Vinegar Syndrome Reveals New Partner Label Releases
Posted April 2, 2024 02:56 PM by Webmaster
Vinegar Syndrome has revealed twelve new partner label releases. They are: All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001), The Great Land of Small (1987), Daniel Isn't Real (2019), Drift (2023), Mom N' Pop: The Indie Video Store Boom of the '80s / '90s (2023), The Other Dimension and the Films of Fabio Salerno (1981-1992), Out In the Ring (2022), Quantum Cowboys (2022), The Spirit of '45 (2013), and The The Tunnel + The Tunnel: The Other Side of Darkness (2011).
FROM PARTNER LABEL CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL PICTURES:
Armed with a sack of gold dust and five magic spells, kind-hearted dwarf Fritz (Twin Peaks' Michael J. Anderson) leaves his fantastical home to test the intentions of humans. Soon after his arrival, he crosses paths with Flannigan (The Vindicator's Ken Roberts), a shady hunter who makes off with the magical gold and starts plotting evil deeds. After forging a friendship with siblings Jenny (Karen Elkin) and David (Michael Blouin), Fritz takes them to the alternate dimension he calls home: The Great Land of Small. As the authorities search for the missing children, Jenny and David are wowed by a fantastical world of acrobats and a gold-spitting creature known as Slimo. But when the King and Queen plot to make these kids their own, Fritz must risk his own well-being to get them home – and stop Flannigan from wreaking magic havoc.
Described by Miloš Forman as "the spiritual father of the Czech New Wave," director Vojtěch Jasný (The Cassandra Cat) somehow found his way to Quebec in the mid-'80s to direct this fifth instalment in producer Rock Demers' Tales for All series. A low budget riff on The Wizard of Oz and The NeverEnding Story – with a strong resemblance to Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre – The Great Land of Small is a surreal, logic-bending family phantasmagoria that proves to be an ideal showcase for the talents of Michael J. Anderson (who appears in a dual role), Cirque du Soleil, and the animation of Pascal Blais Productions. Distributed by New World Pictures in the United States, this oddball gem has remained largely unavailable for decades, but it is finally back to cast its spell on anyone with an appetite for the unusual.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW 2K RESTORATION from the 35mm original camera negative by Éléphant - mémoire du cinéma québécois
New audio commentary featuring film historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth
The New World Pictures Podcast episode on The Great Land of Small
Small Actors, Big Roles (2023, 17 min.) - New interviews with stars Karen Elkin and Michael Blouin
The Great Land of Effects (2023, 10 min.) - New interview with visual effects producer Pascal Blais
Animating in the '80s (2023, 9 min.) - Blais discusses the animation techniques used in the film
Beyond Vaudeville (1991, 27 min.) – Episode of the classic public-access TV show featuring actor Michael J. Anderson
Archival interview with Jasný from The Other Europe series (1988, 26 min.)
Bohemian Rhapsody (1969, 16 min.) – Jasný's celebrated short about his home country
It's Not Always Cloudy (1949, 68 min.) – Jasný's feature-length student film co-directed by Karel Kachyňa
Theatrical trailer
Booklet featuring an essay by film programmer Marc Lamothe
For kids around the world, music is often the only salvation when the pain and anxiety of teenage life becomes too much to bear. Yuichi (Hayato Ichihara) is in the 8th grade and he worships Lily Chou-Chou, a Bjork-like chanteuse whose epic music is lush and transcendent. Yuichi only lives for Lily Chou-Chou's big Tokyo concert, where the lies and violence can be washed away by the presence of his goddess and her powerful music. But fate has yet another obstacle in store for Lily's devoted fan.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Making-Of Featurette
New essay by Stephen Cremin (deputy director NYAFF)
