UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ - Maxxxine -- in 4k UHD (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

While I'm a fan of the first two films in this trilogy, and while Ms Goth does a wonderful job in her role of Maxine, I found myself thinking that I was happy to see the series come to an end.

This one, at least to my mind, didn't have the aura of the first two, and I felt let down. Especially as some performances just didn't play well.

The very gritty side of Hollywood in the '80s comes to the fore here. I recall distinctly, and with some discomfort, having hookers lean into my car windows when I'd drive down certain part of Sunset or Hollywood after dark - blithely thinking that it was just fine to take in the night air with my windows open.

That's what we're given here, and it's created beautifully.

Shot in 6k, and finished as a 4k DI, the project (shot with anamorphic optics) never truly looked all that highly resolved, but I'l credit Dolby Vision / HDR with making the night glisten just a bit more in its overall shades of neon and blackness.

For slipcover addicts, this one is quite attractive, with Ms Goth on the obverse in delicate amber tones, with a reflective background and outlined in clear coat. Nicely done.

Image (Dolby Vision)

Forensic - 10
NSD - 10

Audio – 10 (Dolby Atmos)

Pass / Fail – Pass

Plays nicely with projectors - Yes

Makes use of and works well in 4k - 7

Worth your attention - Yes

Slipcover rating - 6

Looks like Film - n/a

Recommended


RAH


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[sbjork]

As far as the n/a on "Looks Like Film," while I understand why you listed it that way, I'm going to push back a bit on it by saying that it very much does look like film, even though it wasn't actually shot on film. That's why it doesn't look so highly resolved despite the capture resolution and the 4K DI -- Ti West and Elliott Rocket were trying to replicate the look of a film print, just like they had on both X and Pearl. The specific looks in each of them are a little bit different because they're replicating different looks from different eras, but the principle is the same -- and among other things, they applied defocusing filters in order to prevent things from looking sharper than they would have on a print. They had Park Road handle post on the other two, while Company 3 worked on MaXXXine, and in my opinion Company 3s LUTs (and other post-processing) were even more effective. They even kicked in a little bit of deliberate instability during the opening credit sequence. Viewed via projection, MaXXXine really looks like a projected print. It's uncanny.

 

[Robert Harris]

As far as the n/a on "Looks Like Film," while I understand why you listed it that way, I'm going to push back a bit on it by saying that it very much does look like film, even though it wasn't actually shot on film. That's why it doesn't look so highly resolved despite the capture resolution and the 4K DI -- Ti West and Elliott Rocket were trying to replicate the look of a film print, just like they had on both X and Pearl. The specific looks in each of them are a little bit different because they're replicating different looks from different eras, but the principle is the same -- and among other things, they applied defocusing filters in order to prevent things from looking sharper than they would have on a print. They had Park Road handle post on the other two, while Company 3 worked on MaXXXine, and in my opinion Company 3s LUTs (and other post-processing) were even more effective. They even kicked in a little bit of deliberate instability during the opening credit sequence. Viewed via projection, MaXXXine really looks like a projected print. It's uncanny.

Agreed.

But the ratings as applied only reference actual filmed projects, and how well the replicate the original appearance of projected prints.

 

[sbjork]

Agreed.

But the ratings as applied only reference actual filmed projects, and how well the replicate the original appearance of projected prints.

I understand. But it was still worth pointing out. Rocket has gone beyond even what Steve Yedlin has pulled off in terms of making digital look like film, and I think that he deserves full credit for that (with the necessary shout-out to Company 3 as well, in this case).