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Last night I was looking for a recording of Walt Solek's "Old Whisky Shoes," which is of course the song that plays a couple of times in "Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe." I mysteriously came up with nothing--it's not on iTunes, Discogs couldn't find a release with it on there (not vinyl, not CD, nothing), even searching for it on YouTube or Google comes up pretty much exclusively with links to "Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe," and not the isolated track. Has anyone come across it anywhere outside of this film?

I believe it was originally released on Jimmy Sturr's Starr Records in the 1970s, and according to this radio playlist it was also included on an album called Polka Fever (probably a compilation). The song has also been included on several cheapo Polka compilations, but it seems to be credited to Stan Skawinski on some of those, so it could easily be a different recording than the one heard in the Blank film, though they sound very similar to my ears. This kind of music isn't my forte.

I was at a screening for A Poem is a Naked Person last night, and there was a Q&A with Harrod Blank and Maureen Gosling after. I asked Harrod about this film, and he said that they haven't started remastering it yet, and that Criterion doesn't want to pay for it. He said that Les Blank Films will end up paying, and Criterion will still release it, but it's going to be a while.

Weird, since there's obviously a great HD version of the film available in the BFI Herzog set.

Drucker wrote:Weird, since there's obviously a great HD version of the film available in the BFI Herzog set.

That's a good point. I haven't seen the version on the Herzog Blu-ray, I wonder what either Harrod Blank's issue with that is, or if they don't have access to those masters somehow?

Drucker wrote:Weird, since there's obviously a great HD version of the film available in the BFI Herzog set.

I think you have your wires crossed. The Leon Russell film has never been released anywhere, and has nothing to do with Herzog. The DCP looks lovely, and it's a great film except for Leon Russell (probably the most boring subject of any Blank film - though I haven't seen the Huey Lewis one !)

What did danieltiger mean by "this film"? I thought he meant Burden of Dreams since he posted in the thread for it.

Hi Daniel and others: For the record, my comment about Burden of Dreams being remastered and released on Blu Ray should be elaborated upon in that Criterion didn't want to pay for it AT THIS TIME given the fact that we have just done all this work on A Poem Is A Naked Person. Please be patient, it will happen, but this is a very expensive and time consuming endeavor and right now we all have our plates full. I do not want to portray any dissatisfaction with the way in which Criterion has been handing Les Blank's works - on the contrary - I am very pleased with what they have done. This will happen given a bit more time. Thank you- Harrod Blank

No, thank you for your contribution to cinematic history! (And I'm not just referring to your role in Killer Klowns from Outer Space.)

excentrix wrote:Hi Daniel and others: For the record, my comment about Burden of Dreams being remastered and released on Blu Ray should be elaborated upon in that Criterion didn't want to pay for it AT THIS TIME given the fact that we have just done all this work on A Poem Is A Naked Person. Please be patient, it will happen, but this is a very expensive and time consuming endeavor and right now we all have our plates full. I do not want to portray any dissatisfaction with the way in which Criterion has been handing Les Blank's works - on the contrary - I am very pleased with what they have done. This will happen given a bit more time. Thank you- Harrod Blank

Ah yeah, sorry! Wasn't trying to indicate any sense of dissatisfaction. Just that it was going to be a while. Criterion's releases have been incredible so far, and I'm sure they will continue to be. Can't wait to be able to watch A Poem is a Naked Person in my house. Thanks!

swo17 wrote:What did danieltiger mean by "this film"? I thought he meant Burden of Dreams since he posted in the thread for it.

That's what it seemed like to me. At a screening for Poem, he asked about Burden of Dreams.

Drucker wrote:

swo17 wrote:What did danieltiger mean by "this film"? I thought he meant Burden of Dreams since he posted in the thread for it.

That's what it seemed like to me. At a screening for Poem, he asked about Burden of Dreams.

Yes, that's exactly what I meant.

swo17 wrote:What did danieltiger mean by "this film"? I thought he meant Burden of Dreams since he posted in the thread for it.

My mistake! I was reading the discussion on Tapatalk on my phone and the thread title was reduced to near-invisibility (I actually thought this was posted in the Blank Box Set thread).

I grabbed this in the sale, great film. Read the diaries monday, even more enjoyable than the film.

It appears that Burden of Dreams DVD is being reissued in March (I suppose the expected Blu edition is still forthcoming eventually). The DVD came with "an 80-page book of excerpts from Blank’s and Gosling’s production journals."

Given their track record with Vampyr / Two Lane Blacktop, its very likely that the 80page book will be removed from the reissue, so now would be a good time to think about buying the current DVD. Thanks for the heads up Ashirg

UHD upgrade coming in November

Who's got Fitzcarraldo in the US, if not Criterion? Shout?

Shout has all of Herzog in the US.

Thanks, dwk!

Minkin wrote: Thu Feb 04, 2016 2:01 amThe DVD came with "an 80-page book of excerpts from Blank’s and Gosling’s production journals."

I have the original DVD with this book, but I believe the reissued DVD dropped it. It seems like the book is being reinstated with the 4K release, which is great news.

this has a digipack so that seems to be the case. awesome news

I'm glad Les Blank now has two different releases that have ended up being November releases, cause Always for Pleasure was one too

Just noticed the book disappears from the extras on the new Blu-ray release. So it seems to be 4K exclusive.

Just confirming: This is a DVD to 4K upgrade? There hasn't been a previous blu ray release by Criterion, right?

Correct.

I'm being reductive, and I realize this is not his movie, but funny that in this case the "making of" doc arrived on 4k before the feature. Though with Herzog, I guess it's fitting as his mixing of fiction and non-fiction as well as playing with documentary objectivity is so central in his work.