Warner Brothers Archive Collection Blu-rays

[jazzo]

Looney Tunes Vol. 3 supposedly came out last week but still appears as a preorder

That is weird. I have my copy from my local Toronto video store

[swo17]

Looney Tunes Vol. 2 is $10.79 on Amazon right now with a coupon

[Costa]

Looney Tunes Vol. 2 is $10.79 on Amazon right now with a coupon

For anyone interested, I've read in a review that the audio in a short is out of sync.
I'd like to buy it, but without a replacement programme I don't.

[jheez]

Looney Tunes Vol. 2 is $10.79 on Amazon right now with a coupon

For anyone interested, I've read in a review that the audio in a short is out of sync.
I'd like to buy it, but without a replacement programme I don't.

I didn't hear any noticeable sync errors, but maybe more discerning viewers would. FWIW I ran it through an AV receiver to speakers with proper speaker distances set.

[dwk]

Devil's Doorway is getting a Blu-ray from WAC on April 30th.

Coming to Blu-ray on April 30th from the Warner Archive Collection!
New 2024 1080p HD master from 4K scan of best presevation elements.
DEVIL’S DOORWAY (1950)
BD-50
87 Minutes
B&W
16x9 1.37:1 with side mattes
DTS-HD MA 2.0
English SDH
Directed by Anthony Mann
Special features: Classic cartoons “The Chump Champ” and “Cue Ball Cat”
Cast: Robert Taylor, Louis Calhern, Paula Raymond
Shoshone tribesman and Civil War hero Lance Poole (Robert Taylor) returns home with a Congressional Medal of Honor on his chest and a saddlebag full of dreams about prospering as a cattleman on his family’s land. But Native Americans have no citizenship, no property rights. The courts, despite the efforts of Lane’s attorney (Paula Raymond) offer no remedy. Lance and his people must fight to keep their land. Devil’s Doorway, the first of the several groundbreaking Westerns by master auteur filmmaker Anthony Mann (The Naked Spur) is one of the earliest films sympathetic to the plight of Native Americans, standing alongside the same year’s Broken Arrow. Perhaps not coincidentally, Lane Poole’s tribal name is Broken Lance.

[Finch]

Friendly Persuasion, The Nun's Story & You're A Big Boy Now got pushed to May 14.

More Anthony Mann is excellent news. Bob Taylor is playing a Native American in Devil's Doorway and I'm half expecting WAC to put a notice in front of the movie to say yes we know the indigenous lead is played by a white guy but it was either that or no film at all in 1950 so please don't get upset about it.

Hoping either Sony upgrades Black Book/Reign of Terror to BD themselves or let Indicator take care of it. Are we still thinking Winchester 73 is with CC (since KL haven't licensed it or not been able to)?

[domino harvey]

I’d rather they rescue the Tall Target from their DVD-R holdings, alas

[tolbs1010]

An unlikely upgrade that I would love to see is Zandy's Bride. It seems no one involved with this film was happy with it (Hackman, Troell, WB), but there is so much there to like. Watching it again recently, it feels like a film that was drastically cut down by the studio with whole scenes excised and others trimmed. No proof that this is true, but some of the cuts are jarring and the overall pacing and structure feel...off. Still, there are some remarkable scenes. It has the same kind of authentic feel for actual Western living that McCabe & Mrs. Miller has. Troell wasn't allowed to serve as his own cinematographer due to union rules, but the film looks wonderful nonetheless thanks to Jordan Cronenweth. Troell's trademark eye for small visual details that say so much is still present. The leads are both excellent (though Hackman's Zandy is relentlessly unlikable), and there are brief but memorable performances from great character actors (Stanton, Tyrell, Eileen Heckart, Frank Cady).

I admit to an immediate bias towards this film due to the Big Sur setting. It's awesome to see Hackman riding a horse down the Sur with the ocean in the background. I'd like to see it in a better presentation. 50th Anniversary Special Edition time!

[beamish14]

An unlikely upgrade that I would love to see is Zandy's Bride. It seems no one involved with this film was happy with it (Hackman, Troell, WB), but there is so much there to like. Watching it again recently, it feels like a film that was drastically cut down by the studio with whole scenes excised and others trimmed. No proof that this is true, but some of the cuts are jarring and the overall pacing and structure feel...off. Still, there are some remarkable scenes. It has the same kind of authentic feel for actual Western living that McCabe & Mrs. Miller has. Troell wasn't allowed to serve as his own cinematographer due to union rules, but the film looks wonderful nonetheless thanks to Jordan Cronenweth. Troell's trademark eye for small visual details that say so much is still present. The leads are both excellent (though Hackman's Zandy is relentlessly unlikable), and there are brief but memorable performances from great character actors (Stanton, Tyrell, Eileen Heckart, Frank Cady).

