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Monday, December 1, 2014
FRANK YABLANS HAS DIED
PRODUCER OF 'THE FURY' WAS 79


Frank Yablans, who produced Brian De Palma's The Fury, passed away of natural causes Thursday at the age of 79, according to the Los Angeles Times and BBC News. In a 1978 promotional interview with Carolyn Jackson, Yablans was asked about his cameo in The Fury, saying it was "something Brian asked me to do." He added, "I've been trying to cut it out of the film ever since, but he won't let go of it." In the same interview, Yablans talked briefly about two scenes he directed in The Fury: one involving a telephone call with Kirk Douglas, and "the Arab sequence in Old Chicago." Yablans characterized all of these as "token contributions," stressing to Jackson that the producer role was his major impact.

In that same interview, Yablans told Jackson that he and De Palma would next be "doing a little film called Home Movies, with college students in New York." He said that after that, the two would be working on The Demolished Man. De Palma would indeed make Home Movies as his next film, but Yablans did not end up producing it. And unfortunately, the pair were never able to mount The Demolished Man, as The Fury, which is well-loved now, was not the hit they'd been hoping it would be.

Prior to taking it to 20th Century Fox, Yablans had begun The Demolished Man with De Palma at Paramount, where Yablans had been president from 1971 to 1975, presiding over the studio as it released the first two Godfather movies, The Conversation, Chinatown, The Parallax View, Harold And Maude, Serpico, Paper Moon, and The Day Of The Locust, among many others.


Posted by Geoff at 4:51 AM CST
Updated: Monday, December 1, 2014 4:53 AM CST
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Saturday, July 12, 2014
ARTIST'S SCARY INSPIRATION MAY HAVE BEEN 'THE FURY'
CHANNEL-SURFING AS A CHILD CIRCA 1985, MOVIE ABOUT TELEKINESIS
The painting pictured here, by Janet Hill, is titled At The Ursula Academy For The Supernaturally Gifted, Fawn Fielding Enjoyed Medieval Poetry, Spoke Fluent Italian, And Possessed Above Average Telekinetic Abilities. In a post on her blog, Hill recalls the inspiration for the painting, which her husband told her is The Fury. "This [painting] is actually born out of a scary experience for me when I was young," Hill explains in her post. "I have this memory of turning on the television in the middle of the afternoon- likely on a Saturday. I seem to recall that I was enjoying a grape freezie and wearing my pink jelly shoes, but that could be my imagination just playing games on me. I likely did some channel surfing with one of those clunky looking channel changers circa 1985 until I came across this weird movie. There was a girl with big curly hair moving things with her mind. WITH HER MIND!! This terrified me but I didn’t understand why. I think I was familiar with the idea of telekinesis having spent many a bored afternoon focused on my Barbie trying to get it to move WITH MY MIND, but it must have been the way it was presented in the film. I mentioned this to John as I was painting this painting and he immediately recognized it as The Fury which was directed by Brian De Palma. It all made sense. No one can creep me out as much as Brian De Palma, thank you very much. John also mentioned that we own the movie so guess what I’m going to do tonight. Perhaps I’ll watch it while enjoying a cool and refreshing grape freezie too."

Posted by Geoff at 7:39 PM CDT
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Wednesday, March 26, 2014
RICHARD H KLINE ON 'THE FURY'
VIDEO CLIP FROM BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURE AT FICTION FACTORY
If you haven't been able to watch Arrow Video's Blu-Ray release of Brian De Palma's The Fury from last year, you can at least view a short clip from a special feature produced by Fiction Factory, in which cinematographer Richard H. Kline discusses working on the film. "The Fury, to me," Kline says in the video clip, "looking back now 35 years, whatever it was, in re-running it to prepare for this interview, I’m going to put it at probably one of the best pictures I’ve ever made, technically—you’re never aware of the technique. With the reality, the freshness of it. Seeing it again, it reminded me of how good it is. It really… De Palma did a terrific job of directing it, without a doubt."

There is a nice long interview article with Kline, covering his entire career, in the current issue (Vol. 10, Issue 28) of Cinema Retro. Alas, the writer of the piece glides right on by The Fury-- must have been conducted prior to the Arrow video and Kline's refreshed opinion of the film.

