335 Elevator to the Gallows

Discuss releases by Criterion and the films on them. Threads may contain spoilers!
Message
Author
User avatar
Cinephrenic
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:58 pm
Location: Paris, Texas

#26 Post by Cinephrenic » Tue Jan 24, 2006 12:52 pm

I'm hoping they didn't downgrade this one. I hope they will add more extras as info becomes available to them. It happens all the time, but it seems unlikely. Since this is Malle's milestone, I would think they would go all out on the extras with a commentary.

User avatar
numediaman2
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 4:51 pm

#27 Post by numediaman2 » Tue Jan 24, 2006 6:27 pm

Annie Mall wrote:
LightBulbFilm wrote:Amazon has a (2pc) next to the title pn their site. Could Criterion not be telling us it is 2 discs?
The Miles Davis soundtrack would be nice. Wishful thinking, I know.
I hope not, the soundtrack is already commercially available -- no reason to include it here.

User avatar
ellipsis7
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 1:56 pm
Location: Dublin

#28 Post by ellipsis7 » Wed Jan 25, 2006 8:13 am

Is up on CC's Coming Soon page... No mention of 2 discs...

http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=335

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

#29 Post by domino harvey » Wed Jan 25, 2006 2:16 pm

if there's no commentary and it's still $39.99 then Criterion is truly just milking the large fanbase that's been waiting for this movie's release forever.

kekid
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:55 pm

#30 Post by kekid » Thu Jan 26, 2006 1:54 am

In their description, the Criterion website states the aspect ratio as 1.66, but the DVD will be non-anamorphic. What could be the reason for this decision?

User avatar
Doctor Sunshine
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 10:04 pm
Location: Brain Jail

#31 Post by Doctor Sunshine » Thu Jan 26, 2006 2:12 am

I'm gonna go with, the ditzy intern hired to update the website was cute...?

User avatar
Caligula
Carthago delenda est
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 2:32 am
Location: George, South Africa

#32 Post by Caligula » Thu Jan 26, 2006 2:31 am

I would dearly hope this is an error.

I'm certainly not buying a non-anamorphic disc of this film.

What's next? Pan & scan?

User avatar
daniel p
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:01 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia

#33 Post by daniel p » Thu Jan 26, 2006 3:54 am

before you all get too excited, think back, and you might remember how initial specs are often changed... and unusual errors like these are fixed up.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

#34 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jan 26, 2006 3:01 pm

this is turning out to be quite the contentuous release.

User avatar
Jeff
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
Location: Denver, CO

#35 Post by Jeff » Thu Jan 26, 2006 6:31 pm

Relax. Non-anamorphic is just the default response for that field, and they forgot to change it. Criterion has made this same mistake literally dozens of times over the past few years. If Elevator to the Gallows is released in non-anamorphic 1.66, I'll eat Werner Herzog's shoe.

User avatar
What A Disgrace
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:34 pm
Contact:

#36 Post by What A Disgrace » Thu Jan 26, 2006 6:56 pm

In any case, I've emailed Mulvaney, requesting a confirmation on the number of discs in the release.

User avatar
What A Disgrace
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:34 pm
Contact:

#37 Post by What A Disgrace » Sat Jan 28, 2006 11:53 pm

...and while waiting for his response...Elevator to the Gallows is now up at CriterionDVD.com, and they also have it pegged for a two discer.

As well as having a newly "restired" transfer.

User avatar
justeleblanc
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:05 pm
Location: Connecticut

#38 Post by justeleblanc » Sun Jan 29, 2006 2:54 am

What A Disgrace wrote:As well as having a newly "restired" transfer.
10-4 on restirring it, all the alcohol was on the bottom.

User avatar
Caligula
Carthago delenda est
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 2:32 am
Location: George, South Africa

#39 Post by Caligula » Thu Feb 09, 2006 2:18 am

Jeff wrote:Relax. Non-anamorphic is just the default response for that field, and they forgot to change it. Criterion has made this same mistake literally dozens of times over the past few years. If Elevator to the Gallows is released in non-anamorphic 1.66, I'll eat Werner Herzog's shoe.
It would appear Mr Herzog's shoe is safe: the disc is now listed as an anamorphic release.

User avatar
Gordon
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2004 8:03 am

#40 Post by Gordon » Fri Feb 10, 2006 2:38 pm

Caligula wrote:
Jeff wrote:Relax. Non-anamorphic is just the default response for that field, and they forgot to change it. Criterion has made this same mistake literally dozens of times over the past few years. If Elevator to the Gallows is released in non-anamorphic 1.66, I'll eat Werner Herzog's shoe.
It would appear Mr Herzog's shoe is safe: the disc is now listed as an anamorphic release.
Aww. I wanted to see him eat Werner's shoe. :(

User avatar
LightBulbFilm
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2005 5:11 pm
Location: Florida
Contact:

#41 Post by LightBulbFilm » Sat Feb 25, 2006 2:33 pm

So, what's the final count on this one? Is it 2 discs... as Amazon orignally had it listed as... Or is it 1 disc... Like Criterion has it listed as now.

