Monte Hellman

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DarkImbecile
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Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
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Monte Hellman

#1 Post by DarkImbecile » Wed Mar 07, 2007 12:59 am

Monte Hellman (1929 - 2021)

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"I don't direct, and I expect my actors to be the same way. I don't want them to act."

Filmography
Features
Beast from Haunted Cave (1959)
The Terror (1963) [uncredited, some scenes]
Flight to Fury (1964)
Back Door to Hell (1964)
Cordillera (1964) [w/Eddie Romero]
The Shooting (1966)
Ride in the Whirlwind (1966)
Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
Cockfighter (1974)
Shatter (1974) [uncredited]
China 9, Liberty 37 (1978)
Avalanche Express (1979) [uncredited]
Iguana (1988)
Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! (1989)
Road to Nowhere (2010)

Shorts
"Inside the Coppola Personality" (1981) [documentary]
"Stanley's Girlfriend" (2006) [segment, Trapped Ashes]
"Somewhere Near Salinas: A Conversation with Kris Kristofferson" (2007) [documentary]
Make it Three Yards: A Conversation with James Taylor (2007) [documentary]
"Vive L'Amour" (2013) [segment, Venice 70: Future Reloaded]

Books
Monte Hellman: His Life and Films by Brad Stevens (2003)

Web Resources
3.5 hour video interview with Allison Anders, DGA
1976 interview with Nicholas Pasquariello, Jump Cut
Plunging on Alone: Monte Hellman's Life in A Day, a 1986 full-length documentary by Paul Joyce
1999 interview with Keith Phipps, The A.V. Club
2011 interview with Roel Haanen, Offscreen Festival
2011 interview with Nick Dawson, Filmmaker
2011 interview with Fernando Croce, Slant
2012 interview with Paul Rowlands on Hellman's favorite films, Money Into Light
2013 interview with Craig Skinner, Bleeding Cool
2018 interview with Leo Verswijver, Film Talk

Forum Resources
734-735 The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind
414 Two-Lane Blacktop
Road To Nowhere (Monte Hellman, 2010)

Nothing
Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2006 4:04 am

#2 Post by Nothing » Wed Mar 07, 2007 2:57 am

stroszeck wrote:Besides the atrociuos and long OOP editions of a few of Monte Hellman's DVDs, including COCKFIGHTER, THE SHOOTING and TWO LANE BLACKTOP, are there any companies out there that own the rights to this man's work and would be able to release decent prints onto the DVD format? I don't believe any major studios own the rights to his work since the subpar dvds come from smaller boutique labels (probably kin to those companies that released butchered copies of Zhang Yimou's masterpieces a couple years ago).
There is nothing at all atrocious about Anchor Bay's dvds of TWO LANE BLACKTOP and COCKFIGHTER... From what I recall, my dvds of THE SHOOTING (R1) and RIDE IN THE WHIRLWIND (R2 Japan) are fairly good quality too.

I'm still awaiting a decent dvd of CHINA 9 LIBERTY 37, though :(

Nothing
Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2006 4:04 am

#3 Post by Nothing » Wed Mar 07, 2007 4:45 am

There are various reviews of these dvds online, eg:

DVD Beaver
DVD Talk
DVD Times 1
DVD Times 2
DVD Times 3

Nothing
Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2006 4:04 am

#4 Post by Nothing » Wed Mar 07, 2007 5:47 am

I saw a restored print of TWO-LANE at Cannes a couple of years ago and this was the rumour at the time. Nothing has come of it, though, and, to be honest, they'd be struggling to improve upon the Anchor Bay edition.

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tryavna
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#5 Post by tryavna » Wed Mar 07, 2007 12:10 pm

Isn't Two-Lane still owned by Universal? I thought that was where AB leased it from. If so, then the Criterion-Universal relationship (and the long-OOP status of the AB edition) bodes well for a potential Criterion release, which I'd welcome, since I missed out on the AB version and wasn't about to pay $100+ for it despite it being a great film.

brunosh
Joined: Wed Mar 08, 2006 5:47 am
Location: London

#6 Post by brunosh » Wed Mar 07, 2007 2:05 pm

Two Lane Blacktop is listed at Play, AmazonUK, etc for R2UK release in June 2007 by Universal, PAL anamorphic 1.78:1.

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foggy eyes
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 9:58 am
Location: UK

#7 Post by foggy eyes » Wed Mar 07, 2007 7:52 pm

Oh dear. Blacktop is 2.35:1, in glorious Techniscope.

stroszeck
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2005 10:42 pm

#8 Post by stroszeck » Wed Mar 07, 2007 9:29 pm

Interesting how the R2/R4 land have in-print editions of this 100% American directors films and we need to spend a fortune to get a barebones disc. I hope if the Criterion rumor is at all true, that at least an Eclipse boxset could possibly be in the works...

Nothing
Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2006 4:04 am

#9 Post by Nothing » Thu Mar 08, 2007 1:10 am

Sigh, stroszek, first you were claiming that the Anchor Bay disc had an 'atrocious' transfer and now you're labelling it 'barebones' - when, in fact, it contains a Hellman commentary, documentary featurette and trailer.

As I said before, Criterion would be struggling to improve on the Anchor Bay edition.

