Woody Allen on Blu-ray

[GenPion]

Originally Posted by Buscemi

Warner Bros. has the US rights to Match Point (along with Small Time Crooks, The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, Hollywood Ending and Anything Else) so it will happen eventually.

Anyway, I asked Twilight Time (through their Facebook page) about Allen titles earlier and I have found out that several more are in the works. Nothing outside of Crimes and Misdemeanors and The Front have been confirmed but I'm guessing Bananas (with an isolated score track), Stardust Memories, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Radio Days, Husbands and Wives, Manhattan Murder Mystery and Sweet and Lowdown are among the titles being considered.

When did WB get the rights to these films? Are you sure? The DVD releases for all of these films were released by Universal, and WB did nothing to produce them. That's surprising if Universal is selling film rights to WB for distribution now as well. I know several Allen films ended up, supposedly, with Echo Bridge of all places but I didn't think WB got the rights to any.

[jason00]

Originally Posted by Buscemi

I asked Twilight Time (through their Facebook page) about Allen titles earlier and I have found out that several more are in the works. Nothing outside of Crimes and Misdemeanors and The Front have been confirmed but I'm guessing Bananas (with an isolated score track), Stardust Memories, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Radio Days, Husbands and Wives, Manhattan Murder Mystery and Sweet and Lowdown are among the titles being considered.

Woody Allen is my favorite filmmaker, and I would love to have all of his films on BD, but if they are all licensed to Twilight Time I will have to pick and choose a few here and there since I am hesitant to pay the $35 price tag. I will be picking up Crimes and Misdemeanors for sure, but out of the ones on your list, Bananas and Sweet and Lowdown would be the only must buys for me since I have the others on dvd. My most wanted are Mighty Aphrodite and Bullets Over Broadway, I hope to see them eventually, even if it is from Twilight Time.

[Batman1980]

I kinda want to give Vicky Cristina Barcelona another shot but even though I absolutely adore Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson, I remember being quite underwhelmed by it the only time I've seen it.

[rock, stone]

Originally Posted by jason00

Woody Allen is my favorite filmmaker, and I would love to have all of his films on BD, but if they are all licensed to Twilight Time I will have to pick and choose a few here and there since I am hesitant to pay the $35 price tag. I will be picking up Crimes and Misdemeanors for sure, but out of the ones on your list, Bananas and Sweet and Lowdown would be the only must buys for me since I have the others on dvd. My most wanted are Mighty Aphrodite and Bullets Over Broadway, I hope to see them eventually, even if it is from Twilight Time.

Just so you know, both Mighty Aphrodite and Bullets Over Broadway are easily available from Amazon Japan, which is also Region A.

Shipping isn't exactly cheap, but order a few movies (they have several 90s era Woody Allen movies) and it breaks down to a lot cheaper than TT prices.

Edit: Last order I made from Japan, I ordered 6 movies, and it came out to about 22 dollars for each. Just do your due diligence, English subtitles aren't a given for example.

[LegacyCosts]

I would love a copy of match point on blu. A lovely film

[Buscemi]

Originally Posted by GenPion

When did WB get the rights to these films? Are you sure? The DVD releases for all of these films were released by Universal, and WB did nothing to produce them. That's surprising if Universal is selling film rights to WB for distribution now as well. I know several Allen films ended up, supposedly, with Echo Bridge of all places but I didn't think WB got the rights to any.

When Warner Bros. took over the rights to much of the Paramount library, it included the majority of the pre-Disney and Fox DreamWorks titles (with the exception of the Animation titles and I believe Anchorman). Right now, you are already seeing some DreamWorks titles (such as The Ring, Old School and Eurotrip) appearing through Warner Bros.

[Rizor]

Originally Posted by GenPion

When did WB get the rights to these films? Are you sure? The DVD releases for all of these films were released by Universal, and WB did nothing to produce them. That's surprising if Universal is selling film rights to WB for distribution now as well. I know several Allen films ended up, supposedly, with Echo Bridge of all places but I didn't think WB got the rights to any.

