Carnival of Souls (in color) - with Mike Nelson

[odinn7]

Hey, not everyone that doesn't watch subtitled movies does so because they're lazy. I myself have a difficult time with many movies that I've tried to watch with subtitles simply because I feel that I'm missing what's going on as I'm trying to read and make sense out of what I'm reading. It's not out of laziness. I realize that I'm missing out on some good movies this way but if it's an involved story, I can't do it. I had no problem with Kung Fu Hustle because it was a fairly simple read but much beyond that and I'm finished.

[Flangepart]

As a kaiju fan, i prefer subtitles for the ability to hear the actors own voice, so i can get a better feel for the performence, even thought i don't speak Japanese.
Same with Kirosawa.
I grew up in a household with only a B&W t.v., so i had no choice. Therefor, i had the chance to see how secondary color is, to a good story.
I mean...look how many color films Andrew has to give a  a skull to...sheesh!

[peter johnson]

The "Reefer Man" song was not on the original "Reefer Madness" movie, any more than color was --
"Reefer Man", as sung by Cab Calloway and His Orchestra, is from "International House"(1933 or '34 I think) , with W.C. Fields, Bela Lugosi in a comedy role(!!), Burns & Allen, Peggy Hopkins Joyce, and a dozen other known comic bit-players.  EXTREMELY well worth it & very very crazy-funny!!
This film is also in black and white . . .
* * * * *
Re. subtitles.  You simply have to see things like Kurosawa and Bergman's "Seventh Seal" with subtitles, otherwise you can't hear the nuances & emphases of the very good foreign actors at work.  I don't care how good your dubbing is, something is going to be lost.
peter johnson/denny crane

[Just Plain Horse]

On B&W: Some movies benefit a great deal from being in black&white, particularly in mood. Horror films and "noir" pictures wouldn't have any power to them if they were colorized (I hate the thought of Humphrey Bogart in a yellow zoot suit like the Mask wore). I think most horror films look better in black&white... even The Thing gains some power by being black&white (I've seen it colorized, and that just makes it look like a goofy 50's B-movie).


On Subtitles: I grew up on dubbed Kaiju films- and while I enjoy the element of unentintional comedy that brings (Invasion of the Neptune Men remains the most outstandingly riduculous dubbing I've ever witnessed, but the Belucci Productions dub of Ghidrah, the 3 Headed Monster isn't far behind)- I am perfectly fine with reading subtitles for most modern Japanese films. GMK subtitled is far superior over GMK dubbed. Personally, I think all Kaiju film DVD's ought to give you a wide selection of various language dubs you can use... at least two different American dubs, some decidely non-Asian language (I vote for either French or German... having heard Godzilla 2000 in French was a real treat for my ears), and the original Japanese track. I also think it would be cool if Kaiju films gave people an alternate dub for the monsters only, because some dubs have people talking over the creature's roars- which is stupid and really detracts from the emphasis on a giant, unstoppable beast leveling a city. How can we hear a news reporter over such a commotion as that? Maybe throw in the music for some of the more dramatic scenes, though...