The Landlord (1970) coming from Kino

[Akijama]

Coming Soon on DVD and Blu-ray!
Brand New 2K Restoration!

The Landlord (1970) Starring Beau Bridges, Lee Grant, Diana Sands, Pearl Bailey, Walter Brooke, Louis Gossett Jr., Susan Anspach and Robert Klein - Screenplay by Bill Gun (Ganja & Hess) - Based on the book by Kristin Hunter - Shot by Gordon Willis (The Godfather) - Produced by Norman Jewison (The Thomas Crown Affair) - Directed by Hal Ashby (Coming Home).

[Poya]

One of Will Ferrell’s finest roles.

[thatguamguy]

Yes! This belongs on the list of greatest debut films. I had a feeling when there were two screenings in New York in one week that it would be coming soon.

[SleazyForWeasley]

Excellent, but a 2k restoration?

[gates70]

I will definitely be checking this one out.

[RedbeardS]

Copying my comment over from another thread:

THE LANDLORD has been near the top of my must-release list for nearly a decade, after I first watched it on Netflix. There's never been a hipper big studio movie about race in America. If the name Hal Ashby doesn't grab you, try Gordon Willis -- this was his warm-up for the cinematography in KLUTE. There are some weird tonal shifts here and there (it was Ashby's first time directing), but there are also unforgettable moments of beauty and Ashby's offbeat humor. Good score by Al Kooper. Awesome cast, too, and so tragic that Diana Sands died not long after its release; she has a beautiful presence here.

[Dailyan]

Caps from DVDBeaver...looks pretty good to me.
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDRev...rd_blu-ray.htm

[filmczy]

I'm going to ask this question because I just need to know the answer...

The original movie poster: Are the two doorbells suppose to imply breasts which the finger is about to touch?

Discuss...

[okcmaxk]

Originally Posted by filmczy

I'm going to ask this question because I just need to know the answer...

The original movie poster: Are the two doorbells suppose to imply breasts which the finger is about to touch?

Discuss...

Yes.

On a sidenote, Ashby hated the poster and the tagline because it implied the film was in the vein of a sex comedy.

[SleazyForWeasley]

Welp, I watched mine tonight. Doesn't seem like a new scan at all. Blotchy, pops, and dust all over the place. Interested to see what the site reviewer says, if anything.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by SleazyForWeasley

Doesn't seem like a new scan at all.

I don't have the disc yet but it doesn't appear exhibit older MGM master characteristics (magenta push, more noise than grain, etc.) just from looking at the caps.

[SleazyForWeasley]

Originally Posted by Dailyan

I don't have the disc yet but it doesn't appear exhibit older MGM master characteristics (magenta push, more noise than grain, etc.) just from looking at the caps.

If it is a new scan, I'm disappointed. Would love to see what a better label could've done.

[RedbeardS]

Originally Posted by SleazyForWeasley

If it is a new scan, I'm disappointed. Would love to see what a better label could've done.

Yep, in agreement. Looks only slightly sharper than the Warner Archive DVD, so I’m guessing it’s the same transfer. Last time I saw the movie projected, the red lightbulb scene was dusky with heavy shadow. (Admittedly it was a faded print.) But on the blu it’s a glowing DEFCON 1 red alert. What was seductive on screen appears radioactive on disc.

Still happy to own it — the interviews from Bridges, Grant and Jewison are worth it — but you’d think Gordon Willis’s cinematography would get a little more respect.

[thatguamguy]

Originally Posted by RedbeardS

Looks only slightly sharper than the Warner Archive DVD, so I’m guessing it’s the same transfer.

It wasn't Warner Archive, it was... whatever MGM's DVD-R sublabel was called.

[RedbeardS]

Originally Posted by thatguamguy

It wasn't Warner Archive, it was... whatever MGM's DVD-R sublabel was called.

Hadn't Warner acquired MGM's library when that first came out on DVD-R? For a while they were pooping those titles out with serviceable scans but nothing to write home about. I didn't keep the case, but I sort of remember buying it from the Archive and posting a goodish review on their site.

[RCRochester]

The Landlord was originally a United Artists movie though, not an MGM one, so it's NOW owned by MGM. They were the ones who released it as part of their "Limited Edition Collection":

[Dailyan]

Site review up:
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-L...219033/#Review

[ParamountChris]

Does this release have the original United Artists Transamerica logo like what TCM’s print had? (their other one had a 1994 logo) And did StudioCanal lose the UK rights is that why their UK DVD is OOP? I am curious about that one as well.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by ParamountChris

Does this release have the original United Artists Transamerica logo like what TCM’s print had? (their other one had a 1994 logo) And did StudioCanal lose the UK rights is that why their UK DVD is OOP? I am curious about that one as well.

Yes, the Kino Blu opens with the original UA logo. I dunno about the UK rights.

[chane]

Originally Posted by SleazyForWeasley

Excellent, but a 2k restoration?

Waiting for a price drop because I'm sick of yet another Kino BD release with zero restoration-especially the audio. I realize that with some movies and TV shows the original dialogue/music mix session engineer likely used too much compression, presumably to prevent clipping distortion or because they were too lazy to ride the record gain and thereby maximize every last salvageable bit of dynamic range while monitoring the input to prevent overloadand/or during the analog to digital conversion for the DVD edition. (e.g. why the Outer Limits DVDs and BDs have less dynamics than ShoutFactory's Stoney Burke DVD set?). So in the case of such soundtracks there's really nothing Kino could have done to decompress it. Even so, however, a 24 rather than a 16 bit transfer might have made some audible improvement.