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A Few Words About A few words about...™ In Cold Blood -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Robert Harris

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In 1966 Haskell Wexler won the Academy Award for black & white cinematography for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

In 1967 the five nominees were Bonnie and Clyde, Camelot, Doctor Doolittle, The Graduate and In Cold Blood.

In 1967 the award for Best Black & White Cinematography was abandoned.

In the following four decades the number of black & white films nominated is precisely four -- Raging Bull (Michael Chapman) in 1980, Zelig (Gordon Willis) in 1983, Schindler's List (Janusz Kaminski) in 1993, and finally Good Night and Good Luck (Robert Elswit) in 2005.

Had the rules changed only one year later, Conrad Hall, one of our greatest cinematographers, would have had yet another Academy Award to place alongside his other three.

I bring this up as Mr. Hall's cinematography for In Cold Blood is among the most outstanding that one will find in its era. It has been reproduced to perfection on this Blu-ray disc.

Filled with rich blacks, brilliant whites and layers of shadow detail, this is a film which has made its way to Blu-ray unmolested, and I must believe that Mr. Hall would have been pleased.

Examine a landscape some 76 minutes in, and see how it plays as well as how it has been reproduced. There are times when black isn't part of the image, and this is one of them. Soft light to medium grays predominate the scene, and the reproduction of them is dead on perfect.

There is another scene in which rain on a window plays on a face, and again the blacks, grays and textures are precisely rendered.

In Cold Blood is a superb film by the great Richard Brooks. Everything about it from screenplay to acting, music, production design, and its incredible cinematography has made it a classic. It stands the test of time.

Hats off to Columbia's Grover Crisp and his team for bringing In Cold Blood to Blu-ray with perfection.

You'll find it in the Blu-ray isle along with Capote.

Highly Recommended.

RAH
 

L BENDER

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I am really glad to hear this. I found that the black levels on the dvd during the murder scenes were very weak. Sounds like that might of been fixed.
 

Powell&Pressburger

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I really want to buy In Cold Blood but on a single Blu Ray release I hate combining cover art. The fact of the price tag it would have been the same to sell each film sep.
 

ManW_TheUncool

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But it's a double-feature release w/ the films on separate discs, no?

Think I see about picking up the double-feature at a nice price...

_Man_
 

Richard Gallagher

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The double feature is selling for about $36.00 at Amazon. While I often have reservations about double features, in this case it's hard to imagine that anyone would interested in CAPOTE and not want to see IN COLD BLOOD, and vice-versa.
 

Powell&Pressburger

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I love both films I just hate that they have to share one case and they don't get their own sep. cover art editions. I like each film in its own keep case. I am odd.
 

ManW_TheUncool

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Oh. I'd prefer separate cover art too, but I won't complain for a brand new copy at $20+shipping from Amazon's marketplace section. :D

_Man_
 

Jim_K

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While I wouldn't mind owning ICB, I have little interest in owning Capote (a decent film but not one I'd feel compelled to watch again) and I certainly don't want to have to pay the extra cost to own ICB.

Glad to read that the PQ is getting high marks but I'll be waiting for this to be heavily discounted.
 

JohnMor

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Capote was a fine film, but probably not one I'd ever revisit again. Thoroughly thrilled to get ICB, however. For the first time in my life, I might have to break down and make some custom artwork for ICB.

Glad to hear about the transfer.

EDIT: Jim, You must have beaten me by a split second to say the exact same thing.
 

Richard Gallagher

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I wasn't able to do a direct comparison, but the Blu-ray looked fine to me.

Gary Tooze at DVD Beaver had this to say: "Capote may have some edge-enhancements but the image is still a veritable leap ahead of its DVD counterpart."
 

Robert Harris

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The SD version of Capote was riddled with dirt, both positive and negative. The new BD does not have that problem. Overall, a nice looking disc.
 

JoeStemme

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Robert Blake is utterly indelible here as Perry, one of a pair of killers. Scott Wilso is quite good as his accomplice, Dick.
Based on Truman Capote's book on the true story of a family's murders in 1959, Kansas, Brooks' adaptation takes a semi-documentary approach elevated to high art by the extraordinary cinematography of Conrad Hall. The famous raindrop 'tears' scene (center right) was a happy accident that Hall seized on to create an a sublime and resonant sequence. Quincy Jones' score adds to the atmosphere.
It's a stark masterpiece that is worth revisiting (or visiting for the first time). One of the great films of the 1960s.
 

Matt Hough

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Robert Blake is utterly indelible here as Perry, one of a pair of killers. Scott Wilso is quite good as his accomplice, Dick.
Based on Truman Capote's book on the true story of a family's murders in 1959, Kansas, Brooks' adaptation takes a semi-documentary approach elevated to high art by the extraordinary cinematography of Conrad Hall. The famous raindrop 'tears' scene (center right) was a happy accident that Hall seized on to create an a sublime and resonant sequence. Quincy Jones' score adds to the atmosphere.
It's a stark masterpiece that is worth revisiting (or visiting for the first time). One of the great films of the 1960s.
Absolutely deserved a Best Picture nomination that year along with Two for the Road, the two most overlooked gems of 1967.
 

AlanP

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Robert Blake is utterly indelible here as Perry, one of a pair of killers. Scott Wilso is quite good as his accomplice, Dick.
Based on Truman Capote's book on the true story of a family's murders in 1959, Kansas, Brooks' adaptation takes a semi-documentary approach elevated to high art by the extraordinary cinematography of Conrad Hall. The famous raindrop 'tears' scene (center right) was a happy accident that Hall seized on to create an a sublime and resonant sequence. Quincy Jones' score adds to the atmosphere.
It's a stark masterpiece that is worth revisiting (or visiting for the first time). One of the great films of the 1960s.
I remember reading the book in seventh grade, I had heard all the hype. I remember an article about it in Life Magazine in the 60s. The book left a mark and as a junior high student it was disturbing. I loved the film, however was disappointed it did not expand on the story from the families point of view. Then you had Bachelor Father John Forsythe as the Prosecutor, what an impact it made on my youth.......
 

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