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ManW_TheUncool

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I'm hoping Criterion will issue a comprehensive Allen collection as they've done with Berman and Fellini.
Woody deserves that. An artist whose work I love. Any controversy is outside of that.
The Twilight Time blu ray's all seem to be sold out. Personally, I just want some really good restorations
of PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO, ZELIG and RADIO DAYS.

I have the TT versions of those, and I believe at least a couple others like Interiors and Stardust Memories are still available at Screen Archives.

Some OOP titles can probably also still be imported from the UK (at very reasonable prices... depending on the pandemic situation impacting shipping/costs) if you have a region-free/hacked player. Arrow seems to have released a lot of them in the UK -- for instance, I have their Crimes and Misdemeanors, which I paid under $10 (in a good size order) last year I think, after missing out on the TT version.

However, as noted by some others, this new set released by Quiver don't seem to have better options to import (or I probably would've imported at least a few of the titles already)...

_Man_
 

James Luckard

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Keep in mind many of us never expected brand new scans. I knew going in they would be dated transfers. Sadly we got the same German cropped to 1.78:1 of Anything Else which was shot 2.35:1

I was nice towards Quiver Distribution on twitter and before Thanksgiving they acknowledged the incorrect aspect ratio issue. They stated they were looking into it.

I think the issue was, that they were able to license these titles that were owned by Miramax & Dreamworks and neither seem to have been interested in doing any new scans. I almost think the films may have been sold off?!???…It’s interesting to note many of the original opening logos were CUT, replaced with Quiver, some at least retaining a Sweetland Films logo. While opening score plays over Quiver logo for Anything Else.

These transfers aren’t great but because I never expected much they are a better option than an old DVD edition. (Except for Anything Else due to the zoomed in image)

I still have my Deconstructing Harry Laserdisc, perhaps Warner Archive will release it or license it. Same to Sony with Sweet and Lowdown.
Miramax and DreamWorks never owned the films, they only distributed them for a set period. Sweetland originally financed the films and has always owned them.
 

James Luckard

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I'm hoping Criterion will issue a comprehensive Allen collection as they've done with Berman and Fellini.
Woody deserves that. An artist whose work I love. Any controversy is outside of that.
The Twilight Time blu ray's all seem to be sold out. Personally, I just want some really good restorations
of PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO, ZELIG and RADIO DAYS.
Unfortunately, there's absolutely zero chance of that happening.

Allen is positively radioactive in the US. No entertainment company wants to touch him. The 4K remasters of Annie Hall and Manhattan have never found a distributor here on home video, I don't think they ever even saw theatrical releases.

This set ended up with a completely unknown company, but you can bet other companies passed first.

Also, I believe most Bergman and Fellini films are owned by one company, the way Kurosawa's films are mostly with Toho, so those boxsets were undoubtedly easier to assemble. Allen's films are with a slew of companies.

And, of course, Criterion has been under a microscope itself for the last couple of years for, among other things, the lack of diversity in the racial and gender makeup of their collection. You can bet Criterion isn't in the mood to invite controversy with anything to do with Allen.
 
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ChrisOC

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I continue to hope for Sweet and Lowdown. Damn.
As far as I know, Sweet and Lowdown only got as far as DVD in the States, and the first one I bought one from ebay was released at 4x3. Turns out Sony released two different versions, the 4x3 only, and a double-sided disc with WS and 4x3. The 4x3 is cropped (not just unmatted) and more commonly available, but I found the WS version with a little patience and not too much money.

Side note: I don't know who taught Sean Penn to fake the guitar, but they and he didn't do a very good job. And that's disappointing, considering how talented Penn is and how good the rest of the movie is. The music is excellent, but it bugs me when playing is displayed so poorly. It's as if Penn thought moving around a little and making faces made up for the fake. Just my 2 cents.
 

ChrisOC

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Does anyone care?
Ironically, Allen himself doesn't seem to care. From what I've read and heard, he's already writing a new film when the current one is finished, and he has never cared if his films made any money in theaters or on home video. It may be why so many of his films didn't get that much home video attention before actors started disavowing their work in his films.
 

ChrisOC

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Seems like the DVD of Bullets Over Broadway was either open matte or non-anamorphic letterbox. Either way, I remember it not looking so great.
I borrowed the DVD from the local library a while back, and it was non-anamorphic.
 