Imagine Andrei Tarkovsky circa SOLARIS directing Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and you'll come close to the existential weirdness of the wonderfully loopy Soviet-era sci-fi comedy KIN-DZA-DZA! Two average Muscovites – a plainspoken construction foreman (Stanislav Lyubshin) and a Georgian student carrying a violin case (Leo Gabriadze) – encounter an odd homeless man on the street who asks, "Tell me the number of your planet in the Tentura?" In a flash, they're teleported across the universe to the planet Pluke in the Kin-Dza-Dza galaxy – a Tatooine-like desert world whose inhabitants are hilariously noncommunicative (their main words are "ku" for good and "kyu" for very bad) and where common wooden matches are tremendously valuable. A deadpan, absurdist mixture of Kurt Vonnegut, Monty Python, Samuel Beckett and Jodorowsky's never-made Dune where alien cultures are even more haphazard and WTF? than our own, the film is also a savage satire of bureaucratic idiocy and dysfunction no matter what political system you're living under – or what planet you're living on. Recently restored by Mosfilm for its first-ever U.S. release by Deaf Crocodile and Seagull Films. In Russian with English subtitles.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW RESTORATION from the original camera negative and sound elements by Mosfilm
New hour-long video interview with lead actor Leo Gabriadze about the making of KIN-DZA-DZA! and the contributions of his father, co-writer Rezo Gabriadze, moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile
New video interview about KIN-DZA-DZA! and the rich history of Soviet science-fiction cinema with comics artist (Swamp Thing), film historian and author Stephen R. Bissette, moderated by Dennis Bartok
New commentary track by film critic Walter Chaw (Film Freak Central)
New written essay by film historian Justin Humphreys (George Pal: Man Of Tomorrow)
"Got a Match? On Vodka and Vinegar at the End of History"- New video essay by journalist and physical media expert Ryan Verrill (The Disc Connected) and film professor Dr. Will Dodson
A troubled college freshman, Luke, suffers a violent family trauma. He then resurrects his charismatic childhood imaginary friend Daniel to help him cope, not realizing how dangerous Daniel is.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Introduction by Director Adam Egypt Mortimer
Three Story Board to Scenes Featurettes
Four Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary
Alternate Ending with Optional Commentary
5 scenes Early Script to Film comparaison
Behind the Scene Slideshow
Commentary with Writer/Director Adam Egypt Mortimer
Commentary with writer/Director Adam Egypt Mortimer and Co-Writer Brian Deleeuw
Commentary with Writer/Director Adam Egypt Mortimer and Grant Morrison
Extended Version of Intro scene: The Abyss with new original music
Jacqueline (Cynthia Erivo), a young refugee, lands alone and penniless on a Greek island, where she tries first to survive and then to cope with her past. While gathering her strength, she begins a friendship with a rootless tour-guide (Alia Shawkat) and together they find the resilience to forge ahead.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Director's Commentary with Anthony Chen
Trailer
Stills Gallery
English SDH subtitles
REGION-A "LOCKED"
FROM PARTNER LABEL AMERICAN GENRE FILM ARCHIVE (AGFA):
In the 1990s, Something Weird Video gifted humankind with HEY FOLKS! IT'S INTERMISSION TIME—a series of six magical VHS compilations that preserved vintage movie and drive-in ads. HEY FOLKS! IT'S THE INTERMISSION TIME VIDEO PARTY is a loving tribute to those cathode-tube-fueled days. Featuring HEY FOLKS! IT'S THE INTERMISSION TIME MIXTAPE! (an exclusive feature-length mixtape from the AGFA team) as well as all six volumes of the original, uncut Something Weird VHS releases from the 1990s, this 2-disc collection serves as a mind-altering time machine to a beloved era in home video history.
Disc 1
Transferred from the original Something Weird S-VHS masters
HEY FOLKS! IT'S THE INTERMISSION TIME MIXTAPE!: A 70-minute mixtape from the AGFA team
Commentary with AGFA's Bret Berg & Joseph A. Ziemba
HEY FOLKS! IT'S INTERMISSION TIME Volumes 1-2: The original, uncut Something Weird VHS compilations from the 1990s
Insert with writing by Something Weird's Lisa Petrucci
Disc 2
Transferred from the original Something Weird S-VHS masters
HEY FOLKS! IT'S INTERMISSION TIME Volumes 3-6: The original, uncut Something Weird VHS compilations from the 1990s
Take a nostalgic trip back in time to the hallowed halls of your favorite rental shops with Mom N' Pop: The Indie Video Store Boom of the '80s / '90s; a wistful new documentary chronicling the meteoric rise and gradual fall of the independently owned, neighborhood video store. Tucked within strip malls, tanning salons, gas stations, and grocery stores around the country, the mom & pop video store became the Mecca for budding film and video game fanatics to satiate their burgeoning media obsessions. Hear video store owners and employees, as well as filmmakers, podcasters, and collectors discuss the eccentricities of the regional video spots that left an indelible imprint on their lives forever.
