A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Sterile Cuckoo -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Alan Pakula's The Sterile Cuckoo, or as Olive has renamed it, Sterile Cuckoo, is a terrific film, and one of my long time favorites, whatever one desires to call it.

Why can't they get the title correct? Have they ever heard of or seen the film?

In Liza Minnelli's second major film, she played someone I might have dated in college -- a wonderfully kookie, and occasionally annoying Pookie Adams.

And she wears Pookie, heart and soul, which may be why she received a Best Actress nomination for the role.

Two college freshman, at nearby schools, end up in a relationship that only people a bit older and wiser could possibly survive comfortably.

Ms. Minnelli's telephone monologue some 70 minutes into the film is extraordinary.

It's an Olive release, so here we go.

It appears to have been minted from an IP, which means that we have both negative as well as positive dirt. Not a ton, but just enough to be annoying, especially as it could have been easily removed.

Color is a bit tepid, but decent.

Great film. Wonderful performance.

Image - 3

Audio - 4

Recommended.

RAH

 

[Mark B]

Ms. Minnelli's telephone monologue some 70 minutes into the film is extraordinary.

Indded. A shining moment; one of the best she ever put to film.

 

[bob kaplan]

Not sure why, but this is a favorite....performances are great...and story is endearing.....looking forward to watching this.

 

[rsmithjr]

I have the LD and every once in a while I watch it. Wendell Burton is great, too bad he didn't have much of a career. Liza at her most vunerable and appealing I think. I also like the music a lot, nice sunshine rock that played a bit against the bittersweet tone.
I would have been happy to date her in college, reminds me a bit of several people. The undergraduate years for many people seem to be void of any thoughts about how you will really make it in life, just a kind of floating while one sorts out various emotions I think.
This is not just a late 60's attitude, perhaps has more to do with growing up. Somewhere in grad school I became organized and ambitious, and would no longer have found Pookie to be that interesting to me. Or maybe Pookie would have changed. [Would we want her to?]
If I keep typing, I will replace another LD with a Blu-ray here, something I am not supposed to do thoughtlessly.

 

[bob kaplan]

Well, i sat down and watched the Blu....boy!!!...talk about memories. Certainly brought my college days back....and living in Central, NY...home in days gone by. Certainly a fuzzy feeling at the conclusion.
i have the LaserDisc of the movie and noticed something about the framing of the Blu Ray. The sides of the Blu-ray are the exact same as those of the LaserDisc. But the top and bottom of the Laser image is has been cropped. Is it possible to find out if the orginal film was filmed in 4x3 and left opened up for the Laser release? Or has the Blu ray been made from the cropped LaserDisc master??

 

[rsmithjr]

If you are seeing the same width on both 133 and 178 presentations, it is an excellent clue that the original production was open-matted.
Many films were shot with "protection" for 133 up through 185, with the expectations that 1) the film would be shown at different AR's in different theatres, and 2) that the eventual television version would be 133. This made everyone sort of happy and saved time.
I am used to seeing the film in 133 from the LD.
This is a controversial point on this forum because many people hold the believe that a certain AR was in fact intended and that anything else is untenable. I am generally more flexible, but it does depend.

 

[Bob Cashill]

Why can't they get the title correct? Have they ever heard of or seen the film?

To Olive's credit, it did get the title of Jules Dassin's UPTIGHT correct. It's not UP TIGHT! or UPTIGHT!--not to get uptight about it.

 

[JoHud]

Why can't they get the title correct?  Have they ever heard of or seen the film?

It looks like an error on the part of the cover artist/design artist. On the back cover among the disc credits it is correctly listed as "An Alan J. Pakula Production: The Sterile Cuckoo."

 

[Brandon Conway]

Originally Posted by JoHud /t/324543/a-few-words-about-the-sterile-cuckoo-in-blu-ray#post_3991979
It looks like an error on the part of the cover artist/design artist. On the back cover among the disc credits it is correctly listed as "An Alan J. Pakula Production: The Sterile Cuckoo."

Not unprecedented in the least.