The Last Blu-ray/UHD Blu-ray You Watched (1 Viewer)

[Kaskade1309]

 

[Jeffrey D]

Did you like it? I was going to blind buy it, but since the commentary wasn’t put on the physical discs, I declined.

I blind bought Poker Face, and watched it on Sunday. The Russell Crowe film where he directs, writes and stars. About he and a group of long-time friends and hustlers, a high stakes game, harsh realities, and a break in. Not bad, but I thought it was unfocused- he’s the only character that you really get to know.

 

[Kaskade1309]

Did you like it? I was going to blind buy it, but since the commentary wasn’t put on the physical discs, I declined.

I blind bought Poker Face, and watched it on Sunday. The Russell Crowe film where he directs, writes and stars. About he and a group of long-time friends and hustlers, a high stakes game, harsh realities, and a break in. Not bad, but I thought it was unfocused- he’s the only character that you really get to know.

I liked it from the moment we rented it, Jeff; indeed, it's not Judgement Day, but it is miles better than the Christian Bale entry. I like pretty much every film in this franchise, save for -- if you can believe this -- the original (and the aforementioned Salvation), and this includes Rise of the Machines and Genisys.

The picture quality on this 2K upscale is very good, but not quite reference -- it could have been slightly better. The disc also blooms like a Christmas tree on crack on my edge-lit LCD display (no fault of the transfer or disc; just saying).

As for Poker Face, yeah, I rented this when it came out, too...didn't care for it, but it wasn't awful. I think Crowe's a better actor than director, but he's clearly far removed from his "golden era" of acting when he was in stuff like Gladiator and American Gangster IMO. Some sexy female characters in it, though.

Did you get Poker Face on DVD or Blu?

Was my birthday yesterday, so the following posts represent some pre- and on-birthday viewings (as well as a DVD of Amityville II: The Possession I watched, which I will post on in the appropriate thread I created in the DVD area).

 

[Kaskade1309]

 

[Kaskade1309]

 

[Jeffrey D]

I liked it from the moment we rented it, Jeff; indeed, it's not Judgement Day, but it is miles better than the Christian Bale entry. I like pretty much every film in this franchise, save for -- if you can believe this -- the original (and the aforementioned Salvation), and this includes Rise of the Machines and Genisys.

The picture quality on this 2K upscale is very good, but not quite reference -- it could have been slightly better. The disc also blooms like a Christmas tree on crack on my edge-lit LCD display (no fault of the transfer or disc; just saying).

As for Poker Face, yeah, I rented this when it came out, too...didn't care for it, but it wasn't awful. I think Crowe's a better actor than director, but he's clearly far removed from his "golden era" of acting when he was in stuff like Gladiator and American Gangster IMO. Some sexy female characters in it, though.

Did you get Poker Face on DVD or Blu?

Was my birthday yesterday, so the following posts represent some pre- and on-birthday viewings (as well as a DVD of Amityville II: The Possession I watched, which I will post on in the appropriate thread I created in the DVD area).

I got Poker Face on BluRay. Looked fine. I now have a weird rule that I resist buying a DVD of a new film, even if it’s a blind buy. It’s now BluRay or UHD for me.

About Terminator- interesting that you’re not a fan of the first film- I like that one the most- love the screenplay, and the thrills Cameron was able to produce on a minimal budget.

Straight Outta Compton- haven’t seen it yet. My brother really liked it- I guess I’ll see if he’ll let me borrow it.

 

[Kaskade1309]

Three days after my 50th birthday we had to put our beloved 20-year-old Chihuahua/Corgi down because she was suffering in a lot of pain. On top of that, I found out, through my wife's social media troughing, that a childhood friend of mine who grew up with me seemingly passed away in 2013. He was 39.

I also woke up one day this month to find one of our beloved goldfish upside down in our tank, deceased, for zero apparent reason -- suffice to say, it has not been a happy or memorable May for me. As such (and to the delight of many on this forum, I am sure), I don't know how much contributing I will be doing because I'm just not in the mood to listen to music or watch films.

Now, it's just me and my wife in the house, and to call it "empty" is something of a moronic understatement.

If there's anyone who can remotely relate to this (or who has put down a beloved pet recently) please share, as I can use some suggestions for getting through this.

