Testy Area 51 (4 Viewers)

[Steve Christou]

Kazakhstan is not too happy with Borat, which isn't surprising, Empire magazine also interviewed the Second Secretary of the Embassy of Kazakhstan in the UK who says he wasn't personally offended by Sacha's character of Borat but doesn't find him funny. Asked if there were any Borat fans in Kazakhstan he says " maybe, but I've never met any".
Empire reviewed Borat and gave it 5 stars out of 5, in the same issue they reviewed Scorsese's The Departed which also got a rave review but only 4 out of 5.
From the review -

Borat is sexist, deeply anti-semitic and has an irrational hatred of gypsies. One scene Borat walks into a gunshop "Which gun is best for killing Jew?" he asks. The salesman doesn't bat an eyelid "That'd be a 9mm or .38" comes the unhesitant reply. To know that Sacha himself is Jewish may not, for some, be enough to excuse such outrageous humour, but this is all part of the set-up. The outrageousness isn't so much in Borat's prejudices but in how those prejudices go unchallenged by his American interviewees.

 

[Cees Alons]

Hey, ho! I got a funny package in the mail today, containing an original theatrical trilogy on DVD. With some guy shooting first again.

Mmm, not anamorphic.

Sssssh!

Cees

 

[Ruz-El]

I always found borat funny, as well as his other characters like Bruno the gay Austrian fashion diva. I think it's clearly satire, and funny satire at that. If you don't get the joke. then don't watch it.
I got movies galore today in the post!
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (spiffy new edition)
Dracula Legacy Edition (3rd time buying this, it better be improved)
Frankenstein Legacy Edition (3rd time on this too.)
Teen Titans Season 2
The Batman Season 2
Seven Samurai (3-disc Criterion)
OZ Season 6 (final season, so another tv series is in the can.)

 

[Steve Christou]

I got X-Men 3 today, just finished watching it, liked it better the 2nd time round. Does move fast, too quickly I thought, the climactic battle begun around the 73min mark, when it should have been around the 100min mark especially for a film of this scale, some reports put the final price tag at $200m, wow why are films so expensive? Especially when every spectacular scene is now done by computer. Anyway I still have a second disc packed with extras to go thru.
Cees! Good to know at least one of the mods took the plunge and bought this set, so many people over in Software trying to put everyone off buying it. Nobody tells me what to buy or not buy, and some little prats even suggested we may be breaking forum rules by buying them, bollocks!

Russell that reminds me I should get the Seven Samurai set, I have to at least pretend I have a respectable collection of films here [wink], I'll display it next to X-Men 3.

 

[Ruz-El]

Russell that reminds me I should get the Seven Samurai set, I have to at least pretend I have a respectable collection of films here [wink], I'll display it next to X-Men 3.

LOL. Seeing as this is the only Kurosawa I have, and I sort my collection by director, I'm thinking X3 will be high calibre company compared to were it will potentially sit on my shelves.

 

[RickER]

I only bought Star Wars, i was OK with the bastardized reworkings of the others. So what if it is only LD quality, thats what i lived with for over 10 years. I didnt loose sleep.
Russell, let me know if Frankenstein is better than the 1999 version. I didnt buy those yet, cause the price will still be 20 bucks next week.
Last week it was Frankenstein: The True Story, and the week before was Frankenstein Unbound, and Young Frankenstein...so i am livin' good as far as Frankie goes.
That reminds me, Body Double tomorrow. "Relax, dont do it!"

 

[ChristopherDAC]

I bring to mind all the movies based on Saturday Night Live sketches, particularly ones driven by a single character (It's Pat!), which were funny for 90 seconds at a time but wretched in 90-minute chunks.

 

[Ray_R]