Posted by Geoff at 12:49 AM CDT
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Sunday, November 24, 2013
GLENN KENNY ON THE TWO 'FURY' BLU-RAYS
TWILIGHT TIME DID NOT KNOW ABOUT ARROW/CARLOTTA REMASTER


Glenn Kenny, this week's guest DVD columnist for the New York Times, investigated the two Blu-ray versions of Brian De Palma's The Fury that came out this year. (The column was posted to the web on Friday, and appeared in the print edition of the NY Times today.) About five years ago, Kenny explains, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment mastered the film for high-definition, but then the recession led to soft Blu-ray sales, and the project was shelved. Kenny explains what happened after that:
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Fox’s cold feet spelled opportunity for Twilight Time, the boutique label specializing in limited-edition high-definition versions of studio fare with collector appeal. (For instance, one of its early releases was a Blu-ray of “The Egyptian,” a 1954 CinemaScope building-of-the-pyramids epic that was the first wide-screen outing for the golden-age Hollywood master Michael Curtiz.) The company licensed “The Fury” from Fox, and using the high-definition master provided by the studio, released a Blu-ray in March.

The release was well reviewed, with the restoration and preservation expert Robert A. Harris (who oversaw, among many other projects, a new rendition of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Godfather” films) praising “color, shadow detail, resolution.” Mr. Harris, writing on Home Theater Forum, a tech-savvy and often argumentative site, noted, in the argot common in such forums: “The grain structure is totally filmlike. So much so that when we hit a long dupe shot,” viewers “can easily see the difference.”

And there, for some viewers of the Twilight Time “Fury,” was the rub. De Palma is a technical virtuoso and “The Fury” one of his most bravura works. He and the director of photography, Richard H. Kline, pulled out the stops with focus manipulations, cleverly orchestrated effects and rear-projection work. Composite, or dupe, shots are put together in a lab, combining materials shot under different conditions. Merging and rerendering these elements creates an inevitable downgrade from the quality of the original camera work; that’s what experts mean when they say a particular shot looks “dupey.”

In the first half-hour of “The Fury,” there’s a car chase in which Cassavetes’s sinister C.I.A. officer pursues an on-the-run Douglas, who hijacks a police car. It’s a night scene, shot in low light, with a number of composite shots. To top it off, the climax of the scene takes place on a foggy pier. “That scene in particular, and some other night scenes, always looked a bit problematic to me, especially compared to the surrounding day shots,” said James White, a freelance DVD producer who lives and works in Britain. “They really suffered, on account of the ‘pushing’ of the film stock, the heavy noise-to-grain ratio, the process shots. None of it really fit in well with the rest of the picture.”

Mr. White was part of the team at Arrow Video, a British genre and cinephile DVD/Blu-ray label, working on a version of “The Fury” for British distribution. In tandem with the French label Carlotta and the Australian concern Shock, the company financed an entirely new high-definition transfer, using advanced film-scanning technology, and the movie’s original negative (which includes the shots put together from different sources in the lab) for the picture source.

“When people say that the Twilight Time Blu-ray looked the way they remembered it in theaters, well, it probably did,” Mr. White said. “Because, to my eye, the version on that master looked like an inter-negative, the source from which 35-millimeter prints were actually struck for distribution. Using the camera negative, you’re offered so much more in terms of contrast, color and detail.”

And it’s true, the night scenes in the Arrow “Fury” have a smoother, less garish look than those on the nonetheless very watchable Twilight Time release. These two versions of “The Fury” caused some controversy among buffs in the Home Theater Forum thread following Mr. Harris’s review, and elsewhere. Many home theater mavens own region-free Blu-ray players that defeat the blocking technology meant to keep foreign-made DVDs unplayable in the United States and vice versa. For them, comparing the two versions was easy. Mr. White, for his part, said that in the online world of Blu-ray assessment, “people play favorites, and it gets out of hand.”

As it happens, Twilight Time has been subject to a lot of criticism over its limited-edition business model, which the label’s co-founder, Nick Redman, calls a “clean” model that satisfies studios licensing the product and in a sense guarantees the ability to put out more obscure material.

