I have to say though, that despite the veneration heaped on Hitchcock's mid-50 to early-60s movies, I can't say I'm mad on that period of his career. Obviously Herrmann's scores are among the best ever written for Hitchcock's work, but while I find The Trouble With Harry and The Man Who Knew Too Much very entertaining, I don't think they are as strong as Rear Window or some of his earlier films.
The Wrong Man is a weaker Hitchcock effort, and I feel North By Northwest (despite some great moments) is too riddled with plot holes. And I don't particularly like Vertigo (sorry cineastes!), and find The Birds unatastisfying.
rate the last movie you saw
-
Paul MacLean
- Posts: 7088
- Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2004 10:26 pm
- Location: New York
-
Eric Paddon
- Posts: 8652
- Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2005 5:49 pm
Re: rate the last movie you saw
North By Northwest I am forgiving of the plot holes only because Hitchcock moves things along so compellingly that you don't think of them until after the fact. I also enjoy the atmospheric build-up of The Birds.
Wrong Man is not very compelling. Marnie is dull and not interesting. Psycho is terrific but I think people have given too much short-shrift to Leigh's performance and I don't buy the argument that people are suddenly "for" Norman when he is then trying to dispose of the body etc.
Wrong Man is not very compelling. Marnie is dull and not interesting. Psycho is terrific but I think people have given too much short-shrift to Leigh's performance and I don't buy the argument that people are suddenly "for" Norman when he is then trying to dispose of the body etc.
-
AndyDursin
- Posts: 34343
- Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:45 pm
- Location: RI
Re: rate the last movie you saw
Agreed. And things didn't get any better in the 60s (TORN CURTAIN...TOPAZ....zzzzzz)Paul MacLean wrote: ↑Thu Jul 25, 2019 11:37 am I have to say though, that despite the veneration heaped on Hitchcock's mid-50 to early-60s movies, I can't say I'm mad on that period of his career. Obviously Herrmann's scores are among the best ever written for Hitchcock's work, but while I find The Trouble With Harry and The Man Who Knew Too Much very entertaining, I don't think they are as strong as Rear Window or some of his earlier films.
The Wrong Man is a weaker Hitchcock effort, and I feel North By Northwest (despite some great moments) is too riddled with plot holes. And I don't particularly like Vertigo (sorry cineastes!), and find The Birds unatastisfying.
-
Eric Paddon
- Posts: 8652
- Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2005 5:49 pm
Re: rate the last movie you saw
Torn Curtain and Topaz are more interesting stories for me than Marnie, even though both are flawed. Don't like Frenzy (too violent).
-
AndyDursin
- Posts: 34343
- Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:45 pm
- Location: RI
Re: rate the last movie you saw
AVENGERS: ENDGAME
7.5/10
Now the biggest global hit of all-time (not counting inflation), AVENGERS: ENDGAME wraps up Marvel’s two-film behemoth and also puts a lid on over a decade of some 22 movies featuring the comic book company-turned-Disney brand’s super-heroes. It’s not particularly witty or artfully executed, but as far as fan-service films go, this bloated but entertaining picture gets the job done, and wisely focuses on the original core of “Avengers” members for much of its running time instead of the “Marvel All-Star Rally” featured in its exhausting predecessor.
Out to find a way (read: time travel) to “fix” Thanos’ removal of half of Earth’s population, that group -- anchored by Robert Downey, Jr.’s Iron Man, Chris Evans’ Captain America, Thor (Chris Hemsworth, at his best here), Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) – has always been the heart and soul of Marvel’s best features. However, the team concept hasn’t always translated to the screen as well as Disney’s standalone character pictures – this was especially true of the prior installment, “Infinity War,” which was handcuffed by a repetitive amount of fisticuffs and a formula that seemed designed by a bot to delegate lines and scenes to every one of Marvel’s big-screen heroes – dozens of them, in fact.
