well, it’s full screen, and I think they lied about the remastering(but I’m no expert), but it looked good enough for me. And the film was pretty good to boot! Except for the silly freeze-frame ending. I don’t know what happened there. Parker fans should be satisfied.- me again

    Well alright. Hey, maybe we can hang out sometime?- once again, me

    Yeah, um…….(looks over at imaginary person in the distance) What’s that? I’ll be right there! Ah, see you.- me, walking away fast

    Right.- me, sighing then going home to play video games and take sleeping pills

  63. {tosses football to billydeethrilliams}

    What’s goin’ on, dude?

  64. Hmmm. The websight said widescreen. I haven’t got mine yet. Is it one of those ones where it was shot like that, or is it cropped?

  65. billydeethrilliams

    December 5th, 2010 at 6:27 am

    Mouth- I’m terrible at sports, how about a trip to the strip club?

    Vern- I read the technique used was open matte. From Wikipedia:

    Open matte is a filming technique that involves matting out the top and bottom of the film frame in the movie projector (known as a soft matte) for the widescreen theatrical release and then scanning the film without a matte (at Academy ratio) for a full screen home video release.

    Right. As far as the remastering goes, I’ve never seen it before in any form so I can’t tell you if it’s any better or worse. It certainly didn’t look like a Criterion release. Not that I expected that. But like I said I was fine with it. I just watched Mr. Majestyk on dvd recently(good) and it’s on par with that release.

  66. I talked to somebody else who said his copy IS letterboxed. I’ll let you know when my copy arrives.

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