Blu-ray Consumer Guide: Face up to reality February 2013 edition

Well. Talk about the best-laid plans. Last time we spoke in the context of this feature, I was all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed about future prospects, having set up ground rules that were going to allow me to run the Consumer Guide on a regular basis. Almost four months later and with no natural disaster to REALLY keep me in the house, here we are, with a Consumer Guide you’ll find to be pretty low on really NEW stuff.

What can I tell you? Among other things, I found myself consumed by what Jack Torrance would call “a new writing project” which turned into a nearly compulsive pursuit. That’s finished, and now I am trying to, as they say, monetize the result. And while, to my surprise, I now find that I have enough of a  new idea in my head that I could just start on something similar now, for various reasons I’m not going to. Which left me to come back to this. I might as well face it: the only way this is going to become a regular monthly thing is if I’m paid to do it, and the format’s still too niche, and my approach still to ostensibly cinepilic to make it something any organ wants to pay for, let’s not even talk about pay what I would want for it.

So I’m just going to accept reality, a specific reality, which is that this feature’s only ever going to appear on a sporadic basis, a basis that will be decided according to my whim and/or whether I’m physically available to do the work necessary for the feature to exist. Which isn’t to say I’m giving up. There’s plenty piled up in my home theater “staging area” to look at, and things are going to be chilly outside for a good thirty days or so more. Who knows what could happen. In the meantime, there’s a pretty impressive bunch of stuff considered below. Thanks as ever. Before we start, here is a very amusing snapshot of a bit of the end credits of the Streisand A Star Is Born.

Equipment: Playstation 3 for domestic discs, OPPO BDP 83 for import discs, Panasonic Viera TCP50S30 plasma display, Pioneer Elite VSX-817 AV amplifier/reciever.

Baron Blood (Kino/Lorber)

This movie is, I think, better than its reputation as subpar Bava would suggest, and I think that Bava biographer Tim Lucas agrees with me, as his audio commentary on this early-‘70s item is affectionate as well as informative. This haunted-castle number has plenty of baroque scares, lots of icky gore makeup effects (what’s all that tissue hanging from the spikes in the iron maiden, ugh), and Elke Sommer running around in a mini-skirt screaming, which isn’t as exciting as Elke Sommer naked (see Lisa and the Devil) but nothing to sneeze at either. The Blu-ray has a terrific picture, more impressive than that of Black Sunday, I must say: good solid colors throughout and a consistently clean image. —A

 The Big Trail (Fox)

A cinematic curio: a 70mm widescreen picture made in…1930, pretty much the dawn of the sound era. The process here was called “Grandeur,” and director Raoul Walsh also shot the film in regular 35mm. The Fox presentation here is very conscientious, including both version of the film, from restored prints and transferred well in either case. The story of a young character played by recent discovery John Wayne leading a caravan across the West feels more like a regular Walsh film in the 35mm version, which is shorter, more direct and narratively-oriented. The widescreen version is stodgier, full of longer takes that don’t have much dramatic interest but show off a lot of scenery and panoramas and such.  But truth to tell, both versions are pretty stodgy; neither has the vulgar dynamism that distinguished such Walsh classics of the era as For Me And My Gal or even Sailor’s Luck. No, this movie’s predetermined fate as a prestige item seems to have hemmed in the filmmakers to an extent. Not that this is a bad picture; it’s certainly of historic interest for technical reasons alone. But as an entertainment, it’s not even close to the first Walsh or Wayne Western I’d pick off a shelf. For  cinephile collectors only. —B+

Bonfire of the Vanities (Warner)

This notorious failure, the disastrous making of which was chronicled in the still seminal and satisfyingly dishy book The Devil’s Candy,  seems an unlikely candidate for Blu-ray preservations, but stranger things have made it to the format. So how bad IS this, really? Well, it’s not good, but there’s a part of me that thinks the smirky thing is exactly the adaptation that Tom Wolfe’s shitty little book deserves. Some sections, on the other hand, give the DePalma maven a sense of what a big-budget version of  Hi Mom! Might have looked like. In any event, it has the most apt casting of Geraldo Rivera of any movie of all time. And a lot of virtuoso camera movement and cheeky image juxtapositions, all of which is captured quite nicely on the disc. The Hanks/Willis subay meet-up makes the DeNiro/Pacino summit in Heat look like the DeNiro Pacino summit in Heat, on the other hand. For DePalma nuts only. —C+

