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  1. Scott Calvert

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ Laura -- in Blu-ray

    I watched this last night and it is indeed way, way too bright. This seems like it would have been an easy fix digitally. Like a few mouse clicks easy. What went wrong here?? I'd almost rather watch the DVD (which is quite good for a DVD).
  2. Scott Calvert

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Quiet Man -- in Blu-ray

    Watched this last night and I am very pleased considering what has come before and that Olive is a pretty rinky-dink outfit (IMO). Yes the blacks aren't the best ever in a lot of scenes (I assume this is what is meant by "milky") and there are some registration issues. But it looks pretty much...
  3. Scott Calvert

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ Cape Fear (1961) -- in Blu-ray

    I watched this one directly after Mrs Miniver and Grand Hotel. Yeah, it's not great. Both of the aforementioned are great transfers (generation of elements notwithstanding), it felt as if I were watching projected film. Then came Cape Fear and back to video. It's not terrible, almost on par with...
  4. Scott Calvert

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ Heaven's Gate -- in Blu-ray

    Not sure but you seem to be conveying some anger here. If so I'm not sure why, as I stated that I don't puch much stock in Wells' opinions. Are you upset I posted the tweet? If it turns out it isn't a fake, are you still going to be pissed that I posted it? EDIT: reading all of his tweets again...
  5. Scott Calvert

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ Heaven's Gate -- in Blu-ray

    Jeffrey Wells says it's real. I don't put much stock in Wells' opinions, but I don't really see a reason to doubt him about this. I dunno, it looks real enough to me.
  6. Scott Calvert

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ Heaven's Gate -- in Blu-ray

    Via Twitter: "Michael Cimino‏@Cimino1939 I have now decided to add the gunshot sound to the suicide at the end of HEAVEN'S GATE / so the Criterion Blu-ray is not the final cut." I must say from his tweets he comes off as a bit of a nut, but also fairly funny and even a bit self-deprecating.
  7. Scott Calvert

    The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

    And it amazes me the number of people who don't understand the difference between cinema and a live sporting event, or don't care if movies look like live television, or even prefer it. Or resort to inferring to others as luddites akin to those who were against color being introduced. In those...
  8. Scott Calvert

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ Heaven's Gate -- in Blu-ray

    I think maybe part of the problem is that Cimino either a) can't write dialogue or b) doesn't think it's important. I'm not sure which. Every line of dialogue in this film is either perfunctory of so vague that it doesn't really matter wether you can hear it or not. Regardless, I think it's a...
  9. Scott Calvert

    GYPSY

    Yes, "HD" is a bit of a semantics game. I've heard 720 referred to as both high definition and enhanced definition, for example. One thing is for sure, a bluray disc coming from a master created for laserdisc would be a heinous thing.
  10. Scott Calvert

    GYPSY

    I did not know that. Was anyone else outside of Sony doing that? I was under the impression that LD's always used either NTSC or PAL masters that would not fall into what we today consider "high-definition" i.e. 1080 lines of resolution and that high definition mastering did not become the norm...
  11. Scott Calvert

    Reference-quality blu-rays

    E.T. Taxi Driver All The Presidents Men The Bridge On The River Kwai Close Encounters The Big Heat In Cold Blood The Barbarian And The Geisha Head Easy Rider Annie Hall Manhattan Blow Out Five Easy Pieces The Last Picture Show The King Of Marvin Gardens The Bible All About Eve Jason And The...
  12. Scott Calvert

    Reference-quality blu-rays

    Let's throw in the original Patton disc while we're at it.
  13. Scott Calvert

    GYPSY

    Interesting, I stand corrected. I stopped buying them immediately when I saw my first DVD so I don't think I ever had any LD that came from an HD master. Regardless, that vast, vast majority of LD's came from standard def masters. And on this point I'm certain: The chances of buying a BD that...
  14. Scott Calvert

    USHE Announcement: Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection (Blu-ray)

