Blu-ray Consumer Guide: September 2011

Call me paranoid, but I was beginning to get a little apprehensive of a "is this a blog about movies, or a blog about slagging movie critics?" backlash, so I figured maybe I ought to snap to it with respect to getting this puppy posted. Et voila. Enjoy. Equipment: Playstation 3 console and Oppo BDP 83 were the players, Panasonic Viera TC-P50S30 the display, Pioneer Elite VSX-817 AV the amp.

UPDATE: A Note On Grades

"What are the grades for?" asks Some Dude on Twitter™. "Movie or transfer or both? It would be much more helpful if you grade them separately, IMO." Like I'm doing this to be "helpful." (Hey, wait a minute—why am I doing this?) I thought I had explained this in a prior column, but it looks like I didn't. The grades I assign represent my assessment of the film's presentation as a Blu-ray disc. Obviously in my capsules I'll get into my opinions/observations on the film itself, but given my inclinations and the demands on my time, it's pretty likely that I'm only gonna look at Blu-rays of films I already have some kind of interest in. Obviously (or maybe not) my interest in something like Cobra is more along the lines of a cinema-historical artifact rather than as something I personally enjoy/cherish, but you get the idea.It always used to drive me nuts, when I was running the "Home Guide" at Premiere, when writers would try to use a DVD assignment as a pretext to "craft" their own "review" of a film itself, and not treat the commodity in hand, that is, the tape or the DVD or the Blu-ray. And I believe this philosophy informs how I create this column. So there you have it. See also here. Although entertaining as the prose is it doesn't really serve as much of an analogy to what's going on here. And thank you for your support.

 

The Battle of Algiers (Criterion)

Not much to report here: what was an exemplary package in SD has been transposed to high-definition perfectly. For some reason there are times I get off even more on a high-def rendition of something with this kind of pictorial and celluloid roughness. Which is not to say that I cheer when that bomb goes off in the café, in case you were worried about my moral state. —A+

The Big Lebowski (Universal)

A lot of the times this looks just jake, and I get off on the ultra-sheen of the bowling alley scenes and dreams, but in certain night scenes the DNR is too much and it’s a drag. Not fatal, but lousy, and in particular really obvious and obtrusive in the faces of The Dude and Walter during the drive-to-drop-the-ransom-money scene. A disappointment, then. I know the Coens are kind of disdainful of certain aspect of home vid tech wonkiness, but they might have thought to raise their voices here. Still. It’s Lebowski in high-def, what are you gonna do? Boycott? I mean, it’s a thought, but still. —B-

Cobra (Warner)

Wait, wasn’t Sylvester Stallone the biggest movie star in the world at the time this film was made? Then how come this looks about as slick as a William Lustig picture of the time? So grainy it’s grimy, which is at least kind of apropos, given it’s a picture that its contemporary critics deemed as “unimaginably degraded” (David Denby!) and “the foulest, greediest, most anti-American movie in ages” (my pal John Powers!). Oh, and wait, here’s the explanation: it’s a co-production of Warner and…Golan/Globus! Seen with a quarter century’s hindsight, it plays less like a Dirty Harry ante-upping than a failed Stallone grindhouse condescension. Still, poor director George P. Cosmatos brings his outsider’s competence and ESL straight face to the proceedings, which give this thing its own, um, integrity. Moronic integrity. Particularly risible are the script’s attempts at “ironic” humor, as when Stallone’s character “kids” a “goofy” sidekick: “You know what the trouble with you is? You’re too violent.” Oh, the hilarity. The movie also gets bonus points for casting Andy Robinson as a police department bigwig. It’s a good transfer, but I can only recommend as a library addition to those who enjoy confounding their friends with displays of cinematic perversity. —B

Coeur Fidèle (Eureka!/MOC U.K. import, Region B locked)

