Topic: The Movie Thread

@Hogs-of-War-General Terrifier 2 is probably the best slasher released since the 90s. Absolutely wild experience in the theater. The good will it generated helped boost Terrifier 3 to the top of the U.S. box office last weekend, which was pretty cool to see.

Just received my copy of The Hitcher 4k from Second Sight; remastered in Dolby Vision/HDR 10 from a 4K scan of the original negative and boasting a new Atmos mix, according to the sales pitch.
Really excited to check it out, but I fear Sunday may be my first chance to do so.

What does everyone play their 4K's on, out of interest? I'm probably going to pick up a fairly decent dedicated player on Black Friday, or if Richer Sounds will do a deal earlier, and I think I know which to go for, but I want to gauge people on here first.

I feel like this is now quite a good place to hear about all the new releases too, so it saves forum hopping 😁

My copy of Bladerunner 2049 turned up today, alongside 12 Monkeys, and I keep looking at special editions of things, like a lunatic, but they do look so well put together.

@JohnnyShoulder Ohhh that's sick! Thanks for the info

@Ralizah It makes total sense and might have to agree with you that it might be one of the best ones in decades! I can only imagine the experience on the big screen haha!

@Ravix I play all my 4Ks on my PS5 however I would like to have a dedicated player because for some reason on my PS5 there is very light streaks that are like shadows that run across my screen in the middle. Does anyone else have this particular issue? Maybe it's the HDMI cable??? Yes it seems that there is a lot of 4K enthusiasts on this forum and I am all for it

@Ravix I use the PS5 for the 4K, but I do have a dedicated player I imported from the US to play region locked Blu-Ray discs (and my old region locked DVDs). With this setup I won't have to worry about whether the discs I buy are US imports or not (the store I buy from stocks both US and UK imports in addition to local Scandinavian releases, but I occasionally import discs myself as it's occasionally cheaper)
@Hogs-of-War-General No issues with my PS5 4K player

@Ravix I've got a Panasonic DP-UB820EB. Absolutely superb. My previous player (an LG something or other) got relegated to the bedroom setup after it developed a twitch when transitioning between layers on the larger capacity discs. I've never used a games console as a primary movie player but I've got a Shawshanked PS3 that'll play DVDs and blu-rays of any provenance from anywhere if needs be!

@Hogs-of-War-General @FuriousMachine @LN78 (added the tag as we posted at the same time) and I suspected someone would have that player, here haha.

I did read of some issues that consoles can run into. And the banding was one, but I can't remember exactly what advice was available. I'm sure it is something that can be solved, somehow.

I started off on the Xbox, myself, but I'm going to try the next one I watch on the PS5, but I keep reading how dedicated players can bring an even crisper level of detail. So I'm definitely keeping my eye out for deals on a ub820 (I think that was it) if I do end up building up quite the collection of discs (oh, god 😅)

Overall the Xbox was good enough for a first foray into 4K physical, and definitely an upgrade on previous viewings for True Romance. I feel like some scenes had more film grain than others, but maybe it was my mind playing tricks on me, or maybe it is just the case with 4k transfers of older films, I have no reference point yet 😅 it was stunning, however, but I'm sure it'd be even more stunning on better hardware.

Anyway, you all get the idea with that. I recommend the film, regardless, to everyone that has not yet seen it. Or to those who have, but not for a while.

@Ravix That Hopper/Walken interrogation scene is still my favourite thing that Tarantino has ever written.

@Ravix I have a dedicated player for my discs, as I want to try out my then new 4K TV and couldn't wait until PS5 came out (it was like a year before). When I got my PS5, I couldn't get the picture settings right for movies as I had mucked around with them too much to get HDR looking ok with my PS4, so I kept the player which I have since upgraded.

@Ravix Yeah you will get that with some older films transfer to 4K with film grain, unless they DNR the f out of the whole film and then that is when things start to look a bit waxy. Or is it soapy, I can't remember! 😂 Take a look at the True Lies 4K if you wanna see a good example of what I mean.

@LN78 yeah, I have a few favourites across the board with Tarantino, but it certainly is fantastic. I mean, the mood swing and role reversal is captured perfectly, the acceptance of consequences, the interrogated seizing all of the power over the interrogator, prying out his absolute weakness to use against his ego and showing defiant strength, but all of it leading to a cruel delayed punch line of the note on a fridge.

I think in any film where two actors can just act in a small setting with high drama and tension, play off each other, feed each other, it is always going to be riveting viewing. They just thrive off that if the script is solid and grounded in the realities of the characters, which Tarantino usually excels at.

Same with Reservoir Dogs, it's basically a play with a few added cutscenes. Large parts of The Hateful Eight are like that, too. In fact, quite a lot of Tarantino has very theatrical set ups that let scenes unfold like plays within the movie. The Diner in Pulp Fiction is almost a seperate world for that one segment of story.

@Ravix I agree completely - the opening scene of "Inglorious Basterds" is the other one that springs to mind. Totally brilliant..
PS The worst (and most notorious) example of egregious DNR is the 4K release of "Terminator 2". It looks like a videogame cutscene in places.

@LN78 not going to lie, I've totally forgotten the order of how anything in Inglorious Basterds plays out, so I'm going to have to re-watch it soon, which shouldn't be too much of a stretch, as I already plan on watching The Hateful Eight, Jackie Brown, Reservoir Dogs at some point, so I might as well add it to that.

@Ravix Try to get the "Reservoir Dogs" 4K steelbook if you can. It's a thing of beauty.

@JohnnyShoulder @LN78

Where do you stand on film grain and 4K? It's a weird one, because film grain can look absolutely lovely, but so can a super crisp, clear image.

Not updated for a while cause I figured people would get bored eventually of me saying 'watched another bad movie again' every day, so a triple wammy from my last three days.

Megalomaniac - avoid.
Strange Darling - absurdly overrated.
Follow Her - two thirds the movie Strange Darling wanted to be, one third an extremely out of touch cautionary tale about social media clout chasing and the "dangers" of online sex work that really dragged down what was an otherwise fun movie.

@LN78 is that the one with the removable ear sleeve, too? 😂😂

@Ravix As I mentioned earlier, I think that the benchmark for catalogue 4K releases is for them to look as close to a pristine film prints as possible.
PS Yup - the removable ear sleeve it is.

@Pizzamorg I've heard mixed things about "Strange Darling" but I've got it on pre-order. I like Kyle Gallner.

He is great in it, so is Willa Fitzgerald. Performances are one of the main strengths. I just found it extremely pretentious.