ChrisOC

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Most of these, while old scans, are huge improvements over their DVD counterparts. Especially the Miramax films, which were non-anamorphic on DVD. It's like night and day in some cases. The improvement on the Dreamworks films isn't as drastic.
Sad to say, this is true of the Miramax DVDs, including the ones released under the banner reading Miramax Classics Widescreen. My DVD of Mighty Aphrodite is from Canada (under the Alliance label) and the specs read "enhanced for widescreen," but it's non-anamorphic.
 

ChrisOC

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Miramax and DreamWorks never owned the films, they only distributed them for a set period. Sweetland originally financed the films and has always owned them.
This is ironic, since Sweetland is Jean Doumanian's company and Allen and Doumanian had a major falling out that resulted in him suing her.
 

Lord Dalek

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But the controversy does affect sales. The public's interest in Woody Allen is at rock bottom these days. Investing in an extensive restoration of his filmography would not make sense financially at this moment, as there is no chance it would recoup the expense.
And such a set wouldn't have any special features anyway so to answer RAH's question: no. Noone cares. Woody doesn't so why should we?
 
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24fpsNinja

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I’ve already purchased all of these on EU import. I would have double dipped for new transfers or proper aspect ratios but sounds like no need.
 

MovieBill

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i care. and i imagine millions of other movie buffs do as well. Criterion releases and restores nearly all of Polanski's
great films---and he was actually convicted of his crimes. i just hope more care will be given to Woody's oeuvre in
the future.
 

Lord Dalek

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^Figure out a way of justifying such a set without any special features first.

We'll wait.
 

titch

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i care. and i imagine millions of other movie buffs do as well. Criterion releases and restores nearly all of Polanski's
great films---and he was actually convicted of his crimes. i just hope more care will be given to Woody's oeuvre in
the future.
You'll probably have to wait until Woody Allen is dead. He stopped Twilight Time releasing Interiors with their OWN commentary! David Lynch is another filmmaker who's a bit "particular" with how his films are released on home video, but at least he allows some of them to be released with the best 4K scans of the original negative - with supplemental materials.
 

roxy1927

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How are the Arrow Academy releases? They have some of my favorite Allen films and in a couple of cases are considerably cheaper than the Twilight Time. They also have Interiors.
 

Angelo Colombus

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How are the Arrow Academy releases? They have some of my favorite Allen films and in a couple of cases are considerably cheaper than the Twilight Time. They also have Interiors.
I recently purchased Broadway Danny Rose and the Arrow Academy Blu-ray looks very nice. Bought it on Ebay at around $20 with free shipping.
 

Noel Aguirre

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Thanks for the review and this is a shame. I was really looking forward to this and probably will buy if Amazon ever does a good sale. But a major disappointment for a release of voluminous work from a great artist. Eventually these will get a proper release- someday.
 

bobclampett

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Recently watched my DVD copy of The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion. Forgot how funny that picture is. Decent picture quality for a DVD. Helen Hunt and Charlize Theron are great. As is typical for a Woody Allen film, its perfectly cast. Woody is in great form too. Sort of a return to his early comedic performances.
 

Patrick McCart

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How are the Arrow Academy releases? They have some of my favorite Allen films and in a couple of cases are considerably cheaper than the Twilight Time. They also have Interiors.
I only have the first box and regrettably waited too long for the second and third volumes. Same masters from what I can tell, though, the only TT I owned was Love and Death. (If anyone is interested in the first box, I'd be willing to part with it)
 

Matt Hough

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Recently watched my DVD copy of The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion. Forgot how funny that picture is. Decent picture quality for a DVD. Helen Hunt and Charlize Theron are great. As is typical for a Woody Allen film, its perfectly cast. Woody is in great form too. Sort of a return to his early comedic performances.
I'll have to pull out my DVD and give it another chance. The last time I watched it (quite a few years ago), I don't remember liking it much at all.
 

albert_m2

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I don't understand some of the comments here. I had already pre ordered (and received) this set. It's not a bad price for that many movies. Yeah, I get that it's not amazing visually, but I'm not hunting down all of the international releases.

I mean, so this is where we; are at - if it's not perfect, that it?

I get that everyone has different thresholds for what they consider acceptable, but for something not otherwise available (or easily available), this is acceptable, if not remarkable in terms of video quality.

Even if I hadn't already ordered it and read this review, I still would have ordered it. It's one thing when something is really F'd up, but as mentioned, Allen movies are in an unfortunate situation, so having an ok option at lets me watch these movies.
 

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