I apologize, sir, for not telling you sooner that you're a DEGENERATE!

Just wanted to get that out there.

For those of you following from home, the news is that the manufacturer of my on-the-fritz-since-July plasma display has managed, according to them, to have successfully rebuilt the defective part that caused all the trouble, and depending on when the part reaches my TV repair facility, I could have my set fixed some time this week. What on earth shall I revel in first? The Criterion Blu-ray of Paths of Glory—the above screen cap is from the standard def edition of a new master/transfer—is only one of many exciting potential choices. I'll keep you posted. A new Blu-ray Consumer Guide should follow the blessed event in short order, if said event comes off. 

Comments

[Keith Uhlich]

And you can go to HELL before I apologize to you now or ever again.

[Ian W. Hill]

I like the idea of restarting your HD viewing with the DVD of TOMMY, as you suggested elsewhere. My first HD monitor will be arriving on the 15th, and I'm planning to start up with that one, out of all the HD disks I've slowly been getting in advance of its arrival.

[lazarus]

The lead quote works even better if one imagines Armond White behind the desk and Glenn in Douglas' role.

So topical.

[Kiss Me, Son of God]

Because you don't know the answer to that question...I pity you.

[Peter Nellhaus]

I feel your pain. The bulb on my LCD died. At least that's all I think is wrong. I will know for sure on Wednesday.

[That Fuzzy Bastard]

So here's a side question (and I really hope this comes off as neither unsympathetic nor trolling---I really feel your pain on having technology just die!): Since HDMI and DVI are the same standard, wouldn't it be possible to watch your Blu-Rays in high-def through a standard computer monitor? Wouldn't be as big as your lovely plasma, but would at least be a bigger and better picture than the 13" you've been using. Sorry this didn't occur to me sooner---I only just started doing research and discovering how easy it is to convert an HDMI signal to a DVI output.

[bill]

"You've got the job. It's all yours."

Is there anything better in the world than Kirk Douglas in PATHS OF GLORY?

[haice]

Never knew this Napoleon figurine was in the scene until your screen cap.

[Glenn Kenny]

@ haice: See, that's the level of detail we're TALKIN' about here!

@ The Fuzzster: No lack of sympathy taken, nor do I accuse thee of trolling. But yes, I'm aware of how I could route my high-def shit into a computer monitor and all, and I've been doing a good deal of my Region 2 standard def watching via a laptop that is set for that standard...but said solution on the whole is wildly impractical in our case as far as regular home viewing is concerned. But thanks for the suggestion.

[PaulJBis]

Fuzzy: I believe that only HDMI implements HDCP, the encryption system that was imposed on these HD formats (HD-DVD too) as a way to prevent piracy. If a Blu-Ray player detects that it's connected to an unencrypted output, it's supposed to downsize the image to SD quality. At least that's how i remember, from the last time I studied this stuff.

[Fuzzy Bastarrd]

@ Glenn: Yeah, laptops are impractical. But I was thinking if you had an extra computer monitor sitting around, you could just send the signal into that and enjoy comfortable viewing from the couch. But...

@ Paul: Really? Hunh! I was mostly looking into HDMI to DVI as a way of getting hi-def XBox output onto a 24" computer monitor (way cheaper than a 24" TV, though a projector remains my preferred viewing tool), so I wasn't aware of the Blu-Ray issue. But it seems like a lot of monitors now support HDCP (Dell's do, certainly), so that shouldn't be a problem. Sound would still be an issue, but there's gotta be some solution.

[michaelgsmith]

When I saw this screencap, my first thought was that Kirk Douglas had died.

[Garreth]

@PaulJBis: As I understand it, the ICT(image constraint token) flag that looks for HDCP along the display path is actually embedded in the media, not the player, and has yet to be implemented on any domestic blu-ray release(not sure about foreign HDCP restrictions). So, even without a full chain of hdcp compliant hardware, blu-ray down coversion is really a non issue for the foreseeable future.

...also incredibly psyched for kubrick/kirk on blu!

[Owain Wilson]

My father and I, while discussing the passing of Tony Curtis, agreed that Kirk Douglas is the very last of his era's movie stars. Of the generation that came in after him, I suggested that Clint Eastwood and Sean Connery are not only the most senior, but also probably the biggest of their era's movie stars. My father refused to accept that Sean Connery counts as a real movie star. Heated words ensured.

I agree that one's definition of 'movie star' can differ for so many reasons, but surely Connery can be classed as a movie star without any ambiguity, even if he never got bigger than Bond. Hell, Bond and Connery together is as 'movie star' as it gets.

Anyway. I'm glad there is finally some progress with your TV. My plasma has been out of action for 12 days and already I feel like doing a Reggie Perrin.

[bill]

Connery may not have gotten bigger than Bond, but he got pretty big, and won an Oscar, which is a very movie star thing to do.

