Got my copy of the 3-D RARITIES Blu-ray in Thursday's mail and watched them all that night, including the bonuses and commentaries. Fascinating and often amazing collection of shorts of all sorts from the 1920s, 30s, 40s, and 50s, lovingly restored for 3-D HD. Picture quality varies a bit from one s...

By odd coincidence, I just finished watching PORT OF FLOWERS (1943) from the same Criterion Kinoshita Eclipse #41 DVD set. For a DVD the image quality is outstandingly sharp, although the source that was scanned was unrestored, full of dirt and scratches both on the print and its negative. Audio qua...

Finished the “Musty Suffer” volume 1 shorts, started the disc of Marcel Perez shorts, all amusing to various degrees, and finally got around to watching the unexpectedly amazing LA MAISON DU MYSTÈRE (THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY) on the recent Flicker Alley DVD set, spreading out the 6 ½ -hour 10-chapter se...

I've also read that Warner Archive is releasing a Hammer Horror blu-ray set , but from the looks of the images at that link, it's a regular WB release and not necessarily an Archive title. For those who aren't into links, it'll include Dracula Has Risen From the Grave , Frankenstein Must Be Destroy...

Here are a couple more westerns new to Blu-ray made a decade-and-a-half after the three I just reviewed, but largely aiming for a similar overall flavor, especially the first one. One of the best-represented movie personalities on Blu-ray is American and western icon John Wayne. Two generally underr...

DARK COMMAND (1940) is a big-budget Republic film... I must confess that I watched this on Netflix streaming video but the video/audio quality was superb. The Duke's character is rather two-dimensional and he uses all of his charm to breathe some life into his role. Pidgeon is more fortunate in tha...

I saw the 8mm print of ROMOLA at a Cinecon in the late 70s or early 80s, I believe when Lillian Gish was one of the guests. Having been reduced directly from the 35mm negative, it was a very sharp print, as good as most 16mm prints, but naturally the 8mm projector could not present a very bright or ...

Movies that fall into easily categorized genre labels, such as western, horror, science-fiction, war, film noir, action-adventure, etc., are often critically dismissed as simple entertainment aimed at specific fan bases rather than treated as serious filmmaking. Yet a substantial number of “genre” f...

Turner Classic Movies has devoted every Friday in June this month to film noir from the classic to obscure, and even arranged for a free on-line college course on the topic for fans and/or students (check out the TCM website for details). More examples of the classic film noir subcategory of crime t...

Yes, I’m still here! (so far!) I’d planned to get this posted about a month ago, but final exam week was approaching fast with last-minute student assignments to grade, and then three weeks ago today I wound up in the hospital for a week, and a week ago today had an appointment at the Mayo Clinic, ...

Very enjoyable interview! Looking forward to future projects! A couple of months ago I posted about the CARTOON ROOTS Blu-ray/DVD combo set at http://nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=19257&p=149365#p148521 -- preserved and scanned from a mix of 16mm and 35mm prints, so the picture quality does v...

Here's another vintage semi-classic that recently got an outstanding release on Blu-ray but in a limited edition of only 3000 copies (reflecting its relatively limited appeal). It's yet another film that benefits immensely from a large, ultra-sharp image and full stereophonic sound, so much so that ...

THE MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA is probably my favorite Russian silent film, and Alloy's score for it is possibly my favorite of their scores, fitting with the images and editing beautifully. It will be wonderful to see this on Blu-ray with full HD quality from a first-generation print off the camera ne...

pickfair14 wrote:If it's done in HD, will you be doing a Blu-ray any time soon?

I, too, would hope for this. I wouldn't buy yet another DVD version, but a good Blu-ray from restored 35mm material I'd snap up in an instant.

Thanks for the 3-D updates! Looking forward to seeing more forgotten vintage 3-D films on 3-D Blu-ray! When 3-D TV sets were introduced, I considered them an expensive toy for wealthy technophiles, since there was very little I'd ever want to watch that was available. Soon, of course, numerous new 3...