“The critics of our limited-edition model think that we’re somehow artificially depriving all the millions of people that would really want a copy of a given movie from having it,” Mr. Redman said. “In fact, an edition of 3,000 is completely in line with what 99 percent of all catalog releases will sell. The other thing we’re criticized for is our price point, which is $29.95 — completely in line with every other label, including Olive and Criterion, but because we are available at only one retailer (although now there are some copies available at TCM), we can’t participate in the discount deals that other labels that go through Amazon and the big-box retail stores can do.”

These sticking points, Mr. Redman said, might have contributed to the bad blood over “The Fury.” The label’s edition is, even so, a success, as it’s sold out. The Arrow “Fury” remains available, although you need a region-free player to watch it. While Mr. Redman stands by the Twilight Time edition of “The Fury,” he allows that he’s learned something from the kerfuffle: “Had we known that Arrow and Carlotta were planning to create a new master, we might have gone in on it with them. But we didn’t know.”

Mr. Redman said he now believes that better communication between international DVD and Blu-ray producers is essential to the survival of the formats. “As the studios back further and further away — and people are dreaming if they think the studios are not backing further and further away — from physical media,” he said, “it is going to totally default to the independent labels in each territory in the world to synergize and work together as best they can to make those libraries viable for those handful of people left who want them on disc.”


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Posted by Geoff at 11:58 PM CST
Updated: Tuesday, November 26, 2013 11:14 PM CST
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Thursday, November 7, 2013
FARRIS ON 'THE FURY', MORE
INTERVIEW IN BOOKLET FOR ARROW'S BLU-RAY OF 'THE FURY'
The Arrow Video release of Brian De Palma's The Fury on Blu-Ray includes a booklet which has a new interview with John Farris, who wrote the Fury screenplay from his own novel. This great interview was conducted via e-mail by Chris Dumas, who also wrote a new essay for the booklet titled, "Who's Afraid Of John Cassavetes?" Farris tells Dumas that he came up with the idea to blow up Childress at the end of The Fury. When Dumas asks whether he and De Palma had discussed the ending of Antonioni's Zabriskie Point, Farris replies, "At the time we did The Fury, I hadn't seen it; I caught up to it years later. Brian never mentioned the movie to me."

SONG-AND-DANCE COUPLE
While telling Dumas about changes from his novel, Farris mentions a song-and-dance couple: "As Brian worked on The Fury from his particular point of view, he requested changes, additional scenes, and eliminated other scenes, including those involving the old song-and-dance couple. I liked those characters but Brian was right: by that point in the movie they just got in the way. Another, later scene between Robin and his psychiatrist/lover in her bath was filmed but just didn't work."

When asked by Dumas whether the scenes involving the song-and-dance couple were ever filmed, Farris tells him, "Donald O'Connor and, I believe, Gloria De Haven were signed to play the song-and-dance couple and construction was underway on their apartment set when they were cut from the script, a few days before we began shooting in Chicago." Dumas further asks whether any test footage might have been shot, and Farris answers, "Test footage on O'Connor and Gray? I don't think anyone tested for The Fury. Brian knew who he wanted and what they could do."

Farris indicated above that he wasn't quite sure about who the female half of the song-and-dance couple was. According to Dumas, Farris had originally stated that the female was Dolores Gray, but just before the booklet went to press, Farris told him he was mistaken, and that it was actually De Haven. However, according to a 2005 article at Classic Images, it was Vivian Blaine. The Classic Images article also suggests that the scene with the couple may have been shot and then left on the cutting room floor.

"The Fury starring Kirk Douglas and made at Fox cast Donald O'Connor and Vivian as a song and dance movie team, similar to Marge and Gower Champion," writes Classic Images' Colin Briggs. "With a very gory horror plot, it was based on the best selling novel of the same name. When the film was previewed it was way too long and as their parts were expendable (they both meet an extremely gory end) their scenes were excised. Vivian's comments: 'My fans were disappointed but have them know, the pay was tops.'” (Thanks to Bill Fentum for sending in this article a while back!)

