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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2020 8:35:58 GMT -5
Oh my lord, thank you. We watched it for maybe half an hour and she was sure that wasn't it, but that certainly sounds like it.
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 23, 2020 22:56:45 GMT -5
Oh my lord, thank you. We watched it for maybe half an hour and she was sure that wasn't it, but that certainly sounds like it. You're welcome. I tried googling the description you gave and mostly got unrelated and later stuff. I tried Italian stuff of that era, figuring maybe your mother mixed up her Italian films, and started looking through summaries of Passolini, Antonioni, and Fellini and kept coming up with nothing; so I searched for a more complete summary of La Dolce Vita and found a better breakdown of the chapters on imdb, which mentioned the Steiner stuff. Youtube has the entire movie up, at the present, which helped me find the clips. I've never actually watched that one. La Strada is the only Fellini I have ever seen any portion of (on Cinemax, in high school) and never quite got around to watching that. I've seen Antonioni's Blow Up, but nothing else and nothing from Passolini. I tended to go more for the lower level Italian cinema, like the spaghetti westerns, macaroni combat films, and comic stuff, like Diabolik, Kriminal, Barbarella, and the Margheriti sci-fi/horror films.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2020 9:53:08 GMT -5
I watched “Discovering Evil Dead”, a 13-minute extra on the DVD of The Evil Dead. It features an interview with Stephen Woolley, founder of the now-defunct Palace Pictures, who distributed the film on videotape. Interestingly, I learnt that the film was released on VHS and in cinemas concurrently (in the UK). When asked about this, Woolley’s answer as to why he did that is an interesting one: “Then we did something really audacious. We released the film theatrically - in cinemas - and on video at the same time. This was unheard of.”Amusingly, they didn’t tell either side that they were going to do that. Woolley went into further detail: “The Rank circuit, who realised we got away with this trick, went completely barmy, completely nuts. We figured that at that point, cinema audiences and video audiences were so different and separate, that we could hit both at the same time.”Cinema audiences and video audiences different? It’s an interesting hypothesis. It’s a shame that Woolley wasn’t asked to go into further detail. I would have said there was overlap, but Woolley - and maybe others - have a good reason for believing otherwise. Anyone have a view? Or a theory about his view? And has that been done since? Surely The Evil Dead’s UK release can’t be the only example.
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Post by brutalis on Nov 29, 2020 11:38:56 GMT -5
I knew lots of folks, young and old that were video store only viewers and totally avoided movie theaters. There was a time here in Phoenix where nearly all indoor theaters were run down and falling apart converted into Dollar theaters. Dirty and unclean with rampant children running all over with floors stained and popcorn to crunch under your feet. Only a handful of nice, clean controlled atmosphere where a group of adults could enjoy seeing a movie without disruptions from kids or adults.
To stay home and watch movies in the comfort of your own home was preferable to the annoyance and cost of going out.
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 29, 2020 12:18:05 GMT -5
Video recorders weren't quite ubiquitous in homes, yet. The price had come down; but, a lot of people still didn't have them and video cassettes could be rather expensive, when released, in that time frame. So, you would have a much larger segment that would need to go to a theater to see the film, or at least rent a video player/recorder to watch it on cassette.
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Post by Jesse on Nov 30, 2020 17:21:45 GMT -5
In the middle of watching this fascinating italian documentary All the Colors of Giallo (2019) which discusses the origins of the genre starting with the pulp novels and early Mario Bava films and includes interviews with Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, and Lamberto Bava. I absolutely love this genre's use of cinematography and interesting visuals and it is really cool to see its influence on the thrillers and slasher movies I grew up with. I've seen lots of the classic films discussed here but added quite a few new ones to my watch list.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2020 9:29:12 GMT -5
I’m reading Mark Kermode’s The Good, The Bad and The Multiplex, where he examines various aspects of cinematic history.
There was mention of projectionists in the first chapter. Kermode talked about the skill required - and how delicate it was - for a projectionist to ensure the smooth running of a film. There was also mention of the fire hazards associated with film reels, and any ancillary products, meaning that early film projection rooms were lined with asbestos! It also led to cinemas having doors with push bars that open outwards.
Sadly, it seems the role of the film projectionist has been another casualty of technological progression, with most cinemas utilising digital projectors.
