Last April, Warner launched an archive program selling deep catalog titles on a made-on-demand basis. This is because, probably, they got tired of pressing big runs of classic titles that didn't sell. There is a demand for old films, but there isn't necessarily a demand for ALL old films. Deciding which films to bring out was always a crap-shoot, and once the Casablancas and the like had been released, it got harder and harder to guess what consumers would shell out for. Rather than keep guessing and losing money, Warner decided to let consumers casts votes with the only ballots the industry respects, the ones with pictures of dead presidents on them. But to do made-on-demand, you have to use DVD-r.Evidently Warner's experiment has been a success, because other companies are now getting into the business. This is, unhappily, the future. Companies will continue to release pressed discs, but only for new releases or films that have a proven track record. Classic titles, by and large, will come out on DVD-r. Eventually, of course, disc technology will go away as downloads and streaming supplant it, but that's probably a long way away.
Eddie Muller also showed a 6-minute short entitled The Endless Night: A Valentine To Noir, which many of you may have seen linked on Back Alley or on YouTube. Eddie calls it the best distillation of noir he's ever seen, and I have to agree, even if it somehow overlooks any clips of Joan Crawford and Edmond O'Brien. It gets just about everybody else. A 20-year-old woman from Santa Rosa named Serena Bramble put it together on her laptop using downloaded Internet clips and iMovie software. She was in the audience Friday night and received great applause for her work and oozing praise from Muller. She deserved it -- it looked incredible on the big screen (the background music ``Angel'' from the band Massive Attack ... and hey, it works). Many people personally congratulated her during intermission and after the show, including me. Here's a link to the montage, well worth 6:41 of your life.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOgBa2Oij1A
The Long Goodbye (multiple viewing) - probably the best PI movie I've seen.
I like The Long Goodbye a lot--IMHO, it's Altman's best. But I wouldn't call it a PI movie, more of an anti-PI movie.