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DrVenkman posted:Most of what I learned from Asian cinema I learned from listening to Bey Logan's audio commentaries. The man's knowledge is encyclopedic. I've bought a few Dragon Dynasty DVDs just for his commentary tracks.
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Jun 3, 2013 18:26
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Thirding the encyclopedic and entertaining commentaries by Bey Logan, also it's very nice to see remasters of movies I only know from bootleg.
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Jun 4, 2013 15:59
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HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:Thirding the encyclopedic and entertaining commentaries by Bey Logan, also it's very nice to see remasters of movies I only know from bootleg. I don't hate the guy or anything (some hardcore Hong Kong film aficionados really can't stand him), but he's always struck me as more of a fan than a scholar. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, of course, particularly for a commentary track. But I really wouldn't consider his knowledge encyclopaedic, except perhaps by wiki standards.
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Jun 4, 2013 20:26
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I admit to my ignorance of the subject matter and cop to using the word "encyclopedic" because it made me laugh. But I still stand by "entertaining", his enthusiastic attitude about giving an overview of the context and production of many and varied films is a treat. I didn't know he was held in contempt but it seems so obvious that he would be. It's a far cry from the film professors and directors they get for Criterion commentaries - aside from the factual inaccuracies I see nothing particularly objectionable about a commentary track to be cursory in most ways.
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Jun 4, 2013 21:17
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I've always wondered if someone sued over a comment made on a DVD commentary or interview? I just wonder why the newer ones have a disclaimer while older ones don't.
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Jun 5, 2013 00:01
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I don't know if anyone sued, but during the credits of As Good As It Gets (1997) James L Brooks asks Jack Nicholson what he thinks of the new opportunities afforded by the DVD format. Nicholson replies "What's better? We're sitting here being remunerated for what is ultimately the cancer of film - which we claim to love above all else." I think that and other potentially embarrassing statements were what spurred the disclaimers, but I don't doubt that it lead to fears that someone would say something that was legally actionable.
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Jun 5, 2013 07:06
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Party Boat posted:I don't know if anyone sued, but during the credits of As Good As It Gets (1997) James L Brooks asks Jack Nicholson what he thinks of the new opportunities afforded by the DVD format. Nicholson replies "What's better? We're sitting here being remunerated for what is ultimately the cancer of film - which we claim to love above all else." This could just be the 'schizophrenics are bad with metaphors' thing, but what does he mean by 'the cancer of film'? People talking over the film's audio? The actual film in question? The entire concept of commentary? I have no idea.
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Jun 5, 2013 07:52
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anticake posted:This could just be the 'schizophrenics are bad with metaphors' thing, but what does he mean by 'the cancer of film'? People talking over the film's audio? The actual film in question? The entire concept of commentary? I have no idea. I assume it's people talking through and over a movie.
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Jun 5, 2013 08:22
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Dissapointed Owl posted:I assume it's people talking through and over a movie. It could be this or it could be DVD leading to an increase in making movies digitally instead of on film.
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Jun 5, 2013 08:53
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Alfred P. Pseudonym posted:It could be this or it could be DVD leading to an increase in making movies digitally instead of on film. DVD had nothing to do with that. DVD allowed the shift from movies being holy and held in a temple (so to speak) of the actual theater, to something you throw on while cleaning the house and ignore while going through emails. DVD made a movie something you pick up while in the checkout line, not something you seek out. (And before anybody says that VHS had anything to do with this, just remember - VHS looked and sounded lovely, and until the rental lawsuits, cost around $100 in 1985 dollars. While it did take people out of theaters, at least they loving paid attention)
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Jun 5, 2013 11:08
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Party Boat posted:I don't know if anyone sued, but during the credits of As Good As It Gets (1997) James L Brooks asks Jack Nicholson what he thinks of the new opportunities afforded by the DVD format. Nicholson replies "What's better? We're sitting here being remunerated for what is ultimately the cancer of film - which we claim to love above all else." I remember reading about how an early release of one of the South Park sets had its commentary censored because the creators talked poo poo about Contact, a WB movie. (It was made available as a separate audio file or something.) That may have spurred it.