Like Feuillade, Jean Epstein doesn’t get enough respect. Although at this late stage in the game, what would he DO with it if he got it, right? The French director’s remarkable 1923 romance is precisely NOT the sort of thing that gets trotted out in garden-variety film appreciation courses and so on, and it’s in this particular respect (among many others, but bear with me for a second) that outfits such as Masters of Cinema do such important work, work that really deserves/earns the cinema lover’s support. In terms of imagery and what we can project as its influence, this film is a MAJOR revelation, and its sheer physical beauty—you can almost literally see the silver nitrate shining in every beautifully digitalized frame—is reason enough to own it. —A+

The Complete Jean Vigo (Criterion)

Regular readers of this blog may recall my telling of my childhood love for Vigo, and how the P. Salles Gomes biography of the man was the first film book I ever bought. I remember when I was ten having found a listing for a screening of Zero For Conduct at some local library and begging my dad to take me to see it and then crying like a baby when they didn’t show the film because the print never showed or was too damaged, and they screened some fucking French doc about wheat fields (or something) instead. So you can maybe imagine my exhilaration at the fact that now the compete oeuvre exists on one handy-dandy high-def disc. The thing is, after watching the work itself, I realize it’s not really all it’s cracked up to be…Nah, just kidding. Seriously, this is amazing.  To think that 40 years ago these films were nearly impossible to see at all, particularly in gorgeous or even watchable versions. And here they are. Almost enough to make one a kind of optimist.  —A+

Cross of Iron (Optimum U.K. import, Region B locked)

This widely misunderstood late Peckinpah was potent bait for critics who wanted to pursue the Bloody-Sam-is-a-fascist theme, because, you know, this picture features sympathetic treatments of German soldiers during World War II! It’s PRO NAZI! Of course it’s not, and in fact it’s so antiwar it’s practically pacifist, except of course it’s violent as hell. It’s also got moments that are strangely enervated, and Peckinpah’s really at his most Captain Obvious a lot of the time (that poor kid!), but, still. Never not watchable and often moving in spite of itself, it’s in a way less of a problem piece than Straw Dogs. And this disc looks damn good, WAY better than any video version I’ve seen retaining a gritty but autumnal palette. The digitalization involved in the transfer/restoration, however, does make itself plain in some of the foggier scenes, where the mist has a distinctly unfilmlike (but not disgracefully artificial-looking) quality to it. —B+

Damnation Alley (Shout Factory)

I was always fascinated by this picture merely by dint of the fact that in ten short years, Dominique Sanda had gone from debuting as a suicidal beauty for discoverer-of-non-actors Robert Bresson in Une femme douce to costarring with George Peppard and Jan Michael Vincent in this, un film de Jack Smight. Other Bresson stars that opted to remain in the film biz had even more bizarre career arcs, but Sanda’s was the most publicly conspicuous for a while. Of course this picture boasts other cult charms, including sorta-painted-in pink/green horizons, or, as a title card puts it, “skies lurid and angry.” Another way you can tell it’s after the apocalypse in the film is the way the synths take over the music score. It’s that kinda movie. And it’s brought to digital life very nicely, and with a lot of extras, in this edition. Of course you understand that the attached letter grade best applies if you Like This Sort Of Thing.—A-

Dead Man (Miramax/Echo Bridge)

I was all set to make this film a kind of object lesson in the difference between black-and-white films in the post-color 20^th century and black-and-white films in the period when such was the norm (c.f. the below-reviewed Orpheus) and discuss the sharp, detailed picture with a more smoothed-out gray scale when I encountered a nasty digital glitch only a minute or so into the movie. As you will see in the illustration, a snapshot of my display. At which point I went and exchanged the disc, and got a second disc that had the same glitch at the same point. Which leads me to suspect that glitch is on the master, and that someone at Echo Bridge isn’t doing his or her job. I’m looking into the matter but in the meantime I certainly can’t recommend.—D+

Dressed to Kill (MGM/UA)

Really looks pretty great overall; as someone who saw this thing in theaters one or two times too many when it was first released, I can attest that the sometimes creamy, sometimes grainy look is pretty much what we got back then, and that it’s entirely appropriate to the material at all times. The sole extra of note, the brilliantly titled doc “The Making of a Thriller,” is not in HD. But it hardly matters; this can be acquired at very good prices on line and elsewhere and if you’re a fan of the film (and why not? It’s got some bravura moviemaking in it!) it definitely warrants a place in your library.—A

