Mill Creek

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rockysds
Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 11:25 am
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Mill Creek

#1 Post by rockysds » Sat Nov 30, 2013 4:52 pm

Mill Creek is releasing an 8-film collection Silver Screen Romances getting some of the OOP Columbias back out there (in a better way than this). Includes:

It Should Happen to You
The Marrying Kind
We Were Strangers
Angels Over Broadway
Music in My Heart
Adam Had Four Sons
Down to Earth
The Solid Gold Cadillac

Cheap at $10, but it's only two discs.

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domino harvey
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Re: Columbia Classics

#2 Post by domino harvey » Sat Nov 30, 2013 5:34 pm

Damn, a lot of great titles there but four shoved to a disc? Yikes, that's six hours at best on each disc

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kingofthejungle
Joined: Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:25 am

Re: Columbia Classics

#3 Post by kingofthejungle » Sun Dec 01, 2013 9:18 am

Since it's Mill Creek, I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be two flipper discs, which would mean around 3-4 hours a side. Still not great, but perhaps close to acceptable.

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domino harvey
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Re: Columbia Classics

#4 Post by domino harvey » Fri Feb 07, 2014 7:31 pm

rockysds wrote:Mill Creek is releasing an 8-film collection Silver Screen Romances getting some of the OOP Columbias back out there (in a better way than this). Includes:

It Should Happen to You
The Marrying Kind
We Were Strangers
Angels Over Broadway
Music in My Heart
Adam Had Four Sons
Down to Earth
The Solid Gold Cadillac

Cheap at $10, but it's only two discs.
Just got my copy (the case for which appears to have been folded in half hot dog style en route-- wow)-- four films per single sided disc in two hubs (no sleeves). They didn't carry over the subs from the original discs and the chapters are weird-- like four a film but at odd junctures? I've only browsed the first disc: the Solid Gold Cadillac, which I've only seen streaming, and Angels Over Broadway and We Were Strangers, which I have the original Columbia discs. No surprise: Mill Creek's version look like total shit, compressed to hell-- they look like a 360p YouTube rip (so, could be worse, but still not very good). We Were Strangers looks a bit better than the other two transfer wise, for whatever that's worth. Can do some DVD comparison screens (for We Were Strangers, Down to Earth, and Angels Over Broadway) later if anyone's curious.

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kingofthejungle
Joined: Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:25 am

Re: Mill Creek

#5 Post by kingofthejungle » Sat Feb 08, 2014 11:58 am

That's incredibly disappointing.

I don't understand why they couldn't have at least sprung for two-sided discs and given us something watchable. Perhaps years of PD mentality has just seared itself into their brains. Now that they have the means to produce discs from decent quality transfers, they see it as leeway to further compress the video - making it just as worthless as everything they put out in the past.

I would be interested in screen cap comparisons if you have the time, though.

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captveg
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Re: Columbia Classics

#6 Post by captveg » Fri May 02, 2014 2:03 pm

7/22/14

The Legend of Billie Jean (1985) - via Mill Creek

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domino harvey
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Re: Columbia Classics

#7 Post by domino harvey » Fri May 02, 2014 2:19 pm

On Blu-ray? Excellent!

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knives
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Re: Columbia Classics

#8 Post by knives » Fri May 02, 2014 2:57 pm

Sweet, I've been hoping for this to get a proper release.

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domino harvey
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Re: Mill Creek

#9 Post by domino harvey » Fri May 02, 2014 5:48 pm

Mill Creek Entertainment will add five titles to its Blu-ray catalog in July: Matthew Robbins' The Legend of Billie Jean (1985), Phil Joanou's Gridiron Gang (2006), Luis Llosa's Anaconda (1997), John McTiernan's Last Action Hero (1993), and Mike Newell's Donnie Brasco (1997). All titles will be available for purchase on July 22.

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sir_luke
Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2013 9:55 pm

Re: Mill Creek

#10 Post by sir_luke » Fri May 02, 2014 6:21 pm

John McTiernan's Last Action Hero (1993)
I shouldn't be excited for this. I KNOW I shouldn't be excited for this.

Zot!
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 12:09 am

Re: Mill Creek

#11 Post by Zot! » Fri May 02, 2014 8:32 pm

sir_luke wrote:
John McTiernan's Last Action Hero (1993)
I shouldn't be excited for this. I KNOW I shouldn't be excited for this.
It's already available. I assume it will be a reprint of the existing release under the Mill Creek banner.

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domino harvey
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Re: Mill Creek

#12 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jul 17, 2014 12:10 pm


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rockysds
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Re: Mill Creek

#13 Post by rockysds » Fri Jul 18, 2014 9:09 am

Sony's MOD Lucille Ball release of Her Husband's Affair, Miss Grant Takes Richmond, The Fuller Brush Girl & The Magic Carpet reappearing as a pressed two-disc set from Mill Creek.
First Lady of Comedy

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domino harvey
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Re: Mill Creek

#14 Post by domino harvey » Fri Jul 18, 2014 9:14 am

Wow, and they didn't even try to cram all four films onto one disc. Nice catch (and the Fuller Brush Girl was one of Tashlin's last screenwriting gigs before he moved to the director's seat)

flyonthewall2983
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Re: Mill Creek

#15 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Fri Jul 18, 2014 9:18 am

Zot! wrote:
sir_luke wrote:
John McTiernan's Last Action Hero (1993)
I shouldn't be excited for this. I KNOW I shouldn't be excited for this.
It's already available. I assume it will be a reprint of the existing release under the Mill Creek banner.
Just with a much better cover.

