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Peter Jackson has made a special documentary about World War I; he has taken film of British soldiers, cleaned it up, removing defects from grainy footage and so forth and colorized it. The documentary received rave reviews when it was shown in the U.K.  

The documentary is being shown in theatres tomorrow, December 17, and December 27 that feature Fathom Events. I plan on going tomorrow. 

Here's a review from the LA Times. 

Peter Jackson’s documentary ‘They Shall Not Grow Old’ brings WWI footage to life

 

Edited by Brad
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1 hour ago, Brad said:

Peter Jackson has made a special documentary about World War I; he has taken film of British soldiers, cleaned it up, removing defects from grainy footage and so forth and colorized it. The documentary received rave reviews when it was shown in the U.K.  

The documentary is being shown in theatres tomorrow, December 17, and December 27 that feature Fathom Events. I plan on going tomorrow. 

Here's a review from the LA Times. 

Peter Jackson’s documentary ‘They Shall Not Grow Old’ brings WWI footage to life

 

It was on TV over here during Nov. Outstanding, not to be missed. It switches from jerky B&W to full colour when the troops reach the front line, just breathtaking. A very good - albeit sobering and gut wrenching - overview of the typical WW1 British/Commonwealth troop experience from a historical  perspective as well.

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Watched both Wind and the (longer) doc last night, film before doc. The film is epic, fascinating in every regard. The doc was enjoyable enough, but other than some interesting back story, like the whole Rich Little thing, and the Bogdonavich as Jerry Lewis footage, didn't really add anything to what I had already processed while watching the film. The stories about  the tortuous shooting schedules and such...nice to know, but all the different film stocks flashing back and forth over individual scenes indicates at least the possibility of that. But the cumulative impact is greater than any "mother of invention" root cause. I men, it works, period. And for all I know, it was an idea already present in Welles' rough edits to begin with. Whatever. It works, period.

The one thing that stood out to me about the film that I've yet to see addressed is the score, which is nothing sort of spectacular, not the actual music itself (although much of it is fine, including as it does Jaki Byard and Buddy Rich(!!!!) as well as Legrand's own work) but how it really holds the film's narrative(s) together. Trying to imagine this crazy night/party w/out these musics playing almost continuously in the background...I didn't look at the credits hard enough to figure out exactly who was ultimately responsible for getting all this done, but surely there should be an Oscar for whatever category this is.

I've yet to look at the shorter doc, and am not sure where to find it? But even if this finished product is in some major way a posthumous "reconstruction" rather than a finished product by Welles himself, it is, imo, a very major work. And without Welles' original work, there would not be this to reconstruct.

First movie I've seen in a looooong time that left me feeling,,,adrenalized about film as possibility. Orson Welles, ftw.

 

 

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2 hours ago, JSngry said:

Watched both Wind and the (longer) doc last night, film before doc. The film is epic, fascinating in every regard...

First movie I've seen in a looooong time that left me feeling,,,adrenalized about film as possibility. Orson Welles, ftw.

Thrilled to hear such a positive report!  To be honest, not having seen it, I am (was?) a little trepidacious about 'programming' it for an after-work event (at work).  How 'significant' are the R(?)-rated aspects of the material?  Is this something I really shouldn't even consider trying to do for an after-work event, with a mixed-gender batch of co-workers?  I mean, I guess I'm sort of asking from an *HR-perspective* too -- no small issue in this day and age (and I'm NOT trying to get into a debate about that -- it is what it is, and I wouldn't want to open a can of worms here trying to pontificate about whether that's the way it should be, or not).  I'll cut to the chase -- how 'gratuitous' is the nudity?  And is it fleeting? Or more lingering? Like are we talking 1-2 minutes at a stretch a couple times?  (Or part of the crazy, fast, jump-cutting "movie within a movie"?)  Or more like 1 or 2 full *five-minute* scenes that are going to be a lot more awkward??

I wouldn't care much if it were half of our staff all going to a showing in the art-house movie theater down the street -- but what I'm suggesting is a hemi-demi-semi-sanctioned "work" event *at work* (on a half-big screen in our auditorium, so I can ostensibly "see it in a theater"). And the more I'm thinking about it, I do not want to get anyone (least of all myself) in any hot water, about the content.

