Ah, Tooze strikes again! He really provides us a magnificent service with his screen captures, but my goodness, he totally loses me when he says things like: "Frankly, sometimes the Warner colors and transfer looks superior but for the most part the Criterion is the better overall image in my opinion - it certainly exhibits sharper detail at times." Um...no Gary, the Warner colors and transfers look nothing like film. 60s and 70s color stock would never, ever look as washed out and bright as the Warners captures would indicate. The Criterion looks completely accurate.dadaistnun wrote:Beaver's review/comparison is up.
402 The Milky Way
- Via_Chicago
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- tryavna
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If anyone cares, I actually like the look of Optimum's transfer for this movie better than what I see on Beaver's comparison page. The colors are not nearly as washed out as they appear to be in the Warner, and they don't exhibit the brownish hue of the Criterion. The subs are also optional on the Optimum, and the Optimum gives you the trailer and the "Atheist Thanks to God" extra.
I guess I'll be happy with my Optimum boxset.
I guess I'll be happy with my Optimum boxset.
- tryavna
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Are you talking about the Optimum or the Warner? Gary's screencaps are of the Warner. The Optimum is a totally different transfer than the Warner, though Gary apparently doesn't have the boxset to cap it yet.Greathinker wrote:To my eye the last image with the car gives it away- on the optimum you only have some idea that it's a white car, the criterion at least makes it clear that its powder blue, though very faintly.
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Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away
The Milky Way cannot simply be described as an "attack," I think, though parts of it can be convincingly interpreted that way. As a historical work, it was scrupulously based on the Bible and other texts, and as a whole I think it presents a complex picture of heresy. The Vatican was fairly pleased with it, actually.
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Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away
I meant that The Milky Way attacks Christianity directly and at length, while Bunuel typically focuses his wrath on the Catholic church and its representatives among his other targets. For example, The Milky Way refers to various Christian heresies in detail. So, while Bunuel's other films take swipes at Christianity, The Milky Way focuses on it exclusively. I think this may be a reason that some critics have ranked it lower than other Bunuel films over the years.
I disagree that Bunuel attacks organized religion through his films. I know of no criticism of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism in his films. No doubt Bunuel had no use for organized religion at all, but his attacks were on Christianity alone and the Catholic church in particular.
I disagree that Bunuel attacks organized religion through his films. I know of no criticism of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism in his films. No doubt Bunuel had no use for organized religion at all, but his attacks were on Christianity alone and the Catholic church in particular.
- domino harvey
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Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away
Who could ever forget the Buddhist crusades
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Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away
A person with delicate religious sensibilities is not what I had in mind. I meant that as you say, The Milky Way is "less than engaging, BECAUSE it seems to only concern itself with addressing the heresies." Speaking for myself, I find the film very interesting. However, I can imagine that someone who enjoys Bunuel's pointed jabs at the Church might not enjoy a whole film that attacks Christianity through a thorough examination of some of its most notable heresies.
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Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away
Well, they may not have led crusades, but the Sinhalese Buddhists of Sri Lanka have engaged in pogroms against the Hindu Tamils of that Island, and a Buddhist priest did murder the first elected president of independant Sri Lanka. Also Japanese imperialism was heavily influenced by its particular brand of Buddhism.domino harvey wrote:Who could ever forget the Buddhist crusades
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Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away
what are you quoting here? just curious to see the entire post is all...was this cut off of somewhere else?david hare wrote:Hahahahahah! Bunuel's entire life's work is a serious attack on organized religion! If you don't get that, along with his attacks on bourgeois morality and the hypocrisy, you don't get Bunuel.Milky Way is a serious attack on Christianity, which may bother some people. However, it is done in a very thoughtful, sincere manner that ultimately leaves me with a sense of mystery, not unlike the feeling one might have after a religious service.
Thats one of the funniest things I've ever read here.
Walks off, nodding head..... shaking with disbelief.
