213 Richard III

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skweeker
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 4:26 pm

Re: 213 Richard III

#76 Post by skweeker » Tue Apr 07, 2009 3:13 pm

The fact that "Shakespeare" may not have written the plays in fact does indeed not do my argument any favors. But "Shakespeare", even if 'socially constructed', yet should be strictly confined to the words which we commonly call his, if we wish to use the reference with accuracy.

My argument remains, that if one wishes to call any film "Shakespeare's X", that it must have the words which we accept as Shakespeare's present within it, in such a way that a person with no familiarity with Shakespeare would apprehend those words that are considered to be Shakespeare's. This is uncontroversial - as anyone who would release a film entitled "Shakespeare's 'insert any name of Shakespeare play here' " would find, if she used NO WORDS AT ALL from Shakespeare's play in her dialogue. Using Shakespeare's words is so easily done with sound film that it's trivial: and it may be supplied by text intertitles in a silent film, or be indeed provided by live readers or by the post-production addition of the dialogue. But if the audience itself is asked to supply Shakespeare's words from memory, then that film (or indeed play, should a producer have the effrontery to produce a work of Shakespeare's, without using his words, and yet seek to retain the name of 'Shakespeare' on the marquee), whatever else may be said about it, is not Shakespeare's.

Shakespeare reduces to the words which he wrote: without the presence of those words, as appears to be the case with the 1912 silent "version" (judging from the clips I have linked to above), then it is NOT Shakespeare: it does not suffice to say, that I recall Shakespeare, whilst I watch; or that the film-maker claims that the actors seen were reciting the lines whilst filming and that you could if skilled lip-read along; or that the scenes convey the physical action of the play. Without the words, a shadow of Shakespeare, a ghost of Shakespeare: but no Shakespeare. If the audience cannot apprehend with their own senses the words used by Shakespeare, be they text or spoken, then the production may not be called "Shakespeare's", with accuracy.

Bodkins! Mayhap I have shaken my spear 'bout this point, too long.

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kaujot
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Re: 213 Richard III

#77 Post by kaujot » Tue Apr 07, 2009 3:17 pm

As an aside, Bill Bryson's wonderfully funny (and short!) overview of Shakespeare has firmly convinced me that anyone claiming that Shakespeare wasn't Shakespeare and wasn't the author of his plays is deluding himself/herself.

Edit: This is the book in question.

skweeker
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 4:26 pm

Re: 213 Richard III

#78 Post by skweeker » Tue Apr 07, 2009 3:56 pm

I really do not want to seem like a rigid old cuss about this: I recommend that everyone read Shakespeare. If you won't listen to me about that, maybe these cute little guys will help to convince you to brush up your Shakespeare.

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jindianajonz
Jindiana Jonz Abrams
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Re: 213 Richard III

#79 Post by jindianajonz » Tue Dec 04, 2012 1:47 pm

Were there rumors that this film would be getting a blu-ray release soon, or am I misremembering things?

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Gregory
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm

Re: 213 Richard III

#80 Post by Gregory » Tue Dec 04, 2012 1:56 pm

Confirmed by Criterion at the Wexner Center talk about 6 weeks ago

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triodelover
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2007 2:11 pm
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Re: 213 Richard III

#81 Post by triodelover » Tue Dec 04, 2012 2:03 pm

Gregory wrote:Confirmed by Criterion at the Wexner Center talk about 6 weeks ago
Was anything said about the other two Olivier Shakespeares?

peerpee
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Re: 213 Richard III

#82 Post by peerpee » Tue Dec 04, 2012 2:13 pm

There's been a very nice Blu-ray of HENRY V out in the UK (ITV Studios) for 3 years, so I always figured that would be coming first from Criterion. Great that they confirmed RICHARD III (still no Blu-ray in the UK). They've also got to do BLIMP asap (same licensor).

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triodelover
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Re: 213 Richard III

#83 Post by triodelover » Tue Dec 04, 2012 2:53 pm

peerpee wrote:There's been a very nice Blu-ray of HENRY V out in the UK (ITV Studios) for 3 years, so I always figured that would be coming first from Criterion. Great that they confirmed RICHARD III (still no Blu-ray in the UK). They've also got to do BLIMP asap (same licensor).
I have the ITV Hamlet and it's quite good. I seem to remember that their Henry V got mixed reviews. Beaver had problems with the detail and the non-lossless audio, IIRC. Is that not the case?
Last edited by triodelover on Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

peerpee
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Re: 213 Richard III

#84 Post by peerpee » Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:07 pm

I'm sure Criterion's encoding will be better, and they'll sort the audio out, but I saw the ITV Blu-ray of HENRY V this year (because it was 3 pounds) and was reasonably impressed!