WILLIAM FINLEY'S DUNWOODIE ASSASSINATION SCENE CUT DURING EDITING
Farris also reveals a couple of cut/altered scenes, saying that the bus ride in the final act was originally written as a ferryboat ride across Lake Michigan (it was cut due to "budget and logistic considerations," according to Farris). "as for locations," Farris tells Dumas, "Brian wanted to do the beach scene in the Chicago Museum of Art. No Chance. As you know, the scene with Dunwoodie shadowing the girls and tuning into Gillian psychically he later adapted to great effect for Dressed To Kill. Dunwoodie's assassination and a nice overhead shot of his sprawled body with beachgoers walking around it were cut in editing." (Note: this sounds very much like the way the death scene of the former Castro confidante killed by Tony Montana in the refugee camp near the beginning of Scarface was staged and shot. The character's physical features suggest that this dying figure could have been played by Finley himself.)

There's a lot more great stuff in this interview. I'll do a second post about it tomorrow.


Posted by Geoff at 1:24 AM CST
Updated: Thursday, November 7, 2013 5:18 PM CST
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Monday, October 28, 2013


Posted by Geoff at 5:22 PM CDT
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Sunday, October 27, 2013
SAM IRVIN SHARES MEMORIES OF 'THE FURY'
IN TELEGRAPH ARTICLE AHEAD OF ARROW'S BLU-RAY RELEASE TOMORROW
In a Telegraph article posted Friday ahead of tomorrow's release of Brian De Palma's The Fury on Blu-Ray, Sam Irvin shares memories of his internship on the film. Here is an excerpt:

"The year before, I had organised a festival of Brian’s early films on campus. He lived in New York at the time, but I had found out that he’d be in LA casting for Carrie, so I boldly called up and asked to speak to him. He must have been on a break, because lo and behold they put him on the phone. I explained about the film festival and he was very gracious and agreed to attend. We really put him to work, judging a competition and taking part in a Q&A. He could see I was a groupie and knew his work inside out.

"The next year, the summer this photograph was taken, I got in touch and asked if I could come up to Chicago during my break and spend some time on the set of The Fury as an intern. He said yes and so I worked as a production assistant and an extra. I also got an assignment from Cinefantastique magazine to write a journal on the making of the film, which gave me more legitimacy. I could request one-on-one interviews with all the key people, and I was able to sit down with the lead actors Kirk Douglas and John Cassavetes, among others. It was a tremendous educational experience, and I got to see the inner workings of film-making."


Posted by Geoff at 7:57 PM CDT
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Tuesday, October 22, 2013
MORE REVIEWS OF ARROW'S 'FURY' BLU-RAY
CARLOTTA WILL RELEASE ITS OWN BLU-RAY NOV. 8 IN FRANCE
Arrow Video's Blu-Ray edition of Brian De Palma's The Fury is set for release this Monday. Meanwhile, France's Carlotta Films will release its own Blu-Ray edition on November 8th, with the same disc features as the Arrow release, and an added introduction from Samuel Blumenfeld. The covers of the Carlotta releases have been excellent, and their cover for The Fury, shown here, is no exception.

Reviews are popping up all over for the Arrow release, and the general consensus is that this is a phenomenal release, and that the image transfer is a marked improvement over Twilight's release from earlier this year. Here are some of the reviews:

Mike Sutton, The Digital Fix
"De Palma dazzles us from the opening machine gun attack on Sanza and his son right through to the extraordinary ending (borrowed from Antonioni's Zabriskie Point but with a typical blackly comic twist). Shot after shot is inventive and witty so that you're entertained even when the plot is falling apart in front of you. From the whirling dervish camerawork - particularly good in the early test of Gillian's powers at school when a flash-forward is intercut to shocking effect - to the showy tracking shots and the daring process work, this is the work of an artist who has begun to trademark his own cinematic vision - De Palma is one of a handful of modern American directors whose films are immediately recognisable from a couple of shots. At his best, he is one of the greats. Take as an example the scene where Gillian and Hester (Snodgrass), Sanza's girlfriend, attempt an escape from the Institute. De Palma doesn't simply use slow motion to heighten the suspense, he uses slightly different speeds so each character seems to be existing in their own time-frame. We have the two women running, both with their own agendas, the hit men waiting, Peter Sanza wanting to capture Gillian, the government agents waiting in the car... This means that when the disaster comes it's both shocking and darkly ironic; note how Hester looks at her most joyously happy just as she is catapulted over the bonnet of a car. So much is packed into this scene and the key is that most of the impact is emotional rather than visceral, all the more so for it being largely backed by the score alone rather than sound effects."

