ValentineXavier

Sequel to be *Donovan's Reefer Madness*...

Thanks for the correction. I was just going by what was on my copy. I did know the production company, but did not know of it's association with WB.

Just in case there is anyone here who doesn't know, "teddy bears" were named after Teddy Roosevelt.

> {quote:title=JackFavell wrote:}{quote} > Ollie, > > That music covers all the bases - it evokes old Vienna so well - the joie de vivre, the "little Paris" atmosphere, and yet as you and Ro say, it is so WRONG it's right! There is something kind of .... corrupt about it. > To me, it is wistful, longing, sad, world weary, nostalgic, unable to resist any longer, tired of enduring yet continuing to endure, accepting what it has no choice but to accept, surviving, and, of course, haunting. It's part of what makes the film great.

You should check it out, it's pretty funny, and available on DVD. I haven't seen the remake, and wouldn't go out of my way to do so. Another US film shot in Italy, is Spike Lee's WWII film, *Miracle at St. Anna*. I liked it quite a bit, but some complain about the liberties it took with the true story it was based on.

> {quote:title=filmlover wrote:}{quote} > Valentine, sorry, but two things I disagree with: > 1. Sony is usually the very first to provide an update if one is needed for the Blu-ray player. I've seen people who own Samsung, LG, etc. complain on boardss that because Blu discs can have new technology on them that the companies have to develop a software upgrade for standing players. But Sony players keep on handling almost everything new without an upgrade of any kind, but they do keep aneye out for one and provide it right away. And I have found the to be very helpful when I have had to call them (they will even send you a disc with a software upgrade free of charge, if one prefers that to downloading it). Agreed about Samsung and LG, but we must frequent different boards. I read a lot on the AVS Forum, and have kept up with the threads about Sony's two new BD changers, and for a long while kept up on the OPPO BD players when they came out. The vast majority of posts I read would place OPPO customer service as amazingly good, and their equipment, likewise. Almost all posters who mentioned any comparison would place OPPO over Sony. My 400 disc Sony 995 DVD changer has worked well for me, but many people on that forum have had many problems with it. > 2. I don't think you can say Oppo is 25% the cost of other players. 400% the cost is more likely. >Next to Pioneer, it was one of the most expensive players out there. For it to have been 25% as >you say, and you paid $500, that would mean the other players would have had to been $2,000. >unnecessary when others provide as good a picture for a lot less. I said the the OPPO (at $500) is about 25% the cost of other reference grade players. Obviously, you can buy 6 or 8 BD players for that. Other reference grade players start at about $2,000, and go up to $5,000 and above. OPPO's new BDP 93 will be out soon, at $500, with improvements over the 83, including streaming, but still at the same price. According to the concensus of the posters on the AVS Forum, the 83 provided a much better picture than anything that cost less, and many players that cost far more, on both BD and SD DVDs. Alas, I still have only an OPPO SD DVD player. It's picture is clearly superior to my Sony, which cost three times as much (ok, it IS a changer,) or my Pioneer or my Philips, or my Toshiba, (which died.) So, when I do buy a BD player, it will be an OPPO.

> {quote:title=TheTexasKid wrote:}{quote} > scary is in the mind of the beholder. Indeed it is. When I was a kid, I found lots of things scary, like *King Kong*, *Rodan*, and *Attack of the Crab Monsters*. As an adult, I can only think of two films which succeeded in scaring me, *Alien* and *Platoon*. That doesn't mean that I don't like horror films, I do like some of them. I'm surprised that no one has listed any films by Mario Bava, or Dario Argento, both have made some rather good horror films. *Brotherhood of the Wolf* is one of my favorite films. I bought the multidisc Canadian DVD. I guess that nominally, it is a horror film. But, it really includes so many genres - historical fiction, martial arts, adventure. And, it has Monica Bellucci.

Republic released my favorite film noir western, *Pursued*, directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Robert Mitchum. Yes, they made some gems.

I should think that "kingpin" would refer to a producer, director, or studio head, but I have never heard the quote.

*The Unbearable Lightness of Being There* A simpleton Czech gardener has a yen for the ladies. They mistake his aphorisms for deep wisdom, and two of them can't get enough of him. Eventually, they settle in to a menage a trois. All goes well, until his garden is overrun by Soviet tanks. All three escape to Switzerland, where things get complicated. Eventually, they return to Czechoslovakia, where things get really complicated. The Soviets won't let him garden any more, so he takes up brain surgery.

A glaring omission from your lists is *Blade Runner*. Along with *12 Monkeys*, I'd say is is one of the best sci fi films ever made. You might also want to check out *Dark Star*. It is clever, humorous, and you'll see that several of its ideas were used in later films.

