You know, it's ridiculous (and somewhat embarassing) how many times over the years I've listened to Bernard Herrmann's score for Garden of Evil, and yet, until tonight, had never actually seen the movie!
Not only was I smitten by the crazy thing* - have already watched it twice - but thought...
Another TT title that - rather surprisingly - remained unseen until this Blu-ray Charles. In 1971, I was just another grubbing university student, catching most of my film fare via free campus screenings. After that, it just fell through the cracks...not even a rental along the way. Which is...
...to which I'd like to file under "marvelously quirky acting", the fascinating work of Mr. Robert Wagner as the prodigal son.
I can scarcely believe I just wrote that. I mean, we all have our petty, irrational dislikes when it comes to certain performers - nothing specifically wrong with their...
Not a bad batting average Kevin. Any dough in the pools?
My own picks were less prescient (and less profitable), except for Rylance, whom I stubbornly stuck with when all around me were saying "No way; it's going to be a career roll-up for Stallone" Well, "Nyah, Nyah."
My other outlier pick...
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My petty fiddling with TT's packaging started and stopped with those squared-off blue cases. I replaced those en masse with standard blue Elites.
Haven't touched the clear cases though, and won't, since all of TT's recent titles have double-sided inserts with photos better served by...
Another one that jumped off the page for me was The Member of the Wedding.
Never seen it; know nada about it. But with Fred Zinneman directing Julie Harris and Ethel Waters in a script by the Anhalts, plus another early Alex North score (same year as his wonderful work on Pony Soldier)...well...
When I saw what Fox did with their remastering of TT's recent Broken Lance, my fingers were crossed that Garden of Evil wouldn't be far behind. Early 2.55:1 'Scope, with more Richard Widmark, plus another Herrmann at Fox score isolated...they got me on all fronts with this baby.
It was around '65/'66 when I began taking day trips by train to Toronto to catch the roadshows...especially 70mm releases. Prior to that, in the small Eastern Ontario city I grew up in we typically waited up to a year to see these pictures...and then in 35mm only...more often than not cut.
Once...
According to my best available sources, Hawaii cost an estimated $15 million and grossed $35 million, with a mere $15 million in domestic rentals. Even today, that B.O. ratio would be considered at best "underperforming", or just as likely a tin-plated "flop". So I thought I was being kind by...
Historical context is important though Rick. I mean, we're talking about mid 60s pop movies, which, in those days, had one predominant trajectory...Reserved Seat Roadshow (for the anointed few)...Wide Theatrical Release (for everything else)...the ABC/CBS/NBC [fill-in-the-blank] Night at the...
I haven't seen this yet, but all other 'perfect world' considerations aside, MGM's out of print DVD still fetches upwards of $20.00...used...and it's 2.35:1 letterboxed! Considering that sorry alternative, I can't imagine TT's release not being an improvement.
Ironically, up here in the great white, unshrinkwrapped slipcovers are the rule rather than the exception, especially with first run new releases. But with no sensormatic tagging of the slip itself, some unscrupulous collectors simply pilfer the slipcover and either tuck it away until the price...
Somebody please school me on this HDR thing. If the 4k UHD TV display engine supports HDR, then wouldn't the set itself provide at least some of the benefits of such processing when upscaling from standard Blu-ray discs? Or is HDR only as good as the weakest link in the playback/display chain...
Agree. Go for it Dick!
Long before I ever saw Gary Merrill in All About Eve, he was a 60s staple for me...in both movies and TV shows. I wasn't bothered by the facial 'tick' you mentioned, it just seemed integral to his often gruff, no-nonsense style. He always seemed to be playing the guy who...
For me, the savviest inclusion in this commentary is Steven C. Smith, whose history with all things Bernard Herrmann never fails to fascinate. His book, A Heart at Fire's Center is a must for any Herrmann aficionado, and stands as the definitive study of this composer's work.
Twilight Time's first year or so in the Blu-ray market was a period of near-incessant bashing over price. features, and limited runs, rarely giving fair hearing to the quality of the product itself...i.e. how well the movie was presented.
And not just among reviewers. The boards - I mean those...
Mysterious Island was only TT's 2nd Blu-ray release way back in October 2011, and it sold out about 6 months later around the time their first Journey Blu-ray went bye-bye too. Fortunately, both titles received encore editions...but when...like 4 to 5 years later!?!
Favourite movies aren't a...
In terms of my favourite performance in Mysterious Island, it's always been a toss-up between Herbert Lom and Joan Greenwood. Given a character written as aristocratic comic foil, which in other hands might have become tiresome caricature, I thought Greenwood and Endfield did wonders to give...
Unfortunately, I missed 1984 theatrically, seeing it for the first and only time on Laserdisc. What's especially weird is that given my love of film scoring, I honestly can't recall much about the score*...whichever version was on that LD. Typically, that's not a criticism; it simply means the...
My takeaway was more postive...massive relief that they went straight to the Lucasfilm logo followed by the episode crawl without some indulgent riff on the Disney logo with Tie fighters and X-wings buzzing around Fantasyland.
I haven't compiled one of these for awhile, but for IST buffs, this batch features an impressive roster of composers and scores:
Mario Nascimbene (Alexander the Great)
Jerry Goldsmith (Lillies of the Field)
Ernest Gold (Exodus)
Alfred Newman (Anastasia)
John Dankworth (10 Rillington Place)
Bill...
Twilgiht Time rarely trumpets their 4k sourced transfers, even though almost all of their Sony catalogue, and most of their recent Fox titles have benefitted from UHD workflow. Folks still ask if the reissues of Mysterious Island, The Big Heat, or Fright Night will be remastered in 4k, when...
Not sure what BF/BD refers to either guys.
But I have the original 2007 set and it's a box containing these movies in 3 individual Elite cases.
Possibly Warners' 2012 re-issue is some kind of digipak?
For me, the fearless high-wire act on this project was Maximilian Schell. In 1961, he was relatively unknown stateside, except for TV. And yet there he was, in this hugely* unsympathetic role, holding his own amidst all these legendary screen greats.
* but not completely, thanks to Schell's...