Recent Film Restorations

[hearthesilence]

Holy shit this is great. IIRC they also struck 70mm prints from Vertigo due to the VistaVision format. I was really green at the time, but I remember reading some article in the Tribune (could very well have been an interview with Robert A. Harris) that pretty much explained in layman's terms why it was sensible to do so in order to both capture the maximum fidelity and to make it more accessible for exhibition. It's still kind of mindboggling to me that you could shoot in a film format that actually runs sideways.

[nicolas]

This is above and beyond what I ever expected / dreamed of when it comes to The Searchers. I was under the assumption that Warner essentially sidelined the film á la Gone with the Wind. They could have gone back to the negative scan they did for their 2006 BD and release it in 4K or at least on a remastered BD but this is something very, very special.

[andyli]

Cannes Classics 2024.

[Stefan Andersson]

The upcoming 4K UHD Bluray of North by Northwest, shown at the 2024 TCM Film Festival, is a "brand-new scan from the original camera negative, using a new scanner adapted for VistaVision.” according to George Feltenstein of WB:
https://hollywood-elsewhere.com/ - April 24, 3:36 post

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Cannes Classics 2024.

Excited to see Four Nights of a Dreamer on there.

[beamish14]

I had a feeling Universal would do something for The Sugarland Express as a result of its 50th anniversary. A tremendous film, and I hope it gets a UHD soon.

[Stefan Andersson]

Restorations of František Vláčil’s Shadows of a Hot Summer (1977) and The Piano (4K) upcoming at the 2024 Karlovy Vary and Locarno festivals:
https://www.criterion.com/current/posts ... -festivals

[FrauBlucher]

What does this mean?

and other new restorations include the program opener, the first part of the new reconstruction of Abel Gance’s Napoléon (1927),

EDIT: Answering my own question. I see this was cut into 4 acts. So, I'm guessing the Act I will be screened

[Hogfather]

Restorations of František Vláčil’s Shadows of a Hot Summer (1977) and The Piano (4K) upcoming at the 2024 Karlovy Vary and Locarno festivals:
https://www.criterion.com/current/posts ... -festivals

I know Criterion put out a 4k restoration of The Piano supervised by Jane Campion and Stuart Dryburgh, is this supposed to be a different restoration?

[onedimension]

This from the Cannes slate is intriguing, on Wiseman's 'Law and Order':

New version restored in 4K from the 16mm image negative and original sound....Digitization of the complete works of Frederick Wiseman, which will be the subject of retrospectives around the world from autumn 2024.

[yoloswegmaster]

It would be cool to see a new restoration of The Garden since the only way you can watch that is from a VHSrip.

[ianthemovie]

Wiseman has said that The Garden has never officially been released because of rights issues, so unless those get cleared I would guess it will continue to exist as a bootleg. But hopefully this means the rest of his films will eventually get upgraded from their current status as DVD-Rs.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

He did say a few years back that the issues with the Madison Square management had been resolved (I doubt any of the people who originally blocked the film are still there) and he was optimistic about clearing the rights for the music performances. I wouldn't be shocked to see it emerge soon in an official form.

[hearthesilence]

I posted about the 4K restorations awhile ago:

This was actually announced in 2020 (days before everything locked down from the pandemic), but I didn't realize DuArt was scanning Frederick Wiseman's entire body of work in 4K from the original negatives (where applicable).

I know Titicut Follies was already available from a 4K scan, but this is great news. Maybe they'll eventually replace the digital masters currently being used for the DVDs and Kanopy's streaming service?

[beamish14]

I hope The Cool World is restored as well

[FrauBlucher]

This was posted over at HTF....

I attended a screening of the 70mm The Searchers restoration at The Egyptian this past Sunday night. Aside from one mistimed reel change near the end where the next reel wasn’t cued properly, the presentation was steady and flawless.

I’m happy to report that proper yellow tones have returned to the film, providing more natural flesh tones in interior scenes (on the people not weatherbeaten and sunburned, of course) and opening up detail in shadows. I could see that John Wayne and Jeffrey Hunter were wearing Levi’s as the branded stitching on their jeans was quite clear. Aside from a few shots here and there that stuck out as being a bit dupey compared to the surrounding shots (but still looking better than ever - the transitions/dissolves are flawless), this is going to make a superlative 4K release. I hope they downscale it for Blu-ray as well since the existing release always appeared overbaked.

The cropping appeared correct as well, without the end of the set backdrop and boom mic visible overhead like I saw at a full aperture screening in 1996/1997 in Boise, ID. It was part of the Library of Congress Film Registry tour, and it was screened after The Narrow Margin but without the proper matting needed as The Searchers wasn’t protected for 1.37:1 open matte projection.

This screening was from the TCM festival...

[hearthesilence]

Awesome - I hope that 70mm print comes to NY! IIRC Joseph McBride's biography on Ford mentioned how great original prints looked due to the density of captured detail, so I imagine the 70mm prints will be a very close approximation. (The only thing that might be better would be an IB Tech print though it would be a different kind of visual experience...would absolutely love to see one of those in excellent condition.)

[beamish14]

Awesome - I hope that 70mm print comes to NY! IIRC Joseph McBride's biography on Ford mentioned how great original prints looked due to the density of captured detail, so I imagine the 70mm prints will be a very close approximation. (The only thing that might be better would be an IB Tech print though it would be a different kind of visual experience...would absolutely love to see one of those in excellent condition.)

Demand for this is astronomical. It has sold out 4 shows at the American Cinematheque’s 425 seat Aero Theatre. I have no doubt that it will come to the MOMI or MOMA

[senseabove]

Over on Facebook, David Hare had high praise for the restoration of Leisen's Midnight, which screened last night, and said he "had a short chat with Mike Baard from Universal Australia before the screening. I hope we're both right in thinking a UHD disc could be in the works." Fingers crossed he's right.