 

[borisfw]

When my beloved beagle Basil passed away about ten years ago it hit me way harder than i expected. It took me over five years before i could get another pup. We've now had Vincent the hound for four years and things are swell. And just for the record it looks like i'm a little over 10 years older than you. So i was around your age when Basil passed. It's never easy. Just keep plugging and concentrating on family helps.

 

[Kaskade1309]

When my beloved beagle Basil passed away about ten years ago it hit me way harder than i expected. It took me over five years before i could get another pup. We've now had Vincent the hound for four years and things are swell. And just for the record it looks like i'm a little over 10 years older than you. So i was around your age when Basil passed. It's never easy. Just keep plugging and concentrating on family helps.

Thanks very much for your reply, Boris; my sincere condolences for Basil.

This is far from the first pup I or my family in the past have lost -- but because Sally was going through so much towards the end, the pain of not seeing her walking around our living room anymore is immeasurable. I have no plans of getting another one any time soon because I don't believe in the "rebound" approach -- whether for a relationship or a pet -- but making this whole thing so much worse is that it happened three days after my 50th. I know this month will NEVER be the same again.

Were you saddened and distraught the whole five years between Basil and Vincent? I am happy that things are working out with Vincent.

I wish I could keep concentrating on family as you suggested, but there is no family -- no parents left on either side, no nieces or nephews, no cousins or aunts/uncles we talk to. No one. It's just me and my wife, and I suspect a very, very cold, dark and lonely future looms ahead.

At any rate, thank you for your reply; I didn't expect one from anyone on this forum.

 

[borisfw]

Thanks very much for your reply, Boris; my sincere condolences for Basil.

This is far from the first pup I or my family in the past have lost -- but because Sally was going through so much towards the end, the pain of not seeing her walking around our living room anymore is immeasurable. I have no plans of getting another one any time soon because I don't believe in the "rebound" approach -- whether for a relationship or a pet -- but making this whole thing so much worse is that it happened three days after my 50th. I know this month will NEVER be the same again.

Were you saddened and distraught the whole five years between Basil and Vincent? I am happy that things are working out with Vincent.

I wish I could keep concentrating on family as you suggested, but there is no family -- no parents left on either side, no nieces or nephews, no cousins or aunts/uncles we talk to. No one. It's just me and my wife, and I suspect a very, very cold, dark and lonely future looms ahead.

At any rate, thank you for your reply; I didn't expect one from anyone on this forum.

Thank you for your thoughts on Basil. I am lucky that we have 5 children and now many grandchildren to help with those things. But i didn't get over the loss of Basil. Basil was sick for almost two years with liver failure before he passed at the age of 13 . The vets told us he was not going to last a month. But with some supplements he lasted almost two years. He had good and bad times over that span but mostly good. I didn't get over his loss and told my wife i couldn't go through that with another dog. But she was persistent and convinced me on a rescue hound/beagle. And though i will never forget Basil Vincent has made my life 100% better. I hope you can find the right path with your loss. It probably will take some time but i hope things work out for you like they eventually did for me.

 

[David_B_K]

Now, it's just me and my wife in the house, and to call it "empty" is something of a moronic understatement.

If there's anyone who can remotely relate to this (or who has put down a beloved pet recently) please share, as I can use some suggestions for getting through this.

We lost our tri-color Pembroke Corgi Molly in 2009 at the age of 5 due to lymphoma. It is always tough to lose a beloved pet, but we had the additional feeling that "it wasn't fair" because she passed at what should have been the prime of life, which made it worse. One thing I noticed after she was gone was how much I interacted with her. Apparently every time I enter a room, I interact with my dog. I never really noticed it until I would enter a room and say "how's my little girl..." when she wasn't there. I do the same with our current dog.

Almost a month to day after we lost Molly we got Riley, a male sable Pembroke Corgi (our third successive Corgi). For my wife and me, the only way to get past losing Molly was to start over with another dog. There was a sad feeling when we got him as it was like closing the door on Molly. However, she is not forgotten and we have a framed picture of her in the family room.

Riley is now 14 years old. For his entire life, we have fed him only raw meat and bones (aside from treats). After losing Molly at such a young age, we wanted to get away from processed dog foods and feed Riley something approximating what dogs eat in the wild (in case Molly's food had something to do with her getting cancer). He also gets a supplement called PureAll which is supposed to contain probiotics and joint-health ingredients. He gets stiff sometimes at which time I give him a Galliprant pain pill. He still gets around pretty well, but we know he is at the tail end of Corgi life expectancy. We are going to keep him healthy as long as we can. At one point we discussed getting a puppy in addition to Riley; but he has been the center of our lives for so long that we don't think he would appreciate another dog vying for attention. In any case, when the day comes when we lose Riley I am certain we will bring in a new dog to fill the void.

