Moderators: lazyben, static14, texasvinyl
EvanCampbell wrote: ↑Thu Jul 17, 2025 4:30 pm Scott thanks for clearing all that up and interesting facts. What I find interesting is that back then some films just used songs without getting approvel first...that seems crazy to me. I know Mean streets had that problem with using Be my baby.It was the wild west! 🤠
inksb wrote: ↑Tue Sep 09, 2025 3:26 pm We are doing Asian Horror theme for our October programming this year. We will never be able to watch 30 movies as it's my wife's busy season at work but we try to squeeze in as many as we can. There's close to 40 films on the list with a side list of Jiangshi Hopping Vampires films, list also includes some horror I just want to revisit like Poltergeist, Bliss, Eaten Alive & The Blob ('88)Sounds like a terrific idea. Very curious about the list.
Bezulsqy wrote: ↑Tue Sep 09, 2025 7:01 pminksb wrote: ↑Tue Sep 09, 2025 3:26 pm We are doing Asian Horror theme for our October programming this year. We will never be able to watch 30 movies as it's my wife's busy season at work but we try to squeeze in as many as we can. There's close to 40 films on the list with a side list of Jiangshi Hopping Vampires films, list also includes some horror I just want to revisit like Poltergeist, Bliss, Eaten Alive & The Blob ('88)Sounds like a terrific idea. Very curious about the list.
ScoJo wrote: ↑Sun Jul 13, 2025 11:37 am Dammit - I think I’m about to be back on my bullshit again, starting on a restoration that’s been in the back of my mind for decades…How's the progress coming along on this? I just saw New Bev post about them doing a double feature in 35mm of this and The Man Who Wasn't There. It reminded that I was excited to see this version you were working on
Blood Simple. If you discovered this film (and Los Hermanos Coen) back in the day, when it was first released on vhs with great fanfare, you knew you had found something special. I’ve mentioned elsewhere that I always loved the UK video store release poster by Palace Pictures which used a review that name checked a bunch of great cult movies as the initial hook that got us film nerds’ full attention (Psycho, TCM, Evil Dead, Les Diaboliques, Postman Always Rings Twice etc…)
And if you saw that initial home video release, you were watching the original theatrical cut of the film. It blew me away, and I remember either buying an ex rental copy or home-duping it, so that I could rewatch over and over. A perfect film, to my young mind.
But then something happened. Every subsequent home video release, from retail vhs to dvd to current bluray and beyond, is the Coen’s ‘Director’s Cut’ which they prepared in 1998. When it came time to revisit the film, the Coen’s decided the movie needed tightening up, and shortened the film by 3mins. But not a couple of shots or scenes - they made a huge amount of small trims to shots, as well as cutting bits of dialogue and business, entirely re-editing some of the ‘action’ scenes, and replacing music cues which had become a rights-issue on home video.
The net result is that, if you’re new to the film or a casual fan, there’s not too much to really worry about as the film still plays great - better than ever, if you listen to the Coen’s themselves.
But if like me this movie is embedded in your DNA, the alterations are quite jarring and honestly? Beyond the logic of the rights-required music revisions, not only are most of the changes not really an improvement but you’re constantly side swiped by missing fun lines or character moments that you know and are expecting. It sucks!
So I’ve always had it in mind to take the latest remasted print of the director’s cut and rework it, reverse engineering it back to the theatrical version, using the original VHS as a guide and to also provide material that is missing in the DC along with reinstating all original music cues.
That sounds simple enough I suppose, but it’s going to be a ludicrous amount of work since there are literally hundreds of changes, from large to very small (like, frames here and there), plus the VHS print is unmatted full screen and will need serious grading to try and blend it with the HD widescreen material of the DC.
Well…… I guess I’m gonna do it if I’m posting here!
This is the Palace vhs which uses the review I mentioned that was prominent on the video poster, and also a link to a breakdown of the changes between the theatrical and DC.
https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=3339071
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ScoJo wrote: ↑Thu Oct 09, 2025 7:29 pm If you (or anyone) would just like the VHS rip of the theatrical cut, just shout me and I’ll share. It’s actually quite decent quality all things considered (in a slightly grindhouse way, which actually doesn’t hurt the film) and I definitely prefer it’s more gaudy colour grade compared to the more muted/modern pallette look of the blu.I'll take that rip when you feel like uploading it