Featuring interviews with media personalities James Rolfe (Angry Video Game Nerd), Ming Chen (Comic Book Men), & "Weird" Paul Petroskey (Will Work for Views), indie / SOV filmmaking luminaries including Lloyd Kaufman (The Toxic Avenger), Tim Ritter (Truth or Dare?), Gary P. Cohen (Video Violence), Joel D. Wynkoop (Lost Faith), & Brad Sykes (Camp Blood), plus profiles on indispensable, still functioning video stores like VisArt Video, Orbit DVD, & Videotheque, Mom N' Pop: The Indie Video Store Boom of the '80s / '90s is quintessential viewing for anyone who cherished their local independent video store and utilized it as a communal rendezvous for connecting with other like minded film aficionados.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Audio commentary with director Bobby Canipe Jr.
Bonus interviews with Michael Devlin & Stephen Kessen
Closing the gap between dreams and reality, Fabio Salerno's films are the missing link between Dario Argento and George & Mike Kuchar. THE OTHER DIMENSION AND THE FILMS OF FABIO SALERNO is a 2-disc set that presents the late Salerno's complete filmography for the first time in North America. From the accomplished anthology THE OTHER DIMENSION to the fan-favorite short ARPIE, these D.I.Y. arthouse horror films from Italy are true discoveries for adventurous horrorheads.
DISC 1: THE FEATURES
Preserved from the only 16mm film elements in existence
Italian language with newly created English subtitles
THE OTHER DIMENSION (1992, 78 mins)
DEEP NIGHT (1991, 69 mins)
FABIO: A 48-minute documentary by Oblivion Films
The Making of DEEP NIGHT: A 69-minute archival documentary
Photo gallery
DISC 2: THE SHORTS
Preserved from the best available VHS & digital masters, as film elements are lost
Italian language with newly created English subtitles, or partial English subtitles due to audio elements
ARPIE (1987)
OLTRETOMBA (1987)
MEZZANOTTE (1986)
EXTRA SENSORIA (1985)
TRE SAGOME IN NERO (1985)
VAMPIRI (1985)
INCUBO (1984)
NOTTE (1983)
CADAVERI (1982)
LA PAURA ESISTE GIÀ (UN NATALE ROSSO SANGUE) (1981)
MAGIC (1981)
LA SIGNORA DEL 5 PIANO (1981)
The Making of OLTRETOMBA: A 12-minute archival documentary
MAGIC: Commentary by Bleeding Skull's Joseph A. Ziemba
OUT IN THE RING explores the rise and history of LGBTQ+ professional wrestlers and representation in the sport. Using a combination of interviews with LGBTQ+ wrestling talents (past and present), allies & historians, archival footage, and rare photos, OUT IN THE RING uncovers the history of the pro wrestling industry and the rise of visibility for performers and fans worldwide.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Commentary track with Director Ry Levey and Editor Brad Webb
Two hapless drifters, Frank (Kiowa Gordon) and Bruno (John Way), team up with Linde (Lily Gladstone) to recover her land and trek across 1870's Southern Arizona to find an elusive frontier musician. The complex quantum time theory is blended with philosophical musings about art as the way we understand our history and memories, with gunfights, horses, dance halls, cacti, and saloons!
