LiC Gets the Friday Screen Test Treatment
By Craig Kennedy - June 20th, 2008; 7:30 am
At DVD Panache, Adam Ross runs a weekly feature called Friday Screen Test where he takes someone who writes about movies, ties them to a chair, turns a hot light on them and grills them with movie related questions.
I recently survived the experience and Adam has posted the results this morning.
Head on over to DVD Panache and look around. You’ll be glad you did.
Filed under: Miscellaneous
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That’s awesome, Craig. For this part, WHO WOULD YOU AWARD AN HONORARY BEST ACTOR/ACTRESS OSCAR TO: ‘He already received an honorary Oscar, but I’d have to say Cary Grant for His Girl Friday or any other of a number of films. He was good in light comedy or drama. He could be the romantic lead or he could be more sinister. He made it look so easy that I think he was taken for granted.’ I’m glad he didn’t succumb and type it as GRANTed.
Need.Coffee.
Finish “Annie Hall,” Craig. Just … finish it….
I have to revisit Annie Hall, as I was actually pretty young when I saw it. Now I think I would have a different perspective and a greater appreciation of it.
Dr. Strangelove is getting moved up in my Netflix queue. Must see that again right away. :-)
gooble gobble…
>-)
lol, Daniel.
great interview Craig! But I was sad at the end when he forgot to ask you, “what’s your favorite curse word?”
Have been meaning ask you, which of the many DVD incarnations of Strangelove do you recommend? I have a really old edition, and have been meaning to upgrade, but not sure which conflicting opinion to trust. Who better to ask than the meister?
Craig, that is so awesome.
I love Annie Hall, so damn much, own that on DVD.
I, however, have not seen Dr. Strangelove in a while, want to check that one out again.
Awesome interview Craig. I especially like the three things you’ve learned from films.
Ryan, get the newest edition, the 40th anniversary release. It has more extras including all the ones from the previous special edition and it’s split over two discs, meaning the movie itself suffered a little less compression on disc. Great special edition too. The extras are fun.
This was a great interview, and rightfully, DR. STRANGELOVE, which provides the tag head of your own illustrious site, takes center stage again! Class!
Harvey. I will. I swear. (hangs head in shame)
Ryan. If you find yourself in a room with a Kubrick nerd, you could probably argue for days about the varying aspect ratios Kubrick used on Strangelove and what it all means…of course if I walked into the room it’s only a question of which one of you I’d shoot first.
The other question is about image quality and extras. If you’re picky about either or both, get the 40th Anniversary edition from 2004. It’s got more gewgaws and more importantly it’s a better transfer from a master rather than a print. It hasn’t been tweaked like earlier versions so it’s a bit darker than what you might be used to.
Ok, I see I started typing then was called away from my desk only to find Joel already answered that question. Ignore me.
Also..hahhah Alison, I noticed that pun and almost changed the wording…
thanks Joel. I saw a Japanese version that purported to be a “superbit” transfer, but could never find much evidence that it was any better.
I had heard that the double-disc edition has the better anamorphic transfer, since the special features are on disc 2, but then I also hear that the whole movie is cropped to 1.66:1 or even 1.85:1 — while I believe much of the film is meant to be 1.33:1.
The screenshots I’ve seen for the 40th edition have looked dark to me, but now I can’t remember where I saw those, so I might be imagining it. Or maybe I’m paranoid. Hate for anybody to mess with my vital essence.
Great interview, Craig. Really enjoyed reading that.
Annie Hall is one of those “soothing” films I like to watch every once in a while. To me, it’s one of those perfect films of the ’70s. Shocked, mystified and, honestly, horrified that you haven’t seen it all the way through. (Just kidding.)
Nicely done, Craig! Our fearless leader done us proud. I wish I could average 250 movies a year. What the heck have I been doing with my time? I need to start keeping a movie journal, maybe that’ll help.
So my own most embarrassing lapse in movie-watching, particularly in light of this post? Doc Strangelove, I’m afraid. But I bought the 2001 special edition of the DVD recently, so I’m determined to see it soon.
I’ve also never been to a drive-in. Is that un-American?
What the heck have you been doing with your time? Probably having a life!…What’s that like?
Not seeing Dr. Strangelove is definitely un-American, but you’re pretty safe with the Drive-In thing. For one thing, there just aren’t that many of them. They were a waning fad even when I was a kid, but we had a big family and my dad was cheap. Hard to pass up getting a whole pile of kids into a movie for one low carload price.