I rented and watched with my Mom on Sunday Beowulf & Grendel. That red-haired woman was mostly my only gripe about the film, not excluding the budget, of course. She didn't even try for an authentic voice for the area, she just retained her thingy for thing accent! Great visuals and such. Mebbe there'll be a version which is like the tale in which Grendel is actually more like his poem counterpart?
I should've purchased the Oppo instead of the damn Helios. The black levels with the Helios aren't as good as my housemate's Oppo. The Helios can't handle them very well and it has hardly any features to fuddle with again compared to the Oppo. I'm returning it back to HKFlix and in turn getting the upscaling Oppo player. It's kick ass being multi-region capable finally but I look at this currently as being a minor set-back for the plunge.
As soon as I've gradually obtained enough 1980's titles on DVD, being as my top decade in my collection is 1990's, I'm buying from DDDHouse the Region 3 Korean NTSC MGM version of Army of Darkness. Unlike Anchor Bay's master of the film which uses video elements, the MGM version uses FILM, thereby presenting the best presentation of the title on DVD to date. Actually, my only other Region DVD I own at the moment is Joy Sales/Fortune Star's Crime Story. Of which is a Region 3 NTSC and boasts a far superior film transfer over the HKL release.
It actually doesn't matter whether a DVD is NTSC or PAL, it's about the damn film transfer on the disc. No noise reduction, high detail, inherently NATURAL film grain retainment, original intentions of the film-makers for the way it looks (i'll get into this one later) and other particulars make for excellent presentations of a particular title. Say a film looks heavily saturated in some scenes, overly grainy almost throughout and substantially has varying degrees of other mumbo jumbo? Wait a minute! It's the intentions of the director for wanting the film look that way. Many reviewers should research the title they're reviewing so they know these things and not make unnecessary/misleading comments on the film transfer when it was SUPPOSED to look a particular way. Take Minority Report for instance, I've heard people bemoan that it's too grainy. Tough luck, the film is intentionally supposed to be that way due to Spielberg's intentions of wanting to recapture a film noir feel. Don't like the natural film grain which actually represents the theatre-like experience? Watch a damn VHS then and stop the bitching. Or better yet, use component cables for the video over composite since the aforementioned actually sends a far superior image to a display device.
Hell, I thought Minority Report looked really good when I was using my older TV/VCR combination which has a composite video jack. I get my flat screen television a few years ago which has component (I'm a gradual upgrader), calibrated it and played Minority Report again. Using all three video hook-ups on my Hitachi player, the composite, s-video and component, to a properly calibrated set, it was easily the component which yielded the best picture.
Yes, DVD's are mastered via component rather than composite for Laserdiscs and actually are superior than their predecessor. Alot of people assume that DVD's are only an interim format since they hold onto their niche Laserdisc so dearly. If Laserdisc had the same amount of publicity which DVD has received, the format probably would still be alive today and have had taken over VHS. Don't even get me started about the already obsolete VHS format, it's dead to me.
From Wikipedia about Laserdisc versus DVD
And what is all this premature talk about DVD being phased out in lieu of HD-DVD (the natural "evolutionary" successor to DVD) and Blu-Ray being released? Alot of people are calling the shots far too early for either next-generation format and don't realise that DVD has every right to co-exist alongside them. Blu-ray will most likely be another Betamax due mostly to the name of the product. HD-DVD has a far more familiarity to it due to the "DVD" being in said product name for consumers over Blu-ray. And the machines are actually readily available for HD-DVD due to it being highly similar in disc structure to DVD. I'm going to call the shots and say Blu-ray is going to be, as already said, another Beta and HD-DVD, due already to the ease of consumer familiarity with DVD, will be the winning format. That being said, I'm going to wait for the third or fourth generation HD-DVD player AND for the prices to go down before I get into HD-DVD. I also feel more comfortable with HD-DVD over Blu-ray. Great that both are backwards compatible with DVD though, meaning we can still have our vast collections of DVD's while have the new formats. I've thought about buying a few HD-DVD titles but thought it prematurely to do so until they're more "grounded", more time has elapsed for the technology and last but certainly not least, affordability. And a big emphasis should also be put on affordability.
Sorry about the long winded post. Just wanted to share my opinions about things that I've always been meaning to.
Speaking of being multi-region now (well, until I actually get the Oppo), the entire planet of DVD releases are open to my whims and fancies! Albiet for affordability and availability.
I think this is one of my longest non-list posts ever.
Next post I'll be talking about original theatrical audio mixes over 5.1 rehash/remixes.

 

[Steve Christou]

Is it me or is the forum fast becoming synonymous with putting people off buying the latest releases? There's always something, it's either "this new dvd didn't look great on my 200" megascreen so I'm urging all of you not to bother with it and lets boycott all future releases from this company" or "I'm giving this a Not Recommended because I personally didn't like the sound, that's not how it sounded 150 years ago! I hope the sound mixers burn in hell!" and than there's classic "hey hey what's the point of all of you rushing out to buy this new release, it'll be on HD in a year or two" and a personal favorite "look asshole don't you get it? it's non-anamorphic - buying it would be in breach of forum rules and if I was a mod I'd ban your ass" It's coming to the point where I don't dare look in the Software area in case some anally retentive reviewer trashes a dvd I've been looking forward to all year, and it's usually some minor thing that only he has spotted using a microscope, thing is some of the more mousier members quickly go along with it and panic - "that's it I'm not ordering" or "damn that studio I'm calling to complain" or "it looked okay when I watched it but if you say it's bad it must be true so I'm taking it back to the shop and wait another 8-10 years before it's released again. I trust your eyes more than my own!"

