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Female Prisoner Scorpion Box set from Arrow in July

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  • Matt Kennedy of Panik House posted this on the Pinky Violence Facebook group: Sounds like a cheap-out, typical of Arrow's aesthetic.
    I often left the Toei opening credits sequences as-is (un-restored) on the remasters I did of the Pinky Violence films I released at Panik House so viewers would get a sense of the clean-up we did. If no DRS was done on these films, this honestly isn't a set worth buying, as I wouldn't trust anyone at Arrow to ask the right questions of the filmmakers or at least to consult an expert. If they got the remastered version of Jailhouse 41that I helped oversee for Vitagraph, at least one of the films will look right.

    I have no interest in buying the set after reading that. Matt knows pinky Violence.

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    • caps-a-holic comparisons. Arrow vs. German DVDs (which should look approx the same as the Toei and R1 DVDs)
      http://www.caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1...2=10940&c=4353
      http://www.caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1...2=10939&c=4354
      http://www.caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1...2=10937&c=4355
      http://www.caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1...2=10938&c=4356
      Takuma
      Senior Member
      Last edited by Takuma; 10-12-2017, 04:05 AM.

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      • Would it be correct to say that this particular German distributor, Rapid Eye Movies, usually puts out the best versions of these Asian/Japanese films?

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        • Originally posted by Richardrli View Post
          Would it be correct to say that this particular German distributor, Rapid Eye Movies, usually puts out the best versions of these Asian/Japanese films?
          My understanding is that REM usually uses the same masters as the Japanese DVDs, however, I'm not sure if they are native PAL, NTSC or NTSC to PAL conversions.

          Possible conversion issues aside, I suppose they are usually good, but I wouldn't say they are "better than others" since there are often very similar releases available in other countries, e.g. with Female Prisoner the US (Media Blasters, Discotek) and JP (Toei) releases should be almost (?) identical and the FR (Pathe) releases are quite similar as well (except for the 4th film's stransfer, which is crap).

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          • Some Female Prisoner Scorpion related news, mainly of interest to me, but I'll anyway.

            1) Shin bungeiza is holding a Meiko Kaji retrospective in Tokyo

            Starts June 16th, to celebrate her new book and album release. Kaji will attend!

            I have already booked my flights and tickets to June 16th (Sex Hunter + Grudge Song in 35mm + Kaji) and 17th (Jailhouse 41 + Beast Stable in 35mm) screenings .

            2) Toei Channel will be broadcasting the original four films in HD next month.

            This could mean one of the following three things:
            a) New HD scans by Toei (let's hope so!)
            b) Arrow's HD versions (unlikely. I've never seen Toei utilize transfers made by a foreign company)
            c) The 20 year old dvd masters in "HD" which are already available on Amazon (JP) Video but only look a bit better than the dvds (possible, but I'm pretty sure Toei has shown the films on their channel within the past few years and they were labelled as SD back then.

            (not related to Kaji, but Toei is also broadcasting the 1st Terrifying Girls' High School in HD).
            Takuma
            Senior Member
            Last edited by Takuma; 06-02-2018, 09:14 AM.

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            • Really curious to see how the Toho HD scans look compared to the Arrow discs.

              And if you're going to be at that event, hopefully you'll post some pictures! Would be so cool to meet Kaji.
              Rock! Shock! Pop!

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              • yes, please post pictures of the event! ... cool to hear the Terrifying series are going to be in HD

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                • Originally posted by Takuma View Post

                  1) Shin bungeiza is holding a Meiko Kaji retrospective in Tokyo

                  Starts June 16th, to celebrate her new book and album release. Kaji will attend!

                  I have already booked my flights and tickets to June 16th (Sex Hunter + Grudge Song in 35mm + Kaji) and 17th (Jailhouse 41 + Beast Stable in 35mm) screenings .

                  Chirashi



                  - http://www.shin-bungeiza.com/pdf/20180616.pdf

                  Everything is 35mm except two Nikkatsu films (Seishun zenki aoi kajitsu and Taiyo ga daisuki) which are DVD screenings for some retarded reason.

                  This will be my second time attending a Meiko Kaji retro. The last time was in Cinema Vera a few years ago



                  Takuma
                  Senior Member
                  Last edited by Takuma; 06-04-2018, 08:35 AM.

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                  • Meiko Kaji Film Festival in Shin Bungeiza

                    Though I could only drop by for 1½ days, I had a change to view Jailhouse 41, Beast Stable and Grudge Song in 35mm in Tokyo last weekend and see Meiko Kaji live as well. A quick report follows.





                    First of all, the films.

                    Jailhouse 41 is simply one of the finest films ever made. The original movie was a bit of a salad bowl with exploitation and politics, art and entertainment, but in Jailhouse 41 the vision is much more focused with the movie playing out as a mesmerizing anti-patriarchal odyssey. Beast Stable in turn is an amazingly well handled and atmospheric character study about two women, one of whom accepts her fate and the other one who hasn't found her identity yet. An under-rate near masterpiece. Grudge Song is where it all goes wrong. It works as a 70s outlaw crime film for the first 45 minutes, but is inconsistent with the earlier films and once the prison stuff begins, it simply becomes a pale shadow of its predecessors.

