1241 Paper Moon

[swo17]

Paper Moon



Maverick director Peter Bogdanovich affectionately recreates the world of the 1930s Dust Bowl in this beloved, briskly entertaining chronicle of one of cinema's unlikeliest crime sprees. Real-life father and daughter Ryan and Tatum O'Neal (who became the youngest-ever Oscar winner for her spark-plug performance) play off each other with almost musical agility as a Bible-hawking con man and the precocious, recently orphaned tomboy who falls into his care—and soon rivals her newfound father figure's skill as a swindler. With period-perfect detail, glowing monochrome imagery by cinematographer László Kovács, and a memorable supporting cast (including the inimitable Madeline Kahn), Paper Moon is a witty, loving portrait of two natural-born hustlers on a road trip through Depression-era America.

4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Audio commentary featuring director Peter Bogdanovich
• Introduction to the film by Bogdanovich
• New video essay by Bogdanovich biographer Peter Tonguette
• Three-part making-of documentary featuring Bogdanovich, production designer Polly Platt, associate producer Frank Marshall, and cinematographer László Kovács
• Archival interview with Platt
• Excerpts from a 1973 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson featuring Bogdanovich and actors Ryan and Tatum O"Neal
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic Mark Harris

[therewillbeblus]

I imagine a lot of these extras are overlap with MoC's.. another example of betting on Criterion not botching the transfer to make it worth upgrading

[dwk]

That and the film never got a US Blu-ray.

[dwk]

Here are the MOC extras

Audio commentary with director Peter Bogdanovich
"The Next Picture Show" featurette (14:10)
"Asking For the Moon" featurette (16:30)
"Getting the Moon" featurette (4:16)

and the Criterion has those and adds

• Introduction to the film by Bogdanovich
• New video essay by Bogdanovich biographer Peter Tonguette
• Archival interview with Platt
• Excerpts from a 1973 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson featuring Bogdanovich and actors Ryan and Tatum O"Neal
• Trailer

[ryannichols7]

yeah Criterion digging up the Platt and Carson stuff is good on their part, though of course we long for more scholarly material. they couldn't miss by just putting this incredible film out on 4K, so this will still be an incredible release. can't wait for it, and have glad they've kept PB's legacy going. just wish he was here to see the discs!

[thekeystobarton]

The notable absence of any archival interviews with Ms Kahn or any new pieces specifically just on Madeline Kahn and her performance does give me hope that maybe Criterion's saving that for a What's Up Doc edition in future. (I have nothing to back that speculation up with beyond just hope, after all without her charisma, uniqueness, and talent both of these films would just be a different ball of wax in more than just one crucial scene. Even Bodganovich had effusive praise for her in his commentary)

[thekeystobarton]

CC has now added the additional supplement:

Location-scouting footage with audio commentary by Marshall

[Beloved Aunt]

I think Peter Tonguette's video essay does count as scholarly material. However, just by-the-by, the man is also a rabid conservative Trump supporter. I suppose it makes sense that Bogdanovich's films might appeal especially to some with conservative values.

[dwk]

Despite originally being listed as 1.85 on Criterion's site, Blu-ray.com have posted their review and this is being presented in 1.66:1. Criterion's site does now have 1.66:1 listed as the aspect ratio and the screencaps on the site are in 1.66

[yoloswegmaster]

Oddly enough the screencaps on the site are still in 1.85. This is very bizarre. I just sent an email to them, so hopefully they can answer why the aspect ratio was changed.

[nicolas]

I asked Criterion regarding the aspect ratio:

Our upcoming PAPER MOON release will be presented in 1.66:1 aspect ratio, as noted on our product page now. Here are the full details regarding this decision:

PAPER MOON was filmed using the entirety of the 35 mm frame (known as full aperture), with Peter Bogdanovich's intention to matte and ultimately present his new movie in the 1.66:1 aspect ratio which was commonly used in Europe. Paramount Pictures decided instead to make prints in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio, a wider frame size that the majority of cinemas in America were more accustomed to projecting.

When Paramount released the laserdisc of PAPER MOON in 1989, the film was presented in Bogdanovich's preferred aspect ratio of 1.66:1. Bogdanovich even taped an introduction to the movie on the Paramount lot that was included on the laserdisc edition. In it, he talks about his preference for the film to be seen 1.66:1 and how pleased he was that finally audiences would get to see it as he originally intended.

When we first announced our upcoming 4K/Blu-ray release of PAPER MOON, we noted the film's aspect ratio as being 1.85:1. This is in fact the only way the film has been distributed, other than the 1989 laserdisc (and its contemporaneous VHS release) and on television sets, when films were commonly cropped to the more square 4x3 ratio for broadcast. It wasn't until we discovered the laserdisc introduction by Bogdanovich, also included on our edition, that we learned of his original framing preference. Criterion's decision to present our new restoration of PAPER MOON as 1.66:1 has been approved by Paramount and honors forever the always well-considered vision of director Peter Bogdanovich.

