The Way to Present the Classics
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NEWS UPDATE - JANUARY 2010 THE JOHNNY MERCER CENTENNIAL Date November 18, 2009 A life-size bronze statue of Johnny Mercer
(1909-1976) was unveiled in Savannah’s Ellis Square. The ceremony was
attended by various City and State dignitaries receiving full media
coverage – TV, press and radio, etc.
NEW ALBUM RELEASE Working from the original 16-track analogue tapes, KEN BARNES supervised the new digital re-mixing and remastering of Johnny Mercer’s classic 1974 London recordings. Now available as a double CD from Amazon
NEW DVD Legendary Hollywood director and actor, CLINT
EASTWOOD acted as Executive Producer of a new feature-length
documentary on the life and times of JOHNNY MERCER which was
co-funded by the Johnny Mercer Foundation, Turner Classic Movies, Warner
Home Video and BBC’s Arena. The film features many famous artists –
FRED ASTAIRE, BING CROSBY, NAT KING COLE, JUDY GARLAND and
FRANK SINATRA etc – performing a whole gallery of Johnny Mercer hits.
Also available as a Region 1 import on Amazon.
Watch out for more developments in 2010. BLU_RAY Blu-ray Disc (also known as BD or Blu-Ray) is an optical disc storage medium designed to supercede the standard DVD format. Read more...
NEWS UPDATE - AUGUST 2009 TWO IMPORTANT CENTENARY EVENTS In the last year, LAUREATE has participated in celebrating the centenaries of two important artists of the 20th century. Master film maker, David Lean and master songwriter Johnny Mercer. Each in his own way is unique, both made an indelible impression in their respective fields and both were recipients of Academy Awards for their individual contributions to the world of film. DAVID LEAN (1908-1991) LAUREATE is pleased to
announce their own choice for the DVD Box Set of 2009 -
JOHNNY MERCER (1909 – 1976) LAUREATE’S KEN BARNES – who knew and worked with Johnny Mercer – has been busy researching and writing the script for a film documentary on Mercer’s life. Read more...
NEWS UPDATE - FEBRUARY 2009 HIGH DEFINITION MEDIA PROSPECTS
High Definition television (HDTV) is rapidly completing
its transformation from a high-end luxury technology enjoyed primarily by
affluent early adoptors, to a mainstream product dominating the shelves of
high street retailers. Industry estimates of HDTV household penetration
surpassed 50 per cent last year – with sales of high definition sets
expected to triple in just the next few years. Put simply, HDTV’s roots
have taken hold and the reasons for that are many – including regulatory
influences that are pushing consumers towards DTV purchases along with
decreasing retail prices, expanding HD programming options and a greater
consumer emphasis on picture and sound quality. Read more... Since this website has always catered for the classic film buff, it’s a pleasure to announce that 2009 will see 50th Anniversary Blu-Ray editions of Hitchcock’s “North By Northwest” and Read more...
CLINT EASTWOOD
Celebrates
2009 marks the hundredth anniversary of the birth of
classic songwriter, JOHNNY MERCER. To commemorate this event, a special
two-hour film documentary is currently in production for international
showing later this year. NEWS UPDATE - JULY 2008
HOO-RAY FOR BLU-RAY Now that the high definition format war is over – that Sony’s Blu-ray has emerged the winner and Toshiba’s HD-DVD has gone the way of the dodo – movie buffs are currently being inundated with a veritable deluge of titles in the Blu-ray format. The great majority of the films currently on release are new, or at least recent, titles. To the film companies, of course, this makes perfect sense. Their new films – flops and hits alike – represent massive investments that must be recouped as soon as possible. Also the one thing they have in common is they are all produced under the latest state-of-the-art technical conditions and are perfectly compatible with Blu-ray’s high definition delivery. This may be good news for the Harry Potter – X Men generation, but what about the collectors of classic films? Read more... This worthwhile four-day event covering the life and career of the great Fred Astaire took place at Oriel College, Oxford from June 21 to 24 and was organised on a most efficient scale by two very gifted ladies Kathleen Riley (from Australia) and Chris Bamberger (from the U.S.A.) and attended by Astaire experts and admirers from all over the world. Read more...
NEWS UPDATE - JANUARY 2008 For more than two years now the DVD has been standing on the threshold of a new era in home entertainment. High Definition. But with this new era came an old problem. The battle of two formats to win over a new generation of DVD buyers is very much akin to the early days of video tape and the conflict between VHS and Betamax. That battle, of course, was won years ago by VHS which itself was eventually swallowed up by the DVD – the fastest developing area in the history of home entertainment. Read more...
NEWS UPDATE - SEPTEMBER 2007 BOX SETS – BOOKS and the BIG BAND SOUND A BUMPER YEAR FOR BOX SETS 2007 is proving to be an amazing year for DVD box
sets on both sides of the Atlantic. WARNERS LEADS THE FIELD On the American side of the spectrum, Warners – as
usual – lead the way with their ongoing “Signature Collection” series
which, this year, offers sets devoted to such charismatic stars as
KATHERINE HEPBURN, GARY COOPER and JAMES CAGNEY... FOX FOLLOWS WARNERS Laureate members will remember that three years ago we held a forum on the films of 20th Century Fox in which scores of members sent in their requests for many neglected films from musicals – like “Daddy Long Legs” and “Sun Valley Serenade” – to Film Noir titles such as “Laura” and “Kiss of Death” and the films of Tyrone Power. Read more... NEW BOOKS We have just received word of the publication of three highly desirable books that are sure to have an appeal to many of Laureate’s members and visitors. Read more... THE BIG BAND WITH A DIFFERENCE Back in 1973 when the record industry were pinning their hopes on the arrival of quadraphonic sound, Ken Barnes, one of the busiest independent record producers in London, was commissioned by Pye Records to produce some albums that would exploit the new 4-channel concept of audio entertainment. He selected a big band with a difference. Read more...
LAUREATE recommend
NEWS UPDATE -- FEBRUARY 2007 SINATRA VEGAS IS A WINNER FOR WARNERS FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT ARE MEETING YOUR REQUESTS NEWS UPDATE - NOVEMBER 2006 NEW ON DVD UNIVERSAL’S STATESIDE RELEASE OF “ HOLIDAY INN” NEWLY RELEASED in the UK is the RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN COLLECTION NEW ON CD DICK HAYMES – THE COMPLETE CAPITOL COLLECTION THE BIG NEWS for FRANK SINATRA collectors is the all-new Warner Brothers Box set SINATRA-VEGAS
NEWS UPDATE !
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