Essential Killing (Artificial Eye U.K. import, Region B locked, region free)

Excellent image, from the desert caves of the opening to the blue/white snow of deepest Europe in winter where most of the rest of the film. Jerzy Skolimowski’s latest film is a tough, terse, blunt but not unempathetic thing; a small-scaled masterpiece of such grabbing immediacy that it’s practically a sin that it’s gotten next to nothing with respect to U.S. distribution at the time of this writing. Of course it helps if you can forget that the lead actor is Vincent Gallo. Who’s quite good actually, but still Vincent Gallo. Given this Blu-ray is the best way you can see the film as of this point, I feel like maybe you ought to. See it this way, I mean. If you’ve got a region-free Blu-ray player. (Correction: initially flagged it as region-locked, it will in fact play on any Blu-ray player worldwide.)—A

The Exterminator (Synapse)

The commentary track for the digitization of this grindhouse classic begins with producer/director James Glickenhaus trashing the film’s reviewers,  so you know it’s gonna be good. Overall this is a very solid presentation of a very visually flat film. A terrific test case for the not-quite eternal question “is this Blu-ray really necessary?” My answer: Why the hell not. Scummy criminals, senseless mayhem, Christopher George, and dialogue along the lines of , well actually what follows is a precise quote: “That ‘nigger’ was my best friend, you motherfucker.” Awesome. Later, during an outdoor cabaret scene, Glickenhaus notes, “Here’s old Stan Getz, that’s pretty neat.” He then complains that critics didn’t “get” that this was a Getz cameo and then, barely pausing for breath, allows that the Getz bit is “a throwaway.” Told you it was a good commentary. The Getz factor also makes it an exemplary half for a double feature with the new Warner Archive issue of Get Yourself A College Girl. —A

Fast Times At Ridgemont High (Universal)

Ohmigod the ugly mall lighting! You can tell it’s meant to be ugly mall lighting because the sun-lit scenes—oh, and you know which one I mean, really—are beautiful and dappled and have good, um, reds and, um, flesh tones, and all that. Seriously, overall a good sharp image for a generally foursquare visual piece (ah those reverse-angled cafeteria setups with the shallow focus…) . Movie’s still real good for the most part, practically a classic. Is it too old for “the new canon” or whatever the heck it is? —A

The Funhouse (Arrow U.K. Import, region-free)

Ah, an early work from blockbuster producer Mace Neufeld! And hey, remember Elizabeth Berridge? Boy, that’s cute, barely ten-year-old baby brother accosting his absolutely not-faking-it naked sister in the shower with a plastic dagger in the shower. Boy, the stuff you could get away with in the ‘80s. I took this Tobe Hooper item as a sample of Texas Chainsaw lite when I saw it in its 1981 theatrical release, and I haven’t thought of it since, but watching it recently in this stellar Arrow presentation gave me a real “they don’t make ‘em like that anymore” feeling. While not as depraved as corresponding Euro fare, it’s genuinely nasty rather than winkingly nasty, and kinda casually so, which makes a big difference. And here Tobe’s got a budget, and a crane, and anamorphic lenses, and he tries (and fails) to replicate the effect of that simple but killer under-the-porch-swing tracking shot from TCM. Like I said, he doesn’t, but it’s still a handsome little piece of work, about 39 minutes in, and the transfer is so specific you can track the focus anomalies created by the anamorphic lens in tandem with the moving camera. Whoo, and additionally, hoo. In other telling-detail related moments, the line of spittle hanging from lip of  that guy’s Frankenstein mask. Disgusting, and rightfully so. —A+

Orpheus (Criterion)

Very, very nice. Aside from being, you know, a classic and transportive film (eat it, ’49!)  this is a beautifully presented pertinent example of film texture of a certain age. The black-and-white textures have a kind of plastic solidity that the film stock of Dead Man simply doesn’t recreate, and here of course it’s combined with light and décor and makeup and effects creating this seductive but admittedly now anachronistic (by a certain perspective, at least) artificiality. Amaze your friends! Or at least the friends who might not find it boring. I’m sure you can divert one or two be directing them to the shot here that was used as a Smiths single cover shot. —A+

