Twilight Time Discussion Thread

[NoirFan]

Originally Posted by ROclockCK

In those movies, Kelly got the girl, while buddy got the schtick.

But Kelly sidekicks like Oscar Levant, Donald O'Connor, Dan Dailey and the rest are genuinely talented and likable personalities, whereas Silvers is just empty, labored 'zaniness'. I did get a kick out of seeing the affable, knife-throwing serial killer from Mad Love as the equally affable bartender in Cover Girl though.

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by hariseldon

Will time be as unkind:
JJ Walker
Robin Williams
Sasha Cohen
Howard Stern
Seinfeld
Kanye

Hasn't it...already?

[duggie walker]

Originally Posted by Dex Robinson

Phil Silvers is a "period piece".

There are certain entertainers and certain styles of entertainers who were popular in a given period but their appeal doesn't translate well into modern times.

For example, Arthur Godfrey was one of the most popular and powerful TV entertainers and personalities of the 1950's. Today, his appeal is a complete mystery. He's almost forgotten by anybody born after 1955. (You can see and hear him in one of the extras on the Blu-ray of THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET).

I regard such entertainers the same way I regard their movies or TV shows: windows into an another era when people had different tastes and sensibilities.

Pick up a copy of Season one of THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW (aka SGT BILKO). There's nothing dated about the show or his performances unless you judge that by standards of bad language or graphic subject matter. The man was a master of comic timing and he is very much NOT forgotten outside the US at least, where reruns of Bilko introduced a new generation to a still-brilliant sitcom (which also inspired TOP CAT, by the way).

Then it might be instructive to compare Phil Silvers' performance in the role with Steve Martin's in the woeful remake of SGT BILKO.

[MEB]

Originally Posted by ROclockCK

Belated Happy Birthday Mark*!

*...and what a way to continue celebrating it. As I recall, you also treated yourself to Bye Bye Birdie?

Thank you! We haven't had a chance to watch Bye Bye Birdie yet. Perhaps tomorrow.

Mark

[Blu Titan]

Of all the TT movies you guys own which one has the better PQ?

For me there's no doubt about this, Bite the Bullet looks incredible...a visual feast. Also, a very entertaining movie.

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by MEB

Thank you! We haven't had a chance to watch Bye Bye Birdie yet. Perhaps tomorrow.

Mark

You and your wife must really love As Good As It Gets...I wouldn't have been able to resist watching those discs in the opposite order.

[Rory]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

Could someone please explain the popularity of Phil Silvers?

Here's a link to Silver's bio on Wikipedia. If you truly want to understand his popularity -- which continues to this day -- this is a good place to start.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Silvers

Really, though, I don't believe this is a serious question. You might as well be asking, "My god, they're so boring!!! What in hell made those silent pictures so popular?!!! I just don't get it, I mean... NO SOUND?!!!! I wouldn't have paid for that -- if I'd been alive in the 1920s! What a rip-off! And, have you noticed, there were all in black & white? What were they thinking? And that Charlie Chaplin "Little Tramp" guy? What's up with that?"

But you know, folks, I think this is where our culture is going, and fast.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Dex Robinson

Phil Silvers is a "period piece".
There are certain entertainers and certain styles of entertainers who were popular in a given period but their appeal doesn't translate well into modern times.

Phil Silvers is PURE burlesque. Stage-trained, top banana, the genuine article.
So were Abbott & Costello, so were the Three Stooges at one point, so was Bert Lahr (if you've ever seen him out of his lion costume), etc.
That's not to say he's as good as Lahr or A&C, but at least you know where the deliberately-obnoxious motormouthed ad-libbing comes from. If you ever wanted to know WHAT burlesque was, there are some performers that are living history museums.

(As pointed out, Sgt. Bilko reruns are a good showcase for his act--And even though Silvers didn't get the movie version of his burlesque-esque stage role in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", I've always found Phil Silvers-imitating characters in Hanna-Barbera cartoons like "Top Cat" and "The Flintstones" funnier than the actual Silvers. Or even Snagglepuss as Bert Lahr imitation. )

[NoirFan]

Originally Posted by Rory

Really, though, I don't believe this is a serious question. You might as well be asking, "My god, they're so boring!!! What in hell made those silent pictures so popular?!!! I just don't get it, I mean... NO SOUND?!!!! I wouldn't have paid for that -- if I'd been alive in the 1920s! What a rip-off! And, have you noticed, there were all in black & white? What were they thinking? And that Charlie Chaplin "Little Tramp" guy? What's up with that?"

But you know, folks, I think this is where our culture is going, and fast.

Why don't you take a look at my collection before making such sweeping and insulting assumptions about my knowledge of and appreciation for classic cinema. Just because I find Phil Silvers unfunny and tiresome doesn't automatically make me an unsophisticated and uninformed adolescent. I wrote my master's thesis on Joan Crawford, have an entire bookcase of film books and have seen thousands (yes, thousands) of foreign, black and white and silent films.

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

Of all the TT movies you guys own which one has the better PQ?

For me there's no doubt about this, Bite the Bullet looks incredible...a visual feast. Also, a very entertaining movie.

That's a reel tough one Blu Titan, there have been so many fine transfers in this collection. Any numbered list would look kinda schtoopid because an ordered ranking implies significant difference from the items below and above. But as whitesheik has pointed out numerous times, you can really only measure a transfer against its source film (or what survives of it)...as in, "Does it faithfully reproduce that source?"

In any case, there's no objective standard for evaluating this despite the compulsion to grade video PQ and AQ like eggs or beef. So with that caveat in mind, I'll bite. In no particular order, my top picks for TT PQ would be a virtual hat draw from the following titles*: The Big Heat, The Egyptian, Rapture, Bite the Bullet, Mysterious Island, Swamp Water, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, The Wayward Bus, or Picnic. In each case, TT's Blu-ray felt like I was watching the actual film.

