Roger Ebert commentary on Criterion's Floating Weeds (1 Viewer)

[SteveGon]

Just saw this on Criterion's website:

Esteemed film critic Roger Ebert will contribute audio commentary to Criterion's upcoming DVD release of Yasujiro Ozu's classic Floating Weeds (Ukigusa, 1959). Also included in this release will be Ozu's original, silent The Story of Floating Weeds (Ukigusa monogatari, 1934). The release of Criterion's Floating Weeds will follow the the celebration of Ozu's centennial at this year's New York Film Festival.

This release has just been upgraded from "must have" to "really must have."

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

I wonder if Ebert will be providing commentaries for other future Criterion releases? This surely won't be a one-off.


Gordy

 

[Ike]

This just went from "I should get some Ozu" to "I'm going to buy Floating Weeds." I liked his other two commentaries, and have been meaning to watch something of Ozu's. Perfect!

 

[Jon Robertson]

Although Ebert's commentary is a nice bonus, for me the most exciting thing is that it'll also include Ozu's The Story of Floating Weeds. This is a complete extra feature film on the same disc!

 

[SteveGon]

Jon, I'm looking forward to the silent as well, but if Ebert's previous two commentaries are any indication, he'll do a bang-up job on Floating Weeds. This very well could be one of the premiere DVD releases this year.

 

[Karl F]

What other DVDs did Ebert do commentaries for?

 

[Peter D]

Citizen Kane and Dark City.

 

[Brian PB]

Ebert has previously recorded DVD commentary tracks for Citizen Kane and Dark City (1998/Alex Proyas).

EDIT: Peter D: you beat me by 3 minutes . . .

 

[andrew markworthy]

I've just finished listening to Ebert's Floating Weeds commentary. To be honest, I didn't enjoy it as much as Citizen Kane and Dark City. Indeed, at the start he does sound rather apologetic, asking why Criterion got him to do this commentary. It certainly isn't as deeply informed with facts and background material as the other two commentaries, and I greatly preferred the one for the silent movie (The Story of Floating Weeds).

 

[oscar_merkx]

great news indeed and this is just another excuse to give Kane anther spin

 

[John Stone]

Don't forget that in addition to the Dark City and Citizen Kane commentaries, Ebert also did an excellent feature-length commentary for the recent 2-disc SE of Casablanca.

 

[Robert Holloway]

Roger talked about his commentaries on this weeks show.
He will only do commentaries on films he loves
Rob

 

[Jeff Newcomb]

hmmm...I wish that I had seen the show this week. I met Roger a couple of weeks ago in Boulder, and asked him about commentaries. He said that he has recorded one for Beyond the Valley of the Dolls for Criterion, but that it may not be released because of "rights issues." Criterion had licensed this from Fox.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

I sure hope the Beyond the Valley of the Dolls commentary gets released. After Russ Meyer's commentaries on the laserdiscs about Ebert, it would be interesting to hear the other side of the story.

 

[ZacharyTait]

After Russ Meyer's commentaries on the laserdiscs about Ebert, it would be interesting to hear the other side of the story.

What kind of things did he say? Good? Bad?

 

[BryanV]

LOL I wonder if there is any docu. footage of ebert back then. It would be fun to see him as a kid.

 

[Ehren G]

Any DVD with a Ebert commentary is mine!