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Re: 402 The Milky Way
You just posted there: the StudioCanal thread
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Re: 402 The Milky Way
David --
I find Bunuel to be one of the few film makers who takes religion truly seriously -- even if he chooses to (mostly) attack (in a black humorous fashion). I think this can make his work interesting to intelligent, religiously inclined people. LEE Chang-dongs's Milyang (Secret Sunshine) is one of the few recent films that does something similar (though it is more bleak than Bunuel).
Not an "essential" Bunuel film, perhaps, but Milky Way was lots of fun for me -- hope it becomes available again in good quality (R1 playable) form.
I find Bunuel to be one of the few film makers who takes religion truly seriously -- even if he chooses to (mostly) attack (in a black humorous fashion). I think this can make his work interesting to intelligent, religiously inclined people. LEE Chang-dongs's Milyang (Secret Sunshine) is one of the few recent films that does something similar (though it is more bleak than Bunuel).
Not an "essential" Bunuel film, perhaps, but Milky Way was lots of fun for me -- hope it becomes available again in good quality (R1 playable) form.
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Re: 402 The Milky Way
I think Bunuel always maintained that he was not anti-religion but rather anti-clerical.
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Re: 402 The Milky Way
Anti-clerical-establishment might be even closer to the mark -- as he has some surprisingly positive portrayals of "clerics" (my personal favorite being the worker-bishop of "Discreet Charm").Matt wrote:I think Bunuel always maintained that he was not anti-religion but rather anti-clerical.
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Re: 402 The Milky Way
right...saw it right after and using my noggin for a change to answer my own question.domino harvey wrote:You just posted there: the StudioCanal thread
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Re: 402 The Milky Way
Of course there is nothing more cutting and dangerous than someone who can comment on certain religious hypocrisies from the 'insiders' perspective of actually having some connection to ideas that they are tackling (which is also why The Devils is still effectively banned).
And Bunuel's foot fetishism moments make Quentin Tarantino look like an amateur!
And Bunuel's foot fetishism moments make Quentin Tarantino look like an amateur!
Last edited by colinr0380 on Sun Jun 13, 2010 3:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Mr Sausage
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Re: 402 The Milky Way
Indeed, the Milky Way is almost totally about how spirituality becomes subordinated to obscurantist pedantry when various established churches vie for earthly power. The movie may not be Bunuel's most savage satire, but surely no one can miss the bitter taste when Bunuel shows us people willing to murder each other over baffling questions like whether or not the son is consubstantial with the father.Michael Kerpan wrote:Anti-clerical-establishment might be even closer to the mark -- as he has some surprisingly positive portrayals of "clerics" (my personal favorite being the worker-bishop of "Discreet Charm").Matt wrote:I think Bunuel always maintained that he was not anti-religion but rather anti-clerical.
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Re: 402 The Milky Way
The children's pageant featuring recitation of proclamations of anathema also struck me as pretty savage (and funny).Mr_sausage wrote:The movie may not be Bunuel's most savage satire, but surely no one can miss the bitter taste when Bunuel shows us people willing to murder each other over baffling questions like whether or not the son is consubstantial with the father.
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Re: 402 The Milky Way
Hah! I'd forgotten that part. One of the funniest and most sly jabs at religious indoctrination I've seen.Michael Kerpan wrote:The children's pageant featuring recitation of proclamations of anathema also struck me as pretty savage (and funny).Mr_sausage wrote:It may not be Bunuel's most savage satire, but surely no one can miss the bitter taste when Bunuel shows us people willing to murder each other over baffling questions like whether or not the son is consubstantial with the father.
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Re: 402 The Milky Way
One of the reasons that I like The Milky Way is that it's a real pebble in the shoe to those that want to sentimentalize Bunuel. I think the tendency among mainstream critics is to look at Bunuel as that cuddly old surrealist. A man who gently mocks the foibles of humankind with a wry smile. The Milky Way puts the lie to such a view of Bunuel. It's a withering assault on the Church that doesn't fit the typical narrative. Consequently, I think it's been underrated.he is determinedly an atheist, despite the attmps of some misguided fools to reinvent him.