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October 27, 2006
A NEW TARTAN IN 2007?
I've been pretty astonished at Tartan's release schedule since Tartan USA first opened a few years ago. Their titles looked good, they came out regularly and they seemed to be intent on releasing every horror movie being made in Korea. CELLO, FACE, R-POINT, WISHING STAIRS, ACACIA...I didn't know if there was a market for these movies in the US or not, but regardless Tartan was releasing them.
Scattered through their catalogue are real gems: MEMENTO MORI, DOPPELGANGER, SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE, and several others. But for the most part they've been heavy on the horror and some of their acquisitions don't seem to make sense. Is there actually an audience for GHOST OF MAE NAK?
But their strategy could be changing. They're still having a huge sale over at Wal-Mart, which is almost definitely a sign that the titles on sale are facing big returns which could be something of a wake-up call, and they've got two huge movies in Johnnie To's ELECTION 1 and 2 which are coming up in 2007. And now they're re-issuing their tentpole film, OLDBOY, on a three-disc set (you can see making of clips from the disc over here on YouTube "What a Drag", "Hammer Time", "The Art of the Upchuck", and "Ants Marching"). What I'm hoping this means is that Tartan is going to maybe slow down on the indiscriminate release of every single horror movie, regardless of quality, and instead focus on their big, prestige titles in 2007.
With the right handling, the ELECTION movies can be as big for them as OLDBOY and I'm really hoping they take the time and the care to nurture these two deserving flicks into full bloom as enormous money trees.
October 27, 2006 at 11:30 AM in News | Permalink
Comments
I had my doubts as to how successful OLDBOY actually was for Tartan, all hype aside - but if it wasn't pretty big we probably wouldn't be getting this souped-up edition.
Cutting back on Asian horror is a good move. That market is either perilously close to or well beyond saturation (depending on who you ask). They shouldn't abandon it altogether, nor should they abandon any genre as a whole. (Tartan MCDULL boxset, please.) Far, far better to put more muscle behind fewer films that are much less... interchangeable - like the ELECTION films. Also HUGE kudos for apparently, if that OLDBOY 3-disc is any indication, leaving their degrading ASIA EXTREME!!!! labeling behind at long last. May it rot in Hell next to things like "Japanimation".
Posted by: Rhythm-X | Oct 27, 2006 12:27:47 PM
Hey, let's be fair. At least it wasn't ASIA X-TREME!!
Posted by: Five Venoms | Oct 27, 2006 2:08:55 PM
ELECTION wouldn't be as big as OLDBOY, sicne it is just going straight to DVD.
TRIAD ELECTION (aka ELECTION 2) will get the US theatrical release. It can be as big for them as OLDBOY, but Tartan need to put more effort to create buzz for this movie. Maybe they should submit it to Ain't It Cool News' BUTT-NUMB-A-THON.
Posted by: no name | Oct 27, 2006 2:15:08 PM
Do the special features have subs?
Posted by: ourboc | Oct 27, 2006 4:53:44 PM
All the special features do have subs.
Posted by: Cuseboy | Oct 27, 2006 5:38:06 PM
Yeah, I always hated that "Asian Extreme" title. It's as bad as "Japanimation" and as insulting as "chop socky".
It didn't help that they started releasing this preview disc that featured all the "extreme" part of the titles they were releasing. Basically, it took a bunch of titles and reduced their meaning and worth to just their shock moments. So anyone that was popping in that DVD without knowing would be spoiling films like Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and all for the sake of checking out those EXTREME scenes. It's an incredibly stupid move to promote their movies.
And yes, I agree that them releasing almost all these horror titles was stupid. I can only suppose that they did this to take advantage of the whatever craze was going on to help make money for bigger and better things. There are tons of titles they should take advantage of putting out that should be seen by a bigger audience.
Posted by: the running man | Oct 27, 2006 8:35:06 PM
The change of Tartan's strategy may be because od the change of people.
MJ Peckos was the person who supervised U.S. acquisitions of Tartan Films USA.
Now, Marie-Therese Guirgis supervised U.S. acquisitions of Tartan Films USA; she was the head of acquisitions at Wellspring (which was closed down in early 2006).
Posted by: no name | Oct 27, 2006 10:04:06 PM
tartan do need to be more selective, less horror-oriented, and they certainly could do with not letting themselves be dragged along with the contemporary flow of things - how about a 'tartan unseen' label, with the chance to go back through the decades of piled-up obscurities which relate to other successes on DVD releases, like panik house's 'pinky violence' releases (which seemed to do really well) or just allow themselves to disappear in more directions than forwards...