That problem is mitigated by writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely here, since “Endgame” concentrates on just the handful or so surviving heroes and their attempts to break into the Quantum Realm (giving Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man something to do) and retrieve the Infinity Stones before Thanos gets his hands on them all. That also enables directors Anthony and Joe Russo to rewind back into the narratives of prior Marvel pictures for the team to stage their own “Mission: Impossible”-esque series of caper sequences, and the picture works best in those moments. Less effective is the drawn-out first hour (it’s the 65-minute mark before the film really kicks into gear), and predictable mishmash climax, wherein the revived Marvel characters team up for one last battle – combined with Alan Silvestri’s wearisome score, the climax recalls the head-banging first three-hours of this two-film epic, and not in a good way.
Yet fans won’t (and didn’t) mind, making “Endgame” the kind of critic-proof audience experience that was smartly engineered for the Marvel fanbase, who especially after the tepid “Captain Marvel,” seem to be willing to give anything that has the brand name on it a stamp of approval.
“Avengers: Endgame” comes to 4K UHD and Blu-Ray on August 13th. Truthfully this 4K presentation isn’t all that eye-popping, but that’s likely due to the drab cinematography that only allows for intermittent flashes of noticeable HDR usage. The Dolby Atmos sound is fairly aggressive though I didn’t detect a ton of difference between it and the 7.1 DTS MA Blu-Ray mix. Extras run the gamut from a slew of featurettes to deleted scenes, a gag reel and a tribute to the late, great Stan Lee, along with the Blu-Ray and Digital HD code.
7.5/10
Now the biggest global hit of all-time (not counting inflation), AVENGERS: ENDGAME wraps up Marvel’s two-film behemoth and also puts a lid on over a decade of some 22 movies featuring the comic book company-turned-Disney brand’s super-heroes. It’s not particularly witty or artfully executed, but as far as fan-service films go, this bloated but entertaining picture gets the job done, and wisely focuses on the original core of “Avengers” members for much of its running time instead of the “Marvel All-Star Rally” featured in its exhausting predecessor.
Out to find a way (read: time travel) to “fix” Thanos’ removal of half of Earth’s population, that group -- anchored by Robert Downey, Jr.’s Iron Man, Chris Evans’ Captain America, Thor (Chris Hemsworth, at his best here), Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) – has always been the heart and soul of Marvel’s best features. However, the team concept hasn’t always translated to the screen as well as Disney’s standalone character pictures – this was especially true of the prior installment, “Infinity War,” which was handcuffed by a repetitive amount of fisticuffs and a formula that seemed designed by a bot to delegate lines and scenes to every one of Marvel’s big-screen heroes – dozens of them, in fact.
That problem is mitigated by writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely here, since “Endgame” concentrates on just the handful or so surviving heroes and their attempts to break into the Quantum Realm (giving Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man something to do) and retrieve the Infinity Stones before Thanos gets his hands on them all. That also enables directors Anthony and Joe Russo to rewind back into the narratives of prior Marvel pictures for the team to stage their own “Mission: Impossible”-esque series of caper sequences, and the picture works best in those moments. Less effective is the drawn-out first hour (it’s the 65-minute mark before the film really kicks into gear), and predictable mishmash climax, wherein the revived Marvel characters team up for one last battle – combined with Alan Silvestri’s wearisome score, the climax recalls the head-banging first three-hours of this two-film epic, and not in a good way.
Yet fans won’t (and didn’t) mind, making “Endgame” the kind of critic-proof audience experience that was smartly engineered for the Marvel fanbase, who especially after the tepid “Captain Marvel,” seem to be willing to give anything that has the brand name on it a stamp of approval.