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Deleted Scenes
Alternative live action scenes
Alternative animated sequences
Actors talk Quantum Physics
Booklet with essays by Geoff Marslett, Lily Gladstone, John Doe, David Arquette
A powerful, unabashedly pro-socialist documentary of England's postwar transformation from a working-class hellscape in the 1930s. Endemic poverty and Dickensian squalor are upended by Clement Attlee's 1945 Labour Party landslide over the patrician Winston Churchill. What follows is the nationalization of the mines, railways, postal service — and the jewel in the crown, the National Health Service, which made medical care free of charge.BR>
"The Spirit of '45 masterfully collages first-person accounts of prewar England with archival footage that exposes the disparity between everyday reality and the myth of the Greatest Empire on Earth." –Karen Cooper, Director, Film Forum
Special Features and Technical Specs:
24-PAGE BOOKLET including:
A new essay by Sukhdev Sandhu
A vintage interview with Ken Loach by Gavin Smith, featuring a new preface by the author
A transcription of Ken Loach and Nigel Lawson's debate on BBC's Newsnight, 2009
New trailer by Zach Clark
English closed-captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing
"One of the Top 5 best found footage movies ever made." - Eduardo Sanchez, Director of The Blair Witch Project
As well as The Tunnel, includes the full feature length behind the scenes documentary The Tunnel: The Other Side of Darkness
In 2007 the New South Wales government suddenly scrapped a plan to utilise the water in the disused underground train tunnels beneath Sydney's St James Train Station. In 2008, chasing rumours of a government cover-up and urban legends surrounding the sudden back-flip, investigative journalist Natasha Warner led a crew of four into the underground labyrinth. They went down into the tunnels looking for a story – until the story found them. This is the documentary of their harrowing ordeal…
Special Features and Technical Specs:
The full feature length behind the scenes documentary The Tunnel: The Other Side of Darkness
Audio Commentary with director Carlo Ledesma, producer / writer / editor Enzo Tedeschi and producer / writer / editor Julian Harvey
Jon is hoping that his aloof boss, Martin Van Nostrand, will offer him a promotion at work. When Martin invites Jon and his wife Amy to his home for a mysterious "night of games," Jon senses that this will be his one opportunity to make a good impression on Martin and prove his deservingness of the promotion. But nothing can prepare them for what Martin and his beautiful wife Elaine have in mind for their "night of games," as the wealthy couple engage their naive guests in a bid to outdo each other's strangest sexual desires.
From the twisted mind of acclaimed erotic filmmaker, Shaun Costello (Waterpower, Pandora's Mirror) comes a journey into the darkest and most debauched of sexual fantasies: MIDNIGHT DESIRES. With a cast headlined by C.J. Laing, Jamie Gillis, Jenny Baxter, and Eric Edwards, and featuring supporting performances from Vanessa Del Rio, Bree Anthony, and Roger Caine, this expertly directed, edited and photographed hardcore drama offers a mind-bending glimpse at a sensual and unsettling world of fantasy. Costello's first 35mm production, Quality X is proud to offer the Blu-ray debut of MIDNIGHT DESIRES, newly restored from its best surviving 35mm film elements and featuring a never heard before commentary from director Shaun Costello, which delves into the film's idiosyncratic origins and production details.
Special Features and Techncial Specs:
Newly scanned & restored in 2K from a 35mm answer print
Audio commentary with director Shaun Costello moderated by Joe Rubin
Sir Aubrey Cocksworth and Lady Amanda host weekend getaways for erotic self-discovery at their spacious country estate. This time, they've invited over a group of highly inhibited guests with whom they intend to share their vast and unusual sexual knowledge. It's not long before this eager class of would-be deviates are ready to surrender to their deeply buried perverted desires, all under the watchful instruction of the Lord and Lady of the house, as well as their lecherous chauffeur and hunchbacked servant, Boris.
Another unhinged sex odyssey from cult filmmaker Philip Marshak (Dracula Sucks, Blue Ice), INTIMATE LESSONS takes you on a wacky journey through the world of unusual sex practices, complete with any and every array of bizarre and kinky act imaginable. Starring Kay Parker (Taboo, SexWorld) along with Paul Thomas (Pretty Peaches) and featuring a supporting cast including K.C. Valentine, Danielle, Becky Savage, Pat Manning, Maria Tortuga, Richard Bulik, and William Margold as the chauffeur. Quality X is delighted to present the world Blu-ray debut of this deliciously debauched study of historic sleaze, newly restored in 4K from its completely uncensored 35mm camera negative!
Special Features and Techncial Specs:
Newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative