THE BEST BOUTIQUE BLU-RAYS OF 2020 - Top 25 List - Physical Media Forever 

I'm typing this from the after-life.

Hi Elliot. I scoped out Imprint's Hard Eight but held off on buying as their releases seem to be a tad pricey. Do you get yours directly from the label?

@@mattymac1399 yes I do get them directly from them luckily. I totally agree, they are pricey but the ones I've mentioned in this video are certainly worth the price tag. I'd pay full ticket for this Hard Eight Blu-ray in particular! I hope that helps.

Yes thanks, wíll keep an eye on their site for the release of the standard Hard Eight. Great movie.

Agreed!

It's a film I hope to revisit a lot in the future!

Thank you so much for those kind words, Ben. Happy New Year, my friend!

@@ElliotCoen happy new year Elliot to you snd all your family take care

Same words as Ben here Cheers Elliot! And happy New Years

Thanks so much for the recommendation, pal! I have a feeling 2021 is going to be a great year for boutique blu-rays 😁 Happy New Year!!

Thanks so much mate! Happy new year!

Happy new year to you too mate! Thanks so much for all of the support. I look forward to chatting more movies with you!

Aha whoops, I missed that one! Thanks for all the support, Linus!

@@ElliotCoen Your channel has become the number one blu-ray channel in 2020 I’d say. Congrats

@@linusfotograf that's so kind of you to say. Happy New Year!

Thanks so much, Brian! I think you'd really like Spring Night Summer Night

Thanks so much mate, I did! I hope you did too, and happy new year!

Haha, yes resist all temptation! Thanks so much for the support in 2020, Chris. Happy New Year!

Both of those sets do look amazing. I unfortunately missed out on the Gamera set but I think I'll be getting the reissued smaller boxsets this year. Thanks for watching!

So true. Leone had a magic touch and Fistful of Dynamite is a prime example of his talent in blending big fun action with touching emotion! Thanks for watching, Danny!

Hi Andre, thank you so much. It's a pleasure to meet you!

@@ElliotCoen My wallet will surely learn to hate you ;)

Thanks so much, Travis! I started with a longlist of about 70 or 80 titles from the year that I enjoyed, mostly from the boutique labels mentioned in the top 25

I think you mean Dawn of the Dead by Second Sight

@@davidvankampen9545 sorry, I was referring to the silent night boxset as everyone’s pretty well aware of the dawn of the dead set.

Thank you so much, Felipe!

I'm very excited for those two Hawks movies. I've not seen either of them, but I'm a big fan of his later works such as Rio Bravo and Red River!

@@ElliotCoen you’re in for such a treat! Twentieth century is one of the all time great screwball comedies and Criminal Code is what put Boris Karloff on the map.

Haha imagine!!

I need to give that one a go. Thanks for the recommendation!

Hi Simon! No it isn't required viewing but the two films make a very good pair!

Yes! That Beastmaster release looks lovely. I need to hook up with Vinegar Syndrome in 2021

Elliott you won't be disappointed. Vinegar Syndrome has the best slip covers too. I think they are the best boutique blu-ray label out there right now.

Excellent, welcome to the club, Neil 😁

Neil Bean it's one of the best ever war films (though it's really a anti war film) you should also watch The Big Red One reconstructed edition, great film 👌🏾 shame it's not got a 4k scan blu ray or 4k blu ray. It would look awesome.

I still need to get that one. Thanks for the recommendation, Joshua!

Haha, I love it

I can't be the only person who thought for a SPLIT SECOND you were overcome with emotion when talking about Nicolas Roeg.

Yes got a modded player! An Oppo UDP 203. It does the job perfectly for me.

@@ElliotCoen Nice! Great video. Think I'll have to get a modded 4K player at some point. Want to update my ancient audio receiver and maybe my projector first though.

Happy new year, my friend!

It's one of those releases I didn't manage to get my hands on unfortunately! I'm hoping to get the reissued boxsets this year.

Yeah same, I wasn’t familiar with Arrow until recently, so I didn’t even know about until it was already completely sold out. Hoping I can eventually grab a copy. It would look nice next to my Godzilla Criterion set

I have a multi-region blu-ray player than can play blu-ray discs from anywhere in the world :)

@@ElliotCoen Which one would you recommend?

A boutique label is one which licenses selected movies, picked for their excellence or importance to film history. The kind of stuff many companies just pass over completely for whatever reason. So, Criterion, Arrow, Indicator, BFI, Masters of Cinema, Imprint, Second Sight etc.

Smaller labels who put more care into their releases.

No, it isn't.

Pick up a blu ray drive and use MakeMKV to rip the discs and play them back with Plex or Kodi. You’ll never have to worry about region coding again. If you get a compatible UHD drive you can rip 4k discs as well.

Thanks both

@@BlownMacTruck or just buy a multi region player.

@@Paulcrastinator2236 True, though ripping is basically free at this point if you don’t want to spend any money.