Technological advancement, eh? Think about the jobs lost over the centuries, cinematic or otherwise. Also, in a romantic and nostalgic sense, I like the idea of an actual human being dealing with the film reels - and everything else that it entailed.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 1, 2020 10:33:07 GMT -5
I’m reading Mark Kermode’s The Good, The Bad and The Multiplex, where he examines various aspects of cinematic history. There was mention of projectionists in the first chapter. Kermode talked about the skill required - and how delicate it was - for a projectionist to ensure the smooth running of a film. There was also mention of the fire hazards associated with film reels, and any ancillary products, meaning that early film projection rooms were lined with asbestos! It also led to cinemas having doors with push bars that open outwards. Sadly, it seems the role of the film projectionist has been another casualty of technological progression, with most cinemas utilising digital projectors. Technological advancement, eh? Think about the jobs lost over the centuries, cinematic or otherwise. Also, in a romantic and nostalgic sense, I like the idea of an actual human being dealing with the film reels - and everything else that it entailed. Those film canisters were heavy. My last job before law school was as a driver for Airborne Express for about eight months. I delivered to two different theaters. Those damn film canisters were really heavy.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2020 8:34:27 GMT -5
SUPERMAN II premiered in Australia forty years ago today. Not sure when it got released in North America. IMDb lists it as arriving in the UK in 1981. I think it’s a pretty worthy sequel. I still prefer Richard Lester’s cut. The only thing I really prefer in Donner’s cut is Joe-El sacrificing the “last of his essence” to restore Kal-El’s powers. For everything else, I prefer Lester’s cut.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2020 14:10:51 GMT -5
Flash Gordon was released forty years ago today in the United States: You know the story: Sam Jones plays Flash Gordon, quarterback for the New York Jets, ends up on the planet Mongo with Dale Arden (Melody Anderson) and Hans Zarkov (Topol). There, they battle the evil Ming the Merciless (Max Von Sydow), who has been plotting to destroy Earth. Also featured are Prince Vulcan (Brian Blessed) and Prince Barin (Timothy Dalton). This is a fun film which I have seen many times! It’s colourful, non-pretentious, funny, has great special effects (by the standards of the era), and features a great soundtrack by Queen. I’d watch this over 1977’s Star Wars any day of the week.
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 5, 2020 22:00:06 GMT -5
SUPERMAN II premiered in Australia forty years ago today. Not sure when it got released in North America. IMDb lists it as arriving in the UK in 1981. I think it’s a pretty worthy sequel. I still prefer Richard Lester’s cut. The only thing I really prefer in Donner’s cut is Joe-El sacrificing the “last of his essence” to restore Kal-El’s powers. For everything else, I prefer Lester’s cut. Can't really call it a sequel, as it was mostly filmed simultaneously and Donner shot the bulk of it. Lester did some reshoots and upped the comedy quotient. I prefer the Donner cut take on the story; but, the Lester Cut is the one I have seen the most. I hated the idea of them monkeying around with his powers; even the comics never did anything as stupid as that S emblem wrapper thing. I love the fact that Gene Hackman told them to go F@#$ themselves, after they fired Donner and wanted him to shoot pick-ups. His contract was in his favor and they couldn't say boo. He refused to work with the Salkinds and only came back when it was sold to Cannon (to his regret, I suspect). Also why you see Susannah York, instead of Brando (though his lawsuit was the main reason).
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 5, 2020 22:24:18 GMT -5
Flash Gordon was released forty years ago today in the United States: You know the story: Sam Jones plays Flash Gordon, quarterback for the New York Jets, ends up on the planet Mongo with Dale Arden (Melody Anderson) and Hans Zarkov (Topol). There, they battle the evil Ming the Merciless (Max Von Sydow), who has been plotting to destroy Earth. Also featured are Prince Vulcan (Brian Blessed) and Prince Barin (Timothy Dalton). This is a fun film which I have seen many times! It’s colourful, non-pretentious, funny, has great special effects (by the standards of the era), and features a great soundtrack by Queen. I’d watch this over 1977’s Star Wars any day of the week. I wouldn't go that far. I love the film, in all its cheesy glory; but, I'd rather have seen Lucas do Flash Gordon. My adolescent self did love both Melody Anderson, as a leggy Dale Arden (cheering notwithstanding) and Ornella Muti, as a jaw-dropping, drool inducing space seductress. Loved Peter Wyngarde as Dr Doom....er, Klytus. Still, for Flash Gordon, it's the Filmation first season, done in serial format. It was relatively faithful to the key stories of the comic strip, while updating things for the Star Wars era. The original movie, Flash Gordon, The Greatest Adventure of All, is fantastic, as Ming is supplying the Nazis with super-weaponry, in 1939, and Flash was a gold medalist in the 1936 Olympics. The film opens with the bombing of Warsaw, as Flash hunts for a Polish contact, who utters the word Mongo, as he dies. It then has him meet Dale on a commercial transport plane and have to bail out, landing near Zarkov's lab and rocketing into space, as in the original strip. The cartoon series never used the opening, due to normal network censorship (the movie was intended for prime time) and reused the footage from the movie for key episodes (the first 4, plus the finale, in episode 16). Originally, Filmation had pitched a live action movie, to NBC; but, the cost was prohibitive; so they went with an animated feature. They actually put a lof of money into it, using rotoscoping for some of the motion work and some more mature storytelling (since it would be prime time). NBC liked the footage so much they asked for a Saturday morning cartoon, which led to slicing up the film into episodes and repurposing footage in other episodes, minus some of the more violent things. They also recast some of the voice actors, for the tv series You can watch the whole thing on Youtube... Still, this one is a guilty pleasure and, as Edgar Wright said in the Hot Fuzz commentary, Dalton plus 'tache equals gold! Love the Queen soundtrack, especially for the big setpieces.... Nobody chews scenery like Brian Blessed! He was perfect casting, as that is pretty much Vultan from the comic strip, loud, self-important, and bloodthirsty. Dalton was actually a pretty good match for Barin, except with more hair. Of course, we also got some scenes for fan service...
