NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (August 2022): Criterion have transferred Benny + Josh Safdie's Daddy Longlegs to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "New 4K digital transfer, approved by directors Josh and Benny Safdie". Daddy Longlegs was shot with a Arriflex 416 16mm (Super 16) camera so naturally the image is extremely grainy - mostly handheld with unfocused, kinetic, camera movements. The predominant feature of the 1080P image are the textures. It is on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate and will likely not look better. The visuals were never meant to be crisp or glossy. The HD presentation appears a wonderful representation of the original production appearance.

NOTE: We have added 36 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Criterion use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. Daddy Longlegs has mostly diegetic sound - originating from within the film's world. There is no score but there is original songs by David Sandholm and Matt Volz plus music by The Jubalaires, Michael Hurley, The Beets etc. It sounds clean and discernable if at the level of the grassroots filmmaking. Criterion offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Criterion Blu-ray offers many extras, even if some are of short duration. Included is a 2011 short documentary by Becky Luxani offers an impressionistic behind-the-scenes look at the making of Daddy Longlegs. Narrated by artist Leah Singer, mother of the films' coleads, Sage and Frey Ranaldo, it assembles footage, photographs, and drawings by Singer, Josh Safdie, Casey Neistat, Ariel Schulman, and Alex Kalman. There is also a 2017 documentary, running shy of an hour, by Michael Chaiken which was produced for the Criterion Channel and filmed around the shooting of Josh and Benny Safdie's Good Time (2017). It is an intimate portrait of the brothers, the film shows them discussing their evolution as filmmakers, while key collaborators, including cinematographer Sean Price Williams and filmmaker-writer-editor Ronald Bronstein, offer rich insight into their unique working relationships with the Safdies. Of special note is the interview with Josh and Benny's father, Alberto Safdie, who reflects on raising his sons and the emotional impact of Daddy Longlegs. Following a chance encounter with Josh Safdie on the streets of New York City, real-life brothers Sage and Frey Ranaldo were cast as coleads in Daddy Longlegs. In this 2022 program, Sage and Frey, along with their mother, Leah, and father, Lee, reflect on the making and release of the film and how the Safdies' autobiographical first feature remains an unforgettable family experience for them. Also accessible is a 2008 short film by Josh and Benny Safdie was made in the weeks leading up to the filming of Daddy Longlegs. Fiction sidles up against reality in this guerrilla-theater-style experiment starring Benny as a buttoned-up, harried New York City commuter, alongside notable Safdie collaborators Ronald Bronstein, Eleonore Hendricks, Ariel Schulman, Sebastian Bear-McClard, and Casey Neistat. There is a 2-minute promotional film by the Safdie brothers, Benny Safdie hits the pitiless streets of New York City in a desperate bid to drum up interest in the May 2010 theatrical release of Daddy Longlegs.

Daddy Longlegs was the fulcrum of Josh and Benny Safdie's work with the independent film group Red Bucket Films, a loose collective of New York-based artists who, in the early 2000s, worked together on a diverse range of moviemaking. Included as a supplements is the debut episode of the series Talk Show, created, directed, and edited in 2010 by Daddy Longlegs production designer Sam Lisenco, offers an inside look at the irreverent, wildly creative spirit animating Red Bucket Films and features appearances by Lisenco and several other members of the cast and crew of Daddy Longlegs, including Benny Safdie, writer-director-editor Ronald Bronstein, and musician David Sandholm. It runs over 10-minutes. For Sage and Frey Ranaldo's first meeting with Ronald Bronstein, who would play their father in Daddy Longlegs, Bronstein and filmmakers Josh and Benny Safdie wrote a script for the session. The goal was to transfer the relationship the Safdies already had with the boys to the actor. The resulting footage was shot to test different filters and lenses; it also introduced Sage and Frey to the Safdies' observational filmmaking style and is included here. Lastly are a trailer and eight deleted scenes - "PIZZA AND TV" "DALE AND LEN I" "MR. MOUTH" "SUSPENSION VACATION" "THE PARTY AT NORBERT'S" "GO CRAZY" "THE TOW TRUCK" "THE SADDEST SANDWICH" running 16.5 minutes. The package has a liner notes booklet with an essay by critic Stéphane Delorme and a 2009 print interview with the Safdies.

The Safdie brother's Daddy Longlegs has humor and emotional impact drawing upon the Safdie's own experiences with their divorced father. It tells the story of a divorced projectionist and his two boys (played by Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo's sons) and what transpires when he gets custody for two weeks. It has such raw realism that it won the John Cassavetes Award at the 26th Independent Spirit competition. One can see the Cassavetes appeal. It heavily expresses the very essence of guerilla-filmmaking and I very much enjoyed the exposé on the father character. Kudos to Criterion's stacked Blu-ray for getting this probing grassroots cinema to a new audience. I'm certain I would never have seen it without this physical media exposure. Certainly recommended to those keen.

Gary Tooze