About the Disc:
"The transfer of the film is, quite simply, a triumph. It’s a full restoration from the original camera negative supervised by James White, while the Blu-Ray is authored by David Mackenzie – technical wizards both, with a passion for cinema and a reliable gut feeling for how a film should look. The result is quite beautiful and an improvement in all areas on the previous Blu-Ray release. Colours are rich and full, especially the all-important blood reds, and the detail is breathtaking. If you simply look at the opening scene then you can see the water droplets on the Sanzas’ skin, the texture of the fabric of the blue tablecloth and even, god help us, the fine hairs on Kirk Douglas’ legs. Things that I never really registered before suddenly leap out – the awful wallpaper in Amy Irving’s bedroom for example. There’s still a lot of grain in places but that’s characteristic of every version of the film that I’ve ever seen and the occasional darkness of the image is, again, integral to the original photography. Indeed, the car-chase in the dark is a revelation here, although the high level of detail does tend to make the process work stand out. Fans of the film will be pleased to know that those great set-pieces look even better in this transfer, particularly the splendidly baroque climax where the constituent parts of the exploding body are much more clearly defined than before."

On the Extras:
"There are plenty of extras on the disc, most of them provided by Robert Fischer’s Fiction Factory. The most substantial is The Fury: A Location Journal, a fifty minute piece with Sam Irvin who worked as an intern on the film and wrote an account of the making for Cinefantastique magazine. He admits to having only recently seen the film again and is remarkably pleased with how well it holds up. His memory of the shooting is excellent and he has a lot of interesting anecdotes about meeting with De Palma and John Cassavetes – noting that the latter may have disliked making the film but that he gave his all to it once he signed the contract and made some significant contributions to the development of the character. I also liked his description of how Kirk Douglas would be in his trailer between scenes, doing push-ups. He also discusses the changes from the script to the finished film.

"There are two other new interviews on the disc. The first is with Fiona Lewis, entitled Spinning Tales. During this 14 minute chat she discusses her work on the film and her feelings about working with de Palma and some of her other directors including Roman Polanski. The second, Blood on the Lens, is a piece featuring DP Richard H. Kline whose work also includes Body Heat, The Boston Strangler and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. He has a lot to say about the way the film was shot and discusses the scenes which combine location and stage shooting. He considers the film to be his best work and I think he’s probably right. Although pretty old now – his career goes back to Columbia B-movies in the early 1940s – he is very eloquent and has a good memory. It’s a delight to listen to his instructive and entertaining reminiscences.

"Particularly interesting is the inclusion of Sam Irvin’s short film Double Negative which he made with some actors familiar from De Palma’s work including the great William Finley and co-operation from the great man himself. It was shown in the USA alongside After Hours and gained considerable critical plaudits. It’s intended as, in Irvin’s words, a 'valentine to Brian De Palma who gave me my start in the business' and is very entertaining with many nods to De Palma’s work and some clever bits of technique."

Ken Kastenhuber, McBastard's Mausoleum
"As with all of the recent Brian De Palma Blu-rays from Arrow we have a nice selection of Fiction Factory produced extras beginning with Blood on the Lens (27:00) an interview with Cinematographer Richard H. [Kline. He] speaks fondly of his only film with De Palma, remembering his experience on the set, setting-up shots, De Palma meticulous nature and commenting on the gorgeous cast, John Williams score and going into details about the specific scenes like the carnival sequence and the levitation scene.

"Up next is Spinning Tale (13:38) with star Fiona Lewis who remembers the film as being ahead of it's time and bearing the distinct De Palma stamp. She speaks briefly about her time on Roman Polanski's The Fearless Vampire Killers and A Day at the Beach with Peter Sellers and not wanting to do the film after reading the script until she met with De Palma, who impressed her. She offers some great recollections of working with John Cassevetes who was cold and dry witted, working with Andrew Stevens and being battered over the course of 24 takes of being thrown to the ground repeatedly.

