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October 27, 2010:

THE ARMCHAIR EXPERTS

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, the armchair experts have struck again. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, all those Blu and Ray armchair experts, those know-it-alls who actually know very little, having never been involved in film in any way, shape, or form, have put the screws to the new Back To The Future Blu and Ray. I’ve only seen the first film so far (I don’t care for the sequels very much), but it’s really time to just call these people out for what they are – bothersome pests who suddenly have a place to post their nonsensical blather thanks to the Internet and various chat boards. They began complaining about this transfer when someone posted some screencaps of various images. Now, I’ve seen screencaps of many transfers and I have to tell you I don’t care HOW they are done or posted, but not one of them has ever looked like the actual transfer. First of all, what is a MOTION PICTURE? Why, I do believe it is a picture in MOTION. You can do a single frame capture of any scene from any movie and it will not look like the MOVIE because it is a one-frame still image. You can then blow that up until the cows come home and say “Ooh, look at that halo, look at that shadow, look at this, look at that,” and none of it means a damn thing because it’s not the MOTION picture they are watching. But on they went about DNR and grain-removal and how they could tell this from ineptly done screen captures is anyone’s guess. Even if the captures were well done – sorry, Charlie, see the damn transfer before making your stupid comments. And then came the “reviews.” Some begrudgingly admitted the transfer looked pretty good, but they were too scared by what they’d read to actually come out and say it was great, even though they probably thought that. Then there were the usual idiots complaining about the grain and waxy faces – note to idiots: There are no waxy faces in this transfer. So, let me set the record straight because I am really tired of the record being crooked. When the transfer of a film like Back To The Future is supervised and approved by such insignificant people as, oh, say the director, his co-writer, and the cameraman, I’ll somehow just make the assumption that they got the film to look like they thought it should look, they being the, oh, creators of the thing. In 1985, release prints were not great – they WERE excessively grainy and that’s the way Back To The Future looked back then. What it did not look like was a first-generation print off the camera negative. So, of course there is less grain now. And since Mr. Dean Cundy, the, you know, cameraman, knows what he shot and how he wanted it to look, I think we know that what we’re viewing is very close to what he wanted and what wasn’t possible back then. Did they remove grain from the effects shots? Who knows? Who cares? If that made those shots look more like Mr. Cundy wanted them to look like, then bravo. Are there halos, waxy faces, jagged lines? Not to my eyes there aren’t, but then I am not obsessively looking at these transfers and freeze-framing and blowing up shots to look for things.

So, let me explain how it used to because it was a much better world before all these armchair expert know-it-alls started making utter fools of themselves on public forums. I’ve been going to the movies since 1954 or thereabouts and we never sat in a theater wondering why opticals were so grainy – we didn’t even notice things like that, we just were, you know – wait for it – watching a movie. Some looked better than others but if the story was great and the movie was great that’s all we cared about. Now we’re in this whole other ridiculous universe where everyone with a “home theater” is an expert on everything (they’re not), and they pontificate on this and that having had no experience with film or transfers or anything. Yes, some transfers are poor, there are definitely idiots in the telecine room sometimes, and sometimes their efforts to “clean up” an image are spurious. But that is not the case with Back to the Future – it’s exactly what the FILMMAKERS want it to look like and that is good enough for the likes of me.

I’ve talked about the film before, but every time I see it I just marvel at the perfection of its script and production. In fact, I find it perfect in every way – every cast member is great and perfectly cast. The laughs are there every time because the set-ups are great and the payoffs all land perfectly, and, additionally, there is heart and emotion, some of it very powerful. And the sense of fun is palpable as you watch it. The pace couldn’t be better, and the score by Alan Silvestri is one of the greats. The film holds up beautifully and this new transfer is just splendidly splendid and it is highly recommended by the likes of me. I’m sure I’ll get around to parts two and three, but the set is worth it for the original film and some brand new featurettes on its making, with many of the film’s participants. Bravo to all concerned, and a big “phooey” to the armchair experts.
Prior to watching Back To The Future, I’d arisen at eight-thirty after a decent night’s sleep. My calf was still pretty sore, so I didn’t jog. The helper arrived at ten and we finished part one of the reorganization. Part two I do by myself at my leisure over the next week. The big stuff is all done now. After we finished, I decided I deserved a nice lunch at Hugo’s and a nice lunch I had, although I was REALLY stuffed and for the first time could not finish all of my small Caesar salad. I had that and pasta papa and I was so full I thought I was going to explode. Instead, I waddled to my motor car and picked up a lot of packages. Then I came home and answered e-mails, got a few notes from the composer of our next release, some of which we’ll do, and some of which are not possible to do (and he basically knows that). Then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.

I first watched a TV program on DVD entitled Evening Primrose. Of course, I’ve seen the show many times. For this release, through good detective work my friend Jane Klain of the Museum of Broadcasting and Television found a collector who had a better print than either the museum or my close personal friend, Mr. Stephen Sondheim. It was that newly discovered copy that was used for the DVD. While no one’s ever going to mistake it for a high-quality source (the source is a 16mm kinescope print), it’s much better quality than what we’ve had before. It’s in black-and-white, as the color videotape has long since disappeared. I love the show, the songs, and the performances and it was great to see it again. There is a long interview with the director, Paul Bogart, a phone interview with Charmian Carr, and some color footage shot by Bogart when the show was going to be set at Macy’s rather than Stern’s. There is a mention in the enclosed booklet of the official Kritzerland release of the soundtrack – and we’ve actually had a few orders because of that mention.

Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below or the armchair experts will complain that this section of these here notes feels longer than War and Peace.

Today, I’m finessing a mix of an upcoming cast album were issuing (not a reissue), then having lunch with my pal Fred Fate, the former chair of the LACC Theatre Academy, then I’m meeting my pal Joan Ryan after that, so a long and busy day.

Tomorrow, I have a lunch, but the CDs are not arriving until Friday I’m told, because their packaging machine went down. Friday is problematic as I have a ten-thirty meeting with Linda Purl and Gregory Harrison but we’ll have to make it work somehow. Then we have a rehearsal, then I’m seeing Alet Taylor in the reading of a new musical.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, try to do a jog, finesse a mix, have lunch, meet with Joan Ryan, pick up packages, and do errands and whatnot. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we say a big “phooey” to the armchair experts.

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