“Avengers: Endgame” comes to 4K UHD and Blu-Ray on August 13th. Truthfully this 4K presentation isn’t all that eye-popping, but that’s likely due to the drab cinematography that only allows for intermittent flashes of noticeable HDR usage. The Dolby Atmos sound is fairly aggressive though I didn’t detect a ton of difference between it and the 7.1 DTS MA Blu-Ray mix. Extras run the gamut from a slew of featurettes to deleted scenes, a gag reel and a tribute to the late, great Stan Lee, along with the Blu-Ray and Digital HD code.
Re: rate the last movie you saw
Andy
are the discs 4k or BR the re-release version with the end credit snippets or is that being saved for another day to get everyone to buy it twice?
thanks for the advice
regards
Andy b
are the discs 4k or BR the re-release version with the end credit snippets or is that being saved for another day to get everyone to buy it twice?
thanks for the advice
regards
Andy b
-
AndyDursin
- Posts: 34343
- Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:45 pm
- Location: RI
Re: rate the last movie you saw
It's the latter -- and I know you aren't surprised!are the discs 4k or BR the re-release version with the end credit snippets or is that being saved for another day to get everyone to buy it twice?
EDIT - I guess the "added material" Disney tacked on was just an ad for SPIDER-MAN HOMECOMING, so not much is being missed...
-
Eric Paddon
- Posts: 8652
- Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2005 5:49 pm
Re: rate the last movie you saw
The Hustler (1961) 8 of 10
-I hadn't seen this in about 25 years or so and just got the cheap Blu-Ray release for free with Amazon points. Despite its length (135 minutes) it never seems overly padded (in fact there's clearly one narrative gap when Piper Laurie later says she wasn't crippled in a car accident. There was never any scene in the final cut where she said this earlier). This is probably Newman's best performance in his prime and he should have gotten the Oscar for this instead of his "consolation prize" Oscar for the same part 25 years later in a far less memorable film. With all due respect to Maximilian Schell, his part wasn't even a true "Best Actor" part (the Supporting Actor part he would have been more worthy of, but even there he would have run into George C. Scott and Jackie Gleason, both of whom are more worthy than George Chakiris in "West Side Story" for goodness sake).
-It's amazing to see in 1961, Michael Constantine already looking like a middle-aged overweight man and realizing he's still alive today!
-I hadn't seen this in about 25 years or so and just got the cheap Blu-Ray release for free with Amazon points. Despite its length (135 minutes) it never seems overly padded (in fact there's clearly one narrative gap when Piper Laurie later says she wasn't crippled in a car accident. There was never any scene in the final cut where she said this earlier). This is probably Newman's best performance in his prime and he should have gotten the Oscar for this instead of his "consolation prize" Oscar for the same part 25 years later in a far less memorable film. With all due respect to Maximilian Schell, his part wasn't even a true "Best Actor" part (the Supporting Actor part he would have been more worthy of, but even there he would have run into George C. Scott and Jackie Gleason, both of whom are more worthy than George Chakiris in "West Side Story" for goodness sake).
-It's amazing to see in 1961, Michael Constantine already looking like a middle-aged overweight man and realizing he's still alive today!
-
AndyDursin
- Posts: 34343
- Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:45 pm
- Location: RI
Re: rate the last movie you saw
SWEET CHARITY
6.5/10
There are fewer cinematic eras more fascinating than the late ‘60s. Iconoclast filmmakers like Stanley Kubrick unleashed classics like “2001” while previously reliable genres like the movie musical nearly drowned several major studios. 20th Century Fox’s “Star!”, Paramount’s “Darling Lili” and Universal’s SWEET CHARITY (145/151 mins., 1968, G) proved to be big-budget disappointments in a genre that once reliably drew audiences – a sign of shifting times and attitudes, and also, perhaps, the respective source material involved in each instance. In the case of the latter, Bob Fosse’s adaptation of his Broadway hit proves to be a weird, highly watchable and yet ultimately unsatisfying fusion of a “mod” downer with old-fashioned musical-comedy sensibilities, as strange as the teaming of Fosse with writer Neil Simon sounds on paper.