    Technicolor mis-registration for 3 strip productions is hardly a new issue and it's like all of a sudden nobody knows what to make of it. Mold? What is that supposed to mean? Rope looks really good on this BD. I hardly think the minor alignment issues are worth getting bent out of shape about.
  15. Scott Calvert

    GYPSY

    Huh? What LD master has EVER been used for a bluray? I can't think of a single LD that came from an HD master.
  16. Scott Calvert

    Blu-ray Review Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection Limited Edition Blu-ray Review - Recommended

    It might have started out as film grain but whatever transfer methods and processing they applied has turned it into an electronic mess that is something else entirely. This is definitely not a case of grain-o-phobes being turned off by poor opticals.
  17. Scott Calvert

    Blu-ray Review Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection Limited Edition Blu-ray Review - Recommended

    It is quite possibly the worst BD in my (sizeable) collection. I don't think it's hyperbole to say that. And that's coming from someone who thinks the pre-60's films look great for the most part, even TMWKTM which has been savaged on these boards.
  18. Scott Calvert

    Blu-ray Review Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection Limited Edition Blu-ray Review - Recommended

    What the heck are you guys watching this on where it looks anything close to acceptable? Steve, you've been around a while. I'd assume you would know what film looks like. Family Plot ain't it.
  19. Scott Calvert

    Blu-ray Review Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection Limited Edition Blu-ray Review - Recommended

    The problems with the Family Plot transfer have nothing to do with rear projection shots. Those shots are what they are and should not be considered a transfer problem anyway. The problem is the wacked-out, almost pixellated look of the entire film, that at times appraoches something like bad...
  20. Scott Calvert

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Birds -- in Blu-ray

    Yeah, I finally watched the whole thing all the way through last night as well. Definitely manipulated. Also in the hallway scene when Tippi is dropping off the lovebirds at Rod Taylor's apartment, there is a slow horizontal pan and the grain kind of crawls across the wall in the direction of...
  21. Scott Calvert

    New Bond Film: Skyfall

    Completely agree. It's a fair movie but I was pretty dissapointed. I don't even really know where to start. Rote action sequences. The only thing in the entire film that felt creative was the very short bit with the backhoe and the train. Far, far short of that awesome opening sequence that...
  22. Scott Calvert

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Man Who Knew Too Much -- in Blu-ray

    Frankly, after having read many of your comments on a wide range of transfers I'm resigned to the fact that you and I come from different universes regarding what does or does not look "film-like." In my universe, age related defects such as variable fading and dirt do not preclude "filmlike."...
  23. Scott Calvert

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Birds -- in Blu-ray

    Sorry if this comes across as offensive but: As a matter of fact I have indeed seen The Birds in 35mm. Not the original release I grant you but I seriously doubt the optical special effects were anything close to seamless then, as they were always quite clearly lower quality than the regular...
  24. Scott Calvert

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ All Quiet on the Western Front -- in Blu-ray

    I finally got around to this one and I have to say while it's spotless and blacks are nice and the image is rock solid as far as stability is concerned, in every frame you can see a knock-down drag-out epic struggle between the film grain and whatever "grain management" software they used. It...
  25. Scott Calvert

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Man Who Knew Too Much -- in Blu-ray

    Who do you think I mean? People who are trashing the disc, demanding recalls, etc. Sorry if that was vague for you.
  26. Scott Calvert

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Birds -- in Blu-ray

    I would only agree in so much as if you were trying to achieve a cohesive look that was there in the first place, i.e. dupe footage replacing damaged sections etc. And even then I could do without it. I seem to remember an individual defending the rough optical transitions in Affair To Remember...
  27. Scott Calvert

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Man Who Knew Too Much -- in Blu-ray

    Have any of you people watched this disc all the way through?
  28. Scott Calvert

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ Rear Window -- in Blu-ray

    I noticed the red outline of the title too and chalked it up to a design choice. It is so pronounced I figured it couldn't have been a mistake. But the way this set is going, who knows.
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