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Jun 5, 2013 15:05
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SubG posted:Have Bey Logan's commentaries gotten a lot better in the past couple years? I haven't heard anything from him since he left Dragon Dynasty. Looks like he did a few for Cine Asia in 2011.
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Jun 5, 2013 18:48
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anticake posted:This could just be the 'schizophrenics are bad with metaphors' thing, but what does he mean by 'the cancer of film'? People talking over the film's audio? The actual film in question? The entire concept of commentary? I have no idea. I remember back then people speculating that people would go to the theater less often because the picture quality was so good on the DVD. Probably that.
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Jun 5, 2013 19:51
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The Criterion edition of Chasing Amy (yes, that's the first Criterion I ever bought, shut up) uses the commentary from the Laser Disk edition, so there's a part where Kevin Smith just says "gently caress DVDs." They recorded an intro where he apologizes for that.
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Jun 5, 2013 19:58
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Skwirl posted:The Criterion edition of Chasing Amy (yes, that's the first Criterion I ever bought, shut up) uses the commentary from the Laser Disk edition, so there's a part where Kevin Smith just says "gently caress DVDs." They recorded an intro where he apologizes for that. Was he being serious? That is a really odd opinion.
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Jun 5, 2013 20:40
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foodfight posted:Was he being serious? That is a really odd opinion. It was a somewhat common opinion though among Laserdisc fans when DVD's first started appearing. Can't say I necessarily blame them either, as a new format was coming out that was cheap, high quality, and readily available, and was making their expensive as poo poo Laserdisc collections somewhat pointless.
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Jun 5, 2013 21:32
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Laserdiscs were also higher quality and for like a decade and a half were the only non-vhs way to watch the original Star Wars trilogy 
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Jun 5, 2013 23:43
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A ton of early DVDs were old early 1990s transfers in wrong aspect ratios, bad authoring, and no extras. There are almost no DVDs from 1997-2000 that you'd still want on your shelf besides rarities like the theatrical cut of Amadeus. Although, I found American Graffiti to be unusually excellent for a 1998 DVD. Compare to laserdisc, which generally meant original aspect ratio, high quality transfers, and uncompressed sound. And extras, as long as it wasn't Warner Home Video or Paramount, of course. Egbert Souse fucked around with this message at 01:39 on Jun 6, 2013 |
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Jun 6, 2013 01:36
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Region coding was also a big bugaboo. Of course getting a multi-region player is still cheaper than finding a VCR that can handle PAL and NTSC...
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Jun 6, 2013 06:05
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Egbert Souse posted:A ton of early DVDs were old early 1990s transfers in wrong aspect ratios, bad authoring, and no extras. There are almost no DVDs from 1997-2000 that you'd still want on your shelf besides rarities like the theatrical cut of Amadeus. Although, I found American Graffiti to be unusually excellent for a 1998 DVD. Ghostbusters must be pre-2000 going by the iMac I was playing it on, and that had amazingly overanimated menus (thrilling at the time, unbearable now), and the commentary and extras were considered top notch. I think that was one of the best early DVDs.
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Jun 6, 2013 09:25
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Why is Halloween more often regarded as the prototypical slasher film over The Texas Chainsaw Massacre? Bigger box office success? More clear establishment of tropes? More common setting in slashers? Or am I just reading the wrong sources and the two are considered equally prototypical?
