Josh's Blind Buys: Watching The Unseen Collection (2 Viewers)

[DavidJ]

I haven't revisited La La Land, but I think quite highly of it. I wonder if I still will after I view it again. It's easy to see why it got all the love it did from the Academy. There's nothing Hollywood likes better than films about Hollywood. If I was more cynical, it might've been too much for me, but I went with it.

Although it wasn't the happy ending I normally like, I found there to be more truth in the way La La Land ended. I especially appreciated how it showed the impact they had on each other despite the fact their careers and choices eventually drove them apart.

I am also a big fan of City of Stars. The minor tone fits the movie. It's seemingly headed toward a happy ending, but the reality is more bittersweet. The song echos that. Optimistic lyrics sung sadly.

 

[Mike Frezon]

If you check the internet, (I forget where I found it -- sorry), you will find the information on how to meld the music from the two CDs together in movie order. This fits comfortably on 1 CD, or you can make a playlist which does the same thing. I find this the best way to listen to the score.

Check HERE.

 

[Joel Arndt]

Mike, thanks for unearthing my post, but there were a couple of revisions as pointed out later-

13 and 14 should be reversed- Rialto at Ten should be track 13 and City of Stars should be track 14.

36 and 37 should be reversed- City of Stars (Humming) should be track 36 and Mia & Sebastian's Theme (Celesta) should be track 37.

If there are any others I'd be glad to know.

 

[Joel Arndt]

I was pretty much on target with the age guesstimate. I'm 21 years older than you are.

I'm in total agreement with you regarding the analogy between sci-fi/space films and westerns. Yes, that description is accurate of westerns. And not only Star Trek, but Star Wars was influenced by westerns among other genres as I'm sure you know.

 

[TJPC]

Mike, thanks for unearthing my post, but there were a couple of revisions as pointed out later-

13 and 14 should be reversed- Rialto at Ten should be track 13 and City of Stars should be track 14.

36 and 37 should be reversed- City of Stars (Humming) should be track 36 and Mia & Sebastian's Theme (Celesta) should be track 37.

If there are any others I'd be glad to know.

Thanks JoelA. I took your directions with revisions, and that's the way we always listen to the score.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

#90 - Blackbeard's Ghost (1968)
Viewed on: May 14th, 2017
Viewing Format: Blu-ray (Disney/DMC Exclusive)

For as let down as I felt after Monkeys, Go Home!, I felt the exact opposite watching Blackbeard's Ghost. I bought this over a year ago as part of a Disney binge I started and never entirely got around to finishing. I've almost watched it half a dozen times, and then decided on something else at the last minute. And after Monkeys, Go Home! disappointed me, I wasn't sure that I was even in the mood for another Disney film from that period. But I couldn't figure out what else to watch, and nothing from the shelf was calling my name, so I decided to give this a shot.

Blackbeard's Ghost is exactly the kind of lighthearted, fun, family fare that the Disney studio is best known for. Even though the movie is silly to its core, with a ridiculous premise, it was nearly as enjoyable to me as The Absent-Minded Professor and other silly Disney titles. Dean Jones stars as a track coach newly arriving at a local college, which has a reputation for having the worst track team anywhere. To Jones' dismay, they are more awful than anything he's ever seen. In an effort to impress a fellow schoolteacher (Suzanne Pleshette), Jones bids in a local auction for some trinkets formerly owned by the legendary pirate Blackbeard. Coming as a surprise to him (but perhaps not to us), Blackbeard's ghost (Peter Ustinov) soon comes forth, and haunts Jones. Only Jones can see him, but that doesn't make him any less of a menace! And thanks to a curse, they'll be stuck that way unless Jones can convince Blackbeard to do one good deed. Throw in a subplot with some local mobsters trying to evict old ladies from an inn and a bunch of track and field shenanigans, along with Ustinov hamming it up every step of the way, and you've got a really fun night at the movies. There's nothing here that you won't see coming a mile away, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable when it arrives. Richard Deacon (Mel Cooley from the Dick Van Dyke Show) has a small but enjoyable part as the college's principal, and I always enjoy getting to see him in different parts. Dean Jones delivers a more assured and assertive performance this time around; he has to run the gamut from charming to flustered to exasperated and back again, often in the same scene, and he handles it well. Peter Ustinov steals every scene he's in, as you might expect.