Bonjour Tristesse (Twilight Time)

One of my all-time favorite movies, or one of my all-time favorite Preminger movies, what’s the dif,  a thoroughly beautiful and audacious picture that is still structurally and pictorially more vibrant anything you’d care to compare it to. You’d figure I’d be satisfied with just a really good transfer of it…and I am. Some of the black-and-white sequences are little more sepia than I’ve seen in theatrical presentations, but other than that the image is clean and bright and beautifully colored. —A

 The Boogens (Olive)

Stephen King, blurbed on the cover, is right—this really is “wildly energetic monster movie.” Okay, it’s an energetic monster movie, at least. It represents one of my favored subgenres, being an independent non-Hollywood production; regional horror pictures have intrigued me since Carnival of Souls. While the title is still a problem, this is a strong presentation of the monsters-from-a-long-disused mine story. A good clean image, not mind-blowing, but definitely better than a step up from standard-def in terms of detail, which always makes a difference with such scares-in-the-dark material. There’s some  source-material based speckling about 15 minutes in, but this is not entirely incongruous with what the theatrical experience might have been like. The commentary from director James Conway, co-writer David O’Malley, and star Rebecca Balding, who’s married to Conway, is lively and dishy and pretty funny on the subject of de rigueur female nudity in ‘80s horror movies .—B

Cinderella (Disney)

The 1950 animated version of the fairy tale came at a transition point for Disney, who needed a big hit and got one here; this was to be the last of his pictures distributed by RKO the success of this picture enabled him to set up Buena Vista and self-distribute a couple of movies later. The anthropomorphized animals—goofy helpful mice, a fussy fat cat named Lucifer (boy, some people would have a field day with that name now)—show the pop influence of Looney Tunes on the studio, and the lead characters are crafted for postwar teen appeal. Not particularly daring, and nor would be the three films that followed (Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and Lady And The Tramp) 1959’s Sleeping Beauty, with its bold color design and use of widescreen, has more appeal for Blu-ray buyers looking for Innovation In Animation. But in terms of beauty this has a bunch, most notably the soap-bubble fantasy set piece, very nice indeed. And kids love it!. The usual stellar transfer job, generous extras. If you like this stuff at all you can’t lose with these packages. —A

Cleopatra (Eureka/Masters Of Cinema Region B U.K. Import)

I’ve had a weird thing for Claudette Colbert ever since I saw a picture of her in an old paperback reprint of a buncha Photoplay magazines, the photo depicting her in costume as “Cigarette” in the movie Under Two Flags. I’ve never been able to see that thing, come to think of it. Anyway, it wasn’t that weird a thing, except, you know, she was 56 years older than me and a movie star. Anyway. She’s still the greatest, particularly in her early work, of which this is a stellar, sexy example, director Cecil B. DeMille in his cheeky-historical-epic mode. Colbert’s presentation to Warren William’s Caesar remains one of the all-time classic moments in dramatic depiction. The near-kitsch extrapolations on ancient world design are pretty spectacular too. This is a bee-yooo-ti-ful high-def transfer with lotsa  healthy grain  (which noticeably upticks during optical effects such as dissolves) and incredible detail. While the movie doesn’t offer any moments quite as ineffable as Colbert’s milk bath in DeMille’s subsequent prior, even more outrageous The Sign Of The Cross (can we have THAT in high-def, pretty please?), it’s still got plenty of her sass, which is also very healthy. The informative F.X. Feeney commentary is imported from the Universal 2009 domestic “Anniversary Edition” DVD of the movie. —A+

Grand Hotel (Warner)

While it is undeniably true that digital technology cannot reproduce that mercury glisten that makes a silver nitrate print feel so special, what it CAN reproduce is not to be deplored, and this high-def version of the old more-stars-than-there-are-in-heaven chestnut gets a lot of at the very least SILVER into the picture. Which is to say it looks truly grand. My most cherished memory of this movie is seeing it at Paris’ legendary Cinema MacMahon in May of 1990, and the way I remember the film looking…well, what I remember, because of the theater and its cachet and the magic of Paris and all that, may well have been an illusion, but this disc re-conjures it. —A

The Life And Death of Colonel Blimp (ITV Region B U.K. Import)

