What's on your Daily Viewing List? (2 Viewers)

[Dave Moritz]

Hey John when I get the chance I will check out The Claim.

 

[JohnRice]

Hey John when I get the chance I will check out The Claim.

You can probably find used DVDs, and iTunes has it in HD. I have been wishing for a better source than the DVD I bought so long ago, and finally broke down and got it from iTunes, which looks just fine, better than the DVD, and probably the best It will ever look. The visuals are rather subdued anyway, desaturated and low contrast (it's clearly how the film is supposed to look) so the iTunes file is fine.

 

[Dave Moritz]

I put The Claim on my wish list on iTunes to make it easy to go back in and buy it later.

 

[Toronto Argonauts]

 

[JohnRice]

I did a blind purchase of Us when The Evil A had the 4K for $12.99, and it finally arrived yesterday. I was planning on watching it today, but didn’t get around to it.

 

[Matt Hough]

I'm going to revisit The Brady Bunch Movie today.

 

[dana martin]

 

[bujaki]

The Claim (2000): A loose adaptation of Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge, The Claim transports the story from late 19th Century England to the California gold rush of the same time period. Peter Mullan is Mr. Dillon, the "Mayor" of the story, when a woman (Nastassja Kinski) and her teenage daughter, Hope (Sarah Polley) arrive in town at the same time as a Central & Pacific Railroad surveying party led by Dalglish (Wes Bentley).

The Claim is probably a little too arthouse to have been very successful, and not arthouse enough to be given the credit it deserves. It's a stylishly and quietly told story, aside from a few moments of violence. It draws obvious comparisons to Robert Altman's McCabe & Mrs. Miller, due to it's similar visual and narrative styles, but it also has thematic similarities to Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time In the West. Both having men being primal and basically destroying themselves and each other, and a woman coming out victorious. One noticeable difference is the wide mix of national origins among the characters. It's an unusual and accurate representation of that point in the growth of the United States. There are only two actors in major roles of North American birth. Wes Bentley (USA) and Sarah Polley (Canada). Even Julian Richings, who I always associated with Canadian productions, and assumed was Canadian born, was actually born in London, and didn't move to Canada until he was 30. Milla Jovovich, who grew up in the USA, was born in Kiev, and plays a Portuguese character. The nationalities and accents range throughout Western Europe, as the actual people residing in that part of the country at that time would have been. Harry Potter fans might notice Shirley Henderson, who played Moaning Myrtle. That voice is definitely recognizable.

I've discovered through the years that this has become one of my all-time favorite movies.

Indeed an excellent film which I saw only once when it came out. It's good to be reminded of such jewels.

 

[Dave Moritz]

Looks like Wednesday is movie day especially since there was to much to do today.

Plan for 8/21/19 Wednesday

The Prestige Blu-ray
Captain Marvel 4K Blu-ray

Speed 4K DCP

 

[bujaki]

Two Twilight Time BD releases:
Wild in the Country (1961) Elvis does rather well surrounded by some very seasoned performers. Scripted (partially) by Clifford Odets. The transfer, although quite good, could be cleaner. More drama than musical.
The President's Lady (1953) Windowboxed titles? Again, the transfer could be cleaner, but it's still good. Hayward always delivers; Heston is a bit over emphatic. I dislike Jackson.

 

[bujaki]

Today I saw Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut (1978) in IMAX. I can now say I've seen all versions of this movie since I saw the original cut at the Ziegfeld in NYC (the one with no raid at the end and no credits). Then I went back to a screening room for the Redux version, and now this one.
My impression is that this film is a masterpiece.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Today I saw Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut (1978) in IMAX. I can now say I've seen all versions of this movie since I saw the original cut at the Ziegfeld in NYC (the one with no raid at the end and no credits). Then I went back to a screening room for the Redux version, and now this one.
My impression is that this film is a masterpiece.

Yeah, I realized too late this was playing at my nearest IMAX theater. A missed opportunity for me.

 

[Dave Moritz]

Will be picking up Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut on 4K UHD Blu-ray after it is released!

 

[Toronto Argonauts]

Tonight I finished the weekend watching season 3 episodes 8,9 and 10.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Blu-ray Weekend Viewing:

 

[Matt Hough]

I may be sampling Man's Favorite Sport on Blu-ray today.

 

[bujaki]

After the awesome experience of Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut in IMAX,which reaffirms that Coppola's vision of 'Nam is perhaps the most artistically cogent expression of the nightmare and, yes, THE HORROR, THE HORROR, I plunged into Ingmar Bergman's world with an early work not in the Criterion collection box:
Music in Darkness (Tartan PAL DVD) 1948. A young soldier is blinded during a military exercise. Surreal imagery follows and then he wakes up in hospital. He has musical talents, but only just so. He meets a sympathetic household young woman. They click but are socially apart and go their separate ways after he hurts her with a social put down, but still encourages to study and better herself. Years later they reconnect: he's on a downward spiral; she's studying to be a teacher and living with a decent fellow. But somehow, her love for the blind man (who has been somewhat rough to her) has remained so strong, so pure, that it overcomes all obstacles. This film, adapted from a novel, is almost Borzagean in concept. Bergman shows a surer hand in execution and handling of actors, in this case working again with Birger Malmsten and, for the first time, Mai Zetterling. I had seen this film before as a teen in Puerto Rico on Public TV.
So I felt like exploring another Borzage film I had seen before decades ago in a 35mm print which was uncut and uncensored:
Man's Castle (TCM app) 1934. This print must be a reissue version because it's in poor condition and suffers from several cuts in continuity. For one, I remember Tracy's naked rump as he jumps for a swim in the river; Loretta Young's swim is covered by a skin-tight flesh toned suit to simulate nakedness, but they are swimming in the "nude". Glenda Farrell' role is undercut, and jumpy in parts. Regardless, the film is another story of a "rough" man with dreams who falls for a young woman and can't help but change his ways through the nature of her pure, selfless love, somewhat reminiscent of Borzage's own classic, Liliom. The last shot of Man's Castle is sublime. I wish Columbia cleaned up the complete version and offered a BD of this film. It is a keeper.
Champagne (Criterion Channel) 1928. Hitchcock's penultimate silent. He claimed it was his least favorite film. Regardless, as weak as it is, it does have several very interesting visual flourishes. This film is shown totally silent, to the fact that it has no score probably means that it will not be released in home video. So catch it while you can if you care to see all of the extant Hitchcock films.
Edit: Kino is releasing Champagne. I hope they add a music track. The film needs all the help it can get.

 

[RolandL]

Yes Stereo

I wonder where they found stereo tracks for a mono film.

 

[JohnRice]

I wonder where they found stereo tracks for a mono film.

I find those are often actually just two channel mono.

 

[Robert Crawford]

On Blu-ray from Kino.