Kino Lorber Studio Classics

[BarnDoor]

Kino Insider - can you say if that's it for Barbara Stanwyck in this Universal deal? Or is there still more to come?

[ilenewoodsfan99]

Durbin and more noir... Thanks, Kino!

[Reddington]

Just watched two of my sale period orders - both blind buys. First up was The Martian Chronicles. I watched Part 1 one evening, and 2 & 3 the following night. To borrow from that famous piece of baseball commentary: I don't believe what I just saw!

I'm a big fan of sci-fi, and of the Mars genre in particular. I actually knew very little about it going in, and had also not read the book. However, I'm not sure anything could have prepared me for 293 minutes of some of the most confounding television I've ever seen. An extraordinary mish-mash of weighty themes, outlandish vignettes, sheer silliness, and some of the worst effects, costumes, and sets imaginable - all helmed by Rock Hudson trying so hard to make it look like he wanted to be there.

I truly wanted to like it, and there was enough to keep me engaged and even enjoy certain sequences. But I came away from it thinking that one really had to be there when it was first broadcast (and perhaps of a certain age,) for it to truly resonate on a nostalgic level and bear repeat viewings. I'm definitely glad to have seen it, but my goodness, what an oddity.

Last night I watched The Black Windmill - one of the few Caine films I had not seen. I quite liked it, but it seemed like a missed opportunity given the talent involved. In many respects in reminded me of The Holcroft Covenant in that it simply isn't very thrilling. Caine's charm, ability and star power have lifted a number of humdrum roles and films but in both of these even he struggles. The Black Windmill is definitely the better of the two, but not by much. Still, I was grateful for the Roy Budd soundtrack - but even that seemed rather sparse and could have been better utilized by Siegel.

The great thing about KL is that I get to buy and experience many titles I might never otherwise be able to - even those that are not destined to become favourites, or viewed regularly. I'm very grateful for that. Thanks, KL!

[movieeddie]

KINO INSIDER- Do you know if Kino will be releasing The Year of Living Dangerously and if not who has the rights to it.Was a MGM dvd release.Love this picture but dvd looks like crap.Thanks,edward.

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Originally Posted by BarnDoor

Kino Insider - can you say if that's it for Barbara Stanwyck in this Universal deal? Or is there still more to come?

We have more.

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Originally Posted by movieeddie

KINO INSIDER- Do you know if Kino will be releasing The Year of Living Dangerously and if not who has the rights to it.Was a MGM dvd release.Love this picture but dvd looks like crap.Thanks,edward.

The rights are with Warner Brothers.

[BarnDoor]

Originally Posted by Kino Lorber Insider

We have more.

Great stuff.

Finally, can you say how many 40s Bob Hope films you have?

[Kino Lorber Insider]

Originally Posted by BarnDoor

Great stuff.

Finally, can you say how many 40s Bob Hope films you have?

4 confirmed.

3 will be released as a set.

The other as a standalone.

[BarnDoor]

If we're of the opinion that Three Smart Girls would surely have been released before or alongside Three Smart Girls Grow up - thus suggesting Kino do not have it (unless they're waiting on a new restoration?) - that leaves 3 30s Durbin possibilities:

Three Smart Girls (1936)
Mad About Music (1938)
That Certain Age (1938)
First Love (1939)

Kino only have 1 remaining 1939 title, and Midnight seems the standout candidate, so I'm wondering if the two films in question are the two 1938 ones (they have 3 1938 films left to announce).

As for 40s Bob Hope, it seems like 4 from 6 now:

Caught in the Draft
Louisiana Purchase
Nothing But the Truth
My Favorite Blonde
Monsieur Beaucaire
Where There's Life

[hky828]

Any more Claude Chabrol?