I admit to an immediate bias towards this film due to the Big Sur setting. It's awesome to see Hackman riding a horse down the Sur with the ocean in the background. I'd like to see it in a better presentation. 50th Anniversary Special Edition time!

I’m a big fan of this film as well and was just thinking about it the other day. The Archive disc looks exceptionally poor and dirty

[Costa]

Looney Tunes Vol. 2 is $10.79 on Amazon right now with a coupon

For anyone interested, I've read in a review that the audio in a short is out of sync.
I'd like to buy it, but without a replacement programme I don't.

I didn't hear any noticeable sync errors, but maybe more discerning viewers would. FWIW I ran it through an AV receiver to speakers with proper speaker distances set.

I read it here:
https://www.hometheaterforum.com/looney ... ay-review/
It's in the short The Eager Beaver.

[dwk]

June Blu-rays:
ACT OF VIOLENCE (1948)
THE SHINING HOUR (1938)
THE MAN I LOVE (1947)
The Alaskans The Complete Series (1959-1960)
The Flash: The Original series(1990-91)

[diamonds]

A blessed month indeed!

[dwk]

They weren't done. Also on Blu-ray in June:
MR. & MRS. SMITH (1941)

[Red Screamer]

The Man I Love, nice, a very good film and one of my favorite Lupino performances. Its stream on the Criterion Channel last year was kind of rough IIRC, so I'm looking forward to seeing a restored version. And I kind of love Mr & Mrs Smith as well, which right from the opening scene, has Hitchcock in a loose and inventive mood.

[therewillbeblus]

Mr & Mrs Smith is great, particularly the physical comedy in the restaurant scene

[flyonthewall2983]

The Flash: The Original series(1990-91)

This one is deep in the memory banks. I remember its run on CBS, but haven’t seen much of it since.

[hearthesilence]

It used to play on the Sci-Fi Network which didn’t even exist until after the show’s original brief run. I did read the Flash in grade school and caught possibly the entire series, and IIRC the show was a pretty faithful adaptation that also left a mark on the comic (DC Comics incorporated the subtle aesthetic improvements made to his costume for the TV show). It supposedly had good ratings but not enough to justify the high cost, hence the one and only season. Danny Elfman did the theme music and it had a shadowy dark but colorful look that (at least to a kid’s eyes) made it a good match to the Batman movies or at least the first one Burton made, so it’s likely a precursor to building a “universe” (ugh) by making a TV show and series of movies look like they could have been done within the same production.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

All I remember besides the bright costume was the shock to my innocent eyes of a guy getting shot. It'd be a few more years before I'd hear of Superman being faster than a speeding bullet!

[captveg]

It used to play on the Sci-Fi Network which didn’t even exist until after the show’s original brief run. I did read the Flash in grade school and caught possibly the entire series, and IIRC the show was a pretty faithful adaptation that also left a mark on the comic (DC Comics incorporated the subtle aesthetic improvements made to his costume for the TV show). It supposedly had good ratings but not enough to justify the high cost, hence the one and only season. Danny Elfman did the theme music and it had a shadowy dark but colorful look that (at least to a kid’s eyes) made it a good match to the Batman movies or at least the first one Burton made, so it’s likely a precursor to building a “universe” (ugh) by making a TV show and series of movies look like they could have been done within the same production.

I never watched the newer CW Flash show myself, but I know that they made connections to the 90s show in several ways, including the main thing I remember the 90s show for: Mark Hammill as the villain Trickster.

[FrauBlucher]

On the latest The Extras podcast Feltenstein says, "another silent film, that's been in the works for quite some time, which we hope to be releasing in the next few months."

[tolbs1010]

Act Of Violence upgrade is most welcome, even though my Film Noir Vol. 4 copy has served me well for many years now.

A unique noir that elicits great drama from a difficult, downbeat wartime topic so soon after WWII. Fred Zinnemann made many more famous award-winning pictures, but this is easily my favorite of his films. Heflin and Ryan are flat-out great in the lead roles. Their performances exemplify their careers as atypical leading men who excelled in unusual, and sometimes unlikable/unflattering, roles. Ryan's vengeful intensity is frightening, and Heflin makes guilt/cowardice almost sympathetic. Janet Leigh is very good as well in an underwritten role.

A terrific movie all-around that needed time to be better appreciated. I can't imagine audiences of the time wanting to pay to see this. I will gladly pay for it again to see it in a crisper presentation.

[pistolwink]

I remember The Flash seeming too crappy even for my 12-year-old tastes. To each his own!

[JakeStewart]

Can anyone vouch for The Alaskans? It’s being sold as a forgotten TV gem, but is there anything to that?