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Have 'em piling up like jets over LAX, such as the 15-movie Hitchcock collection. But am having trouble NOT watching the 10-disc "Twilight Forever … The Complete Saga" set, which is chock full of extras. And even when I'm not watching it, I have my iPod playlist with my own special arrangement of all 5 soundtracks pumping out of the big speakers in the next room. Gotta get back to those Hitchcocks!!!
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Last night, as I detailed on the site about the 15-Blu-ray set of Hitchcock films, I watched "Rear Window" and nearly 3 hours of just SOME of the extras. But earlier in the day I watched most of Spielberg's "A.I. Artificial Intelligence," and have a few things to say about it. First, it looks very good on Blu-ray, although some of the camera angles capture Haley Joel Osment's David almost as if he were a painting, and while it's interesting, I longed for more clarity in the images. The John Williams music sounded great in surround. But I was reminded of why I find that film, until it gets into the last 25 or 30 minutes, very hard to like, and that's the meanness, even cruelty, that is so prevalent in it. First, Frances O'Connor as the adoptive mother can't accept the robot David as the replacement for her close-to-death sick son, and she is less than kind to David. And when the son has a miraculous recovery, he is simply horrid towards David, putting the blame on him for things he never did, which causes the mother to set David free, even though she knows that she herself programmed him to love her. Later we see the vast cruelty to robots, including the jealous husband who resents his wife's affection for the gigolo robot played so amusingly by Jude Law, and then a sort of robotic genocide perpetrated by Brendan Gleeson and others. Near the end, shortly before it shifts into those wonderful final minutes, we have David coming across an identical robotic David and brutally destroying it (or him), which seriously undermines one's affection for David. And even when we are approaching those final magical moments, we have David snapping at the Blue Fairy (so beautifully voiced by Meryl Streep), which, again, makes it hard to like him. Sorry -- didn't mean to rip apart a film I've bought on DVD and Blu-ray and its soundtrack on CD and DVD-Audio. But it's a good Blu-ray, with lots of extras.
And thanks, David Sones (Allardyce), you probably stopped me from wasting money on the imperfect Blu-ray of "Dave" -- will keep my DVD of it! With over 4,000 DVDs, I've tried to be judicious in my Blu-ray RE-buys, although it can be hard resisting the better technology. In the case of "Dave," beside the DVD and original CD of the soundtrack, I recently bought La-La-Land's expanded CD. But if the Blu-ray is as imperfect as you wrote, it's something I can continue to resist. Thanks!
Incidentally, yesterday was an even busier day in front of the big flatscreen, because earlier in the day I watched "Alien" with the isolated score, which was mostly very frustrating, as watching with isolated scores can sometimes be for those like me who get itchy for the dialog and sound effects. But what struck me was this big black rectangle with the name of the specific cue, which looked like a big black bandaid stuck on the screen -- why, Fox? If you HAD to put the title on the screen, do it as an innocuous text at the bottom of the screen, not something so obtrusive as this! I also watched most of "Aliens," this time with the regular audio, reminding myself why it is one of the best sequels ever made.
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I wish the Blu-Ray of SCHINDLER'S LIST would include deleted scenes, which it apparently doesn't. (I've read there was an extended card game between Neeson and Fiennes over the fate of his housekeeper, among other scenes Spielberg ultimately decided to omit.)
And, does the Blu-Ray of E.T. include the new additions added for a re-release, where, among other things, the guns agents are holding have (ridiculously) been transformed to cell phones? And, does it include the deleted scene with Harrison Ford as the harried school principal?
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Posted: |
Nov 17, 2013 - 2:17 PM
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By: |
Mr Greg
(Member)
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And, does the Blu-Ray of E.T. include the new additions added for a re-release, where, among other things, the guns agents are holding have (ridiculously) been transformed to cell phones? And, does it include the deleted scene with Harrison Ford as the harried school principal?
The Blu-Ray version is the 1982 theatrical version - guns are back, no bath, and no CGI face (which wasn't bad, but just grated with me a little bit sometimes) - and it looks and sounds absolutely wonderful. Spielberg was actually quite open about why he did the 2002 "Special Edition", and that it was perhaps not the route he maybe should have taken....and that the Blu-Ray (and, I seem to remember him saying at some point, all other future home media releases) would be the theatrical cut. That said, the Deleted Scenes bit does include the Bath scene from the SE. And the Harrison Ford footage is only what was previously available in other releases - nothing new (I don't think).
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Re: John B. Archibald: I wish the Blu-Ray of SCHINDLER'S LIST would include deleted scenes, which it apparently doesn't. (I've read there was an extended card game between Neeson and Fiennes over the fate of his housekeeper, among other scenes Spielberg ultimately decided to omit.)
John: On the back of the Blu-ray box is the following:
---------SPECIAL FEATURES----------
Voices From The List: Feature-length documentary with testimonies and archival footage.
USC Shoa Foundation Story With Steven Spielberg: A behind the scenes look.
And More.
So I put on the Blu-ray, but it had no special features, and they were all on the second of the 2 DVDs, and when I accessed them, the only thing "More" was this:
About IWitness
So that's it, with no deleted scenes whatsoever (or anything else). For what we paid for this "20TH ANNIVERSARY LIMITED EDITION," you would think that there would have been more than just that!!! Especially for those, like me, who previously bought it on DVD. And I'll be honest with you: When I played the Blu-ray, I kept asking myself "Why in the world did I buy this?," because it really doesn't look that much better than the (mostly) black and white DVD, with the clarity NOT knocking me out as some Blu-rays can do.
