Yay! Criterion Caught Up! Ghost World

Now that we're officially Caught Up with Criterion, we can do a brand new release: Terry Zwigoff colorful adaptation Dan Clowe's Ghost World!  For what it's worth, this is pretty much my favorite film based on a comic book, and it stands pretty tall even outside of those parameters.  After a while, there's some funny lines, colorful fashions and a handful of brilliant satirical and humanistic moments that really stick with you.  But revisiting it with this new blu, I'd forgotten how strongly it all hangs together as a genuinely touching piece.

lt's a little hard to believe Thora Birch, coming off of American Beauty, was a bigger star than Scarlett Johansson back then, but then again, between the two of them, it's Thora who really gives the moving, command performance.  Of course, some of that might simply be because her character has been shrunken a little from the original comic.  Yes, despite the fact that Clowes was hands-on with the creation of this film, this isn't a particularly faithful adaptation of the original Ghost World comic, which used to run as a segment in Clowes' Eightball comic.  Major characters from this film, including Ileana Douglass's art teacher, the convenience parking lot comic relief character who featured prominently in the marketing, and even Steve Buscemi, who could be said to have replaced Johansson as the co-star.  But on the other hand, many scenes and images/ panels seem to be very direct, and through it all, Zwigoff and Clowes never lose the spirit of the original work, even while bringing it to vivid color, and the core story of the two best friends growing apart.  I daresay it's an honest to god masterpiece, with perfect music, art design, and a terrific supporting cast including Bob Balaban, Terri Garr and David Cross.

Ghost World was a 2001 film, so it naturally landed on DVD in 2002 as a new release from MGM.  It was widescreen and had a couple extras (which we'll get into later), but it wasn't exactly a special edition.  But aside from issuing it in other regions, that release was all we had to hold us until it was time for HD.  It was first released in Germany in 2014, with a couple extra EPK interviews, and some problematic syncing issues.  But finally in 2017, Criterion has given the film a brand new, 4k scan and delivered the special edition Ghost World has always deserved.

2002 MGM DVD on top; 2017 Criterion blu below.

2002 MGM DVD left; 2017 Criterion blu right.

So, the first noteworthy change is the aspect ratio.  MGM's original DVD is anamorphic, but has very slim pillarboxing to a ratio of 1.76:1, while Criterion slightly letterboxes their image to a presumably more correct 1.85:1.  This effectively gives us identical framing on both versions, but with slightly more picture on the sides of Criterion's image.  Now, in terms of color, for once, the timing is essentially exactly the same between the old DVD and the blu, except their a little bit more robust and bolder on the blu.  In fact, more robust could describe the blu-ray's relationship to the DVD in general.  Naturally, the DVD is more compressed, but there's a very strong and appealing jump in clarity on Ghost World.  Not only is grain resolved much better (if a little light) thanks to this new 4k scan from a 35mm interpositive, but as you can see in the close-up comparison above, all the lines and details of the image are a lot cleaner and clear.  This is the kind of strong picture quality jump we buy blu-rays for.

Ghost World has always had a 5.1 mix, so that's the only option we get on the DVD and blu-ray, but the blu-ray's DTS-HD does make the music sound fuller.  Both discs also include optional English subtitles, with the MGM DVD also throwing in Spanish and French.

Now, again, the MGM DVD was a little light on features, but it wasn't barebones.  It included four deleted scenes, a decent 'making of' featurette, and what they call a "music video," but is actually the extended dance clip from the film 1965 Bollywood film Gumnaam that featured prominently in Ghost World's opening and closing credits.  We also get the trailer and a couple of bonus trailers including an ad for the Ghost World soundtrack. Oh, and there's an insert with chapter stops.