The transfer on this Disney Movie Club exclusive release was pleasing, with good color and not a hint of dirt or damage to be found. I'm not sure that the 1.66:1 aspect ratio is correct; Bob Furmanek has pretty well established that domestic theaters were showing flat films at 1.85:1 by this point in time. But the framing doesn't look wrong, and the difference between the two ratios is slight enough that I'm not prepared to lose sleep over it. I wonder if Disney was protecting their flat films for television before that became a more standard practice. If so, it would make sense, since their Disneyland/Wonderful World Of Disney/Wonderful World Of Color program was wildly popular and allowed them a chance to recycle their movies years after the original release. Just one speculative guess on why this doesn't look terrible at 1.66:1, but please don't quote me on that because I have no idea for sure. The audio is clean and clear, and despite being a lossy Dolby Digital 1.0 mono, it sounded fine to my ears. English subtitles are provided. As with all other Disney Movie Club exclusives, there are no bonus features on this Blu-ray.

Blackbeard's Ghost was better than expected, and just the kind of silly Disney fun I was looking for at the moment. Whether you're looking for something fun for the kids, or something light to watch before bed on your own, I really enjoyed this movie for being exactly what it was.

 

[Nelson Au]

Mike, Joel, thanks for the track listing info to combine the two albums.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

#91 - The BFG 3D (2016)
Viewed on: May 15th, 2017
Viewing Format: Blu-ray 3D (Entertain One - UK Import/Zone B Locked)

I grew up reading Roald Dahl's books, though not all of them equally. Some I read at least a dozen times, while others just once or twice; The BFG was in this latter category. So while I looked forward to the movie, I didn't have a strong attachment to the source material. I missed it in theaters last summer, and with Disney not releasing a 3D version domestically, it took me a while to get around to ordering the 3D version from the Entertain One label out of the UK. (FYI, the disc is region locked to zone B.)

Steven Spielberg directed the film, adapted by the late Melissa Mathison (who also wrote E.T.). Ruby Barnhill plays Sophie, a young orphan. Looking out the window of her orphanage one night, she spots (and is spotted by) the BFG (Big Friendly Giant), brought to life in a motion capture performance by Mark Rylance. He takes her back to the land of the giants, but with his fellow giants all being even larger creatures who enjoy feasting on human children, she quickly finds herself in danger. After convincing the BFG that they can defeat the evil giants, they enlist the help of Queen Elizabeth and her army. That's the framework of the story, but with this being a Roald Dahl adaptation, all of it is told with his unique blend of English charm and a mischievousness that borders on the crude. Though it might make the most buttoned up viewer roll their eyes, the humor will amuse most audiences.

And therein lies the film's greatest problem: there are many moments that amuse, but the film doesn't quite cohere as a whole. The biggest problem I had was with the CGI used to bring Rylance's BFG and the other giants to life. It has that unreal, slightly translucent, not-quite-there look. I loved Ruby Barnhill's performance, but I could never quite believe that she was in the same space as the BFG. Spielberg made me believe humans and dinosaurs were occupying the same space over two decades ago, but here, the illusion is never convincing. (But, to his credit, the shot design is frequently breathtaking.) And the film's pacing is a killer. There are films that are slowly paced, and then there are films that are just slow. The BFG runs 117 minutes, but it feels long for the story being told. Scenes go on long after they've made their point. All of this adds up to something that feels more like a rough draft than a finished product. It's a great idea for a movie, but it could have used some more time in the edit room and the effects suite.