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starmanof51
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#10 Post by starmanof51 » Thu Mar 08, 2007 1:14 am

Nothing wrote:As I said before, Criterion would be struggling to improve on the Anchor Bay edition.
"Readily available" would be improvement enough.

Harvey Domino
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#11 Post by Harvey Domino » Thu Mar 08, 2007 6:34 am

Commentary by Mike Love would be interesting.

putney
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#12 Post by putney » Thu Mar 08, 2007 9:54 am

King Records/DVD in Japan has already done his two Corman westerns and Cockfighter and is about to release Two Lane Blacktop. They are all remastered, (Two Lane Blacktop even will have a CD soundtrack), looks incredible, lots of extras, etc. They've been doing a whole series of good films from that time, recently there was Electra Glide in Blue, The Hired Hand, Bring Me the Head... almost all with soudtrack CDs and big books of the Japanese release posters, press books, etc..

putney

stroszeck
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2005 10:42 pm

#13 Post by stroszeck » Thu Mar 08, 2007 7:38 pm

Well, to be perfectly honest I haven't seen the dvd in over a year and from what I recall I was not very impressed by it. That being said, I guess I'll just have to cough up the dough and get it.

Commander Shears
Joined: Thu Oct 19, 2006 2:17 pm

#14 Post by Commander Shears » Sun Mar 18, 2007 1:25 am

I can't be the only one who is curious about Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! The idea of Hellman doing this kind of picture is both depressing and intriguing, and the marketability of horror leads me to suspect that, for better or worse, it may beat many of his earlier works to DVD.

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

Re: Monte Hellman

#15 Post by Matt » Thu Oct 07, 2010 4:57 pm

Of the available R1 DVDs of The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind, which are recommended? The VCI discs are OOP and way too pricey.

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

Re: Monte Hellman

#16 Post by zedz » Thu Oct 07, 2010 5:09 pm

Don't know what's happened in the last few years (or the ins and outs of different R1 releases), but both of these films have long been only available in butchered pan and scan versions. It's the only way I've ever seen them, and they're a couple of my favourite westerns anyway.

There were a variety of French releases in 2006 - looks like you can get them in a straight double feature or in a choice of triples, with Two Lane Blacktop or Cockfighter - but I don't know if these releases remedied the AR butchery. I've been holding out for the rumoured Criterion editions but currently have an Australian P&S double feature which was dirt cheap.

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

Re: Monte Hellman

#17 Post by Matt » Thu Oct 07, 2010 5:55 pm

The problem is I'm buying them on behalf of someone who can't wait for Criterion. It seems non-R1 would be fine, too, but I just can't find any information on which of the many available versions is preferable.

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Murdoch
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Re: Monte Hellman

#18 Post by Murdoch » Thu Oct 07, 2010 6:21 pm

According to this imdb poster the Carlotta is the best available with removable subs and he says it's in OAR. I had the Passion release, which is awful so stay away from that one.

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Matt
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Re: Monte Hellman

#19 Post by Matt » Thu Oct 07, 2010 10:12 pm

Thanks very much.

BillWatkins
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2010 11:50 pm

Re: Monte Hellman

#20 Post by BillWatkins » Thu Jun 07, 2012 8:37 am

The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind are being released as a double feature blu-ray on August 21st. I wonder if this means that Criterion scrapped their plans to release them?

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bainbridgezu
Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2011 10:54 pm

Re: Monte Hellman

#21 Post by bainbridgezu » Thu Jun 07, 2012 9:09 am

BillWatkins wrote:The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind are being released as a double feature blu-ray on August 21st. I wonder if this means that Criterion scrapped their plans to release them?
God, I hope not. Thankfully, the company behind this release (Intergroove) seem to be no more than bootleggers with a measly half-dozen titles to their credit. Some damning reviews for their "blu-ray" of Brando's One-Eyed Jacks, which suggest that the disc wouldn't even pass muster as a (very poor) DVD.

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rockysds
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Re: Monte Hellman

#22 Post by rockysds » Thu Jun 07, 2012 11:07 am

From Monte Hellman's twitter:
Bootleg of DVDs. Wait for authentic Bluray scans from negative THE SHOOTING & RIDE IN THE WHIRLWIND next year.

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

Re: Monte Hellman

#23 Post by zedz » Thu Jun 07, 2012 4:26 pm

Fantastic news - at last these films will be done right.

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Forrest Taft
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2007 8:34 pm
Location: Stavanger, Norway

Re: Monte Hellman

#24 Post by Forrest Taft » Sun Oct 21, 2012 4:00 pm

Cultcine is selling an uncut, anamorphic widescreen version of China 9, Liberty 37! I'll finally get to see this. According to a poster on the avmaniacs forum, Warner actually owns the rights to this, and a planned Archive release was postponed due to quality issues. Those of you more patient than me can wait for that one I suppose, but I'm checking out the cultcine version. The only Hellman I haven't seen...can't wait \:D/

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Forrest Taft
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Location: Stavanger, Norway

Re: Monte Hellman

#25 Post by Forrest Taft » Tue Nov 13, 2012 5:36 pm

Happy with the Cultcine release of China 9, Liberty 37. It runs for 98 minutes. According to imdb, the original running time is 102 minutes, so I guess the DVD comes from a PAL source. Posted some caps here.

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