 

[Ruz-El]

I agree with pretty much everything Mister Christou has stated. Nearly every DVD I've bought is missing an audio cue from 20 years ago that I couldn't really give a shit any more. Should the studios be more careful? Absolutly, but some of the militant ranting on the forums and sites are a bit much.
That Serchers deluxe edition thread was a real beaut. The entire membership were tearing Warners a new asshole on for the colours being wrong, until RAH and the guy responsible for transfering the film for the past 10 years made it clear that all the other video versions had false boosting. Then the membership again cheered Warners for their awesome job, but not without a warning that we must be vigilant in our quest for films on DVD.
But then again, I'm pretty happy transfering 15 year old VHS tapes to DVD for some of my collection, I guess I;m not an official charter memeber.
Oh... HD/Blu ray/SuperHD, whatever it is, can go take a flying F**k in my books. I didn't get sucked into the Beta/VHS war, I'm not getting sucked into this one either.
Okay, I wont rant anymore.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

I've seen some awful film lately, extremely grainy and washed-out, and I can assure you it had nothing to do with "the director's intent". Most directors, most of the time, will try for decent pictures. This stuff was grossly underexposed due to poor lighting conditions and maybe an inappropriate choice of lens and stop, and then overdeveloped in the hope of bringing out some kind of image, and the result looks like pointillism using the thumb instead of a brush. You see a lot of this in "archival" films excerpted for documentaries, and it doesn't help that they were often small-gage (16 or even 8mm) to begin with. These are damaged images, and if there were some "grain-reduction" process which would help to repair the damage, I'd use it in a flash. Of course, there isn't, because no filter can put back information that was lost in the photochemical stage.
And yes, I hold on to my "precious LaserDiscs", and I'm even buying more. For my purposes, they are better than DVDs. If you talk video quality, it's clear you haven't peeked in on the Anime Discussion thread : a lot of these discs are not being mastered from digital component masters, and if I'm going to have composite artefacts, I'll take 'em without a layer of MPEG compression on top! Audio, well, LD wins hands down, and the audio in anime is often highly produced. I rather like the packaging, but the biggest thing is selection. The back catalogue is huge, and what I buy are generally the original, definitive releases of productions made for video.
No, I haven't any reason to prefer an HD format which was crippled to 480i to serve as a VHS-killer. When real High Definition discs begin to offer what I want, I'll go for them, but the big platters serve me very well indeed.

 

[Ruz-El]

Steve:

I agree with pretty much everything Mister Christou has stated. Nearly every DVD I've bought is missing an audio cue from 20 years ago that I couldn't really give a shit any more.

Then I read David's review of "The Little Mermaid" and quickly decide not to buy it. am I a hypocrite or what??

 

[Ruz-El]

This is similar to a concern I have when I read fan reviews like what you can see in the "Nightmare On Elm Street" thread where they talk about a new DVD being inccorectly colour timed based on old LD, VHS and DVD releases. Has anyone actually asked the director or DP about the colour? My above "Searchers" example shows that original intent can be a lot different from what we think it is. And to the people who remember the 20 year plus theater experiance and disagree about the warmer colours on a DVD: Ever ask a projectionist the last time they replaced the bulb, and what happens to the projected picture if the bulb is wearing out?

 

[Mary M S]