The Zone B-locked release from UK label Entertainment One offered a good presentation. The image quality was pristine, and the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio (mixed down to 5.1 on my system) was lively and enjoyable. The 3D quality was inconsistent. At times, it had fantastic depth and layering, and at other times, it was disappointing flat - often within the same sequences. This didn't appear to be a defect in the disc or transfer but a symptom of the more mild 3D that's typical of many modern productions. The 2D version of the film and bonus features are included on a second disc, which I didn't sample.

The BFG was a film that had a lot of great parts that unfortunately didn't come together as well as they should have. While the quirkiness and charm of Dahl's story comes through, the film desperately could have used some of the energy that Spielberg brought to his earlier films. And while the designs are frequently stunning, the CGI too often stands out in an unflattering light. This is a sincere but somewhat inert effort from a director whom I usually associate with more lively films.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

#92 - Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)
Viewed on: May 15th, 2017
Viewing Format: Blu-ray (Warner Archive)

Earlier in the evening, I had viewed David Lynch's Mulholland Dr., which I hadn't seen in a few years. It's a fantastic and disturbing take on Hollywood, completely enthralling in its own right, but doesn't exactly leave you feeling warm and fuzzy at the end. I needed something a bit less intense to put on before calling it a night, but I was kinda interested in staying with a Hollywood theme. I noticed that I had two movies on the blind buy shelf that seemed like they might fill that niche: The Barefoot Contessa and Thank Your Lucky Stars. Ultimately, I went with Thank Your Lucky Stars because it seemed like a looser, more fun movie, whereas Barefoot Contessa didn't seem like it would necessarily cheer me up. Thank Your Lucky Stars delivered what I expected, but ended up being perhaps a little less than the sum of its part.

Reminding me a little of The Big Broadcast Of 1938, the plot in Thank Your Lucky Stars is a little more than excuse to get half the Warner backlot on screen together - not that that's a complaint. Leading the charge is Eddie Cantor, playing dual roles. In the first role, playing himself, he's the fussy lead of a benefit show being staged; in his other role, he's a dramatic actor named Joe Simpson who can't get work because of his resemblance to Cantor. His friends (Dennis Morgan and Joan Leslie) want to be Hollywood performers themselves, but haven't been able to get a big break. They come up with the idea of having Simpson fill in for Cantor long enough for them to be able to perform at the benefit and perhaps catch the eye of talent scouts who are sure to attend. The real Cantor is forced to endure indignity after indignity as he's first kidnapped by Indians and then winds up in a mental hospital during his escape. On the more plot oriented side of the film, I enjoyed Cantor's dual roles, and the supporting performance from Edward Everett Horton (always a treat) and the brief cameo by Humphrey Bogart. On the musical side, it was great to see so many stars contributing musical performances. But, if I have a criticism of the film, it's that it runs too long for what it is. At 127 minutes with about 15 performances, none of which have anything to do with the narrative, it's just a little much. As a time capsule of 1943 Hollywood, the film is invaluable. As a piece of entertainment, a little bit of trimming would have gone a long way.

The transfer from Warner Archive was gorgeous. After beginning with windowboxed titles, the film proper looks outstanding. The pristine image has a beautiful greyscale, and there isn't a hint of damage or dirt to be found. The lossless mono audio is clean and clear. English subtitles were provided, but were an ugly yellow color I found distracting. The disc includes a nice assortment of bonus features from that era, including a short, some cartoons, a newsreel, a radio play and trailers (some but not all of these bonuses are in HD).

I enjoyed the bulk of Thank Your Lucky Stars, but I have to confess that I wasn't fully paying attention to the nuances of each musical performance by the end of the film. In that regard, it was a little like a talent show that ran too long. But the silly plot that holds the thing together always held my interest and never failed to amuse me, and the performances were all enjoyable. If Thank Your Lucky Stars might prove that sometimes more is just more, it's not a bad way to spend two hours.

 

[Matt Hough]

Well, Thank Your Lucky Stars was one of a number of all-star studio concoctions in support of the war effort. MGM, Universal, and Paramount also had their own movies in this genre around the same time. They're certainly more professionally mounted and performed than the all-star revues of the early talkie era (which are still simply fascinating to look at despite their primitive production values), and all give a picture of the studio system of the era. MGM did theirs (Thousands Cheer) in color.