User avatar
Gordon
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2004 8:03 am

#42 Post by Gordon » Sat Feb 25, 2006 4:21 pm

$40 for a 1-disc with no commentary or book/thick booklet (like Burden of Dreams) would be unjustifiable, so those interviews and the footage of Miles Davis must be fairly extensive. But then again, there is that Divorce, Italian Style, as a precedent.

User avatar
What A Disgrace
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:34 pm
Contact:

#43 Post by What A Disgrace » Fri Mar 10, 2006 12:26 am

Updated specs since the site's return.


- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Archival interviews with Louis Malle, actors Jeanne Moreau and Maurice Ronet, and original soundtrack session pianist René Urtreger
- Footage of Miles Davis and Louis Malle from the soundtrack recording session
- New video program about the score with critic Gary Giddins and jazz trumpeter Jon Faddis
- Malle's student film Crazeologie, featuring the title song by Charlie Parker
- Theatrical trailers
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Terrence Rafferty, an interview with Louis Malle, and a tribute by film producer Vincent Malle

Narshty
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:27 pm
Location: London, UK

#44 Post by Narshty » Thu Mar 30, 2006 5:14 am

I know this is a much-anticipated title here, and I do consider myself a fan of Louis Malle's work, but the film came a pretty big disappointment. Not wanting to go into too much spoiler territory before its release, but I found it a rather deflated mix of bungled cross-narrative plotting that keeps grinding the movie to a halt, almost non-existant characterisations (Jeanne Moreau has virtually nothing to do all movie), preposterous logic (the initial 'incident' is so breathtakingly incompetent it kills any tension stone dead because you know there isn't a hope in hell of him getting away with it) and annoyingly silly coincidences (why does the janitor come back in the dead of night to switch the elevator on for 20 seconds then leave again?).

One of my favourite things about Louis Malle is his prioritisation of character and setting over plot, but that certainly isn't the case here. Much of the problem lies in the essential weakness of the story and that Malle is all too visibly still finding his feet directorially. He'd never resort to voiceover inner monologues to portray a character's mental state in his later works as he does here and in Les Amants, and the moral and psychological ambiguity with which he portrays his protagonists is, for me, one of his chief attractions. But in Elevator the characters are stitched into the plotting so tightly there's no room to breathe and it's not even that good a story in the first place. They do what the plot tells them to do and nothing more. A pity.

scotty
Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2004 8:04 pm

#45 Post by scotty » Thu Mar 30, 2006 11:08 am

I don't think Malle wants us to believe the guy is anything but a screwup. A caper of the incompetent--just not played for laughs.

User avatar
Jeff
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
Location: Denver, CO

#46 Post by Jeff » Thu Mar 30, 2006 10:28 pm

davidhare wrote:And the framing is close enough to 1.66 (and anamorphic) to guarantee a shoe-eating display from our fellow poster.


Ah, but I said that if Criterion released a non-anamorphic 1.66 transfer I would consume the aforementioned accessory. I'm glad to know that Criterion has come through as usual, and Mr. Herzog will be able to retain his footwear.

User avatar
What A Disgrace
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:34 pm
Contact:

#47 Post by What A Disgrace » Thu Apr 06, 2006 3:30 pm

The updated (yet again!) specs list a new interview with Jeanne Moreau (specified by the April newsletter as a "nice, long chat"), and finally cement the release as a two disc set.

User avatar
Schkura
Joined: Sat Sep 17, 2005 1:48 pm
Location: Mississippi

#48 Post by Schkura » Sun Apr 09, 2006 2:42 am

I'm unfamiliar with Malle's work, but I'm buying this blind because I heart Miles. If I'm introduced to a a great new (to me) director in the process, all the better.

lull
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2004 12:21 pm
Location: Canada

#49 Post by lull » Sun Apr 09, 2006 6:37 pm

i was gonna still on the fence about buying this right away but making it a two-disc set seals it for me.
also, check out the wonderful trailer for Rialto's re-release last year.
now, just based on that, you'd be stupid not to get it :)

Narshty
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:27 pm
Location: London, UK

#50 Post by Narshty » Sun Apr 09, 2006 7:27 pm

lull wrote:also, check out the wonderful trailer for Rialto's re-release last year.
now, just based on that, you'd be stupid not to get it :)
Rialto's trailer is some kind of masterpiece in the "silk purse/sow's ear" category. Honestly, it made me seek out the film almost immediately, but there's a reason it sticks only to brief, iconic shots with no dialogue or plot information.

Post Reply