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domino harvey wrote:Yeah, I like where this is going

17 plays 8878, should be a cinch.

swo17 wrote:How great would a road movie be starring domino and Vampyr, in which domino learns to become a better customer, and Vampyr learns to accept "people like him" for what they are? Hell, I'd pay to see it unless I didn't like it.

"Those satisfactions are permanent."
"Unless you resell them."
[meaningful silence]

Thanks, guys. Knowing I am constantly in your thoughts has warmed my heart.

There will actually be a theatrical screening of Two-Lane Blacktop in Miami Beach this Thursday. Hellman will do an interview via Skype afterwards too. Here is a new interview with him in advance of the screening that connects Two-Lane a bit with his new movie, Road to Nowhere.

Having been on a Monte Hellman kick since seeing Road to Nowhere, I finally got around to seeing this one. This is already my favorite Hellman, though I think the sole reason for that is the extraordinary performance by Warren Oates. He's been one of my favorite actors for some time now, so finally seeing him in this - his best work, I think - was incredible. Oates is so funny here. Never have I seen a man so desperately trying to fit in. I want one of those cashmere sweaters. The features in this package are excellent, very much worth your time. One of the great Criterion packages. "Sure did talk to you". "Sure did see you".

Looking at the specs for the Masters Of Cinema Blu-ray release, almost all the extras from the Criterion are on there. Although the James Taylor interview is not listed, nor are the 2 audio commentary tracks. Instead they include the old Anchor Bay commentary by Hellman/Kurtz. But then again, MoC lists "...and more" on their site.

Blu-ray upgrade coming in January 2013.

PLUS: Rudy Wurlitzer’s screenplay, reprinted specially for this release; new essay by Kent Jones, appreciations by Richard Linklater and Tom Waits; and a reprint of the 1970 Rolling Stone article “On Route 66, Filming Two-Lane Blacktop”; ; [sic] the DVD edition also features Wurlitzer’s screenplay

Talk about a confusing spec: I guess the Blu-ray edition won't include the screenplay? Or it will? I can't make heads or tails of that.

The upgrade will not include the screenplay. Why's that?

Size. They haven't figured out how to accommodate larger booklets yet/ probably not as interested in that anymore.

It's not rocket science--print a new booklet with dimensions like a Blu-ray case and create a slipcover that fits them both.

I think that would call for... math! Screw that!

Probably cost-prohibative to design a new blu-sized digipak like the last one, which would have meant resetting the entire book (far bigger than a usual booklet). I don't have the DVD set anymore so can't check the margins but I don't believe it could've been simply printed from the old files with the height trimmed down and looked acceptable. Not to mention the added printing, shipping, and storage costs for such a larger set for the usual $40 price point.

Just screened the MOC Blu for some not yet region-free friends last week uttering: "Yeah, I just love this film so much, but who knows when or if Criterion will upgrade it." Saving the MOC disc for the substantial and distinct extras. And it looks like the screenplay will move from the old standard def case to my bookshelf.

Gregory wrote:Probably cost-prohibative to design a new blu-sized digipak like the last one, which would have meant resetting the entire book (far bigger than a usual booklet). I don't have the DVD set anymore so can't check the margins but I don't believe it could've been simply printed from the old files with the height trimmed down and looked acceptable. Not to mention the added printing, shipping, and storage costs for such a larger set for the usual $40 price point.

If they did create a digipack and designed a book to fit it for the dvd release, why would it be prohibitive to do it for the blu-ray release?
It seems to me they were more careful with their releases in the past.

A combination of factors we could speculate about. They seem to have mostly gotten away from including books, which likely presented logistical headaches. Maybe enough people who buy these things won't read the screenplay, or a novelization of Arkadin, etc. that it's not enough of an added selling point.
The blu-ray will probably not sell as well as the DVD, especially since huge numbers still don't upgrade DVDs to blu ray, or even buy blu-rays at all, and many who have players that play Region B will have since picked up the MoC instead of this. And disc sales in general now are far from what they were back in 2007.

I think Criterion probably also don't mind giving their dedicated fanbase a reason to sometimes hold onto the older DVD release and still buy the new blu.

Criterion says the screenplay is "reprinted specially for this release"... thus the layout of the book/pamphlet for the blu-ray will be different than the prior dvd release. They then note "the dvd edition also features Wurlitzer's screenplay."

Once upon a time I had a high verbal SAT score... so they are basically saying the new blu-ray gets a special reprint for the new release... and the dvd also features the screenplay (as it always has).

Thus... the blu-ray will probably be a slip-cased digipak.

If not... Criterion should flunk English class.

I wouldn't be so sure.

The "reprinted specially for this release" bit was used for the DVD. It seems clear to me that Criterion simply neglected to remove this line when revising the specs. They've got two semicolons in a row, so it's not like they were careful about it. In other words, I don't believe for a second the screenplay will be included with the BD, reprinted or not.

The press release makes no mention of the script so I wouldn't count on it being there.

Since this is the first Hellman blu, any word on the hopefully upcoming releases of Ride in the Whirlwind and The Shooting?

His Road to Nowhere was released on blu last year.

I'm very excited for this disc. A wonderful film.

Looking very nice!