Tweet Announcing the 5th Annual Watch That Movie Night!

[Mike Gebert]

You carefully replaced the splices in your 8mm copy. You stored your 16mm with mothballs to prevent vinegar syndrome. You rewound your VHS once a year, stored your laserdisc in its plastic sleeve, alphabetically shelved your DVD and, later your blu-ray.

The only thing you never did with the movie... was watch it!

Yes, it's that time again, the dog days after the holidays and time for NitrateVille's own at-home film festival, the 5th Annual "Watch That Movie!" Night! If you haven't participated before, here's the idea. We all have movies that we couldn't wait to own— but never seem to get around to watching. They pile up faster than you can keep up with them, it seems. "Watch That Movie!" Night is the time we all take one of those movies from our collections and finally watch it— and tell our fellow NitrateVillains about it, expanding the base of knowledge about what's out there. And if you're game, you have a chance to win a movie on blu-ray or DVD, courtesy of our good friends at Kino Classics who bring us so many great things all year long— this year you could win the next to last of their complete Buster Keaton series, The Navigator, or their stunning complete version of Fritz Lang's Die Nibelungen, in either DVD or blu-ray.

Here's how it works:

1. Pick a classic era movie that's been in your collection for at least a year, unwatched. (Blu-ray, DVD, VHS, 16mm, 9.5mm, whatever you have.)

2. Announce your choice in this thread.

3. Watch it on (or around) Friday, February 1.

4. And post something, anything about it in this thread by Monday, February 4th.

Winners will be selected at random from all posters by my children and announced here the next day. (In other words, it's not a literary contest— we're not judging your entry, whatever you post gets you into the drawing. Sorry, US and Canada posters only for the prize due to rights issues, but we'll be happy to hear from everybody all the same.)

So please join me in taking the "Watch That Movie!" Night pledge and announcing your choice over the coming days. Then be prepared for a great movie you might never have watched otherwise, and lots of interesting posts from NitrateVillains. If you've lurked but never posted before, what better way to make your first post than by joining in today!

* * *

So what's my "Watch That Movie!" movie choice? It's...

LES MISERABLES (1934)

As soon as I got Criterion/Eclipse's Raymond Bernard set, I watched Wooden Crosses. But somehow I've never found time for the five-hour Les Miz on the same set, even though it's supposed to be best-ever and I'm sure Charles Vanel sings way better than Russell Crowe. So at last, though maybe not all in one night, I'm going to watch it.

Here's the link to the first Watch that Movie Night thread, and the second, the third and the fourth. Check 'em out-- there's lots of great commentary in them.

Now, what will your choice be? Tell us!

I'll watch Perret's MYSTERY OF THE KADOR ROCKS, and maybe follow it up with CHILD OF PARIS.

(NOTE: I started watching KADOR, but have to do it later. The synth score isn't awful, but it's one of those repetitive ones that can put you to sleep - and it did!)

I've been meaning to watch the Eureka Blu-Ray of City Girl ever since I picked it up, this sounds like a good reason to finally get around to it.

I'm hoping my copy of The Loves of Pharaoh arrives from Germany by then so I can watch it.

I bought A Damsel in Distress (1937) on Warner Archive ages ago but never got around to watching it. This sounds like a good excuse.

I bought A Damsel in Distress (1937) on Warner Archive ages ago but never got around to watching it. This sounds like a good excuse.

Burn & Allen's best movie:

Funny, I've been doing just that all week anyway – looking at the shelves and saying:

"I remember waiting for this to come in the mail. That was in... um, 2005. Why is it I can't seem to remember why I wanted it? Oh, yeah. That's right. It has _______ in it, and I have them in THIS film and... oh, wait. I haven't watched THAT one either. I really have to make a point to watch ONE of these... okay... well, maybe not that one or THAT one... but maybe one from the same room. Hmm. How about THIS one... as soon as I can remember why I bought it..."

The hard part's deciding on the film, right?

I'll watch Richard Talmadge's "Now or Never."

I'm going for THE MAN FROM LARAMIE with James Stewart.

I'll try to work on either the Capellani or Max Davidson sets.

greta

I've had the Chaplin MK2 box sets for ages, but haven't gotten around to watching the Jackie Coogan vehicle My Boy. So now's the time.

I've had Grapevine's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (four British shorts 1912-21) around forever, but I've only watched one of the four. So I will watch at least one more: The Dying Detective and see if it inspires me to watch the others. If not, there's always next year.

OK gang, I need suggestions/help. Do I watch SHORE LEAVE with Richard Barthelmess and Dorothy Mackaill or SECRETS OF THE NIGHT (1924) with Zasu Pitts? Both Grapevine, and I've had both over a year. thanks.

I've had the Chaplin MK2 box sets for ages, but haven't gotten around to watching the Jackie Coogan vehicle My Boy. So now's the time.
-- Charlie Morrow

HAHA - I too have had this set for quite awhile, and have watched most of it. Not however, "The Kid", as I've been waiting for the bluray that's out in the UK. I didn't even know My Boy was in the extras on this set!! Thanks, I just went and looked. Now I have a new silent to watch

[silentfilm]

I've been meaning to watch the Eureka Blu-Ray of City Girl ever since I picked it up, this sounds like a good reason to finally get around to it.

You will be blown away by the picture quality and the film. The commentary by David Kalat is definitely worth listening to also.

I've been meaning to watch the Eureka Blu-Ray of City Girl ever since I picked it up, this sounds like a good reason to finally get around to it.

