therewillbeblus wrote: Wed Jun 01, 2022 4:24 am
It's inexplicable that The Scarlet Hour would get a standalone release against the noir box, as aside from Curtiz' name it's an unspectacular noir programmer in every sense. There's a decent midpoint setpiece and the ending is quietly dark in its use of space to obstruct communication of feeling and reinforce isolation with minimalist anti-catharsis, but those aren't particularly thrilling either. Maybe it'll reveal greater strengths once it looks all cleaned up- but doubtfully enough to earn its place outside of a B-noir title in a box et
This isn't a great film, no, but I enjoyed this more than you did. I was primed for a good time from the opening credits where it was revealed Frank Tashlin (!) came up with the source story and had a hand in writing the screenplay, and despite its flaws I think it ultimately delivers. If anything, the film shows ably that Curtiz spent the last few years of his life doing the best he could with meager resources, as the biggest issue here are the awful central perfs by D-stringers Carol Ohmart (in her first film) and Tom Tryon. The story itself is nicely twisty and I especially liked the reveal near the end about the loot, but the film needs tightening up -- this is a successful 70 minute programmer treated like a prestige film and bloated as much as it can handle. I doubt Tashlin had anything to do with this after he gave it the initial script a once-over, but I can't help but feel his touch in this unexpected visual gag, so who knows:
Also, who names their protagonist "EV Marshall" and then casts EG Marshall as someone else?
February’s titles:
the Mountain (1956)
Something to Live For (1952)
Carrie (1952)
the Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978)
Hurry Sundown (1967)
Resurrection (1980)
Wyler's Carrie is one I've been patiently waiting for. An excellent film adaptation of Dreiser's bloated, dialogue-heavy book. Probably my favorite Olivier performance.
It's like Imprint has seen my list of titles that I want on blu. Every month their slate has something I want. Then I'm inevitably disappointed at having paid $30+ for a transfer that doesn't look much better than my old DVD.
Can anyone comment on how their release of The Field looks?
I watched The Field a few weeks ago. I'd never seen it before so I had nothing to compare to. It looked fine to me - better than DVD quality, although a bit rough here and there. The colours seemed fine. I can't imagine it looking too much better. It's a fairly bleak film, and I was totally absorbed in it, so picture imperfections may have gone unnoticed.
So disappointed that I couldn’t get Dersu Uzala. I can’t believe how steep the discounts are for titles I bought months ago (Whore, The Music of Chance, The Beast, etc.)
bugsy_pal wrote: Wed Nov 23, 2022 1:47 am
I watched The Field a few weeks ago. I'd never seen it before so I had nothing to compare to. It looked fine to me - better than DVD quality, although a bit rough here and there. The colours seemed fine. I can't imagine it looking too much better. It's a fairly bleak film, and I was totally absorbed in it, so picture imperfections may have gone unnoticed.
This reminds me that the main thing that sticks with me about The Field is that a clip from it got used in an advert for British Airways as apparently the perfect in-flight movie in the early 90s. Amusingly only upload I can find of the advert replaces the title drop of The Field on the seat back video screen with a clip of Cagney at the end of White Heat for some inexplicable reason! (Probably because they had used all of the other 'up on the roof' metaphors!) The shot from The Field (despite the irony of the bleakness of the actual film!) is probably more appropriate for that advert because it shows the watcher slipping into their own beautiful landscape-based 'roof of the world' reverie straight afterwards! Presumably he fell asleep dreaming of landscapes and not the drama!
bugsy_pal wrote: Wed Nov 23, 2022 1:47 am
I watched The Field a few weeks ago. I'd never seen it before so I had nothing to compare to. It looked fine to me - better than DVD quality, although a bit rough here and there. The colours seemed fine. I can't imagine it looking too much better. It's a fairly bleak film, and I was totally absorbed in it, so picture imperfections may have gone unnoticed.
This reminds me that the main thing that sticks with me about The Field is that a clip from it got used in an advert for British Airways as apparently the perfect in-flight movie in the early 90s. Amusingly only upload I can find of the advert replaces the title drop of The Field on the seat back video screen with a clip of Cagney at the end of White Heat for some inexplicable reason! (Probably because they had used all of the other 'up on the roof' metaphors!) The shot from The Field (despite the irony of the bleakness of the actual film!) is probably more appropriate for that advert because it shows the watcher slipping into their own beautiful landscape-based 'roof of the world' reverie straight afterwards! Presumably he fell asleep dreaming of landscapes and not the drama!
That's extraordinary that you should remember such an obscure reference to the film. I had a look at the clip, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the guy on the plane could be the Australian stand-up comedian, Adam Hills. If it is him, he would have been 23 in 1993, which puts it within the realm of possibility. The only thing against it is that Hills has a prosthetic foot, and I'm not sure if it could be disguised that well in the zoom-out shot of him floating in the pool.
I have it on some of the earliest VHS tapes that I recorded from television back in the 90s, so I still associate quite strongly watching something like 2001: A Space Odyssey with the adverts surrounding it! I should have the version of the advert with The Field in it somewhere on a tape. It also helps that now the 90s looks like a golden age of advertising, especially those Levi's ads which introduced me to varioussongs.
I remember Siskel and Ebert devoted time on their show to Harris’ surprise Oscar nomination (they didn’t like the film) and were basically like “Well, congrats on buying enough ads to get in”
domino harvey wrote: Fri Dec 16, 2022 1:02 pm
Excited for Georgia! Never thought we’d see that one on Blu
Same. Jacob’s Ladder is one of my favorites, but the North American Blu will probably suffice. I would like to see how the film works with the deleted scenes reintegrated back into the movie, but I doubt this will include that option.
Are Arrow working on I'll Sleep When I'm Dead?, as they were rumoured to be working on even more Hodges after Croupier.
Not much more Hodges that can be released - and I think Warner's own Terminal Man.
Arrow do have an excellent focus on Hodges (Pulp, Black Rainbow from fresh scans and Croupier in 4k and Blu-ray) - and I wonder if it might be worth waiting?
Also what's the substance to the notion that Jacob's Ladder will get a 4k somewhere? Lyne seems to be in vogue due to his new streaming film Deep Water and a couple of his films have made it to 4k already.
M Sanderson wrote: Sun Dec 18, 2022 12:36 am
Not much more Hodges that can be released - and I think Warner's own Terminal Man.
His 1984 television production Squaring the Circle, which was written by Tom Stoppard, is the title from him that I’d most like to get on Blu. There are atrocious looking bootlegs of it out there
I actually think I read what sounded like pretty solid speculation on the BR message boards that Haunting of Julia is a leaked-but-yet-to-be-confirmed 2023 release from Arrow. But who knows? It all blends together in my addled brain these days, and it was in the midst of them all going bananas over the hook clue.
1. I recently noticed this link which helpfully indicates which titles are close to selling out. For instance, December's release of L&G, the Fabulous Stains only has 25 copies left as of this writing.
2. I've had two direct orders in a row now arrive with titles missing. They've been good so far about correcting the issue (even when the missing titles were supposedly all sold out) but I'd recommend always checking against your invoice to make sure you've actually gotten everything you ordered