Criterion improved upon that in almost all aspects.  First, they brought in some killer new features, most notably an audio commentary by Zwigoff, Clowes and producer Lianne Halfon.  It's a pretty great track, apart from the fact that Clowes and Zwigoff's voices are so similar, it can be hard to determine who's speaking at any given time.  Then, there's a very extensive 42-minute featurette, editing together new on-camera interviews with Johansson (a pretty impressive get in 2017!), Birch and Douglass.  Then, they not only carry over the deleted scenes but uncover a couple extra.  And yes, they include the music video again, but the experience is greatly enhanced by a new, optional audio commentary.  Here, an uncredited woman gives a very informed history of the film-within-the-film, and translates some of the lyrics,even taking a shot at singing along.  It's pretty great.  There's also a substantial, 40-page booklet with notes by Howard Hampton, lots of sketches and artwork from the film, and an essay by Zwigoff himself on the music in the film.  There's also a separate reproduction of an Eightball comic, where you can see some Ghost World scenes before they were transformed into the film, plus some other looks at Clowes' works.

But you might've noticed one tedious, little absence.  Yes, Criterion has "pulled an Ice Storm" and left out the original 'making of' featurette.  It's not a huge loss, but it did have soundbites from Balaban and Buscemi, who are absent from Criterion's extras, and gives us some more glimpses behind the scenes, Clowes and Zwigoff on-camera, etc.  Again, there's nothing really important in there, and the extras Criterion created totally blow them away; but it's still a little disappointing that they didn't include it, and/ or the extended EPK interviews from the German blu.  Come on, fellas.  Now, if you've got those older discs, you've still got to hang onto them.

This is a great blu that really exceeded my expectations, and my expectations are pretty high whenever I spring for a Criterion disc.  I was thinking maybe I'd be fine with my old DVD, but I wound up biting and now I'm really glad I did.  The film comes to fresh life, and the new supplements are essential.  Unfortunately, it doesn't allow me to shuffle the old DVD out of my collection, but that's a minor gripe in the face of such a high quality edition we've just been handed.

Criterion Catch-Up, Part 5: The Big Chill (DVD/ Blu-ray Comparison)

And we wrap up Criterion Catch-Up with Lawrence Kasdan's 80's staple The Big Chill. This is a film that seems to attract as much derision as praise, but I think that's a little misguided.  I mean, I know it's tempting to dismiss yuppie angst, and it's hard to imagine that, as good as the music may've been, baby boomers thought the gang breaking out into a cringy, impromptu dance for the famous kitchen scene was genuinely cool.  But it's still a pretty great film that was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, back when that still maybe meant something.

It's crisply written, threading genuinely witty comedy with a sincere, maybe even touching look at the mid-life crisis.  It's smarter and more self aware than it's given credit for.  I mean, just think about the satirical glint in Jeff Goldblum trying to pitch the film's story into a piece for People Magazine.  And speaking of Goldblum, holy crap, the cast is untouchable.  Goldblum, Kevin Kline, Glenn Close, William Hurt.  That line-up would make anything amazing.  And even the cast members you mightn't expect so much out of, like Tom Berenger or Meg Tilly, shine with this material.  Of course this movie isn't for people looking for gun battles and spaceships, but if you're in the market for high quality human interest and you write this film off, more fool you.

The Big Chill debuted on DVD in 1999 as a 15th Anniversary Collector's Edition from Columbia Tri-Star.  For such an old DVD, it held up pretty well, and it was never upgraded or reissued until it was blu-ray time.  That's when Criterion took over the title, and released it in 2014 as a 3-disc blu-ray/ DVD combo pack (the third disc is another DVD with the extras on it).  In 2015, they split the pack and released the DVD and blu as two separate packages, with the extras no longer isolated to a different disc from the feature.

1999 Columbia Tri-Star DVD top; 2014 Criterion DVD mid; 2014 Criterion blu bottom.

Both releases are slightly letterboxed to 1.85:1, though the 1999 DVD actually has a thin windowbox.  It's anamorphic; I guess it's just an old school concern about overscan.  It's also not interlaced, though I guess there is a bit of edge haloing.  But really, the old DVD still holds up fairly well, especially for its age.  Naturally, the HD blu-ray is a stronger, clearer image, with a fresh 4k scan of the original 35mm negatives (and no more halos).  But if you're only buying for PQ (i.e. not taking into account special features and what not), but still stuck in standard def, there's not a lot of reason to upgrade to the Criterion DVD from the Tri-Star.  In fact, there might even be a reason not to.  Once again, Criterion's colors are different than the old DVD.  Does that parking lot hug look a little green?  More than that, look at the fireplace in the top set of pics.  On the old DVD, it's a white fireplace with pink trim and surroundings.  On the Criterion, it's all pink.  I'm not bothered by a new scan having slightly different colors than an old DVD edition; if the old colors are off; I want them corrected.  I'm just anxious that these new colors are accurate.  But Criterion's booklet promises us that their whole process was supervised by the D.O.P. John Bailey, and approved by Kasdan; so I guess they have to be right... right?