I only meant the films he's directed, apologies. I can't remember how many that is but it's fewer than 20 features for sure.

@@ElliotCoen According to IMDB he is credited as director for 61 feature movies, I love Takeshi Miike he is somewhat quirky and I would say very uneven some are master pieces others B-Movies but still very enjoyable due to his unique style.

@@lawlorie24 I'm talking about Takeshi Kitano in this video, not Takashi Miike, but I can understand the confusion

@@ElliotCoen Well then I understand

Hello. First of all, thanks for watching and happy new year to you too! To answer your point about criticism - I'm not really a critic. This channel is just a passion of mine, a hobby, and certainly not my profession. I do review certain things on my channel, recently a lot of 4K discs, and you'll see I do become critical in those. But as for these recommendation videos or top lists, I'm only talking about things I like, so naturally there will be little criticism of the discs. They wouldn't be appearing in the lists if there were lots of issues to point out. If I recommend an expensive boxset as an introduction to a filmmaker, that's up to the viewer to decide whether that's for them or not. It's always wise to check multiple sources before making an informed purchase. I merely want to highlight when a label such as Arrow Video put great care into a release like they did with the Tsukamoto set. I can't recommend those Third Window blu-rays because I don't own them and haven't watched them, so that would be dishonest. I can only put forward opinions on the discs I own. As to why I spend my money as I do, I've talked a lot about it on this channel. I want to support the labels I already have a great relationship with. Blind adoration, as you've put it, suggests an unearned loyalty. I have bought hundreds of discs from the likes of Criterion, Indicator, and Arrow, and loved them. No label is perfect, but these companies have a great track record with me. I vote with my wallet, and I'd much rather pay the higher ticket for a film I haven't seen if it means supporting a company I have trust in. You bring up Artificial Eye which is a label I do not have full trust in - a lot of their releases are scant on special features, suffer from rushed encoding and compression etc. I only tend to go with them if there isn't another option. I certainly appreciate that not everyone will be in a similar financial situation to me, but I can only talk about what I have been buying and watching. I would not be genuine if I did otherwise. I think many people still find these videos useful, regardless of finances, because I am able to highlight films, filmmakers, and film movements that they may not have heard about otherwise. I hope that helps answer your questions, and thanks again for supporting the channel!

@@ElliotCoen First of all; thank you for this extensive reply. But i'm still having some issues with it... 'If I recommend an expensive boxset as an introduction to a filmmaker, that's up to the viewer to decide whether that's for them or not'.... With over 13000 subscribers to your channel, and making vids that WILL influence the buying habits/choices of your viewers, you also obtained some kind of responsibility towards your audience. In the case of an expensive boxset that contains the works of Tsukamoto, an outlaw filmmaker whose films are most certainly an 'acquired taste', i think you should/could point out to your viewers that there are cheaper and safer ways to have 'a first meeting' with this director (streaming, an individual Blu-release...) while still promoting this Arrow boxset. I don't think your argument of not owning (and recommending) the Third Window discs is valid in this case, cause you admitted not having watched half of the films (the content, not the presentation) in the Arrow boxset. 'I think many people still find these videos useful, regardless of finances, because I am able to highlight films, filmmakers, and film movements that they may not have heard about otherwise.' And with that also comes some kind of responsibiliy to your viewers because, in the case of Tsukamoto, you don't provide us with a reason (or any context) to explore his films in this vid. You left out your filmknowledge... you don't make a comparison in this vid... you don't say 'people who like the cinema of Sogo Ishii probably should check this out' and you don't say 'filmbuffs who don't like experimental avant-garde cinema probably should not buy this set' ... you just state 'it's amazing'... You can't recommend a big Sharunas Bartas set to first-time viewers without mentioning Tarkovsky or Tarr.... (or even Angelopoulos).. people will buy this stuff because they like and trust you and your channel And there will be some subscribers among those 13000 who, after watching your video' will blindbuy this expensive set, and two movies in they will realise buying this was a big mistake. So i disagree with you..... but that's not the end of the world! :) Furthermore.... Artifical Eye is a boutique label. They were also big players on the dvdmarket (I've been collecting movies for about 25 years now). In the case of 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire', the AE release provides us with better supplements; an audiocommentary and a 55 minute interview. And it will cost you under £10! you're not a Criterion executive, are you? ;)

@@fabulousbakerboy If you have issues with my reply, I don't know what else to say to you really. I do things my way because it's the only way I know how to. You're the only person who has ever expressed anything like this to me before about this channel, so I cannot change how I do things for the sake of one person. I hope you understand that, and thanks again for watching.

@@ElliotCoen We agree to disagree.... no hard feelings.

It is.

Hi Laurits, thank you so much! Yes, you can follow me on Letterboxd here letterboxd.com/Elliot_Coen/

Great! Following!

Completely agree with you, it is way over hyped. Still a good film though

Let's hear yours then ;)