criterionforum.org

Let’s hope one of those 1947s is the Web

KL Insider keeps stating that the Universal-owned Alan Ladd Great Gatsby noir still isn't available to them, possibly as a result of some rights issues with
the Paramount adaptation of the book, which seems odd to me given that the book finally entered the public domain on 1 January 2021.

KL Insider has officially updated the specs for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly to indicate the Theatrical version won the Facebook crowdsourcing vote.

Ribs wrote:Kino’s approach is always what costs the least amount of money - hence why they’re also not paying for an HDR pass. This is in response to many people complaining that only the extended was getting the UHD treatment, it’s them making an opportunity for that choice to be up to their fans. I really can’t be bothered to care either way as I still feel it seems likely Arrow have UHD rights to these in the UK and will do right by them.

We can certainly hope so, but I don't think there's anything that can be contrived to be the Dollars Trilogy (or even just The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) on their cryptic 2021 slate.

Big Ben wrote:You would think that this would be one title that they would not want to be hindered by budget constraints but whoever runs the page on Facebook says they'd have to charge $80 if they included two 4K discs.

I can understand why Arrow didn't go down this path for Cinema Paradiso, but I would have thought that there'd be a market for a bells and whistles release of The Good the Bad and the Ugly the same way that there was for Dawn of the Dead. I certainly would have been willing to pay $80 for a multi cut, HDR release. As it is, this feels like it will just be a stop gap until someone else does it better

There very much is a market for an expensive, multi cut The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly release, Kino is just too cheap to do it. It is the frustrating thing about them getting a massive title like this.

captveg wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 7:25 pm KL Insider has officially updated the specs for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly to indicate the Theatrical version won the Facebook crowdsourcing vote.

Based on the update above, it seems that Kino Lorber is aware of GBU expert Jordan Krug´s research into the film´s various home video versions. Re: the "extreme closeup of Blondie before Tuco´s gang enters", see here: https://vimeo.com/user10881768

Jordan Krug videos about other Leone films: https://vimeo.com/user10881768

More specific info about the KL restorative work on GBU:

"Some updates regarding our upcoming 4KUHD release of THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY:

NEW color grading was applied to BOTH the Extended version (4KUHD) and Theatrical International version (Blu-ray). The color grading will now be consistent between both versions of the film.

We also restored the 2.0 Mono audio, going back to the 1993 MGM laserdisc PCM monaural track.

Disc 2 (Blu-ray) – Theatrical Cut
A 4K scan of a 1967 35mm IB tech print is the secondary source for approximately 10 seconds of content that is not present in the extended version of the film. This comprises of 5 shots total:

A) The optical flip ending in Tuco's neck back around the noose. (Timecode 01:24:13:03- 14 frames)

B) Tuco shoving the "Open/Closed" sign into the storekeeper's mouth. (Timecode 01:37:46:20- 5 seconds, 10 frames - this was cut short in the 2017 Kino theatrical version)

C) An extreme closeup on Blondie's eyes shortly before Tuco's gang comes barging through the door - features a hidden jump cut that is present on both the 35mm IB tech print and the Laserdisc release but not in the extended cut - (Timecode 01:41:54:15- 1 second, 14 frames- not present in the 2017 Kino theatrical version)

D) The fade up on Tuco and Blondie riding up to the mission after forcing him to walk through the desert (Timecode 02:02:45:19- 1 second, 3 frames- cut short in the 2017 Kino)

E) The tail of the shot of the train leaving the station. (Timecode 02:38:22:08- 2 seconds, 1 frame- cut short in the 2017 Kino)

Total Run Time: 02Hrs, 41Min, 57Sec

We also added the newly restored German Theatrical Trailer to our amazing list of extras - Courtesy of Jordan Krug and Benji Heran"

Source: https://www.hometheaterforum.com/commun ... 4/page-417 - post 8,321

dwk wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 8:52 pm There very much is a market for an expensive, multi cut The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly release, Kino is just too cheap to do it. It is the frustrating thing about them getting a massive title like this.

+1 vote for a multi-cut edition of GBU (Arrow? Eureka?)

Also, someone on HTF asked KL Insider: "Any chance you will eventually reissue the standalone Blu-ray (containing both versions, ideally) with the new color-grading for those of us who do not have UHD 4k players or displays?" Reply: "Sorry, but I doubt it."
Source: https://www.hometheaterforum.com/commun ... 4/page-417 - post 8,325

Ribs wrote: Thu Jan 14, 2021 10:10 pm Kino’s approach is always what costs the least amount of money - hence why they’re also not paying for an HDR pass. This is in response to many people complaining that only the extended was getting the UHD treatment, it’s them making an opportunity for that choice to be up to their fans. I really can’t be bothered to care either way as I still feel it seems likely Arrow have UHD rights to these in the UK and will do right by them.

To be fair to Kino, it's not as simple as doing "an HDR pass". If the film has not been graded in HDR when it was restored, which it clearly wasn't (the current version is from 2014), then it would mean doing a whole new scan/restoration/grade in the HDR realm, or at the very least returning to the raw 2014 scan and starting from there.