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2020 6:40:48 GMT -5
Yeah, I know the entire story behind SUPERMAN II, Susannah York, etc. As for referring to it as a sequel, it’s a sequel in the sense it’s a separate DVD on my shelf, was released as a feature film, etc. For many pedantic reasons, it’s referred to as a sequel despite how close to the first movie it was shot.
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 6, 2020 20:33:42 GMT -5
Now, Lester I love for his Musketeer films. Those are just perfect and are probably the most faithful to the character and spirit of Dumas, right down to the humor within the story. Hollywood always wanted to mess with it and the Gene Kelly one is fine, except I don't buy him as a swashbuckler and the Musketeers, themselves, are rather cardboard and interchangeable. The Lester film keeps the individuals characterizations, thanks to George McDonald Fraser's script (and he's the author of the terrific Flashman series, which produced the Malcolm McDowell film, Royal Flash, also directed by Lester. The actors were all well cast and it is genuinely funny when it should be, romantic when needed, and exciting always.
Superman 2 I still enjoy the Lester cut, but prefer the Donner edit to things, mostly because it eliminates some of the really goofy stuff added by Lester. I get why it was done, as they had to cover some holes because the Salkinds fired Donner and Brando and Hackman were out. The scenes with Miss Tessmacher are gold, as always, and the Kryptonian villain stuff, even in the goofier edit, are a lot of fun. I do think Donner both utilized Margo Kidd better (and Lois Lane, as a character) and better understood how to get the right performance out of her. Notice how she was minimized, in the Lester cut and nearly cut out of Supes 3.
I'm not a fan of #3; but, I do think Lester salvaged a lot of it, keeping it from being worse, given the mess he dealt with (Salkinds, constant rewrites, Richard Pryor's drug use, etc) and his direction lifts up some really bad material and highlights the really good stuff, which came from Christopher Reeve and Anette O'Toole.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2020 9:28:04 GMT -5
Dawn of the Dead is one of my favourite movies. It might not surprise you to learn that I once owned it on VHS. And then DVD.
Blu-ray? No. But there’s one out. I’m not sure a 1978 movie will work well on Blu-ray. To be honest, I only bought a Blu-ray years ago because WWF Blu-rays often had at least a dozen extra matches on them compared with the DVDs. I’m not esoteric enough to care about HD quality, at least when it comes to old films.
But I digress. Dawn of the Dead must have had about 19,408 DVD releases by now. It must be close to breaking some sort of record. And I am sure people (not me) will snap it up.
Fans are treated as cash cows, but only because we let studios and distributors do so. Same with video game publishers. In-game-purchases (or whatever they are called) only continue because there are people gullible enough to spend £50 on a video game such as Injustice 2 - and then buy some downloadable content, too.
When DVD arrived, it was nice to swap my Dawn of the Dead VHS for a DVD. But I see no reason to swap the DVD for a Blu-ray. And while Blu-rays do often feature new extras, I’m not hanging around to philosophise and be tempted. Just like I have ZERO interest in buying any Doctor Who Blu-rays after having bought them on videotape and DVD.
I don’t know why fans let themselves be treated as cash cows. I bought Day of the Dead on DVD many years ago. Then came another release which, to be honest, did look compelling. But who wants to keep upgrading due to new extras? Perhaps if studios and distributors were less greedy, they could release ALL fascinating archive content ONE TIME ONLY, right?
I have - literally - lost count of the number of DVD releases of Dawn of the Dead now. And I suspect there’ll be a second Blu-ray release when the film’s 50th anniversary arrives in 2028. At what point do fans say enough is enough?
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