Paramount Catalog Titles on Blu

[cdnchris]

If I recall correctly, the theatrical cut is Crowe's director's cut, so it may be still worth watching for that. I think the idea behind the Bootleg Cut (called Untitled) was it was supposed to be a sort of homage to bootleg recordings of unreleased material from bands/singers that would get passed around. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm misremembering.

Still only have the DVD, so may have to finally upgrade.

[flyonthewall2983]

That sounds a bit right. The credits both opening and end have that kind of bootleg VHS feel to it.

I remember on an episode of Dinner For Five Jon Favreau said he was offered the Lester Bangs part. Said he couldn’t get into it because he’s not deep into music, which makes me think his character in PCU wasn’t so far off.

But man Philip Seymour Hoffman really owned that characterization and expressed a love of writing I can actually relate to now.

[flyonthewall2983]

(And if you're wondering this specifically, I don't believe there is anything in the theatrical cut that's not in the DC.)

I was actually wondering more what is left out of the theatrical cut. Nothing seemed very excessive to me, a major irony in a movie about decadence.

[knives]

Is the movie at all about decadence? I would have never read that into the movie.

[flyonthewall2983]

It’s not a wealthy decadence but what a group of handsome talented guys (and Mark Kozelek) with a song in the charts could get away with in the 70’s, as opposed to now. It’s also viewed in a much sweeter almost innocent way then perhaps what was really going on. It’s the natural product of what happens in the movie’s juxtaposition of a young man who’s a little more mature for his age pursuing journalism, and these slightly older men (and their entourage) are not above acting like children while maintaining the discipline of craft and performance a band like theirs would have been at this point in their career.

[DeprongMori]

Is it just a run of bad luck on my part, or is the state of Paramount’s vault and their output generally far worse than the other major studios? I watched Mitchell Leisen’s Swing High, Swing Low recently on the Paramount+ streaming channel, and the picture quality was worse than a low-bitrate bad fourth-generation dupe of a public domain title. I watched Schultze Gets the Blues last night, rented from iTunes, and it looked like a PAL-to-NTSC conversion of a low-res source. (This one opened with the Paramount logo, but I’m not sure whether they actually own the rights to the film.)

There have been a number of other films I’ve streamed from legit sources (including Criterion Channel) where the picture quality has been low res and generally dismal that I noted were Paramount, but don’t recall the title off-hand.

Have they had a particularly troubled financial history, or other issues that have led to this apparent dire present state of their assets?

[domino harvey]

I think Swing High Swing Low is in the public domain, so they may just be offering it because they can

[Monterey Jack]

Good call. It's absurd that a relatively recent big budget action adventure film as popular as True Lies isn't out yet

I think Cameron is somewhat "ashamed" of it, because a lot of it is politically dicey by today's hyper-sensitive standards ("It's racist! It's sexist...!")

That doesn't explain why we haven't gotten The Abyss yet, 'tho. That's a movie that should be hitting 4K UHD by now, and yet we're still stuck with a non-anamorphic DVD from over TWENTY YEARS ago. #-o

[captveg]

Some more upcoming titles:

1/25/22
Dreamer (2005) (DreamWorks)

2/8/22
Foul Play (1978)
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

[cdnchris]

I'm impressed they're showing some real interest in putting out titles, but... they're really all over the place

[dwk]

A UHD we've all been waiting for. Paramount is releasing Escape from LA on UHD on February 22.

[yoloswegmaster]

A paywalled article from WSJ confirms that the Paramount Presents line will be releasing 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance' and 'Ordinary People' next year, as well as 4K UHD discs for some releases.

[domino harvey]

After years of putting it off, I finally bought Liberty Valance a week ago. You’re all welcome!

[Finch]

I love the film but I'm not buying a second or third Blu-Ray. UHD please!

[domino harvey]

The Accused in March

[captveg]

As well as Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001), a Rugrats movie collection, and Ordinary People (1980).

[domino harvey]

Soapdish and Let It Ride coming in April

[senseabove]

But cancel culture

[domino harvey]

What did Richard Dreyfuss do now

[hearthesilence]

What did Richard Dreyfuss do now

Joking aside, he was accused of something early on, but he gave a pretty honest response and it seemed to blow over.

[cdnchris]

Soapdish

"I'm going crazy with the boredom, Michael. At least in prison we had knife fights and we had movie nights. And once, both. Those men did not enjoy Soapdish. I think you have to know that world."

[senseabove]

What did Richard Dreyfuss do now

Unless he wrote the last ten minutes of Soapdish, I was talking about something else.

[cdnchris]

Domino was joking that Let it Ride was the problematic title. I'm sure he remembers "the twist" that didn't age well in the other.
(Even though it was a play on soap opera twists.)

[domino harvey]

Win a Date With Tad Hamilton also coming in April; Topher Grace: Also not canceled

EDIT And Orange County

[therewillbeblus]

When was Topher Grace canceled? Are you thinking of Danny Masterson?