My parents once took us to a drive-in movie when we were kids. Only once. We had a station wagon, can’t remember the movie or who was in it, since whatever it was it bored us to tears. My brother and I spent the night climbing back and forth between the front seat, the middle seat and the very backseat. By the end of the night our parents had reached their living end.
Ryan and Craig, I take back what I said earlier. I forgot about the whole aspect ratio issue with those Strangelove transfers. Amazing that with all those double dips, they still haven’t settled it. Looking at the DVDBeaver entry on that film, the 2004 edition is problematic to say the least.
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare7/drstrangelove5.htm
To be fair, I have the 2001 SE with less extras. I rented the 2004 version and watched the extras, not sure if I remember the movie itself being an issue.
I’ve also seen Strangelove in the theater a number of times, including the last big set of reissues for the 40th anniversary and I recall it being screened in 1.33:1 but I could be wrong about that. My recollection is that cropping it to anything other than 1.33:1 would be a mistake.
SORRY!!! I spoke too soon.
how do you remember 1985 ????????
i can’t even remember 2005. really i can’t
I can’t remember June 5th, glim.
Thanks Joel, I was so confused that I seriously almost got depressed, ha. That’s exactly the source I thought I saw a few weeks ago, but I couldn’t remember where I read it.
Now today, I see the comment from the DVDBeaver guy who says the only significant addition to the 40th Anniversary special features was the Robert McNamara interview — who he calls one of the worst secretaries of state in history, so who wants to see him in an interview. (Though Fog of War was pretty compelling, I love that doc)
so, I’m still confused a little. Somebody just tell me what the cover art looks like for the best edition ;-) Draw me a picture..
Very fine interview Craig. It’s safe to say you easily passed the first screen test.
Hope you’ve put your musical chairs days behind you Alison.
I haven’t been in a station wagon in awhile, sartre. ;-)
But we had a great time that night anyway.
Awesome Craig.
Now about not seeing ANNIE HALL all the way through…
(Christian grips a blackjack and softly closes the door.)
Hey now, we all have weird gaps in our movie watching. I seem to recall something you yourself hadn’t seen but I can’t remember what it was…
Oh, by the way…I caught Yakuza finally. Dugged it. I’ll be around your blog sometime soon to discuss. Tonight I’m just unwinding before bed.
Indeed, Christian confessed to not having seen Paths of Glory. in Gestapo accent Have you corrected that, Christian?!
I’m also pretty certain that he confessed over at H-E some months back that he hadn’t seen Red River, Persona, Fanny and Alexander, Double Indemnity, The Third Man and To Kill a Mockingbird. I swear I’m not keeping a database of movies people have confessed to not having seen, my mind is just very weird. Actually I kind of envy him, which is probably why I remember those titles–getting to see all of those for the first time. Holy shit.
And it’s all good because he loves Preminger. And I haven’t seen Psych-Out! And until a couple of weeks back I hadn’t seen The Left Handed Gun (thanks again, Chuck).
I’ve never seen Pretty Woman or When Harry Met Sally or as I said this week any Jean Delannoy films. And as much of a fan of Robert Altman as I am, I still need to see Kansas City, California Split and Brewster McCloud (which I’ve had on DVD from TCM for like two years and have somehow not seen it yet–unbelievable!). Never seen the old The Poseidon Adventure (saw about five minutes of it on TV a while ago). A few Godard films still elude me (keep watching the ones I know I like rather than stuff that was nearly universally panned). One final Fellini film to see (Fellini’s Roma, which TCM will help me with shortly). I need to see Anthony Mann’s El Cid, The Furies and Men in War, since they’re literally the only three films of his I haven’t seen. Or Chaplin’s Monsieur Verdoux. About 200 obscure noirs on a certain noir film list. Some more films from a 1,000 Greatest Films List. A bunch of cult stuff (help me, Christian!). Oh, and the one John Carpenter I’ve seen in only bits and pieces? Big Trouble in Little China. (Though I’ve seen so many different bits and pieces for so long I feel like I’ve mostly seen it.) Yes, I’m insane. This was fun. Must go to bed.
Er, yes, all that is true.
But ANNIE HALL. Come on.
As fer PATHS OF GLORY, it’s on the list. Here are my papers…
I actually bought Annie Hall just last Friday. Coincidences….my dad told me he actually saw it when it first came out.
As for recalling 1985….I was born in 1985. I feel so young now, thanks ;-)
Greets from Martel (Lot, France)