The Lonely Guy (1984) - August 14, 2018

[Mystic]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Picture looks decent--fine details are pleasing most of the time, don't notice any DNR or EE. Some shots seem a bit soft, but that might be source issues. Colors look pretty natural, contrast seems a bit high but it's not too gaudy imo. For a movie of this vintage, sound quality is good--everything sounds clear and crisp.

As for the movie itself, it's just my kind of humor. The slapstick gags are good, but nowhere near as overbearing as Martin's other movies. It's the dialogue and narration that really amuses me the most and I think it works to the movie's favor. As a lonely guy myself, the movie kinda speaks to me.

Well, its kind of what I was expecting in terms of picture quality, so it sounds like a decent transfer. Thanks for sharing those details.

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

English DTS-HD 2.0 Mono. I'm assuming that's original--I'm not a big enough audiophile to know what the DTS-HD part of it means.

Yeah, that's original, and the HD part just means it's lossless (best quality).

[Aclea]

This originally got only a one-sided 18-minute LP release, but Intrada are releasing Jerry Goldsmith's complete score on CD:

http://store.intrada.com/s.nl?it=A&id=10317

Long in coming complete release of 1984 Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack! Universal Pictures presents, Steve Martin stars, Charles Grodin, Judith Ivey, Steve Lawrence, Robyn Douglas co-star, Neil Simon, Stan Daniels, Ed Weinberger script, Arthur Hiller directs. Based on Bruce Jay Friedman non-fiction book, sweet comedy follows Steve Martin’s would-be author and lonely guy Larry Hubbard about New York City in search of romance, finding success with his newly-published book about “Lonely Guys” all-the-while pursuing Judith Ivey’s Iris.

Avoiding then-trendy comic raunch, lightly bittersweet tale provides Jerry Goldsmith with opportunity to write in his most tuneful, sentimental vernacular with nice meld of gentle love, animated city rhythm. Goldsmith writes for 65-piece orchestra with emphasis on transparent lines over warm harmonies, both major and minor. He pens title song “Love Comes Without warning” with John Bettis, sung by America, then brings infectious tune through numerous guises, both happy and sad. Interesting structure includes two parts which play in whole, in part, in tandem or independently depending on Goldsmith’s needs. Results are richly coherent score with ostensibly two main themes. Getting just the right musical support was also a major challenge for the composer, with several cues requiring multiple re-writes that often changed in tempo, orchestral color, individual bars and overall timings, all of which also appear on this CD and are heard for the first time anywhere. In fact, almost all of Goldsmith’s score is being heard on this Intrada CD for the first time. This includes one almost lost, very brief yet striking serious-minded cue (“So Empty”) scored for 4 French horns, 4 clarinets, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones plus basses and drums, recorded in a separate pick-up session. Cool piece!

The music for The Lonely Guy was previously available only as a MCA special mini-album offering just six tracks, three of them vocals by various artists, plus the title song and two brief score cues. This complete Intrada CD release features all of the music Jerry Goldsmith recorded, including the numerous alternates and revisions, all presented from pristine condition stereo session masters vaulted by Universal Pictures on 2” 24-track tape plus 1/2” and 1/4” mixed master elements. Intrada release also includes all three vocals heard on original 1984 MCA mini-LP plus Goldsmith/Bettis title song, presented from original album masters vaulted by Universal Music Group.

This score comes from a strong period in Goldsmith’s career, surrounded by top-notch and varied scores for Twilight Zone - The Movie, Under Fire, Supergirl and Gremlins. The Lonely Guy adds yet another winner! Recorded at Universal Pictures Scoring Stage. Arthur Morton orchestrates, Jerry Goldsmith composes, conducts. Intrada Special Collection CD release available while quantities and interest remain!

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

I will, but I'm in Canada so it might not be until the end of next week or the beginning of the following week that I'll actually have it in my hands.

My copy FINALLY arrived. Must have got stuck in Customs or something. Another title from the same order which was shipped separately a week later, arrived last week! Anyway, I see that someone already posted about the PQ so here are some shots of the cover and disc for anyone who is interested:

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[HeavyHitter]

Watched this disc the other night. All in all, it looks rather suitable. Maybe some very subtle grain filtering, but nothing too distracting. Highlights can be clipped and overly bright in some shots - the biggest weakness of the disc. I found using the Cinema mode on my Panasonic 820 player helps to reduce the intensity of higher APL whites and bring out the mid range gamma a bit - seems to help this issue a little and just give the image a little more balance. Colors seem fine although skin tones can look a little salmon sometimes. Blacks are nice. All in all, pretty pleasing for a catalog title of this nature that will probably never get a 4K release. Enjoyed the movie as always. I need to pick up the remastered The Jerk at some point.