Adapting the Fellini New Wave classic “Nights of Cabiria,” “Sweet Charity” stars Shirley MacLaine (downgrade) in Gwen Verdon’s stage role as the New York City dance hall hostess whose hopes for true love – and breaking out of the gutter – are dashed at seemingly every opportunity. Her initial romance fails, her meeting with an internationally famous director (Ricardo Montalban) is met with disbelief by her fellow chorus girls (Chita Rivera and Paula Kelly among them), and her eventual relationship with a klutzy, buttoned-down guy (John McMartin, repeating his stage performance) offers a rocky road all its own.
On stage, one can surmise why “Sweet Charity” was a hit – Fosse’s dynamic choreography puts the best of Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields’ otherwise forgettable song-score over the top (“Hey Big Spender,” “If My Friends Could See Me Now,” “There’s Gotta Be Something Better Than This”), and with a talent like Verdon anchoring it down, it was probably easier to forgive the tonal shifts that exist in the material. Or, to be more specific, the differing artistic flourishes provided by Fosse and the likes of Neil Simon, whose book (adapted for the film by Peter Stone) is much lighter than the overall delivery of the entire project.
When placed on-screen, those issues are amplified – legitimately funny sequences like MacLaine and McMartin being stuck in an elevator are surrounded by Fosse’s comparatively more “adult”, cutting bits with Charity and her friends at work. Then there are “what the bleep” moments like Sammy Davis, Jr. leading a hippie revival in a big showpiece number that really has nothing to do with the story or the characters (it actually stops the film dead), but does offer concrete proof of the era in which it was produced.
It’s no wonder Universal wanted Fosse to shoot a happier ending than the show’s original finale – while universally derided as being unnecessary, that reshot ending (ultimately unused by the studio) isn’t ultimately any less satisfying than the pretentious conclusion that caps the released “Roadshow” version of the film. Neither really works, but each is indicative of the two directions the story is pulled throughout – a cinematic tug-of-war that’s made highly watchable through the dance sequences and occasional flashes of Fosse’s brilliance…the ones that often pass by after a deadly song that doesn’t advance the material in any meaningful way.
Kino Lorber has produced a magnificent Blu-Ray edition of “Sweet Charity.” The 151-minute Roadshow version (with the original ending of the show) offers a beautiful 4K (2.35) restoration with an equally stunning 5.1 DTS MA stereo soundtrack (the mono soundtrack, heard in non-70mm exhibitions, is also included). The colors are magnificent and detail is strong – stronger, in fact, than the 145-minute “Alternate Version”, contained here on a second platter with DTS MA stereo sound and a good, but not as freshly restored, Universal catalog master. A couple of archival featurettes are included plus the trailer, a commentary from Kat Ellinger and a well-rounded, as-always astute reading of the film and its overall strengths from Julie Kirgo.
6.5/10
There are fewer cinematic eras more fascinating than the late ‘60s. Iconoclast filmmakers like Stanley Kubrick unleashed classics like “2001” while previously reliable genres like the movie musical nearly drowned several major studios. 20th Century Fox’s “Star!”, Paramount’s “Darling Lili” and Universal’s SWEET CHARITY (145/151 mins., 1968, G) proved to be big-budget disappointments in a genre that once reliably drew audiences – a sign of shifting times and attitudes, and also, perhaps, the respective source material involved in each instance. In the case of the latter, Bob Fosse’s adaptation of his Broadway hit proves to be a weird, highly watchable and yet ultimately unsatisfying fusion of a “mod” downer with old-fashioned musical-comedy sensibilities, as strange as the teaming of Fosse with writer Neil Simon sounds on paper.
