532-533 Louie Bluie and Crumb

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Matt
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532-533 Louie Bluie and Crumb

#1 Post by Matt » Fri May 14, 2010 12:34 pm

Louie Bluie

[img]http://criterion_production.s3.amazonaws.com/release_images/2791/532_box_348x490_w128.jpg[/img]

Crumb director Terry Zwigoff’s first film is a true treat: a documentary about the obscure country blues musician and idiosyncratic visual artist Howard “Louie Bluie” Armstrong, member of the last known black string band in America. As beguiling a raconteur as he is a performer, Louie makes for a wildly entertaining movie subject, and Zwigoff honors him with an unsentimental but endlessly affectionate tribute. Full of infectious music and comedy, Louie Bluie is a humane evocation of the kind of pop-cultural marginalia that Zwigoff would continue to excavate in the coming years.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

- New, restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by director Terry Zwigoff
- Audio commentary featuring Zwigoff
- Outtakes and deleted scenes
- Illustrations by Howard Armstrong
- Stills gallery
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Michael Sragow
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Crumb

[img]http://criterion_production.s3.amazonaws.com/release_images/2785/533_box_348x490_w100.jpg[/img]

Terry Zwigoff’s landmark 1995 film is an intimate documentary portrait of underground artist Robert Crumb, whose unique drawing style and sexually and racially provocative subject matter have made him a household name in popular American art. Zwigoff candidly and colorfully delves into the details of Crumb’s incredible career, as well as his past, including his family of reclusive eccentrics, some of the most remarkable people you’ll ever see on-screen. At once a profound biographical portrait, a riotous examination of a man’s controversial art, and a devastating look at a troubled family, Crumb is a genuine American original.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

- New, restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by director Terry Zwigoff, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- Two audio commentaries, one from 2010 with Zwigoff, and one from 2006, featuring Zwigoff and critic Roger Ebert
- Outtakes and deleted scenes
- Stills gallery
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Jonathan Rosenbaum
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Also available on Blu-ray
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Michael Kerpan
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Re: 532-533 Crumb and Louie Bluie

#2 Post by Michael Kerpan » Fri May 14, 2010 12:42 pm

I had the privilege of seeing the Martin, Bogan and Armstrong band at a (very) long-ago University of Chicago folk festival. An amazing group.

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mfunk9786
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Re: 532-533 Crumb and Louie Bluie

#3 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri May 14, 2010 1:02 pm

Let me just be the first to say:

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

The Ebert and Zwigoff commentary is great, but to get another Zwigoff commentary on top of that is amazing. It's a shame Crumb himself didn't participate, but I had my doubts that he would anyway. I hope there are a lot of outtakes/deleted scenes pertaining to Charles Crumb, who is truly the heart of the documentary.

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Tribe
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Re: 532-533 Crumb and Louie Bluie

#4 Post by Tribe » Fri May 14, 2010 1:14 pm

Way about time some old-time American string band music becomes available through Criterion...in fact, I can't think of any major DVD publisher that's released anything on old-timey music.

EDIT: In addition, this release would have been a great candidate for the inclusion of, at the least, some downloadable mp3s of African-American string band music. If any of you might be interested, I highly recommend Folks, He Sure Do Pull Some Bow! and Violin, Sing the Blues For Me. Both are fantastic compilations of original old-time African American string band 78s from back in the day. These are just the tip of the iceberg from anyone who catches the old-timey bug 'cause there's tons of other compilations from other companies such as Yazoo...both Anglo and African string band music as well as old-time country and Delta blues.

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Finch
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Re: 532-533 Crumb and Louie Bluie

#5 Post by Finch » Fri May 14, 2010 3:25 pm

Louie Blouie sounds very intriguing. Might be a blind buy for me.

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Re: 532-533 Crumb and Louie Bluie

#6 Post by skeets kelly » Fri May 14, 2010 3:33 pm

erm, kind of shocked crumb is an upper-tier priced disc.

