Miramax C&Ds Kung Fu Movie Reviewer 278
Mirkon writes "When a movie distributor attains rights to a film, it's rather predictable that they go after individuals offering the movie for sale or free. But Miramax took it a step further - as reported by Wired and on the site itself, Mark Pollard of Kung Fu Cinema received a Cease & Desist letter from Miramax concerning a link on Kung Fu Cinema to a movie purchasing site for the Jet Li movie Hero (set to be officially released in North America in April 2004). Fearing Miramax (and thus Disney) and their army of lawyers, Pollard deleted the link, as well as another for Shaolin Soccer, also unreleased in North America. Pollard criticized the studio for not permitting the original version of such films to hit the states, saying "If they own the rights to this film, then this film is not available to U.S. consumers -- period." The EFF also has some comments regarding the fact that Pollard has done nothing wrong in the first place."
I cannot believe this (Score:5, Informative)
(I also got a French subtitled version of Shaolin Soccer one year and a half ago !?)
How can Miramax be *that* late and how can they ignore that one may find these DVDs in Chinese shops ?
A US Movie Company C & Ds a US based movie com (Score:3, Informative)
This is a classic example where even when a big corp. is wrong, making them do the right thing would cost too much time and money with almost no return.
Similar to Anime Fansubs (Score:2, Informative)
Shaolin Soccer (Score:2, Informative)
On a side note, there is a "Shaolin Martial Arts Studio" that I often pass by, and I can't help but think of that movie and laugh (and picture kids kicking flaming soccer balls) whenever I see that sign.
Re:This is why....PAL. (Score:5, Informative)
Over in the UK, all of our our DVD players can play both PAL and NTSC, almost all of the cheap supermarket ones are already or can be made multiregion by remote, and certain high-street hi-fi chains [richersounds.com] sell modded MR product (I have a MR Pioneer 360 from them). Even our version of Amazon [amazon.co.uk] sells modded multiregion kit - the current top spot is a modded Sony DVP-NS330. Multiregion is much more widespread here, and that's a good thing for British consumers (even though most of them don't know about it). I try to let my friends know.
Re:I have mixed feelings... (Score:5, Informative)
This makes sense from pretty much anystandpoint you want to look at it from, even though it does sometimes produce odd results. It goes back to the basic idea that crimes are actions, you can't arrest someone for speculating about how nifty it would be to rob a bank (you can, however arrest someone for *planning* to rob the bank, you don't have to actually wait for them to do it). If it were otherwise we'd be entering the wonderful world of Thought Crimes (TM).
Besides, the way it works now leads to some very amusing situations, such as the "wine brick" that was sold during prohibition. This was basically a compressed bunch of raisens. The instruction sheet contained an interesting warning:
Caution: Never mix contents in two gallons of warm water
to which you have added a pinch of yeast, and one pound of sugar.
If this mixture is left to stand in a cloth covered container
for two weeks, an ALCOHOLIC beverage will result, which is illegal.
Re:Shaolin Soccer (Score:3, Informative)
Its a parody of martial arts movies, there is no way an american corporation can do it justice, they can only butcher it.
However I do support cutting out the part where they sing in a restaurant...that was lame, and might have made sense to chineese viewers, but was mostly weird for me.
Instant review of "Hero"... (Score:5, Informative)
The movie is a telling of an old Chinese story. If you ever read Chinese mythology, you will know that they are mixed from generous helpings of love, drama, treason, duty, battle, beauty and tragedy, set in landscapes of stunning mountains and gorges, and generally featuring the epic plotlines Tolkien was inspired by when he wrote LoTR and the Hobbit.
Hero is no different. The movie is visually stunning, a tapestry of color and force. It paints an overlapping series of stories, and the five main characters get more and more complex as the film progresses through intense red, blue, white, and green.
The Kung Fu scenes are dreamlike and truly beautiful. Only the slightest sense of repetition spoils a few of the scenes, but it is easily compensated for by the sensuality of the filming. Yes, it is ridiculous to see people running on water or across tree tops, but this is the story of a person recounting his version o a myth. Some poetry is in order, and Hero delivers.
The ending - which I won't divulge - is downbeat and not what I would have proposed, but this is true to the style of ancient Chinese stories, which do not - like many Western myths - celebrate the survival of the individual in the face of adversity. Rather, they tell stories of how intense personal tragedy and suffering can be placed into a greater context. A few dramatic deaths serve to highlight the lesson.
Don't go to Hero expecting to see amazing fight scenes. It's a movie to relax with, a film to see twice, one to take your girlfriend to and to hold her when the lovers die, in true Romeo and Juliet fashion, alone on a mountain top.
What I liked most about this film - apart from the visuals, the sound, the scenery, and the subtle plot - was its ability to portray all the characters as sympathetic, from the tyranical king, alone in his citadel of a palace, to the assassins and killers, each shown at the end to be Heroes. There are no villains in this film.
Re:This is why....PAL. (Score:2, Informative)
In short, it is simpler to output NTSC signal for NTSC discs and PAL signal for PAL discs.
Re:Shaolin Soccer (Score:2, Informative)
Re:You should lose your exclusive distribution rig (Score:2, Informative)
Drunken Master 1 - horrible 1970s kung-fu flick except for the fighting techniques, which are brilliant.
DM II - The USian Legend of Drunken Master. Note if you get an Asian release of this film you will also get the end scene which was cut from the US release.
Re:I have mixed feelings... (Score:5, Informative)
The relevant laws are 17 USC 106 (the right to distribute), 109 (first sale), and 602 (importation).
The relevant case is Quality King v. Lanza Research, 523 US 135 (1998).
"[The prohibition] encompasses copies that are not subject to the first sale doctrine-e.g., copies that are lawfully made under the law of another country...."
The importation is direct infringement -- the linking is likely contributory infringement, as there is an underlying direct infringement, probably constructive knowledge of infringement, and material contribution to the infringement.
Keep in mind that these are not knockoffs or illegal versions, they are 100% legit for their country of origin.
Of course -- 602 doesn't _just_ apply to piratical copies though; it applies to copies that were lawfully made, just not lawfully made under US law. If Miramax owns the rights under US law, only it can lawfully make, or cause to be made, copies. The fact that it was lawfully made in DVDistan is basically irrelevant.
The companies have no right whatsoever to restrict buyers from purchasing foreign versions, or selling those foreign versions in North America. Sending out a C&D is just legalspeak to frighten people off.
No, they've got this right. It's not often used, and it's not well known, but they have got it. It's pretty stupid though, I admit.
imports for personal use explicitly permitted (Score:3, Informative)
Shipping in single copies of copyrighted works from abroad for personal use is permitted. So is carrying them back in your luggage when you travel. See 17 USC 602 (a) (2), the text of which follows:
There's also exemptions for government use, scholarly, religion, and educational purposes, and for libraries. You should read all of 17 USC 602 (a) before jumping to conclusions about whether it's illegal to import videos.
Re:I have mixed feelings... (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Miramax release dates -- hah (Score:1, Informative)
In the case of SF, the Chinese population is mixed Cantonese/Mandarin. In this area, it's a good idea to make sure that both groups can watch the movie.
My VCD of Hero was subtitled in both English and Chinese. The Chinese subtitles for the Cantonese speakers.
I got this one other VCD, it was subtitled in both Chinese and English but the voices sounded terrible. I realized that the left sound channel was Cantonese and the right sound channel was Mandarin. A poor-man's version of SAP...
Cantonese was the original language since this was a HK movie. One of the characters spoke both English and Cantonese on one channel and Mandarin only on the other channel.
-cmh