lzcutter
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Posts posted by lzcutter
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Kim,
The problem is that TCM does not have access to all the nominated studio era films nor the studio era Oscar winners.
While TCM no longer owns its film library it does have access to the films via Warner Bros.
Warner Bros is the one studio that understands preservation, restoration and migrating their studio era films to a digital format so that we will be able to enjoy them now and in the years to come.
But the other studios do not have Warners track record. Sony is stepping up to the plate with the Columbia library. Fox has their own channel so that makes it hard for TCM to get access to their library.
Finally there is Universal and Paramount, two studios that are not known for caring very much about their film library. However, things may be changing there as well as we seem to be getting more of Universal owned Paramount films on TCM as of late.
Add to that that some of the nominated films and Oscar winning films likely need preservation and restoration work done. It is labor intensive work that can take months and in some cases, years to finish.
The newer, modern films are more readily available from the studios because of DVD rentals, sales and sales to cable.
So, TCM has many obstacles (mostly erected by other studios) to overcome before they could show only studio era winners and nominated films during the salute to Oscar.
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Stop whining about the movies you don't like -- nobody forces you to watch anything. Don't like what's playing? That's what they have TiVo and DVD players for. Or you could even try to see what's on FMC -- they're playing Cavalcade tomorrow morning, an Oscar winner that TCM can't play.>>
I certainly didn't get the impression that Klondike was whining. He was voicing his opinion. He even took the time to talk about why he didn't like the film (as opposed to just calling it crap and walking away) and made clear that his not liking the film was just his opinion and he understood that there are those who do like the film.
He did this without being rude, ragging on anyone and without denouncing TCM for running the film. He has posted about his respect for the channel and for many of the films it runs. This just happened not to be one of them. Not everyone is going to love every film TCM shows. That's what these message boards are for, so we can debate the merits of films, both pro and con.
Now if you want to talk whining about films and TCM, well there are entire threads filled with that throughout the back pages of this forum and Klondike's post about Ship of Fools sounds nothing like those.
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Carrie Fisher is the next guest host of THE ESSENTIALS and has their been any guest host that has picked their series of movies that DON'T routinely play on TCM? To me, The Essentials are a big yawn because I don't believe for a second that those films are their top picks. Instead, they come off as the top 4 films that the guest host prefers with a caviat that are already constantly in the TCM rotation.>>
The co-host of The Essentials is different from being a guest host. Guest hosts choose four films to be shown in one evening.
Essential Co-hosts talk about the reason the film is considered an essential. Essentials are usually well known classic films because the Essentials seems to be geared to people who don't know a great deal about film or film history.
Carrie Fisher, as the daughter of legendary Debbie Reynolds, has always had a great love of movies. She and her mother are known for throwing pajama parties and watching classic films. I'd wager she has a good knowledge of film and probably has some antecodotes to share that she has picked up along the way from Debbie.
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The best part of "Reds" for me was Jack Nicholson as Eugene O'Neill. >>
Nicholson was just great in this supporting role. In real life, he had become almost a caricature of his Shining screen persona. In this role he reminded everyone of his talent and his ability. He took a lot of flack for doing a supporting role to Warren Beatty in the lead but Beatty got a performance out of him that not every director does.
I have loved this film from the first time I saw it when it was originally released. I loved the witnesses who talked about the real life Jack and Louise and their friends.
Message was edited by:
lzcutter
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Rick Lenz was Kay Lenz's brother as I recall. Wasn't he on that Richard Boone show Hec Ramsey back in the late 1960s? He played the foresenic guy, well foresenics circa the turn of the 19th Century and was always advocating finger printing and Hec was very old school.
He had a brief career in film but did a great deal of work on television as I recall.
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I would never advocate showing the edited version of anything. >>
Strange as it sounds, I prefer the shorter version of Cinema Paradiso over the longer almost three hour version.
I think the story is much better told and with more emotion in the shorter two hour and 15 version.
Doesn't happen too often but every now and then.....
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There are no movies about film editors, though Travolta did play a sound editor in Blow Out.
Movies about movie making are mainly silents or about silent era filmmaking:
Hearts of the West, And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself, Nickelodeon.
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Aren't the shorts now be included with box sets when appropriate?
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> You know, even though Ebert's apparently only 65,
> sometimes he's appeared to me to be much older,
> possibly due to his health complications. I sure wish
> him a great recovery, but as anyone else facing
> serious health problems, sometimes early retirement
> or semi-retirement may be the best thing for one's
> health.
