Vinegar Syndrome Picks Up Some MGM Catalog Titles (1 Viewer)

[roxy1927]

Y

 

[roxy1927]

Yeah I know. That's what's so sad. It's like torture porn and a woman being put in a meat grinding machine is treasurable as Scott Merryfield put it.

 

[TravisR]

It's not an either/or situation. It's economics. If someone, including MGM, thinks they can turn a profit by releasing those titles, they will.

Yep. If it makes dollars, it makes sense.

As I've said, I'm glad to see a company take up the underdog titles (even ones that I have zero interest in) that would otherwise end up lost or at least forgotten.

 

[Worth]

Why is so much and I know most people agree with me of this garbage important? Aren't there so many more titles worthy of restoration? Like the above mentioned Light Brigade and Ryan's Daughter and just a lot of classics from the MGM catalogue.

Honestly why is this exploitation trash important for restoration? They already exist in a state worthy of their contents.

Charge of the Light Brigade was released in Europe and may well see the light of day from Kino or another label eventually. Ryan's Daughter is with Warner now, not MGM. It would probably be out already if it weren't 70mm, which makes it a very expensive proposition to create a quality digital master.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

So, I can't tell...have Vinegar Syndrome announced any titles from MGM yet? I see the first post in this thread mentions a title would be announced the following day. Was the title they announced in this deal Malibu High? Have they announced any others?

 

[TravisR]

So, I can't tell...have Vinegar Syndrome announced any titles from MGM yet? I see the first post in this thread mentions a title would be announced the following day. Was the title they announced in this deal Malibu High? Have they announced any others?

No, they've just confirmed the rumor that they had licensed titles from MGM so far.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

No, they've just confirmed the rumor that they had licensed titles from MGM so far.

So when it says in the original post that a title would be announced on March 17 that never happened?

 

[TravisR]

So when it says in the original post that a title would be announced on March 17 that never happened?

I didn't even notice the date listed (I've had other things on my mind the last week or two ) but I follow them on the various social media platforms and not a peep about what the titles are and nothing on their site for pre-order. My guess is that the recent craziness has delayed the announcement.

EDIT: As per Bob below, Pale Blood is an MGM-owned title.

 

[Bob Cashill]

As I mentioned above, PALE BLOOD is VS' first MGM title. Never heard of it? Me, neither--but that's pretty much where the label's at, not LAST TANGO IN PARIS and THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, etc. And they've had good success working their niche and selling films like this.

 

[TravisR]

As I believe I mentioned above, PALE BLOOD is VS' first MGM title. Never heard of it? Me, neither--but that's pretty much where the label's at, not LAST TANGO IN PARIS and THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, etc. And they've had good success working their niche and selling films like this.

Sorry, I missed you previous post. I looked Pale Blood up and it wasn't listed as an MGM title (they must have bought it later on) so I missed that was one of theirs.

 

[roxy1927]

Charge of the Light Brigade was released in Europe and may well see the light of day from Kino or another label eventually. Ryan's Daughter is with Warner now, not MGM. It would probably be out already if it weren't 70mm, which makes it a very expensive proposition to create a quality digital master.

Well it's a good thing Ryan's Daughter was filmed in 70mm after the terrible disappointment of Zhivago being in 35mm. Not that it hurt its success. Unfortunately I only saw it in 35mm at MOMA. Would give anything to see the 70mm negative on a large screen though I'm afraid the possibility of that is over. Maybe if it were the 90s and Harris were given the money to work on it. What an indictment of films of the 70s its reception and failure elicits. But then not only the critics but the audience of the period were a disaster. Has anybody ever seen Love Story?!

 

[Garysb]

You would think a less successful film like "Ryan's Daughter" would mean a less used negative and therefore the negative would be in better shape. Apparently that is not the case.

 

[roxy1927]

I meant to say I would love to see a print struck from the restored negative of Ryan's Daughter.

 

[Robin9]

Well it's a good thing Ryan's Daughter was filmed in 70mm after the terrible disappointment of Zhivago being in 35mm. Not that it hurt its success. Unfortunately I only saw it in 35mm at MOMA. Would give anything to see the 70mm negative on a large screen though I'm afraid the possibility of that is over. Maybe if it were the 90s and Harris were given the money to work on it. What an indictment of films of the 70s its reception and failure elicits. But then not only the critics but the audience of the period were a disaster. Has anybody ever seen Love Story?!

Doctor Zhivago being shot on 35mm is a slight disappointment, not a terrible one. The film looked magnificent on film and the Blu-ray disc does not do it justice. I've been lucky enough long, long ago to have seen both 35mm prints and 70mm blow-ups, and they both looked superb. Freddie Young said he felt Doctor Zhivago contained his best work.

I have seen Love Story and I have the Blu-ray disc.

 

[MatthewA]

Doctor Zhivago being shot on 35mm is a slight disappointment, not a terrible one. The film looked magnificent on film and the Blu-ray disc does not do it justice. I've been lucky enough long, long ago to have seen both 35mm prints and 70mm blow-ups, and they both looked superb. Freddie Young said he felt Doctor Zhivago contained his best work.

I have seen Love Story and I have the Blu-ray disc.

Good points, but 1970 was also further removed from 1965 than 2020 is from 2015. Love Story also cost pennies on the dollar by comparison. That's something for which 65mm cinematography might have been overkill.

 

[Bob Cashill]

There are plenty of threads about David Lean movies and maybe Love Story too...but this is the go-to place for Pale Blood and whatever other MGM-held movies VS is dredging up. Let’s separate and maintain cinematic distancing here.

 

[Bob Cashill]

And it looks like the second VS MGM release is...Paul Schrader’s excellent, never on Blu before Patty Hearst (1988), which is part of its library. That’s a surprise, as we perhaps inch our way to Last Tango in Paris? (Doubtful, but this is about as A-list a title as VS has ever had.)

 

[bujaki]

And it looks like the second VS MGM release is...Paul Schrader’s excellent, never on Blu before Patty Hearst (1988), which is part of its library. That’s a surprise, as we perhaps inch our way to Last Tango in Paris? (Doubtful, but this is about as A-list a title as VS has ever had.)

Just watched Patty Hearst on the Criterion Channel and it looked good. And yes, it's an excellent film.

 

[roxy1927]

People certainly have changed their tune about Last Tango. Didn't Schneider even denounce it claiming she was an exploited very young woman? Not all of Kael's opinions have stood the test of time.

 

[Thomas T]

People certainly have changed their tune about Last Tango. Didn't Schneider even denounce it claiming she was an exploited very young woman? Not all of Kael's opinions have stood the test of time.

You forgot the "Some" in front of people. The film is still a critically admired masterpiece. Its current standing is #371 in TSPDT's prestigious 1,000 greatest films of all time, sandwiched in between Lindsay Anderson's If..... at #370 and Jacques Demy's Young Girls Of Rochefort at 372. And what critical opinions have stood the test of time 100%? Bosley Crowther? John Simon? Judith Crist? James Agee? Stanley Kaufmann?