Blu-ray Review A Few Words About A few words about…™ The Banshees of Inisherin – in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

This Blu-ray review thread has been sidetracked. Time to get back on topic. Thank you.

 

[Mike Boone]

I hear you Robert, as it appears that I've been the chief offender in that regard. So when my copy of The Banshees of Inisherin Blu-ray (that I ordered on Amazon through this site) arrives on Friday or Saturday, then after my wife & I watch it this weekend, I expect that will be my next valid opportunity to offer comments on this thread. So your words of caution are most appreciated, to help steer me away from causing hard feelings.

 

[Anthonydasher]

Funny but disturbing movie, i haven’t seen cinematography this beautiful in years, how could this not be nominated for an Oscar For its cinematography?

 

[Jeffrey D]

Funny but disturbing movie, i haven’t seen cinematography this beautiful in years, how could this not be nominated for an Oscar For its cinematography?

Yes the look of the film is definitely its strong suit, along with the performances. Either the competition, or track record of the DP got in the way.

 

[Mike Boone]

Funny but disturbing movie, i haven’t seen cinematography this beautiful in years, how could this not be nominated for an Oscar For its cinematography?

Absolutely, Anthony! In having just viewed this beautiful movie on Blu-ray, 4 hours ago, with my wife, as well as with an old friend, I know that we'd all certainly agree with you, as well as with our fellow forum member, Jeffrey D, that the gorgeously rendered images created by cinematographer Ben Davis & his camera, are about as Oscar worthy as 95% of the winners of that award, over the last 60 years. And IMO, Jeffrey D also hit a nail precisely on its head, in saying the performances, along with the movie's terrific cinematography, were the 2nd key to the movie being successful in keeping its fans enthralled with the mood it creates, which really keeps one paying close attention, even though the movie has considerably less action than most features that fill today's screens.

 

[Keith Cobby]

Funny but disturbing movie, i haven’t seen cinematography this beautiful in years, how could this not be nominated for an Oscar For its cinematography?

Possibly because films are nominated and voted on by members who haven't watched them. This long held theory of mine explains many of the strange anomalies in AA awards over the years. It is, after all, a box ticking exercise!

 

[Tom McA]

A challenging watch to be sure, but even though I could have watched in HD for free on HBO Max, I sprung for the $3.99 rental on Apple in Dolby Vision. Looked stunning on my LG OLED. No complaint here on what it could have looked like in the cinema.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

FWIW, I watched on Disney+ in Dolby Vision. Cannot comment on fine detail because my viewing distance from my 55" 4K display is not optimal for this, but the colour and shadow detail was gorgeous.

 

[Carlo_M]

FWIW, I watched on Disney+ in Dolby Vision. Cannot comment on fine detail because my viewing distance from my 55" 4K display is not optimal for this, but the colour and shadow detail was gorgeous.

Are you in the United States? I ask because Banshees is not on my Disney+ offering, so I'm wondering if it's an international rights thing.

 

[Malcolm R]

Are you in the United States? I ask because Banshees is not on my Disney+ offering, so I'm wondering if it's an international rights thing.

Based on his profile location, I think Stephen is in Canada.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Sounds like I should probably just wait for some 4K version as well...

A good question, which for many comes down to personal taste. My projection screen is about 9 -10 feet in width, and I sit about 12 feet away. To check resolution/grain, I’ll go to the screen.

In a general sense, you want to be far enough away that you don’t have to turn your head to take in an image. I believe THX speaks of a 36 degree angle of view. Let’s take a good sample image - Some Like it Hot.

The difference in grain structure between the Criterion Blu-ray and the Kino 4k should be more visceral than obvious. You’re going to recognize grain from both, but the Kino should not jump out at you as overly grainy. Rather, it should have a pleasant, homogenized feel. If the Kino image appears overly grainy, you’re too close.

If you go to the great inter-web, you’ll find differing opinions, but this information seems reasonable.

https://image.benq.com/is/image/benqco/pic-2-8?$ResponsivePreset$&wid=1468

From this guide, 8 - 9 feet for your 77”.

Bottom line, it’s about general comfort, and ease of viewing.

My FP setup is 120" (or something like ~8.7ft wide) w/ viewing distance ~10.5ft or so, which yields ~45-degree FOV. I actually would've liked to go 135" at say 11-11.5ft, especially for wider scope films, but otherwise, I'm perfectly happy w/ it.

Here are a couple calculators for anyone who wants to know about their setup (or what's possible for an upgrade/change) relative to this concern:

Viewing Distance Calculator

Viewing Distance Calculator

www.hometheaterengineering.com

Viewing Distance Calculator -PSS

Projector Screen Store Viewing Distance Calculator

www.projectorscreenstore.com

_Man_

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Are you in the United States? I ask because Banshees is not on my Disney+ offering, so I'm wondering if it's an international rights thing.

Based on his profile location, I think Stephen is in Canada.

I am in Canada. Streaming can get weird here, but anything produced by the Mouse House that isn't family-friendly appears under the STAR+ banner on Disney+ here. Anything from Hulu that isn't produced in-house reverts to one of the other streaming services; for example, the new Hellraiser, which premiered on Hulu, only recently got added to Paramount+.

 

[Carlo_M]

What I'll probably end up doing is watching the normal HD version on HBO since I already subscribe to that service to see if I'll like the movie (based on everything I've seen, chances are high that I will, even if it's a difficult/emotional watch). Even though I won't get the full 4K/HDR, I'll at least see it in a pretty decent playback. That will tide me over for a while until they decide whether they'll issue a UHD disc. If they don't, and if I like the film enough, maybe I'll buy it digitally from whatever source is offering it in 4K/HDR, like iTunes or whatever.

