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Antoine Doinel wrote: veers dangerously close to being a voyeuristic/exploitative look at two crazy old gals in a rundown house,

I've heard this before and it baffles me. What's so "dangerous" about it-- assuming that they want to be exploited? Exploitation for a person deep in the shits is not a bad thing at all. The lack of attention is what's contributed to the decreptitude... so what's wrong with a little offputting moment in the sun for the two of em? There's this prostate-clenching fear in this country of displaying the unusual, for fear that some people will laugh at them.

Let them laugh! They'd (the Hamptons) been attacking the Beales forever anyway, so let them break out of the cobwebs and the murk and have some fun and light and make some connections with people who actually find that they adore them. Which is what wound up happening. Let people with hangups be uncomfortable-- let the conventional think it's a sin and a crime. It was the best thing that wound up happening to the two of them, and shined a little fun and attention and even love into two previously ruined, finished lives.

We're too scared of exploiting the helpless and the strange. It's that fact-free homogenous vaccuum that gives possibility to a Sarah Palin.

I understand what you're saying Herr, but the "danger" I speak of are audiences tuning merely to laugh at the Beales, rather than connecting with them.

An interview with Sally Quinn who bought the house in 1979.

The HBO Film starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange premiers saturday April 18th at 8pm. Drew was on Letterman just a bit ago and the clip they showed was actually quite amazing. She seems to have nailed her to a t...she said she was coached to get the voice correct for over a year. it showed. i'm very interested in seeing this one.

if only that damned set wasn't set at $50...i'm itching to pick it up, but it's pretty steep. i've heard mixed things on the add on Beales disc...but def. want to see it at least. The original film, however, remains one of the most enthralling works i've ever seen. you just can't take your eyes off them.

Well it is only $38 on Amazon right now.

I take it you meant you have slight misgivings, or touch of hesitation, about grabbing The Beales of... -- I can tell you beyond doubt that if you truly, deeply enjoyed the original, you'll very much enjoy the second.

Gus wrote:I just bought this set and when i looked on dvd compare it says that the old Criterion Grey Garden has a A telephone conversation between Little Edie and Albert Maysles after the credits of the film (5 min). The my new set does not have this. After the credits there is an photo gallery for about 5 min but no sound. Is there a problem on my disc or have Criterion made an mistake here?
Can anybody check this?

I have the set and the audio plus photo gallery play during the color bars.

So what ever happened to the supposed blu-ray upgrade of this title? I have a hard time believe the clue was actually for something else; has there been any word on why it's taking so long?

Really - starting to feel stupid for unloading my DVDs.

Announced for Blu-ray, will include The Beales of Grey Gardens on the same disc. DVDs still available separately.

Comparing the two versions, it looks like the blu is dropping Filmographies and the Michael Musto essay

EDIT: That is to say, comparing the Grey Gardens bluray and the full DVD boxset

jindianajonz wrote:Comparing the two versions, it looks like the blu is dropping...the Michael Musto essay

Happy days are here again! It wasn't worth the paper it was printed on.

For a moment I confused Michael Musto for Michael Medved and was pretty confused as to what he'd have to say about this one in the first place!

Matt wrote:

jindianajonz wrote:Comparing the two versions, it looks like the blu is dropping...the Michael Musto essay

Happy days are here again! It wasn't worth the paper it was printed on.

Exactly. They should really include that as a bonus feature:

• No Michael Musto essay! (Blu-ray)

What, you guys didn't enjoy such insightful commentary as this?

In 2003, Entertainment Weekly named Grey Gardens one of the top fifty cult movies of all time—in fact, it’s so culty that the DVD should probably come with some Kool-Aid.

And no, I don't know what it means either.

For the Blu-ray it looks like Beales of Grey Gardens is just an upscale of the DVD's transfer. But Grey Gardens' transfer is stunning. I was really taken by surprise by it, especially the colours, which are so vibrant here, completely different from the DVD that I remember as being fairly drab (admittedly I haven't gone back to look at it yet.) I've never truly cared for the film but I seem to have found myself far more transfixed this time around. It looks like a 16mm projection.

DVD Beaver review is up.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview/greygardens.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Each time I see Grey Gardens I seem to take it more to heart and this high resolution did a number on my emotions. I'm going to lie down now. R.I.P. ladies."

There's significantly more information on all 4 sides of the frame. Interesting...

Also, the screenshots from "Beales" show jagged lines which were unnoticeable in the DVD release. Not a good transfer on that one.

Yep. Like I said Beales is just an upscale of the DVD (presented in 1080i/60hz)

The new BD is an absolute stunner; I just finished watching it and couldn't be more pleased with this presentation. Puzzled though why the DVDs were showing significantly less information on both sides though, anyone have any idea why the BD gained this much?

It's not just both sides, but top and bottom of the frame as well.

The 2-disc Criterion had "Beales" interlaced, and the new disc as well. I'm puzzled why they didn't try to correct this.

Finch wrote:The new BD is an absolute stunner; I just finished watching it and couldn't be more pleased with this presentation. Puzzled though why the DVDs were showing significantly less information on both sides though, anyone have any idea why the BD gained this much?

New image harvest from 16mm original elements? I'd guess the element the DVD was sourced from was either zoomed when the telecine was set or the element used had been adjusted when printed from the original elements.

So is the BR set worth buying if you have the DVD pack?