The Smiley Smile Message Board

A Deluxe 2 disc version idea..

1. I would love to see full length commentary with the director, some of the actors and Brian and Melinda..
2. All the songs from the movie in a "Music Only" option with the full songs remastered in 5.1, basically the soundtrack as well as the instrumentals..not edited but the full versions
3. Concert Footage (or a complete concert) never before seen
4. behind the scenes footage, the making of doc.
5. A new (At least an hour long if not 2 hours) Documentary about Brian's life (on disc 2) with more songs (that are not in the movie) remastered in 5.1 sound, music videos, concert footage etc and unreleased songs
6. Deleted Scenes or make the movie an "Extended Version" with the scenes added back into it (like "Walk Hard" which has both regular and extended)

I LOVE super long "making of"s.  Frequently, they're more fun to watch than the movie itself.  Of course it's usually fantasy and sci-fi movies that get the super long "making of"s.

Full length commentaries are also usually more fun than the movie.  Especially in comedies.  But in films depicting real events, fantastic when it's the actual person doing the commentary.  I don't suspect we'd get much of one from Brian, though.  Unless it coincides with one of his good days.

Count me in on all of the above. I'd be stoked to see any scenes that were left out, and I'd definitely love to sit in my living room listening to the Ross score in 5.1. Commentary would be an exceptional bonus as well, though I understand that that's becoming something of a lost art as more people gravitate towards streaming. I haven't bought many blu-rays, but I'm definitely planning on getting L&M.

Excerpts from the wrap party concert!

Now is the time to act. We need to write or email Brimel Productions or whoever and ask politely that our wishes be considered. Otherwise we will have a "Keepin the Summer Alive" contest winners which are pretty hopeless and we will spend the next 30 years trying to figure out what the hell the contest was in the first place. :afro

Dinner with Elizabeth Banks oughta be included in the price…


;)

I also thoguht that a combi with "I just wasn't made for these times" would be great. On the other hand I think we need a second part of that, but only if it is not trying to imitate the style of IJWMFTT but standing on it's own. I guess though, "Beautiful dreamer" will be the last documentary on Brian (as a solo artist) until he's gone. And if that's the case, I can wait a long, long time for the new one. That said, I don't think the combination of L&M and IJWMFTT (which's soundtrack I have played the last few days for the first time in years...and I think it's very cool; much better than I had in mind) would work as well as I'd wanted it to.



One bonus feature I'd kill for is a exclusive movie of Mike Love's facial expressions the first time he sees the movie.... No comments, no varying camera angles....












 ;D ;D ;D just kidding of course.....

I wonder if they filmed the "Help Me Rhonda" sessions with Murry and then cut out it of the movie so we can get it as a "cut" scene,,, actually I'm surprised that part wasn't in the movie ( even though we do get a short snippet of it at one point)

The screenplay references a scenario like the one that unfolded in the "Help Me Rhonda" session, but for "I Get Around" instead.  All of my suggested deleted scenes are directly from scenes referenced in the screenplay. 

Just assuming it was filmed, impossible to know for sure.

Yep I second this, haven't seen the doc yet as haven't seen it available for sale in the UK and Sky Arts etc haven't aired it yet (to my knowledge).

Interviews with Brian, VDP & their thoughts on the movie would be cool. Would also like to see any unreleased footage that might be available of Brian & the boys in the studio.

How about a Criterion Collection blu-ray release of Love & Mercy? They know how to do them right.

That would be ideal.  I've actually written their suggestion box about it.  I suspect that we'll just see a standard release that will hopefully have some nice goodies (deleted scenes, a commentary or two and a feature).

That's a great idea actually - I will write them too. Do you have any insight into the process of a film becoming part of the Criterion Collection? Maybe if we get enough board members writing them, we'll get their attention, although I suppose it's a bit more complicated than some fanboys telling Criterion what they want and Criterion submitting to their wishes. As I have amassed quite a Criterion Collection collection over the years, I think it's a film that would fit very nicely into their catalog. It would cost a few more bucks than the standard issue DVD/Blu-Ray, but would be worth every penny.

P.S. Aren't you the member who has seen Love & Mercy five times? As of tomorrow night, I will be just one screening behind you.