Software is a section of the forum I practically never enter, which is a shame since it could realistically alert me to releases launching I might want to acquire.
Opinions in that area of the forum would never sway a purchase since I will (willy nilly) buy whatever I buy, in video/audio of my own violation soley due to personal subjective interests. Titles attract me via content (not PQ or audio) then I hope for a high quality experience. I have never returned a disc due to any quality gripes (but have been disappointed on occasion).
For a scratch or skip malfunction, - I will return discs, which has occurred only a couple of times during years of purchases.
I’m much more inclined to view ‘opinions’ over in Movies, that’s more fun, people congregating on topics they are ‘in to’, which kills time while waiting for releases I am intrigued about. Very interesting to see the various subjective opinions of other viewers after openings. It is very hard to close the cover on a good book and know...that is all there is. Same with a film and the Movie section gives you a ‘club’ to discuss and decompress.
I speak this sacrilege because I never have been a collector of DVD’s just for collecting’s sake (not one of my hobbies) but I do admire others extensive libraries. I purchase (don’t like renting) what I want to view that night/weekend in spur of the moment mood swipes. Around here we lend DVD’s extensively amongst extended family and to friends, three quarters of which slowly disappear into the ether. I have definitely had to repurchase some favorites that never made their way home. It would be kind of pointless to ‘collect’ unless I enacted an absolute no lend policy (impossible.)
DVD purchases I just don’t care what anyone thinks.
Movies and Broadcasting I can be slightly swayed, but rarely (if ever) by ‘professional’ reviewers and often not even by acquaintances. My preferences are unique to me!
...if I had read my own quickie review of LITW I posted here in area51 I still would have seen that movie....M N S is on a personal must-see-for-myself list. I can be stubborn that way, I don’t like anyone swaying what I should...ever...like or dislike. I just have to see, feel, hear, taste the world for myself to decide.
This is however, - just sort of a guideline, (you know) subject to whims. If I ‘smelled’ rotten eggs I would not be inclined to ‘taste’ them ...just on the sheer general principle I have of complete discovery!
For example: I had decided not to watch Showtime’s “Dexter” the theme via advertising: a serial killer working as a forensics expert... I like dark drama/comedy but this rubbed against my general code of ethics – is it a good thing to glorify the act of serial killing? I deliberated missed the first episode - then today I read Michael R’s comment “Dexter only kills serial killers”. That quick comment puts it back into my in-box. My moral code can justify ‘entertainment’ which themes round ridding the earth of serial killers, even if it takes one to know one!
Nod to Chris who understands the mechanics which create artifacts/grain/color. I'm very forgiving on PQ, as I try to emerse in the story and ignore the packaging (media-stream) but the really bad ones will of course drive (even me) bonkers. Like the terrible Warner Bros disc I own of "Jeremiah Johnson" which enrages me over its lack of 'quality' every time I view it. Sometimes I do have to wonder why they bother to release. Pollack must have been steamed.

 

[Steve Christou]

Good post Mary, if it's a movie I really want I will buy and it'll have to be something really bad to put me off, such as a widescreen movie released in pan and scan, than I say no. It happened with a horror sequel I wanted Fright Night 2, an old favorite from my video renting days, released finally on dvd but in friggin' pan/scan. I had no choice but to walk away. Unmatted films are another matter I can always zoom in till it fills my tv or just watch it 1.33 with a bit more info top and bottom, so thats not a huge problem with me. I guess I'm not as fussy as other people, life is short and if I keep putting things off until perfection is attained I may not be young enough to appreciate it.
I saw The Little Mermaid at the weekend and it looked great to these tired eyes, the sound was good too. I can make up my own mind what looks and sounds bad. And Russell you weren't that crazy about buying it to begin with so I can forgive your hypocrisy.

 

[Mary M S]

and it'll have to be something really bad to put me off, such as a widescreen movie released in pan and scan

you reminded me, even I have territory I will not cross. I have been know, - in a very "I WANT IT TONIGHT" moment, to drive to three locations on the day of a big blockbusters release because widescreen was sold out and I would not purchase a P&S!
PS: that sig is great isn't it? A very talented night owl created it for me.

 

[Steve Christou]

A great signature chosen by you Mary, great quote too. I can't watch that film without getting a little teary at the end, when they were finally together, forever. [sniff]
Snap out of it Steve! [takes deep breath] Okay it's getting late, time for an old fifties sci-fi, been having a bit of a season of them recently, here's one - Kronos (1957), don't think I've seen it before, might be good, or bad, I don't discriminate. Someone at the IMDB says it's an 'underrated classic' is he being sarcastic? I'll find out in a few minutes.
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0050610/

 

[RickER]

I spend the day watching movies and you guys do 2 pages without me. I read in the softwear section all the time. Like we were talking about a few pages back i pass if pan and scan is the only option, and then i still bought that Kate Beckinsale flick.
In the last month i have rebought 4 or 5 movies to upgrade in some form or another. Dont have to much fun around here without me. I have to work the next 2 days, long days.

 

[Ruz-El]

Russell, let me know if Frankenstein is better than the 1999 version. I didnt buy those yet, cause the price will still be 20 bucks next week.