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zedz
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Re: 532-533 Crumb and Louie Bluie

#7 Post by zedz » Fri May 14, 2010 3:55 pm

A nice pair. Here's hoping Louie Bluie sells well enough that Criterion considers doing a Les Blank Eclipse set - so many great music films there that need to be better known.

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Svevan
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Re: 532-533 Crumb and Louie Bluie

#8 Post by Svevan » Fri May 14, 2010 5:53 pm

Zedz, agreed! Reading the description for Louie Blouie immediately reminded me of The Blues According to Lightnin' Hopkins. Blank's short docs are available on his expensive (and I think self-produced) DVDs, and I'd buy a big set of all of them in a heartbeat (I've only seen a few, but my favorite is Always for Pleasure).

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Jean-Luc Garbo
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Re: 532-533 Crumb and Louie Bluie

#9 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Fri May 14, 2010 6:08 pm

Wow, they got Zwigoff on two commentaries. I thought he hated them.
skeets kelly wrote:erm, kind of shocked crumb is an upper-tier priced disc.
But Louie is $25 msrp!

ianungstad
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Re: 532-533 Crumb and Louie Bluie

#10 Post by ianungstad » Fri May 14, 2010 6:24 pm

Crumb doesn't strike me as being a particularly good value. It's pretty much the same package as the Sony disc which you can get for 8-10 bucks with an extra commentary track . (It seems likely that there will be lots of overlap between the two tracks as well.)

I don't see why they weren't able to include the OOP BBC doc on Crumb that they themselves released on Home Vision. (At the very least...)

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Jeff
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Re: 532-533 Crumb and Louie Bluie

#11 Post by Jeff » Fri May 14, 2010 6:35 pm

ianungstad wrote:Crumb doesn't strike me as being a particularly good value. It's pretty much the same package as the Sony disc which you can get for 8-10 bucks with an extra commentary track . (It seems likely that there will be lots of overlap between the two tracks as well.)

I don't see why they weren't able to include the OOP BBC doc on Crumb that they themselves released on Home Vision. (At the very least...)
I'm a little surprised at that too. I'm actually surprised they didn't just include Louie Bluie as a supplement to Crumb.

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dx23
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Re: 532-533 Crumb and Louie Bluie

#12 Post by dx23 » Fri May 14, 2010 6:42 pm

Jeff wrote:
ianungstad wrote:Crumb doesn't strike me as being a particularly good value. It's pretty much the same package as the Sony disc which you can get for 8-10 bucks with an extra commentary track . (It seems likely that there will be lots of overlap between the two tracks as well.)

I don't see why they weren't able to include the OOP BBC doc on Crumb that they themselves released on Home Vision. (At the very least...)
I'm a little surprised at that too. I'm actually surprised they didn't just include Louie Bluie as a supplement to Crumb.
I thought that including Louie Bluie was the incentive Criterion would put on the release to differentiate it from the excellent Sony release.

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HistoryProf
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Re: 532-533 Crumb and Louie Bluie

#13 Post by HistoryProf » Fri May 14, 2010 6:50 pm

Jean-Luc Garbo wrote:Wow, they got Zwigoff on two commentaries. I thought he hated them.
skeets kelly wrote:erm, kind of shocked crumb is an upper-tier priced disc.
But Louie is $25 msrp!
but should have been an extra on a 2 disc Crumb. I'm ecstatic to see it accompanying Crumb, but this is kind of lame overall imo.

ianungstad
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Re: 532-533 Louie Bluie and Crumb

#14 Post by ianungstad » Fri May 14, 2010 6:53 pm

It's a great documentary and I'm quite pleased with the cover...but I just hate the feeling that if I buy this, it's only because it has that wacky-C in the corner. Oh well, maybe they'll add a few features before release date. If they are going to tackle films that have already been released in special editions, the Criterion should be a significant improvement over the prior release. I think they did a great job with Stagecoach and the two Wim Wenders releases...but this is a bit of a letdown.

