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

[Robert Crawford]

Well, according to Amazon my Blu-ray disc of "The Thing From Another World" has shipped and I'll have it on Sunday.

 

[Matt Hough]

I haven't spent much time watching movies the last few days. More of my time was spent buying them on disc and digital.

Today, I will finish up "The Thing from Another World" Carpenter audio commentary as it appears I'll have my Blu-ray of it next week. Also, I'm going to watch my Criterion Blu-ray of "The Killing" (1956) which is on "Noir Alley" tonight and tomorrow morning.

I did review The Killing when it came out on Criterion, but I have not watched it since then (even though I love the movie). I'll certainly record Eddie's broadcast and just watch the movie on the TCM telecast between Eddie's comments.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I did review The Killing when it came out on Criterion, but I have not watched it since then (even though I love the movie). I'll certainly record Eddie's broadcast and just watch the movie on the TCM telecast between Eddie's comments.

I have to admit it's been a while since I last watched "The Killing". I've never watched my Criterion Blu-ray and the last time I watched it was on DVD almost 20 years ago. I'm rectifying that situation this afternoon.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I have to admit it's been a while since I last watched "The Killing". I've never watched my Criterion Blu-ray and the last time I watched it was on DVD almost 20 years ago. I'm rectifying that situation this afternoon.

The Criterion Blu-ray was excellent and it looked and sounded better than any previous viewing of it. What a great film as the ending was tremendous.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I spent time earlier this week watching "The Glenn Miller Story" Blu-ray from Shout! Factory and comparing it to the MOC Region "B" Blu-ray. Well today, I decided to watch the Region "A" BD in its entirety. I thought the 1954 version looked very good so I'm happy to have it in my collection. One day, I need to watch it again with the audio commentary. As for the movie, an excellent biopic that took some dramatic licensing too.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Tomorrow will be a NFL Sunday for me except for "The Thing From Another World" on Blu-ray. My Amazon order is in Michigan so it will be delivered tomorrow along with a bunch of other discs. I'll listen to Eddie Muller's comments about "The Killing" too in the morning before any football games.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Eddie gave "The Killing" some really high praise and he's right. I actually like it better than "The Asphalt Jungle". Sure, the narration is not needed, but it might have been back in 1956. When I first saw this film while a young teenager, I enjoyed the narration. Not so much today because of so many films in recent time have used that "back and forth" time lapse technique. Also, Eddie was right about the cast. It was a like a "Who's Who" of Film Noir in this film's cast. Just a great film! By the way, Sterling Hayden's look on his face while out on the airfield is simply classic. My only quibble about the film is that there should have been more than one blast from that shot gun in that apartment shootout. Perhaps, the film code got in the way.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

The Criterion Blu-ray was excellent and it looked and sounded better than any previous viewing of it. What a great film as the ending was tremendous.

Even though I also have the Criterion, I had to watch the TCM showing of The Killing along with the Muller comments. Such a great film with such memorable and quickly established side characters. Sterling Hayden is really the straight man to this bunch; actually the least character character, but his all business aloofness just makes the other characters resonate and stand out more.

And Kubrick was right to hate the audio narration. He trusted his audience to follow the non-linear sequences better than the studio. He so perfectly re-adjusts each scenario and syncs things up with the visuals of the speakers and the race track voice, why would you need any more explanation? Oh, well, this was probably the last film where he had to answer to anyone else's dictims about how to tell his story.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Even though I also have the Criterion, I had to watch the TCM showing of The Killing along with the Muller comments. Such a great film with such memorable and quickly established side characters. Sterling Hayden is really the straight man to this bunch; actually the least character character, but his all business aloofness just makes the other characters resonate and stand out more.

I will have to check out Muller's comments on the TCM app if they appear. I own the Criterion BD, too, so don't really want to watch an inferior transfer of the film itself on TCM. It's been about 7 years since I last watched the BD according to my DVD Profiler database, so I added it to my "re-watch" list.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I will have to check out Muller's comments on the TCM app if they appear. I own the Criterion BD, too, so don't really want to watch an inferior transfer of the film itself on TCM.

