Cohen Media Film Collection

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Thank you! You are a gentleman and a scholar.

I just ordered my copy from ImportCDs. I hope it'll ship later this week!

Actually, I got the shipping email this afternoon. Nice!

[Blu-Velvet]

Last night I watched PERFECT UNDERSTANDING. It's a moderately entertaining British soap opera, that is probably much more interesting if you're a fan of Gloria Swanson and/or Laurence Olivier. It's definitely romantic melodrama and not a romantic comedy as the box blurb promises, although there are a few comic moments.

Picture quality is mostly excellent with a very film-like luminous look, but for whatever reason it shifts from being very crisp and sharp to being somewhat softish (like a good 16mm or 8mm print), but contrast range is always first-rate. Sound is so-so, but it was a 1932 British production when recording equipment was not what it would become.

A big surprise were the two 1933 RKO Mack Sennett comedy shorts starring Walter Catlett. Neither is particularly outstanding but both are fun, especially the one called DREAM STUFF.

All in all I'd probably give it a half to full star higher rating in each category than those posted in Jeffrey Kauffman's official Blu-ray.com review.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Thank you! You are a gentleman and a scholar.

I just ordered my copy from ImportCDs. I hope it'll ship later this week!

Mine is on order from Amazon. (I had a gift card so it didn't really bother me )

[mspar009]

[QUOTE=Blu-Velvet;8133393]

Last night I watched PERFECT UNDERSTANDING. It's a moderately entertaining British soap opera, that is probably much more interesting if you're a fan of Gloria Swanson and/or Laurence Olivier.

-->I have this in my lineup for the weekend, actually...I appreciate the review. It's a nice movie as it truly represents the Golden Age of film-making.

I bought a copy on eBay for about $5!

[Blu-Velvet]

[quote=mspar009;8143861]

Originally Posted by Blu-Velvet

Last night I watched PERFECT UNDERSTANDING. It's a moderately entertaining British soap opera, that is probably much more interesting if you're a fan of Gloria Swanson and/or Laurence Olivier.

-->I have this in my lineup for the weekend, actually...I appreciate the review. It's a nice movie as it truly represents the Golden Age of film-making.

I bought a copy on eBay for about $5!

Wow -- great deal! Somebody obviously didn't like it much! I think I paid about $20 from Amazon. It's not great, but it's fun if you're heavily into the period, maybe more interesting for anthropologists, social historians, and dedicated Anglophiles than regular film fans, although it does have some very interesting uses of cinematography and editing. It's certainly rare and downright obscure, so it's nice to have a copy at all, much less one that looks so good. And I really appreciated having the two shorts in HD, although they, too, are somewhat softish for a Blu-ray and are likely scanned from preservation copies rather than original 35mm nitrate material.

[Yami]

Cohen have uploaded a trailer for The Vivian Leigh Collection

to YouTube

[Scottie]

I really love the Intolerance cover.

[NoirFan]

I wish they'd ditch that ugly, intrusive C.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

I wish they'd ditch that ugly, intrusive C.

+1. I couldn't agree more.

[brandon_260]

The part that is unique to the cover is nice, but the layout that all their covers have is horrific.

[The Great Owl]

It showed up in the mail yesterday. Woo hoo!



This is my first Cohen Film Collection purchase. I'm not wild about the design, but it's a thoughtful package with the cover art, booklet, and clear case.

This one is in my stack to watch this week, so I'll write a few more words after I see the film.

[MifuneFan]

Everytime I look at that cover art, I think it's for a musical lol. Certainly brighter/more colorful than any other Melville film release thst comes to mind.

[cavesailor]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

I wish they'd ditch that ugly, intrusive C.

I disagree. I like it. Gives an art deco look to the cover and the black and silver gray color matches my shelves.

But I live in Kentucky so what do I know.

[NoirFan]

Originally Posted by cavesailor

But I live in Kentucky so what do I know.

But what do I know, I'm a bear!

Genaros - Fake Ad from "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" - YouTube

I suck the heads off fish!

[cavesailor]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

But what do I know, I'm a bear!

I suck the heads off fish!

[Scottie]

Can anybody win me over on The Vivien Leigh collection?

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Can anybody win me over on The Vivien Leigh collection?

The cover was all that it took to win me over.

[Show spoiler]

The Criterion DVD of That Hamilton Woman won me over the same way.

Tonight, I shall watch Two Men in Manhattan at last.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

The cover was all that it took to win me over.

[Show spoiler]

The Criterion DVD of That Hamilton Woman won me over the same way.

Tonight, I shall watch Two Men in Manhattan at last.

Fair enough.

[The Great Owl]

Jean-Pierre Melville's 1959 movie, Two Men in Manhattan, is the director's homage to the American film noir genre and to 1950s-era New York City. These tributes are well-suited to Melville's style of calculated coolness and to his visual sensibilities that bring out the best in every still frame of his motion pictures, and, although Two Men in Manhattan is not quite as compelling in its storytelling as other well-regarded titles in his canon, the film is a clear home run hit out of the park. Most reviews of this Cohen Film Collection Blu-ray proudly display screenshots of close-ups and faces to accentuate the finer technical triumphs of the video presentation, but these screenshots do not do justice to how amazing the city streets of Manhattan look in this feature. Melville brings out the uncanny beauty of shadowy alleyways, flashing signs, and streetlights in a way that will inevitably remind astute film noir fans of Alexander Mackendrick's 1957 masterpiece, Sweet Smell of Success, and these two movies would make for an ultimate double feature night. Aside from the splendid cinematographic depictions of New York City in all its gritty glory, however, Two Men in Manhattan shares another similarity with Sweet Smell of Success, because both films are scathing examinations of the ethical responsibilities of the news media.

Two Men in Manhattan, by way of its luxuriously paced story of a journalist, played by Melville himself, and a photographer, played by Pierre Grasset, investigating the disappearance of a French United Nations diplomat, compares and contrasts the establishment of two different myths. A sleazy manufactured news image could paint a deliciously scandalous picture of a prestigious person caught in an embarrassing affair, while another manufactured circumstance could cement the legacy of a WWII Resistance hero as a person without any ethical shortcomings whatsoever. Melville's own past with the Resistance gave him keen insights into the myths and legends that thrived in postwar years, and Two Men in Manhattan is an early indication of the director's ability to put genuine human faces and human flaws into his portrayal of the Resistance as he experienced it. At the same time, his apparent interest in the cutthroat tactics of 1950s photojournalism lays out the vibe of this era in American history for all to see. Throughout the venture, the combination of nighttime New York City footage and Parisian set pieces cement the fascinating comparison of American and French sensibilities.

Despite the weighty subject matter described above, Two Men in Manhattan succeeds above all as a fun film. The straightforward storyline itself may not generate nail-biting suspense, but this is one visually stunning masterwork of 1950s cinema that features mysterious cars, trenchcoats, sexy prostitutes, alcohol-soaked world weariness, outstanding jazz music, and a faint, but noticeable sense of danger. Many Melville fans describe this particular outing as a sleepy effort from the director, but I was not bored for a second, and I could have spent days watching this ode to the city nightlife of times past.

A supplementary discussion with film enthusiasts Jonathan Rosenbaum and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky flies by at a fast pace while it sheds light on Melville's intentions for this understated masterwork. A short, but information-packed essay in the case booklet provides additional insights into this film that deserves a wider audience.

[Yami]

Jean Luc Godard's Hail Mary and For Ever Mozart will be released by Cohen on 1/7