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Gregory
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Re: 532-533 Louie Bluie and Crumb

#15 Post by Gregory » Fri May 14, 2010 7:11 pm

If the transfer is a noticeable improvement over the '06 release, I will probably triple-dip -- especially if the Criterion sales at B&N continue. It's one of my favorite documentaries (however long a list that might be) and certainly one of the most re-watchable.

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domino harvey
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Re: 532-533 Louie Bluie and Crumb

#16 Post by domino harvey » Fri May 14, 2010 7:34 pm

I guess if Criterion was gonna rescue a Zwigoff, I'd rather it be Ghost World, which could stand some substantial extras

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Jean-Luc Garbo
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Re: 532-533 Louie Bluie and Crumb

#17 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Fri May 14, 2010 7:36 pm

I won't double-dip until those deleted scenes indicate whether or not it's worth it. That BBC doc would have been a great extra as Zwigoff mentions it on the commentary. Would some previous HVE contract have barred its inclusion here?

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HistoryProf
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Re: 532-533 Louie Bluie and Crumb

#18 Post by HistoryProf » Fri May 14, 2010 10:21 pm

domino harvey wrote:I guess if Criterion was gonna rescue a Zwigoff, I'd rather it be Ghost World, which could stand some substantial extras

agreed 100%. I guess I just don't understand the point of the Crumb release with only a new Zwigoff commentary, when it's porting over the already extant zwigoff/ebert commentary. i don't have much use for commentaries to start with, let alone multiples by the same person. seems an awful stretch to get it to the upper tier when everything else is already been available on an SE for 1/4 the price.

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Re: 532-533 Louie Bluie and Crumb

#19 Post by perkizitore » Sat May 15, 2010 9:55 am

It's only worth buying it on blu-ray during a B&N sale (i still would feel like a completist). Crumb and Louie Bluie should be sold as a set, period.

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domino harvey
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Re: 532-533 Louie Bluie and Crumb

#20 Post by domino harvey » Sat May 15, 2010 11:04 am

If the Mishima film could get separated from Schrader's, this shouldn't be a shocker

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Minkin
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Re: 532-533 Louie Bluie and Crumb

#21 Post by Minkin » Sat May 15, 2010 11:18 am

Or Bergman Island... Oh wait.

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Jeff
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Re: 532-533 Louie Bluie and Crumb

#22 Post by Jeff » Sat May 15, 2010 11:47 am

domino harvey wrote:If the Mishima film could get separated from Schrader's, this shouldn't be a shocker
It's all a bit arbitrary though. Other early, short, ultra-low-budget efforts by Criterion directors have shown up as supplements (Permanent Vacation on Stranger Than Paradise, It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books on Slacker, and Shall We Go to Your or My Place or Each Go Home Alone? on My Life as a Dog). Louie Bluie certainly seems to be a fit in that category, and it would add some much-needed additional value to the Crumb disc, distinguishing it from the Sony.

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domino harvey
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Re: 532-533 Louie Bluie and Crumb

#23 Post by domino harvey » Sat May 15, 2010 11:55 am

You're right, but I am also loling at the idea of a separate release of Permanent Vacation. I can just picture the meeting at Criterion: "Hey, let's release something more unmarketable than Border Radio!"

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Re: 532-533 Louie Bluie and Crumb

#24 Post by beamish13 » Sat May 15, 2010 1:40 pm

Don't get me wrong, I adore "Crumb", but I was really hoping that the clue had pointed towards "Fritz the Cat". I really hope Criterion licenses "Coonskin" from Paramount.

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Buttery Jeb
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Re: 532-533 Louie Bluie and Crumb

#25 Post by Buttery Jeb » Sat May 15, 2010 2:40 pm

beamish13 wrote:Don't get me wrong, I adore "Crumb", but I was really hoping that the clue had pointed towards "Fritz the Cat". I really hope Criterion licenses "Coonskin" from Paramount.
I never expected "Fritz the Cat" as a possible release (let's be honest, Criterion hates animation only slightly less than they do Rivette). But part of me had hoped for a supplement featuring Crumb and Ralph Bakshi sitting down and hashing out their different interpretations of the character.

-BJ

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