Adapting the Fellini New Wave classic “Nights of Cabiria,” “Sweet Charity” stars Shirley MacLaine (downgrade) in Gwen Verdon’s stage role as the New York City dance hall hostess whose hopes for true love – and breaking out of the gutter – are dashed at seemingly every opportunity. Her initial romance fails, her meeting with an internationally famous director (Ricardo Montalban) is met with disbelief by her fellow chorus girls (Chita Rivera and Paula Kelly among them), and her eventual relationship with a klutzy, buttoned-down guy (John McMartin, repeating his stage performance) offers a rocky road all its own.
On stage, one can surmise why “Sweet Charity” was a hit – Fosse’s dynamic choreography puts the best of Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields’ otherwise forgettable song-score over the top (“Hey Big Spender,” “If My Friends Could See Me Now,” “There’s Gotta Be Something Better Than This”), and with a talent like Verdon anchoring it down, it was probably easier to forgive the tonal shifts that exist in the material. Or, to be more specific, the differing artistic flourishes provided by Fosse and the likes of Neil Simon, whose book (adapted for the film by Peter Stone) is much lighter than the overall delivery of the entire project.
When placed on-screen, those issues are amplified – legitimately funny sequences like MacLaine and McMartin being stuck in an elevator are surrounded by Fosse’s comparatively more “adult”, cutting bits with Charity and her friends at work. Then there are “what the bleep” moments like Sammy Davis, Jr. leading a hippie revival in a big showpiece number that really has nothing to do with the story or the characters (it actually stops the film dead), but does offer concrete proof of the era in which it was produced.
It’s no wonder Universal wanted Fosse to shoot a happier ending than the show’s original finale – while universally derided as being unnecessary, that reshot ending (ultimately unused by the studio) isn’t ultimately any less satisfying than the pretentious conclusion that caps the released “Roadshow” version of the film. Neither really works, but each is indicative of the two directions the story is pulled throughout – a cinematic tug-of-war that’s made highly watchable through the dance sequences and occasional flashes of Fosse’s brilliance…the ones that often pass by after a deadly song that doesn’t advance the material in any meaningful way.
Kino Lorber has produced a magnificent Blu-Ray edition of “Sweet Charity.” The 151-minute Roadshow version (with the original ending of the show) offers a beautiful 4K (2.35) restoration with an equally stunning 5.1 DTS MA stereo soundtrack (the mono soundtrack, heard in non-70mm exhibitions, is also included). The colors are magnificent and detail is strong – stronger, in fact, than the 145-minute “Alternate Version”, contained here on a second platter with DTS MA stereo sound and a good, but not as freshly restored, Universal catalog master. A couple of archival featurettes are included plus the trailer, a commentary from Kat Ellinger and a well-rounded, as-always astute reading of the film and its overall strengths from Julie Kirgo.
-
Eric Paddon
- Posts: 8652
- Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2005 5:49 pm
Re: rate the last movie you saw
I do need to get this. The "happy ending" cut I presume does not have the Overture/Entr'Acte/Exit Music? I will admit I will take the upbeat ending because the original one is just pretentious and makes me feel like I wasted my time. While the alternate is overly conventional at least it leaves you with a smile on your face (too bad Gwen Verdon never got that ending on Broadway).
"Rhythm Of Life" I agree just falls like a lead balloon. It was considered a big specialty number on Broadway and it was supposed to be a big deal to get Sammy Davis, Jr. to do it but it doesn't advance anything and frankly I've never bought the idea that strait-laced John McMartin would go to something like that! It totally works against the tone of the show.
"Rhythm Of Life" I agree just falls like a lead balloon. It was considered a big specialty number on Broadway and it was supposed to be a big deal to get Sammy Davis, Jr. to do it but it doesn't advance anything and frankly I've never bought the idea that strait-laced John McMartin would go to something like that! It totally works against the tone of the show.
-
AndyDursin
- Posts: 34343
- Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:45 pm
- Location: RI
Re: rate the last movie you saw
Right, the longer version (billed here as the Roadshow Cut) is a newer restoration which has a noticeably superior transfer plus the Overture etc. The "alternate version" with the happy ending still looks pretty good, but it's not a 4K restoration and looks a little aged in appearance.The "happy ending" cut I presume does not have the Overture/Entr'Acte/Exit Music?
