1008 Old Joy

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Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

1008 Old Joy

#1 Post by Ribs » Wed Jul 24, 2019 2:04 pm

Old Joy

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Two old friends reunite for a quietly revelatory overnight camping trip in Kelly Reichardt's breakout feature, a microbudget study of character and masculinity that introduced many viewers to one of contemporary American cinema's most independent artists. As they drive from Portland into the woods in search of a secluded hot spring, expectant father Mark (Daniel London) and nomadic Kurt (Will Oldham) make fumbling attempts to reconnect, butting up against the limits of their friendship and coming to grips with just how much their paths have diverged since their shared youth. Adapted from a short story by Jonathan Raymond and accompanied by an atmospheric Yo La Tengo score, Old Joy is a contemplative, wryly observed triumph whose modest scale belies the richness of its insight.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New 2K digital restoration, approved by director Kelly Reichardt and cinematographer Peter Sillen, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New interviews with Reichardt, Sillen, and author Jonathan Raymond
• New conversation between actors Daniel London and Will Oldham
• Trailer
• PLUS: An essay by film critic Ed Halter and (Blu-ray only) the short story by Raymond on which the film is based

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agnamaracs
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Re: Forthcoming: Old Joy

#2 Post by agnamaracs » Wed Jul 24, 2019 2:05 pm

Ribs wrote:
Wed Jul 24, 2019 2:04 pm
Per newsletter clue.
Wow, the Collection is full of Will Oldham these days, what with this and Matewan

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dda1996a
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Re: Forthcoming: Old Joy

#3 Post by dda1996a » Wed Jul 24, 2019 2:11 pm

All were missing is A Ghost Story

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bearcuborg
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Re: Forthcoming: Old Joy

#4 Post by bearcuborg » Wed Jul 24, 2019 2:29 pm

This is probably my favorite of Reichardt’s movies. The ending is heartbreaking, at least to me, a pessimist.

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senseabove
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Re: Forthcoming: Old Joy

#5 Post by senseabove » Wed Jul 24, 2019 3:03 pm

Given that Old Joy is just 73 minutes and shot on 16mm, it won't exactly push the limits of a disc, so I'm hoping there are lots of extras here... If they could get her early short film Ode, at least, it'd be an easy double-dip for me.

But I'm very happy this is getting the Criterion clout and that more folks will have the chance to see it. Presumably it'll be a UK release as well, since Soda lost the Region B rights.

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dda1996a
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Re: Forthcoming: Old Joy

#6 Post by dda1996a » Wed Jul 24, 2019 3:17 pm

I saw Ode on a very rough copy and sadly I found it not very good, in fact it barely felt like a Reichardt film. But Travis on the other hand is a very good installation piece

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zedz
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Re: Forthcoming: Old Joy

#7 Post by zedz » Wed Jul 24, 2019 4:08 pm

In a perfect world, Reichardt would get to curate another collection of experimental short films like she did for the Oscilloscope disc of Wendy and Lucy.

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swo17
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Re: Forthcoming: Old Joy

#8 Post by swo17 » Wed Jul 24, 2019 4:11 pm

Which I still hold onto for that precise reason despite the film having elsewhere been upgraded to Blu-ray

Glowingwabbit
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Re: Forthcoming: Old Joy

#9 Post by Glowingwabbit » Wed Jul 24, 2019 4:16 pm

swo17 wrote:
Wed Jul 24, 2019 4:11 pm
Which I still hold onto for that precise reason despite the film having elsewhere been upgraded to Blu-ray
Oscilloscope also upgraded it to Blu

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senseabove
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Re: Forthcoming: Old Joy

#10 Post by senseabove » Wed Jul 24, 2019 4:35 pm

I had somehow missed that those experimental shorts include two Peter Huttons... Given that they also go double-layered with what looks like an appreciable effect in the DVDBeaver screencaps of Meek's Cutoff, maybe I'll end up selling that Soda collection and picking up the trio of individual releases.