[Cooper67]

Originally Posted by BarnDoor

If we're of the opinion that Three Smart Girls would surely have been released before or alongside Three Smart Girls Grow up - thus suggesting Kino do not have it (unless they're waiting on a new restoration?) - that leaves 3 30s Durbin possibilities:

Three Smart Girls (1936)
Mad About Music (1938)
That Certain Age (1938)
First Love (1939)

Kino only have 1 remaining 1939 title, and Midnight seems the standout candidate, so I'm wondering if the two films in question are the two 1938 ones (they have 3 1938 films left to announce).

As for 40s Bob Hope, it seems like 4 from 6 now:

Caught in the Draft
Louisiana Purchase
Nothing But the Truth
My Favorite Blonde
Monsieur Beaucaire
Where There's Life

My guess and hope for 1938 and 1936 titles:

1938
The big broadcast of 1938 and 2 Durbin titles. (Takes care of the wc fields title and frees up title for 1936.

1936
Desire
2 carol lombard films to be combined with another title from a different year for a box set.
2 Cary Grant titles to be combined with another title from a different year for a box set.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by BarnDoor

If we're of the opinion that Three Smart Girls would surely have been released before or alongside Three Smart Girls Grow up - thus suggesting Kino do not have it (unless they're waiting on a new restoration?)

My guess is that they don't have it. If they were waiting on a new restoration -- as pleasant as that thought is -- I would think they'd've used one of the other Durbin films in hand in Collection 1, leaving ...Grow Up for a later collection when the first Smart Girls film was ready.

But that's just a guess.

[kaseaver]

Originally Posted by BarnDoor

Kino Insider - can you say if that's it for Barbara Stanwyck in this Universal deal? Or is there still more to come?

All I Desire, There's Always Tomorrow

[Richard--W]

Originally Posted by hky828

Any more Claude Chabrol?

More Claude Chabrol would be most welcome.

[Jobla]

KL Insider,

any films produced by Robert Radnitz in the second Universal deal?

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by Kino Lorber Insider

We have more.

More Barbara Stanwyck?! You just made my day. Thanks for the good news!

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by Reddington

Just watched two of my sale period orders - both blind buys. First up was The Martian Chronicles. I watched Part 1 one evening, and 2 & 3 the following night. To borrow from that famous piece of baseball commentary: I don't believe what I just saw!
....

I truly wanted to like it, and there was enough to keep me engaged and even enjoy certain sequences. But I came away from it thinking that one really had to be there when it was first broadcast (and perhaps of a certain age,) for it to truly resonate on a nostalgic level and bear repeat viewings.

Even when it broadcast, it was pretty widely disliked by the press, who got a lot of play out of the line "The chocolate cake was poisoned." It was a show people wanted to like because big budget scifi was still something of a rarity and hadn't yet dominated the landscape, so a show with big stars, some talented people behind the cameras and a healthy budget adapting a classic book that people had triedand failed to film for years seemed like the answer to a lot of scifi fans' prayers. The disappointment was pretty tangible, with people trying to focus on the bits that worked to mitigate it a bit. It's significant that despite the BBC pouring a lot of money into the co-production they never repeated it, while the cutdown movie version intended for international markets never found any takers. I must admit I have some curiosity about giving it a second chance, but I'm pretty sure it's a case of the show not really delivering rather than the audience expecting too much.

Last night I watched The Black Windmill - one of the few Caine films I had not seen. I quite liked it, but it seemed like a missed opportunity given the talent involved. In many respects in reminded me of The Holcroft Covenant in that it simply isn't very thrilling. Caine's charm, ability and star power have lifted a number of humdrum roles and films but in both of these even he struggles. The Black Windmill is definitely the better of the two, but not by much. Still, I was grateful for the Roy Budd soundtrack - but even that seemed rather sparse and could have been better utilized by Siegel.

