"All he can think of is her shape."

Available on DVD since the beginning of the format, Vision Quest was one of a handful of titles that Warner Bros. issued in full-frame format only (there was later an Australian 16X9 DVD released under its alternate title Crazy For You). The Warner Archive has corrected this oversight by releasing a 16X9 VISION QUEST MOD DVD sourced from a newer master. They've also included the original theatrical trailer, which features the goofy, youthful, and lighthearted style of voiceover also utilized for other teen films of the era such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

Listening to the Vision Quest trailer a couple times, I believe the voice of the narrator belongs to Mark Metcalf, best known for his role as Lt. Douglas C. Neidermeyer in Animal House (which he reprised in the Twisted Sister video for "We're Not Gonna Take It" and in the John Landis-directed segment in Twilight Zone: The Movie) and less well known as one of the producers of, and actors in, Chilly Scenes of Winter aka Head Over Heels.

"Travis McGee is having a conference with one of his clients. Business as usual."

Rod Taylor, he of the recently revived Dark of the Sun (by way of Bill Lustig, Quentin Tarantino, and the Warner Archive), starred a few years later as Travis McGee, the most famous creation of mystery scribe John D. MacDonald, in Robert Clouse's Darker Than Amber.

That brings me to the latest acquisition resulting from my movie poster addiction, which you can see below.  I would have liked a more prominent image of star Rod Taylor rather than villain William Smith, but the garish colors and imagery make up for it.  Interestingly, Smith's name is nowhere to be found in the billing block.

This Belgian poster features the customary bi-lingual title treatment and sources its main images from a few other posters and lobby cards for the film.

Now, if only CBS, by way of Paramount, could see to it to release this on DVD or Blu-ray. Unfortunately, it's influence on Soderbergh's Haywire is probably too oblique to have much impact.

On another positive note, there has been recent talk of another screen interpretation of John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee.  The new adaptation, of the first McGee novel, The Deep Blue Good-by, has Leonardo DiCaprio attached as star and producer and Paul Greengrass as director.  My first reaction to hearing that DiCaprio is slated to topline was far from an enthusiastic "Yow!" response, but I guess it's best to take a "wait and see" approach.  That said, I know one thing...to borrow--and tweak--a line from the immortal Hank Kingsley: "One of Rod Taylor's balls is bigger than Leonardo DiCaprio."

I suppose if this thing ever gets made, CBS / Paramount would probably finally be inclined to release Darker Than Amber on a disc format, though.

11 Best Repertory Titles Seen for the First Time in '11

Rupert Pupkin is at it again!  He's been good enough to post my list of favorite repertory films seen for the first time in 2011.  I extended the list from the customary 10 to 11 to honor the year that was 2011 and because narrowing it down was as difficult as ever.

TV Spot(s) Not on the DVD: Summer Lovers (1982, Randal Kleiser)

These apparently aired on the then-nascent MTV in Summer '82.  I can't think of other TV spots that utilized actors and incorporated new scenes as this one does.  Can you?  I do, of course, recall the many TV spots that interviewed moviegoers as they exited a film or waited on line for tickets.

"It's powerful stuff."

You can't see The Outsider on DVD or VHS, but it has been streaming on Netflix Instant for awhile now.  One of a number of not-on-DVD Paramount titles that have shown up on the service, I found it to be very effective and disturbing...it certainly deserves to be more widely known than it is.  Craig Wasson stars as a disaffected Irish-American Vietnam veteran who takes his soldiering skills to Northern Ireland and the IRA, in order to fight for a cause he actually believes in.  What he finds, not too surprisingly, is that even his very noble and pure intentions cannot protect him from the in-fighting, politicking, and corruption that are part and parcel of these situations.  The film was written and directed by Tony Luraschi from Colin Leinster's novel The Heritage of Michael Flaherty.  Based on the complex nature of the film and the skill with which it was made, it's surprising it was directed by a neophyte and equally surprising that it remains his only film.  Sterling Hayden co-stars in a small, but important role as the grandfather, an ex-IRA man, who inspires his grandson's journey.

I find that Wasson gets a lot of unwarranted flack from fellow cinephiles--mostly for Body Double, I believe--but there's no denying that he picked a lot of challenging, left-of-center projects during his few peak years as a young supporting player and leading man, Go Tell the Spartans, Four Friends, and Carny among them, which is something he should be lauded for more than he is.  That none of these films were successful in a financial sense is not attributable to the presence of Wasson, but to their inherently uncommercial nature, particularly in the changing, post-blockbuster climate of the late '70s and early '80s.

And, yes, it appears that the Paramount marketing department re-used the font from the previous year's The Warriors for The Outsider, or something close to it anyway.

Bringing Back the Cursive

The advance word on Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive is already good enough that I am eagerly anticipating seeing the film.  On a more geek obsessive level, I appreciate the use of a script font (in pink!) on the posters, a stylistic and perhaps symbolic choice that harks back to the '80s, when there was a prevalence of graffiti and script title fonts, frequently in neon colors, in movie marketing materials.

EDIT: I've added most of the suggestions from the comments section into the main gallery.

 

 

Two from '68

I own the first insert and just saw the second one on an online auction.  The colors, fonts, and illustration were too similar to my eyes to not call attention to them.  Interestingly, Sweet November was a Warner release and Pretty Poison a Fox.  I thought for sure they'd have been done by the same house designer.  Anyone have any idea if these were designed by the same artist and, if so, who that is?

Trailer Not on the DVD: Night Shift (1982, Ron Howard)

The guy who uploaded this trailer of Ron Howard's best film--well, it's this or Splash--apparently transferred it from his personal 16mm print; deep catalog 35mm prints from the studios are becoming so scarce, let alone 16mm ones, it's hard to believe they once struck 16mm trailers.

Soundtrack on the trailer features Burt Bacharach's eminently hummable "Night Shift" instrumental (the vocal version was performed by Quarterflash) and Al Jarreau's "Girls Know How."

Revisiting this one recently, I was reminded of what a treasure trove of gritty early '80s NYC footage we get here (it seems a few exteriors were filmed in L.A., however, and I think I spotted 'em all).  Its New York street cred is bolstered by an appearance by the one and only, Joe Spinell, as, what else, a sleazy gentleman's club operator.  During one of several Times Square drive-bys, we see a marquee boasting Sharky's Machine (putting at least some of the filming in very late '81 or early '82; Night Shift was released in Summer '82, while Sharky's was a Christmas '81 release). 

Trailer Not on the DVD: Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986, John Hughes)

A collection of music-filled trailers and a tv spot from a Paramount Picture that are also not available on the DVD or Blu-ray.  I'm guessing the shorter trailer may be a teaser trailer and the longer one is the regular trailer.  The real point of fascination here is a clip of one of the younger Bueller children, roles that were cut from the final film:

Trailer Not on the DVD: Saturday Night Fever (1977, John Badham)

Paramount has been pretty bad about putting original theatrical trailers on their DVD and Blu-ray releases.  I've heard that music in trailers also needs to be cleared for home video and this may be why so many vintage Paramount trailers remain absent from DVD.  Still, I find it doubtful that all the other studios are clearing music rights for the original trailers on their disc.  An interesting example of this sort of thing is the Last American Virgin DVD, which is missing Human League's "Love Action" (replaced by another go round of "Whip It") because the band refused to re-license it for the film.  However, the DVD also contains the original theatrical trailer, which includes a portion of "Love Action."  I'm guessing no one was paying too much attention to the content of the trailer.

This trailer, which probably came from an old VHS, runs fairly long and has a promo for the soundtrack album at the tail end.