Recently watched movies

[plang]

Yes, in the proper context, commentaries are very interesting.
On the other hand, it can ruin your thoughts and wonderment on what you experienced as for a short time you imagined as real, of course you knew all along it was not real, and even the most intelligent people let their minds wander just for a release from reality, but to have to go to 'the making of ' in order to confirm it was not real is a bummer.
An example would be 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'
I liked to imagine that Butch and Sundance really did jump off that cliff into the river to escape that posse. But on the 'extras' it fully explained how they faked it. Is that necessary?

In contrast, bloopers of sitcoms as extras on a DVD is something I look for on the back cover. Can't get enough of actors blowing their lines and truly having fun with it.

[steje73]

I love watching stuff with commentaries on. My wife reckons I have an addiction, but I don't care!

[Mike Covell]

With Blu-Ray, will we have a 2 hour movie and 15 hours of extras?

Not Rich enough for Blue Ray just yet Stan, sounds intresting though, one has to wonder just what is included in 15 hours of extras!

About 10 years ago, I purchased "The Usual Suspects" on video, it came as a double set and on the second tape was the film, with commentary!!

As far as I know, this was the first time it had been done on video, laser disc being the first medium for the commentary in disc format.

[sdreid]

With Blu-Ray, will we have a 2 hour movie and 15 hours of extras?

[Mike Covell]

I remember in the old days when I first started stocking DVD's in my store, on the back it said,

SPECIAL FEATURES........Interactive Menu's!

Now these are featured on every disk and it was the studio's way of saying, we have not really added anything!

Another dubious release was a 12 rated film, which was released as a 15 rated disk, because the trailer before the film was for a slasher!!!

If the extra's add something to the viewing experience, then I am all for it.
Gladiator both 2 and 3 disk releases are fantastic, the commentary alone was worth it.

Ghandi was a good dvd release as it featured loads of film rolls from the period.

Cleopatra was a great release, it was filled with hours of rare documentaries.

I like the extras on "From Hell" and they were well put together.

Jaws had some great extras on, such as a massive documentary, which when you watch, makes you want to watch the film again!

Dog Soldiers, the Brit werewolf flick had a great commentary, they basically got all the lads from the film, a couple of crates of beer and let them chat!

The Mummy (Brendan Fraser) had a commentary where the makers of the movie pointed out all the mistakes!!

Goonies had a split screen so you could watch the cast now, commenting on the film!!


I like the idea of releasing 2 versions, one with extras, one without, but hate the idea of aniversary releases!

I am also glad Warner Brothers got rid of the cardboard boxes, the plastic ones keep longer!!

[plang]

DVD 'extra' features are just another marketing ploy.

of course, that is just an opinion, I could be wrong

[sdreid]

Hi Tom,

Those extras do sound inviting.

[Tom_Wescott]

I actually liked that Zodiac movie except I didn't care for the way they glossed over the first murders. I don't know what they were thinking in that regard.

No kidding, I wondered the same thing and that's a good part of what I didn't like the first time I saw it. Maybe when I listen to the commentary I'll get an answer to that I can share with you. But dude, you GOTTA see those documentaries. Lot of good stuff, including photos I've never seen. Lot of info that had never been published before.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[sdreid]

I actually liked that Zodiac movie except I didn't care for the way they glossed over the first murders. I don't know what they were thinking in that regard.

[Tom_Wescott]

I bought the 2 disc edition of Zodiac with the really cool Zodiac letter cover. I didn't care for the movie the first time I saw but I liked it a lot on the second go. Also, they have the best Zodiac documentary EVERY produced, which includes onscreem interviews with the two surviving Zodiac victims - Mike Mageau and Bryan Hartnell, who haven't given interviews like this since 1969. There's a second documentary about Arthur Leigh Allen that's also a must see.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[sdreid]

I watched Bordertown, about Juarez, last night. It was OK but it seemed to be more interested in a political message telling us how unfair NAFTA is than giving us the story about the terrible murders.

The film Borderland is much better in my view so this is another pair not to confuse.

[plang]

Sam. Re: Post #151.
Although the Lothians had strong ties to the Romans their ties with Brythons were only in that they spoke Celtic.

[Magpie]

Hi Monty.

I believe it's the BBC version (at least it's on the bfs label) :

http://www.amazon.com/Woman-Black-Adrian-Rawlins/dp/B00004UEEU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1208761224&sr=1-1

[Monty]

Magpie,

This a film or the old BBC adaptation?

Monty

[Magpie]

Woman in black is an excellent play thats been on at the Fortune theatre for many years, I saw it in September. It was originally a book back in the 80s. Its a ghost story that, as far as I know, has only been adapted for tv and not film. Its an old fashioned, M R James style and is excellent for a small theatre such as The Fortune.

It is available on DVD, although it's quite expensive.