Paul (Universal)

Full disclosure: I’m friendly with this film’s director, Greg Mottola, and cordially acquainted with one of its costars. So, you know, take my endorsement of this film as a knowing, lively, albeit, yes, kind of vulgar delight with whatever grain of salt you believe the above knowledge requires of you. In a bit of inside knowledge that’s likely to be no surprise to anyone, Greg found the post-production process, wherein an entirely visually digital alien had to be seamlessly blended into the action, a hugely challenging part of the filmmaking process, and I think it was pulled off beautifully and it looks great in the digital high-def realm too. As digital is now an integral part of the process, the other good news here is that the film looks very much like it did in its theatrical presentation, which is very crisp and colorful. The real locations of the American West were clearly shot with a lot of love and appreciation. Lovely. —A

Pigs and Battleships/Stolen Desire (Eureka!/MOC U.K. import, Region B locked)

Whoa. This double dose of early Imamura is a pretty damn near flawless. The stunning, roiling 1961 Pigs and Battleships is the star of this set (Stolen Desire, the maestro’s debut feature, is very solid but comparatively constrained).  Some occasional print damage appears but overall it’s an incredibly stunning widescreen black-and-white image. The film is replete with amazing shots of long duration, such as an overhead crane following the film’s heroine walking with a group of friends while feckless hero Kinta follows parallel and eavesdrops on their conversation unseen from the other side of a fence. And of course the climax…well, seriously, a must-own, and another argument why an investment in a region-free Blu player would be worth it JUST for the sake of Eureka!/MOC releases in the format. —A+

Scarface (Universal)

Goddamn this is shiny, in that too shiny way that people complain about. No, it is NOT the best-looking version of the DePalma film ever. The DNR takes the sweat on the faces of the boatlift people and glues it to them so that they look like wax figures. If that’s your idea of enhancement, you’re welcome to it. Plus there are a lot of artifacts. Haloes,  black edges shimmers, all that kind of stuff. I usually go easy on taking issue with other people’s perceptions, but seriously, if you can’t see the problems here I worry you might not have eyes. On the plus side, the compression is well done overall. (See the bonfires in the riot scenes early on, if you can tear your eyes away from the hilarious evidence that DePalma is the most ineffectual director of extras EVER.) I don’t know if it’s a matter of one being able to get used to anything, or what, but the aforementioned problems diffuse, or at least are easier to take, as the film goes on. It winds up watchable. And it could have—should have—been more than that. —B-

Straw Dogs (MGM/UA)

This is one visually WEIRD film, right from the get go, where the children playing around the stone church look to be shot in forced perspective, so the buildings almost seem to be being dwarfed by them. And on it goes. Gray, gray gray. And then that dull, almost moon-like, autumnal sun. And then the ultra-violent climax, shot almost entirely in near dark, Peckinpah and cinematographer John Coquillon really pushing the film stock.  Really, it’s almost as daring visually as it is, um, thematically, and a lot more successfully so too. This Blu-ray is not blow-you-away sharp, but very solid. And a real representation of what the filmmakers GOT, for better of worse, tons of grain and all.—A

 

The Superman Movie Collection (Warner)

A pretty awesome one-stop-shopping package of sorts, featuring superb HD renderings of the Salkind films, the Singer reboot, etc.  The authenticity proof is in the pudding: you get more of the flushed ‘80s flesh tones I’ve been noticing on Blu-rays of films from that period on Lester’s Superman II. And dishy commentaries. Featuring odd semi-Zen pronouncements such as “This is the sort of thing that is funny, but at the same time not funny.” Rather irritating, though, that many of the generous and well-chosen extras, such as the Fleischer Supes cartoons, are NOT presented in HD. Grrr. They still look pretty good though. Still. Grrr. —B+

Tenebre (Arrow)

