Criterion Goes Blu!!! - Page 52

When is the next B&N sale?

As fate would have it, the Maltese Falcon and TTOTSM showed up at my door just yesterday. The TTOTSM looks good, really good. I wonder if Warner Brothers preserved its older films better than the other studios? The Third Man, King Kong and Stagecoach aren't even close to TTOTSM on BD.

Sierra Madre was a box office dud when first released, so you had less wear and tear on the elements. They might even been able to use the camera negative.

Kong was an enormous success and was re-released down through the years many times, plus it had beaucoup opticals. They lucked out and found a good print from Great Britain, as I recall, but who knows from what release. Stagecoach was not released by a major studio, and they despaired for some time even being able to find a decent print. Years ago I heard that the best print they were able to turn up was one in John Wayne's garage.

I don't know what was up with The Third Man- Selznick had the American rights and I assume the Brits also had distribution rights. Years ago I heard that the film came into public domain because someone didn't renew the rights. I assume Studio Canal ended up controlling it by having rights to Karas' musical score, the way the public domain It's a Wonderful Life eventually became private property again. I don't know. I just suspect that Krasker's photography did not originally have that pointalistically grainy look the the Criterion DVD has, though screen caps of the Studio Canal release, while having more of a smooth tonal range, is pretty soft.

January 2011 line-up:
The Naked Kiss
Shock Corridor
Army of Shadows
Robinson Crusoe on Mars
Broadcast News

What a pleasant surprise about "Army of Shadows." As a Studio Canal movie I was sure this and the other Melville's were headed for OOP status sooner than a BD upgrade. Day one purchase for me, my favorite Melville in Blu!

Definatly getting "Army of Shadows" and "Broadcast News". Maybe Shock Corridor too..

In for Broadcast News, was shocked to see that listed

I've been waiting for Army of Shadows ever since I saw the screenshots from the HD DVD, which look quite nice and a lot more natural than the murky, sharpened Le Cercle Rouge.

Oh so it's not confirmed? Hope u r right, need to cut back spending, would come in handy

Agreed. And even if they don't really turn your crank, if you're into film, you should be at least passingly familiar with them.

About The Seventh Seal:
I don't what it was but it just didn't strike a chord with me.
I must have missed something.

Wow! Seven Samurai arrived with today's mail. Can't wait to watch this one.

Please report back asap

Although I was reasonably entertained by it ,I have to agree. I think it may have just gone over my head but....


Art

I'm not very good at reviewing a title like this. When I put it on, I keep forgetting to critique it because I just get caught up watching it for my own enjoyment. I have never seen it looking that good, I'll say that.

Gah. Amazon is screwing me on my release date shipping again for Seven Samurai. They've been doing that a bit lately and it's really starting to get on my nerves.


Of course, the release date didn't actually change. Just the date that they're actually going to ****ing ship it out.

I had a feeling that Criterion would upgrade this film to brd. Can't wait!

My Seven Samurai copy is local now....... just waiting for Sam (my UPS driver) to swing by my house...... can't wait.

Forgot to update....... watched this, and YES, it was magnificent! The transfer is strong, but the story is every bit as engrossing as you would expect..... highly recommended (I had not seen this one prior to purchase)

This is going to sound a bit funny because I've never purchased a Criterion release before. However, with the just-released Seven Samurai (which I have never seen; don't throw stones), I feel like this is the perfect opportunity.

Given that, could someone please explain how Criterion typically packages their releases? I have looked everywhere online for pictures but can only find scans of the box-cover. Are these digi-books, or boxed with material + regularly-cased movies?

Thanks in advance!

Most Criterion releases use custom cases that are clear plastic with no blue banner at the top. Some of their releases use digipaks, like Seven Samurai. Either for the design of the box or because it's a multi-disc set.

You can see photos of many of their releases on their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...id=24856820564

Example:

Thank you for the excellent response!

This is going to sound a bit funny because I've never purchased a Criterion release before. However, with the just-released Seven Samurai (which I have never seen; don't throw stones), I feel like this is the perfect opportunity.

No one should be dinged for not having bought Criterions or seen Seven Samurai, so long as they see the error of their ways

If you get bitten by the bug of the greats of world cinema that Criterion offers, be prepared to open the old wallet wide, and of going truly berserk when and if Barnes and Noble continues with their 50% off sales that occur usually in the Summer and sometimes November as well.

As for Seven Samurai in a first-class high definition transfer... just you wait.

Watched "Lola Montès". This is a spectacular looking restoration of a 50 year old film. Easily beats the BD of "Gattopardo". And the circus sequences look like they inspired Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge".

I might as well pull the trigger by the end of November, then. What can be said about Seven Samurai's audio/video syncing? Not that I can fully understand Japanese (I am studying), do the words typically match the mouths? I remember a very poor example of this in a Good/Bad/Ugly DVD release and saw it mentioned in a (hopefully) less-than-reliable review for Seven Samurai online.

Thanks again!

I can't speak to Seven Samurai (haven't watched the disc yet), but the lip synch issue in The Good, The Bad and the Ugly is inherent to the original production. Like most Italian films of the era, that movie was shot entirely without sound on set. All dialogue was dubbed in later. In fact, the international cast of actors may have each been speaking different languages on camera.

Dude, just watch the movie.

Dude, just watch the movie.

No, he has the right to be concerned. Performances that are post-synched always just look wrong.

Gore Vidal observed many years ago that the Italians hate synched sound and often did it only because of foreign actors who insisted their scenes have it. I think I have seen on-set sound also in some of the great neorealist films, but Fellini's films always were post-synched.

I'm pretty sure Kurosawa would only post-sync when there was no other way- long shots and the like. I can never remember being bothered by sound not matching the lips in any of his films.

Thank you for this. I am heartily impressed by the helpfulness provided on these forums. I was simply seeking further education in making an important purchasing decision; I definitely feel that I have received it.

No, he doesn't. If the sync-ing of the dialogue scares him off of Seven Samurai, one of the few movies nearly everyone agrees is among the greatest ever made -- or the fact that maybe there's some scratches, or a hair shows up for eight seconds in reel three, or some other technical imperfections -- then that's his loss. Il Gattopardo is dubbed, too, but it doesn't affect Lancaster's performance. There are Beatles tracks where the singing is out of tune. Does it matter? The original release of Kind of Blue has side two in the wrong key due to a technical error with the tape machine. Either he wants to see the movie or he doesn't.