Criterion gives us choices, audio-wise, with both a 5.1 mix in DTS-HD, and a mono track for the purists in LPCM 1.0.  Surprisingly, the 5.1 is also what the 1999 US DVD had (plus Spanish and French dubs).  I guess they figured with this film's strong use of music, they wanted to pump up the audio mix, and it does sound good.  Both versions offer optional English subtitles (the old DVD also throws in French and Spanish).

Extras-wise, the original DVD wasn't too shabby.  We got about ten minutes of deleted scenes, and a really good, hour-long retrospective documentary that talks to Kasdan, some crew and most of the big stars.  It also had the trailer, a trailer for Silverado (another Kasdan film) and a nice, six-page insert with an essay by Kasdan himself.  A pretty nice package.

Happily, Criterion carried over everything, except Kasdan's essay.  I"m surprised they didn't include that in their booklet; maybe they just didn't know.  But they've got the deleted scenes and the documentary (and the trailer), which is what really matters.  On top of that, they filmed a new, on-camera interview with Kasdan and more notably, a 45-minute reunion with Kasdan, his wife Meg Kasdan (who had a bit part in the film), Kline, Close, Place, Berenger, Williams, Tilly, co-writer Barbara Benedek and producers Michael Shamberg & Marcia Nasatir.  Some anecdotes do repeat between this and the documentary, but fans still won't want to miss it.  The only disappointment is that all these extras are in SD only, because they're stuck on a DVD, even if you bought the blu-ray version.  Oh, and Criterion also has a 22-page booklet, with notes by Harlan Jacobson and yes, that Lena Dunham.

Big Chill fans should definitely be happy with Criterion's blu.  More extras, a new 4k scan from the negatives, the original mono track restored; it's all great.  A little soundbite or something from Kevin Costner would've been fun, but you rarely see this many major stars participating in DVD features as it is.  It's a pretty great set.  And if Kasdan says the fireplace is pink, I guess it must be.

Criterion Catch-Up, Part 4: EQUINOX!!

If you guys were worried that you wouldn't find any crazy, old school cult horror films on DVDExotica during our Criterion Catch-Up, don't worry fam, I got you.  This is 1970's Equinox/ 1967's The Equinox... A Journey Into the Supernatural, a film Sam Raimi has famously denied ever seeing before filming The Evil Dead.  But Tim Sullivan, Evil Dead's effects artist, talks in Criterion's booklet about having seen this film multiple times before working on Evil Dead, and remarks on the similarities.  Not that I'm suggesting the one is a rip off of the other or anything, but there's definitely some kind of worthwhile connection to draw between the works.  It's also important for having birthed the careers of Dennis Muren, who went on to do the effects for Steven Speilberg films from E.T. to Jurassic Park, and beloved stop motion animator David Allen.  I mean, that Criterion booklet doesn't just talk to guys like Sullivan and Ray Harryhausen, it has a forward by George Lucas himself.  There's a reason this oddball little flick made it into Criterion's hallowed halls, as opposed to smaller cult labels of its peers.

But forget about who it inspired or whose careers it launched; this film stands on its own.  Well, sort of anyway.  It's a lot of fun, but also super low budget and indie.  Think Return Of the Alien's Deadly Spawn, not Ridley Scott's Alien.  If you're not prepared for amateur acting, clunky photography, dated fashion and focus issues, then you're not in the right place to come to this picture.  But on the other hand, if you're in the mood to see ambitious plot, a great collection of monsters, innovative special effects, and to quote the film's trailer, "the supernatural before your very eyes," then Equinox is the movie for you!