 

[Kaskade1309]

Thank you for your thoughts on Basil. I am lucky that we have 5 children and now many grandchildren to help with those things.

I am sure having those elements in your life did indeed help -- this is something I keep telling my wife, that we're always going to be miserable and alone when we continue to lose people and pets because it's just us, but she just doesn't listen to me. She keeps saying "Having the kids wouldn't make the difference" or "There's no guarantee we'd even have grandkids..."

Alas, we're TOTALLY alone now, and I don't think it even affects her in that way. I have to face a life of complete and utter solace and emptiness, and there's nothing I can do about it because I can't create siblings or bring parents/family back from the dead.

It's simply the end, for all intents and purposes.

But i didn't get over the loss of Basil. Basil was sick for almost two years with liver failure before he passed at the age of 13 . The vets told us he was not going to last a month. But with some supplements he lasted almost two years. He had good and bad times over that span but mostly good. I didn't get over his loss and told my wife i couldn't go through that with another dog. But she was persistent and convinced me on a rescue hound/beagle. And though i will never forget Basil Vincent has made my life 100% better. I hope you can find the right path with your loss. It probably will take some time but i hope things work out for you like they eventually did for me.

Thank you for your sentiments; I do not believe there is any path of hope at this point, but I do appreciate your positive thoughts.

Wish you could have participated in the thread when it was about Blu-rays recently watched; would have been nice to chat with you about certain films. At any rate, it was nice while it lasted.

 

[Konstantinos]

This is a great film, but I can't bring myself to watch it again!
And how I wish I could...

 

[Kaskade1309]

We lost our tri-color Pembroke Corgi Molly in 2009 at the age of 5 due to lymphoma. It is always tough to lose a beloved pet, but we had the additional feeling that "it wasn't fair" because she passed at what should have been the prime of life, which made it worse. One thing I noticed after she was gone was how much I interacted with her. Apparently every time I enter a room, I interact with my dog. I never really noticed it until I would enter a room and say "how's my little girl..." when she wasn't there. I do the same with our current dog.

Almost a month to day after we lost Molly we got Riley, a male sable Pembroke Corgi (our third successive Corgi). For my wife and me, the only way to get past losing Molly was to start over with another dog. There was a sad feeling when we got him as it was like closing the door on Molly. However, she is not forgotten and we have a framed picture of her in the family room.

Riley is now 14 years old. For his entire life, we have fed him only raw meat and bones (aside from treats). After losing Molly at such a young age, we wanted to get away from processed dog foods and feed Riley something approximating what dogs eat in the wild (in case Molly's food had something to do with her getting cancer). He also gets a supplement called PureAll which is supposed to contain probiotics and joint-health ingredients. He gets stiff sometimes at which time I give him a Galliprant pain pill. He still gets around pretty well, but we know he is at the tail end of Corgi life expectancy. We are going to keep him healthy as long as we can. At one point we discussed getting a puppy in addition to Riley; but he has been the center of our lives for so long that we don't think he would appreciate another dog vying for attention. In any case, when the day comes when we lose Riley I am certain we will bring in a new dog to fill the void.

Thank you very much for your input and sentiments, David -- they are much appreciated right now.

It's funny....Sally made us truly appreciate the Corgis and Chihuhuas, and my wife even says she'd like to have another Chigi (or one of the individual breeds) because Sally was so great.

I hear a lot of stories just like yours -- that the only way of getting past the pain of the loss is to almost immediately get another dog, but for us, there are a couple of things at play here. First, we really need something of a break because taking care of Sally was a 24/7 task, between getting her medications taken at the proper times, cleaning up the constant accidents in the house, getting her out of situations where she was stuck in a corner of a room and couldn't get out....this went on and on, day in and day out, for the past year or maybe more. It was physically draining. We didn't really sleep, especially my wife, as Sally would wake up at random times in the middle of the night crying in pain or needing to pace the room (something she did from the cognitive issues). So we do need something of a "rest" before adopting or taking on a new pup.

