What's on your Daily Viewing List? (4 Viewers)

[Dave Moritz]

December 3rd, 2022 Saturday

Home Alone 2: Lost In New York
Bluray 1080p
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

e4rrrrrrr



December 4th, 2022 Sunday

The Expanse
S1/E3: Remember The Cant
S1/E4: CQB
S1/E5: Back To The Butcher
S1/E6: Rock Bottom

A Million Ways To Die In The West
HBO Max / HD upscaled to 4K
Dolby 5.1 upmixed to Auro 7.1

Armageddon
iTunes / HD upscaled to 4K
Dolby 5.1 upmixed to Auro 7.1

Week 13
Dallas Cowboys vs Indianapolis Colts

 

[Thomas T]

 

[John Sparks]

A few cameos, like the old films...excellent on all accounts!!!

 

[Keith Cobby]

Around the World Under the Sea (1966) - surprised I hadn't seen this before but it's the first (and last) viewing of this very lacklustre ocean drama (WA DVD).

The Prestige (2006) - one of Nolan's best films, looks fab on 4k disc.

 

[YANG]

not in daily schedule...

...the long running time is able to kill off 3hrs+ after lunch.​

 

[HawksFord]

We watched two westerns this week. The first I hadn't seen in a long time and the second was new to me:

The Horse Soldiers (1959)
Buck and the Preacher (1972)

The Horse Soldiers is a lesser John Ford and John Wayne effort, but lesser John Ford is better than most. It's set during the Civil War and based on an actual event where Union troops went deep into the South as a diversionary tactic during the seige of Vickburg. Wayne leads the raid. William Holden plays an Army doctor assigned to the mission, and he and Wayne's character regularly butt heads. There are a couple of interesting scenes with slaves (contraband as one soldier puts it). In the first, Holden helps to deliver a baby in a slave cabin, and in the commentary track Joseph McBride notes that this was a white family in the book. The change sharpens the distinction between the Wayne and Holden characters and provides contrast with the plantation home of Constance Towers' character. There is a scene at a Black church which used members of a Louisiana congregation with Ford paying them the standard Hollywood rate instead of the lower amount the local municipality demanded. Finally, there's the presence of Althea Gibson who refused to use the dialect originally written for her slave character.

Not to discount the substantial racial issues that still exist in the US, but what a difference the 1960s made. Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte star and produce, and Poitier directs, Buck and the Preacher. Poitier plays a former soldier now wagon-master who leads newly freed slaves to the west. He runs afoul of a band of vigilantes, headed by Cameron Mitchell, trying to force the freed slaves back to Louisiana to provide cheap labor and forms an uneasy partnership with Harry Belafonte playing a traveling minister/conman.

We liked both films but Buck and the Preacher was our favorite. It broke new ground in a couple of ways, but breaking that ground would not have been possible without people like John Ford and Althea Gibson pushing back against the racial attitudes of the day.

 

[Thomas T]

 

[Bryan^H]

 

[YANG]

not really daily selections, but digging out 3 19th~20th Century transitional period battle Movies to go thru the weekend. starting tonight...

 

[HawksFord]

We've started watching some of our favorite Christmas movies, and this year we added a new one to the lineup:

Christmas in July (1940)

Is this a Christmas movie? Despite the fact that it's set in the middle of summer, I think so. It certainly has a spirit of Christmas feel to it. Dick Powell plays an office clerk who is tricked into thinking he won a large prize in a slogan contest which sends him on a spending spree. The film could have ended up feeling mean-spirited or being overly saccharine, but Preston Sturges walks a fine line between those possibilities while tossing in some astute social commentary.

Our second holiday movie of the week was a more conventional choice:

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

I love this movie and it's up there with Casablanca in terms of the number of times I've watched. In fact, I've seen it so much that I made a conscious decision to not watch it last year. Nothing changed on my return. I still love it.

 

[Dave Moritz]

December 9th, 2022 Friday

The Grinch That Stole Christmas
HBO Max / HD Digital upconverted to 4K
Dolby 5.1 upmixed to Auro 7.1

 

[Dave Moritz]

December 10th, 2022 Saturday

This was the day I spent with my dad so after I went to pick him up I put on the final US Elton John concert from Dodger Stadium. I am hoping this concert gets put on a disc but who knows if that will happen and depending on what kind of deal Disney signed to have it on Disney +. There was reported that there was 50,000 in guest to see the last Elton John concert at Dodger Stadium and the last US show.

 

[Robin9]

Yesterday I watched Abandoned, a 1949 movie with a first class central idea handled by second class talent. The one first class talent involved was William Daniels who demonstrates his mastery of light and shadow. Raymond Burr was almost as sinister as he is in Pitfall.

I then re-watched To Hell And Back, listening to an interesting commentary track. It's not often I find one interesting.

 

[Bartman]

Mr. District Attorney (1947) - I'm a big fan of Marguerite Chapman and this is one of her best films.

The Counterfeit Traitor - wonderful film, highly recommended blu ray from KL.

I just watched The Counterfeit Traitor KL Blu-ray and the picture quality is a big improvement over the Paramount DVD. This was a European production using local labs, so this is probably the best it will ever look. Just a few fleeting instance of print damage. Well done KL.

 

[Dave Moritz]

December 11th, 2022 Sunday

It's A Wonderful Life
4K Bluray / Dolby Vision
Dolby TrueHD 2.0 Mono

 

[Keith Cobby]

The Forgiven - this is a poor film considering the talents involved, with a rubbish ending. I only watched it as a fan of Jessica Chastain. I think the budget must have run out as it is very dark (illumination!) in the second half of the film (Prime UHD).

 

[HawksFord]

An Inspector Calls (1954) — It's puzzling to me that I have no recollection of ever seeing this film before, but I don't. One the gaps in my experience, I guess. We watched it on the Kino Lorber blu-ray release. We both loved this movie based on a J. B. Priestley play and set just before the start of the First World War. Without giving anything away, Alastair Sim plays a police inspector who shows up at the home of a wealthy family to inform them of the suicide of a lower class woman who had a variety of contacts with the family. It's an improbable situation, but that's not Priestley's concern. Instead, it's an astute piece of social commentary. It's hard to talk about how much I loved this film without giving something away, so I'll have to leave it at that.

 

[Robin9]

An Inspector Calls (1954) — It's puzzling to me that I have no recollection of ever seeing this film before, but I don't. One the gaps in my experience, I guess. We watched it on the Kino Lorber blu-ray release. We both loved this movie based on a J. B. Priestley play and set just before the start of the First World War. Without giving anything away, Alastair Sim plays a police inspector who shows up at the home of a wealthy family to inform them of the suicide of a lower class woman who had a variety of contacts with the family. It's an improbable situation, but that's not Priestley's concern. Instead, it's an astute piece of social commentary. It's hard to talk about how much I loved this film without giving something away, so I'll have to leave it at that.

I think most people who have seen the film like it. I can't recall anyone ever saying they don't like it.

Yesterday I watched yet again Hold Back The Dawn, a marvellous film with superb performances from the entire cast.

 

[dana martin]

Last Nights Double Feature Presentation

if you are a fan of silent film, this is an interesting set, looking back at 100 plus years, and as good as can be du to loss of reels and deterioration of time, But three very interesting shorts that can captivate and keep your attention

 

[dana martin]

Last Nights Feature Presentation

after having this for a while, finally knocked the dust off of the top and watched the first 5 chapters, interesting with a story that pulls you in and keeps your attention, the difference in storytelling between this and last nights films from the same year like day and night, the music score for this release is a great enhancement to the film, hopefully tomorrow i will finish the remaining chapters. and plan to follow this up with Irma Vep