Flicker Alley Masterworks of American Avant-Garde Experimental Film 1920–1970 Blu-ray
Best English-friendly & video release · updated 5 months ago
Overview
Inspired by a lesson from Erik Satie, a film in the form of a street: Castro Street, running by the Standard Oil Refinery in Richmond, California.
Criterion Box Set coming October 20th with FiM encode, work done to un-Nolan the 4K master, the first ever appearance of the 35mm mono track on physical media and a new restoration/remastering of the 70mm 6-track mix.
(early pressing has errors of a shot, later pressings fixed)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Criterion Box Set coming on October 20th with FiM encode
DTS:X mix most closely approximates original surround mix
Criterion DVD has additional features not found on the 4K Blu-ray
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Criterion Box Set coming October 20th with FiM encode, new restoration of mono mix which should be better than what was on the WB 4K Blu-ray and 1999 DVD and revised colour timing to make the film look more like it did in 1971.
WB 4K 5.1: a remix but has higher fidelity
Mono: 4K Blu-ray/1999 DVD
Director: Stanley Kubrick
US Cut: WB 4K Blu-ray
International Cut: Old 2007 Europe Blu-ray
Criterion Box Set coming October 20th with FiM encode, both the US and the International Cut, new restoration/remastering of the mono mix which should be better than the 1999 WB DVD, revised colour timing to make the film look more like it did in 1980 and for the first time ever on physical media, the film will be in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1.
No Blu-ray or DVD release has presented the movie in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 for the US cut or 1.66:1 for the International cut.
The packaging on the back of the 4K Blu-ray incorrectly states it as 1.85:1 when the movie is actually 1.78:1 as is the original Blu-ray.
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Flicker Alley 4K confirmed for 2027 https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24404584&postcount=1
MoC audio is better https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=225532&page=3
Director: John Ford
Video format: HD Streaming
Director: Marcel L'Herbier
Same 4K restoration but no comparison available
Director: Frank Urson
Older Restoration: Flicker Alley Blu-ray
2026 Restoration: YouTube 4K Streaming
Older Restoration: Lobster Films DVD > Flicker Alley Blu-ray (Flicker Alley Blu-ray/DVD has every 25th PAL frame deleted)
2026 Restoration: YouTube 4K Streaming
Director: Lewis Milestone
2K scan of a surviving 35mm safety fine grain provided by the Academy Film Archive
Director: Erich von Stroheim
Flicker Alley Blu-ray new 4K restoration
Director: Harry O. Hoyt
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
Upcoming Flicker Alley Blu-ray Focus on Clara Bow according to their calendar
Director: Herbert Brenon
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
Upcoming Flicker Alley Blu-ray Focus on Clara Bow according to their calendar
Director: James P. Hogan
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
Flicker Alley Blu-ray Focus on Clara Bow according to their calendar
Kino Lorber Edison: The Invention of the Movies DVD or Flicker Alley Landmarks of Early Film DVD
More Documentary on Blu-ray
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has excellent master in SDR and a good encode. BD caps here.
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has poor audio: The 2.0 is fine but unremarkable, the 5.1 is presumably an upmix with a botched, strongly raised LFE channel which makes the entire track unlistenable on well-tuned equipment. Audio graphs here.
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
While it's included on both Criterion The Palm Beach Story extras and Arrow's Sullivan's Travels' extras, Criterion uses a different source and is vastly superior, see caps
Director: Ebrahim Golestan
Director: Ebrahim Golestan
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