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domino harvey
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Re: Mill Creek

#16 Post by domino harvey » Thu Sep 11, 2014 3:33 pm

Mill Creek has rescued some more films from Sony's MOD program:

Luv now appears in Jack Lemmon Showcase: Volume 1 (with My Sister Eileen, Under the Yum Yum Tree, and Phfft!) and Three For the Show in Jack Lemmon Showcase: Volume 2 (With Good Neighbor Sam, Operation: Mad Ball, and the Notorious Landlady). These are both 2-disc sets, two films to a disc (and the original Sony discs were I believe all single-layer, so the quality difference should be negligible)

Lord Jim, which was originally pressed but then brought back via MOD is now out again as a single release (though Amazon's listing has it as full-frame. Can anyone find an image of the back of the new disc or who owns it confirm the aspect ratio?). Doctor Faustus with Burton and Taylor has also been brought back out of print this summer by Mill Creek as a solo release and has the same wrong aspect ratio in the Amazon description. Any confirmation on either title would be appreciated!

EDIT: Wild Side has released Lord Jim on Blu-ray in France, so nevermind

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Gregory
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Re: Mill Creek

#17 Post by Gregory » Wed Nov 12, 2014 1:01 am

rockysds wrote:Sony's MOD Lucille Ball release of Her Husband's Affair, Miss Grant Takes Richmond, The Fuller Brush Girl & The Magic Carpet reappearing as a pressed two-disc set from Mill Creek.
First Lady of Comedy
I don't know what happened with this set, but on my copy at least, they've stretched Her Husband's Affairs horizontally to fill a widescreen format. I wonder if this was definitely Mill Creek's error. I was looking forward to watching that one, too (screenplay by Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer).

Zot!
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Re: Mill Creek

#18 Post by Zot! » Wed Nov 12, 2014 2:03 am

flyonthewall2983 wrote:
Zot! wrote:
John McTiernan's Last Action Hero (1993)
It's already available. I assume it will be a reprint of the existing release under the Mill Creek banner.
Just with a much better cover.
Erm...I was wrong, you're losing the lossless audio and lowering the bitrate of the video encode with the Mill Creek. Buyer beware.

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Paul Moran
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:06 pm
Location: UK

Re: Mill Creek

#19 Post by Paul Moran » Wed Nov 12, 2014 6:21 pm

Gregory wrote:
rockysds wrote:Sony's MOD Lucille Ball release of Her Husband's Affair, Miss Grant Takes Richmond, The Fuller Brush Girl & The Magic Carpet reappearing as a pressed two-disc set from Mill Creek.
First Lady of Comedy
I don't know what happened with this set, but on my copy at least, they've stretched Her Husband's Affairs horizontally to fill a widescreen format. I wonder if this was definitely Mill Creek's error. I was looking forward to watching that one, too (screenplay by Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer).
Same on mine. It's probably just an incorrect code. I reset my TV's aspect ratio to 4:3 - it's usually on 16:9 Auto - and it played perfectly in 4:3 aspect ratio.

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Gregory
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm

Re: Mill Creek

#20 Post by Gregory » Wed Nov 12, 2014 8:53 pm

My projector won't allow me to manually change the aspect ratio when it's connected with HDMI, so I rooted around in the basement for a couple of RCA cables and tried connecting the projector with each of them but there was no picture when hooking it up that way and changing the source setting. I guess I could dig out the other projector I have, hook it up, and see what I can do, but what a waste of time, and all because Mill Creek apparently don't even concern themselves with the most basic quality control standards.

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Paul Moran
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Location: UK

Re: Mill Creek

#21 Post by Paul Moran » Wed Nov 12, 2014 10:42 pm

QC would be nice, but I suppose the selling price doesn't leave much room for it. Even Criterion have been letting some real duds slip through. Originally, I used my old Momitsu, connected by HDMI directly to the TV, to play all 4 films - I save the Momitsu for the less demanding DVDs, which aren't worth pushing through the AV system. Oddly, when I tried them a few minutes ago, my Oppo 93 and Oppo 83 (HDMI via the AV receiver) played Her Husband's Affairs in 4:3 without any problem, with the TV on the normal 16:9 Auto setting. All 3 BDPs are on their 16:9 Auto setting (Oppo 16:9 Wide/Auto; Momitsu 16:9PB).

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captveg
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Re: Mill Creek

#22 Post by captveg » Mon Jan 19, 2015 6:22 pm

The Wild One (1953) on Blu-ray 3/17/15 (licensed from Sony)

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Ashirg
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:10 am
Location: Atlanta

Re: Mill Creek

#23 Post by Ashirg » Mon Jan 19, 2015 8:28 pm

It's been noted elsewhere that they are also releasing The Lady from Shanghai on March 17. Here is info from their sell sheet:
TCM has recently released a Blu-ray + DVD combo of this film. We are both using the same 4k restoration master. Their product has a $29.99 SRP and while this release will be at only $14.98.

AfterTheRain
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Re: Mill Creek

#24 Post by AfterTheRain » Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:01 pm

Does it say if they'll include the special features from the TCM release or not?

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warren oates
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 12:16 pm

Re: Mill Creek

#25 Post by warren oates » Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:31 pm

Getting the right contrast/brightness setting on the transfer is the only special feature I'm interested in at this point.

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