                    Then, the prints

                    Unfortunately the 35mm prints were in pretty bad shape. A quick overview below:

                    Jailhouse 41: beaten but alright, colours leaning slightly towards pink(ish). Similar look to Toei/Discotek DVD except with the correct framing (like Studio Canal/Pathe DVDs) and inferior colors. No sign of blue/teal whatsoever. No contrast issues that plague Arrow (the harakiri scene shows all the detail missing from Arrow BD).

                    Beast Stable: slightly worse than Jailhouse 41, a beaten print missing some frames. Slight brownish/pinkish tint but entirely watchable. No sign of blue/teal whatsoever. No contrast issues that plague Arrow (Watanabe looking through the manhole cover clearly shows her red dress). Similar look to Toei/Media Blasters DVDs but inferior colours.

                    Grudge Song: the weakest print, faded with colours leaning towards brown/pink(ish). No sign of blue/teal whatsoever. No high contrast issues that plague Arrow. Similar look to Toei/Media Blasters DVD.

                    Even with beaten prints it was still amazing to see these in 35mm, obviously each print was heaps better than the Arrow BDs. Still, it's a shame Toei hasn't made / discovered new prints as these are clearly below par compared to most 60s and 70s films screening in Tokyo. It doesn't make sense Sasori has to suffer these kind of prints when Toei is releasing / discovering pristine 35mm prints of obscure Sharon Kelly films like Shikijí´ Toruko nikki...



                    Kaji

                    Also, it was cool seeing Kaji live. She was very energetic, speaking 45 minutes nonstop without an interviewer. She spoke about her career and cinema in general, new and old. She recalled her meeting with Tarantino where she managed to silence the motor mouth by saying, after QT had mentioned he spends about two weeks with the crew going through the script, that "that's all we took making the entire movies". Hah! She also recalled asking Takuzo Kawatani if he'd like to be an actor again in his next life, to which Kawatani replied "Hell no! I'd be a director and make Kinji Fukasaku act like a slave in my movies"! Apparently no one ever survived a Fukasaku collaboration without stomach problems...

                    Also, she compared to modern and 70s filmmaking by noting that while nowadays they shoot 10-20 takes, back then they'd shoot usually one take only, even if it wasn't perfect. That actually helped the cast keep their performance consistent since they knew which shot would be used in the final film, she said. She also mentioned recently she passed a role in a film by an internationally acclaimed Japanese director whose films have screened in Venice. She didn't name the director. Oh, and she did not really talk about Sasori. It seems she's not too keen on talking about those 70s action and exploitation films. That being said, she's not keen on modern Japanese cinema either. Actually, I think she doesn't seem so keen on cinema in general! She actually mentioned she never really planned a career in movies... in the 60s she was always thinking that "a few more days and then I'll quit".

                    As for photos, I have to attach a shot from the Japanese website natalie.mu since photography was forbidden except from members of press. That kind of sucked. I also wish Kaji had spoken abot her 70s work in more detail... It was great seeing her live /and I'm sad I can't attend her concert this week) and all, but as far as live appearances go I prefer actresses like Yumiko Katayama (whom I saw at a Teruo Ishii retro last year) who are easier to approach, don't mind being photographed (and why would she, she looks beautiful at her mid 60s) and share juicy stories from exploitation film sets.


                    - https://natalie.mu/eiga/news/286998



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                    • I'm so jealous. This is great. Thanks for posting it.
                      Rock! Shock! Pop!

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                      • Originally posted by Takuma View Post
                        Meiko Kaji Film Festival in Shin Bungeiza

                        Though I could only drop by for 1½ days, I had a change to view Jailhouse 41, Beast Stable and Grudge Song in 35mm in Tokyo last weekend and see Meiko Kaji live as well. A quick report follows.
                        great report, thanks for the nice photos..

                        too bad for the prints, how could they not have better copies of the films with Kaji ? this surprise me...probably being so popular those same prints have been played much more than the average 70's toei films...

                        absolutely agree on Yumiko Katayama: she is very friendly on FB and always answer and comment her movies... I told her I wished she was the protagonist in Bankaku Rock as she is a much better actress than Emiko Yamauchi... she runs a fb group centered on the tv series PLAYGIRL
                        tetrapak
                        Senior Member
                        Last edited by tetrapak; 06-20-2018, 03:59 PM.

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                        • Sad news. The new Toei Channel HD broadcastings are indeed the Arrow transfers! Below are two screencaps in SD from Jailhouse 41 (because I only have subscription to the SD version of Toei Channel). I haven't checked the other films but by all means they should be the same.

                          Originally posted by cakefactory
                          Jailhouse 41, Pt 2

                          Discotek DVD (same master as the Toei DVD)


                          Arrow BD
                          - http://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=411

                          Toei Channel (TV) (SD broadcasting of HD material) (2018)


                          Originally posted by cakefactory
                          Jailhouse 41, Pt 1

                          Discotek DVD (same master as the Toei DVD)


                          Arrow BD
                          - http://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=410

                          Toei Channel (TV) (SD broadcasting of HD material) (2018)

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                          • Seeing these comparisons between the Arrow and Discotek releases again is like pouring salt in an open wound.

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                            • Has anyone had any luck tweaking the settings on their TV to get a better image?

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                              • Still shaking my head that Arrow went ahead and released that boxset. So glad I held on to my Discotek dvds and didn't sell them off like so many did when they first heard Arrow was releasing the flicks on blu ray.

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