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triodelover
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Re: 213 Richard III

#85 Post by triodelover » Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:16 pm

peerpee wrote:I'm sure Criterion's encoding will be better, and they'll sort the audio out, but I saw the ITV Blu-ray of HENRY V this year (because it was 3 pounds) and was reasonably impressed!
I may look again at the ITV. If Crit replicates the color palette of their DVD release, I'm not sure that will balance out the other issues, assuming they improve over the ITV in those areas.

Zaki
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 11:36 am

Re: 213 Richard III

#86 Post by Zaki » Wed Dec 05, 2012 12:38 am

The Criterion BR of Richard III will probably sell well when it comes out soon, because the controversy regarding this king has been lately rekindled. Chances are high that the remains found underneath a Leicester car park are the king's. DNA test results are expected http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-le ... e-20391935 to be published in mid January. I wonder if the BR will be delayed to include some extra related to the surprising discovery.

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MichaelB
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Re: 213 Richard III

#87 Post by MichaelB » Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:41 am

It was a big story in Britain, but are that many people on the other side of the Atlantic really interested enough to make a significant commercial difference?

And the UK market is a write-off, not just because Criterion doesn't own the rights - their disc will be region-locked, and multi-region Blu-ray players are much less common than their DVD equivalents.

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jindianajonz
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Re: 213 Richard III

#88 Post by jindianajonz » Wed Dec 05, 2012 11:47 am

MichaelB wrote:It was a big story in Britain, but are that many people on the other side of the Atlantic really interested enough to make a significant commercial difference?
I heard about it here in the states, but I wouldn't call it a big news story- it may have been at the top on google news for an hour or so.

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hearthesilence
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Re: 213 Richard III

#89 Post by hearthesilence » Tue Jan 15, 2013 5:37 pm

I saw the Film Foundation restoration of this at the NYFF this past October (a DCP projection), and it looked great. Some parts weren't as crisp as the others - this is because a good amount of footage was cut out of the film when it was re-released in subsequent years (forgot why - may have been for television broadcast) and they recovered much but not all of the original film negative for these missing bits. You'll be able to tell the difference, but otherwise, most of this should look fantastic on the Blu-Ray reissue. This was a VistaVision film and the density of the detail of course is excellent.

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movielocke
Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:44 am

Re: 213 Richard III

#90 Post by movielocke » Tue Jan 15, 2013 5:45 pm

so is the only thing that changed extras wise is the essay?

I guess this is also being rereleased on DVD because of the new restoration?

Zaki
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 11:36 am

Re: 213 Richard III

#91 Post by Zaki » Wed Jan 16, 2013 12:22 am

Great news. Richard III is a marvelous film. Hopefully, interest in the CC upgrade (and sales) will be higher, at least in the US, when it comes out in April given the upcoming news about the DNA test results. It is strongly believed by many that the test will prove that the remains found under the Leicester parking lot are the king's. It is expected that the results will be announced in early February, but the announcement has already been postponed once.

And--responding to MichaelB--I would like to think that the upcoming media coverage will contribute to the commercial success of the upgrade at least among potential CC audience on this side of the pond (the US, that is).


Zaki
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Re: 213 Richard III

#93 Post by Zaki » Mon Feb 04, 2013 12:06 pm

These news have made the headlines in the US (too). Good timing for the PR of the upcoming Criterion upgrade.

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Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: 213 Richard III

#94 Post by Matt » Mon Feb 04, 2013 12:10 pm

Yes, I wasn't planning to buy this, but now I'll get it plus 3-4 copies as gifts for friends and family.

Brianruns10
Joined: Sun Jul 02, 2006 10:48 am

Re: 213 Richard III

#95 Post by Brianruns10 » Mon Feb 04, 2013 3:01 pm

A friend has an inside source, and tells me there will likely be no change to the discs themselves as far as a featurette on the discovery of Richard III's remains. There is a chance, however, of the liner notes being updated, perhaps with a news article noting the discovery.

Either way, Richard III should get a nice shot in the arm on the heels of this news. Great, free PR for Criterion!

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Lemmy Caution
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Location: East of Shanghai

Re: 213 Richard III

#96 Post by Lemmy Caution » Mon Feb 04, 2013 3:30 pm

The new cover?

Image

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: 213 Richard III

#97 Post by zedz » Mon Feb 04, 2013 3:49 pm

Get swimminghorses on the job. "RICHARD" in the first available Gothic font, the arms and spine as the "III".

Zot!
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 12:09 am

Re: 213 Richard III

#98 Post by Zot! » Mon Feb 04, 2013 3:55 pm

Lemmy Caution wrote:The new cover?

Image
I think that's the Repo Man cover.

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Ashirg
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:10 am
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Re: 213 Richard III

#99 Post by Ashirg » Mon Feb 04, 2013 4:45 pm

I'm surprised they don't have a facial reconstruction to go with the announcement. They reported to be working on it back in November. And it would also make great cover for upcoming Criterion.

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jindianajonz
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Re: 213 Richard III

#100 Post by jindianajonz » Mon Feb 04, 2013 7:03 pm


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