The Apartment
Moderator: yoloswegmaster
- Gigi M.
- Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2005 5:09 pm
- Location: Santo Domingo, Dominican Rep
The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)
From DVDACTIVE:
[quote]MGM Home Entertainment has announced a collector's edition of The Apartment which stars Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. This Billy Wilder directed film will be available to own from the 5th February, and should retail at around $19.98. Extra material will include an audio commentary from Bruce Block, Film Producer, UCLA Professor and AFI Member, an “Inside the Apartmentâ€
[quote]MGM Home Entertainment has announced a collector's edition of The Apartment which stars Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. This Billy Wilder directed film will be available to own from the 5th February, and should retail at around $19.98. Extra material will include an audio commentary from Bruce Block, Film Producer, UCLA Professor and AFI Member, an “Inside the Apartmentâ€
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
- Jeff
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
- Location: Denver, CO
Utterly fantastic news! The transfer of the current version is not great (lots of shimmering). That cover art leaves a lot to be desired (especially knowing that a Warner version would look like this), but the new transfer, commentary, and documentary more than make up for that!
- Via_Chicago
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 12:03 pm
- souvenir
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:20 pm
DVD Beaver comparison shows a terrific improvement over the previous release.
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- Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2007 1:24 am
- Location: Los Angeles
Thanks. I wasted more time today than I'd care to admit trying to find a site to confirm that the transfer is improved. Excellent news, and now a necessary purchase.souvenir wrote:DVD Beaver comparison shows a terrific improvement over the previous release.
This bodes well for the upcoming 12 ANGRY MEN disc.
- Matango
- Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2005 1:19 am
- Location: Hong Kong
- Person
- Joined: Sat May 19, 2007 3:00 pm
I received my copy today.
On rewatching The Apartment, it deeply sank into me how masterful this film is. The pacing, the tone, the length of takes, the uncluttered mise en scene; it all seems so perfectly executed. For a mainstream American film from 1960, it really is quite something in its seriousness. But that seriousness is coupled so deftly with humour that I find it quite extraordinary overall. A hell of a film. Without question, a towering landmark in American Cineama. Hail to Izzy, Billy and Jack. How radically different an age we now live when one sees what was once possible.
On rewatching The Apartment, it deeply sank into me how masterful this film is. The pacing, the tone, the length of takes, the uncluttered mise en scene; it all seems so perfectly executed. For a mainstream American film from 1960, it really is quite something in its seriousness. But that seriousness is coupled so deftly with humour that I find it quite extraordinary overall. A hell of a film. Without question, a towering landmark in American Cineama. Hail to Izzy, Billy and Jack. How radically different an age we now live when one sees what was once possible.
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- Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2007 2:33 am
- Jeff
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
- Location: Denver, CO
I've always felt that Wilder is underrated in this regard. He gets a lot more credit as a writer than a director, but he has such control of tone and pace, and I think that he is responsible for some of the most beautifully framed shots in cinema (some of my favorites anyway).Person wrote:The pacing, the tone, the length of takes, the uncluttered mise en scene; it all seems so perfectly executed.
- Belmondo
- Joined: Thu Feb 08, 2007 9:19 am
- Location: Cape Cod
I completely agree, and ... call me madcap, but, I felt Rose McGowan also made a nice point when she said that she can enjoy the movie when she "feels lonely and blue, or happy and upbeat." More profound than it sounds - I often choose movies based on the mood I'm in - this one seems to transcend that.Jeff wrote:I've always felt that Wilder is underrated in this regard. He gets a lot more credit as a writer than a director, but he has such control of tone and pace, and I think that he is responsible for some of the most beautifully framed shots in cinema (some of my favorites anyway).Person wrote:The pacing, the tone, the length of takes, the uncluttered mise en scene; it all seems so perfectly executed.
- devlinnn
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 3:23 am
- Location: three miles from space
I've always loved, loved, loved it - and especially (now that I'm older) the sly, profound smile Shirley gives Jack while shufflin' at the end. It's the smile of a woman not in love, but emotionally way above the shmuck she's currently with, making do, until A. he grows up a little, or B. a better Wilder script for a (normal) woman comes along (which in a way it did with Avanti!). 'Cause there's no way in hell is she going to be baking cakes for Christmas.
- mfunk9786
- Under Chris' Protection
- Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
- justeleblanc
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:05 pm
- Location: Connecticut
Every so often I rewatch the film and find myself wanting to rewatch a lot of other Wilders as well and play catch up with those I still haven't seen.mfunk9786 wrote:Watched this for the first time ever last night, just one of those films that's eluded me until now. Obviously, I have to give this one a bit of time to digest before I make any bold statements...
Eh, fuck it. I think it's instantly become my favorite film.
For a while, I think Wilder was using Lubitsch a lot to play with paramours (Major and the Minor and Love in the Afternoon come to mind) and while there is Lubitsch in The Apartment, it mixes incredibly with with Wilder's cynicism. Kiss Me, Stupid does this brilliantly as well, but The Apartment stays lighter on its feet when it dances around these subjects.
The dialog is also top notch.
- ellipsis7
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 1:56 pm
- Location: Dublin
The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)
What's Bruce Block's commentary like?