An American Werewolf in London (1981) (Limited Edition)

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by The Fallen Deity

I haven't read the book yet but now I'm scared to!

This wouldn't be the first time that Arrow have included a pretentious essay.

The Dawn of the Dead one is particularly bad.

The funny thing is that it's not THE most pretentious one I've ever read of theirs but the inevitable politicising still forms the core of the analysis and it gets tiresome to have these in release after release after release from Arrow because there's no balance. Even then there's hardly any passion to them, it feels like they're being done by academics as box-ticking exercises in "political re-education" rather than fans of the film talking about something that they love.

That in itself would become boring time after time, granted, but it still feels strangely counterintuitive for an indie distributor - i.e. they're there to genuinely celebrate x film - to persist in including pieces that are at best coldly analytical, at worst a naked piece of polemic. If I want to be lectured about a film then I can take a class, but I'd rather that they all stepped up their practice of including old articles from the magazines of the day. An American Cinematographer article should be effing mandatory.

[86Olympics]

You guys see the standard version going down in price for, say, black friday?

I'm not familiar with Arrow's price trends.

Amazon's got it for $28 now. But eh.

[hariseldon]

Originally Posted by 86Olympics

You guys see the standard version going down in price for, say, black friday?

I'm not familiar with Arrow's price trends.

Amazon's got it for $28 now. But eh.

Depends on if they're going to partially match B&N presumed sale

[SceneRevival]

Amazon delivered my copy only good things to say about this release. I wonder if iTunes will update to this transfer like they did with the (1989) Batman 4K release.

[mogwai_macabre]

Originally Posted by 86Olympics

You guys see the standard version going down in price for, say, black friday?

I'm not familiar with Arrow's price trends.

Amazon's got it for $28 now. But eh.

Way too much to pay for standard edition imo. I'd say, you could nab this for $18-20 during a US sale (family video, B&N, etc.) or probably $15 or less importing from the UK during a sale. Since I picked up the LE B2G1, I figure I got it for $22. I wouldn't pay more than $20 for the SE personally.

[sancho]

Received mine today. Looking forward to watching it over the weekend.

[Member-425016]

Originally Posted by DR Herbert West

^ This. Blues Brothers next, please.

I would love that.

[broly965]

Finally the definitive AWIL i've always wanted. It looked amazing, sounded great and the limited edition content is so worth it. Though i must say the post cards are kinda pointless. As if i would ever give them away or waste them. Also for the 1st time ever i found out Rick Mayall was in this, like holy crap i didn't recognize him at all. So weird.

[travisbickle]

Still want to get this limited edition for everything else included (poster, hardback slip, etc...) but there won't be any more rushing to get Arrow releases early because of the booklets if they continue with this woke garbage.

[Rick Grimes]

Originally Posted by Bobbyjoe766

You don’t care about the original mono track?

What about the eventual 4K release? Will you go for that?

The mono is a great addition, but a decent transfer is what I really want... And yes, I probably will buy a UHD release.
Intriguingly, Arrow states that while it was scanned in 4K, it was restored at 2K. I assume that means there will be no 4K anytime soon.

Originally Posted by captainjoe

I'll add to the growing list of unnecessary political essays in Arrow's booklets and site A Fish Called Wanda. Yep, the writer actually found a way to discuss political correctness and actually criticize A Fish called Wanda
Some of these writes need to come down off their high horse and just enjoy an 80s comedy for what it is without shoving social media type commentary on to them.

I too was completely surprised by the critique for A Fish Called Wanda. It is ridiculous to call out the creators of Wanda, considering that the social norms of Western society were very different in the ‘80s and the fact that comedy is, for want of a better word, edgy.
For me, the claims of the apparent homophobia in Wanda is fabricated by the author’s personal opinion and his own interpretation of the comedic tone, taken in those scenes, that the author takes aim at.
The Monty Python members involved in Wanda (Cleese/Palin), were close friends with another Python member, Graham Chapman, who was openly gay (well... as open as you could be back then, without being ostracised). No one should dare call Wanda out as being intentionally offensive to any groups. What’s next, animal liberationists will find the dog sequence “anti-animal” and Kevin Kline’s character offensive to those with intellectual disabilities/autism. Perhaps even those who suffer from a lisp may find Palin’s character offensive. When does it all end.

Wanda is a f*cking comedy from the ‘80s. Let’s leave it at that. While I consider myself left of the middle, politically, I agree that Arrow doesn’t need to call out older films with a revisionist view of their political correctness. Let us enjoy the film.