I agree on the endings -- as I wrote, I have my issues with the show itself so either has its drawbacks, but that "happy ending" really doesn't seem entirely out of place given the uneven nature of the material.
If you do pick it up, be forewarned the commentary is horrific.
I am out of explanations for how some of these people get hired...this woman is quite terrible.
-
Eric Paddon
- Posts: 8652
- Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2005 5:49 pm
Re: rate the last movie you saw
If she's as bad as Kirgo usually is in both liner notes and commentaries, I will definitely pass. I keep finding increasingly that the overwhelming majority of commentaries tend to be more miss than hit. If it isn't boring symbolism and uber-technical stuff, it can also be outright ignorance of certain things or just giving a dull rehash of the on-screen action and the worst of course is when they go off into political/social commentary sidebars.
-
AndyDursin
- Posts: 34343
- Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:45 pm
- Location: RI
Re: rate the last movie you saw
Julie does often dive into social components, but I find many times her commentaries are very listenable and insightful about the films themselves. Especially compared to the likes of Criterion's usual stable of stuffy film professors.
Ellinger is a stunningly inarticulate speaker who edits some British horror magazine. I'm not sure who's worse -- her or Lee Gambin, an Australian guy who suddenly has been popping up on a bunch of Kino and Shout releases.
Ellinger is a stunningly inarticulate speaker who edits some British horror magazine. I'm not sure who's worse -- her or Lee Gambin, an Australian guy who suddenly has been popping up on a bunch of Kino and Shout releases.
-
AndyDursin
- Posts: 34343
- Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:45 pm
- Location: RI
Re: rate the last movie you saw
Couple of Warner Archive reviews...
WAGON MASTER (1950)
7/10
MOONFLEET (1955)
7/10
Somewhat curiously regarded by the great John Ford as his favorite work, the likable if rather unremarkable WAGON MASTER (86 mins., 1950) offers Ford’s repertory company – minus the star power of a Ford or Fonda – in the casual tale of a group of Mormons being escorted to southwestern Utah by a pair of horse traders (top-billed Ben Johnson and Harry Carey, Jr.). Frank Nugent and Patrick Ford’s script has the group encounter a succession of people and endure a number of escapades along the way, but it’s only in the second half where “Wagon Master” pits the group against the Cleggs, an outlaw gang using the wagon train as a hideout.
Warner’s beautiful Archive transfer (1.37) has been newly restored and is filled with pinpoint detail, which is important since the mood and setting of “Wagon Master” are vital to the picture. This is a low-key film that’s certainly worthwhile for Ford aficionados, yet I have to admit I didn’t find the picture especially compelling, with a song-filled, Sons of the Pioneers-led soundtrack that misses the likes of a Tiomkin score that could’ve added more punch. A vintage commentary with Harry Carey, Jr., Peter Bogdanovich and Ford is included plus DTS MA mono sound.
Also new from Warner Archive this month is the uneven but often quite entertaining MOONFLEET (87 mins., 1955), Fritz Lang’s moody MGM pirate adventure. Set along the Cornwall coast in the mid 1700s, this adaptation of J. Meade Falkner’s book (itself as reportedly popular as “Treasure Island” back in its day) offers Stewart Granger as an aristocrat who also moonlights as a smuggler. His life is turned upside down by the arrival of young John Mohune (a quite impressive performance from then nine-year-old Jon Whiteley), sent to live with him at the behest of his mother, who once had a relationship with the man. Granger’s Jeremy Fox wants as little to do with John – whose dilapidated family estate still resides nearby – as possible, at least until they go hunting for a long-lost diamond, buried in secret years before.
