Guys like Jeff Sneider don’t understand the concept of owning Blurays, and to be honest half the time I question it myself, given the excellent quality of high-def streaming these days. But I’ve just ordered Kino Lorber’s 60th anniversary Bluray of William Wyler’s The Big Country, and for two good reasons: (1) It’s been newly remastered in HD (the last Bluray version surfaced in 2011, from MGM Home Video) and (2) it’s been completely de-mumpified.

Besides removing the horizontally-stretched “mumps” effect, this upgrade process also pulls in extra visual information from both sides of the frame.

But the mumps taffy-stretch effect that afflicted The Big Country‘s 2011 Bluray wasn’t a CinemaScope issue, as William Wyler‘s 1958 western was shot in 8-perf Technirama and then printed down to 35mm.

The problem was caused, rather, by the MGM Home Video geniuses who transferred the film, which had been restored in 2007 by the Academy Film Archive with support from the Film Foundation, to a high-def Bluray format.

I reached out Tuesday evening to Kino Lorber’s senior acquisitions vp Frank Tarzi, hoping to discuss the technical particulars. (Tarzi had previously helped with factors leading to Kino Lorber’s decision to issue their Marty Bluray in 1.37 rather than the dreaded 1.85.) But it was late by the Manhattan clock, and Tarzi didn’t respond.

Comparison images stolen from DVD Beaver review of Kino Lorber Big Country Bluray.

Mumps above, no mumps below

The general reaction to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (Universal, 6.22) is that it vaguely blows. If I wanted to be harsh in my summary I would say it sucks dino balls, but I can’t say anything firsthand until I see it this evening. You know that a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 68% + a Metacritic score of 53%…you know what that means.

I could have gone to a 10 am press screening, but I had to see a dermatologist around the same time. HE will render a verdict tomorrow morning.

The director of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is Juan Antonio Bayona, whom I’ve personally known for over a decade. I still swear by The Orphanage (’07), his brilliant first film that was produced by Guillermo del Toro. I didn’t feel as enthused about The Impossible (’12) and A Monster Calls (’16). In any event Owen Gleiberman‘s Variety review of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom refers to him as “A.J.” Bayona, and that can’t be right. His first name is definitely Juan, and the second is absolutely Antonio — really, I know the guy, why would he switch them around?

In David Lowery‘s The Old Man and the Gun, Redford plays the real-life Forrest Tucker, a career criminal and prison escape artist. It looks and sounds like good, well-mannered fun. I don’t really believe the elderly Redford (turning 82 in August) as a hardcore bank robber, but the trick of these films is to nudge you into going along despite your reluctance. Casey Affleck, Sissy Spacek, Danny Glover, Tika Sumpter, Tom Waits and Elisabeth Moss costar.

A couple of months ago I wrote that the last really good old-criminal movie, of course, was Phillip Borsos‘ The Grey Fox (’82). It starred Richard Farnsworth (61 during filming) as real-life bank robber Bill Miner. The tone of that film was established by Miner’s kindness and gentility, and that seems to be the idea with Lowery’s film also.

On 11.11.16 several publications quoted Robert Redford saying that he’ll probably hang up his acting spurs after making David Lowery‘s The Old Man and the Gun (Fox Searchlight, 9.28).

Less than two hours after those stories hit Redford’s publicist, Cindy Berger of PMK*BNC, told Deadline that any and all notions of retirements were bogus. “[Redford] is certainly not retiring now from acting because he has several projects coming down the pike,” she said.

See me, feel me, protect me, touch me, marry me, have kids with me…shed a bumblebee tear.

Remember when it was first announced that Hailee Steinfeld had passed on Woody Allen‘s A Rainy Day in New York to star in Travis Knight‘s Bumblebee (Paramount, 12.21)? At the time that seemed like a shallow and opportunistic way to process things, but now it looks like she dodged a bullet, especially given the obstinate determinations of guys like Sam Adams.

Last night I asked HE’s own Mark Frenden to assemble new HE:(plus) banner art. I said I wanted to use a sliver of a revised American Friend poster that Frenden created three or four years ago, in which I substituted for Dennis Hopper. I think it came out pretty well. Still a fair amount of tweaking left to do on HE:(plus), but it’s on track to launch sometime around 6.20 or thereabouts.

Okay, I guess it’s still a thing in some corner of the culture. At least give the organizers credit for finally recognizing that in real day-to-day life, people of either gender are never judged by their appearance. At least we’re past that hurdle. So the next Miss America winner will probably be a bit pudgier than normal. This is where we are, no turning back.

Posted on 4.26.15: At last night’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, emcee Cecily Strong “created a moment” when she asked all members of the media in the ballroom to raise their hands and take a solemn vow: “I solemnly swear not to talk about Hillary Clinton’s appearance, because that is not journalism.”

Strong is correct — serious journalism and offering comments or asides about a person’s appearance are separate realms of expression. Do average citizens vote for or against a candidate based on his/her appearance? Absolutely not.

JFK‘s youth, matinee-idol looks, perennial tan and thick reddish-brown hair had no effect upon voter likes or dislikes. The fact that the Ronald Reagan didn’t have white or graying hair or a sagging, withered face when he ran for president in ’80 at age 69…nobody cared. They would have voted for him if he looked like Walter Brennan in Rio Bravo because they were voting for the man, not the appearance. Barack Obama‘s cappucino skin shade had nothing to do with his winning the ’08 and ’12 elections…zip. And Hillary Clinton’s grandma face and puffy eye-bags will have no effect on her popularity during the 2016 Presidential election. The election will be entirely about who she is or is not…about character, cojones and convictions.