Warner Brothers Archive Collection (DVDs only)

[bamwc2]

Strongly disagree, The Long Voyage Home is still a film of considerable merit. Gregg Toland's work hits his usual high standard, John Wayne actually does well in a role where he has to speak with an accent - a rarity for him - and the final scene is fantastic.

We'll just have to agree to disagree about every claim you made there.

[domino harvey]

We've had this (non-)debate on the board before and I am as mystified as ever that people willingly defend the Long Voyage Home, though this is the first time I've ever seen someone defend John Wayne's accent in the process-- I need a "yinyer beer" to deal with this!

[hearthesilence]

Hah, well if you ever need a reason to start on heroin, try Armond White's site.

[giovannii84]

Warner is usually pretty good about that, even in the WA. Were those extras specifically related to the film, or just bonus films from the same era?

The 2 shorts are from the era.

The extras related to the film are the trailer (which is being ported over), an audio outtake of the song 'Sometimes I'm Happy' & a Music-Only track for the film

I was looking forward to getting this because I totally adore Ann Miller, but don't think it's worth upgrading now, seeing as the DVD has more on it.

[Cold Bishop]

We've had this (non-)debate on the board before and I am as mystified as ever that people willingly defend the Long Voyage Home, though this is the first time I've ever seen someone defend John Wayne's accent in the process-- I need a "yinyer beer" to deal with this!

While I admit I dislike the middle story (which I feel I've seen dozens of times in sitcoms and cartoons growing up) I'm mystified that people don't like it. It's a sumptuous film with such a wonderfully poetic atmosphere of sea and fog. The opening scene, of the men on board aching for women, and the finale, with the wind sweeping the port, are what moviemaking is all about. Ford may never have been more stylish than here.

[knives]

Yeah, I don't think it's a great film (though it's my favorite Ford in that style), but it has so many positives going for it I really don't understand the strong dismissal that comes up every time.

[Grisbi]

Though I love Ford so much, I'd been primed to dismiss Voyage when I finally got around to it for a multitude of reasons, but I was really surprised at what a beautiful, somber, haunting film it was. And so incredibly Fordian, in a way that something like Grapes is not at all. I saw it again not too long ago and thought even better of it. Masterpiece, imo.

Wayne's accent may be a joke, but physically he is able to sustain this very subtly expressive melancholy throughout, I think it is actually a very good performance.

I'd but a Blu-ray of it in a heartbeat, really would love for it to get a release.

[BillWatkins]

The Warner Archive Collection re-releases Cronenberg's Crash.

[mistakaninja]

1.37:1? It was shot full frame but I thought Cronenberg approved the 1.66 LD Criterion put out? The New Line DVD was 1.78.

[Adam X]

Having long been fascinated with Cronenberg's work, I have to say the one thing I've really been pining for was for one of his most powerful films to be released as a full frame DVD-R.
Thanks so much Warner Archive. You guys rock.

[criterion10]

The Warner Archive Collection re-releases Cronenberg's Crash.

Those bastards. After Videodrome, Crash might be my favorite Cronenberg film, so this is rather disappointing.

1.37:1? It was shot full frame but I thought Cronenberg approved the 1.66 LD Criterion put out? The New Line DVD was 1.78.

The Warner Bros. website is infamous for a variety of errors like such. My guess is that the DVD is in its proper 1.78:1 aspect ratio, unless WB just managed to fuck it up and include only the full frame version.

[EddieLarkin]

A WAC DVD release doesn't necessarily preclude a Blu-ray coming from an indie label, assuming WB are willing to licence. Two Rode Together got a TCM DVD release only a few months before Twilight Time announced the Blu-ray.

Still, it's not encouraging.

[domino harvey]

Are there any examples of a title coming to burned MOD from Warners and then coming out from another R1 label?

[The Narrator Returns]

The only example I can think of isn't an example, because we still don't know if Whit Stillman convinced Warner Bros. to let Criterion have Barcelona.

[domino harvey]

For the record, I'd love to be proved wrong by either of the above examples coming from Criterion. But I wouldn't bet on it

[EddieLarkin]

Annoyingly, it's Sony of all people who own the film in the U.K. (in other words, it'll never get a BD release over here!)

I'd love to be proved wrong by either of the above examples coming from Criterion.

Along with Show Boat

[felipe]

Are there any examples of a title coming to burned MOD from Warners and then coming out from another R1 label?

Not exactly another label, but Get Carter was re-released on dvd by WAC just before WHV announced the blu-ray.

[feihong]

A little off-topic for a second, but my nearly 100-year-old grandmother watched some movies with me a couple of weekends ago. She hates both violence and fantasy in most movies, and Some Like it Hot is probably her favorite picture. We watched two pictures whose aims I would describe as nearly diametrically opposite one another. She was nonplussed by The Tarnished Angels, but she was surprisingly enraptured by every minute of the Get Carter bluray. I did not see that coming.

[whaleallright]

it's funny that despite knowing her distaste for violence in movies, you showed her Get Carter

[feihong]

It was a coincidence, really: she came into the room and I happened to be checking the disc. She decided almost instantly that she wanted me to keep it playing. She had never seen Michael Caine in a movie before, and she found his screen persona exceptionally compelling. The night before I had pulled out The Tarnished Angels as a picture I thought she might actually enjoy, and she thought it was precious, shrill and maudlin. So it did surprise me quite a bit to find that Get Carter was more her speed.

As for the violence thing, I really take that prohibition with a grain of salt. How many movies out there really steer clear of such stuff? Her favorite film, Some Like it Hot, features the St. Valentine's Day massacre, and Edward Robinson Jr. icing George Raft almost point blank with a tommy gun. That's some violent sh*t if you ever stop and think about it. I would say that the violence in Get Carter is comparably cruel, and only slightly more bloody. But is this stuff actually more violent because there's more blood on display?

[domino harvey]

I was just either threatened or insulted by Warner Archives' latest email title

[FrauBlucher]

Not sure why I'm posting this ......

This is Glenn Erickson's review of Out of the Past. His PQ reviews are always very limited to the most general of observations. So, take it with a grain of salt, because he dropped this little nugget for Children of Paradise:

Criterion's Blu-ray of Children of Paradise sparkles as never before thanks to Pathé's 2011 restoration, which was performed at 4K resolution.

But hopefully, Out of the Past does look as good as he suggests.

[FrauBlucher]

Bluray.com....And oh boy, does this look sweet!

[tenia]

So WAC, which is considered the "discount" branch of Warner, gives a BD-50 for a 97 min B&W 1.37 with only 1 2.0 lossless track and barely any weighty extras, but WHV keeps on straining video bitrates to less than 20 Mbps ?

[captveg]

I wouldn't call it their "discount" branch. It's their "special interest" branch for more niche (from a marketing view) titles.