FOX UK Down argentine way, virgin queen (1 Viewer)

[Joe Caps]

Fox in the UK has announced two titles in their studio series not available in region one.
Down argentine way - Betty Grable
The Viurgin Queen - Bette davis
are they coming ot region one. Fox has yet to announce anything new in thier cinema claasics or musicals collection.

 

[Jon Robertson]

Best of all, they've announced Jean Renoir's long sought-after Swamp Water as well for April 17. I wonder if Criterion's pinched it from Fox for the R1 release?

 

[Doug Bull]

I most certainly will be considering those 3 titles.
Although I might wait on Down Argentine Way as, to me, PAL speedup is very noticable on Musicals.

I'm amazed at the lack of Technical attention and care given by some TV Networks.
Every time "The Virgin Queen" is run on Pay-TV here in Australia, for some reason the right hand channel is missing on the print, so any dialogue on the Centre to right of the screen is almost completely missing.
When characters move to the left of the screen, the dialogue is extra loud and all out of proportion.
I tried contacting the Station, but nobody knows what the hell I'm talking about.
Yet they continue to run this very obviously faulty print.

 

[Simon Howson]

I assume you're talking about Foxtel? Do they broadcast the film at 2.55:1?

Another Fox Classic title that has been released in Regions 2 & 4 (Australia), but not yet in R1 is the John Huston film with John Wayne The Barbarian & The Geisha (1958): http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/784472

Also, some of the Fox Studio Classics get released in R4 earlier than the R1 releases, however they usually lack the extras found on the R1 versions. Two For The Road is an example of such a film, and it could be bought in K-Mart/Big W very cheap, around AUD$10.

 

[Doug Bull]

The region 4 version of TWO FOR THE ROAD looks awful and is only 4:3 Letterbox.

Yes Foxtel was the culprit regarding THE VIRGIN QUEEN.

Today there is a screening on FTA Digital here in OZ of the seldom seen early Cinemascope costumer KING RICHARD AND THE CRUSADERS.
Fingers and toes crossed it will be presented in 16:9 Anamorphic and Digital Stereo.

 

[Simon Howson]

Was it properly formatted (2.55:1)? I was off at the cinema watching Munich and The Aristocrats (both very good IMO).

I hate CinemaScope/Panavision/Super 35 films being shown 16:9. It is only marginally better than the days of pan and scan VHS tapes.

I wish DTV had an auto-pan and scan mode. The signal should be correctly letterboxed to original aspect ratio, then the user adjusts their set top box accordingly to preserve the full image, or fill their widescreen or 4:3 TV. This idea of taking a 2.55:1 film and showing it at 1.78:1 is a digital version of the pan and scan era.

But hey, I watch widescreen films because they're widescreen, what would I know :-P

 

[Doug Bull]

King Richard and the Crusaders alas was run yesterday on Digital Free to Air in 4:3 Pan and Scan, but it did have a great Stereo Soundtrack which presented Max Steiner's Majestic Music Score in all it's glory.
Dialogue was mono, but the Music and Effects track was very directional.

The Virgin Queen with the faulty soundtrack was run a few times earlier last year on Pay TV's Fox Classics and I can't remember if it was shown Letterboxed or Pan and Scan.
Foxtel's Fox Classics, although Digital, is not a 16:9( Anamorphic)ready channel at this time, but they do tend to run Scope films 4:3 Letterboxed and in the correct original ratio when available.

I would never ever, under any circumstances compromise the quality of an image by using Zoom.
But hey, that's just me.