* ...and I haven't even seen Bye-Bye Birdie yet!

[filmmusic]

does anyone know: have there been talks, or is there any indication that the price of the blurays (especially the early ones) will drop, or it will stick to that until the last disc of the 3000 is sold?

[rkolinski]

Originally Posted by ROclockCK

That's a reel tough one Blu Titan, there have been so many fine transfers in this collection. Any numbered list would look kinda schtoopid because an ordered ranking implies significant difference from the items below and above. But as whitesheik has pointed out numerous times, you can really only measure a transfer against its source film (or what survives of it)...as in, "Does it faithfully reproduce that source?"

In any case, there's no objective standard for evaluating this despite the compulsion to grade video PQ and AQ like eggs or beef. So with that caveat in mind, I'll bite. In no particular order, my top picks for TT PQ would be a virtual hat draw from the following titles*: The Big Heat, The Egyptian, Rapture, Bite the Bullet, Mysterious Island, Swamp Water, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, The Wayward Bus, or Picnic. In each case, TT's Blu-ray felt like I was watching the actual film.

* ...and I haven't even seen Bye-Bye Birdie yet!

I almost missed the fine print at the end and was going to ask you where Bye-Bye Birdie was. I watched this after watching the Jaws BD and thought to myself, BBB looks so much better and why should that be!

[whitesheik]

Originally Posted by rkolinski

I almost missed the fine print at the end and was going to ask you where Bye-Bye Birdie was. I watched this after watching the Jaws BD and thought to myself, BBB looks so much better and why should that be!

You can't compare them at all. DIfferent cameramen, different styles, different film stock, different lenses, all location for Jaws. Birdie is a glossy studio film with controlled lighting and sets, even the outdoor backlot stuff. Jaws was shot on location, was a film that looked of its time, shot with diffusion filters occasionally in real locations. It could never look like a glossy Hollywood film from the 1960s and I'm sure Mr. Spielberg would never have wanted it to. Point being, they both look perfect because they both look like they're supposed to look.

[Rory]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

Why don't you take a look at my collection before making such sweeping and insulting assumptions about my knowledge of and appreciation for classic cinema. Just because I find Phil Silvers unfunny and tiresome doesn't automatically make me an unsophisticated and uninformed adolescent. I wrote my master's thesis on Joan Crawford, have an entire bookcase of film books and have seen thousands (yes, thousands) of foreign, black and white and silent films.

Then I was right, it wasn't a serious question.

Hey, I'm still trying to figure out what's made Don Rickles so popular? His act is a put-on, but boy is it obnoxious.

(A master's thesis on Joan Crawford?!! Hopefully the screen persona and not the person.)

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

does anyone know: have there been talks, or is there any indication that the price of the blurays (especially the early ones) will drop, or it will stick to that until the last disc of the 3000 is sold?

The price will stick. There will be no clearance sales.

[SpartanIre]

Originally Posted by ROclockCK

That's a reel tough one Blu Titan, there have been so many fine transfers in this collection.

[Show spoiler]Any numbered list would look kinda schtoopid because an ordered ranking implies significant difference from the items below and above. But as whitesheik has pointed out numerous times, you can really only measure a transfer against its source film (or what survives of it)...as in, "Does it faithfully reproduce that source?"

In any case, there's no objective standard for evaluating this despite the compulsion to grade video PQ and AQ like eggs or beef. So with that caveat in mind, I'll bite. In no particular order, my top picks for TT PQ would be a virtual hat draw from the following titles*: The Big Heat, The Egyptian, Rapture, Bite the Bullet, Mysterious Island, Swamp Water, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, The Wayward Bus, or Picnic. In each case, TT's Blu-ray felt like I was watching the actual film.

* ...and I haven't even seen Bye-Bye Birdie yet!

Well played, Rock, well played...

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Rory

Hey, I'm still trying to figure out what's made Don Rickles so popular? His act is a put-on, but boy is it obnoxious.

But it can sometimes hit the right note, as in "X - The Man With the X-Ray Eyes".
Or Mr. Potato Head in the Toy Storys.

[Rory]

Originally Posted by EricJ

But it can sometimes hit the right note, as in "X - The Man With the X-Ray Eyes".
Or Mr. Potato Head in the Toy Storys.

Yeah, and I love Crap Game in KELLY'S HEROES, but stay away from BEACH BLANKET BINGO. Poor Frankie Avalon!

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by rkolinski

I almost missed the fine print at the end and was going to ask you where Bye-Bye Birdie was. I watched this after watching the Jaws BD and thought to myself, BBB looks so much better and why should that be!

Well, I have my thoughts on that rkolinski, but they don't belong on this board, so I won't go into the subject any further here. What I will say is Mr. Spielberg himself freely admits that Jaws now looks "better" than it did in '75, and also uses words like "more vivid" to describe it. Boy, I couldn't agree more...

On the other hand, even though Bye-Bye Birdie remains sight unseen, from the word already out there, plus the caps here and elsewhere, it's pretty clear that Mr. Crisp has achieved some kind of new high watermark in the handling of 60s big studio Panavision. Everything I've seen or heard about this disc so far has been absolutely glowing.

[MEB]

Originally Posted by ROclockCK

You and your wife must really love As Good As It Gets...I wouldn't have been able to resist watching those discs in the opposite order.

Actually, we were expecting to watch Bye Bye Birdie with friends so we were holding off. But it turns out they just watched it via cable so now we can view it at our leisure.

Mark