Honestly I think most of it had to do with his being overweight for the longest time. Didn't he recently get the same procedure that Star Jones and others had to reduce the weight? >>
Roger Ebert has been battling thyroid cancer for quite a few years now. The disease has spread to other parts of his body and he has been in and out of remission over the years.
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Back in the days of laserdiscs, MGM put out huge collections with all of the short features in their vaults... why can't WHV do the same now, with both WB shorts and MGM shorts?>>
Cinemascope,
The videotape masters for the laserdiscs were likely done on Betacam SP (high end, broadcast quality videotape).
With the advent of the digital age and the HD revolution, films are now mastered on digital videotape (D-2) or higher. So, all those short subjects have to be remastered. WBHV may be restoring them as well.
This is a much more costly endeavor than the days of Betacam SP due to the cost of digital tape and the digital Betacam decks. A Digibeta deck is almost 8x the cost of a standard Betacam SP deck.
Betacam SP was the industry standard for over 20 years and the studios over those years mastered a great number of titles on that format.
But now, it all has to be remastered for the digital age.
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But from what I've read of Cohn, he was kind of a jerk.>>
People showed up at Harry Cohn's funeral just to make sure he was dead.
Capra was one of the directors who was deeply impacted by his experience in WW2 (along with George Stevens, Jack Ford and John Huston) and I don't know that he could have stayed at Columbia upon his return.
I think "Wonderful Life" was his best post-war film where he found the right mix of comedy and very dark drama that showcased his own maturity as a director.
But the demise of Liberty was tough on him and the changing American taste in films towards more realistic dramas and comedies compounded the problem. Like his peers, he found that the film subjects that were his favorites were falling out of favor with the American public just as he was reaching retirement age.
Stevens, born in 1904, would only make a two more films after 1959, The Greatest Story Ever Told and The Only Game in Town before passing away in 1975
Ford, born in 1894, made nine films in the 1960s before passing away in 1973.
Capra's last film was Pocketful of Miracles in 1961. He was born in 1897 and passed away in 1991.
Huston was the youngest of the bunch, having been born in 1906. He continued working well into the early 1980s before passing away in 1987.
Had Capra been able to make darker films with an edge (which he shows a real knack for in Wonderful Life ) he might have had a longer career.
But I think he was very stung by the failure of Wonderful Life upon its release and perhaps that made him gun-shy to stretch his wings and helped him stay within the confines of what he knew best.
He also was known to have a very large ego and his movies that were deemed failures (either critically or box office wise) probably did not sit well with him.
All combined probably helped to make it easier for him to choose retirement
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I think film historian Jeannie Basinger would make a good host, much more than Mary Hart or some of the other women mentioned earlier.
I would hope that TCM would stay with someone who knows film history and not just be a 'reader'. One of the joys of RO is that because he is a film historian, he makes you feel like he knows what he is talking about and he enjoys sharing the information. It wouldn't be the same experience with someone who doesn't have the knowledge. RO has been there, he has known many of the people he talks about in his intros and wrap arounds, he is a critic and an author of films and film history and all that experience comes through the camera as he introduces a film..
The problem, however, is finding a good critic/historian who can talk well on camera. Molly Haskell is a very accomplished film historian and author but she is not very camera friendly.
The job requires more than just being able to read a teleprompter. One of the reasons that RO and Nick Clooney work so well is that they both project not only expertise but they do so in a way that is friendly and makes people feel welcome (I think it was MrsL who pointed this out).
Just because a person can write and talk knowledgeably about film isn't a guarantee that they can do it well on camera.
As for Leonard Maltin, should RO ever retire, Maltin will likely be a the top of the list.
But I suspect it is a very short list.
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Repixa,
We get the same movies as the East Coast, only three hours earlier.
If you go to the Schedule tab under the Turner Classic Movies banner above, you can change the default setting of ET (eastern time) to PT (pacific time). The schedule will then refresh and the broadcast times will be correct for West Coast viewing.
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why wouldn't Columbia license the movies for as long as it can? They don't have their own movie channel and they release a relatively small percentage of their movie library on DVD.>>
The Columbia Film Library is not owned by Columbia but by Sony.
Sony has been making some great strides as of late to put more of the Columbia films on DVD.
From what little I know about the Sony/TCM deal, this is not a one shot deal but a multi-year, multi-title agreement.
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How many of the black and white Wagon Trains still exist? Does anyone know if all 250 hours exist?