Hmmm. I watched this last night, and I'm not sure if it's better or not. Most of the print damage I remember on the earlier releases are cleaned up, but the picture is so sharp that the film grain is really, really evident (on a 27" flatscreen crt, as opposed to a mammoth 200ft screen). So it looks better, but not at the same time. I think the sound is pretty much the same as in the last pack when it came with the 4 other movies. I can't do an A&B comparison as 1: All my movies are stored in boxes in the basement until I get more permanent living arrangements and 2: I'm not a reviewer and don't have the patience to so this.
I didn't get a chance to watch the bonus features, but it looks like it has a solid bio on karloff on disc one, as well as the documentary on "Universal Monsters" on disc 2 that is reportedly fantastic, and also duplicated on the "Dracula" release.
I also watched "This Island Earth" last night. I thought it was great. I love how the scientist gets a weird catalog and orders a machine that he has no idea what purpose it is for. All the crates arrive. they unpack it, there's bits all over the place and then my favorite line for a while to come: "Hmmm. All 2583 parts are accounted for, let's put it together." Awesome stuff.

 

[Ray_R]

a layer of MPEG compression on top! Audio, well, LD wins hands down, and the audio in anime is often highly produced. I rather like the packaging, but the biggest thing is selection. The back catalogue is huge, and what I buy are generally the original, definitive releases of productions made for video.

Hey, were it not for laserdisc, we wouldn't have an abundance of supplemential material offerings as we do today for DVD. I really do appreciate the nostalgia for LD but the format is officially dead now. I'd only say the major drawbacks for LaserDisc though is the cumbersome size of the platter, the need to have a demodulator in order to listen to digital audio tracks, the quality of the video/audio relies more on the actual player, the foreboding flippage of the discs every 30 or 60 minutes depending on CAV/CLV and the prices for both media and players. Another issue is that the structure for it was analog whilst DVD is digita. I'm actually considering purchasing an LD player yet one which has an "auto-flipper" innit. There's the issue of the oxidization of the aluminum layer which is otherwise known as "laser rot" too (more due to the manufacturing plants). I've also been reading up on CAV, CLV, CX and all other associated business. Even make archival editions for alot of releases. (I'm not into Anime as much as I used to due to being no matter which video format I've been on, it's always been over-priced.)
As I've said, LaserDisc was only a niche format due to the heavy prices and marketing procedures things taken upon it. Laserdisc is also the true predecessor to DVD over VHS due to both formats were read via laser and are discs. There are numerous titles which are Pan & Scan on DVD of which are Widescreen on LD and vice verse. What I'd most like to do is to take all those supplementary discs from the LD format and have them transferred to DVD in order to preserve the content. Even create custom sets with existing DVD releases in order to have a more comprehensive set. For purposes outlined previously, I ought to make good use of LDDb.com if I were to take on this idea personally as a project.
I'll be certainly honest though, I'm glad that CED never really took on.
I don't mind buying a DVD of a film if it's in open matte though (very rarely) and fashioning my own matting thingy. But Pan & Scan? I'll tell you about Pan & Scan... My housemate was jokingly mentioning buying some releases and I looked at him with what he said like he commited a serious crime. Dead faced serious. Not ALL movies are meant to be watched in Widescreen. All films whenever possible should be watched in their OAR. The Widescreen Advocate's web-masters should really rethink their site and also factor in OAR (they're actually contradicting themselves in alot of areas though).
4x3 Full Frame material in my opinion should always be watched pillarboxed on a 16:9 display. Why don't alot of the companies anamorphosise the Full Frame films via the pillarbox process for their releases? They'd actually gain even more resolution via the process I'm assuming though. Anyone know why they don't utilise this? It'd also keep the subtitles in the appropriate area of the screen too.
I hope no one in the filmmaking business is pondering to do a readaptation of L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz soon. Why? I for one would consider it a dream project to take on were I ever to be a director. The quite inaccurate 1939 musical shall be left alone and my take on it would be a far more accurate adaptation of the story in the style of Return to Oz. Not hailed as a remake as it shouldn't in anyway be considered thus, I'd heavily market it as a truer adaptation to the original source material and not make it a musical. I honestly consider Return to Oz a far superior book-to-film adaptation over the musical in terms of sticking close to the source. It'd be a reinterpretation I guess. In fact, there're alot of other books and the like media of which I'd love to adapt. (Side note, I don't call the 2001 Planet of the Apes a remake as since it's more a reinterpretation of the novel it's based upon. Same goes for John Carpenter's THE THING. It's a far closer adaptation of the short story it was based upon and shouldn't be considered a remake due to it following more closely to the source material. Need I go on?)
Here're some upcoming film developments I'm eagerly anticipating: (some even in development hell)
Castlevania
Metroid
The Flash
Iron Man
The Punisher 2
The Dark Knight
The newest issue of Sci-Fi Magazine has an article on Pathfinder. Looks very intriguing.