Thanks for the review, and the reminder that I need to revisit the Blu-ray of FANTASTIC VOYAGE one of these days (especially in light of my recent blood issues). I was very glad to see the new Blu-ray of FIRST MEN IN THE MOON, a film I first saw as a 10-year-old at a kiddie matinee that a friend's p...

Many years ago I saw a beautiful 16mm collector print of THE FRONT PAGE that was either an original or a very good reduction from 35mm, drastically better than any of the numerous 16mm dupes floating around. I've wondered ever since whey every single video version has been so awful-looking. It will ...

Thursday night I got around to revisiting DeMille's KING OF KINGS on the Criterion DVD (I'd been putting it off for years, hoping for a much-needed Blu-ray upgrade soon, although Criterion's DVD does look quite respectable on a big screen, if not quite as crisp as my old 16mm original print, which n...

It is odd for this sort of shot to run so long in a silent film with no title cards. Are there any records that might indicate certain engagements could have had a narration script for someone to read live during this section from behind the screen or orchestra pit, and this just happened to be the ...

2015 CINEFEST PROGRAM CAPSULE REVIEWS The very well-attended 35th and final Syracuse Cinefest was in full swing a week ago, with its usual strong lineup of films running from 9 am until after midnight (substantially after midnight, and sometimes after 1 am, due to frequent problems with digital vide...

Any comments on last Thursday's screening? Claire Wemlinger, plucked from Broadway by Sol Wurtzel and newly christened "Trevor", makes her Hollywood debut. GOB caught between two blondes, Claire and Greta Nissen, contending with Francis Ford and Leroy Mason. Anyone catch it? And while I'm at it, an...

Good to see another take on LA DOLCE VITA, a true classic on many levels. I liked it much better seeing it recently for my review above than the first time I saw it several decades ago, largely due to having seen so many other films in the interim but also in no small part due to the amazing crystal...

Watched LADY ON A TRAIN (1945) Saturday night on (gasp) a DVD, and WOMAN THEY ALMOST LYNCHED (1953) last night on the new Blu-ray. LADY ON A TRAIN stars an all-grown-up Deanna Durbin in a fun murder mystery that turns briefly into a noir thriller near the end, and takes place almost entirely on Chri...

I'll be there to get it. Thanks for doing this! If anyone on Nitrateville plans on buying a copy at the Cinefest, let me know, and we'll set aside a copy for you. Our supply is certain to run out some time during the weekend. The book weighs about six pounds and it's a beauty! David Pierce Assuming...

Here's another long-forgotten independent film recently restored and released to Blu-ray last week from Milestone. http://images.static-bluray.com/movies/covers/122372_large.jpg THE CONNECTION (1961) 110m *** ½ (Blu-ray released Feb. 24, 2015) Shirley Clarke’s groundbreaking and trouble-plagued THE ...

Watched the new Blu-ray of Billy Wilder's KISS ME, STUPID (1964), which has a poor to mediocre reputation but plays something like a Precode --or in this case post-code and pre-ratings system-- sex comedy and social satire that stretches the bounds of what movie audiences and moral watchdogs would s...

How I wish the TV news of the night could be accompanied by music instead of some smug twerp reading it out to me. :D What would be the best accompaniment for the daily litany of beheadings, immolations, rapes, captive-women auctions, etc., reported in the Middle East? Rimsky-Korsakov, of course, a...

http://images3.static-bluray.com/movies/covers/49419_large.jpg I watched the Blu-ray of THE PRODUCERS tonight in honor of Mostel's 100th. Great film and gorgeous-looking HD transfer, must better-looking than my old 16mm print, and with better color plus a nice stereo soundtrack. The "making-of" doc...

I've got the new 3-D Blu-ray of KISS ME KATE on pre-order and am greatly looking forward to watching it as well as the upcoming anthology of 3-D rarities from Flicker Alley. I very much enjoyed the 3-D Blu-rays of THE BUBBLE and DRAGONFLY SQUADRON, as the fine 3-D cinematography greatly enhanced the...

Having recently shared Billy Wilder's Witness for the Prosecution (1957) with Mr Brooksie, he made a good observation: given that the courtroom drama is an inherently talky (i.e. dialogue-based) genre, where there many silent courtroom dramas? I was surprised to find that very few came to mind - Wi...