New developments in "French Connection" case...

My buddy and occasional SCR pinch-hitter Aaron Aradillas always does a great job with his "Back By Midnight" blog radio show, but this week's episode should touch off some serious fireworks. "Anarchy In NYC: The Legacy of The French Connection," it's called, and it's all about the making of the film...and of course its controversial new Blu-ray presentation. Among Aaron's guests are famed cinematographer Owen Roizman, who shot the film...and who only learned about the new color-retimed DVD when Aaron was booking him to appear. Suffice it to say that he has some fairly definite opinions about this controversial re-visioning. Check it out here. 

Comments

[Robert]

Boy that Mr. Friedkin is one class act. He doesn’t even have the courtesy to invite the man responsible for the original look in on his very bad idea.

I had a chance to sit down with this new version last night and without belaboring the point, hang on to your old DVD release. The Blu Ray looks awful. As previously noted the reds bleed badly and the night sequences are plagued with excessive amount of grain (to the point of distracting).

[DVertino]

I gotta listen to this. I always thought Friedkin was a pompous ass, so I would love for this to backfire on him. Now where is my old 2-disc set... need a rewatching, stat!

[bill]

I wonder what he's going to do to "The Exorcist", the Friedkin film about which I care the most? Beyond what he and Blatty already did to it, I mean.

[Herman Scobie]

Somewhere Lesley Anne Down and Jeanne Moreau are chortling.

[Aaron Aradillas]

FYI: You can download the show for free off of iTunes. Keyword: Back By Midnight.

[Mike De Luca]

Well done, Aaron. You got the real deal from the horse's mouth. And Grasso is rather lovable. He views Popeye and Cloudy, as strictly good guys versus, say, the idea of Popeye as a fascinating seventies antihero, who kills a federal agent, then goes mad? But hey, he got the chance to be immortalized, and, more importantly, make "The Seven Ups". Roy Scheider, RIP. Great stuff, Aaron. A most riveting two hours.