What is UP with this? Really. While the Arrow Blus of Inferno and Crystal Plumage Phenomena looked super terrific (correction; the Plumage to get is the U.S. Blue Underground issue, which goes against the Storaro Directive and presents the image in full 2.35), this, Four Flies, and in part Deep Red have these grain/speckling issues that detract severely from one’s enjoyment of the Argento baroque. One actually thinks of Jeffrey Wells’ mythical mosquitoes, if they had all flown through a shower of white paint prior to showing up on screen. My old Japanese laser disc had a solider grain structure than this. As with Dead Man, this is a case that requires further research that I might need a while to successfully conclude. In the meantime:—C

Vera Cruz (MGM/UA)

The title type at the beginning shows the film’s age in the way that it will (the picture was produced in 1954), as in those reds are a little blurred in the saturation, to coin a phrase. Soon things settle in nicely. Enjoy the unusual 2.00 aspect ratio. It’s a bright clean picture albeit with what seems a lot of sharpness variation with respect to long shots versus medium close-ups, but not QUITE as dramatic as what you’ll see in The Big Country, reviewed last month. A lot of variation from long shot to medium closeup. Really nice overall. Neat film, too. A Western with mismatched protagonists that’s also kind of a road movie and/or chamber drama in disguise, featuring double crosses galore. Quintessential Aldrich, in its way—pessimistic but simultaneously filled with a near-perverse good cheer. Highly recommended. —A

The Ward (Arc Entertainment)

Answer the question, John Carpenter: Did you shoot this anamorphically, for real? Alas, the maestro does not answer the question in his amiable, casual (but not quite as gonzo as the stuff he used to output with his old buddy Kurt Russell) commentary for this disc, which has male star Jared Harris sitting in with the director. This admirably crafted comeback film from Carpenter gets a very solid Blu-ray rendering, looking, as so many contemporary high-def discs do, like a chip off the old digital intermediary.  The diffusion of the light in the final shot of the shower sequence is one of the dead giveaways that this ain’t the summer of celluloid no more, but as J.C. says on that audio track, albeit in another context, “You can’t worry about older movies.” If you liked this picture—and I did—this is worth your time. —A-

Went the Day Well? (Optimum, region-B locked U.K. import)

I have an elaborate theory about how this sort-of alternate history fantasy of Britain in World War II is both a refutation AND a confirmation of all the snarly things Godard said about British wartime film in his Histoires, but I guess this isn’t the place for that. So I’ll just say that this crackling Cavalcanti piece, from a Graham Greene story, still works like mad as a yarn and a thriller, and looks great here. Good grain, a minimally scratched source, a particularly rich gray scale. A transfer from the 2010 restoration, one presumes. Not much in terms of extras, e.g., a BBC Radio 3 audio essay on the film. If you know the film, you know you want it. If you only know its legend, well, I bet you won’t be disappointed if you make the investment. —A

Win/Win (Fox)

Strong image, again probably straight from the digital inter; good detail, and again, not very FILMIC. On the very plus side, the dark parts of the image (and many of the film’s scenes take place in dimly lit living rooms and such, it’s that kind of cinematic entertainment) have no noise. As in, none. So if you like your indie comedy-dramas very clean at home, this is the way to go. Seriously, I found this one of the better films of its ilk this year, so I’m glad to have this version. —A

Women In Cages Collection (Shout! Factory)

Ooh, three Roger-Corman-produced women-in-prison films from the ‘70s in one convenient package. Which to watch first? Well, as helpful Roger points out, “Playing the ‘new fish’ in prison [in The Big Bird Cage] is the gorgeous Anitra Ford of The Price Is Right.” “New fish,” that’s classic. What we learn from watching Big Doll House and Big Bird Cage is that Jack Hill was pretty much Corman’s answer to Edgar G. Ulmer. Great basic but hardly unstylish or unstylized filmmaking in cheap-ass settings and situations. Gets pretty exciting in the outdoors, too. Hill’s commentary notes how Coppola destroyed some of the beautiful Bird Cage Philippines locations for Apocalypse Now, and Jack sounds a little ticked off about it. The third film, Women in Cages, is not directed by Hill, and looks the crappiest of the three, has sound sync problems, etc. As a result though it conveys something like a more AUTHENTIC 42^nd Street feel, again, if you Like That Sort Of Thing.—A

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (Kino Lorber)

A quite gorgeous, warmly colored rendering of a rather…well, meh film. Something you could probably watch with your mom, except for Sophia Loren’s striptease scene, ay caramba. So watch Sunflower with your mom instead, and save this for a cold lonely winter night or something. —B

NEXT MONTH: Kane! Ben-Hur! Dumbo! Chabrol! Eisenstein! Edwards! Keaton! Altman! And more! It's gonna be legendary!

