ValentineXavier

> {quote:title=sfpcc1 wrote:}{quote} > Leslie Cabrera's The *Fleischer Story* is an amazing book on the subject. Indeed it is. I have it, and have read it several times.

Yeah, I was afraid of that. In that case, it is easy to make backup copies, if you have a computer.

> {quote:title=FredCDobbs wrote:}{quote} > All documentary films arent deceptive. I've seen more than one documentary on the making of nature docs, and how they contrive to show us 'reality.' I love documentary film. Remember my support of TCM showing Jacques Cousteau? But, it is humanly impossible to give a completely accurate picture of anything, even from a single POV, especially in an hour or two. Compromises and various artifices are always necessary. The point of *F for Fake* is to never take anything at face value, no matter how sincere it seems. The fact that the film is built around one already existing short doc just supports its thesis, and adds to its effectiveness.

The film was shot with 40s era lenses and sound recording techniques. The plot is hardly paper-thin. If anything, it's too complex. It is based on a bestseller. I'm not claiming it's a great film, but it is interesting, entertaining, and a worthy effort at doing something that is really impossible, i.e. recreating the sort of film that *Casablanca* and *The Third Man* are.

> {quote:title=lzcutter wrote:}{quote} > Or the other writer was unhappy with the script and didn't want his name credited so he chose Dobbsy's name. > So, "Fred C. Dobbs" is the writer's equivalent of "Alan Smithee?"

I guess Gold Hat didn't kill him, after all.

> {quote:title=hamradio wrote:}{quote} > And what about "Betty Boops Poor Cinderella"? A rare chance to see great animation like that simulated "3D" scene of the carraige going past the countryside. "Somewhere in Dreamland" used that special effect. Seeing Betty Boop in color is also rare. > The Fleischers were very inventive. Dave invented rotoscoping, but Max took credit for it. They probably invented that "3D" effect as well. A moving background, often a big round one that rotated, is positioned behind a glass plate. The foreground character(s) are painted on the glass plate, and the moving background is moved for each cell painted on the glass. This was actually used as a time-saving device, so that less had to be drawn for each cell. It was very effective. My favorite toon on the Fleischer Color Classics DVD is Dancing on the Moon, but I like them all.

If I see someone slip and fall on their butt, that's funny. If I slip and fall on my butt, that's tragedy.

I'm quite a Fleischer fan. I think Betty Boop's Snow-White is the greatest animated film ever made. While it is true that most of the Fleischer toons are PD, many are still almost impossible to find. The B&W Popeyes are in good quality boxed sets. The Superman series is on DVD. There are various Boop DVDs, but many of her best, like Red Hot Mama, are hard to find. Most of the Screen Songs toons are hard to find. I have collected all but one of the known existing Betty Boop toons, be they Screen Songs, Talkartoons, or Betty Boop Cartoons, and made my own 9 disc set, in chronological order. There are three I do not have. Accordion Joe seems to exist only in the UCLA film archives. And, there are two lost toons, made in the late 30s, so not Betty's best. Edited by: ValentineXavier on Feb 13, 2011 2:02 AM

> {quote:title=FredCDobbs wrote:}{quote} > Wuthering Heights. > They're finally making the sequel, *Wuthered Heights*.

> {quote:title=acomixguy wrote:}{quote} > I have pondered this question quite a bit, "Should I be buying Warner Archive and other studio DVRs?" Needless to say I have REAL mixed feelings on this! How long do burnt discs last? Am I decreasing the chances of seeing actual pressed releases of these movies by supporting the Archive model? The price point seems much too high! Can't I simply record my own DVRs from TCM and have the same basic quality? I hope many of you will respond to this post and help me weigh the pros & cons of this new approach to classic movie retailing and if I should jump on board! Thanks The life of a burned disc depends on the quality of the media, and the quality of the burn. Crummy media, like Memorex, can degrade to unplayable in less than a year. Good burns on top quality media, like Taiyo Yuden, and Verbatim AZO, or Data Life, will probably last as long as they make DVD players. I don't know what quality media the Studios' burn on demand biz are using. If they don't put copy protection on their discs, you could easily make backup copies on top quality media, solving any durability problems. As to image quality, discs from the studios should be at least as good as, and probably superior to, any you would make with a DVD recorder. They should be free of logos, the occasional broadcast glitch, and the not-so-occasional blotchy encoding you get on cable.