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Jun 6, 2013 13:44
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BOAT SHOWBOAT posted:Why is Halloween more often regarded as the prototypical slasher film over The Texas Chainsaw Massacre? Bigger box office success? More clear establishment of tropes? More common setting in slashers? Or am I just reading the wrong sources and the two are considered equally prototypical? I'd say it's a combination of these two. Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a messy, brutal hillbilly horror film that happens to feature a masked killer and a body count. I'd certainly consider it a proto-slasher film, but it's very different from most. Halloween (and its less acknowledged older brother Black Christmas) was the one that really took certain traits Giallo movies had established, particularly the killer's POV, and ran with 'em, introducing 'em to an American teenage setting. As soon as Halloween did it, we got Friday the 13th copying everything Halloween did, and then it was off to the races.
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Jun 6, 2013 14:31
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Slasherfan posted:I've always wondered if someone sued over a comment made on a DVD commentary or interview? I just wonder why the newer ones have a disclaimer while older ones don't. I'm not a fan, but the first Family Guy commentaries were heavily edited with huge gaps of silence, either because what they were saying would upset someone or because Fox thought that it wouldn't be entertaining - see also the original Alien 3 documentary that was on the Quadroligy that was heavily edited (I gather that stuff has been put back in for the Blu-Ray release). My favourite lost commentary was a 'Webmasters' commentary for The Fly 2. I know Nick Nunziata from Chud and Garth Franklin from Dark Horizons were on there, I think Drew from Hitfix (Back when he worked at AICN) and some others were on there. But Fox cut the commentary when they felt like they weren't being respectful to the film.
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Jun 6, 2013 19:21
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DrVenkman posted:I'm not a fan, but the first Family Guy commentaries were heavily edited with huge gaps of silence, either because what they were saying would upset someone or because Fox thought that it wouldn't be entertaining - see also the original Alien 3 documentary that was on the Quadroligy that was heavily edited (I gather that stuff has been put back in for the Blu-Ray release). Some of the South Park commentaries go blank also, there is an episode called You Got F'd In The A that spoofs You Got Served. In the commentary they start to talk about meeting the director of that movie and it goes blank. Also the commentary for 201 is censored.
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Jun 6, 2013 23:29
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Oh god, I just had a terrible thought. In Will Smiths quest to money his son into the film industry, we're probably only a few years away from Will and Jayden "starring" in a MiB film. The horror. ......the horror.
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Jun 7, 2013 02:53
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Hey dudes, it seems like the recommendation megathread isn't really for people requesting movies, so I thought I'd ask here. Sorry if this isn't the right place. Anyway, so I loved the newest James Bond films (Casino Royale/Skyfall) in a cheesy action movie way. I kinda want to start watching the classic James Bond films because I've never really had an interest until recently. Where should I start?
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Jun 7, 2013 03:38
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Sociopastry posted:Hey dudes, it seems like the recommendation megathread isn't really for people requesting movies, so I thought I'd ask here. Sorry if this isn't the right place. Start with the first one, Dr. No. Then watch the next 5 or 6.
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Jun 7, 2013 03:40
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Sociopastry posted:Hey dudes, it seems like the recommendation megathread isn't really for people requesting movies, so I thought I'd ask here. Sorry if this isn't the right place.
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Jun 7, 2013 03:41
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Sociopastry posted:Hey dudes, it seems like the recommendation megathread isn't really for people requesting movies, so I thought I'd ask here. Sorry if this isn't the right place. Watch Goldeneye. Then just stop.
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Jun 7, 2013 03:42
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Rad, thanks dudes. I'll see if I can't borrow my friend's box set and get to watching.
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Jun 7, 2013 03:48
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Dissapointed Owl posted:Watch Goldeneye. Brosnan movies are good, but watch the original Casino Royale with David Niven too.
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Jun 7, 2013 04:06
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DrVenkman posted:I'm not a fan, but the first Family Guy commentaries were heavily edited with huge gaps of silence, either because what they were saying would upset someone or because Fox thought that it wouldn't be entertaining - see also the original Alien 3 documentary that was on the Quadroligy that was heavily edited (I gather that stuff has been put back in for the Blu-Ray release). The Criterion edition of Being John Malkovich is cut in half for "reasons of accuracy, audience interest, and legal liability.” It's also bugnuts and impossible to tell how joking or serious he's being at any given moment.
