I have, however, read the book. Hardly anybody does that so I figure it is balanced out. Back in a more bilingual period of my life I even read the first few chapters in the original German.

Um, you may face gay card revocation, buster!



Bambi was the last classic Disney film I saw, not viewing it till I was 27 - at a LACMA retrospective all ALL Disney animated films to date (in 1987). It was a revelation.


I cried.





(ok, I was on ecstacy at the time.)

I haven't seen Brokeback Mt either.

I remember seeing a version of this film where Dreyfuss is throwing trees and items to construct his tower through the house windows as his family flees. I saw it on TV and have never seen it again. Is it on the DVD or is it one of the scenes Spielberg took out?

Ah, Close Encounters, it is so confusing - so many versions, so little time.

In brief -

original release - Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) tosses trees and shrubs through his window while his wife and kids get in the car and leave. He uses this stuff to build a big Devil's Tower in his living room.

The Special Edition - Spielberg got to recut the film to his own liking, with the studio-mandated provision that he add a new sequence, in which the audience, along with Roy, gets to see the inside of the Mother Ship. This version omits a couple of establishing scenes in which we see Roy at his job in a power plant. Also, this version omits the ravaging of the backyard, but we see the finished Devil's Tower in the living room and have little idea of how it got there. (not a great choice) This version also includes a fairly disturbing scene in which a frustrated Roy attacks his wife (Terry Garr) during a nervous breakdown. Other added scenes include the discovery of a lost battleship in the desert, and a brief UFO flyover shadow.

Criterion laserdisc version - This rarity included the original theatrical cut, with the added material included as supplements at the end of each disc side.
I recall there was also a Theatrical Cut only disc.

The NEW Special Edition - laserdisc and DVD - This is yet another Spielberg approved cut, perhaps his final word on the matter. (?) The shrub-throwing is back, the early work scenes are still missing (but included in the supplements) the 'inside the mothership" sequence is gone (again included elsewhere on the disc.) The unfortunate nervous meltdown scene is still there. (It's really unpleasant and makes Roy's character more difficult to relate to.)

There are other differences, but these are the major ones I can recall without being at home or able to go watch any of the above. A definitive DVD would have to include the original theatrical cut as a branching opton, at least.

Did I say 'in brief?" Yeesh.

The Criterion LD, as I recall, included an insert describing, for those with frame-addressable LD players, how to program the player to show the original release or Special Edition. I think I may even have this somewhere in the darkest reaches of the garage.

My but she was yar....

Don't know if anyone will be in San Francisco this weekend, but we'll be warming up the 61" TV and watching some flicks. Some ideas:

Most Monty Python
Most Jim Carrey movies
Most Mel Brooks
Most Comedies
There's Something About Mary
Billy Jack
The Sound of Music
Tommy
Superman (any #)
Spiderman (any #)
Deep Throat

anyone?

YOU SUCK! ;)

I have never seen "This is Spinal Tap". :blush:

(I just admitted to that last night, so our friends lent it to us and demanded that I watch it this weekend.)

I have also never seen "Casablanca" all the way through - I always fall asleep.