Warner Archives: Two by Fritz Lang

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Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection

#1 Post by Ribs » Wed Feb 21, 2018 5:24 pm

Coming next month on BD: Beyond a Reasonable Doubt and While the City Sleeps

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domino harvey
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection

#2 Post by domino harvey » Wed Feb 21, 2018 5:32 pm

Two of Lang's worst!

mteller
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection

#3 Post by mteller » Wed Feb 21, 2018 5:41 pm

domino harvey wrote:Two of Lang's worst!
I have to agree... wake me when they announce Human Desire.

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hearthesilence
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection

#4 Post by hearthesilence » Wed Feb 21, 2018 5:47 pm

Well, I like While the City Sleeps, and it was one of his own favorites. This is welcome because the DVD looked soft as hell. The UK DVD is possibly in the wrong aspect ratio (it's not matted to widescreen, and even then it seems to be losing some portions on the side), but the image on that disc is much sharper, as if it came from the OCN while the Warner Archive DVD came from a bad dupe. I hope they rectify all of this because it'll be the first time the film's been presented in the best possible quality for home viewing.

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captveg
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection

#5 Post by captveg » Wed Feb 21, 2018 6:22 pm

mteller wrote:wake me when they announce Human Desire.
Human Desire is with Sony. I believe the other Lang films Warner has are Clash by Night, Fury, Moonfleet, and Rancho Notorious.

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hearthesilence
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection

#6 Post by hearthesilence » Wed Feb 21, 2018 7:23 pm

Just discovered that David Bordwell addressed the different aspect ratios of While the City Sleeps on his blog in December 2010.

FWIW, Dave Kehr actually champions While the City Sleeps in one of his essays on Lang in When Movies Mattered: Reviews from a Transformative Decade where he actually expressed a preference for Lang's American films over his German films.

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Rayon Vert
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection

#7 Post by Rayon Vert » Wed Feb 21, 2018 7:42 pm

Well While the City Sleeps made it to no 14 on this forum's Lang List project, it was in a few people's top 10 and my top 4, so not exactly among his worst!

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What A Disgrace
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection

#8 Post by What A Disgrace » Wed Feb 21, 2018 7:54 pm

Count me among the camp that likes these two films, and is excited to see them coming to Blu-ray. I'm hoping that more archive DVD only titles of this nature will hit Blu-ray - the strawberry blonde, Wichita, stars in my crown, and so many more are exciting prospects.

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hearthesilence
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Warner Archives: Two by Fritz Lang

#9 Post by hearthesilence » Wed Feb 21, 2018 8:16 pm

What A Disgrace wrote:Count me among the camp that likes these two films, and is excited to see them coming to Blu-ray. I'm hoping that more archive DVD only titles of this nature will hit Blu-ray - the strawberry blonde, Wichita, stars in my crown, and so many more are exciting prospects.
Same here, especially with the three you mentioned. Wichita alone looks horrible on whatever the hell was used for their DVD.

Costa
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2010 5:10 pm

Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection

#10 Post by Costa » Wed Feb 21, 2018 9:56 pm

david hare wrote:on the much loathed HTF
Ok, i understand the loathing of most people about bluray.com.
But, is there any thread here that explains the loathing towards HTF? :D

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matrixschmatrix
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection

#11 Post by matrixschmatrix » Wed Feb 21, 2018 9:59 pm

captveg wrote:
mteller wrote:wake me when they announce Human Desire.
Human Desire is with Sony. I believe the other Lang films Warner has are Clash by Night, Fury, Moonfleet, and Rancho Notorious.
I like While the City Sleeps a lot but I would commit murder for a blu-ray of Fury

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Drucker
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection

#12 Post by Drucker » Wed Feb 21, 2018 10:08 pm

The optimist in me continues to assume that the great films of the 20s and 30s not on blu ray are mostly due to lack of quality elements, and not studio indifference.

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NWRdr4
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection

#13 Post by NWRdr4 » Wed Feb 21, 2018 10:27 pm

hearthesilence wrote:FWIW, Dave Kehr actually champions While the City Sleeps in one of his essays on Lang in When Movies Mattered: Reviews from a Transformative Decade where he actually expressed a preference for Lang's American films over his German films.
The Cahiers crowd adored these two movies as well (Rivette even gave Beyond a Reasonable Doubt the coveted “masterpiece” rating on le conseil des dix), so I guess I always assumed that they were generally regarded as two of Lang’s best. My surprise at finding that’s not the case here probably says more about my rather hermetic reading habits than it does the opinions of this board, though...

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domino harvey
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection

#14 Post by domino harvey » Wed Feb 21, 2018 10:36 pm

Rivette's review is one of the silliest works of film criticism (if one can call it that) ever penned

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NWRdr4
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection

#15 Post by NWRdr4 » Wed Feb 21, 2018 11:56 pm

domino harvey wrote:Rivette's review is one of the silliest works of film criticism (if one can call it that) ever penned
I’m not familiar enough with Rivette’s filmography to go as far as Rosenbaum does here, and maybe I’m just used to wading through Godard and Rivette’s hammy obtuseness, but I certainly don’t find that review unreadable or even uninsightful (not that you said it was either).

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TMDaines
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Re: Warner Brothers Archive Collection

#16 Post by TMDaines » Mon Mar 05, 2018 11:06 am

captveg wrote:
mteller wrote:wake me when they announce Human Desire.
Human Desire is with Sony. I believe the other Lang films Warner has are Clash by Night, Fury, Moonfleet, and Rancho Notorious.
Human Desire has a very nice 1080p rip floating around online. Is this streaming on Amazon in the US?

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mistakaninja
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Re: Warner Archives: Two by Fritz Lang

#17 Post by mistakaninja » Mon Mar 05, 2018 12:01 pm

It's streaming in HD on .co.uk too but it's not included in Prime. £3.49 to rent or £7.49 to buy digital.

The artwork, year, and cast and crew details are for the Lang, but the description tantalising reads, "Centerfold Shannon Tweed stars in this story of lust and betrayal, where money is no object and looks CAN kill."

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