After a prologue where a man is run over by a mysterious car and taken to a mental institution, we flash back to when he and three other supposed teenagers decided to take a trip to an isolated cabin in the woods.  Unfortunately for them, it turns out that cabin was owned by an old professor who read from the Necronomicon, unleashing an army of evil monsters.  When a crazy old man in a cave hands the quartet this book of the dead, they crack it open and read from it, too.  A stern forest ranger soon reveals himself to be Asmodeus, king of the demons, who uses his magic ring to summon monsters to help him reclaim the book and possess the teens' souls.  Or alternatively, there is no ranger/ demon king villain, depending on which version of the film you watch.

Yeah, I should explain that this release contains two versions of the film.  There's the original, 1967 version, which runs just over 70 minutes long and is very obscure/ rarely seen.  That's the one called The Equinox... A Journey Into the Supernatural.  Then there's the 1970 re-edit, where producer Jack H. Harris (The Blob) rehired some of the actors and filmed new scenes, bringing the running time up to about 82 minutes.  He's also the producer who bought and funded the expansion of Dark Star.  Anyway, that version was just titled Equinox.  It played in drive-ins and is the version most fans would've been familiar with.  Frankly, I prefer the expanded version.   It's still pretty short, adds some more craziness, and adds some more drama to the story, giving it a little more weight (despite how cheesy it is) than the shorter version, which feels more like just some events that happened, strung together chronologically.  But thanks to Criterion, you don't have to choose.

1970 cut on top; 1967 cut below.

The two versions of the film were clearly sourced from different elements.  The 1970 cut was restored from the 35mm negative of the original 16mm blow-up.  But the rarer, 1967 version had to be reassembled from the 16mm duplicate negative, 16mm composite prints, and in a few shots, an old, interlaced VHS tape was spliced back in.  I don't understand why they used the VHS footage when the same shots seem to exist in much better quality in the 1970 cut, but as you see, that's what they've done.  Anyway, thankfully it's the fuller, better cut of the film that has the consistently higher quality transfer, and the shorter cut is there more as a curiosity piece, so fans can see how the film transformed.

Both versions are in their original aspect ratio of 1.33:1, though the shorter cut fluctuates slightly to 1.32:1, and you can see the framing differs a bit around the edges.  They feature fairly clean mono tracks with optional English subtitles.

And wait 'till you see their incredible collection of supplements!  This is a 2-disc set, and it's not because of the two (short) versions of the film.  First off, both versions feature audio commentaries.  Jack Harris and the writer/ director of the expanded version, Jack Woods, who also played Asmodeus, handle the 1970 version, while the original writer/ director and producers Mark McGee and Dennis Muren narrate their original cut, along with effects technician Jim Danforth.  Having both cuts of the film restored with these two commentaries is already more than anyone could ask for, but it's just the beginning.

The great Forrest J. Ackerman, who has a subtle cameo in this film, provides a nice, video introduction.  There are on-camera interviews with the stars Frank Bonner (yes, the same one from WKRP in Cincinatti and Just the Ten Of Us), Barbara Hewitt, James Duron, as well as Muren.  There are additional outtakes, deleted scenes and an early film by the Equinox crew called Zorgon: The H-Bomb Beast from Hell.  We also get early stop-motion projects by Allen, including a Volkswagon commercial with King Kong and a 20-minute children's story called The Magic Treasure.  And that's rounded out with a photo gallery, two radio spots and the theatrical trailer, plus the 30-page booklet I mentioned at the start, which includes a link to a bonus essay written by Allen himself.

Criterion really went all-out on this one.  It's from 2006, so yes, this is DVD-only, but that's alright considering this movie is already in 16mm with a lot of degrading optical effects, shaky handheld camera-work and even focus issues.  Sure, a new 4k scan in HD would still resolve the grain better, and look a little nicer on your big, 65" TVs; but I'd prioritize upgrading just about every other film in existence before this one.  This film definitely isn't for everyone, but if it's for you, I sure wouldn't let holding out for a blu allow me to miss out on this wild set.

Criterion Catch-Up, Part 3: A Master Builder

A Master Builder can be seen as the finale of a trilogy of films co-starring Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn.  In fact, it's been packaged that way by Criterion, and it certainly retains an energy and tone from the previous films.  But it has much more in common with Vanye On 42nd Street than My Dinner With Andre, as it's another modern adaptation of a classic play, in this case by Henrik Ibsen.  Vanye was the result of three years of the actors performing Chekov's play, as adapted by Mamet, almost in private, before turning it into a sort of mockumentary film, directed by Louis Malle with a screenplay by Gregory, with an added layer of artifice where we met the actors in a theater space performing the play.  Here, it's a translation of the play by Shawn, which Gregory directed only for small, personally invited audiences for well over a decade, before it was finally turned into a screenplay by Shawn and filmed as a literal presentation of the play (i.e. the actors aren't playing actors, they're just playing their characters as in a traditional narrative).

