filmlover

Sunday, Feb. 20th, 1955

Thanks. Keep it going.

> {quote:title=Emberly wrote:}{quote}Angie Dickinson introducing Rio Bravo last year was pretty awesome *and totally packed!* Emberly, were you referring to the theatre or Angie? ; )

> {quote:title=kingrat wrote:}{quote}Does filmlover have time to join us? Hi, kingrat, sorry to be so late to the the thread, but, unfortunately, I can't take part this time. Have one or two ideas for a schedule but personal obligations are now taking up so much of my time. I am hoping to jump into the next one, though.

I am very excited about Drew Barrymore being the co-host. Here is someone who loves movies, and has a family history going back to the silent days.

Amazon Blu-ray Deal of the Week...Fox Digibooks $11.99 each: The Comancheros Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (beware, though, this Blu has been savaged by everyone) The Hustler Tora! Tora! Tora! Patton

We really need to get a lot of text messages in here. As it is now, the many images in this thread take minutes to download before it opens. That being the case, I guess I will have to skip a few days of these ads and articles until it is easier to open with more more text. By the by, there is a surprise coming to this thread at the end of this month!

Fri, Feb. 18th, 1955

Not sure if it has been mentioned but there is a followup to the Jean Arthur Comedy Collection: *Jean Arthur Drama Collection* (Whirlpool, The Most Precious Thing in Life, The Defense Rests (all 1934), Party Wire (1935)) - May 7th This is a TCM Vault/Sony release.