You will be blown away by the picture quality and the film. The commentary by David Kalat is definitely worth listening to also.

His ccommentaries are usually among my favorites, so I am looking forward to that.

Oh Gosh, I've got plenty to choose from.

I've got The Tong Man with Hayakawa
Fine Manners with Swanson
All of the Treasures V set.
and Woman of the World and Hotel Imperial with Pola

I'll play!

"...sitting on shelf for at least a year?" Zen Master is screwed. (Snivel.)

Oh Gosh, I've got plenty to choose from.

I've got The Tong Man with Hayakawa
Fine Manners with Swanson
All of the Treasures V set.
and Woman of the World and Hotel Imperial with Pola

I'll play!

Treat yourself to WOMAN OF THE WORLD. It's half small-town satire, half bizarre love triangle. Favorite title: Pola says to Charles Emmet Mack, "Think of me as half-mother, half-lover."

I'll watch one of the unwatched Ford at Fox titles. maybe THE WORLD MOVES ON.

[Mike Gebert]

"...sitting on shelf for at least a year?" Zen Master is screwed. (Snivel.)

As I am apparently compelled to point out each year... you can have fun with the solution even if you don't have the problem, and watch whatever you want and share it with us!

I've watched my Leonce Perret film - too early to post the review, so I might get to Child of Paris and make it a double.

I will watch FOUR SONS, which I bought as part of the Ford at Fox set an absurdly long time ago.

Alice Guy-Blache's The Ocean Waif (1916). That one has been sitting on the shelf for a year at least.

Donna C.

Hmm...tough choices here, am going to finally watch The Third Man which has been sitting on my shelf since I bought it some 4 plus years ago. It's travelled with me cross the country, but never seen the inside of DVD player.

"...sitting on shelf for at least a year?" Zen Master is screwed. (Snivel.)

As I am apparently compelled to point out each year... you can have fun with the solution even if you don't have the problem, and watch whatever you want and share it with us!

HAH! OK, I'll watch The Constant Nymph. Which should arrive any day now.

[Christopher Jacobs]

I've been having a hard time deciding which DVD or Blu-ray should get its long-overdue viewing, as the discs seem to stack up all too rapidly. I think I need to sit down and finally watch LAILA from beginning to end. I spot checked it after the DVD arrived, and planned to watch it over a year ago, but other things came up and what with its two-and-a-half-hour running time and heavy and rapidly-becoming-addictive preference for watching Blu-rays instead of DVDs, I never got around to getting back to it.

Thus my movie for this Friday will be the DVD of the acclaimed Norwegian silent epic LAILA (1929). For contrast, I may also throw in some of the early 30s Arbuckle and/or Shemp talkie shorts that were recently released to DVD but I haven't yet seen.

My DVD database actually has a "date acquired" column, so I was able to pick one that has been over-looked.

A THROW OF DICE, a 1929 production of which I know almost nothing, but have had at least since April 2011 when I began entering items into the database.


The database is for Mac only, it is called DVD Hunter. It is free. I liked it enough to send the author a donation:

http://software.joelares.net/blog/dvd-hunter

Rick

I bought the double feature WA disc of Hell's Heroes (1929) and Three Godfathers (1936) over a year ago. But I've only watched Hell's Heroes. On 2/1 I will watch both and compare them. Three Godfathers, directed by Richard Boleslawski, and starring Chester Morris, Lewis Stone, and Walter Brennan, has got to be the least known of all the adaptations of Peter Kyne's story. I'd like to see how well it stands up against the others.

[Mike Gebert]

Okay, we've got 22 signed up so far, let's break the record which I think was 26 or something!

Still time to sign up and qualify for the drawing for Die Nibelungen, of which Criterioncast said...

Narratively, the film is enthralling. Far from a fan of the fantasy film (this writer can hardly muster the energy or intrigue to revisit the Lord Of The Rings franchise), Nibelungen is a film that’s nearly impossible to turn away from. Arguably a greater stylistic effort than a narrative piece, the script is engrossing, and the epic narrative gives way to a handful of action packed set pieces as well as some genuinely thrilling acting turns. Paul Richter, Siegfried in the film, is aesthetically perfect for the role, and his performance is both admittedly over the top (as any silent performance was) as well as perfectly heroic. Co-star Margarete Schon fits the part just as well, with a beauty and vitality that is exceptionally fitting for the icy cold character she portrays.

With a Blu-ray recently released through Master’s Of Cinema (you can read Scott’s GREAT review of that disc here), Kino’s Blu-ray draws from similar sources. Both releases are bred from a brand new restoration by Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung, and while I myself can’t speak to the MoC Blu-ray, I can safely say that Kino’s recently released disc is superb. The transfer is fantastic, particularly when taking into account the relative age of the source material. There are a handful of hiccups within the restoration, but given the age of the film, it’s a fantastic bit of cinematic revival. The audio, particularly the score, is a tad on the nose, but it’s sonically appealing and adds to the overall epic aesthetic being crafted here.

And The Navigator, of which High Def Digest said...

Buster Keaton's comedy classic 'The Navigator' features a pair of spoiled adults, played by Keaton and Kathryn McGuire, forced to fend for themselves in the middle of the ocean. Though missing some of the dramatic heart of Keaton's other masterpieces, the film is nonetheless a fantastic comedy of zany gags and side-splitting laughter. The Blu-ray arrives with a great audio and video presentation, and supplements are enjoyable enough, making the overall package worth owning. Recommended.