"The most in-depth and rounded of the features would be The Fury - A Location Journal: An interview with Sam Irvin (49:49), who at the time of the film was intern and correspondent for Cinefantastique magazine. His recounting of his De Palma fandom and time on set working with the director and interviewing the cast is fantastic and offered a lot of behind-the-scenes info ranging from stealing the estate location from the Omen II production,the make-up effects, cut scenes, and differences between the book and film. Irvin is an unabashed De Palma groupie and was totally in love with Fiona Lewis, he would go onto direct and produce quite a few films of his own including Elvira's Haunted Hills and Gods and Monsters, the entire feature is quite a love-letter to De Palma and his film.

"Also included is Sam Irvin's Brian De Palma-esque short film Double Negative (17:58) a noir crime thriller about the film industry, fun stuff."

Dr. Svet Atanasov, Blu-Ray.com
•The Fury: A Location Journal - a very long and very informative interview with Sam Irvin, intern on The Fury, author of the film's shooting diary and correspondent for Cinefantastique magazine. Mr. Irwin recalls his first encounter with Brian De Palma, his trip to Chicago and interactions with the cast (and specifically his conversations with John Cassavetes), how and where key scenes from the film were shot, and the first negative reviews of The Fury. Mr. Irwin also discusses John Williams' score. The interview was directed, produced, and edited by Robert Fischer for Fiction Factory. In English, not subtitled. (50 min).

•Spinning Tales - in this video interview, actress Fiona Lewis (Dr. Susan Charles) discusses her contribution to The Fury and Brian De Palma's directing methods. Mrs. Lewis also comments on a scene she had with Kirk Douglas which was cut from the final version of The Fury. The interview was directed, produced, and edited by Robert Fischer for Fiction Factory. In English, not subtitled. (14 min).

•Blood on the Lens - in this video interview, cinematographer Richard H. Kline (King Kong, The Boston Strangler) recalls his one and only collaboration with Brian De Palma on The Fury. The interview was directed, produced, and edited by Robert Fischer for Fiction Factory. In English, not subtitled. (27 min).

•Double Negative - a short film tribute to Brian De Palma directed by Sam Irwin in 1985, starring Bill Randolph, Dori Legg, and Justin Henry. In English, not subtitled. (18 min).

The following text provided by Sam Irwin precedes the film:

"Double Negative is a valentine to Brian De Palma who gave me my start in the business. I interned for Brian on The Fury, associate produced his next film Home Movies, and assisted him on Dressed to Kill. Utilizing actors and crew I had met during my De Palma years, I wrote, produced, and directed my debut film Double Negative. Graciously, Brian let me use his editing facilities for free. The film was an official selection of the 1985 Sundance Film Fesitval and played theatrically in New York and Los Angeles. New York Times film critic Janet Maslin wrote that the film was 'an exceptionally promising film effort'".

Mondo Digital
"Considering the importance of its visuals, home video has had a very uneven track record with The Fury over the years. Like Carrie, the film was composed for 1.85:1 projection but shot open matte, and the initial VHS and laserdisc editions were released unmasked at 1.33:1. That framing destroyed the focus of several significant shots, especially the spinning death of one character near the end, and the initial transfers suffered from oversaturated, orange skin tones and a generally murky, ugly look. Originally released in mono, The Fury was given something of an audio revamp for its DVD bow from Fox in 2001 for a 4.0 surround track. That largely means the sound effects and score get shoved over to the front speakers, though some ambient sound carries to the rear as well. The mix often sounds strained and artificial, but if you want the audio to fill more of speakers, it's a passable effort. That disc also includes a bombastic three minute theatrical trailer and a small gallery of photos, including a funny, oft-printed outtake shot of the final scene. Those extras were carried over the limited (3,000 unit) Blu-ray from Twilight Time in mid-2013, which includes an improved (though still imperfect) HD transfer that looks similar to a good 35mm print (but more on that in a moment). The lossless audio for both the 4.0 and mono options sounds very rich, and Williams' score is also included as an isolated track for good measure.

