criterionforum.org

Gigi M. wrote:Beaver reviews All Quiet on The Waterfront, and the difference is astounding.

Is that that WWI picture where Brando stars as a boxer who "could have been a contender?"

I believe that one was The Bridge on the River Quiet. I now think the title we're all struggling to remember was All Quiet on the River Don.

The first round of these are on sale for $6.28 each at Deep Discount DVD right now...

DVDTalk reviews Arabian Nights.

Wave #2 hitting the shelves May 22nd

No Man of Her Own
Scarface
So Proudly We Hailed
Unconquered

Scarface in hand since sunday, and already gone through it twice. Absolutely beautiful restoration and telecine... very interesting inclusion of the "tamer" ending that Hughes ordered shot to placate the censors... then when he felt he was being double talked by them and they fought the films release anyhow (essentially doublecrossing him after the additonal expense of calling the cast back for the reshoots) he basically said "fuck it" and dumped the reshot material and restored the original hardboiled ending and ignored the markets with state censor boards and released the fucking thing in it's excelloent brass-knuckle form... and made a fortune in dough and cinematic credibility. Doesn't exactly make LITTLE CAESAR & PUBLIUC ENEMY look tame by comparison, but damned near almost does...

God do I love this film, though some of the jiving on Italians w the bad accents borders on clowning (not to mention to the bit with the 'secretary' being run into the ground ad nauseum), it's nuclear entertainment of the highest order... and some of Lee Garmes most beautiful work. Hawks fine work with large groups of gloomy masculinity in such fine form i e when Lovo walks into the room (after Muni crashes the the door-window apart) with his boys to neuter the crowd of grumbling, toothpick chewing bootleggers. SOme of the closeups of heavy rugged faces in deep shadow reminds of of Mamoulian;s work in CITY STREEts and APPLAUSE. A great film worthy of it's reputation. For those who havent caught it owing to it's absence on dvd, be sure to spring for the 10 bucks and grab it, if for no other reason (if you dont like very old films) than to see how close to the original DePalma & Pacino hewed when they remade it in the 80's.

Any difference between the new Scarface and the one released with the 1983 boxset?

Transfer is different, and there is a Robert Osborne intro now.
I won't upgrade my old Scarface disc. Funny thing is that I have had the DVD for quite some time now and I have NEVER seen the movie......
It's about time to do so.....

I'm inclined to agree somewhat about the overdone Italian stereotypes, but, having said that, the secretary definitely made me laugh (TONY "Tell him to state his bussiness" SEKATERY "Go state-a you bussiness!") If only he'd been in a comedy and not intruding on one of the most brutal, 'hard-core' films to come out of Hollywood before Bonnie & Clyde)

manicsounds wrote:Transfer is different, and there is a Robert Osborne intro now.
I won't upgrade my old Scarface disc. Funny thing is that I have had the DVD for quite some time now and I have NEVER seen the movie......
It's about time to do so.....

I also don't think the alternate ending vs the censors that Hughes ordereed shot (then scrapped) was in that previous release... and if the Beev caps are any judge that old release was nothing compared to this, which is outstanding.

the alternate ending was indeed in the previous release. Or am I misunderstanding your statement? Too much wine again I'm afraid.

Is that Peter Boyle as your avatar?

(Old lady screech): Neveeer Miyynd.

I was going by someone who had a rip from that old release who'd never seen the alt end... so I figured that it wasn't on that release, whereas I guess that end just wasnt ripped in that particular case of uh, y'know, ripping.

Cinephrenic wrote:Is that Peter Boyle as your avatar?

You just made Mr. Boyle's eyes explode from his resting countenance.
If you really must know...it's me on one of my better days. Or was. I've had some plugs since then and they're taking hold nicely.

skuhn8 wrote:If you really must know...it's me on one of my better days. Or was. I've had some plugs since then and they're taking hold nicely.

I love it!

I wish I could say I was Capt. von Rauffenstein....

Let's all hope Universal decides to include Cobra Woman in their next batch.

For a second I thought it was on the second Best Buy-exclusive Classic Sci-Fi Collection, but that's Cult of the Cobra.

skuhn8 wrote:

Cinephrenic wrote:Is that Peter Boyle as your avatar?

You just made Mr. Boyle's eyes explode from his resting countenance.
If you really must know...it's me on one of my better days. Or was. I've had some plugs since then and they're taking hold nicely.

...all I know is this: all I know is this; all I know is this--

all I know is this, that if skuhn hadn't taken that pic from dvdverdict, and then on top of that allowed poor cinephrenic to go on actually believing that that dude was him, my vote for forum member of the year would have been a lot simpler this year. It's the greatest vaudevillian routine I've yet seen around here.

Lino wrote:Let's all hope Universal decides to include Cobra Woman in their next batch.

Let's all hope there is a next batch. It's been awhile. And yes, Cobra Woman better be in it, looking just as spiffy as the Carlotta.

Wave three has been announced. Tip o' the hat to starmanof51 and Lino for the scoop. ClassicFlix has the art and specs.

This is the announcement of the year for me thus far, but that cover art is dire. I still would have liked a "written by Billy Wilder" set with Midnight, Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, Hold Back the Dawn, The Major and the Minor, and A Foreign Affair. Maybe we'll get the other three somewhere down the line.

souvenir wrote:I still would have liked a "written by Billy Wilder" set with Midnight, Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, Hold Back the Dawn, The Major and the Minor, and A Foreign Affair.

That would be a sure-fire "release of the year" candidate for me. Don't forget to throw Five Graves to Cairo in there too. The Lubitsch musicals coming out from Eclipse gave me some hope that they might be able to do a Wilder box as you describe, souvenir. I'll gladly take the Universal discs though. This will be the first wave of their "Cinema Classics" line in which I will greedily pick up every release.

Delirious at finally having Mitchell Leisen's Midnight (screenplay by Wilder & Brackett) and Easy Living (written by Preston Sturges) on DVD. Fabulous news.

They could have done a Mae West Screen Goddess Volume 2 but noooooo........ greedy bastards!