My copy should be delivered tomorrow. With all the positive buzz from this thread, can’t wait to watch it. And now I am glad I bought the film, for the third time on BD.

[Adam_ME]

Originally Posted by Bobbyjoe766

Yes, thank you for the inclusion of the original mono audio track.

This. Although it sounded like the 5.1 track had the correct pitch as well, so now I can choose between both and not be distracted. This is a great looking set. It arrived with a tiny bit of damage on the slipbox from Target, but otherwise I'm very happy with this release.

[StoogeFan1118]

I have this coming in from Amazon tomorrow so I wont be able to check it out tonight for Halloween but that is OK i have plenty of others stuff to put on. I love hearing the great things about the transfer and I do love the poster I think I am going to have it framed. As for the essay probably only going to skim through it given the response its gotten here.

[Pecker]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I don't live in a hall so I never had any problems getting a lovely 'phantom centre' effect from anything I watched in mono coming from front left and right. Same with getting the 'phantom screen channels' between left/centre and right/centre on 6-track 70mm mixes that have had the two screen channels split between the front three speakers for conventional 5.1/7.1 encoding.

It may well be the case that a mono track of a film offers a different experience to listening to stereo music - the two offer something quite different.

But the science and theory of not placing L&R further apart than you sit from the mid-point has been well-established since way before we got home surround sound, and is well-tried and tested.

http://www.moorgateacoustics.co.uk/improve-your-stereo/

This is also something it's very easy to try for yourself at home, unless your room size limits you doing so. First sit so that you're the 'correct' distance whilst playing a piece of music, then move closer, until you're nearer the mid-point than the speakers are apart. I've done this myself, on my own and with friends, and the effect is immediate, clear and obvious.

However, the recommended angle for L&R in a 5.1/7.1 set up from Dolby, THX, and just about everyone else places them further apart.

[Pecker]

Sorry, back to AAWIL.

[Geoff D]

I can only tell you that it always worked for me Steve. And as I don't have a surround/stereo system any more, not even a soundbar, then I'm afraid all dat science is lost on me. By all means direct it to the person I was replying to though.

[yellowcakeuf6]

Originally Posted by Pecker

Sorry, back to AAWIL.

Yes, your previous post was a little ambitious for this site anymore.

[deltatauhobbit]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

The funny thing is that it's not THE most pretentious one I've ever read of theirs but the inevitable politicising still forms the core of the analysis and it gets tiresome to have these in release after release after release from Arrow because there's no balance. Even then there's hardly any passion to them, it feels like they're being done by academics as box-ticking exercises in "political re-education" rather than fans of the film talking about something that they love.

That in itself would become boring time after time, granted, but it still feels strangely counterintuitive for an indie distributor - i.e. they're there to genuinely celebrate x film - to persist in including pieces that are at best coldly analytical, at worst a naked piece of polemic. If I want to be lectured about a film then I can take a class, but I'd rather that they all stepped up their practice of including old articles from the magazines of the day. An American Cinematographer article should be effing mandatory.

Yeah, the first essay was a bit of a snooze-fest anyway. I didn't mind the comparisons of lycanthropy as a disease and comparing it to the AIDS epidemic (even though AAWIL was released a bit before it really got into swing so I don't think it was in their minds) but the rest of the politicizing was unnecessary. I lean left but I don't seek out Reagan bashing either.

I thought the rest of the articles were fine though, especially the one going into David Naughton and Griffin Dunne's friendship, why they were hired and how their screen chemistry was developed. Also, any written text about Rick Baker's work tends to be interesting especially since he wanted to outdo Bottin's The Howling work. The older film reviews are a nice touch, much more interesting to read than contemporary opinions after something has been deemed a classic since they're not always super glowing either.

[postmodel]

All I know is to me this film still holds up. That ending..the last shot followed immediately by Blue Moon by the Marcels is so unnerving in a way. I love it. But the whole ending from the porn theater on...scratch that the whole film from open to close is just so damn good.

[yellowcakeuf6]

Originally Posted by postmodel

All I know is to me this film still holds up. That ending..the last shot followed immediately by Blue Moon by the Marcels is so unnerving in a way. I love it. But the whole ending from the porn theater on...scratch that the whole film from open to close is just so damn good.

Back in '81 that ending elicited yet another chuckle from the audience. This movie had a lot of WTF moments, and I mean that in a good way.

[batman144144]

USPS email notifications, as shipped by DeepDiscount:
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