Comments

[Mr. Milich]

1) Yes, it's okay to consider Fast Times a classic.

2) Funhouse. Yes, Berridge. I Googled her after watching this on Netflix not long ago, and upon clicking an image from the film, which you can probably imagine, spyware immediately began downloading to my computer. Random!

3) Cobra had both Andy Robinson and Reni Santori (playing Gonzales vs. his other Gonzalez), so, yeah, I think the Dirty Harry reference is still valid.

[Tony Dayoub]

Agreed on DRESSED TO KILL, but I would have flagged STRAW DOGS for being light on the extras. As always, a real treat to read.

[bill]

ANIMAL HOUSE...FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH...DAZED & CONFUSED...I don't like any of them. Eat it, 1970s, 80s and 90s!

[jbryant]

Last year I broke down and watched ZERO DE CONDUITE in sections on YouTube, because how else was I ever gonna see it? Really hoping the ol' budget stabilizes enough soon to allow me to splurge on the Vigo set and ORPHEUS.

[Glenn Kenny]

I can't BELIEVE you don't like ANIMAL HOUSE, Bill.

[warren oates]

I thought ESSENTIAL KILLING was a region-free Blu-ray? So it should play in any machine.

For me the film was more like a solid B. I really wanted to like this movie. It's theoretically exactly my kind of thing in oh so many ways: Minimalist narrative -- survival procedural -- vaguely abstract military/security thriller atmosphere -- you had me at hello.

Thing is that the film kind of runs out of gas after 40 minutes or so and resorts to all manner of illogical and time-killing stuff, some of it inventive and arresting like (SPOILER ALERT!) the breast-milk theft, almost all of it beside the point in terms of the nameless protagonist's immediate survival needs -- warmth and water, not food. It takes people a long time to starve to death in the wild, so how come in almost every movie like this they immediately try and find try tree bark to munch on or go rabbit hunting (as Robert Ryan does in INFERNO).

Also, unless I'm remembering this wrong, what's up with the total elision of this major plot point (more SPOILERS): how did he dry off after that plunge into the iced-over water? If he didn't build a fire quickly, he'd be dead. And he isn't. Which you would think would be an important and interesting part of the story to relate. Jack London, anyone?

On top of which, I'd just seen DIAMONDS OF THE NIGHT, which is an obvious reference point for Skolimowski and a better film.

[Glenn Kenny]

Oops. Fixed that, thanks for the correction.

Also, Robert Ryan hunting rabbits in INFERNO is awesome, so that's why. I guess.

[bill]

I'm not THAT predictable, Major Sarcasmo. I bet I like lots of shit you wouldn't expect me to like. I just bet I do.

[Glenn Kenny]

Yeah. Like OLIVER'S STORY, I bet.

Ha! What a burn!

[Unkle Rusty]

COBRA wishes it had William Lustig.

[bill]

[Can't remember what OLIVER'S STORY is, looks it up]

You son of a bitch...

[Bilge]

RE: Dominique Sanda. I dunno, Glenn. DAMNATION ALLEY came out just a year after 1900, and a couple of years before VOYAGE EN DOUCE, which ain't exactly chopped liver. So I'm not sure the trajectory you cite there is all that representative of where her career was going at the time.

I'd say something here about Bolognini's THE INHERITANCE, too, but that'd probably just get me in trouble.

[Paul]

George Pan Cosmatos has some intriguing, if slightly nauseating, business about the previously (to me anyway) unknown world of "ghost-directing":

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/George_P._Cosmatos

[Paul]

Erk. That should read "George Pan Cosmatos's Wikipedia page has...", dammit.