It's a favorite of mine too. We discussed it a bit in a thread in the General Discussions Forum.

Okay, now we see that *The Good German* just wasn't to your taste... I've seen it. It is a well-shot, complexly plotted, well acted film. It's a good film. Is it in the ball park with *The Third Man*, and *Casablanca* ? No - they are two of the best films ever made. But kudos to *The Good German* for trying to make such a film today, and doing a decent job of it. So, the Americans were the villains, and that's not right? Do you really think that we never did wrong in WWII, and its aftermath? History shows otherwise.

> {quote:title=FredCDobbs wrote:}{quote} > You were tricked into thinking you were *watching a ?good documentary?,* simply because it had Welles in it. With no Welles, you would have never seen this trash. > You have misunderstood the film very badly. The whole point of the film is that ALL film, even documentary, which is supposedly true, is artifice and deception. It pretends to be a documentary, then reveals that it is all lies. Not in the same league with *Touch of Evil*, true. But, still an excellent film. Edited by: ValentineXavier on Feb 12, 2011 11:06 PM

I told 'em they should have stuck to Wooly Bully.

> {quote:title=FredCDobbs wrote:}{quote} > Univision showed a dozen or so people jumping out of the higher windows of the WTC, one by one, in New York on 9-11. The cameras followed them all the way to the ground. The American channels ignored it. They didn't ignore it, they spoke of it quite a bit. They just didn't show it. Lots of people would find showing it sensationalistic, exploitative, and in bad taste.

> {quote:title=markfp2 wrote:}{quote} > Maybe we chould get him a nice collection of post-2000 films.We all know how much he'd love that. > I'll let you in on a little secret from the sci fi thread - he actually does like a few 2000+ films, he just doesn't think they should be shown on TCM. Me, I'm okay with just a few, under appropriate circumstances.

The national networks have covered it, Fred. But you're right that they don't often show the dead bodies.

I like both of those, but I think my favorite Denzel performance is in Spike Lee's *Malcolm X*. You might want to check out *Inside Man*, it's a good heist film, great cast, and clever twist ending.

I've seen it, it's a good film. I'm a fan of both director Tony Scott, and Denzel. But, Fred, you, touting a film made in 2006? I'm stunned!

They'd probably be mutants due to chemical contamination. That's actually occurring in fish and frogs. Well, not the telepathic brain absorption...

> {quote:title=ValentineXavier wrote:}{quote} > Yep, Flaxy was definitely a "B-girl!" When I said this, it had nothing to do with "B pictures." The term "B-girl" probably comes from "bar girl." A "B-girl" is a girl who is basically a shill, to get a man to spend money on her, so the establishment where she works makes money. So, I was commenting on Flaxy's character, not the quality of the picture. It's a good, tough little film.

*Stray Dog* is definitely my favorite early Kurosawa film. The first time I saw it I was stunned that it was so much a classic noir. Glad you liked it.

I'd bet that there's a bad review for most any film YOU like on the IMDb too. That doesn't make it bad. I trust allmovie.com a lot more. It gives *F For Fake* 4.5 out of 5 stars. You are, of course, entitled to your opinion. But, your opinion is just that, and not dispositive. I reiterate: I don't believe that you would ever like ANY film made in 16mm.

True, it is as timely now, as the day it was made. In Egypt, at least so far, the rebels have not had to respond with violence, even though Mubarak's police are probably worse than the French were in Algeria.