My fave "want" is the BBC Art That Shook The World documentary on Pet Sounds dating, from the time of Brian's 2002 UK Pet Sounds tour and presented by Mark Lamarr. Haven't seen it since it was first broadcast but to me at the time it seemed to nail it.

http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0920938/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBWhhM7i4P4

Well...  back in the day (very early 00's) an email to their suggestion box would yield a friendly response from Jon Mulvaney about the likelihood of your suggestion becoming a Criterion title.  I'm not sure what to expect now.  I do know that whether or not a title gets added probably has as much to do with demand as it does availability through the rights holder.  Lions Gate is the North American distributor of LOVE & MERCY and I'm not sure of the current relationships Criterion has with any studios.  I haven't kept up with that stuff in a long, long time; kids get in the way of a lot of hobbies.  :lol

In my email I did mention that Robert Yeoman was the DP on LOVE & MERCY and that he has done numerous Wes Anderson films.  Of course, Criterion has released pretty much all of those.  Not that has anything to do with anything.  Also Bill Pohlad has ties to Ang Lee and Terrence Malick, both of whom have films that Criterion has released.  Again, nice trivia but probably has nothing to do with actually getting LOVE & MERCY into the Criterion Collection.

Allow me to digress, it's really awesome to hear that other people really take film and cinema seriously.  In my mid teens I began slowly collecting a few Criterion laserdiscs, this would have been in the early 1990s.  As laserdiscs turned into DVDs, I continued to collect select titles.  However, life has its seasons and now with kids a lot of those habits and hobbies have to get put away just due to lack of $$$.  But it's cool to hear from a fellow BB/BW fan that appreciates that stuff.  


My reputation precedes me.  Yes, that's me.  There have been a handful of times in my life where I have gotten obsessed about a film before it was released and then the anticipation builds to a point and then the film is released and exceeds my expectations.  Quite embarrassingly, that turns into me seeing a particular movie (previous examples: GOODFELLAS, THE THIN RED LINE, ZODIAC) multiple times.  I guess sometimes a piece of art just hits you the right way.  In this case, the story is fascinating from an outsider point of view.  And if your a BB/BW nut (who isn't here?) the art turns out to be a great reflection of the reality that occurred and it plays out on the screen the way you imagined it in your head.  The obsessive in me wants to relive that over and over.  

That said, I still might go once more.   8o

Thanks for taking the time to write them, and please keep us posted if you hear anything. I haven't gotten around to writing Criterion but will do so early next week.

I didn't see Zodiac, but didn't Atticus Ross score that film as well? I think he has done most if not all of Fincher's films. L & M definitely exceeded my expectations in every way. Some critics have said it's a flawed film, despite still giving it high marks, yet I don't see the flaws, and I just got back from my fourth time seeing it. In fact, I am more awestruck by it after my fourth screening than my first one.

I would love commentary from Ross on the Blu-Ray edition as well, as his role is so central to the success of this film.

Many thanks! I shoulda thought… :)

I have a feeling, and hope, that the "One Kind of Love" music video will be a bonus feature...

Just a quick follow up about my email to Criterion.  Surprisingly (or maybe unsurprisingly), Criterion got back to me today.  The correspondence I received was from the same person I mentioned previously (thought that was pretty cool).

I'll summarize his email: "Thank you for your suggestion about making this LOVE & MERCY part of the collection.  I saw the film in a theater and thought it was splendid.  I'll share your suggestion with my colleagues".

Definitely not pinning my hopes on this happening, although, it would be utterly amazing if it did.

Last weekend, I spent a little time looking at Lions Gate and Roadside Attractions DVD/Blu-Ray releases, particularly the highest grossing co-releases (where both Roadside Attractions and Lions Gate were the studio/distributor).  And if you're curious, LOVE & MERCY is now their 4th highest grossing release, behind these.  In all cases a DVD & Blu-Ray were released (also Digital), these are the special features included with each.

MUD (2012) – Director Commentary, Featurette, Two Interviews with Cast & Crew (EPK)
A MOST WANTED MAN (2014) – Featurette, One Interview (EPK)
THE CONSPIRATOR (2011) – Director Commentary, Documentary, Making of, Featurettes, Trailers and more.

Judging from those, even if Lions Gate is the Blu-Ray/DVD release partner I think there's a good chance we'll get some decent special features, based on the examples I looked at.  FWIW, I used the same rationale when I was trying to figure out how big of a release LOVE & MERCY would get, in the U.S.  My guess was in the 700-800 theater range.  That's about where these titles were, as well.

I'm still clinging to hope that Capitol will release a score and/or soundtrack for LOVE & MERCY.  And if they don't maybe an Isolated Score will be included on Home Video.  If that's the case, I'll just "roll my own" using DVD Audio Extractor.

