THE ASSOCIATED PRESS August 10, 2004 The DVD era is resurrecting the great colorization debate of the 1980s, and at the heart of the matter are Moe, Larry and Curly.
Sony's Columbia TriStar home-video unit is releasing two Three Stooges DVDs that allow viewers to watch the original black-and-white or digitally colorized versions. Purists consider it desecration, while Sony executives say the process can introduce movie classics to young audiences reluctant to watch anything in black and white. The Stooges discs coming out today also give die-hard fans better black-and-white versions, the studio insists. To prepare for the colorization process, Sony did a more extensive restoration than it had with previous black-and-white- only Stooges DVDs, said Bob Simmons, a technical specialist who worked on the project. "The best thing about this DVD release is it gives the consumer the ultimate choice," said Suzanne White, vice president of marketing for Columbia TriStar. "They can watch the very best, the finest restored image of the black-and- white version, or watch the new colorized version and switch instantaneously between the two." The new DVDs, "Goofs on the Loose" and "Stooged and Confoosed," contain four shorts each featuring Moe and Curly Howard and Larry Fine. Offering a choice does not appease colorization critics, who include Sam Raimi, director of Sony's "Spider-Man" blockbusters. "I don't think they should mess with black and white," said Raimi, who is such a Stooges fan that credits on some of his movies label extras as "fake Shemps," a reference to doubles used to complete Stooges shorts after the death of Shemp Howard, who both preceded and succeeded brother Curly in the act. "I think they should just leave it as they are and try to preserve them as best they can," Raimi said. "I feel like it's an artistic interpretation that's not anybody's right to make except the director's." __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