"That brings us to the second Blu-ray release, a UK special edition from Arrow Video that marks their fourth De Palma release after Obsession, Dressed to Kill, and Blow Out. Interest was piqued immediately when the label announced their transfer was not the same one used for the Twilight Time release; instead they were commissioning a new one from the original camera negative, the first time ever for this title. Thankfully their efforts have more than paid off with a powerhouse video presentation that easily blows its predecessors to pieces, removing the veneer of grime, noise, and grit that was once thought to be a part of its basic aesthetic. The grungy skin tones of the most problematic scenes (Irving's intro scene and the fingernail scratching cross cutting in particular) look far more natural now, and the film as a whole is much easier to enjoy. Interestingly, the framing is also very different and better judged, dropping some extraneous headroom to expose more at the bottom (while adding a great deal to left and losing a marginal amount on the right), creating a slightly more centered composition for the film as a whole. Black levels are also much deeper and richer, which creates a far greater sense of depth and atmosphere...

"The English audio is presented as usual in the same 4.0 and 2.0 mono DTS-HD mixes, with the isolated track included along with optional English subtitles. The trailer pops up again, of course, but the Arrow release really excels with the rest of the extras including some invaluable video featurettes that should make De Palma fans giddy. First up, ace cinematographer Richard H. Kline takes center stage for the 27-minute 'Blood on the Lens,' talking in detail about working with De Palma and advancing the split diopter photography he first introduced in The Andromeda Strain. He also talks about jumping onto this film while he was still in production on Karel Reisz's Who'll Stop the Rain, but the main focus here is on his sole collaboration with De Palma, which ranks among the best work either of them ever achieved.

"Equally good is 'Spinning Tales' (13 mins.), a chat with Fiona Lewis (a blonde!) about her overall career including a few highlights like The Fearless Vampire Killers, A Day at the Beach, Lisztomania, and Drum. (Dr. Phibes Rises Again fans will get gypped though.) It's fascinating to hear about her career, which really should have been bigger in the '80s, and her stories about making The Fury are fascinating (especially her initial reluctance to accept the role) and, in one instance, horrifying (as she describes a deleted attempted rape scene, during which she banged her head for real over and over again). Then brace yourself for the 49-minute "The Fury: A Location Journal," with De Palma acolyte Sam Irvin (now a director in his own right starting with Guilty as Charged) walking through his experience on the set for eight days, which he recounted for Cinefantastique magazine. Among the highlights are his memories of getting Irving to publicly admit her relationship with Steven Spielberg for the first time, the special effects work of Rick Baker and William Tuttle (with a little involvement from Dick Smith), the original casting choices for the old couple eventually dropped from the script, and the filming of an additional, nasty grace note for one character's death, which was cut from the film but would have actually been more satisfying (as well as closer to the source novel). You'll also find out about a quick cameo from producer Frank Yablans and a very funny technical gaffe in the cafeteria scene, specifically behind a young Daryl Hannah. He then recounts sitting in on the film's postproduction process and getting a gig on De Palma's next film, the hilarious film school experiment Home Movies. (And for the love of God, could someone please, please release a decent home video version of that one already?) Irvin's first short film, Double Negative, is also included from what appears to be an older tape source; it's a fun little 17-minute De Palma homage (with William Finely again!) about a film student with a bit of a personality disorder."


Posted by Geoff at 7:27 PM CDT
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Wednesday, October 9, 2013
FIRST REVIEW OF ARROW'S 'THE FURY' BLU-RAY
INCLUDES MORE DETAILS ABOUT EXTRA FEATURES
Simon Crust at AV Forums has posted a review of Arrow Video's upcoming Blu-ray edition of Brian De Palma's The Fury, which will be released October 28th in the U.K. Calling it "a sterling package" from Arrow, Crust states, "re-mastering the picture from the original camera negative has produced a magnificent restoration, with a bright, detailed and colourful image that belies its age. The sound doesn’t fare quite so well, the surround track being the best of the bunch, though it’s great to also have the isolated music track." Here's what Crust has to say about the extras included in the package:
---------------------------------