 :smokin

Mike Love and Van Dyke Parks audio commentary.

"TM or not, Van Dyke, I'll shove that cello where the sun doesn't shine until you're singing involuntary triplets through your nose."

"I already walked out on you once, Mike."

Unfortunately, the “special features” on a lot of new film releases on DVD and Blu-ray have become more sparse and inconsequential (a lot of fluffy EPK sort of stuff). Hopefully they can do something more substantial and special with L&M (I think commentary tracks and deleted scenes will yield much more fascinating results than EPK-style cast interviews).

Criterion doesn’t do that many brand new/first run film releases, and Lionsgate has a pretty robust home video arm, so I wouldn’t expect a Criterion edition. Criterion indeed do wonderful work across the board. But they come in most handy in terms of A/V presentation, and as L&M is a brand new film, I don’t think Criterion would add a lot in that department. They would potentially bring a lot to the special features, though.

I would imagine when Lionsgate bought the distribution rights to L&M, they had the direct revenue from home video in mind. I wouldn’t expect them to license this out to Criterion. It would certainly be nice, though.

Criterion would probably have more success trying to license the Don Was “IJWMFTT” documentary from Lionsgate, as that actually needs a new HD transfer/restoration, which Criterion do great work with. I’d love to see if they have a trove of outtakes from *that* film.

Such as Brian singing "This Song Wants to Sleep With You Tonight" in color to close the movie.

Pretty sure that was filmed.

Thanks for the update. If Criterion does release it, I suspect it won't be anytime soon. Many of Wes Anderson's films are in the Criterion Collection, so I was looking at one as an example: Fantastic Mr. Fox (which has Heroes and Villains on the soundtrack, by the way - enough of a reason to purchase it). Anyway, it was released in 2009, but didn't get the Criterion treatment until 2014. If that timeline is any indication, if L & M does go Criterion, it probably won't happen until 2020 or thereabouts. That's a long time to wait, so I'll purchase the Lionsgate edition in the meantime.

Interesting, another Beach Boys connection from Lionsgate with "Mud," as that featured Help Me, Rhonda, with a character singing it in the film, and in the closing credits if I remember correctly.

Yea, the Lions Gate DVD & Blu-Ray are first day purchases for me.  I'll probably buy both, so I can use the DVD on my Mac and rip audio tracks.

I've never seen any of the movies I mentioned, that's cool about MUD.  Beach Boy music is everywhere.  I blame the Sunkist commercials that were on TV when I was a kid.

Yep, that would be nice to see. From Andy Paley's circa 2000 interview from the short-lived "petsounds.com" website:

Well there's one other that came out on a European thing. I think people mistakingly think that Don Was produced it. "This Song's Going To Sleep With You Tonight." That was produced by me and Brian. And it's just me and Brian, and Corky Hale on the harp, and me and Brian singing in the background. That came out on an EP or something.

Don actually filmed that song for the movie (the 1995 documentary, "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times"). But at the last minute they didn't use that footage - he didn't use that song in the movie. Somewhere there's footage of him doing that - in fact I think they shot that in color. The way Don described it was that the movie was going to be in black and white and there would be this new song that would be in color.

I wonder if some of the songs on the soundtrack that weren't in the movie were also filmed like Melt Away and Let the Wind Blow.  It would definitely be cool to see an extended version with the full performances of all the songs.

To be clear, no songs were actually performed for the IJWMFTT doc. All of the full-band stuff you see in the film is miming to prerecorded tracks.

Don Was recorded the entire album without Brian, with Andrew Gold (I believe) singing the lead parts. Brian came by the studio afterward and overdubbed his vocals in a few days.

Those tracks were then played back, and everyone followed along with them merrily for the camera.

well that would explain why it doesn't sound anything like a "Brian Wilson Produced, album".

Well, Brian is credited second -- "Produced by Don Was and Brian Wilson" -- which hasn't been done anywhere else. That's suggestive, at least.

My recollection is, BW largely contributed by deciding what songs would be recorded. That's why the title track for the doc isn't included -- he didn't want it on there.

Brian has a credit for playing piano though. Or is that just for "Still I dream of it"?
Anyway, I listened to the album the last weeks from time to time which I haven't done in years. Really a cool album!

He might be playing on "Do It Again" -- that's the one sequence in the movie that looks like they might have filmed it live.

Don't know that for a fact, though.