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Today I watched Streisand's "A Star Is Born" on Blu-ray with its very effective 5.1 surround with lots of lows for the subwoofer, followed by "Oblivion" with Tom Cruise, which is terrific and has 7.1 audio. And the more I see "Oblivion," the more I like it!
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ado: Re "North By Northwest"
I'll have to watch it. But a few days ago I loaned my secondary Blu-ray player to a neighbor who works for Universal, and I offered him a huge selection of BDs to borrow and all he took was the big Hitchcock collection, so I'm not going to have it handy for a while. (Been trying to convince him to switch up and thought an in-home trial might do the trick.)
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ado: Re: "Wow, you are a nice neighbor.
I loaned the same secondary Blu-ray player to a lady in my office, thinking she and her husband would keep it for a few weeks, but they kept it nearly 6 months! And at the time I had a list of all my Blu-rays, and loaned her, in groups, many of them she chose off the list. I was sure glad to get everything back! But this neighbor owns the condo across the hall and I certainly know where to find him if I want my stuff back!
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Last night, as I detailed on the site about the 15-Blu-ray set of Hitchcock films, I watched "Rear Window" and nearly 3 hours of just SOME of the extras. But earlier in the day I watched most of Spielberg's "A.I. Artificial Intelligence," and have a few things to say about it. First, it looks very good on Blu-ray, although some of the camera angles capture Haley Joel Osment's David almost as if he were a painting, and while it's interesting, I longed for more clarity in the images. The John Williams music sounded great in surround. But I was reminded of why I find that film, until it gets into the last 25 or 30 minutes, very hard to like, and that's the meanness, even cruelty, that is so prevalent in it. First, Frances O'Connor as the adoptive mother can't accept the robot David as the replacement for her close-to-death sick son, and she is less than kind to David. And when the son has a miraculous recovery, he is simply horrid towards David, putting the blame on him for things he never did, which causes the mother to set David free, even though she knows that she herself programmed him to love her. Later we see the vast cruelty to robots, including the jealous husband who resents his wife's affection for the gigolo robot played so amusingly by Jude Law, and then a sort of robotic genocide perpetrated by Brendan Gleeson and others. Near the end, shortly before it shifts into those wonderful final minutes, we have David coming across an identical robotic David and brutally destroying it (or him), which seriously undermines one's affection for David. And even when we are approaching those final magical moments, we have David snapping at the Blue Fairy (so beautifully voiced by Meryl Streep), which, again, makes it hard to like him. Sorry -- didn't mean to rip apart a film I've bought on DVD and Blu-ray and its soundtrack on CD and DVD-Audio. But it's a good Blu-ray, with lots of extras.
I found "Artificial Intelligence" so utterly heartbreaking that I don't think I could ever watch it again....also "Dumbo" (that poor little baby elephant rocking in his mother's trunk). Guess I have a problem with mother movies...although I like "Psycho" a lot.
On another note, I think Hitchcock's "To Catch a Thief" with it's Oscar-winning photography is gorgeous on Blu-Ray. The stunning picture quality was like seeing it as I had never seen before. Along with "White Christmas" and "Once Upon a Time in the West", Paramount should be commended for the efforts they're putting into their classic titles on Blu-Ray. Can't wait to see what they do with "Funny Face". (whenever it's released). And "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" which will be released in early 2014 (February, I think).
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Sorry....you know why.
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Posted: |
Nov 29, 2013 - 9:42 AM
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By: |
RoryR
(Member)
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ado: Re "North By Northwest" Just my feeling, North by is the most balanced and perfect film, the least amount of Hitchcock's wierdness, and of course James Mason puts it over the top.
Big fan of James Mason. LOLITA is one of my favorite movies (and the book is probably my favorite novel, not because of the subject matter, but because the prose are so fantastic. It's just great writing.), and I watched the Twilight Time Blu-ray of JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH yesterday while the turkey was cooking.
Anyway, about NORTH BY NORTHWEST on video.... Anyone here who owned it first on DVD then on Blu-ray? The transfers are quite different. I think the Blu-ray is superior, as I would guess most do, but I wasn't that unhappy with the old DVD. It's brighter than the Blu-ray and I have a friend who prefers older movies like this that look "blue." I can't entirely relate to it, but he likes the look of decidely blue-tinted old Eastmancolor film stock, or rather one that has lost enough of its yellow layer to start to look very cool.
For instance, if you've been over to DVDBeaver in the last few days, you'll see a review for DESK SET from Fox. The new Blu-ray transfer has a very teal color balance to it. I don't like it, but this friend of mine thinks it looks just "gorgeous" (his word).
I'm on the fence about it.... Anyone here have a strong opinion about it? Whoever is doing the transfers for Fox right now is sure in love with the "teal" look. THE GREAT ESCAPE, LOVE IS A MANY SLENDORED THING, and VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA are recent examples of the new trend toward the "teal" look. I'm just wonder if maybe we should be getting upset about this? I think maybe so, but I'm not sure.
(Why is this in all italics? I'm not telling it to do that. Boy, this site is sure strange these days.)
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I received the Mary Poppins UK blu-ray last week. It is a gorgeous release -- a vibrant image quality carried by a beautiful film-like grain structure -- colors in which you can drown -- and a wonderfully crisp stereo surround (5.1 lossy on the UK but the US edition will have 7.1 Master Audio which can only sound better I assume).
Robert Harris has enthused about this release on the Home Theater Forum -- and I can only add that this edition of the film is so beautiful that it brought tears to my eyes on several occasions.
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