Topic: The Movie Thread

@LN78 I’m glad American Fiction won, it’s a success story for risky projects.

Surprised that there were some actually genuinely funny moments from the Oscars this year. You know, intended ones that didn't involve someone slapping the host in the face.

From the clips I've seen, the below is my favourite. 😆

@JohnnyShoulder yeah Danny Devito is a little off about Penguin's demise.

Penguin fell through a glass window into his hideout himself after Batman released some bats to swarm around Penguin.

and love didn't really beat Mr Freeze though

this morning right now im watching The Warriors on Paramountplus. Been many years since I watched the movie

Renfield
A very fun and very gory vampire comedy starring Nic Cage as the Count and Nic Hoult as Renfield. Highly recommend watching this. One of the most underrated films of 2023.

since I just got the new 4K Blu ray Ultimate collectors edition of Aliens I'm going to be really busy with the bonus features

that and watching the Italian version of Phenomena

Dune: Part Two (Cinema) - Took a bit to really get going (it definitely expects more from you than something like Star Wars or Avatar), but once it hit it's stide and started paying off it was excellent. By far the best thing I've seen in theaters so far this year, and I think it's going to be a high bar to clear.

Spring Break (Tubi) - 80's comedy about college kids partying in Fort Lauderdale, Florida during spring break. Not particularly notable, but fun if you like these kinds of 80's comedies.

Stand by Me (Blu-Ray) - Another thrift pick up. Pretty much the quintessential coming of age film, at least for boys, IMO. No matter how many times I watch it the train scene always makes me so anxious, and the great Superman vs Mighty Mouse debate reminds me of the similar debates me & my friends had at that age (although there was a lot more DBZ involved for us, lol).

@XandertheWise What did you think of the new 4K Aliens release? I heard the new 4K's of the James Cameron stuff aren't that great.

I only bought the new 4K Ultimate Edition Blu ray for Aliens because it has the special extended edition of the movie. that and the bonus features from the old Quadrilogy DVD that I always wanted to have but the Quad DVD set was pretty pricey years ago.

I've seen Aliens many times. Even had an old Special Edition DVD of the movie that had the New and family scene.

Now I need to get the new 4K Ultimate Edition for The Abyss where the old 2 disc Special Edition DVD had the extended edition of the movie with the extra subplot stuff such more involving the tidal wave at the end etc

@XandertheWise They meant what's the Audio/Visual quality of the 4K blu-ray like? "True Lies" and "The Abyss" are supposedly terrible transfers with AI processed DNR that has ruined the picture. "Terminator 2" on 4K was also a mess because they sourced the transfer from a scrubbed 3D digital version of the film instead of from a scan of the original print.

@cheetahman91 @LN78 The Digital Bits were quite happy with it in their review (link), stating that the "optimization" (which, apparently, was not DNR but "Park Road’s proprietary deep-learning algorithms"), that greatly reduces photochemical grain, takes some getting used to, but was ultimately successful.

Unlike an image scrubbed with DNR, this process hasn’t removed all of the fine image detail. Not only does that detail remain, it too has been “enhanced” algorithmically. The image has then been graded for high dynamic range, with both Dolby Vision and HDR10 available.

The result is remarkable clarity and detail, but it is a bit jarring. Applied to Titanic (reviewed here), this unique remastering process feels completely appropriate. Applied to Aliens, which has always been a film with a grittier look, it takes more getting used to.

Sounds rather promising to me. The review is worth checking out.

@FuriousMachine po-tay-to/po-tah-to as far as I'm concerned. I'm going to buy "The Abyss" straight away but the others can wait for the two-for-thirty sale in November.

@FuriousMachine Thanks for the link. I also looked into it and apparently all the stuff people were complaining about in regards to the transfers aren't as big of a deal for the standard Blu-Ray discs and I have no way of watching 4K releases anyway (I guess due to the lower resolution).

I'll probably do like LN78 and get The Abyss since it's the only Cameron film that really want to see that I haven't seen yet. As for True Lies, I'll stick with the HD version I already have.

@cheetahman91 @FuriousMachine Yeah I've heard the same too. Aliens is one of my favourite films, so will definitely be picking it up eventually. I sometimes find these criticisms of the audio/visual aspects can be overblown, and when you actually watch the film it is OK.

@JohnnyShoulder Agreed. I already have Aliens, Abyss and True Lies on pre-order and they should arrive by the end of April here. The Digital Bits review allayed my fears of a poor transfer/remaster, so I'll happily keep my pre-order.

@LN78 Well, if one process removes all detail and the other doesn't, I'd claim them to be wildly different potatoes, at least... but, sure, the image will not have the original gritty and grainy "film stock" look and that would be a dealbreaker for many, I suppose. Gonna keep mine and hope I like the end result as much as Bill Hunt over at TDB did.

@JohnnyShoulder @FuriousMachine Why they can't just do a traditional re-master on these movies instead of tinkering around with the grain structure and the colour grading I have no idea. The most recent blu-ray of "Aliens" (that came out just before "Prometheus") has a bloody lovely transfer on it and I want these films (that were shot on film) to look as close to their original cinematic presentations as possible.

@LN78 I have no idea and I don't know anything about what goes into this process, but I suppose there will be a certain amount of tinkering and tweaking required, if I understood Fincher's comments re.: Seven correctly, and I suppose many will prefer to use AI and digital "wizardry" to iron out the kinks (and wash out the look in the process) as opposed to painstakingly mastering each shot (as I understood Fincher did to a large degree).

In this case, Lightstorm was involved in the process, and I suppose that means Cameron to some extent as well. So, I suppose he at least signed off on the results. (Though, as George Lucas has taught us, the director does not always know what's best for their own films )

@FuriousMachine Yeah - Cameron also signed off on the "Terminator 2" travesty and claimed that "Terminator:Genisys" was a top quality movie.

@LN78 See? Proof positive that the man knows what he's talking about

@FuriousMachine So much for stopping upgrading from blu-ray to 4K. That's "Se7en" added to the pre-order pile. Marvellous.