 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, I'm 28 and this movie wasn't among the classics that my father recorded and left for me on VHS to grow up with...although he did record tons and tons of the Jack Benny show, which I love. But Jack Benny's in the film for all of two seconds, so I don't think I have any strong nostalgia at play when it comes to this one (saw it for the first time in college). While I enjoy some of the other comedians in the film, I don't think I'd call myself a fan of any per se.
Despite all this, I for one thought it was a hoot. Sure, there are stretches that aren't laugh out loud funny, but there aren't many stretches that aren't *fun*. I definitely have to be in the right mood to enjoy it (I'd call the mood "zany") but I've seen it twice and enjoyed it twice.
I think somehow I saw a longer version the first time because when I watched it again I missed some of the extended footage of the crazy guy dancing in his flat.
I may pick up this Criterion version sometime, especially since it has Blu-ray and DVD in one package (don't have a Blu-ray player yet but I hate buying stuff on DVD when I know there's a better version out there). It seems like the definitive version to own, which is usually the case with their releases.
Yavar
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yes true John. The UK DVD had no Overture & red background on the titles (as does the iTunes UK download) while my imported MGM Blu had the Overture but no Entr'acte as you rightly say. The titles background is also bizarrely green not red. I got the Criterion today but won't watch till the weekend so have no idea what to expect.
The colors on the MGM BD were done to match the laserdisc, after fans complained that the "all-red" DVD was wrong while the laserdisc had been correct. Criterion only worked on the restored scenes; they used the MGM transfer for main the body of the movie. So the Criterion should match the MGM, unless Robert Harris thought the colors were wrong and had them adjusted for the Criterion.
I'm pretty sure Harris has said the transfer is the same as the MGM except for the restored bits.
It's fairly hilarious to read comments by people looking at screen caps and trying to say the Criterion looks better. It is the EXACT same transfer in every way save for the put back sequences and a couple of fixes in the main title.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Today...Who would sit through this over produced, over directed, bloated hot mess.
I WOULD!
People like yourself just don't get it. This film IS a classic and the fact that it is a film of who's who adds to the laughs. Only one other film came close to copying it and that is 2001's RAT RACE. Although that film had a letdown of an ending.
IAMMMMW is the funniest comedy ever made (subjective, but it is true) and coming from director/producer Stanley Kramer, who was known for his more serious films such as On the Beach and Inherit the Wind, just shows how great a filmmaker he was in a genre that he only tried once.
Most comedies tend to be at best 90 minutes because the audience is laughing so hard that after such a time period the audience begins to tire only because they have been working their lungs off. At over 150 minutes, that is a helluva lot of laughing for the average person. But this film had great moments such as Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett trying to land a plane. Sid Caesar and Edie Adams trying to free themselves from a hardware store. Jonathan Winters destroying a gas station. Dick Shawn crying for his mother while driving 120 MPH. The list goes on and on and on.
I personally am looking forward to this and have recently thrown out my old DVD copy from 2001 to make room for it in my overcrowded DVD cabinet. So take it from fans such as myself. This is one of those films that will never be made again and rightly deserves to be called an American film classic.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
