I Just Bought...

[life_boy]

Band of Outsiders[/i] (Jean-Luc Godard, 1964)

[Redlum]

How is High Plains Drifter?

One of my favourite westerns. I haven't watched it since I was very young so can't comment specifically but there are parts that are certainly very vivid in my memory. It has a great build up anyway, with a chilling score thats like something out of a horror movie, in fact I think its almost considered a horror/western.

[mogwai]

[w/o horse]

[cine]

bought it today and its sitting right in front of me:

[Pubrick]

bought it today and its sitting right in front of me

the best place to put it, really.

[mogwai]

au hasard balthazar

is that greek for "stroking the donkey"?

[NEON MERCURY]

as a heads up.... make sure you people buy this. in an hour or so i hope to possess this and the machinist.  these are NEON's picks of the weeks they both will make your collection better.  finally, dead ringers is avialable sans OOP criterion format w/ J. irons commentary [mayb ehe might mention lynch/INLAND EMPIRE...........and thie film is quitye unique and underrateddddd.  its oen of those films where you will never look at a vagina the same..and also, after people watch this they will revise their 80's top ten lists....

but, to the dvdphile i got a question:

"is this dvd new transfer/audio..and is the comm. track new.??  i thought the criterion had a conenbergh...so, i guess its new"........

[life_boy]

its oen of those films where you will never look at a vagina the same...

It's one of those films.

[mogwai]

its oen of those films where you will never look at a vagina the same...

It's one of those films.

so it's a porno flick?

[MacGuffin]

but, to the dvdphile i got a question:

"is this dvd new transfer/audio..and is the comm. track new.??  i thought the criterion had a conenbergh...so, i guess its new"........

Here's the IGN.DVD review:

The Video
The 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer reveals substantial edge-enhancement from the opening credits. While the sharpening that produced those artifacts has done a very good job of reproducing the fine details in clothing and hair, on a standard television, those details occasionally spaz out into moiré patterns. Moiré wasn't an issue on the hi-def PimpVision set.

Shadow detail is good, but black levels could've been better and sometimes dark areas look more dark brown than black. While the overall color palette is desaturated, skin tones skew purplish. Moderate grain is present throughout with more showing in the effects shots due to the optical printing process used.

The few red items, particularly the surgical garb, are fairly clean and free of chroma noise, but not flawless. No smearing was noted and the print was in generally good condition.

Score: 7 out of 10

Languages and Audio
Audio comes in English Dolby 5.1 and 2.0 stereo with subtitles in English, Spanish or French. Audio tracks can be switched on the fly.

While the film starts with Howard Shore's lush theme coming through rich and loud, once it settles into the story it starts to reveal flaws. The surround mix is marred by a constant quiet hiss and occasional hum which makes it sound brighter than the stereo track.

Since there is little back channel action, switching to the slightly duller sounding stereo track doesn't impact the experience much and loses most of the hiss. Dialogue is clear and there is no distortion. What stereo positioning is present is adequately done.

Score: 6 out of 10

Packaging and Extras
The disc came in an Amaray case without an insert. No previews appear before the main menu.

The main extra is the feature commentary by Jeremy Irons which is very good with many interesting observations about the challenges of the acting and the overall process. He reveals that Robert DeNiro and William Hurt were offered the role first, but DeNiro was uncomfortable with the Mantles being gynecologists (he asked if they could be lawyers instead) and Hurt said he has enough trouble keeping one role in his head at a time.

While there are some passages that go a few minutes without remark, I was surprised when he said a few minutes from the end that he couldn't remember how the movie ended because he hadn't seen it in 12-15 years, for he never seemed to lapse into "watching the movie" mode.

Over the end credits, he mentions the Oscar situation that occurred and thanks Cronenberg again and says, "Let's do it again sometime." Several times during the track, you'll also hear the sound of a cigarette lighter loudly igniting a smoke - I'm sure the recording engineer loved that.

The Cast/Filmmaker Interviews section has brief interview snippets about various topics with Irons, Cronenberg, co-writer Norman Snider and co-producer Marc Boyman. Taken from EPK material from the time, they're somewhat lightweight, but not fluffy. You can either watch them individually or choose Play All. Total runtime is about 17 minutes.

The Behind the Scenes Featurette is about 7-1/2 minutes of more promo material that overlaps with the previous interviews. One new bit is Irons explaining how his rep theater background aided in his performance.

A listing of cast and crew filmographies and the theatrical trailer almost wraps things up except for the odd and humorous Dead Ringers Personality Profiler. Presented as a quiz for prospective doctors to replace the twins, you choose from a series of questions related to the brother's behavior in the film and it tells you which twin you are. Don't do this before seeing the film!

There is also a useful disclaimer at the end that the test is provided for entertainment purposes and shouldn't be taken seriously. It scares me that the studio's legal department felt it necessary to include this note more than anything in the movie itself.

Score: 4 out of 10

[w/o horse]

[modage]

2 FILMS = $20

[life_boy]

Burden of Dreams[/b] (Les Blank, 1982)


Kagemusha[/b] (Akira Kurosawa, 1980)


The Rules of the Game[/b] (Jean Renoir, 1939)

[w/o horse]

Tell me how Kagemusha is.