Crawdaddy's "Random Thoughts" about Home Video, Film & TV (2 Viewers)

[bujaki]

We were lucky with Cash on Demand. If I remember correctly, it was cut in the UK, but played complete here.
I, the Jury in 3D is very, very good. Wish that could be released!

 

[Robert Crawford]

Last Night's "Ask Eddie" segment:

 

[Robert Crawford]

Last Night's "Ask Eddie" segment:

Eddie going on about Ginger Rogers performance in "Tight Spot" again. He stated she gave the most annoying performance for him.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This weekend's "Noir Alley" movie is "Blast of Silence" (1961). Over the last few years, I've heard a lot about "Blast of Silence" so I'm looking forward to seeing this little independent film noir for the very first time.


Updated TCM's Noir Alley 2021/2022 schedule:


10-02-21: The Glass Wall
10-09-21: Brighton Rock
10-16-21: The Dark Past
10-23-21: La bestia debe morir (The Beast Must Die)
10-30-21: Cat People/The Leopard Man
11-06-21: Five Steps to Danger
11-13-21: The Lineup
11-20-21: Johnny O'Clock
11-27-21: Tight Spot
12-04-21: The Unsuspected
12-11-21: Cruel Gun Story
12-18-21: Blast of Silence
01-01-22: Repeat Performance
01-08-22: Nightmare Alley
01-15-22: The Mob
01-22-22: Over-Exposed
01-29-22: Quai des Orfèvres
02-05-22: The Turning Point
02-12-22: Side Street
02-19-22: Cast a Dark Shadow
02-26-22: TBA

 

[Robert Crawford]

Some of you might find this short video interesting on upcoming and recent "Film Noir" Blu-ray releases:

 

[Robert Crawford]

 

[Matt Hough]

Yes, looking forward tomorrow to Blast of Silence.

 

[Robert Crawford]

A great interview with Alan K. Rode about "The Proud Rebel" (1958) with Alan Ladd and Olivia de Havilland. Also, much of the interview is about Michael Curtiz that Rode wrote a book about. Some nice information and tidbits in this 87 minute interview.

 

[bujaki]

A great interview with Alan K. Rode about "The Last Rebel" (1958) with Alan Ladd and Olivia de Havilland. Also, much of the interview is about Michael Curtiz that Rode wrote a book about. Some nice information and tidbits in this 87 minute interview.

Good book on Curtiz.

 

[Robert Crawford]

View attachment 121589

This weekend's "Noir Alley" movie is "Blast of Silence" (1961). Over the last few years, I've heard a lot about "Blast of Silence" so I'm looking forward to seeing this little independent film noir for the very first time.


Updated TCM's Noir Alley 2021/2022 schedule:


10-02-21: The Glass Wall
10-09-21: Brighton Rock
10-16-21: The Dark Past
10-23-21: La bestia debe morir (The Beast Must Die)
10-30-21: Cat People/The Leopard Man
11-06-21: Five Steps to Danger
11-13-21: The Lineup
11-20-21: Johnny O'Clock
11-27-21: Tight Spot
12-04-21: The Unsuspected
12-11-21: Cruel Gun Story
12-18-21: Blast of Silence
01-01-22: Repeat Performance
01-08-22: Nightmare Alley
01-15-22: The Mob
01-22-22: Over-Exposed
01-29-22: Quai des Orfèvres
02-05-22: The Turning Point
02-12-22: Side Street
02-19-22: Cast a Dark Shadow
02-26-22: TBA

No comments so far about "Blast of Silence"???? Anyhow, there are parts of the movie that I really liked including the second person narration. However, there are parts of the movie that I found hard to swallow as I can't see a seasoned "hit man" making some of the mistakes this "hit man" did in this film. With that said, I love the brutal ending.

 

[Matt Hough]

I meant to write about it last night and got caught up in other matters. I liked it, too. The scrappy filmmaking was appealing, and Lionel Stander's narration was beautifully delivered. I disliked intensely the leading lady who I thought was a lousy actress and with no screen presence at all. I was waiting for Eddie to inform us that she was someone's wife, girl friend, best friend, investor, etc. but he did tell us she had a career, surprising to me, but maybe she got better with experience. The bleak ending was REALLY bleak but appropriate. The moment he made that phone call suggesting he wanted out, I knew his life wasn't going to last much longer.