 

[TJPC]

#92 - Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)
Viewed on: May 15th, 2017
Viewing Format: Blu-ray (Warner Archive)

Earlier in the evening, I had viewed David Lynch's Mulholland Dr., which I hadn't seen in a few years. It's a fantastic and disturbing take on Hollywood, completely enthralling in its own right, but doesn't exactly leave you feeling warm and fuzzy at the end. I needed something a bit less intense to put on before calling it a night, but I was kinda interested in staying with a Hollywood theme. I noticed that I had two movies on the blind buy shelf that seemed like they might fill that niche: The Barefoot Contessa and Thank Your Lucky Stars. Ultimately, I went with Thank Your Lucky Stars because it seemed like a looser, more fun movie, whereas Barefoot Contessa didn't seem like it would necessarily cheer me up. Thank Your Lucky Stars delivered what I expected, but ended up being perhaps a little less than the sum of its part.

Reminding me a little of The Big Broadcast Of 1938, the plot in Thank Your Lucky Stars is a little more than excuse to get half the Warner backlot on screen together - not that that's a complaint. Leading the charge is Eddie Cantor, playing dual roles. In the first role, playing himself, he's the fussy lead of a benefit show being staged; in his other role, he's a dramatic actor named Joe Simpson who can't get work because of his resemblance to Cantor. His friends (Dennis Morgan and Joan Leslie) want to be Hollywood performers themselves, but haven't been able to get a big break. They come up with the idea of having Simpson fill in for Cantor long enough for them to be able to perform at the benefit and perhaps catch the eye of talent scouts who are sure to attend. The real Cantor is forced to endure indignity after indignity as he's first kidnapped by Indians and then winds up in a mental hospital during his escape. On the more plot oriented side of the film, I enjoyed Cantor's dual roles, and the supporting performance from Edward Everett Horton (always a treat) and the brief cameo by Humphrey Bogart. On the musical side, it was great to see so many stars contributing musical performances. But, if I have a criticism of the film, it's that it runs too long for what it is. At 127 minutes with about 15 performances, none of which have anything to do with the narrative, it's just a little much. As a time capsule of 1943 Hollywood, the film is invaluable. As a piece of entertainment, a little bit of trimming would have gone a long way.

The transfer from Warner Archive was gorgeous. After beginning with windowboxed titles, the film proper looks outstanding. The pristine image has a beautiful greyscale, and there isn't a hint of damage or dirt to be found. The lossless mono audio is clean and clear. English subtitles were provided, but were an ugly yellow color I found distracting. The disc includes a nice assortment of bonus features from that era, including a short, some cartoons, a newsreel, a radio play and trailers (some but not all of these bonuses are in HD).

I enjoyed the bulk of Thank Your Lucky Stars, but I have to confess that I wasn't fully paying attention to the nuances of each musical performance by the end of the film. In that regard, it was a little like a talent show that ran too long. But the silly plot that holds the thing together always held my interest and never failed to amuse me, and the performances were all enjoyable. If Thank Your Lucky Stars might prove that sometimes more is just more, it's not a bad way to spend two hours.

Don't judge Eddie Cantor by this movie alone. He is at his hilarious best in his 1930's Goldwyn movies (released recently by Warner Archive). I have always thought he equals or surpasses the other great '30s comedians of this era in these films, plus they have really good musical numbers, Busby Berkley, and often a young almost naked Lucille Ball in the chorus!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Just cause I thought it ran a little long doesn't mean I didn't like it... I think it was a really cool find. It may not have a ton of rewatch value to me but to see all of these stars clowning around and with such pristine technical quality, it's well worth the price of admission in my book.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

I enjoyed your review of BLACKBEARD'S GHOST and need to check that out some time.

While most Disney pressbooks list the intended aspect ratio, that one does not.

