haineshisway
Senior HTF Member
Let me start with Pretty Poison and The Boston Strangler because like some here I'd already gotten the overseas Blu-rays - Pretty Poison from Germany and The Boston Strangler from France.
Pretty Poison is a wonderful and unique film from director Noel Black, who never really made another good film, but went back to television and worked steadily and did some good work there. Anthony Perkins at his strangest and Tuesday Weld at her quirkiest and cutest. Excellent script by Lorenzo Semple, Jr. from the short novel by Stephen Geller, and a very good Johnny Mandel score. The German Blu-ray seemed like what it probably was - a low-con internegative - too bright, no contrast, and brownish color. The new Fox transfer is great and everything it should be. Now we have shadows where there should be shadows, great color (red hats in the marching band rather than orange), and a lot of detail. If you don't know the film, it's worth taking a chance on if you like quirky late 60s movies, and if you're a fan I think you'll love this transfer.
The Boston Strangler I saw the day it opened. Due to all the split-screen stuff opticals it never really looked great in theaters. It's a bit of an odd film, but I've always liked it - Richard Fleischer did a good job with a not-so-pleasant subject, and Tony Curtis is at his best, and the supporting cast is terrific. The French Blu-ray from Carlotta was riddled with white specks, was blurry, and the color wasn't quite right. The new Fox transfer is miles better - rock solid, no dirt or anything problematic, and while much of the film is still opticals it looks pretty damn good to my eyes.
I Want to Live - of course it's MGM/UA so we know we're going to get whatever we get - the good, the bad, or the ugly. But occasionally we luck out and we get better than the good and happily that's the case here - clearly a new transfer from the last few years, it's pretty spectacular, actually. Great contrast, sharp as a tack, and I couldn't have been more pleased. The film still packs a wallop all these decades later and Susan Hayward really deserved her Oscar. And oh that jazz score by Johnny Mandel is so brilliant - and to have those incredible players on screen, too - amazing. Trust me, you will not be disappointed with this transfer - it's one of the best I've seen out of MGM/UA.
Finally, Moby Dick. There's already an excellent thread about it started by Mr. Harris, so I'll just add that knowing all the problems that were inherent here, this looks better than it has any right to. Twilight Time didn't have to do anything but issue what they were given, but Nick felt passionately about this film and they went the extra mile. That it now at least resembles what it should look like is a good thing and the film is much better than I remembered. It's a film I saw on its initial release and which freaked me out for many reasons, part of which was the bleached look, which I'd never seen before and which confused me - and the guy with the tattoos - you don't want to see that guy when you're eight, let me tell you. Watching it again after sixty years, scenes I remembered from all the way back then played out exactly as I remembered.
A very good batch, I must say - I haven't peeked at the foreign film with Shelly Winters yet, but will soon.
Pretty Poison is a wonderful and unique film from director Noel Black, who never really made another good film, but went back to television and worked steadily and did some good work there. Anthony Perkins at his strangest and Tuesday Weld at her quirkiest and cutest. Excellent script by Lorenzo Semple, Jr. from the short novel by Stephen Geller, and a very good Johnny Mandel score. The German Blu-ray seemed like what it probably was - a low-con internegative - too bright, no contrast, and brownish color. The new Fox transfer is great and everything it should be. Now we have shadows where there should be shadows, great color (red hats in the marching band rather than orange), and a lot of detail. If you don't know the film, it's worth taking a chance on if you like quirky late 60s movies, and if you're a fan I think you'll love this transfer.
The Boston Strangler I saw the day it opened. Due to all the split-screen stuff opticals it never really looked great in theaters. It's a bit of an odd film, but I've always liked it - Richard Fleischer did a good job with a not-so-pleasant subject, and Tony Curtis is at his best, and the supporting cast is terrific. The French Blu-ray from Carlotta was riddled with white specks, was blurry, and the color wasn't quite right. The new Fox transfer is miles better - rock solid, no dirt or anything problematic, and while much of the film is still opticals it looks pretty damn good to my eyes.
I Want to Live - of course it's MGM/UA so we know we're going to get whatever we get - the good, the bad, or the ugly. But occasionally we luck out and we get better than the good and happily that's the case here - clearly a new transfer from the last few years, it's pretty spectacular, actually. Great contrast, sharp as a tack, and I couldn't have been more pleased. The film still packs a wallop all these decades later and Susan Hayward really deserved her Oscar. And oh that jazz score by Johnny Mandel is so brilliant - and to have those incredible players on screen, too - amazing. Trust me, you will not be disappointed with this transfer - it's one of the best I've seen out of MGM/UA.
Finally, Moby Dick. There's already an excellent thread about it started by Mr. Harris, so I'll just add that knowing all the problems that were inherent here, this looks better than it has any right to. Twilight Time didn't have to do anything but issue what they were given, but Nick felt passionately about this film and they went the extra mile. That it now at least resembles what it should look like is a good thing and the film is much better than I remembered. It's a film I saw on its initial release and which freaked me out for many reasons, part of which was the bleached look, which I'd never seen before and which confused me - and the guy with the tattoos - you don't want to see that guy when you're eight, let me tell you. Watching it again after sixty years, scenes I remembered from all the way back then played out exactly as I remembered.
A very good batch, I must say - I haven't peeked at the foreign film with Shelly Winters yet, but will soon.