> {quote:title=kingrat wrote:}{quote}. > > 2. The Guilt of Janet Ames, directed by Henry Levin. An interesting mix of post-WWII, noir, women's film, and psychological drama. Rosalind Russell and Melvyn Douglas are very good in the lead roles. > I thought this was a very unusual, interesting film. It is sort of a surreal stage play.

Well, I was referring to the BDP83, but I see you are correct, it was recently discontinued. That's a shame. It was almost universally recognized as a truly excellent reference quality player, at about 25% of the cost of other such players. As to firmware updates, that is considered a strong point of OPPO. They continue updating their firmware, where as Sony does not. I have a Sony 400 disc DVD changer, and have owned lots of Sony products. Most have been reasonably good. But, their customer service, and continued support for their products isn't anything like as good as OPPO's. If OPPO's BDP93 continues to use the Anchor Bay upscaling technology, I'm sure it will be superior to any Sonys.

> {quote:title=scsu1975 wrote:}{quote} > > {quote:title=hamradio wrote:}{quote} > > When Thomas Edison was casting Goldilocks for "The Teddy Bears" short, he must had Slim Pickings. > > I think Slim Pickings was an extra in The Great Train Robbery. That's before he changed the spelling to Pickens, and rode an H Bomb.

> {quote:title=lzcutter wrote:}{quote} > *nvm the movie i was looking for is elmer gantry. idk if tcm airs that or not.* > > > *nope, its not scheduled. wow i would really like to see this movie sometime.* > > If I deciphered your message correctly you want to see *Elmer Gantry* on TCM. Good news, it *rotates* through the schedule on fairly regular basis. > Speaking of *Elmer Gantry*, gyrates might be more appropriate...

*Suspiria* and *Dead of Night*.

The original *The Italian Job*, starring Michael Caine, is a favorite of mine.

I too enjoyed the first installment. A question - noticing that the series is listed as letterboxed, I meant to record from the HD channel, but inadvertently recorded from the SD channel. So, I zoomed the SD to fill the 16x9 screen. Sometimes it looked to me like heads were being cut off, so I unzoomed, and indeed, parts were in 4x3, not 16x9. After viewing, I deleted it. Later, I decided to record a repeat in HD, to see what's up with the aspect ratio. I FFed through the HD, and it was all 16x9. So, I wonder if the stuff that was 4x3 in SD was cropped to 16x9 in SD. Did anyone notice this? Did you watch in HD, and see scenes that looked like the top and bottom were cropped improperly?

> {quote:title=PrinceSaliano wrote:}{quote} > My understanding is that THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME was filmed during KONG KONG's production, when Wray and Armstrong weren't needed. I've always figured there was a connection. I think they climb across a gorge on the same log, in both films.

> {quote:title=thomasterryjr wrote:}{quote} > I want to compare this film, "Birth of A Nation" with a film which I saw in college, "Triumph of the Will". My thought exactly, as I started reading this thread from the beginning. *Birth of a Nation* and *Triumph of the Will* are both undeniably highly influential masterpieces of the filmmaking art. But, both present evil ideologies. So, while revulsion is appropriate on one level, appreciation is appropriate on another level. Cognitive dissonance films! This can make them hard for us to deal with. Obviously, they are not casual entertainment. But, just as obviously, they need to be seen. Also, I agree with hamradio, it would be appropriate to restore *The Klansman* as the true title of *Birth of a Nation*.

> {quote:title=MilesArcher wrote:}{quote} > Also, gas station attendants always pump your gas and clean your windshield. In case you aren't old enough to remember, that was the norm, up until the 70s.

Nick Carter The Whistler Lassie Rin Tin Tin hey! they were always solving crimes!

I have a 56" 720p DLP TV. I sit 8' away from it. SD channels look quite good, even when they have to be zoomed, to make a LB picture fill the screen. Of course true HD looks way better, but SD looks way better than it did on my old 46" CRT TV, which was the same height as my 56" HD set. Some sets, and some HD tech does better than others with SD signals. I don't see a lot of noise, and my picture definitely isn't "terrible." If someone has a lot of SD DVDs, and is thinking of going to BluRay, I recommend the $500 OPPO BD player. It has such good upscaling of anamorphic SD DVDs that they look almost as good as HD.

The elaborate sets for Cecil B. Demille's 1923 *Cleopatra* were found buried in dunes 170 mi. from LA, and are now recognized as an archaeological site. That's reuse, in a way...

MP, I guess you forgot about *The List of Adrian Messenger*.