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Yesterday, Craig Keller posted on twitter that Criterion is going release California Split.

Excellent news, that's my second favorite Altman film and just a wonderful gem from start to finish

Wonderful! Hope they get my avatar for an interview while he is still alive/semi-coherent, and that Kino Lorber does the same for The Touch, if that is indeed coming. Hope the music issues/cuts on Split have been resolved, too (I assume they have if Criterion is going to the effort of putting it out).

Edit-Just read Keller's tweet, seems that the forthcoming CC Split should be uncut.

Finally! Saw it in a double feature with The Long Goodbye (my first time seeing either film) and somehow came away liking it more. Such a fun movie and I'm pretty excited to see that basketball scene again.

Count me in as well. Was recently kicking myself for missing a screening last year.

With all the original music cleared and no generic substitutions, this is great news all around.

Indeed. Incidentally, Olive Films is also finally releasing his obscure debut "The Delinquents" next month. Now if someone would just put out "H.E.A.L.T.H." and the miniseries version of "Vincent and Theo" (an opportunity Olive did NOT take in their reissue from a couple years ago)... :-k

By pure coincidence, I actually watched this for the first time on Amazon Instant Video just last night. It was in HD, but clearly from an older master, but looked much better than I expected.

Very happy to hear Criterion are releasing it on Blu-ray, and hope that means it'll get a UK release as well (being a Sony title). Definitely one of the best Altman titles I've seen so far!

PS: I realised whilst watching it how close Fleck & Boden's Mississippi Grind is to this film. It's basically a remake, in fact, but with a different setting and slightly different characterisation. Be interesting to see if it's mentioned on the Criterion release, either in an extra or in the booklet/leaflet.

rapta wrote:I realised whilst watching it how close Fleck & Boden's Mississippi Grind is to this film

Even down to the poster.

MoonlitKnight wrote:Indeed. Incidentally, Olive Films is also finally releasing his obscure debut "The Delinquents" next month. Now if someone would just put out "H.E.A.L.T.H." and the miniseries version of "Vincent and Theo" (an opportunity Olive did NOT take in their reissue from a couple years ago)... :-k

For those who are Altman completist, one user on Youtube uploaded H.E.A.L.T.H from the airing on the Fox Movie Channel, all in it's intended 2:35;1 aspect ratio!

Link

Alas, only the credit sequence is in widescreen. Well, not really "alas", as I don't care for this film.

Just notice the P&S after the credits. I'd assume the film would be untacked by the channel given Fox history on widescreen formatting, so it rather unfortunate even if the film is consider one of the worst amongst Altman career. It's likely that the distributors hasn't released the film in any home video capacity was due to the critical trashing in the brief run, though with the market becoming more of a niche and Altman having a sizable fanbase you would hope for one of the speciality labels to pick the film, regardless of the quality.

Cronenfly wrote:Wonderful! Hope they get my avatar for an interview while he is still alive/semi-coherent

I met him only two years ago and he seemed incredibly sharp and excited. Have you heard that he hasn't been in the best health?

A small note about this film's role in Altman's career: it's actually the first film on which he used radio microphones, each recording to a different track, on his actors. This enabled him to develop the sound stylization (in which numerous actors in different parts of the set often sound equally "up front") that he became famous for with Nashville. Critics who should know better (including the author of the liner essay for Criterion's McCabe & Mrs. Miller edition) have written about this technique being used for earlier Altman films, but that isn't the case. You can compare the muddy dialogue track for McCabe to the almost unnervingly clear track of California Split to get a sense of what changed.

whaleallright wrote:A small note about this film's role in Altman's career: it's actually the first film on which he used radio microphones, each recording to a different track, on his actors. This enabled him to develop the sound stylization (in which numerous actors in different parts of the set often sound equally "up front") that he became famous for with Nashville. Critics who should know better (including the author of the liner essay for Criterion's McCabe & Mrs. Miller edition) have written about this technique being used for earlier Altman films, but that isn't the case. You can compare the muddy dialogue track for McCabe to the almost unnervingly clear track of California Split to get a sense of what changed.

Yea... McCabe was recorded in Canada by a sound crew that used very few microphones. The dialogue was largely off-axis as a result. Altman had to take the raw recordings to Warners in LA in order to clean up the mix before its release.

Dead or Deader wrote:For those who are Altman completist, one user on Youtube uploaded H.E.A.L.T.H from the airing on the Fox Movie Channel, all in it's intended 2:35;1 aspect ratio!

Link

I've seen the film; it's just that it's the only one that has not yet been released on DVD and/or Blu-ray.

Guess I should sell my current copy while I can get something for it...

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:

Cronenfly wrote:Wonderful! Hope they get my avatar for an interview while he is still alive/semi-coherent

I met him only two years ago and he seemed incredibly sharp and excited. Have you heard that he hasn't been in the best health?

Nope, no special info, I am sure he is still okay. I just worry generally about anyone over the age of about seventy or so taking a sudden turn.

Cronenfly wrote:

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:

Cronenfly wrote:Wonderful! Hope they get my avatar for an interview while he is still alive/semi-coherent

I met him only two years ago and he seemed incredibly sharp and excited. Have you heard that he hasn't been in the best health?

Nope, no special info, I am sure he is still okay. I just worry generally about anyone over the age of about seventy or so taking a sudden turn.

Availability might be more of an issue; unlike most of the 70s leading men, Gould has been remarkably busy in television over the past few years and is currently shooting the new CBS drama Doubt.

Hopefully the interview is not done by Adam Carolla.

MoonlitKnight wrote:Indeed. Incidentally, Olive Films is also finally releasing his obscure debut "The Delinquents" next month. Now if someone would just put out "H.E.A.L.T.H." and the miniseries version of "Vincent and Theo" (an opportunity Olive did NOT take in their reissue from a couple years ago)... :-k

I'm unsure if it's US releases you're refering to, but the long version of Vincent and Theo is out on DVD in the UK.

All this talk on Gould and no love for his other half?

This film is currently available on Mubi UK in HD, and their copy runs 108 minutes. I haven't seen the film before and haven't watched it on Mubi yet, but I'll keep an eye and ear out for the music that was cut out in previous releases.

Was there any non-diegetic music cut out of the current video release, or is just (as I've heard) the music by the lounge singer at one of the casinos the lead characters visit? I've never brought myself to watch the DVD.

whaleallright wrote:Was there any non-diegetic music cut out of the current video release, or is just (as I've heard) the music by the lounge singer at one of the casinos the lead characters visit? I've never brought myself to watch the DVD.

I think there was also an instance of "Happy Birthday" (not) sung to one of the main characters.

Actually, DVD Beaver seems to have a detailed list of the cuts: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview ... review.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;