Because Malle had passed, Johnathan Demme was brought on this film, which possibly gives it a bit of a twist in its tone, but it's certainly as much of a delight seeing Shawn and Gregory together as it ever was.  I get the impression that most audiences treated this as sort of a quick tag-on the previous two films.  Something filmed quickly on digital to round out a three-disc set.  But again, this film is actually the culmination of fourteen or fifteen years collaboration.  The Master Builder is one of the most unknowable plays, with critics still not really able to decide just what Ibsen is saying with the piece.  But watching Shawn's adaptation, I felt like I came away with a stronger understanding of the material.  And it's not just Gregory and Shawn's performances sparking on screen; like Vanye, it has a powerful supporting cast, including most notably Julie Haggerty, who just about steals the whole show.

A Master Builder was completed in 2013 and debuted on the Criterion label in 2015, as part of a three-disc set with Dinner and Vanye, but also sold separately.  Unlike those other two films, Master doesn't have the history of more generic, pre-Criterion releases (I'm almost tempted to re-buy the old My Dinner With Andre DVD just for a review on this site), as it's a new film.  And this was not a combo-pack release, but I have borrowed the DVD edition so we can have a proper comparison with my personal copy of the blu-ray.

2015 Criterion DVD on top; 2015 Criterion Blu-ray below.

As a contemporary, digital film, there's not as much for Criterion to potentially get wrong as with a catalog title being scanned from film elements.  The DVD is a very strong facsimile of the blu, especially as the ever-moving handheld camera keeps the fine points visually elusive anyway; but the difference is evident when nab it on a screenshot so you look closely at the details.  Only on the blu-ray can you read that it says "recipes" on the box in the upper-left corner of the second set of shots.  On the DVD, it's not even clear that there are letters there at all.  One thing you might be noticing, though, is that the aspect ratio is different in the first set of shots (2.38:1) and the second (1.78:1).  That's because the film was shot with two different cameras, and the shift in aspect ratio is a deliberate artistic choice by the director (and a rather effective one at that).

For the audio, things are kept simple but elegant with a healthy 5.1 mix (in DTS-HD on the blu) and optional English subtitles.

Simple but elegant is how I'd describe the extras-package, too.  It's not exactly packed like a 4-disc set of Prometheus, but it's got all that it needs and feels very satisfactory.  Essentially, there are three featurettes.  The first is the most essential, where Andre, Shawn and Demme talk with a moderator about the entire history of the project, experience filming and decisions behind it.  It really gives you the story of the film that every fan should know.  After that is a joint interview with Julie Haggerty and actress Lisa Joyce, and finally is a more general talk with Gregory and Shawn, hosted by Fran Lebowitz.  Plus, there's the theatrical trailer and a 12-page insert with notes by Michael Sragow, who helpfully points out the key differences between the film and traditional stagings of the original play and quotes revealing interviews from the film's creators.  Even if you regularly skip booklets, you should take the extra minutes to read this one.

Criterion did an excellent job here.  You could just as well get the trilogy boxed set, but as they'd already released the two previous films separately before they made the set, it was great that they also gave this a solo disc.  Now, I've seen multiple film versions of Uncle Vanye, including some excellent BBC productions, and still feel like Gregory/ Shawn's was the most powerful.  I haven't seen other film versions of The Master Builder (I know there's an American one with E.G. Marshall and a pair of intriguing BBC contenders on DVD) to be able to offer the same assurance, but I find it hard to believe there's much out there that could overshadow this.

Criterion Catch-Up, Part 2: Broadcast News (DVD/ Blu-ray Comparison)

I don't watch a lot of rom-com's but, hey, when a movie's good it's good.  And Broadcast News is great.  Now, some of you Broadcast News fans out there probably just braced at me calling it a rom-com, because it certainly has a lot more than just that going on in the film.  It's a witty satire of American television journalism, and another of James L. Brooks' great comic takes on humanity.  But still, at its heart...