Thurs., Feb. 17th, 1955

Here is some info from AOL today about silent film places. At the link, if you go to the bottom, you will see a series of photos of locations: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/16/los-angeles-silent-film_n_1282468.html#s703431&title=Safety_Last LOS ANGELES -- From around 1910 to the late 1920s, the silent film industry dominated Los Angeles. The movies were filmed everywhere, from Hollywood to bustling downtown to what was then a nearly barren valley area, on the other side of the Hollywood Hills. Without permits, unions or worries about sound, filmmakers could just grab a camera and shoot scenes on the spot, transforming various L.A. locales into any place the script called for. Hollywood was truly the Wild West, infinitely more accessible than now. "The Artist," a Golden Globe winner and Oscar contender that hearkens back to the lost art of telling a story in black and white, without talking, has renewed interest in that early genre. Fortunately, many of the locations where exteriors were filmed during the silent film era still exist today, and you can find them hidden around the city like historic gems. "Southern California was perfectly situated" as a backdrop for all types of movie settings, said film historian John Bengtson, author of the books "Silent Traces: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Charlie Chaplin," "Silent Echoes: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Buster Keaton" and "Silent Visions: Discovering Early Hollywood and New York Through the Films of Harold Lloyd." "There was a diversity of geological features, the beach, desert," Bengtson said. "There were rough terrains for the Westerns. There were mountains. There were lakes. Downtown Los Angeles was a thriving city, so you got your urban shots. It was just ideal." Bengtson started researching then-and-now locations from scenes in the films of silent comedy stars Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd more than 15 years ago, without the help of the Internet. He's since identified dozens of locations, and has conducted various silent film walking tours. One famous image from that era that lives on shows Lloyd clumsily climbing up the side of a building in downtown Los Angeles to escape a police officer in the 1923 romantic comedy "Safety Last!" Lloyd, in his signature straw hat and round horn-rimmed glasses, then grasps onto a large clock on the building. He hangs on for dear life with traffic rushing far below. The long, nail-biting scene has been referenced in multiple movies, from "Back to the Future" to one of this year's Oscar best picture nominees, Martin Scorsese's kid adventure "Hugo." And the tall building in downtown L.A. where Lloyd shot that famed clock scene still stands, at 908 S. Broadway. The clock, constructed specifically for the movie, doesn't. The beautiful Orpheum Theatre, which didn't open until three years after the movie was shot, in 1926, is next door. A building facade was actually built on the 908 S. Broadway building's roof, along with a camera tower to film the set, in order to create the illusion of steep height, keeping the building's roof out of frame, but with actual views of the street below, said Bengtson. There's a palpable sense of anxiety in viewing the movie, with Lloyd avoiding dogs and wayward wooden planks plunging out of windows as he scrambles up. Lloyd filmed many projects downtown, said Bengtson. "They didn't have CGI (computer generated imagery) then. They did have glass paintings," said Randy Haberkamp, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' director of educational programming. "They would paint out part of the city. You would see a famous hill in the Los Angeles area, and you would say, `Where was that house there?' They could create a sense of depth and danger. The artists of that era were so clever." Kansas-born actor and director Keaton, with his melancholy good looks, sad eyes, dark hair and deadpan expression, is best known for silent films from the late 1920s like "Steamboat Bill Jr." and "The General," set in the American Civil War. Keaton filmed many short and full-length comedies in Hollywood, downtown, west of downtown and in the beachside Venice and Santa Monica areas near the Pacific Ocean. In his 1921 short film "Hard Luck," a suicidal and broke Keaton gets into all sorts of shenanigans, including being chased by a bear and unsuccessfully trying to hang himself. At one point, eluding police, he poses as a statue next to an imposing bronze statue of General Harrison Gray Otis, longtime owner and publisher of the Los Angeles Times, in MacArthur Park, 2230 W. Sixth St., by Wilshire and Park View Street, west of downtown. The statue still stands today, pointing in the direction of Otis' old house. At that time, there wasn't a great deal of public art in L.A., said Bengtson, so Keaton creatively used the sculpture as a backdrop. Physical comedy worked seamlessly with soundless cinema. Comedy duo Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, who started off in silent film, also utilized broad swaths of L.A., including the now-hipster enclave of Silver Lake on the eastern side of town. In one of their best-known talkie films, "The Music Box" (1932), the pair attempts to push a piano up a multi-tiered outdoor staircase, only to have it fly down the stairs after them. The staircase, named the "Music Box Steps" in the `90s, is next to 923-935 Vendome St., near the intersection of Del Monte, in a quiet, residential Silver Lake area lined with shrubs, flanked on either side by houses and marked by a black commemorative plaque on one of the stairs. It turns out the staircase was first used by Laurel and Hardy in their then-popular but now lost 1927 silent film "Hats Off" in a scene involving the two hauling up a huge, round washing machine. According to stills from the movie, only overgrown fields surrounded the stairs at the time. Actor, writer and director Chaplin, iconic as a vagrant, big-hearted character known as the Tramp in many of his silent films, complete with bushy short mustache and black bowler hat, filmed all around L.A. before settling into his Charlie Chaplin Studios, 1416 N. La Brea Ave., in the heart of Hollywood. The structure is now the Jim Henson Company Lot, with a statue of Henson creation Kermit the Frog dressed as Chaplin in his recognizable hat and jacket above the main gate. Concrete footprints of Chaplin are also there. Chaplin's studio opened in 1918, and most of his known films were mainly shot on the premises, including feature-length hit 1921 silent dramedy "The Kid" and the 1925 romantic comedy "The Gold Rush." Chaplin's 1919 silent short film "A Day's Pleasure" starts off with Chaplin and his fictional wife and kids trying to take off in their clunky car outside the back corner of Chaplin's studio. Several outdoor scenes for "The Kid" were shot at packed downtown L.A. Mexican marketplace Olvera Street, years before the alley was converted into a tourist attraction, across from the current L.A. train hub Union Station, 800 N. Alameda St. A particularly poignant, emotional scene in "The Kid," when Chaplin reunites with his scrappy adopted son, played by Jackie Coogan, takes place outside an old brick building structure, still in place at Olvera Street. The synchronicity of emotion, environment, celebrity and public access in L.A. made silent films powerful for their era, before talking pictures added layers of complication, both technically and professionally, for actors and filmmakers. Silent movies had a worldwide, universal appeal, even if only filmed within what was then the small town scope of Hollywood. "Because you didn't hear the stars speak, their faces, their pantomime, was important. There was an automatic romance to that too. You imagined what your leading lady or man sounded like," said Haberkamp. "Sometimes, when it comes to talking, sometimes less is more. I think people who love silent films really appreciate body language and other things that are communicated. There's a deeper human understanding that you can get."