I wouldn't do that either. I would simply watch Eddie's opening comments, watch the Criterion Blu-ray then fast forward the TCM recording and watch his ending comments.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

For what it's worth, the picture quality for The Killing looked pretty damn good on TCM; definitely an HD transfer. We've come a long way from when I first saw this on some 25" tube television with commercials. And per the Muller commentary and the fact Carey was inclined to improvise his own dialogue, do you suppose it was his move to use the "N" word against the parking attendant? It was still somewhat startling (and I'm sure it was censored for the TV airing). Does the Criterion audio commentary discuss whether that was scripted?

 

[Matt Hough]

I thought the TCM broadcast looked very good, too. The details in Elisha Cook's face after the attack were very crisp.

What a great movie! I forget in between viewings just how wonderful it is, and I'm not even bothered at all by the narration.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I thought the TCM broadcast looked very good, too. The details in Elisha Cook's face after the attack were very crisp.

What a great movie! I forget in between viewings just how wonderful it is, and I'm not even bothered at all by the narration.

I thought the TCM broadcast looked good too as I watched a couple of scenes particularly the last 20 minutes of the film.

Yes, I too forgot how great a film it is. The narration doesn't bother me, I just wished it wasn't present, but I can live with it.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I highly recommend the Warner Archive Blu-ray of "The Thing From Another World". The film looked great and the Tiomkin soundtrack really shines on this BD release. A great job by Warner! There isn't any bonus material which is a missed opportunity in my opinion, but I'm still very happy with this Blu-ray. Also, the disc does have subtitles and trailers.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Rats, a major Winter Snowstorm starting tonight on November 25/26. Oh well, I got plenty of movies to keep me occupied without having to go outside until Tuesday.

 

[SeanSKA]

But Ace in the Hole was a flop and Detective Story was a hit; hence the way I think the nominations would have gone if it had happened. Also, having both the same year may have split his votes and thus no nomination. Hard to know but fascinating nevertheless.

Interesting though that Eleanor Parker got a best Actress nomination for playing his wife, and Douglas did not. But that was a very competitive year in the Best Actor category, as mentioned

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Rats, a major Winter Snowstorm starting tonight on November 25/26. Oh well, I got plenty of movies to keep me occupied without having to go outside until Tuesday.

Only 3-6 inches is expected in mid-Michigan, Robert. We Michiganders laugh at such paltry amounts of snow (insert Superhero laugh here). It just changed from rain to snow down here in SE Michigan, and it looks like it will not be sticking, as the ground is too warm. Still, it's a good excuse to stay inside. We are putting up our Christmas tree today.

I watched Sahara last night, which I picked up on sale at iTunes after you mentioned it. The film was better than I expected, although the transfer on iTunes wasn't that great. I love Bogey, but had never seen this one.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I'm in the middle of watching and listening to John Carpenter's audio commentary for "The Thing From Another World" (1951). One of my favorite films of all-time. This will make my third viewing this year alone of it. Hopefully, there will be a fourth viewing in 1080p before the year is out.

What did you think of the commentary? The Thing is is also one of my favorite films.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Only 3-6 inches is expected in mid-Michigan, Robert. We Michiganders laugh at such paltry amounts of snow (insert Superhero laugh here). It just changed from rain to snow down here in SE Michigan, and it looks like it will not be sticking, as the ground is too warm. Still, it's a good excuse to stay inside. We are putting up our Christmas tree today.

I watched Sahara last night, which I picked up on sale at iTunes after you mentioned it. The film was better than I expected, although the transfer on iTunes wasn't that great. I love Bogey, but had never seen this one.

They were talking 5-8 inches earlier with talk of snow drifts when I posted my comment. We ended up with perhaps 3-4 inches with a lot of wind. As for snow, now that I'm retired, I don't have to deal with it much any longer. I have somebody that takes care of my driveway and walk way and I don't hit the roads until they're cleared.

I thought the transfer on iTunes looked really good compared to the DVD. Anyhow, this film has been a Bogey favorite of mine since high school.

 

[Robert Crawford]

What did you think of the commentary? The Thing is is also one of my favorite films.

It was okay, but nothing like I was led to believe it would be. Quite frankly, I was let down by it.