A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Jazz Singer -- in Vitaphone audio (1 Viewer)

[Paul McElligott]

For some reason, Amazon has not shipped my order. They usually ship pre-orders on Monday and I get them on Wednesday. Anyone else having trouble getting this title from Amazon?

 

[Eric Peterson]

I pre-ordered mine last week via Amazon, and I just received it an hour ago.

Maybe it means that there has been higher than expected demand. That's certainly good news if true!

What a beautiful set! I can't wait to start through some of the extras tonight.

 

[Dave B Ferris]

Eric, to veer a bit off topic, it looks like you are famous. According to the news flashes on the front page of the forum's web site, you have been appointed to a prestigious position at Blockbuster. Congrats!

 

[Eric Peterson]

That would be an amazing piece of news, primarily since I have not set foot in a Blockbuster for almost 10 years.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Who's not giving it enough credit? Heck, I raved about it and gave it an "A+" for supplements - I hardly ever rate extras that highly!

 

[Rob_Ray]

The general critical consensus has usually been that "The Jazz Singer" would be totally forgotten today if it weren't for its technical innovations. And that's too harsh an assessment to my mind. I always view any film, no matter what year in which it was made, through the eyes of its era. And I find "The Jazz Singer" to be a brisk, compelling story well-told and well-directed by Alan Crosland. It's certainly maudlin at times and very sentimental but I find unabashed sentiment refreshing at a time when it's so out of fashion. I was tearing up at one point while viewing it at the Motion Picture Academy the other night.

The Jazz Singer is a relic, but unlike so many other octogenarian films, it's one that still offers plenty of entertainment for those who aren't afraid to meet it on its own terms and view it all in perspective.

 

[CineKarine]

When I checked the Amazon rankings this morning, The Jazz Singer was in the Top 25 (all DVDs).

Oddly enough, if you check the Classics only category, you will NOT see it as Amazon lists it under Drama, Musical and Special Interest but not under Classics! Go figure!

 

[Keith Paynter]

"As for this person, though, I think it’s a pretty dull flick." (from your review, Colin)

I was referring to the film itself. I have high praise for the efforts put into the supplements, evn though I haven't seen the disc yet. I went on air on our local talk radio, not having seen this release, but I rated it well worth owning for the supplements, but I did say that the consensus is that it's a good film, not a great film. Seeing it on TCM yesterday confirmed that for me.

Feltenstein has proved time and time again that Warner Home Video can brilliantly market its back catalogue.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I doubt this is representative of all Best Buys, but at my local store last night, there were none of these sets out for display in their heavy traffic "new release" areas. They also were not to be found in their under-stocked "musicals" section. Instead, they were quietly tucked away in the drama section.

I understand they probably had a bit more of a demand for Transformers and Planet Terror last night...

...but let's give this package it's due.

 

[TravisR]

Same thing at my Best Buy but they did have one of those price tags that hang off the rack (as opposed to the regular one that just slides into the rack) so they did have some promotion.

 

[Richard Matich]

My Best Buy had them in Drama as well. My set arrives today [Thursday]. That doc is going to be good. Looking forward to it.

 

[Mike Frezon]

My local FYE store (Trans World), last night, didn't have ANY copies of this title--not in drama, musicals, comedy, new releases, Blu-ray, TV....

Maybe I should have checked out their massive anime section more closely!

 

[Will Krupp]

Considering Best Buy classifies all of the THIN MAN movies as musicals, I always check around if I can't find something.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Will: I laugh everytime I see that. In fact, I think the bulk of my BB's Musicals section is made up of Thin Man titles and spanish titles!

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Got it - obviously I thought you meant the DVD release. Yeah, I didn't like the movie. It's a great release but not a movie that continues to entertain IMO...

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Well, I'd agree with that "harsh" assessment. I really don't think it's much of a movie and I can't imagine it'd be remembered by many if it didn't possess its historical status. But that's just my opinion...

 

[Larry Geller]

My Best Buy had 8 copies right on that table. 5 minutes later, they had 7!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Larry: It must've taken you the five minutes just to get around all the "big kids" clamoring for their Transformers DVDs and reach the copies of The Jazz Singer! My store looked like they had moved tons of 'em.

 

[Jeff_CusBlues]

I bought Transformers yesterday. Sorry, it was my 11 year old sons birthday. Maybe I'll get The Jazz Singer next week.

 

[Carter of Mars]

Warners is aware of the sync issue and The Rogue Song reel being shown during The Gold Diggers of Broadway.