1033 The Cameraman

Discuss releases by Criterion and the films on them. Threads may contain spoilers!
Message
Author
User avatar
captveg
Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2009 7:28 pm

Re: Forthcoming: The Cameraman

#26 Post by captveg » Wed Feb 19, 2020 5:39 pm

Spite Marriage confirmed to be coming as well, as a bonus feature with The Cameraman.

User avatar
swo17
Bloodthirsty Butcher
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
Location: SLC, UT

Re: Forthcoming: The Cameraman

#27 Post by swo17 » Wed Mar 18, 2020 4:25 pm


User avatar
dvakman
Joined: Thu Oct 23, 2014 11:12 pm
Contact:

Re: 1033 The Cameraman

#28 Post by dvakman » Thu Mar 19, 2020 1:04 pm

After 36 years, we welcome Buster Keaton to the Criterion Collection (Limelight, Mad Mad World etc notwithstanding)...

Incidentally, heartfelt congrats to the delightful Josephine (the monkey) for joining Buster on the cover of this release (so appropriate given her crucial role in it)... She may not have an IMDB entry, but aficionados will notice that this is actually her *third* appearance in the Criterion Collection in a little over a year (she also appeared in The Kid Brother with Lloyd and The Circus with Chaplin, completing the great silent comedy triumvirate)!!!

Rupert Pupkin
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2005 9:34 am

Re: 1033 The Cameraman

#29 Post by Rupert Pupkin » Sun Mar 22, 2020 11:05 pm

sorry if this has been discussed here - but I familiar with the soundtrack which I've always loved by Arthur Barrow (which is essentially some jazzy piano which works so nicely with all the scenes with the girl - and when it's not piano, the pool sequence is great). Will this track be there as a second audio track, or is this replaced by the new soundtrack ?

FlickeringWindow
Joined: Fri Nov 15, 2013 12:27 pm

Re: 1033 The Cameraman

#30 Post by FlickeringWindow » Mon Mar 23, 2020 12:56 am

Rupert Pupkin wrote:
Sun Mar 22, 2020 11:05 pm
sorry if this has been discussed here - but I familiar with the soundtrack which I've always loved by Arthur Barrow (which is essentially some jazzy piano which works so nicely with all the scenes with the girl - and when it's not piano, the pool sequence is great). Will this track be there as a second audio track, or is this replaced by the new soundtrack ?
Seems like a sync issue. From comparing the VHS, laserdisc, and TCM Archives DVD editions - looks like the DVD runs at almost 76 minutes while the VHS, laserdisc, and the upcoming Blu all run at 69-70 minutes long. I don't have the TCM Archives release anymore, but that runtime variation would be exactly the difference between running at 24fps vs 22fps. The piano score on VHS and laserdisc should sync perfectly, though it sounds pretty bad on those editions. I guess they could have sped it up, but given how Timothy Brock's silent film scores are consistently amazing (still wish his score for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari has been used for Blu-ray), it'll be fine.

Rupert Pupkin
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2005 9:34 am

Re: 1033 The Cameraman

#31 Post by Rupert Pupkin » Mon Mar 23, 2020 2:26 am

FlickeringWindow wrote:
Mon Mar 23, 2020 12:56 am
Rupert Pupkin wrote:
Sun Mar 22, 2020 11:05 pm
sorry if this has been discussed here - but I familiar with the soundtrack which I've always loved by Arthur Barrow (which is essentially some jazzy piano which works so nicely with all the scenes with the girl - and when it's not piano, the pool sequence is great). Will this track be there as a second audio track, or is this replaced by the new soundtrack ?
Seems like a sync issue. From comparing the VHS, laserdisc, and TCM Archives DVD editions - looks like the DVD runs at almost 76 minutes while the VHS, laserdisc, and the upcoming Blu all run at 69-70 minutes long. I don't have the TCM Archives release anymore, but that runtime variation would be exactly the difference between running at 24fps vs 22fps. The piano score on VHS and laserdisc should sync perfectly, though it sounds pretty bad on those editions. I guess they could have sped it up, but given how Timothy Brock's silent film scores are consistently amazing (still wish his score for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari has been used for Blu-ray), it'll be fine.
the version I have have some alternate source thus I suppose that the movie is complete (and perhaps that's a framerate variation).
This would have been great to have the 2 soundtrack (I really like the jazzy piano soundtracks by Arthur Barrow). Criterion did it for a lot of silent movies- which is great to see how the music can influence the "reception" and atmosphere of a movie (for instance Pandora's Box or the Phantom Carriage; or recently the last Harold Loyd movie "The Kid Brother" which I really enjoyed). That's great to have 2 different radically approach of a soundtrack.
But for instance, they use a much more "conventional" new score for "The Lodger" whereas the "controversal" soundtrack of the UK version has not been used (although the restoration is the same). And I did like a LOT this UK score, especially the unexpected "pop" song (which sounds like french touch AIR band) during the "morning" scene.

User avatar
dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: 1033 The Cameraman

#32 Post by dwk » Wed Apr 15, 2020 7:07 pm

A post at the Blu-ray.com forum pointed out that Criterion has added a new special feature
The Motion Picture Camera (1979), a documentary by A.S.C. cinematographer and film preservationist Karl Malkames, in a 4k restoration

User avatar
FrauBlucher
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
Location: Greenwich Village

Re: 1033 The Cameraman

#33 Post by FrauBlucher » Sat May 16, 2020 5:21 pm


User avatar
FrauBlucher
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
Location: Greenwich Village

Re: 1033 The Cameraman

#34 Post by FrauBlucher » Sun Jul 12, 2020 11:57 am

Interesting note...The Cameraman opens with the Janus logo, not a Warner logo

User avatar
Drucker
Your Future our Drucker
Joined: Wed May 18, 2011 9:37 am

Re: 1033 The Cameraman

#35 Post by Drucker » Mon Oct 19, 2020 8:51 pm

What a superb film. As we think about the great films that end the silent era, surely this deserves to be up there. I had seen it once before at Film Forum, but from the opening scene where he's smelling the back of the girls neck, to the incredible stunt shots of jumping on and off cars, this really is up there with top tier Keaton, maybe only second to The General. I also love that as an MGM film it feels a bit bigger, with bigger sets and more extras. That hadn't struck me upon my first viewing, but it did now, having seen all of the previous films multiple times.

The transfer is really sensational, and it makes one pang for the other MGM silents and how they could look. The first 30 minutes is admittedly a bit rough (and comes from a 16mm element?) but once you get to the pool scene the film really looks healthy and wonderful.

User avatar
Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: 1033 The Cameraman

#36 Post by Finch » Sat Oct 23, 2021 10:40 pm

I'd never seen the film before until tonight, and based on that first viewing I feel it has enough pacing issues to fall just short of being really great. The dressing room sequence goes on for too long and I also didn't care for the baseball stadium interlude. The scene with the threatening Chinese gangsters also feels dated in that it plays on the scary Asians stereotype but everything else is great. I especially love the shot/reverse shot of Keaton sitting on the visitor bench in the MGM office and stealing a look at the girl from just behind his camera and there is this lovely POV close up of Marceline Day that I found very moving. The score wasn't awful but I do kinda wish Joe Hisashi had been asked to score every Keaton film, and not just The General (I hope that whoever releases it in 4k gets his score as well as the Davis one).

Post Reply