It is my opinion, no offense, that DVD Beaver‘s Gary. W. Tooze would rather saw his nose off with a steak knife than deliver blunt criticism in his Bluray reviews. I’m not saying he automatically gives handjobs to each and every Bluray he reviews — I’m saying he gives them a wink, a kiss and a neighborly hug. And he does, to be fair, post excellent Bluray screen captures…except when he posts images that seem a little too dark, which happens from time to time with Blurays of older black-and-white films.
I’m mentioning my disappointment with Tooze’s reluctance to tell it straight and plain and let the chips fall because he’s apparently first out of the gate with reviews of some of the Blurays on Universal’s Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection, and in my opinion he’s wimped out on the controversial Vertigo Bluray.
“More particularly Tooze has decided to entirely sidestep the issue of James Stewart‘s brown suit on the Vertigo Bluray. He knew that was a front-and-center concern and he doesn’t touch it. Here’s how I put it to Tooze (who never replies to emails and hides whenever I reach out) this morning:
“Gary — You never seem to want to get in touch or respond to emails or anything, but could I ask you to please call (or let me call you) regarding your assessment of the Vertigo Bluray?
“I always have difficulty deciphering which version (new Bluray, most recent DVD) you’re writing about. The following (copied from your latest post) apparently describes the Bluray version, but one can never be 100% sure:
“In the title sequence opening (girl’s face) — it was originally meant to be in black and white (like the VistaVision logo) but in post production it could not be rendered in that manner. Unfortunately in the new release someone has taken it upon themselves to color this and it has now been brightness boosted to have a less accurate tinge (orange/sepia) than its theatrical appearance.”
I’m asking because your Bluray screen capture of this title sequence indicates a more correct monochrome rendering.
“Here’s how I described the credit sequence last month after seeing a DCP on the Universal lot: ‘The woman’s face in the opening credits before the camera goes in on her eye is supposed to be nearly black and white with a just a faint touch of sepia. (The above YouTube clip is a good representation of how it should look.) And they got it wrong again — the tint is definitely too orange.’
“I’m especially troubled, Gary, that in your review you didn’t address the color of Jimmy Stewart‘s brown suit. In the DCP i saw last August is was aubergine-tinted brown. As I wrote in the piece, ‘Jimmy Stewart’s brown suit is brownish violet or brownish purple (I can’t decide what to call it) throughout the first half or so. But it’s supposed to be plain brown. We all know what brown looks like. Brown is brown. It doesn’t have a violet tint.'”
I’m supposed to receive my Hitchcock Masterpiece collection sometime next week.