One supposes that there will be a domestic issue of this latest restoration in due time, but if you have a region-free player and can’t wait, well, yes; this is remarkable. I was privileged to see the restoration on a 35mm print on the big screen up at Suffern’s Lafayette Theater. Every time this gets another pass through restoration—and I’ve been looking at this on home video since the Criterion laser disc—it’s like another pane of streaky glass has been removed from in front of the image. The difference is palpable from the opening credits tapestry. Really SO beautiful…although nothing beats seeing it in a theater, on a theater size screen, with an audience willing to be swept up by it. Like the Kazan film discussed later in this guide, Blimp is a unique object. No other film has precisely what it has. And this disc of it it impeccable. (UPDATE: I missed the announcement, but this is indeed in the works from Criterion, here's hoping the movie Scorsese/Powell commentary from way back makes it on to that edition...)—A+

Looney Tunes Platinum Collection  Volume Two (Warner)

Okay, I’ll fess up. I haven’t sat through every minute of this three-disc, six-hour-not-including (some not in high-def) extras package. It is also worth recalling that the brash, not inordinately nuanced style of the Tunes, while it of course does benefit from the high-def treatment, is not the sort of thing that yields incredible revelation in that format. (That’s an arguable point, I suppose, but that’s my assessment of the issue. I am willing to entertain countering perspectives.) But damn, any package that includes eleven Tex Avery MGM shorts as an EXTRA is gonna get a pretty high grade from me, even if those eleven do not include “L’il Tinker.” (Can’t have everything.) Not to mention the incredibly range of this thing—the entertaining and informative documentaries, the appallingly vulgar and racist Private Snafu shorts, the attention to detail in the choices of cartoons featuring music-and-effects-only options. It’s really paradise for fans, and it includes the complete “Tortoise and Hare” and “Buzzards” series, and more, and yes, the high-def transfers of the material are eye-poppingly gorgeous if not necessarily “revelatory,” so hell yes, this gets an… —A+

On The Waterfront (Criterion)

The last DVD of this title was actually a rather telling example of how a transfer that somehow emphasizes too much of the wrong picture detail can skew the way a film reads. I hesitate to use the word “wrong,” but bear with me. The Sony DVD’s particular quality, which was overbrightnes, tended to washout the skin tone and boost the visibility of the face makeup on Marlon Brando, particularly his eyebrows, one of which has a scar cutting through it. The dark eyebrows and the pallor of his face gave him a Kabuki-like aspect which made the the feminized qualities of the character/performance stand out more. Also, he didn’t look as if he had any facial hair. Interesting, but perhaps not what the filmmakers were going for. The new transfer corrects this. I’ve taken screen caps from standard-def editions. Look at Brando’s chin in the Sony, left. It's soft, white. Now look at the capture from the Criterion capture; he’s a man who shaves. The feminization is not quite gone, but it’s tempered. Given its proper place in the gestalt of the film as it were, which remains a, yes, unique achievement for as much previous films informed it at the time.  As for the rest? Criterion at its best, and the aspect-ratio extra a concise education. —A+

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The Passion of Joan Of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc’s lidelse og dod) (Eureka!Masters Of Cinema Region B U.K. import)

Not just a  great film but a film with its own language that’s never been replicated or used since. Which is one way of saying its barrage of intense close-ups is in a sense very deeply weird and likely to flummox the inexperienced viewer. This Blu-ray is remarkable not just in its feature presentation but its scholarly chops, as in its inclusion of the “Lo Duca” version of the film, the critic-modified version that was the one first seen by much of this film’s original audience. Not to mention the 100-page booklet. To have the film like this is one thing; the supplements make it a genuine “critical edition,” raising the bar for creators of cinephile product everywhere.  —A+

Rashomon (Criterion)

One can, if one is feeling particularly know-somethingish, have a look at this 1950 picture and pronounce it “minor Kurosawa” in spite of the fact that its central trope was once part of what used to be called the lingua franca. (I remember when people who had not even seen the film would talk about a “’Rashomon” situation;” these days not so much…not to mention the devolution to “he said/she said,” which is itself attached to a REALLY minor film.) Something to do with…well, never mind what it has to do with, it’s not a fight I’m gonna get into in the context of this service journalism feature. My point is that if you watch this high-def disc of the movie, you will be almost instantaneously disabused of the notion that the movie is minor ANYTHING, because it’s just that pictorially beautiful, not to mention inventive. That rain! That forest! Seriously Essential. — A+