[Michael Dempsey]

There should be a still from "Cobra" in the dictionary next to "repulsive."

"Cross Of Iron" (the 131-minute uncut version released in Europe) is the finest war movie ever made.

[James Keepnews]

DEAD MAN's iconic stature as one of Jarmusch's best films only towers more and more with the passage of time -- James still thinks it his best, and it pleased him if no one else mightily to declare it 1996's best film for Albany's Metroland, after it had not been screened even once in Albany at that point. The notion that there should be anything but an utterly impeccable Blu-Ray edition for commercial release is a bloody effing disgrace. Pace Gary Farmer's Nobody, Miramax/Echo Bridge shouldn't let the sun burn a hole its conglomerated ass waiting to issue and recall and replacement disc. And I won't let the sun burn a hole in my ass waiting for that to happen...

[michaelgsmith]

COEUR FIDELE on blu is the greatest shit ever.

[Bruce Reid]

warren oates: Regarding any plot holes (like drying off after the plunge) in Essential Killing, I read it as an Owl Creek occurrence, or more accurately a dreams-within-dreams variation.

[jbryant]

Glenn, re your update: It should be clear to anyone who actually reads what you write in the guide that the letter grade is for the Blu-Ray presentation. Which is exactly what I personally want in such a guide. Nothing drives me crazy like reading a supposed DVD review column and realizing the writer has simply repurposed his or her original theatrical reviews, with no discussion of the discs' extras, technical quality, etc.

[Chris Stangl]

Not to be That Guy, but the Arrow Video BIRD WITH CRYSTAL PLUMAGE Blu-ray is maybe not a primo example of an Argento disc slam-dunk. The image has been cropped to Vittorio Storaro's favorite all-purpose AR, with a bias toward losing picture on the left. Some might say it's sloppily chopped off and sabotages composition throughout. The color has been, um, cooled off, shall we say? Whatever one makes of Storaro's input — delayed correction or bizarre revisionism — it ain't what BIRD looked like in 1970.

Really though, the history of Argento on home video is such a nightmare that at this point one shells out for new editions just to see novel methods of screwing up.

[Oliver_C]

Short of the ghost of Gregg Toland materialising on the Warner backlot and demanding they use digital processing to blur all the backgrounds in 'Citizen Kane', has a cinematographer ever had a more pernicious retrospective effect on their own work than Storaro?

[Glenn Kenny]

@ Chris Stangl: No, you're not being That Guy or even Some Guy; thanks for the nudge. As you say, the Argento Situation on home vid is a nightmare, one from which all his fans are trying to awake, and I got a little caught up in it. The "Plumage" I meant to recommend is the Blue Underground U.S. issue, as I make clear in the little correction to the capsule above. The two Arrow Argentos I wanted to commend were "Inferno" and "Phenomena," both of which I think look terrific. Arguably the subsequent Blue Underground Blu of "Inferno" has a slight edge on the Arrow (and yes, I have both, oy), but as yet there's no comparable domestic issue on "Phenomena," the Arrow version of which I think is really terrific. Don't even get me started on the whole "Suspiria" thing...

[Jandy Stone]

I skipped watching Went the Day Well at this year's TCM Film Festival. Twice. Based on the buzz about it that I heard from everyone who DID see it, I made a grave mistake. I'm still kind of kicking myself for not trying to make it into the repeat screening.

[Matt]

While the Blue Underground release of PLUMAGE is indeed the one to get, it, alas, is OOP and currently going for ridiculous prices across the Internet. And wasn't the BU Blu of PLUMAGE the only extant home video version to not be Storaro'ed? I don't recall the Blue Underground DVD version being in the right AR.

[NeilFC]

I don't want to be that guy either, but Arrow haven't released Four Flies on Grey Velvet in any format, but Shameless (who are one of Arrow's affiliates and have released a number of Euro-horror and giallo titles) are aiming to release it on standard-disc and on Blu-Ray in December. Also, apparently the French Wild Side release of Tenebrae is far superior to the Arrow version. I believe it's region-free but with enforced English subtiutles, alas.

[Glenn Kenny]

@ Neil: D'oh!