It's listed in Boxoffice for 1.85:1. If the framing looks right at 1.66:1, I'd bet it's been zoomed-in a bit and manipulated when scanned. That's very common.

 

[J. Casey]

In THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS, I just love the Hattie McDaniel number "Ice Cold Katie." You don't think of her as a singer, but she really belts the tune out!

 

[Rob_Ray]

In THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS, I just love the Hattie McDaniel number "Ice Cold Katie." You don't think of her as a singer, but she really belts the tune out!

Hattie McDaniel was a singer before she became an actress. She's also memorable in her duet with Paul Robeson, "Ah Still Suits Me", in SHOW BOAT

 

[J. Casey]

That's right! I forgot about that duet in SHOW BOAT! Thanks for the info.

 

[Joel Arndt]

Great review of Thank Your Lucky Stars and the Archive's release does look excellent!

I really enjoy this movie seeing Warner's stable of dramatic stars cutting loose in musical numbers and comedy bits. Bogart's cameo with SZ "Cuddles" Sakall is fantastic as well as Bette Davis' They're Either Too Young or Too Old, Errol Flynn's That's What You Jolly Well Get and Ann Sheridan's Love Isn't Born, It's Made. Plus, Dinah Shore, Dennis Morgan, Olivia de Havilland, Ida Lupino, John Garfield and so many others.

And it seemed that Joan Leslie starred in every other Warner Bros. film during the war years. Very likable and pretty actress who just passed away less than two years ago. Amazing that she was only 18 when she made this film. If you enjoyed Cantor in this, you really owe it to yourself to check out his Goldwyn films from the early to mid 30s as Terry pointed out above if you haven't seen them. Since you like other comic actors from this period I think you'd enjoy these.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I enjoyed your review of BLACKBEARD'S GHOST and need to check that out some time.

While most Disney pressbooks list the intended aspect ratio, that one does not.

It's listed in Boxoffice for 1.85:1. If the framing looks right at 1.66:1, I'd bet it's been zoomed-in a bit and manipulated when scanned. That's very common.

View attachment 38168

Thanks for the clipping, Bob! Really great to have you here

When I was watching the movie, I tried it both at 1.66:1 and zooming in to an approximate 1.85:1 (it's hard to get it exactly right while the movie is playing and I didn't care enough to get it completely perfect). It looked fine both ways to me. At the time the movie was being made, Disney had the weekly show on ABC (or was it NBC by that point?) and they did replay a lot of Disney movies on the show, particularly the live action ones that weren't giant hits. I wonder if the studio had a formal or informal policy of framing things loosely so that theatrical projection at 1.85:1 could be easily accommodated, but so could open matte television viewings at 1.33:1. They must've had an idea at that point that the potential for television screenings offered more future opportunities than theatrical re-releases.

Totally possible it could have been manipulated too! Without having a 35mm source to compare to, I'll likely never know. But it's never displeasing, and at the end of the day, I can't imagine many people watching Blackbeard's Ghost with a ruler at hand to verify the proper proportions.

If you do end up picking it up, I hope you get as much enjoyment out of it as I did! By the way, is that a Variety clipping? Regardless of the source, I agree with their assessment of the film.

 

[Rob_Ray]

Most Disney films of this era were filmed with the assumption that they would be airing on The Wonderful World of Disney (NBC) within a short time. I seem to recall at the time that a few projects were filmed before the decision was made whether to send the final results to theatres or television.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

That makes sense, and seems to match what I'm seeing on the screen. 1.33:1 for this title would have had too much headroom, but it wouldn't have been unbearably ugly or vacant. 1.85:1 looked good, maybe ever so slightly tight, and didn't seem as precise as some other features. 1.66:1 looked good all around, and crops or opens up pretty easily for the other ratio.

I know that their later animated productions have followed the same rules from around the time of Little Mermaid - composed at 1.66:1 on the CAPS animation system, and then cropped to 1.85:1 for theatrical or 1.33:1 for home video. The DVDs/BDs for those releases usually have them at 1.66:1 too.