 The Sound and The Fury (Twilight Time)

In which the pioneering label continues its unusual tradition of taking great care in issuing oddly marginal major studio movies in very viewable editions. This one has sunk into sufficient obscurity that I had to create a page for it in order to log it in to my Letterboxd viewing diary. One would like to say that while it ain’t Faulkner, it ain’t nothing, but by the same token, a movie that switches the gender of one major character, then casts Yul Brynner as Jason and Jack Warden as Benjy has problems that go beyond standard adaptation issues. If you can forget its source material, it’s not a bad ‘50s big studio Southern melodrama, but, come on. Stuff like this weighs heavier for the “Martin Ritt was a minor director” argument than No Money Down weighs for the “no he wasn’t” argument, at least in my book. So are you ready to buy this yet? Well, this IS a handsome edition of a film that represents a certain apex of studio craft, although if it indeed was a Fox Four-Track Stereo sound recording, it’s too bad the disc doesn’t reproduce that, and instead goes with a two-channel soundtrack and an isolated track of Alex North’s score, also in two-channel stereo (hell, Fox itself put the four-channel soundtrack on its standard-def disc of House of Bamboo). Don’t knock three-or-four channel mixes ‘til you’ve tried ‘em, they’re pretty sweet. —B-

 A Star Is Born (Warner)

What is the matter with me? Why did I look at the high-def iteration of this almost universally-derided iteration of the alkie-showbiz classic before even cracking open the Blu-ray of Cabaret, which is at least a decent movie and also features a truckload of Liza Minnelli sideboob? Who can say. Maybe I had a repressed memory of Montrose’s “Rock Candy” being on the soundtrack, and that attracted me. No, that’s not it. Anyway, the good news is that it looks pretty good: Robert Surtees in his grittiest ‘70s mode, lots of edible blacks and an enveloping warmth that never succumbs to gloss. This is reputedly the first picture with a Dolby surround soundtrack and some of the But Jesus, this movie. Do Joan Didion fans give her a pass for this kind of crap? Because the stuff that’s most irritating and false in this movie’s depiction of its milieu (e.g. the Rolling Stone “journalist” who beds Kristofferson’s character in a bid to get an interview with Streisand’s) practically reeks of Didion, or of Eve Babitz trying to channel Didion, which makes no sense, I know. On the other hand, Ms. Streisand’s commentary, while digressive in that way that can be a little difficult to listen to,  is also REAL interesting. I like the way she laughs at the beginning when speaking the words “Jon Peters, who wanted to be a producer.”  —B+

Taxi For Tobruk (Olive)

This 1960 WWII adventure of some Free French troops driving through the desert with a German officer who toggles between reluctant ally and captive is like a more downbeat, fatalist variant on the amiable 1958 Ice Cold In Alex. If that latter name means anything to you, you’re likely to eat this up. The film is also an excellent source of Lino Ventura, Charles Aznouver, and Hardy Kruger. The transfer of this wide-screen (French-bred Dyalliscope, same process as The 400 Blows, not CinemaScope...although...oh nevr mind) black-and-white picture is pretty much crystal clear so connoisseurs of the format will also be pleased. —A-

The Testament Of Dr. Mabuse (Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse) (Eureka!/Masters of Cinema Region B U.K. Import)

Amazing. This 1930 Prophetic Book Of Fritz Lang is still startling in its odd audacity. Not just technical audacity; everything about it is off-the-wall in its particular genius. This edition makes it all palpable. Because Lang’s  experiments with sound and cutting were so bold, they’re not as seamless in their effects as they might have been, but they make the movie crackle with electric discovery. Some of the images are so crisp and spectacular the restoration feels like a miracle. And it is, because the film itself is a kind of miracle.  —A+

Universal Classic Monster Collection (Universal)