Also, I have never subscribed to the "rebound" approach -- whether it was for a pup or a relationship. It never works in my experience. You're always expecting that person or pup to be exactly like the one you just broke up with or lost, and it's not fair on them. The way we see it, when a new fur baby needs a good loving home, god will put him or her in our lives.


It sounds like Riley is on all sorts of medication -- so was Sally and even the dog before her, Maximus, who was a Black Lab/Aussie Shephard (Max had all sorts of issues, from diabetes to seizures). The vet had sally on Gabapentin for pain, and it was working, but eventually the pain got so severe that all the medicine did was put her to sleep; when she awoke, she started crying and bellowing again.

At any rate, god bless you and I hope Riley lives a very long life -- I commend you for being so committed, as me and my wife were.

 

[Kaskade1309]

This is a great film, but I can't bring myself to watch it again!
And how I wish I could...

Thanks brother.

Indeed, it's probably my favorite film. Came out the year I was born, so it's as old as I am!

Looking forward to the 4K release that's supposed to happen this year, but I gotta say....this digibook package Warner put together is really nice, and I don't know how much better this film can look, save for cleaning up some really grainy areas that were always off-putting.

What is it about the film that stops you from watching it again?

 

[Konstantinos]

What is it about the film that stops you from watching it again?

Well, too much "real" horror for me..
The first time I watched it in my teens, I wanted to throw up, and I stopped it.
Then, I saw the extended cut at the cinema when it was released, and that's it.

 

[Kaskade1309]

Well, too much "real" horror for me..
The first time I watched it in my teens, I wanted to throw up, and I stopped it.
Then, I saw the extended cut at the cinema when it was released, and that's it.

Yeah, it had that effect on many, especially during its original theatrical run -- was it the crucifix scene that really got you, or the turning of the head, etc.? I ask because that crucifix "masturbation" sequence still kinda gets under my skin, and I'm as old as the film is...

I actually prefer -- to the dismay of millions upon millions of Exorcist fans -- the Extended Director's Cut over the theatrical version, and, like you, I also saw it in the cinema (actually more than once, if I recall, with a college friend of mine; at that point we had been out of college for a few years). I can do without the added scenes that feel "disjointed" in the longer cut (such as the unnecessary spider walk sequence), but what I like about it is the superior audio track on the discs -- when this cut first came out, it was called The Version You've Never Seen. When it arrived on Blu-ray, it was switched to the Extended Director's Cut. Even on the DVD of "The Version You've Never Seen," the audio was improved to the point that it sounded like an all-new soundtrack -- Warner Bros. had remixed the audio into Dolby Digital Surround EX, and the whole film was filled with incredible audio cues that seemed to truly move all around you. That opening sequence in the desert in Iraq still sounds amazing in the longer cut, as you can hear the voices and noises surrounding Merrin as he approaches the dig and walks through the streets. On the Blu-ray, the audio was upgraded to a DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1 mix, which was essentially the Dolby Surround EX track from the DVD with the added back channel information in lossless audio (on the Director's Cut), and it just changes the experience of this film for me; the track included with the Theatrical Cut sounds like glorified mono to my ears.

A good example of the power the surround track on the Director's Cut has is when Merrin first arrives at the Georgetown townhouse and shakes Karras' hand -- you hear Pazuzu, the demon inside Regan, bellow "MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE------RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!" and it blasts LOUDLY through the right surround speaker, as if it was coming from Regan's bedroom in that scene. It's truly jarring and SO effective.

 

[Konstantinos]

Yeah, it had that effect on many, especially during its original theatrical run -- was it the crucifix scene that really got you, or the turning of the head, etc.? I ask because that crucifix "masturbation" sequence still kinda gets under my skin, and I'm as old as the film is...

Yeah, I believe it was the crucifix scene IIRC..I was shocked!
I don't mind gore very much (although it's not my favorite). E.g. I can watch The Thing (the 80s version of course) which I love (and that one has many disgusting scenes)

 

[Kaskade1309]

Yeah, I believe it was the crucifix scene IIRC..I was shocked!
I don't mind gore very much (although it's not my favorite). E.g. I can watch The Thing (the 80s version of course) which I love (and that one has many disgusting scenes)

I hear you; I don't like super-graphic horror...I can't, for example, watch the remake of The Fly. I just cannot sit through that film...it gives me nightmares.

I love The Thing, like any other Carpenter fan, but there are some scenes in that in which you just have to look away in disgust, such as during the Norris chest sequence.

 

[Kaskade1309]