A Few Words About A few words about…™ The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection — in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Are the original aspect ratios respected? I understand that the image in both Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers should be narrower than 1,33:1.

I understand that this won't make the films any funnier, but if we're talking about a restoration, it seems pointless to have the films cleaned up and then mutilate the framing.

The ability to work with aspect ratios is dependent upon original elements.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I watched The Cocoanuts last night.

I didn't break out a tape measure, but the AR was definitely closer to square than 4:3.

Or maybe I should describe the AR as "taller than 4:3." You know what I mean!

 

[TonyD]

I can't help but notice that Robert continues to spell The Cocoanuts without the "A"

Just makes me chuckle a little.

 

[bigshot]

I watched The Cocoanuts last night. I didn't break out a tape measure, but the AR was definitely closer to square than 4:3.

That's an early sound aspect ratio. I've heard it called Newsreel aspect before.

 

[Robert Harris]

That's the way we were taught to spell it in Sister Ruth's cinema study class at the convent in Mopu.

Strangely, she always seemed to confuse Florey with Flaherty, and thought Coconuts, aka Cocoanuts, was an ehthnograpic film.

As all of her students were aware that she was slightly "off," we never corrected her.

For the sake of perpetual clarity, I have made the change.

Please do not tell Sister Ruth!

 

[ABaglivi]

Angu Ayah, although resentful, also did what she was told by Sister Ruth in these matters.

 

[Mr. Handley]

I just got my set on Friday and watched The Cocoanuts last night. They did a fine job with the restoration, considering the circumstances. The musical elements slowed things down, but when they boys were doing their thing, it was pure magic.

 

[TonyD]

That's the way we were taught to spell it in Sister Ruth's cinema study class at the convent in Mopu.

Strangely, she always seemed to confuse Florey with Flaherty, and thought Coconuts, aka Cocoanuts, was an ehthnograpic film.

As all of her students were aware that she was slightly "off," we never corrected her.

For the sake of perpetual clarity, I have made the change.

Please do not tell Sister Ruth!

Just between Us.

 

[BarryR]

I found one nitpicky error in one of the commentaries, but I'm too otherwise in awe of this release to be such a fusspot about it. ANIMAL CRACKERS looks visually as slick as much later Marx movies. What a gorgeous print!

By the way, call me crazy, but the print is so clear that I swear in a long shot that's a Harpo stand-in (with darker wig) hiding in a fireplace (?) when Roth appears on a floor above, near the end.

 

[moe green]

I loved the set, but did anybody else think they just blew off upgrading the "Duck Soup" transfer. It was the least improved film of the set.

 

[TJPC]

I have only watched "The Coconuts" so far, but I'd like to point out one valuable feature of this set. I rarely have the time to watch an entire film from start to finish, and I often have multiple DVDs or Blu Rays on the go at the same time. With this set, unlike many other Blu Rays I have, you can stop after watching for a time, and then come back hours later, and it asks you if you would like to resume where you left off.
This is something every DVD has, but it is rather rare with Blu Rays. I actually keep a pad and pen beside my televisions, so I can jot down the count and chapter before I shut off the machines. This and the length it takes to load some Blu Rays are the two big draw backs of this format.

 

[ahollis]

I have only watched "The Coconuts" so far, but I'd like to point out one valuable feature of this set. I rarely have the time to watch an entire film from start to finish, and I often have multiple DVDs or Blu Rays on the go at the same time. With this set, unlike many other Blu Rays I have, you can stop after watching for a time, and then come back hours later, and it asks you if you would like to resume where you left off.
This is something every DVD has, but it is rather rare with Blu Rays. I actually keep a pad and pen beside my televisions, so I can jot down the count and chapter before I shut off the machines. This and the length it takes to load some Blu Rays are the two big draw backs of this format.

I can not think of one Blu-ray I have that does not have this feature and I have about 2,000 Blu-rays. I always was under the impression it was a feature on the Blu-ray player.

 

[TJPC]

I have 1000s of Blu Rays as well and 5 Blu Ray players. Only a fraction of the discs have this feature. I recently purchased and watched, I think it was X Men civil war, and again I had to find my spot each time. I have seen this "defect" discussed on many other sites.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Some discs will allow you to pick up where you left off if you do not remove the disc from the player, but you lose your place once the disc is removed. I had this happen just yesterday with Salem's Lot. We watched the first half of the film on Monday night, and when I turned the player on yesterday to watch Monkey Business the player had a message stating to press "play" to resume where I left off. I removed the disc, inserted the Marx Brothers disc, and when I put Salem's Lot back in afterwards the disc reacted as if I had never watched it, loading the main menu.

 

[ahollis]

Some discs will allow you to pick up where you left off if you do not remove the disc from the player, but you lose your place once the disc is removed. I had this happen just yesterday with Salem's Lot. We watched the first half of the film on Monday night, and when I turned the player on yesterday to watch Monkey Business the player had a message stating to press "play" to resume where I left off. I removed the disc, inserted the Marx Brothers disc, and when I put Salem's Lot back in afterwards the disc reacted as if I had never watched it, loading the main menu.

I can put in a disc that I haven't looked at for months and it asks do I wish to resume where I left off. I have noticed if I erase the saved data in the Blu-ray player it I'll not offer to resume.

 

[Robert Harris]

There's an interesting anomaly at play here.

If one is viewing a disc, remove it from the player, and replace with a different disc, authored by the same post house, that second disc will presume its the first, and the resume function will appear.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I can put in a disc that I haven't looked at for months and it asks do I wish to resume where I left off. I have noticed if I erase the saved data in the Blu-ray player it I'll not offer to resume.

I only get that with a handful of discs with my Panasonic player.

 

[RichMurphy]

My OPPO player seems to offer this feature all the time, whether or not the disc was left in the machine or not. The Marx Brothers set is the first time I have seen this feature offered on the Blu-Ray disc itself (at the bottom of the screen over the Universal logo), rather than a feature of the OPPO player.

 

[PMF]

[...] The Marx Brothers set is the first time I have seen this feature offered on the Blu-Ray disc itself (at the bottom of the screen over the Universal logo), rather than a feature of the OPPO player.

Wasn't OPPO the original player later to be replaced by Zeppo?

 

[Tony Bensley]

Please keep in mind that as I type this, I'm a late newcomer to the Universal Blu-ray screensaver!

I can't even pause my Universal Frankenstein Blu-ray Discs on my external Pioneer BD Drive without the screensaver popping up! I find this a pretty huge annoyance, as the Leawo Blu-ray player interface that I use is already wonky enough without having to press menu to bring back a menu screen that routinely flickers severely for about 2 minutes before it "calms" down, so to speak! The flicker is an issue that I have with my free Leawo Blu-ray Player, in which EVERY title I play is affected for up to two minutes after I put in whatever disc, and the annoying (To me!) Universal screensaver only adds to my frustration!

Why are screensavers of any kind even deemed necessary in 2016? Can't flat-screens of all different kinds (LCD; LED; Plasma; et al!) handle having the same image displayed for hours on end without the dreaded image burn that used to be a serious issue with the old CRT Televisions? If, on the other hand, this is simply Universal's cheesy way of promoting themselves, I'd much rather they cease and desist doing so, as they sure aren't scoring any points with me in this annoying practice!

CHEERS!