Posted by Jeff Wright at cache01.tor.axxent.ca on September 30, 2000 at 20:27:59:
In Reply to: LOLITA transfers and such posted by Vincent on September 30, 2000 at 14:33:29:
: : Have you seen the amazing video Chris Cunningham directed for ALL IS FULL OF LOVE?
: No- is that the one that supposedly has rejected robot designs for A.I.?
Yep. There's a DVD single of the video, that I ordered sight unseen because I love Cunningham's videos, and because of the A.I. connection. It's an amazing fucking video. One of the best I've probably ever seen. You should pick it up. It's pretty cheap.
: I've never actually compared it myslef to the matted-at-1.66:1-throughout MGM transfer that was used for the DVD, but there was a shoot-off review comparing the Criterion LD to the MGM LD in an old issue of THE PERFECT VISION, and that same MGM LD transfer of LOLITA was the one used for the DVD. Well, according the the asute folks at TPV, the MGM transfer looked fine... until they looked at the Criterion disc, which apparently has more picture information on ALL FOUR SIDES compared to the MGM, plus better contrast, etc.
Damn. Do they have a website? Cuz I'd love to see that.
:I can say that the Criterion LD looks gorgeous, and I have no desire to get the film on DVD anytime soon. Incidentally, I picked my copy up at Mondo KIms in NYC for $15 about two months ago. It's in perfect condition.
There's a couple places in the city that sell used LDs, so I guess I'll keep looking in every now and again. I'm still hoping that I'll see THE KINGDOM in a bin one day. Spending 150 bucks on it seems a little excessive, especially when it's sure to be put on DVD in the next couple years.
Have you seen the second part to it yet Vin? It still hasn't been released here in Canada for some reason.
: I saw THE SHINING and BARRY LYNDON there. LYNDON was interesting to see in a theater, but nearly the revelation THE SHINING was. You simply cannot understand how shitty the current DVD of THE SHINING is until you see this new print projected.
I saw it in a theatre last year, and even though it was an older print, it was amazing, save for the begining and end of reels (which is to be expected). The thing that baffles me is how perfectly framed the film is for both 1.33 and 1.85. It doesn't make sense.
:The colors are just so vibrant- for example, the opening titles, which are a pale blue on the DVD, are a deep, DEEP blue on the new 35mm print, so much so that they almost seem to shimmer. Ditto the red carpets at the Overlook, and orange lighting in the Torrance's living quarters, etc. etc.
Have you seen the Japanese LD? I haven't read anything on it, and want to know how good it looks.
: BTW, did you ever notice how after the opening titles of LOLITA, when there's that double dissolve to the car driving up to the house, and then into the house, that you can actually see the clapper-guy walking off frame just as the dissolve from inside to outside starts? A very odd "mistake", likely caused by old-fassioned film cutting when you couldn't see your dissolves until the lab did them for you, unlike today when you can preview everything on an AVID.
I'll have to check that out.