Worst case, I could probably buy our tech guy a six-pack, and have him set a up a private showing for a dozen of us -- a much more carefully limited audience (of co-workers, and maybe some , that I could more easily say "hey, there's gonna be some of 'this' in the film -- just so you know".  FWIW, we are an organization that's mostly "adults" (not just adults), and I suspect the interest -- given the age of the film -- will result in nearly all intelligently "self-selected" folks.  But I guess I still don't want to run afoul of better judgement (and my concern is that "better judgement" would say pay off the tech-guy to show it for less than a dozen of us, and don't pitch the invite more widely (internally only, of course -- this ISN'T a public showing).

Any advice?  Thanks in advance!

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There's a big lot of nudity in the "film within a film", mostly Oja Kodar, none of it fleeting or discreet. And the almost opening scene is a full bore lesbian orgy (also, presumably, filmed for the film within a film). There's is an exquisitely erotic car fuck scene. It's one of those things that if you get what it's supposed to be, the skill of the editing will blow your mind, and/but you can also laugh at the parody aspect of the whole "film", which is pretty scathing, really (showing the reels out of sequence at a drive-in, "what difference does it make?" HA!

But unless your workplace consists  exclusively of people who would get it, I don't know that I'd not run it past HR first for several reasons, not the least of which being that most people today have a totally different view of what to expect from a movie today than what this one delivers in damn near every aspect. I'm tempted to call them "ignorant". actually, in the old sense of just not knowing at any level. Seems like today it's either action or emo in some form or fashion, almost always with the barest level of nuance, if indeed there is any. This is not that. This is almost a violent assault of nuance and subtext and you really will want to let it flow and do what it do, there's a story being told, a deep story, but there's so many otherwise intelligent people who feel about a movie the way they think about music - they don't go there for a challenge, but to be easily entertained with the confirmation of what they think they already know. If you're worried about those type, then you have hear not only a can of worms, you have a full weekend fishing trip.

And oh yeah, John Huston is a MOTHERFUCKER in this role, you best believe that!

Now - have you even gotten a quote for what a private screening will cost? I can't imagine it will be cheap, especially at this time. But I could be wrong!

 

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5 minutes ago, JSngry said:

And oh yeah, John Huston is a MOTHERFUCKER in this role, you best believe that!

Now - have you even gotten a quote for what a private screening will cost? I can't imagine it will be cheap, especially at this time. But I could be wrong.

I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever about John Huston in this film.  His 15-seconds in the 2-minute trailer convinced me of that.  And frankly. that's HALF the reason I want to see this film.

I was just going to run it off Netflix at work, with the projector at work - after hours.

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Just for grins, I took a look at Winter Kills this morning, to see how Huston's performance compared to Wind. No comparison. Winter Kills apparently has some kind of cult fandom, but it seems to me to be a potentially good idea executed by not particularly deft hands. Huston is Huston, but the setups and surroundings of both the plot and the direction give him an unfortunately low ceiling.

Huston & Welles, though damn, you talk about two motherfuckers carpe-dieming, this is it. You can feel the love and the respect on both sides. And the challenge. One for the ages, imo.

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3 hours ago, Rooster_Ties said:

Thrilled to hear such a positive report!  To be honest, not having seen it, I am (was?) a little trepidacious about 'programming' it for an after-work event (at work).  How 'significant' are the R(?)-rated aspects of the material?  Is this something I really shouldn't even consider trying to do for an after-work event, with a mixed-gender batch of co-workers?  I mean, I guess I'm sort of asking from an *HR-perspective* too -- no small issue in this day and age (and I'm NOT trying to get into a debate about that -- it is what it is, and I wouldn't want to open a can of worms here trying to pontificate about whether that's the way it should be, or not).  I'll cut to the chase -- how 'gratuitous' is the nudity?  And is it fleeting? Or more lingering? Like are we talking 1-2 minutes at a stretch a couple times?  (Or part of the crazy, fast, jump-cutting "movie within a movie"?)  Or more like 1 or 2 full *five-minute* scenes that are going to be a lot more awkward??

I wouldn't care much if it were half of our staff all going to a showing in the art-house movie theater down the street -- but what I'm suggesting is a hemi-demi-semi-sanctioned "work" event *at work* (on a half-big screen in our auditorium, so I can ostensibly "see it in a theater"). And the more I'm thinking about it, I do not want to get anyone (least of all myself) in any hot water, about the content.