Do all the 90 minute color episodes still exist?
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Yellow Sky directed by William Wellman.
I'm with the poster who said in Film and Filmmakers Forum that this is the film Anthony Mann watched before he made his westerns.
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I know for Eastwood purists, that they don't like this film.>>
!!!!!!
RT,
Which purists are you talking to? Most I know count this one as essential.
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Cscope,
Now that Sony and TCM have reached an agreement, I would suspect that it also means that more Columbia films will be available on DVD.
I give Sony points for trying. GE owned Universal could be doing a lot more to shine some light into their vault.
Only time will tell. But I am hoping this agreement bodes well for Sony Home Entertainment.
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Cool!
I know where I'll be that evening!
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Jack,
So glad that you enjoyed them! I had no idea about theremin music other than your original posts about it. Then I go to this event and there's a group that specializes in it!
It must be fate. Keep an eye out for the Martini Kings. They ROCK! (well actually not but they play great early 60s jazz).
Glad you enjoyed Project Pimento!
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Silentfan,
Is there a date yet for the HTF chat with WBros and Feltenstein? I love those chats, so informative not only about what is coming out but what they are scouring archives for and what is missing.
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Cscope,
Universal did the deal with Paramount quite awhile back. However, some films (besides the silents), seem to have been exempt from the deal. I am hoping because he knows a great deal about Paramount, that he can answer the question as to who owns the rights to Five Graves. Back in the day before VHS, television was the only ancillary market. Most contracts did not include any future technology or rights for perpituity.
He has been adovocating for Five Graves for quite some time and because of that, I want to see the film. I haven't seen in almost thirty five years.
Mr Cutter and I are awaiting the end of the Blu-Ray vs HD DVD battle before we buy many more DVDs.
You have a PM by the way.
Message was edited by:
lzcutter
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Well when it comes to TV shows on DVD, I think a lot of today's shows will be forgotten, before they're 10 years old>>
I think you are probably right about that.
However, the fact that older television shows (shows from the late 1950s-early 1970s) sell so well I think, is probably attributed to the nostalgia factor. Many of us of a certain age have not seen the shows since they aired when we were young and we have special moments in our life wrapped up in them or want to revisit our youth or want to see how a certain star got his foot in the door.
TVLand has also made them accessible to a younger generation who seems to appreciate some of them as well.
Right now, TV Home Video thinks they have a gold mine. Until it is tapped out, it is unlikely that the Home Office will see the steady ore coming out of the smaller, more durable mine.
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CineSage,
TCM and Sony did a deal (not sure of all the logistics) last fall. As I understand it, TCM and Sony reached an agreement that will allow TCM to lease a number (not sure how many but from the looks of things, quite a few if not a great many) of Columbia titles which up till now, have not been aired on TCM.
On a different note,if only they could get the broadcast rights to Five Graves to Cairo. Paramount produced but Universal owned, I believe, or is that one that Paramount held on to?
Legendary repertory theaters
in General Discussions
Posted
Cinemascope,
Here in LA, we also have the Nuart (over thirty five years and still going strong) in West LA.
Home of the Midnight Movies, independent, documentaries and the occassional classic.
The New Beverly Cinema: one of the last of the revival houses still going strong in the City of the Angels where we used to have revival houses all over town. A double feature is almost always presented unless they are running a two hour + classic.
The Alex Theater in Glendale is a one of the few old style cinema treasure theaters still showing studio era films. I saw The Grapes of Wrath there a few years back with Leonard Maltin introducing the film and a panel with some of the actors from the film afterwards.
The Silent Movie Theater in the Fairfax District. It has changed hands twice since the second owner was killed in a bizarre (even for Hollywood) murder in the theater lobby. Is famous for only showing silent films. The new owners promise to carry on the tradition though there has been a smattering of early talkies also shown I believe. The owner in between the murdered one and the brothers who now own it, started a restoration of the theater that the current owners are finishing. I saw many Doug Fairbanks swashbucklers there. My worst luck, the few times they have shown The Iron Horse, I have been out of town.
The Warner down in San Pedro is one of the last revival houses serving the South Bay. Even has a organ.
Gone but not forgotten:
The Vagabond on Wilshire, the original Laemmele, The Fine Arts, the Rialto, the Tiffany, the Loyola, the Four Star and the grand-daddy of them all, the Fox Venice.
Thirty years ago, when I first got to LA, they were all in business and I loved going to them.