William Hurt is an anchor man who's cursed with success, based on his good lucks rather than his talent or intelligence.  Meanwhile Holly Hunter and Albert Brooks are dedicated, sincere journalists whose ambitions are constantly thwarted by the mundane bureaucracy of the news division they work for.  They're trapped in a bit of an unfortunate love triangle that mirrors their struggling careers, and they all live under the shadow of the great network anchor, Jack Nicholson.  Robert Prosky, Joan Cusack, and (in a tiny role) John Cusack, co-star.

William Hurt is always great, and drawing in the forces of Albert Brooks and Jack Nicholson onto one screen is what we go to movies for.  Some of Hunter's ennui with being a working woman in a man's world might not have aged well; and not unlike Sidney Lumet's Network, all the jaded cynicism directed towards TV news feels downright naive compared to how it's all turned out in 2017.  But James Brooks is a master (bearing in mind that I'll Do Anything was not his fault), and this is some of his best work.  It sure took the Criterion Collection long enough to give it a proper special edition.

I'd been living with 20th Century Fox's no frills DVD since it was originally released back in 1999.  And you guessed it, being that old, it's sure not anamorphic.  But that's all we had all the way up until HD.  Admittedly, I think the 2004 UK DVD might've been anamorphic, but really, this is how we treat our American classics?  It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including best picture, director, lead actor, lead actress, supporting actor (Albert Brooks, of course!) and original screenplay.  You'd think they could at least give us a DVD that fills up our whole screen here in its home country?  Well, yes, finally Criterion did just that, releasing separate DVD and blu-ray editions in 2011.  I've got both here, along with the original 1999 disc.

1999 Fox DVD top; 2011 Criterion DVD mid; 2011 Criterion blu top.

So yeah, just the fact that the original DVD is non-anamorphic makes the Criterion an essential upgrade.  Criterion's new 4k scan of the original 35mm negative really handles the grain nicely and brings out the crispness.  It's not just the HD, even the Criterion DVD is noticeably sharper and clearer than the Fox disc.  The Criterion is slightly matted to 1.83:1, which gives us a sliver more around the edges than the 1.82:1 framed Fox DVD.  One thing I can't help but notice after our previous Criterion comparisons, though, is that their color timing is greener again.  This time, though, I would accept that it may be more a case of Fox being overly red, but still, I'm waiting for the day when somebody at Criterion announces: "my god, my monitor's been mis-calibrated for years!"  😜

Audio-wise, Fox gave us a respectable stereo mix (and a French dub for the easily amused), with English and Spanish subtitles.  Criterion ditches the foreign language options, but upgrades that stereo mix to a freshly transferred DTS-HD track, and optional English subs.

Extras-wise, Fox gave us nothing but a fullscreen trailer.  La De Dah.  But Criterion understands what the people want!  First up, we get a very affable audio commentary by Brooks, backed up by his editor Richard Marks.  Next, there's a neat little documentary about Brooks, which runs a little over half an hour, with several of his key past collaborators, including Marilu Henner and Julie Kavner, taking us through his history in television and film.  More exciting, though, is a collection of deleted scenes, including an alternate ending, with optional commentary by Brooks.  And in an instance of Criterion digging extra deep, which I really appreciate, they conduct an all-new on-camera interview with Susan Zirinsky, the real-life counterpart of Holly Hunter's character that Brooks based her on.  Then Criterion throws in the original EPK, including standard promo featurette and almost 20 minutes of on-set interviews and B-roll footage.  We also get the trailer and an 19-page booklet with notes by film critic Carrie Rickey.  Top marks all around, that's how you make a satisfying special edition.

Seriously, jokes about green tints aside (look at Nicholson's shirt color, that's a genuine white; it's fine... right?  What color shirt is that guy standing next to Albert supposed to be wearing?), this is a top notch release from Criterion.  And thank goodness for that, because the alternatives are miserably slim.  But this release doesn't need poor competition to shine; it could compete with the best work of any blu-ray label.  There's nothing but good news to report about Criterion's edition of Broadcast News.