The reason Kino aren't going to do that is because they've had the GBU licence since 2017 and have already sank money into their terribly botched Theatrical Cut reconstruction, and who knows how long they have left on their licencing period (maybe only until next year?). The numbers obviously aren't adding up for them to do anything but this sort of quickie cash grab release.

That said, this release presents them with yet another opportunity to finally do GBU in some form of proper edition, which has never happened before. Every time MGM have released it, they've only offered the Extended Cut, which has the crappy old man Clint/Wallach dubbing, and which includes a scene that Leone never intended to be there. Kino attempted to offer the superior Theatrical Cut last time, but left out a number of snippets by mistake, used a really poor sounding original mono, and worst of all completely fucked up the already bad Ritrovata grading.

But this time they've confirmed they've sourced a far superior copy of the mono from the laserdisc, which is reportedly amazing, they've confirmed that all the little errors from the last reconstruction have been fixed, and they're taking another shot at the grading. If they can stick that landing, this will be the only version of GBU worth owning on disc, the 4K resolution is simply a nice added bonus.

Coming May 4th with a commentary track. Yes really.

Related: is there a good list anywhere of the dumbest movie taglines in history (like, by people who have read a whole lot of them, because obviously the bar for this is really high)?

More OOP based on previously being in the "While Supplies Last" sale and now no longer appearing on the website:

Rolling Vengeance (1987) (DVD still available)

After a brief return after some copies were found, F.I.S.T. (1978) is once again OOP on BD (DVD still available).

CB4 on May 4th.

More OOP based on previously being in the "While Supplies Last" sale and now no longer appearing on the website:

Delirious (1991)

KL is going to release Le Magnifique sometime in June.

yoloswegmaster wrote: Sun Jan 24, 2021 3:29 pm KL is going to release Le Magnifique sometime in June.

What is the forum's opinion on this one? I only know of it because of Jerry Harvey's love for it in the Z Channel doc.

More OOP based on previously being in the "While Supplies Last" sale and now no longer appearing on the website:

Those Redheads from Seattle 3D (1953) (DVD still available (2D only))

More OOP based on previously being in the "While Supplies Last" sale and now no longer appearing on the website:

Custer of the West (1967) (DVD still available)

Kino announced a new MGM deal for 37 films, with 24 making their US Blu debut. Deal includes some former Shout/Scream titles and former Twilight Time titles. But no UHDs. Decade breakdown:
1950s - 4
1960s - 16
1970s -10
1980s - 7

dwk wrote: Thu Jan 28, 2021 7:57 pm Kino announced a new MGM deal for 37 films, with 24 making their US Blu debut. Deal includes some former Shout/Scream titles and former Twilight Time titles. But no UHDs. Decade breakdown:
1950s - 4
1960s - 16
1970s -10
1980s - 7

Hoping some of these Twilight Time films in the new deal are Woody Allen films that go for astronomical prices on Amazon. Would love to see another U.S. rerelease of Crimes and Misdemeanors or Broadway Danny Rose.

Blutarsky wrote: Thu Jan 28, 2021 8:08 pm Hoping some of these Twilight Time films in the new deal are Woody Allen films that go for astronomical prices on Amazon. Would love to see another U.S. rerelease of Crimes and Misdemeanors or Broadway Danny Rose.

Since I have all the MGM Allens on blu (via the Arrow boxes), I have no skin in the game, but my feeling is they aren't part of this package. Why? My gut tells me that a label like Kino, if they were buying the Allens, would buy all of them, and from that list it says there are 7 releases from the 80's, which doesn't even cover all of Allen's filmography alone from that decade.

willoneill wrote: Thu Jan 28, 2021 8:46 pm

Blutarsky wrote: Thu Jan 28, 2021 8:08 pm Hoping some of these Twilight Time films in the new deal are Woody Allen films that go for astronomical prices on Amazon. Would love to see another U.S. rerelease of Crimes and Misdemeanors or Broadway Danny Rose.

Since I have all the MGM Allens on blu (via the Arrow boxes), I have no skin in the game, but my feeling is they aren't part of this package. Why? My gut tells me that a label like Kino, if they were buying the Allens, would buy all of them, and from that list it says there are 7 releases from the 80's, which doesn't even cover all of Allen's filmography alone from that decade.

I think the Kino insider said they were not available. Probably would be smart to release the 19 UA/Orion films in a box in the US, so that would have to be either Shout Select or Arrow US. Though, only Annie Hall and Manhattan are known to have new 4K masters and many of the films could use newer transfers.

More OOP based on previously being in the "While Supplies Last" sale and now no longer appearing on the website:

The Children's Hour (1961) (DVD still available)
Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema 5-Film Set (Big House, U.S.A (1955), A Bullet for Joey (1955), He Ran All the Way (1951) Storm Fear (1955), Witness to Murder (1954)) (4-Film DVD set still available; doesn't include Big House, U.S.A (1955))
Marty (1955) (I think this disappeared a while ago; had previously been stated to have ~30 copies left)