I haven't yet bought anything as a digital exclusive, because I prefer the disc in all cases. However this situation may force me to rethink that if they never issue a 4K disc. This, and a guilty pleasure of mine: Titan A.E., may be the first entry into a digital-only purchase. For Banshees it will be for the 4K/Dolby Vision. For Titan A.E. it's because it was never released in the U.S. as anything of higher quality than DVD, but apparently iTunes has a 1080p/HD version available for purchase. Given the age of Titan A.E., it does not seem as if an HD (or better) physical product will ever arrive.

 

[uncledougie]

I watched this on the DVR sourced off Showtime, and the quality was quite nice. I’m sure a 4K rendering would be noticeably better, but not sure about the Blu-ray because the system upscaled the recorded picture very nicely. The photography was lovely, and I, too, am baffled because I thought the cinematography was a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

What I'll probably end up doing is watching the normal HD version on HBO since I already subscribe to that service to see if I'll like the movie (based on everything I've seen, chances are high that I will, even if it's a difficult/emotional watch). Even though I won't get the full 4K/HDR, I'll at least see it in a pretty decent playback. That will tide me over for a while until they decide whether they'll issue a UHD disc. If they don't, and if I like the film enough, maybe I'll buy it digitally from whatever source is offering it in 4K/HDR, like iTunes or whatever.

I haven't yet bought anything as a digital exclusive, because I prefer the disc in all cases. However this situation may force me to rethink that if they never issue a 4K disc. This, and a guilty pleasure of mine: Titan A.E., may be the first entry into a digital-only purchase. For Banshees it will be for the 4K/Dolby Vision. For Titan A.E. it's because it was never released in the U.S. as anything of higher quality than DVD, but apparently iTunes has a 1080p/HD version available for purchase. Given the age of Titan A.E., it does not seem as if an HD (or better) physical product will ever arrive.

Offhand, this could easily end up being like Nomadland and Ready or Not (2019), which were both also Fox Searchlight releases. Both of those also only have BD releases for disc, but 4K/HDR digital for purchase -- and I only bothered to buy the 4K digital for the latter.

There have been various others like those... though some like Belfast, Emma. (2020), Little Women (2019) and Respect aren't from Fox Searchlight -- I managed to score the Belfast 4K digital from Universal's rewards program for really virtually nothing a few months back (while still buying the BD).

Yeah, if I love the film all that much, I'd probably get it on some (at least HD) disc format and maybe consider also 4K digital depending. Otherwise, I might only buy the 4K digital for $5 or something (as in Ready or Not and Emma. although I did pay $8 for a couple others earlier on before I settled on waiting for the $5 target).

In this particular case (as w/ a few others), I suspect I'm likely best off just waiting for a $5 4K digital or a potential 4K disc instead of watching on HBO Max -- HBO Max just isn't that great for streaming PQ... plus it's just HD to boot... vs what others seem to be saying even about the BD being probably subpar (colorwise)... And truth is I just have too much backlog anyway, so no need to rush to get the BD or watch it on HBO Max anyway... But if a 4K disc never comes out, I'll probably eventually get both the BD and 4K digital, if I do find I love it -- maybe the 4K digital first, followed by the BD in this case...

_Man_

 

[Angelo Colombus]

I viewed the Blu-ray over the weekend thanks to my local library and it was good but could have been better

Spoiler

if they took out the guy cutting his fingers which makes no sense at all.

 

[Kyle_D]

I viewed the Blu-ray over the weekend thanks to my local library and it was good but could have been better i

Spoiler

f they took out the guy cutting his fingers which makes no sense at all.

I suggest not trying to make "sense" of it and instead ask yourself:

1. Spoiler

   what is the character's motivation for doing it?
   [*]what does the act say about the character?
   [*]what do the other characters' reactions to the act say about them?
   [*]does the character accomplish what he wants to accomplish by committing the act?
   [*]how does the act tie in to the larger themes of the story?

The conversations sparked by those questions, both with yourself and with others, can be rich. There is no "right" answer, but the questions are answerable.

 

[Mark-P]

Glad I hadn't read the last two posts of this thread before finally watching the movie today, come on guys, use spoiler tags! The film is top-notch in its acting and cinematography and it is also very disturbing. I find no fault with it other than I won't be rooting for it to win Best Picture, for no specific reason other than it lacked a sense of redemption for me.

 

[cineMANIAC]

This sounds like something I might enjoy but that title doesn't inspire one (me, at least) to seek it out. Heck, the film was barely marketed. I saw a listing for it last year when I was looking for something else and thought to myself, 'What on Earth is this?'. I didn't even bother researching it. I guess it's a word of mouth kind of movie.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I viewed the Blu-ray over the weekend thanks to my local library and it was good but could have been better

Spoiler

if they took out the guy cutting his fingers which makes no sense at all.

Well, this does serve a purpose, a large one, to the story being told.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Essentially, Gleeson's character is in the midst of a midlife crisis. It suddenly dawns on him that he has not done much with his life and he has no legacy to leave behind. He decides he must write a piece of music that lives on after he is gone. This piece of music shares the title of the picture. Because writing something memorable is difficult, he is intimidated by the task he has set for himself and so, this is why he breaks it off with his friend played by Farrell. Farrell's character provides him a bit of an out however because he uses him as an excuse to cut off his fingers, which once he has done this, he can no longer play and so he can't hold himself to the idea he must write a memorable piece of music. It would seem he is both terrified of leaving nothing behind and terrified by the task itself. Placing himself in his own little prison of fear, where escape comes by chopping off his fingers. Which he will blame on Farrell. It's actually played for comedy of the black Irish type.