The core collection, all given superb restoration and cleanup treatments and one of them displaying overindulgence on digital noise reduction and all that. Everything here is beautiful in its way. The 1931 Dracula is the biggest revelation. The cleaned-up frames reveal more depth to the mise-en-scene and more detail in the performances themselves. The movie takes on a more accurate dimension and feels less stodgy and leaden than the latter-day criticisms of it chide it for. Freund’s The Mummy is also remarkable, silver and shadow melding in creepy grandeur. Which isn’t to take away from the magnificent two Frankensteins. The Wolf Man is handsome but not my favorite of the Universal horrors. People love to slag the Claude Rains Phantom of the Opera because it’s really an operetta musical instead of a horror movie, but that Technicolor still is glorious (although in certain shots some registration problems are visible). The Creature From The Black Lagoon is what it is. I only wish for a Blu-ray collection of the sequels, the B-horror pictures (Ulmer’s The Black Cat, come on!), pretty much everything else in this mode that can be upgraded. Not gonna happen.  —A+

Weekend (Criterion)

Wowsers, I have never seen this movie looking so good! I know, I say that all the time. But this is genuinely a revelation. The early scenes with Mireille Darc and her therapist or boyfriend or whatever the hell he is (the new picture clarity doesn’t answer ALL of the movie’s mysteries) going over the supposedly disgusting erotic anecdote (frankly I’ve heard worse) was pretty much impossible to SEE in just about every prior home version. Here it is entirely visible, albeit in its proper alienating silhouette. The rest looks pretty hot, too, if you can take it; people talk about Joe D’Amato movies and the animal killing in those, but caveat emptor, prescient social commentary radical despair or no, some of the stuff at the end of this would get Godard in big trouble with PETA if there were any cinephiles in PETA. —A+

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Warner)

Between this and The Legend of Lylah Claire you almost gotta wonder where Robert Aldrich got his dog-food-ad hard-on from, but he certainly did put an edge on it, and then put it to good use. This really is another Warner home run on a classic title. Ohmigod that face makeup on Davis—like she put it on with a trowel. And yes,in this case it IS supposed to be visible. Every frame is crystal-clear without giving the impression it’s been killed with DNR, and the added detail provides new things to really see; I never before noticed the very visible silent “bitch” Bette David articulates after “you miserable” early in the film. Not so much a camp classic as one of the most knowing, and saddest, movies about Old Hollywood, not to mention alcoholism, ever made. —A+

Comments

[Tom Block]

The Criterion BR of "Blimp" is due on 3/18 (along with a mess of other other goodies).

[Oliver_C]

That the two most memorable shots in 'Bonfire of the Vanities' -- the Chrysler Building time-lapse and the ultra-telephoto Concorde touchdown -- are second-unit work says it all, really.

[preston]

Interesting, just reading about the "assistant to Ms. Streisand" in the 'Being Hal Ashby' book. No mention of ‘Her Closet’ but I’ll let you know if it pops up.

Excellent guide!

[Not David Bordwell]

I am happiest to hear your enthusiasm for the first and last entries on this list, as well as the endorsement of the Universal Monsters set. Would the Hammer restorations available in Britain but not here be on your horizon for a future guide? (I kinda suspect this is why Tim Lucas took your advice on the region-free player.) I would love your perspective on those, particularly the aspect ratio brouhaha over CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, since discussion of the like has appeared on this site IRT other films and filmmakers.

BTW, I always find these guides providing the intended service, but inevitably seem to forget their utility when people inquire about holiday/birthday gifts.

[Tom Russell]

"Not so much a camp classic as one of the most knowing, and saddest, movies about Old Hollywood, not to mention alcoholism, ever made."

Exactly, yes!

[Bruce Reid]

Oliver_C, that opening steadicam shot, which as Stuart Klawans pointed out takes every effort to associate the sleazy Willis character with Tom Wolfe, isn't half bad either.

[Gordon Cameron]

>The Criterion BR of "Blimp" is due on 3/18 (along with a mess of other other goodies).

Must-buy for me...

[Grant L]

Me too, Gordon, and just one week later, "A Man Escaped" Criterion BR.

[jbryant]

As usual, you've got me drooling over here in anticipation of someday acquiring most of these. COLONEL BLIMP is possibly the biggest gap in my cinematic viewing history, so I need to get on that Criterion as soon as possible.

By the way, in your THE SOUND AND THE FURY capsule, I think you must have meant NO DOWN PAYMENT rather than NO MONEY DOWN.

[Oliver_C]

Glenn's mention of 'Rashomon' provides enough reason to say, R.I.P. Donald Richie.

[Zack H.]

What Ever Happened To Baby's Jane's last line always floors me.

