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TK

I’ve always wondered if this was the film Kurt Cobain and Michael Stipe were tentatively supposed to create a score for.

Anyway, great film. Maybe Buck Henry’s best script

A nice surprise. Haven't watched in years. Looking forward to revisiting.

Sad to say I hated this and found its satire obvious and annoying. Kidman is capable of so much more than the one note she was instructed to keep hitting throughout the film

rather pitiful extras. hah! doesn't Illeana Douglas practically live in the Criterion closet? its almost strange there's nothing from her on this release. and they just interviewed Nicole Kidman for that horror film, for pete's sake. not to mention the true crime aspect of the film. oh well

Randall Maysin Again wrote: Fri Dec 15, 2023 5:24 pm rather pitiful extras. hah! doesn't Illeana Douglas practically live in the Criterion closet? its almost strange there's nothing from her on this release. and they just interviewed Nicole Kidman for that horror film, for pete's sake. not to mention the true crime aspect of the film. oh well

I assumed they were carried over from the Image Blu-ray when I saw them, but I checked and it was actually barebones, so I guess they're new unless they came from a different release

Kinda weird dual format situation - are the deleted scenes so extensive that they need to be on a separate blu-ray disc with the trailer? Or is the commentary also being designated to the blu-ray disc?

Not sure how it's weird when every 4K release is dual-format and any non-commentary extras gets added to the BR disc (which also has the film itself).

beamish14 wrote: Fri Dec 15, 2023 5:19 pm I’ve always wondered if this was the film Kurt Cobain and Michael Stipe were tentatively supposed to create a score for.

Anyway, great film. Maybe Buck Henry’s best script

This was being filmed in Toronto deep in my film school days, so a friend and I decided to blow off class and head out to Woodbine Centre in the North West end of the city to watch them do some of the mall scenes. We got to straddle the rim of spectators and watch Gus work for a bit, and then we noticed this slight, bald man in khakis and a floral shirt leave the crew ranks and head towards some of the shops in the mall.

We were probably the only two in the crowd of spectators to know or care who that was, and so, in that goofy, benign, fan-obsessive way, followed him to a Toronto Gifts shop near the food court. We walked in after him, and he clearly noticed us watching him as he browsed at placemats of the CN Tower and Ontario Place. We both told him what huge fans we were, and that The Graduate and What's Up Doc? were two of our favourite pieces of movie writing.

"Thanks," he replied. "You think these placemats would make a good gift for Gus?"

We did!

True story.

yoloswegmaster wrote: Fri Dec 15, 2023 6:12 pm Not sure how it's weird when every 4K release is dual-format and any non-commentary extras gets added to the BR disc (which also has the film itself).

I guess I never noticed how slim some of those features were on prior upgrades/4K announcements, outside of something brand new like Triangle of Sadness

Also, I'm getting this, but I'm an idiot, because these phoned-in extras are pathetic.

We almost need a separate thread for "what no extras? on a Criterion release?"-posts at this point, similar to the Bassoon and Armond threads.

I don't think it's one of Van Sant's best films, but IMHO it's still quite good and very entertaining, and I really like Kidman in this too.

This was years ago so it's possible I don't remember all the details, but I talked to a guy who recorded something with Buck Henry, I *think* as an intended commentary for the original DVD release, and supposedly Henry talked way too freely (IIRC at one point he even said something like "I'm already rich/can retire, what do I care?") and that led to the commentary getting rejected.

Maltic wrote: Fri Dec 15, 2023 9:31 pm We almost need a separate thread for "what no extras? on a Criterion release?"-posts at this point, similar to the Bassoon and Armond threads.

we already got one last month. the day this company actually releases something worthwhile in the extras department again, I'll be the first to praise it. until then, existing ports is basically all were gonna get, for higher prices

Sideways comment here, but it sure would be nice to get a US blu-ray of Forman & Henry's Taking Off.

I still lol to myself when I think of the black power salute scene, among others.

Blip Martindale wrote: Sat Dec 16, 2023 1:48 am Sideways comment here, but it sure would be nice to get a US blu-ray of Forman & Henry's Taking Off.

I still lol to myself when I think of the black power salute scene, among others.

It’s in the same black hole of commercial unavailability that has claimed multiple Universal titles from the period, including Play it as it Lays and Red Sky at Morning.

I was very fortunate to see it and Catch-22 with Henry in person. I could see him cracking up while watching it in the audience, and he claimed to have never been handed a screenplay during the entire shoot

Is the commentary on this a port from a previous release?

I looked through DVD and Blu-ray releases, even the LaserDisc, and it doesn't appear anywhere else that I can see. I'm wondering if it was recorded for a previous edition but dropped because if it was new, I'm sure they'd flag it as such.

This is why I had problems identifying new commentaries for the Criterion Awards thread. Sometimes they specify new, other times they don’t, other times they say that it was recorded in an earlier year.

Anyway, I think this release deserves richer extras, but a new commentary—rare as they are these days by established film directors—is significant.

The first time I saw it was on French TV; dubbed in French, they put an ad before showing the credits; at the time there was no imdb.com and I was disconcerted by the end because I was thinking "I know this guy!" and wanted to see the ending credits to confirm if I have really seen David Cronenberg. Was there a friendship between Cronenberg and Gus Van Sant ? Wonder how David Cronenberg appeared in this movie.
In the French supplements of "Bully" by Larry Clark they made a connection with this movie; and after having rewatched it (the girl, young Casey Affleck and above all a young Joacquim Phoenix mesmerized for life by the weather), I think they are right- there is a kind of a two layers in this movie with Kidman doing her stuff and Gus Van Sant filming teenagers.
For Nicole Kidman's fans (I think that Birthday Girl redo in a way the same kind of story) it's a pleasure to see her blonde, etc... with all different outfits. Love the letter story, the school intervention by Susan (N.Kidman), and the "All By My Side"; and of course... Walter.

My understanding is that Taking Off has some music-licensing issues that prevent it from being released in North America. Too bad, as it's a great movie; a lot more like Forman's Czech films than his later American ones. (That's a good thing IMO.)

pistolwink wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2023 3:10 pm My understanding is that Taking Off has some music-licensing issues that prevent it from being released in North America. Too bad, as it's a great movie; a lot more like Forman's Czech films than his later American ones. (That's a good thing IMO.)

I would assume it would involve having to clear all of the individual performances in that opening scene.

pistolwink wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2023 3:10 pm My understanding is that Taking Off has some music-licensing issues that prevent it from being released in North America.

Well, thank god for lawyers, I'm sure they'll all do the right thing for everyone involved...

I'd love to be in their chambers as they debate the asking price of "Ode to a Screw"

If it's anything like the Bill Gunn film Stop! it's that the lawyers can't track down some of the (presumed) rights-holders.

pistolwink wrote: Mon Dec 18, 2023 8:57 pm If it's anything like the Bill Gunn film Stop! it's that the lawyers can't track down some of the (presumed) rights-holders.

Essentially, no one knows who wrote that song, as it wasn’t registered with any music publisher. Labels must have thought that it WOULD get cleared, though. Milos Forman did a sit-down for Criterion about it a few years before he passed away