Posted by: logboy | Oct 28, 2006 12:55:17 AM
Glad to see responsible adults seem to be in charge at Tartan these days...
Posted by: Rhythm-X | Oct 29, 2006 10:22:00 AM
Sorry but this has to be the one of the stupidest thing I've ever read online!!
"I didn't know if there was a market for these movies in the US or not, but regardless Tartan was releasing them."
Yes there is a market and its great that Tartan are releasing these titles. There is people out there that want SOMETHING ELSE then the latest Hollywood blockbuster!
"Is there actually an audience for GHOST OF MAE NAK?"
Sure is! How can someone who run the Asian cinema blog for Variety make such comments?!
"But their strategy could be changing. They're still having a huge sale over at Wal-Mart,"
You gotta remember that the people who wanna see these movies dont shop at Wal-Mart. They mostly buy DVDs online. Personally, I dont give a sH*t about Wal-Mart, I only got there to buy diapers for my baby son!
"which is almost definitely a sign that the titles on sale are facing big returns which could be something of a wake-up call"
Wake up call?! Wake up call?! You should be happy that Tartan are releasing these movies. So what if they dont sell million of them, if there's 500 person buying it, it opens the eyes of 500 more that there is actually cinema being made OUTSIDE the US!
"Cutting back on Asian horror is a good move."
OLDBOY, SYMPATHY FOR MR.VENGEANCE and all of the Kim Ki-Duk movies they released are not horror. And there is nothing wrong with them releasing only horror.
I say more power to Tartan...
and no I aint working for them!
Posted by: ARCVILE | Oct 29, 2006 5:52:17 PM
Whoah, calm down there. If I understand the point of all this correctly, the problem is Tartan is probably losing money by releasing too much horror. Sure it's great that the exposure is there, but the market that is watching Asian films isn't watching all of the films Tartan is releasing. It's like releasing the Exorcist and Leprechaun in da Hood 2 under the same label. Which one do you think an educated film goer is going to buy? Or for that matter, which one will sway an otherwise neutral film viewer? (Or for a better example Oldboy vs. Cello, we'll say)
Like I said, it's great that these films are getting released, but no one is buying them, hence the Wal-Mart clearance, which probably amounts to a good sized chunk of Tartan's distribution. If they end up losing money on these horror films which get released regardless of the film's quality, Tartan could go under, or at least have to cut back drastically on what it can release.
It's important to remember this isn't charity work for Asian movie fans they're doing here. It's business, and if they can't sell their movies, we could lose a distributor in the worst-case scenario, or at least some good but less well known releases that they do put out as they cut back on acquisitions.
Posted by: Five Venoms | Oct 30, 2006 9:09:39 AM
"It's like releasing the Exorcist and Leprechaun in da Hood 2 under the same label."
And what is wrong with that?! Tartan arent going down? And there's nothing wrong with releasing only horror movies... something they arent even doing!
"If they end up losing money on these horror films which get released regardless of the film's quality"
This is all subjective, for you something like CELLO, PRAY or THE BOOTH might not be interesting but it is for others.
"It's important to remember this isn't charity work for Asian movie fans they're doing here. It's busines"
Duh! I know its a business and they are making money. Selling these at Wal-Mart isnt a sign of them going down, its just another venue for them to sale their DVD. A bad idea if you ask me cause like I said, people who buy these movies dont buy DVDs at Wal-Mart.
Posted by: ARCVILE | Oct 30, 2006 12:29:25 PM
Point is very simple. There are bigger, better, more important titles to release than every other Asian horror film.
And we hope that's the direction Tartan USA is planning on going.
Posted by: the running man | Nov 1, 2006 2:29:26 PM
See, I aint a fan of the whole ghost girl with long hair killing people, but its cool that Tartan are releasing these movies. They can still others genre stuff like they did with OLDBOY, HEROIC DUO, JAPON and so on...
Posted by: ARCVILE | Nov 6, 2006 6:12:46 PM
Selling discs on the discount rack at Walmart is not "just another venue". It's shows that either Tartan or Walmart have had trouble selling the product, and thus, have had to resort to dumping it at a reduced price. And Grady's probably right. The problem could be too many movies - both the worthy and the unworthy - being released together all at the same time.
As for GHOST OF MAE NAK, I too share Grady's bafflement at this choice. With the exception of one effect, there's absolutely nothing to recommend about this film.
Posted by: Chill | Nov 6, 2006 9:22:00 PM
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