And while I still hear the "Rashomon effect" bandied around, especially in regards to TV show episodes, it's impressive to me how the movie's single most unsettling conceit--that we never see a one, "true" version of events, if such a thing could be said to exist--is so rarely repeated today. It's the part of the movie that still stings, no matter how cliche the rest of the story structure becomes, and few modern writers are willing to embrace it.

[That Fuzzy Bastard]

On behalf of cinephile readers everywhere, Glenn, I say update these consumer guides as often or as rarely as you like– it's a super useful and an entertaining read, so whenever we get to enjoy it, we'll take it!

Since you bring up the silver in Grand Hotel, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the silvering effect of using a PS3 as a player. I've noticed that for many black-and-white DVDs, when I play them through a computer or Xbox, they look straightforwardly black-and-white, but seen through the PS3, they acquire a (very flattering) silver sheen. Is this something anyone else has observed, or did Mark of the Vampire just send me into hallucinatory fits?

[Kevin O]

Glenn - just wanted to say I live for your Consumer Guides, just as I used to live for your DVD guides in Premiere in years past. (Also, I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed hearing you on the Cinephiliacs podcast last summer. You are one of those very few erudite people, who are able to discuss stuff at length, without saying "sorta", "like" and "kinda" in every sentence).

[David Ehrenstein]

I saw both Walsh's "The Big Trail" and Roland West's exquisite "The Bat Whispers" in all their 70mm glory several years back on the giant screen at the motion Picure Academy theater here in L.A. That's really the way they've got to be seen. Even the biggest"home Theater" is a postage stamp by comparasion.

[Griff]

CINDERELLA wasn't the last of the Disney animated features to be distributed by RKO -- ALICE IN WONDERLAND and PETER PAN also were originally released by RKO.

The fabulous pre-Code SIGN OF THE CROSS, which would be most welcome on Blu-ray, was released almost two years before CLEOPATRA opened.

[Glenn Kenny]

Fixes in, thanks and apologies.

[Tom Block]

I was surprised how much I liked "The Big Trail" when I finally saw it. Everything I'd ever read about it prepared me for a movie about a horse watching John Wayne shit in his pants.

[Gordon Cameron]

>Glenn's mention of 'Rashomon' provides enough reason to say, R.I.P. Donald Richie.

Amen.

[bosque]

One of the best - hell, THE best! - Consumer guides on the market, which I mention not only to ask if you got hold of the Twilight's Last Gleaming disc last November, not available to see for about 30 years or more, very fondly remembered but perhaps left in the memory bank rather than dug up and shown to be a lot clunkier than I thought at the time it was released.

[mark s.]

Jesus, until I looked more closely I thought Streisand was Marc Bolan/T-Rex in concert. And I think I'm afraid to look at dear Bette's fissured face on Blu-Ray.

[Asher]

"I was surprised how much I liked "The Big Trail" when I finally saw it. Everything I'd ever read about it prepared me for a movie about a horse watching John Wayne shit in his pants."

Dave Kehr actually has it in his Sight and Sound top 10 ballot.

[Pete Apruzzese]

Great roundup, as always.

[Josh Z]

@Fuzzy Bastard, the video output of the PS3 should be no different than any other Blu-ray player, unless you have some funky settings enabled in its menus.

This is how it should be set up:

BD/DVD Cinema Conversion: Automatic
BD/DVD Upscaler: Normal
BD/DVD Video Output Format (HDMI): Y Pb/Cb Pr/Cr (if your TV will accept it)
BD 1080p 24 Hz Output (HDMI): On (if your TV will accept it)
RGB Full Range (HDMI): Limited
Y Pb/Cb Pr/Cr Super-White (HDMI): On

The "Limited" option under "Full Range" sets the contrast for Video levels rather than PC levels. Super-White allows the console to pass whiter-than-white information.

[That Fuzzy Bastard]

Thanks, Josh---I'll play with that. I think that's where my settings were. And I'm not complaining---the silvery look I'm getting on my PS3 is much nicer than the stark b/w the Xbox shows. just... curious.

[Kevyn Knox]

I have always enjoyed these reports. I went out and bought several blurays because of this "project" of yours, including (somewhat) obscura such as Pasolini's Medea and Curtiz' The Egyptian.

[Oliver_C]

Obscure 'The Egyptian' may be, but Curtiz' direction receives a very approving little analysis in the current 'Sight and Sound'.

[Ron Goldberg (TM)]

Great observation on On The Waterfront!