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Jun 7, 2013 04:15
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Sociopastry posted:Hey dudes, it seems like the recommendation megathread isn't really for people requesting movies, so I thought I'd ask here. Sorry if this isn't the right place. Dr. No is the first but it's hampered by being a bit clunky and having a lower budget than the following films. Goldfinger gets all the love but has plenty of silly points that you think about later that really undermine the entire movie. Bond actually is irrelevant to stopping the villain's plot, he fucks a lesbian straight, and the famous death in the movie couldn't actually happen. Great theme song though For Connery bond films, I recommend first watching From Russia with Love and/or Thunderball. On Her Majesty's Secret Service is one of the best Bond films imo even if it does feature a one-off Bond in George Lazenby For Roger Moore as Bond, check out The Spy Who Loved Me Timothy Dalton - The Living Daylights Brosnan - Goldeneye If you particularly like any of those, then branch out to the rest of the Bond films by that actor.
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Jun 7, 2013 05:46
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Why not just do the Bond films chronologically?
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Jun 7, 2013 08:33
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therattle posted:Why not just do the Bond films chronologically? Because there are a lot of movies and most are poo poo?
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Jun 7, 2013 08:39
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Most of the first ones are the best ones so really you might as well go chronologically to start.
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Jun 7, 2013 11:47
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Sociopastry posted:Hey dudes, it seems like the recommendation megathread isn't really for people requesting movies, so I thought I'd ask here. Sorry if this isn't the right place. If you want cheesy action movies then the first two probably won't be your thing. Goldfinger is the first Bond film that comes close to being like the modern films, with the first of Bond's pimped out spy cars and a wonderfully absurd villain with killer top hat. The next Thunderball and You Only Live Twice are both really great action movies and introduced the big climatic end scenes to the series. Thunderball concludes with this absolutely fantastic underwater fight scene, and YOLT concludes with ninjas abseiling into a hollowed out volcano. George Lazenby's brief tenure is entertaining but doesn't really feature any of the franchises iconic moments neither does Connery's return to the franchise Diamonds are Forever. The Roger Moore period features some absolutely dire films so be a little cautious before getting hold of them. The Man with the Golden Gun is worth watching just for Christopher Lee as a Bond villain and the Spy Who Loved Me is also really good and features one the periods most famous villains, Jaws, a man who dispatches with people using his solid metal teeth. He also returned in the next Bond movie, Moonraker, which is probably worth looking into to see the series at its absolute worst. The producers decided to compete with the Star Wars films by literally sending Bond into space where he has a shoot out in zero gravity with laser guns. It's completely terrible but genuinely entertaining in an, as you said, cheesy action movie way. Timothy Dalton's two Bond movies are both pretty good. The second, License to Kill, was the first to follow the course that the Brosnan films would take and has a much more serious, adult tone with Bond going rogue in order to get revenge on a drug lord that killed one of his colleagues. The Brosnan films get progressively sillier as they go on. The best two are probably Goldeneye and The World is Not Enough. Neither of them are really essential though. cloudchamber fucked around with this message at 13:50 on Jun 7, 2013 |
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Jun 7, 2013 12:20
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cloudchamber posted:George Lazenby's brief tenure is entertaining but doesn't really feature any of the franchises iconic moments I have to disagree with you there. The ending is pretty iconic.
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Jun 7, 2013 13:21
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cloudchamber posted:Goldeneye is the first Bond film that comes close to being like the modern films, with the first of Bond's pimped out spy cars and a wonderfully absurd villain with killer top hat. I assume you mean "Live and Let Die"? Klungar fucked around with this message at 13:40 on Jun 7, 2013 |
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Jun 7, 2013 13:38
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Klungar posted:I assume you mean "Live and Let Die"? No I meant Goldfinger, sorry. Changed it now.
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Jun 7, 2013 13:55
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