robthehand

Is that the 1993 London Revival or its 1994 US run? I find the London version is amazing, while the US version isn't so good (the actress playing Julie is incredibly grating). Though both CDs have some unique musical inclusions. London (NT = National Theatre), I didn't even know they'd recorded the US transfer of that production. I know the London album isn't anywhere near complete, but I'm very happy with it overall.

Carousel (NT revival cast) Superman: The Movie (my own one-disc edited version, or if I can't do that, disc one from the blue box) Vertigo (Joel McNeely re-recording) Which recording? (I've been meaning to buy a recording ever since I saw the show last year, can you recommend one?)

Same here. R.I.P.

All the President's Men?

They're normally about 1:00 or 2:00am in the UK.

300 is on there as well, just below Revenge of the Sith.

Nearly all of those look familiar. I'll guess a few of them: 3. Captain Blood? Or maybe The Sea Hawk. 9. Jaws 13. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 15. The Return of the King 19. Raiders of the Lost Ark 25. The Usual Suspects

Batman.

Vangelis. I wouldn't say I'm a fan, but he's written some interesting stuff. I like the Blade Runner score in the film a lot.

Great film, glad you liked it. Who called it a "failed comedy", by the way? I think what comedy there is works well, but the film is mainly a drama (and a very good one). I'd love to see the deleted material (especially if it's as good as Rozsa claims in the CD booklet), but I think the film works anyway as it is. And the score is one of my absolute favourites.

For the UK: Yes, both. Can be for about 20 minutes on the new releases. Popcorn, and hot dogs and burgers. No. There's no smoking allowed in any public buildings in the UK now. Mostly. Smaller cinemas sometimes don't, but nearly all the big ones do. Yep. Sadly not. There are only a few I've come across, most of them have been knocked down or converted into multiplexes. I've heard about it happening in mainland Europe, but I've never seen it in the UK (fortunately).

See here: http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=422

Both of those are coming out separately (finally!) in October, as well (along with Rear Window). http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/vertigo.html http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/psycho.html http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/rear-window.html After these are out, I think that only leaves the remastered Birds DVD that isn't available separately.

MGM are releasing a new box set in October containing: Rebecca The Lodger The Paradine Case Spellbound Notorious Young and Innocent Sabotage Lifeboat http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/alf...collection.html Extras look very nice. Obviously don't know anything about the quality yet, but hopefully it'll be good. I'd wait until this set's out and been reviewed before making a decision on what to get. As mentioned above you're safe with the Criterion DVDs of The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes, and the three Alfred Hitchcock Presents volumes from Universal.

Took me two viewings to really appreciate There Will Be Blood. First time I thought it was very good, but I didn't love it. Second time I just loved everything about it. The best film of last year by quite a long way IMHO.

These polls are always stupid, even moreso it seems when they're done in Britain. The "best film scores" one was an embarrasment to humanity. More interesting would be, what's the most British film of all time?

Not a Lloyd Webber fan, then? I think those "search for a star" reality TV shows he did might have already done that. I love Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Tell Me on a Sunday, and some of his other stuff. I hate Joseph and most of Cats (especially Cats because of how he butchered some of those great poems). I should hate Aspects of Love as well, but I don't, because Michael Ball was in it. As I said I haven't made my mind up about Phantom, though there are definitely parts that I like. I'll probably see his new show, though, I have no idea why since it's almost certainly going to be rubbish. Wonder if he'll cast it by reality TV.

Is that true? I thought quite a few of his shows had been successful (financially, that is). Though I'm not exactly looking forward to this sequel. I'm not even sure if I like the original that much. It certainly has some great moments, but I'm not sure that it's a great show at all.

I'd like him to, but it seems so unlikely that I don't see much point in hoping for it, so I voted no for both.

I definitely agree with your point, if not the examples. Heaven's Gate might be my pick. Such an incredible amount of talent, yet virtually every element is misjudged or just plain bad.

Raiders of the Lost Ark for film, Star Wars for score.

Oh my god what? My thoughts exactly. I can't believe I mentioned Philip Quast as Javert in Les Mis and yet completely forgot about Colm Wilkinson. In general I'm not a fan of Wilkinson's at all, but he simply is Valjean. And he's not even the first actor I saw in the role - that was John Owen-Jones, who has to be as good an actor, and has a far better voice, but didn't "inhabit" the role in the same way Wilkinson did. I'll also add Derek Jacobi in I, Claudius. A completely flawless performance - though unfortunately now whenever I see him in anything else I keep expecting him to stutter.

Though the first film is clearly the best one, I actually think Hackman's performance in the sequel was even better. That would definitely be on my list.

Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Alec Guinness as George Smiley in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Sigourney Weaver as Ripley in Alien. Peter O'Toole as T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia. Clint Eastwood as Blondie in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Jason Miller as Damien Karras in The Exorcist. Philip Quast as Javert in Les Misérables. Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent and Superman in Superman: The Movie. Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates in Psycho. Boris Karloff as The Monster in Frankenstein. These are all examples (for me) where I completely forget that I'm watching an actor playing a role - the actor and the character are inseparable. I'm sure I'll think of lots of others as soon as I've posted this. In fact I've thought of one already: Joel Grey as the MC in Cabaret.

For the UK it's cheaper from Colosseum (for once). £47.50 for the CD + £7 postage = £54.50. Varese would be £45 (approx.) for the CDs including postage, but also an international transaction fee and the dreaded import duty (£9 + 20% of the value) brings it to about £63.