Though not as exciting as Disney’s “Treasure Island” – and bogged down with a little too much talk – there are still plenty of things to like about “Moonfleet.” Lang’s direction brings out a number of interesting performances, from Granger and Whiteley to George Sanders as a dastardly villain and female roles filled by the likes of Joan Greenwood and Viveca Lindfors. The Cinemascope lensing and Miklos Rozsa’s wonderful score add a touch of grandeur, and several terrific moments (Whiteley swinging in a well, trying to grab the diamond; a climactic chase sequence) make this an entertaining view and an especially worthwhile title on Blu-Ray. Warner Archive’s 1080p (2.35) transfer houses pleasing colors and the 2.0 DTS MA stereo soundtrack is rousing, marked by a wide dynamic range and directional dialogue.
WAGON MASTER (1950)
7/10
MOONFLEET (1955)
7/10
Somewhat curiously regarded by the great John Ford as his favorite work, the likable if rather unremarkable WAGON MASTER (86 mins., 1950) offers Ford’s repertory company – minus the star power of a Ford or Fonda – in the casual tale of a group of Mormons being escorted to southwestern Utah by a pair of horse traders (top-billed Ben Johnson and Harry Carey, Jr.). Frank Nugent and Patrick Ford’s script has the group encounter a succession of people and endure a number of escapades along the way, but it’s only in the second half where “Wagon Master” pits the group against the Cleggs, an outlaw gang using the wagon train as a hideout.
Warner’s beautiful Archive transfer (1.37) has been newly restored and is filled with pinpoint detail, which is important since the mood and setting of “Wagon Master” are vital to the picture. This is a low-key film that’s certainly worthwhile for Ford aficionados, yet I have to admit I didn’t find the picture especially compelling, with a song-filled, Sons of the Pioneers-led soundtrack that misses the likes of a Tiomkin score that could’ve added more punch. A vintage commentary with Harry Carey, Jr., Peter Bogdanovich and Ford is included plus DTS MA mono sound.
Also new from Warner Archive this month is the uneven but often quite entertaining MOONFLEET (87 mins., 1955), Fritz Lang’s moody MGM pirate adventure. Set along the Cornwall coast in the mid 1700s, this adaptation of J. Meade Falkner’s book (itself as reportedly popular as “Treasure Island” back in its day) offers Stewart Granger as an aristocrat who also moonlights as a smuggler. His life is turned upside down by the arrival of young John Mohune (a quite impressive performance from then nine-year-old Jon Whiteley), sent to live with him at the behest of his mother, who once had a relationship with the man. Granger’s Jeremy Fox wants as little to do with John – whose dilapidated family estate still resides nearby – as possible, at least until they go hunting for a long-lost diamond, buried in secret years before.
Though not as exciting as Disney’s “Treasure Island” – and bogged down with a little too much talk – there are still plenty of things to like about “Moonfleet.” Lang’s direction brings out a number of interesting performances, from Granger and Whiteley to George Sanders as a dastardly villain and female roles filled by the likes of Joan Greenwood and Viveca Lindfors. The Cinemascope lensing and Miklos Rozsa’s wonderful score add a touch of grandeur, and several terrific moments (Whiteley swinging in a well, trying to grab the diamond; a climactic chase sequence) make this an entertaining view and an especially worthwhile title on Blu-Ray. Warner Archive’s 1080p (2.35) transfer houses pleasing colors and the 2.0 DTS MA stereo soundtrack is rousing, marked by a wide dynamic range and directional dialogue.
-
AndyDursin
- Posts: 34343
- Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:45 pm
- Location: RI
Re: rate the last movie you saw
Back on SWEET CHARITY for a second: good to know I wasn't the only one who thought the commentary sucked . The Blu-Ray.com guy said the same.
Apparently the Roadshow is also "missing Entracte and Exit Music"? I am not familiar with this movie so it's beyond my scope of knowledge.
Apparently the Roadshow is also "missing Entracte and Exit Music"? I am not familiar with this movie so it's beyond my scope of knowledge.