The Black Windmill has a workable premise, an unspectacularly decent cast (Delphine Seyrig, Donald Pleasance, Janet Suzman, Clive Revill, Dennis Quilley, Edward Hardwicke and Joss Ackland among them) and a good director in Don Siegel, but it never catches fire. Michael Caine, playing a very different spy to Harry Palmer – more of a middle class career army officer who never needed to be blackmailed into the job – finds himself being set up by the vicious kidnappers of his young son to steal some diamonds intended for some dubious operation, eventually finding himself having to avoid his employers, the French and British police and take out the very bad guys (hey, it is John Vernon). All of which sounds at least more energetic than the film actually is. It moves along with competence, dotting the ‘i’s and crossing the ‘t’s, but even though a surprising amount happens in the last half hour, it never seems to develop any tension or urgency. Along the way there’s a nice Sean Connery joke and a neat scene that manages to reference both the Sound of Music and Caine’s own Battle of Britain, but the good Scope composition and the typical 70s Roy Budd score make more of an impression than anything else in the film.

[Rafows]

Originally Posted by BarnDoor

If we're of the opinion that Three Smart Girls would surely have been released before or alongside Three Smart Girls Grow up - thus suggesting Kino do not have it (unless they're waiting on a new restoration?) - that leaves 3 30s Durbin possibilities:

Three Smart Girls (1936)
Mad About Music (1938)
That Certain Age (1938)
First Love (1939)

Kino only have 1 remaining 1939 title, and Midnight seems the standout candidate, so I'm wondering if the two films in question are the two 1938 ones (they have 3 1938 films left to announce).

As for 40s Bob Hope, it seems like 4 from 6 now:

Caught in the Draft
Louisiana Purchase
Nothing But the Truth
My Favorite Blonde
Monsieur Beaucaire
Where There's Life

BarnDoor, how are we with the noir speculation?

[rocknblues81]

Got my order!

[Reddington]

Originally Posted by Aclea

[Show spoiler]Even when it broadcast, it was pretty widely disliked by the press, who got a lot of play out of the line "The chocolate cake was poisoned." It was a show people wanted to like because big budget scifi was still something of a rarity and hadn't yet dominated the landscape, so a show with big stars, some talented people behind the cameras and a healthy budget adapting a classic book that people had triedand failed to film for years seemed like the answer to a lot of scifi fans' prayers. The disappointment was pretty tangible, with people trying to focus on the bits that worked to mitigate it a bit. It's significant that despite the BBC pouring a lot of money into the co-production they never repeated it, while the cutdown movie version intended for international markets never found any takers.

I must admit I have some curiosity about giving it a second chance, but I'm pretty sure it's a case of the show not really delivering rather than the audience expecting too much.

Certainly my experience. Quite powerful scenes such as those where a character questions the ethicality of settling Mars, or sees a Martian in the form of a vision of Christ, lurch into others featuring a hillbilly ex-astronaut in cowboy gear running a diner, or some bloke flying around the planet in a gyrocopter looking for a hot date. I found it simultaneously fascinating and bemusing.

The Black Windmill has a workable premise,

[Show spoiler] an unspectacularly decent cast (Delphine Seyrig, Donald Pleasance, Janet Suzman, Clive Revill, Dennis Quilley, Edward Hardwicke and Joss Ackland among them) and a good director in Don Siegel, but it never catches fire. Michael Caine, playing a very different spy to Harry Palmer – more of a middle class career army officer who never needed to be blackmailed into the job – finds himself being set up by the vicious kidnappers of his young son to steal some diamonds intended for some dubious operation, eventually finding himself having to avoid his employers, the French and British police and take out the very bad guys (hey, it is John Vernon). All of which sounds at least more energetic than the film actually is. It moves along with competence, dotting the ‘i’s and crossing the ‘t’s, but even though a surprising amount happens in the last half hour, it never seems to develop any tension or urgency. Along the way there’s a nice Sean Connery joke and a neat scene that manages to reference both the Sound of Music and Caine’s own Battle of Britain, but the good Scope composition and the typical 70s Roy Budd score make more of an impression than anything else in the film.

Pretty much spot on.