New Films on DVD!

"Oh, Imma gay cowboy from the Rio Grande."

You simply must listen to the song as well. Ali G (aka Sasha Cohen) spent many hours duping rednecks as either the scary Arab character, or the flamboyantly gay character. He has said in recent interviews that he truly did fear for his life at times, but one must suffer for their art.

Apparantly Jim Caviezel's suffering in starring as Jesus (Mels heavy handed direction actually did injure him and he nearly went into hypothermia hanging for hours on that cross) put the kabosh on his career as he decided to put his audiences through the suffering of sitting in a dark theater and being bored to death with "Bobby Jones." He's playing two more roles its reported as Jesus at a younger age. Not to be hornswaggled into type casting, he is also going to play Charles Manson who thinks he is Jesus. There's rumors he simply isn't getting scripts for big studio mainstream movies so the suffering sword cuts both ways.

You can pre-order "Fahrenheit 9/11" as a special price now for the October 10th DVD release:

http://www.able2shop.com/search.php?query=Fahrenheit+9%2F11&mode=dvd

That's funny. I thought it was his best work to date. Granted I'm not a huge fan, but I found the movie tugged at my heart strings to no end.

I much prefer Jack with Diane in "Somethings Gotta Give" over "About Schmidt."

The big news this week other than "Mulan" is "The Guns of Navarone" in the highest quality DVD medium, Superbit. The antethesis of the go after a military objective over insurmountable odds, the film has demanded a new print high quality DVD transfer for years. With hi def DVD less than two years off, some may wondering if it would be worth the investment. As good as the hi def might be, it's generally overkill for these older flicks. The medium can only reproduce the quality that is there and Superbit mapping would likely be so close that only a 60" wide screen TV will show the small difference.

A stunning two disc set of "Dr. Strangelove" is the biggest news this week for new DVD's. A great price at our shop makes it even more attractive:

http://www.able2shop.com/buy-B0002XNSY0.html



There's also some reviews and descriptive material about what's on this new version.

I recently saw Mean Streets again, and boy does it feel dated. It seems kind of quaint now compared to newer "gangs and morals" themed movies.

As far as Scorcese's oeuvre goes, Raging Bull has stood up much better than Mean Streets. It can be regarded as timeless.

"Mean Streets" is historical but "Goodfellas" is more contemporary and I feel the inspiration for "The Sopranos." What newer "gangs and morals" themed music are you referring to?
Paulene Kael hated "Raging Bull," but it was Roger Ebert's first rave review.

Well, the movie that immediately came to mind was Reservoir Dogs, what with its gang scenario and loyalty theme. It just occurred to me that Harvey Keitel was in that movie also playing a similar character, the guy who goes down due to his sense of loyalty.

I've had a VHS of Dr Strangelove for about thirteen years. I watch it every three or four years.
I recall being dragged to the theater to see it in '64 I guess it was. Not knowing what to expect, I was shocked by it. By the end I was hooked, however. One of the truly great films, in my estimation.

Tarentino exposes his criminals as dark comedians with their own mind set of really being loyal to themselves. It's the fallacy of honor among thieves (or any kind of criminal for that matter) and he exploits that brilliantly. "Mean Streets" is not really dated in its basic concept because it's from Scorcese's own personal expriences on the streets of New York in that time and place in own youth. It's almost impossible to compare Scorcese with Tarentino as they are looking at the same human condition from both different viewpoints yet the result is the same.

What's ironic in the Tarantino film is that Keitel's character is completely done in by his sense of loyalty, not to himself, not to other criminals, but to an undercover agent.

I don't know how close to his personal experiences Scorsese made his film, but it's precisely because of this aspect of his film, "in that time and place in youth," that it is dated, quaint even.

I don't find it impossible to compare the two films given their similar themes. It's precisely because of that, the shared themes, that they are comparable. As you've noted LZ, the approach from different viewpoints looking at the same human condition with the same result--tragedy.

I was referring to comparing the styles of the two directors, not the thematic material. Scorcese's films always uses real life events if you think about it and Tarentino is conjuring up stories from his imagination inspired by crime fiction and old film noir. He looks at things from a more satirical point-of-view. "Pulp Fiction" didn't come by its title by accident.

Well, now Tarentino is satirizing old Kung Fu and Spaghetti Western movies.

Nov. 9 Releases:

Gone With The Wind (4 disc collector's edition) -- Warner Bros.
Marx Bros. Collection (their five Paramount films) -- Universal
W.C. Fields Collection (including "It's a Gift" and "My Little Chickadee") -- Universal

GWTW has previously been released on dvd, but this version not only has a lot of additional extras, it also has undergone an "ultra-restoration" process (previous WB dvds to undergo this process include "Singing in the Rain" and "Robin Hood").

The Marx Bros. Paramount movies have all been released on dvd, but those titles have long been out of print. Now they are packaged together and at a reasonable price.

None of the Fields films in the new collection have, as far as I know, been released on dvd except for "The Bank Dick."

All in all, a terrific day for lovers of classic films.

And more good news. In an article in the Chicago Tribune (registration required) regarding the GWTW release, it also mentioned other films that have been waiting for restoration and dvd release:

One glaring example is the mighty "King Kong," which film fans have been demanding since the advent of DVD. Yet Feltenstein and Price felt that any DVD release would be substandard, given that the film's original camera negative was missing. "We knew `King Kong' had to be gorgeous, it had to look wonderful, and Ned said he wanted to keep scouring the globe until he found the best possible elements," Feltenstein says. And lo and behold, the wait paid off. "We found -- can I talk about this? -- we found wonderful nitrate materials, which we didn't know about up to this point in time," says an elated Price. Already a year into the restoration process, the eventual "King Kong" DVD promises a picture quality not seen in decades.

King Kong has been on my dvd "most wanted" list for a long time now, and it's exciting to hear that a newly restored version is in the works.

EDIT: corrected a thoroughly ungrammatical sentence

Digital restoration is an exciting tool to enhance the resolution of film prints that have faded and lost detail. It cleans up the blurry edges and supplants color distortions. I don't have GWTW in my collection but this could prompt me to add the film.
The "King Kong" DVD is indeed exceptional news. Thanks, Joe.

Today's online edition of the New York Times had an article praising the dvd restoration efforts on the Marx Bros. movies, especially "The Cocoanuts." I'm much more interested in "Horse Feathers," the prints of which all suffer from missing footage and garbled sound.

Ohhhh, Gone with the Wind. Gimmee, gimmee, gimme. I want it. Wait! Today is the 9th! I'll get it!!