[Joe Mulligan]

Dang, you've been sitting on that line for almost over 30 years!

[The Siren]

@Owain Wilson -- Not quite. Two names: Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine. A third, somewhat more contemporary with Mr. Douglas: Elizabeth Taylor.

[Stephen Whitty]

Yes indeed, Siren, and we can add a few more, even without bringing Mickey Rooney into it. There is, of course, the still astringent Lauren Bacall. And -- while this may stretch "star" a bit -- Ernest Borgnine, who is apparently the oldest best-actor Oscar winner still living. And working!

[Jaime]

Let us not forget:

Jackie Cooper
Mickey Rooney
Luise Rainer
Angela Lansbury - best-known for that whodunnit show she had...forget the name... but to me her Hollywood star is higher and brighter: THE PRIVATE AFFAIRS OF BEL AMI, anyone?
Debbie Reynolds - and Richard Brody also noted that Stanley Donen is not only still alive but remains a public figure, presenting his films and such; I echo his call for a retro, stat!
Sidney Poitier
Dorothy Malone

And, not only is Ernest Borgnine still kicking, he's also making appearances, in films and at events. He's in the new (awful-looking) Bruce Willis/John Malkovich/Helen Mirren actioner!

There's likely a lot more, but I recently did an unthink piece on living Oscar nominees...

[James Keepnews]

PATHS is simply my favorite anti-war film of all time, and one I'll regularly raise the pot with over anyone calls "anti-human" on Kubrick. Were Ralph, Tim, Joe, Richard (Anderson) or Kirk ever better than here? Maybe, I'll give THE GLASS SHIELD the edge where Mr. Anderson is concerned, but otherwise, forget it. This and certainly THE KILLING make me mourn the other Kubrick/Jim Thompson collabs upon which we missed out. Looking forward to your further exegesis, Mr. K.

[Glenn Kenny]

@ Joe Mulligan: It's called "marking time," my friend. All part of the art of blogging. Ahem.

@ Owain: Man. Your dad is HARD CORE.

@ Jaime, Siren, et.al.:LOVE Olivia, with whom I spent an amazing hour and a half for Premiere back in 2003. Also had a terrific time with Borgnine on the set of..."Baseketball." Was working on nailing down a Donen interview for Premiere when the book folded. These folks, and the others mentioned, ought to be treated as national resources. And I need not remind anyone of the love shared by my wife and me for La Lansbury. "Bel Ami," oui. "Gaslight" too. "The Harvey Girls." "Dorian Gray." WTFIU.

[Jake]

Jaime, you forgot Jerry Lewis!

[The Siren]

Lizabeth Scott, Eleanor Parker and Jane Wyman, also still very much with us.

Glenn, Lansbury was also lovely in Red Danube and she can even give a lift to a tiny role like the one in National Velvet. Saw her on Broadway in Blithe Spirit and she knocked it out of the park, bien sur.

You know who else is great in Paths of Glory? Adolphe Menjou. And the question for the ages is, did he realize *exactly* what he was playing, or was he so perfect for the part it didn't matter...

[That Fuzzy Bastard]

@ Owain: Yeah, I'd agree with your Dad. Connery-as-Bond was one for the ages, but when you've only got one major role, you're not a movie star, exactly. I mean, Stallone is big and famous, but he's not a movie star either, for much the same reason.

[Glenn Kenny]

Connery is TOTALLY a movie star. Look at "Marnie," "The Anderson Tapes," "The Man Who Would Be King," so many more. He MAKES DePalma's "Untouchables," and he's not playing Bond there. Come ON. "Zardoz!"

[Kent Jones]

Siren - Jane Wyman died in 2007.

[bill]

Connery was in an Indiana Jones movie. He was one of those Sexiest Men Alive guys when he was, like, 65, or whatever. Until Brosnan and Craig, he was the only Bond who expanded on being Bond and became known outside of it. He's the reason, in fact, that they're even still MAKING the damn things!

Sean Connery is a movie star.

[Oliver_C]

Tally another vote for 'Connery is a movie star', please!

[Fuzzy Bastarrd]

Hunh. Shoot. You win this time, Kenny!

[Tom Block]

Jesus Christ, if we're really debating whether Sean Connery is a movie-star, not only have the terrorists won but Hell's frozen over, the cows have come home, and, uh, other untoward things have occurred. If you want to say he wasn't the Second Coming of John Barrymore, that's one thing, but if anyone epitomized stardom in his day, it was Connery, and by any measure I can think of: charisma, salary, longevity, appeal to both sexes, box-office polls, etc. The man not only had his own franchise, he helped create the very concept of franchise movies. Seriously, if Sean Connery wasn't a star, I hate to think where that leaves people like Jeff Bridges, Tommy Lee Jones or Samuel L. Jackson. Desperately clinging to life-support, I guess...