Adding to what Buscemi has said, Dreamworks produced the film and Universal used to act as distributors for them. Dreamworks then moved on to Paramount, which now owns most of the Dreamworks catalog (think Saving Private Ryan, Braveheart, American Beauty, Almost Famous, etc.). WB now distributes Paramount's catalog.

[ShellOilJunior]

We're up to 12 Woody Allen films on blu-ray (13 if you count NY Stories).

Many more to go!

[MrClarke]

I want 'Take the Money and Run'. Such a funny movie

[Blu Manchu]

I have never seen it but does Woody have an actual cameo in https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Paris...Blu-ray/55579/, or does it simply recycle old footage?

[Rizor]

Originally Posted by Blu Manchu

I have never seen it but does Woody have an actual cameo in https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Paris...Blu-ray/55579/, or does it simply recycle old footage?

I've not seen it, but I've read that he does actually appear in the film as a cameo.

[Mao]

Does anyone here own the Japanese Region A "Match Point"? or any other Region free version, for that matter?

And can you vouch for its quality?

I'm no longer willing to wait for a US release...

[GenPion]

I just ordered the Woody Allen German Blu-ray set with five films and the German Match Point Blu-ray.

I will try and give my overall impressions of the set when it arrives in case anyone else is considering ordering it.

[ShellOilJunior]

Updated to include Radio Days announcement.

[MikeyHitchFan]

Originally Posted by Mao

Does anyone here own the Japanese Region A "Match Point"? or any other Region free version, for that matter?

And can you vouch for its quality?

I'm no longer willing to wait for a US release...

I have the German import and it is region A & B. The quality is very good IMO.

[Moviefan2247]

I'd love for Small Time Crooks, Deconstructing Harry and Mighty Aphrodite to hit Blu-ray sometime soon.

[MikeyHitchFan]

http://www.laserdisken.dk/html/searc...allen&x=10&y=5

Here's where I order the Swedish imports from. They're region free..all you have to do after loading the disc is select one of 4 Nordic languages (any will do), then start the movie, hit the menu button (which pauses the movie) and then select 'no subtitles', then resume play.

[MifuneFan]

This awesome Woody Allen 20-Film DVD collection from the UK just got a nice price drop. Very tempted to buy it even though it's Region 2 (my PC and region free player should be able to handle it). It works out to about $31 shipped, or just $1.55 per movie



http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

[rock, stone]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2247

I'd love for Small Time Crooks, Deconstructing Harry and Mighty Aphrodite to hit Blu-ray sometime soon.

Small Time Crooks and Mighty Aphrodite are also available from Region A Japan. The main difference, as I understand it, between Japan and Scandinavian releases are that Japan has lossless audio instead of lossy.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

I'm a huge Woody Allen fan, and Manhattan is definitely one of my top five WA films:

1) The stunning b & w cinematography;

2) Having the city itself be another character in the film;

3) The realistic portrayal of the way people sometimes think back on relationships & regret breaking up with someone (and maybe try to get back with the person, only to find out that it's too late);

4) The witty one-liners, etc...

All make for a true masterpiece of not only late '70's cinema, but of great cinema, period.

So, I was unpleasantly surprised when I saw this on Blu recently - extremely dissapointing PQ - I felt like I was just watching the regular DVD. There didn't appear to be any effort to clean this up. If the PQ was superior to past prints, the difference was so minimal that it was tough to spot (at least for me). Not sure if the sound was any better than the regular DVD, though it didn't appear to be.

Conversely, I was extremely impressed by Blue Jasmine (2013) on Blu (the only other Woody Blu I've seen), but I'm sure a lot of this had to with the fact that B. Jasmine is such a recent film.

Side-note re: Manhattan: Even though I think the film is a masterpiece, I was amused that late '70's NYC was presented as an overly romanticized, relatively safe city; this is in complete contrast to films from the same era like Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Death Wish, etc. which portray the city as crime ridden & full of danger...