• Blood on the Lens (27.00) – An interview with cinematographer Richard H Kline who discusses his time making the picture the ideas he brought to it, the professionalism of De Palma and the cast and how many of the optical effects were achieved. Entertaining and informative.
• Spinning Tales (13.38) – Another interview this time with Fiona Lewis. She talks about her time on set, relationships with the other actors and De Palma, of course. Far more anecdotal than either of the other two interviews.
• The Fury: A Location Journal (49.49) – Third and final (new) interview for this release this time with Sam Irvin who interned on The Fury and wrote up several interviews for the magazine Cinefantastique while there. This guy knows just about everything there is to know about the film, he talks about how he was introduced to De Palma, his time on set, his relationships with the cast and crew, how scenes were shot, the editing process, the post production and how it was received. There is a wealth of information here all told in an enthusiastically infectious manner.
• Original Archive Interviews – Four interviews recorded in 1978 to promote the film, very interesting in how they are set up (single camera panning between the interviewer and the guest) is in rather poor shape and even poorer sound, but very interesting in its own right. Included are Brian De Palma (06.03), producer Frank Yablans (06.52), [Carrie Snodgress (05.05) and Amy Irving (04.45). The chats are very light in tone and every question leads to an answer that in some way promotes the film.
• Double Negative (17.58) – Sam Irvin’s short film tribute to De Palma, telling the story of a director getting his own back on some ruthless producers. Looks to be VHS of a film source, not terrible quality but not great, easily watchable and showcasing some very early talent – I actually quite enjoyed it.
• Gallery (0.53) – A number of production pictures play as a slideshow accompanied to some of the film’s score.
• Reversible Sleeve – Original and newly commissioned artwork from Jay Shaw.
• Booklet – Thoroughly comprehensive writings on the film, printed interviews with De Palma and John Farris, all illustrated with original film stills and poster art.

------------------

Posted by Geoff at 11:00 PM CDT
Updated: Wednesday, October 9, 2013 11:04 PM CDT
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Thursday, October 3, 2013
ARROW'S 'FURY' INCLUDES NEW FARRIS INTERVIEW
FINAL SPECS FOR BLU-RAY, RELEASES OCT. 28; 'SISTERS' & 'PHANTOM' IN 2014
Arrow Video put out a press release today announcing the release date (Ocftober 28) and final specs for its mouth-watering Blu-Ray edition of Brian De Palma's The Fury. There has only been one real addition since the initial specs were announced in July, but it's a pretty great one: the booklet will include "a brand new interview with screenwriter John Farris on the writing of the film, his and De Palma’s unrealised adaptation of Alfred Bester’s The Demolished Man and more, illustrated with original stills and posters."

The press release states that "this new version of The Fury has been painstakingly restored from the original camera negative, a process overseen by master technician James White (who also restored the massively acclaimed Arrow Video release of Zombie Flesh Eaters in 2012). Marking the film’s UK Blu-ray premiere in style, Arrow’s team of restorers have breathed new life into this telekinetic masterpiece – it’s crystal clear, incredibly vibrant and has been newly graded, all the while keeping true to Richard H. Kline’s brilliant original cinematography. 2013 year marks THE FURY’s 35th birthday... it’s never looked better."

Restoration Supervisor White is quoted, "It's been a great honour to restore The Fury, a truly fantastic film by one of my favourite directors. Its combination of sci-fi, horror and post-Watergate paranoia thriller make it one of the key titles in Brian De Palma's filmography, although some fans may be less familiar with the film due to its poor treatment on home video until now. Thankfully, this new restoration, struck directly from the original camera negative and carefully restored to preserve the full colour palette and subtleties of Richard Kline's masterly cinematography, should reaffirm the film's reputation as one of De Palma's greatest works, as well as a key film in American 1970s cinema. Finally audiences can see The Fury as it was meant to be seen."

The press release also provides new details about one of the Sam Irvin extras included in the set. Irvin was an intern on The Fury, and an assistant to De Palma on Dressed To Kill. In 1985, he made a short film called Double Negative that featured William Finley, which is included as an extra on The Fury Blu-ray. The IMDB's plot description of Double Negative: "Horror film director must plot to steal the negative of his film in order to save it from being destroyed in an insurance scam cooked up by his sleazy producers."

The press release also mentions that Arrow will release restored Blu-ray editions of De Palma's Sisters and Phantom Of The Paradise in 2014.


Posted by Geoff at 6:34 PM CDT
Updated: Thursday, October 3, 2013 10:52 PM CDT
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