 

[Matt Hough]

Oh, and irony or ironies, last night I watched the next episode in the Kolchak box set - "The Devil's Platform," and it was directed by Allen Baron!

 

[Robert Crawford]

I meant to write about it last night and got caught up in other matters. I liked it, too. The scrappy filmmaking was appealing, and Lionel Stander's narration was beautifully delivered. I disliked intensely the leading lady who I thought was a lousy actress and with no screen presence at all. I was waiting for Eddie to inform us that she was someone's wife, girl friend, best friend, investor, etc. but he did tell us she had a career, surprising to me, but maybe she got better with experience. The bleak ending was REALLY bleak but appropriate. The moment he made that phone call suggesting he wanted out, I knew his life wasn't going to last much longer.

I remembered that actress playing Matt Dillon's mother in "The Flamingo Kid". Yup, as soon as he made that phone call, I knew his fate was doomed.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Any thoughts on "In a Lonely Place"? I agree with Eddie and Anne about the movie and I can see why Eddie loves this movie so much. We can debate whether Nicholas Ray's ending change was for the better. I'm glad Ray did change it.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I've been debating watching Blast of Silence. Eddie's introductory comments sort of cooled my interest when he laid out the details of the casting of the film. Amateurish acting is one of those things that really takes me out of a film. It is still on the DVR so maybe I'll get to it. (There are elements of the film that do interest me.)

I've got other things to watch like We're No Angels which I recorded on TCM a little while back. Somehow the fact that this film was released on Blu-Ray eluded me, or maybe I simply forgot which is entirely possible these days. One of my favorite comedies from that era.

- Walter.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I've got other things to watch like We're No Angels which I recorded on TCM a little while back. Somehow the fact that this film was released on Blu-Ray eluded me, or maybe I simply forgot which is entirely possible these days. One of my favorite comedies from that era.

- Walter.

I haven't bought the Blu-ray, but I did mention the upcoming Blu-ray release the last time I watched my iTunes HD Digital last year prior to it's release. Here are my comments.

 

[Matt Hough]

Any thoughts on "In a Lonely Place"? I agree with Eddie and Anne about the movie and I can see why Eddie loves this movie so much. We can debate whether Nicholas Ray's ending change was for the better. I'm glad Ray did change it.

I'm glad he changed it, too. No need for her to die in order to see that this was a relationship doomed to failure. And the film is called In a LONELY Place, so the protagonist is never going to be able to find a satisfying relationship with someone else unless he gets tremendous psychiatric help.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I haven't bought the Blu-ray, but I did mention the upcoming Blu-ray release the last time I watched my iTunes HD Digital last year prior to it's release. Here are my comments.

For whatever reason, the 'comments' link didn't take me where I thought it might. (?) Anyway, I did a search on the film title and found your thoughts in this thread, and a fair amount of conversation about burned vs. pressed Blu-Rays from Paramount in another spot. So yeah, the Blu-Ray release was definitely a topic of conversation on HTF prior to its release. I tend to make a list and order a group of titles vs. individual orders so I'll get this at some future date.

- Walter.

 

[lark144]

I haven't bought the Blu-ray, but I did mention the upcoming Blu-ray release the last time I watched my iTunes HD Digital last year prior to it's release. Here are my comments.

I was considering buying the Blu-Ray just yesterday, then noticed it's a MOD. I never thought there was a difference between MODs and pressed discs, but the other day I tried to watch a MOD of "The Bitter Tea of General Yen" which I bought on Amazon a few years ago, and it kept freezing up and I wasn't able to watch the last five minutes. So I'm passing on "We're No Angels" as a Blu-ray.

 

[David Weicker]

I was considering buying the Blu-Ray just yesterday, then noticed it's a MOD. I never thought there was a difference between MODs and pressed discs, but the other day I tried to watch a MOD of "The Bitter Tea of General Yen" which I bought on Amazon a few years ago, and it kept freezing up and I wasn't able to watch the last five minutes. So I'm passing on "We're No Angels" as a Blu-ray.

Apparently, the initial batch from Amazon was BD-R, all other retailers supposedly were pressed from the beginning.

Since Amazon has shut down their burning facilities, I would assume any new items would also be pressed.


Bitter Tea Of General Yen had two releases. The first was BD-R. It was later re-released as a pressed disc