I hope this offers some peace of mind. I think you'll be pleased with the final result, should you choose to purchase it.

[yoloswegmaster]

I would have preferred if they included the 1.85 ratio as well (like they did with their release of For All Mankind) but it's still neat they are able to show it how Peter Bogdanovich intended for it to be screened.

[ChunkyLover]

I find it slightly odd that they would base this off of an old home video extra. I haven't seen the introduction but I would assume that "originally intended" probably had more to do with "pan and scan" being more commonplace when the Laserdisc was first released. Is there any evidence, outside of this introduction, that Bogdanovich mentions this aspect ratio preference?

[CSM126]

I should think him saying it on camera is good enough proof.

[mfunk9786]

Yes, but was someone holding a gun off-camera, perhaps pointing that gun at Mr. Bogdanovich? We'll never know.

[Peacock]

How do we know that the old laserdisc extra wasn’t AI generated?

[MichaelB]

I should think him saying it on camera is good enough proof.

This is why we made a point of getting Phil Meheux and Chris Wyatt to spell out the intended aspect ratios for The Long Good Friday and The Pillow Book on camera, because in both cases they were the ultimate authorities (Meheux was DOP and camera operator on the former; Wyatt the editor and image compositor on the latter), thus hopefully putting an end to controversies that had raged for years. Successfully, I think - I recall one person complaining about the Indicator disc of The Pillow Book being the "wrong" aspect ratio, but presumably that was a knee-jerk assumption arrived at before he watched the Wyatt interview in the extras.

(I do have some sympathy with people convinced that 1.37:1 is "wrong" for The Pillow Book, because it's both ahistorical for 1995 and also not how it was projected theatrically, the latter aspect being particularly jarring. But it is unquestionably how it was intended to be shown.)

[DimitriL]

I find it slightly odd that they would base this off of an old home video extra. I haven't seen the introduction but I would assume that "originally intended" probably had more to do with "pan and scan" being more commonplace when the Laserdisc was first released. Is there any evidence, outside of this introduction, that Bogdanovich mentions this aspect ratio preference?

That's all you need. Period. There's no controversy. That's the historical record.

Also, letterbox was pretty much the default presentation option on laserdiscs by 1989. While a good number of films were available in both formats, it was somewhat unusual for a film with a 1:85 option to default to 1:66 at that point of the format, IIRC.

[DimitriL]

I would have preferred if they included the 1.85 ratio as well (like they did with their release of For All Mankind) but it's still neat they are able to show it how Peter Bogdanovich intended for it to be screened.

I think that's appropriate when there's a controversy - Summertime should've been issued in both aspect ratios - but it should always be the end goal to present the film in the way it was originally intended and designed, as the definitive and only version of a film, if that's the explicit wish of the director.

[MichaelB]

Although I'd certainly make an exception for Dolemite, some of whose cult appeal derives directly from the open-matte boom mic-revealing framing that many of its fans will have grown up with on video. Commendably, Vinegar Syndrome offered both 1.85:1 and 1.33:1 versions for this specific reason.

[GaryC]

Picnic at Hanging Rock is a case where the director and cinematographer say different things. Peter Weir said the film was 1.66:1 while Russell Boyd said 1.85:1. The latter would have been more likely for a 35mm Australian film of its time, but it was Weir who got his way with the recent restoration.

As for The Pillow Book, I saw it in the cinema at its main London venue, the Lumiere in St Martin's Lane. It was projected in 1.75:1 if I remember rightly - certainly wider than 1.37:1. I can't remember if the Lumiere had the facilities to project Academy ratio, but as an arthouse it very likely did. Indeed, two of its earliest films were Yol and One from the Heart, which are both Academy, though I didn't see either film there. But if Academy was the intended ratio, then so be it.

[ryannichols7]

probably pre-emptive to say this as I haven't gone through the whole thing yet, just getting it the other day, but this definitely feels like Criterion's best single film release in quite some time. the packaging is awesome and nearly makes up for its eschewing of the film's classic poster, the extras (which I've only had time to skim so far) seem super expansive, and the transfer seems like an absolute knockout from the little bit I previewed. this film is a huge favorite of mine (as I've remarked elsewhere) and this edition is a dream come true, truly worth the wait after all this time for a North American release (shoutout to the MOC, which served me well for years + I kept since it has the original poster as its cover)

I do love that in the Bogdanovich intro, the only extra I've seen in full so far, he goes as far as to break down the 1.66:1 ratio and why he used it, pretty awesome stuff. it was also a treat getting to hear him talk about the film again - I am one of those people who like watching movies along with PB, no matter how many impressions and name drops he does, but his commentaries/interviews on his own films are always absolutely incredible - definitely one of the best directors in this regard. as I said up thread, I'm thrilled Criterion poured their love into Targets, The Last Picture Show/Texasville, and now Paper Moon, I just wish Peter was still with us to see how great the films look now. and I do hope they extend their efforts into What's Up Doc? and especially They All Laughed