Worst case, I could probably buy our tech guy a six-pack, and have him set a up a private showing for a dozen of us -- a much more carefully limited audience (of co-workers, and maybe some , that I could more easily say "hey, there's gonna be some of 'this' in the film -- just so you know".  FWIW, we are an organization that's mostly "adults" (not just adults), and I suspect the interest -- given the age of the film -- will result in nearly all intelligently "self-selected" folks.  But I guess I still don't want to run afoul of better judgement (and my concern is that "better judgement" would say pay off the tech-guy to show it for less than a dozen of us, and don't pitch the invite more widely (internally only, of course -- this ISN'T a public showing).

Any advice?  Thanks in advance!

My advice is watch it at home.  A lot of people won't get it  and there is a lot of gratuitous nudity (apparently Oja's idea-- she brags about bringing a sexuality to the film that Welles had never delivered before).   I suspect that there's a lot of swearing also but I don't tend to notice that so don't remember  for sure. 

Edited by medjuck
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22 hours ago, medjuck said:

They'll Love Me When I'm Dead is 98 minutes long.    Not sure of the length or title of the other doc. 

The shorter doc is called "A Final Cut for Orson: 40 Years in the Making" and is just under 39 minutes long. 

On 12/16/2018 at 10:32 PM, johnblitweiler said:

This is something new for me:

In 2018 I volunteered to help program a student film society and one of the series I proposed, a Satyajit Ray series, was accepted.  It will happen for 10 weeks in the spring, a night after a 10-week Claude Chabrol series.  (I know, 10 weeks is merely an overview of both directors.)  No problem locating 35mm  or 16mm prints to show, but finding and contacting he/she who has the rights to these has been a bit of a problem

A bigger one is, for another series proposal, finding who has the rights to the Bert Stern film "Jazz on a Summer's Day" now that Stern has died and the distributor has vanished.  So far just some dodgy advice or "try so-and-so" who suggests trying someone else.

Some of you Organissimo folks have experience programming film groups or eaters.  Is there somewhere a grand catalogue of who currently own copyrights to films and who distributes them?  

I think Janus Films has the domestic rights to all of the Ray films that Criterion has released on Blu-ray/DVD (The Apu Trilogy, THE MUSIC ROOM, CHARULATA, THE BIG CITY, and several others). I don't think they circulate prints for these, but they do offer bookings for DCPs for several of them. They can be contacted at booking@janusfilms.com. 

I could swear I read something not too long ago about an impending Blu-ray release of JAZZ ON A SUMMER'S DAY, but I can't seem to find any mention of if anywhere now. If true, that would obviously provide a path forward for some inquiries as to who the rightsholder is. 

Unfortunately, determining the copyright status of motion pictures is frequently an undertaking that's complicated enough to require retaining the services of professionals who perform such research for hire. If I had a need for such services, the first person I'd contact would be Eli Savada at the Motion Picture Information Service. 

https://www.facebook.com/mpisonline/

Edited by Dave Garrett
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On 12/16/2018 at 10:50 AM, sidewinder said:

It was on TV over here during Nov. Outstanding, not to be missed. It switches from jerky B&W to full colour when the troops reach the front line, just breathtaking. A very good - albeit sobering and gut wrenching - overview of the typical WW1 British/Commonwealth troop experience from a historical  perspective as well.

I saw this yesterday and it's amazing, which is an understatement.  On top of your comments, it's also in 3D. The essence of the film is life in the trenches and surviving bombardments and that seems as real as you can get.  The actual fighting scenes were more generic because it was hard for a cameraman to follow the soldiers into action. What makes this amazing is the 3D effect and the colorization. After the movie was over Peter Jackson talked about how he made the movie and that was more amazing still. For example, he had people lip read what some of the soldiers were saying and then when they figured out where that battalion was from, he’d have people from that area read the lines.

Another example was how they slowed the film down. WWI film was shot at different speeds than today. They managed to get every film down to the correct speed. 

His attention to detail was outstanding. Amazing film.