Criterion Collection releases for May 2012. Titles include Mathieu Kassovitz's [La Haine|http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/La-Haine-Blu-ray/38677/], Spike Jonze's [Being John Malkovich|http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Being-John-Malkovich-Blu-ray/30658/], Abbas Kiarostami's [Certified Copy|http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Certified-Copy-Blu-ray/38678/], and two features from Ingmar Bergman - [Summer Interlude|http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Summer-Interlude-Blu-ray/38675/] and [Summer with Monika|http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Summer-with-Monika-Blu-ray/38676/]. Of those, La Haine is the only previously available Criterion entry receiving a Blu-ray upgrade; the rest are new to the Criterion Collection. La Haine (May 8th, 2012) — Blu-ray * Restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director Mathieu Kassovitz * 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack * English-language audio commentary by Kassovitz * Introduction by actor Jodie Foster * Ten Years of La haine, an eighty-minute documentary that brings together cast and crew a decade after the film's landmark release * Featurette on the film's banlieue setting, including interviews with sociologists Sophie Body-Gendrot, Jeffrey Fagan, and William Kornblum * Production footage * Deleted and extended scenes, each featuring an afterword by Kassovitz * Gallery of behind-the-scenes photos * Trailers * New essay by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau and an appreciation by acclaimed filmmaker Costa-Gavras Being John Malkovich (May 15th, 2012) — DVD and Blu-ray * New high-definition digital restoration * 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack * New selected-scene audio commentary featuring filmmaker Michel Gondry * New behind-the-scenes documentary by filmmaker Lance Bangs * Conversation between John Malkovich and humorist John Hodgman * Director Spike Jonze discusses Being John Malkovich via photos from its production * Two films within the film: - 7½ Floor Orientation \ - American Arts & Culture Presents John Horatio Malkovich, "Dance of Despair and Disillusionment" * An Intimate Portrait of the Art of Puppeteering, a documentary by Bangs * Trailer and TV spots * Booklet featuring a conversation between Jonze and pop-culture critic Perkus Tooth Certified Copy (May 22nd, 2012) — DVD and Blu-ray * New high-definition digital restoration * 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack * New interview with director Abbas Kiarostami * Let's See Copia conforme, an Italian documentary on the making of Certified Copy, featuring interviews with Kiarostami and actors Juliette Binoche and William Shimell * Trailer * New English subtitle translation * Booklet featuring an essay by film critic Godfrey Cheshire Summer Interlude (May 29th, 2012) — DVD and Blu-ray * New high-definition digital restoration * Uncompressed monaural soundtrack * New English subtitle translation * Booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Peter Cowie Summer with Monika (May 29th, 2012) — DVD and Blu-ray * New high-definition digital restoration * Uncompressed monaural soundtrack * Introduction by director Ingmar Bergman * New interview with actress Harriet Andersson, conducted by film critic Peter Cowie * New interview with film scholar Eric Schaefer about Kroger Babb and Babb's distribution of Monika: Story of a Bad Girl as an exploitation film * Images from the Playground, a half-hour documentary by Stig Björkman with behind-the-scenes footage shot by Bergman, archival audio interviews with Bergman, and new interviews with actresses Bibi Andersson and Harriet Andersson * Trailer * New English subtitle translation * Booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Laura Hubner, a 1958 review by filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, and a publicity piece from 1953 in which Bergman interviews himself Eclipse Series 33: Up All Night With Robert Downey, Sr. - DVD only May 22nd

Wed., Feb. 16th, 1955

Update: Site working well now.