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swo17
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Re: Forthcoming: Old Joy

#11 Post by swo17 » Wed Jul 24, 2019 5:47 pm

Glowingwabbit wrote:
Wed Jul 24, 2019 4:16 pm
swo17 wrote:
Wed Jul 24, 2019 4:11 pm
Which I still hold onto for that precise reason despite the film having elsewhere been upgraded to Blu-ray
Oscilloscope also upgraded it to Blu
I think I knew that but saw at the time that the bonus films were just upscales. Still, between this and Osciloscope's River of Grass Blu-ray, my Soda set is starting to seem a bit redundant.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: Forthcoming: Old Joy

#12 Post by FrauBlucher » Wed Jul 24, 2019 6:25 pm

Oh boy, this is exciting news.

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RitrovataBlue
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Re: Forthcoming: Old Joy

#13 Post by RitrovataBlue » Wed Jul 24, 2019 6:50 pm

I wasn’t a fan of either Ode or Travis (for whatever reason, Reichardt works much better at feature length), and I’m not sure what other extras of note Criterion could include here. Here’s hoping this isn’t a Fire Walk with Me case where Criterion doesn’t add anything appreciable to its package. Still, I expect that the transfer will look cleaner/less noisy than the Soda Blu, so I’m happy to double dip. This film is a sensual delight.

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zedz
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Re: Forthcoming: Old Joy

#14 Post by zedz » Wed Jul 24, 2019 10:18 pm

There was a commentary on the original DVD, but as I recall it was a tentative one with lots of dead air, so a new commentary by Reichardt (and others?) might be worth the investment.

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JamesF
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Re: Forthcoming: Old Joy

#15 Post by JamesF » Wed Jul 31, 2019 4:40 pm

From what I recall, I definitely asked Kelly’s producers if we could include Ode, Travis and one or two other Reichardt shorts as part of the Soda boxset, but were told that they couldn’t be commercially exploited due to rights issues (I don’t think Ode is an authorised adaptation of the book, for example). Though I’m sure Criterion would have an easier time sorting that out than we would have!

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swo17
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Re: Forthcoming: Old Joy

#16 Post by swo17 » Mon Sep 16, 2019 12:35 pm


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misterjunior
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Re: 1008 Old Joy

#17 Post by misterjunior » Mon Sep 16, 2019 12:56 pm

Pretty slim batch of extras for this one. I love Kelly Reichardt, though, so I'll definitely pick it up at some point.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: 1008 Old Joy

#18 Post by FrauBlucher » Mon Sep 16, 2019 1:52 pm

I love Kelly Reichardt, though, so I'll definitely pick it up at some point.
Me too.
Pretty slim batch of extras for this one.
A little interview with the Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley would've been welcomed.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: 1008 Old Joy

#19 Post by FrauBlucher » Sat Nov 09, 2019 12:04 pm


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Drucker
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Re: 1008 Old Joy

#20 Post by Drucker » Sun Nov 10, 2019 5:36 pm

Caught this on 35mm today and thought it was absolutely masterful. I know the promotional materials seem to highlight the film being about two friends and the separate paths their lives have taken, but what stuck out to me was the alienation and isolation they felt from each other in relationship to the nature-setting of the film. Like Certain Woman and Meek's Cutoff, there's a contrast in the film between the openness and promise of the physical setting with the harsh reality. Certain Woman, while I didn't love the film, illustrates this theme so well, where Reichardt's characters are physically liberated, and live in the great American west. But that promise of freedom is seemingly unfulfilled, as the characters remain isolated from each other and society, in a sense. The promise of the premise in Old Joy would be that two old friends just getting away from it all and reconnecting would be a positive experience. The idea is that the natural, distraction free setting of freedom provides for the promise of a reconnected friendship. But that turns out to not be the case. The vast and open forest only reinforces the distance between the friends.

The notion I'm currently nursing is that while America's geography presents the promise of freedom and opportunity, social forces limit that freedom. We have all of this 'freedom' and no real way to use it. And I think that idea is apparent in the three Reichardt films I've seen (the ones I've mentioned). Reichardt's shots of landscapes are gorgeous here, as well.

Coincidentally I saw Baumbach's Kicking And Screaming on Friday and it was hard not to think, early on, that this film's characters form a compliment the former's, but ten years later. While the former focuses on the fear and hesitation as one enters adulthood, this film does such a great job of highlighting that those fears, unknowns, and uncertainties can still exist even when you're a 'fully formed adult.'

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