Edited by Brad
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10 hours ago, Brad said:

I saw this yesterday and it's amazing, which is an understatement.  On top of your comments, it's also in 3D. The essence of the film is life in the trenches and surviving bombardments and that seems as real as you can get.  The actual fighting scenes were more generic because it was hard for a cameraman to follow the soldiers into action. What makes this amazing is the 3D effect and the colorization. After the movie was over Peter Jackson talked about how he made the movie and that was more amazing still. For example, he had people lip read what some of the soldiers were saying and then when they figured out where that battalion was from, he’d have people from that area read the lines.

Another example was how they slowed the film down. WWI film was shot at different speeds than today. They managed to get every film down to the correct speed. 

His attention to detail was outstanding. Amazing film.

I agree. I didn't see it in 3D but was very impressed. You've mentioned all the points I'd make so I won't repeat them.

The moment the film morphs from b&w into dazzlingly impressive colour with crisp sound to match was stunning.

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6 hours ago, medjuck said:

How'd you like it? I stopped watching after an hour (shortly after Natalie Portman first appears!).   I almost never do that but I really disliked the film. 

It wasn't Black Swan, but I give Natalie Portman the benefit of the doubt. If you take it as a "Faustian" tale or Robert Johnson meets the devil at the crossroads, it might work better.

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Colette - Wash Westmoreland (2018)

Image result for colette film

Enjoyable. Good cast, storyline and photography. The film sparkles and is worth watching.

Lizzie - Craig McNeill (2018)

Related image

Earnest and rather dull. The two women are very good but the film as a whole seemed deadeningly bleak.

Almost the polar opposite of the exuberant Colette.

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On 12/19/2018 at 1:02 PM, JSngry said:

I'm having trouble finding a streaming, non-YouTube version of A Final Cut for Orson. It's not on Netflix, at least not that I can find. Any leads/suggestions?

Why non-YouTube? The first hit on a YouTube search is an HD version (720 instead of 1080, but close enough to HD) apparently ripped from Netflix.

I don't have a Netflix account, but if you go to the official Netflix site for the film, A Final Cut for Orson appears to be streamable from there:

https://www.netflix.com/title/80085566

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wow, the older Roku Netflix app doesn't have the trailer function. Let's see if the newer one does. I like to watch in bed, which is the room with the old one. But the interface on the newer one is kinda wonky, tries to do a lot of your thinking for you, and I don't like that. So it's out in the den. Let's see.

Oddly enough, the Prime Video app has all that stuff, and more.

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14 hours ago, Dave Garrett said:

Why non-YouTube? The first hit on a YouTube search is an HD version (720 instead of 1080, but close enough to HD) apparently ripped from Netflix.

I don't have a Netflix account, but if you go to the official Netflix site for the film, A Final Cut for Orson appears to be streamable from there:

https://www.netflix.com/title/80085566

Wow, the newer Roku, the one with the interface we don't like as much, out in the den on the TV we don't watch as much, does indeed have the Trailer function on its Netflix app. So now I've seen the trifecta of offerings around this project. Time well spent, all of it. And actually, I like this one better than the longer one, it's more aboput the work behing "the work", and that kind of thing always fascinates me. Every time I see something like this, it's a reminder that a movie, the thing itself, never mind the art that does or doesn't go into it, is a hard thing to make. Factor in the epic recovery missions that went into making this one, including getting the sound and voices up to standard, and surely thiss project deserves some kind of broader recognition than just a Netflix documentary.

I wondered how much attention they were going to give to the score, and sure enough, they have Legrand talking about hos it was his concept to have music playing non-stop throughout the film, just like you would have had at a party of this nature, and then somebody else saying that the continuos music was essential to the "glue" or something like that.. a-HA! Glad I wasn't just imagining that.

But what they don't talk about is the addition of other non-Legrand music. There are two Jaki Byard solo tracks in this thing (confirmed on closing credits) and a Blue Cheer song used in the movie-with-in-the-movie, and,,,just read the closing credits. It's a damn good score, just what Legrand wrote for it, but...there's more!

So...whose job would it have been to have gotten all that additional music added/sequenced/inserted? Legrand himself, wouldn't have gone that, would he? The next time I watch the film, what credit should I be looking for? Whoever it was did a helluva GREAT job.

Too bad the days of the OST album are gone (they are, aren't they?). This would make for a really good one.

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