Monday, Feb. 14th, 1955

Yeah, I know, everyone is complaining about it. I tried for an hour and a half going back and forth on pages, and eventually getting to moving through the checkout pages but then back it would send me. I finally gave up. It isn't worth it. (And you can't use the discount on pre-orders, unfortunately.)

fred, I like your choices. And one more just came to me...an unbilled, unannounced guest star role in "Diamonds Are Forever" in the Jimmy Dean role as Willard Whyte. It would be ironic to play Whyte, the somewhat King of Las Vegas. And he certainly could give the part more acting chops than Dean. Can't you just hear Elvis saying, "Baja? We don't have anything in Baja." He would be more humorous and more acceptable.

I would be against it for two reasons: 1. It takes away the joke. 2. Then it would have had to have a lot more scenes with Birdie. And he would have had to win Kim McAfee at the end. And they wouldn't have shown him having a glass jaw. And it would push the Albert-Rose story into oblivion, and it was already pushed back from the original Broadway production where Albert and Rose are the main characters, And Birdie would have not have been a lout. I like the movie as it is. And Ann-Margret is just perfect.

Happy Valentine's Day, all!

[www.criterion.com|http://www.criterion.com] is going to have a 50% off sale on Valentine's Day, starting at 12 noon EST. You need to use code SWAK.

Just came back from Costco. They have two-pack Marilyn DVDs for $7.99 per two-pack: The Seven Year Itch and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes How to Marry A Millionaire and Bus Stop There's No Business Like Show Business and Monkey Business The Misfits and Some Like It Hot

Saturday, Feb. 12th, 1955

Yes, as far as the logo goes, yes, I agree. But when you look at one of the cartoons, Mad As A Mars Hare, in the full screen version (not having the DVD's widescreen to compare it to), it is clear from a number of the images that they couldn't matte much without losing quite a bit of detail of main characters. So, by your logic and reasoning, is it fair to say that you believe that all post-1953 cartoons in the Golden Collections are presented incorrectly? By the way, this is my last post for a bit because I originally came on here this morning to be helpful to list the cartoons that are on the Blu that were not previously in the Golden collections. Now, a few hours later, it has turned into a debate, and that is not how I wish to waste my Sunday.

> {quote:title=kriegerg69 wrote:}{quote} > > {quote:title=filmlover wrote:}{quote}The correct aspect ratios for the ones marked with asterisks were the Academy 1:37 to 1. Check IMDB. > > > > > > > > Yes, as you stated they were matted widescreen, butwhen you matte something you are cutting off the tops and bottoms. > I did...and IMDB info is visitor-submitted and not always accurate. The old full-frame ratio was the "Academy" ratio...but that info at IMDB was likely based on what someone saw either on home video or DVD. For complete accuracy, IMDB prefers to go with how it was actually seen in a theatrical showing. Then there is the point I exampled before about how the composition of the image looks, with all the "extra space" near the top and bottom of the image frame. To me that's a dead giveaway, especially based on how the WB logo looks in the later toons vs. tha earlier ones. Rather obvious. > > > > "Cutting off the tops and bottoms"? Duh...that's how an open matte format works: Something is filmed full-frame but composed with the intended area to be seen when projected...the parts that are "cut off" were never meant to be seen or intended to be seen when viewed theatrically. (sorry, but that's a backwards comment I read all too often elsewhere when people complain about a full-frame version vs. a matted widescreen version) But you don't know that for a fact, about the creators' intentions.

The correct aspect ratios for the ones marked with asterisks were the Academy 1:37 to 1. Check IMDB. Yes, as you stated they were matted widescreen, butwhen you matte something you are cutting off the tops and bottoms. From Wikipedia, regarding those single-DVD cropped discs: "Sadly, upon release of the discs of the first wave proved to be cropped and distorted and otherwise poorly restored to present the shorts in "widescreen" as opposed to their original aspect ratio (though these were just for the post-1953 shorts). Warner Bros. stated the reason for this was that all post-1953 WB shorts were shown in matted-widescreen in theaters. On December 1, 2010, animation expert Jerry Beck explained on the Shokus Internet Radio call-in talk program, Stu's Show that Warner aimed this series not at collectors but at the mass market who expect it to fit on their widescreen TVs. He speculated that at some point down the road there will probably be a double-dip release of those shorts in a collector's DVD version with the video in full-frame format.^"^