X-phile Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 (edited) While I'm loathe to admit it, I'm a grizzled survivor of the hi-def wars - you know, the one that Xbox owners keep hushed under the rug (cough, HD DVD)? And while I'll staunchly defend the 'aesthetic' of my tacked-on HD DVD drive (woe betide the day I can no longer colour co-ordinate with an old-skool arcade 360), there's something to be said for not having used it for the last 2-3 years... despite my 99-strong HD DVD library. Reason being? The ubiquity of Blu-ray. I began taking my collection for earnest in August 2010, about the same time that I started buying from Amazon and keeping tabs of what comes and goes in global cinema... via the highly erudite TOTAL FILM magazine (airlifted from England). Anyways, as a seasoned hi-def consumer, I've been pondering the whys-and-wherefores of what makes my esteemed Blu-ray collection so "special". It can't solely be the purity of sound and vision - because I'd already scooped that up via the tragic 'half-life' of HD DVD. So I looked a little closer and found a rather revealing (oo-er) interlude that spoke to me in the opening scene to Chapter 5 (Message in a Bottle) of S. Darko. Here was a sequel to one of the all-time sci-fi classics (Donnie Darko), somehow stripped of relevance in the modern age. The leading 'lady' (a barely legal Daveigh Chase) awakes on a park bench, thereto riffing on the somnambulism of her older brother. The local cop sidles up and says: "You know, there's a pervert loose in town. Can't be, uh, dressin' like - like that. Tell you what, hop in. I'll give you a ride. It's right by the motel." Given that Ms Chase is wearing what could 'loosely' be described as pyjamas, there's a certain po-faced irony to the dialogue. Nevertheless, in 1 minute and 34 seconds, I've witnessed an epiphany. The 1.78:1 pristine encode has titillated, tickled my fancy; taken my inner voyeur for a "ride". And suddenly it dawns on me: the reason this shameless travesty of a sequel has sold me on Blu-ray is because it's eminently WATCHABLE - in a "beauty's only skin deep" kind of way. Daveigh Chase has all the emotional resonance of a China doll, but damned if she's not a living, breathing testament to the power of steadicam (altogether now... HMM). Anyway, I'd be delighted to hear how Blu-ray has been "sold" to others. What makes a Blu-ray release special? Edited May 9, 2011 by X-phile
fawlty99 Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 While I'm loathe to admit it, I'm a grizzled survivor of the hi-def wars - you know, the one that Xbox owners keep hushed under the rug (cough, HD DVD)?And while I'll staunchly defend the 'aesthetic' of my tacked-on HD DVD drive (woe betide the day I can no longer colour co-ordinate with an old-skool arcade 360), there's something to be said for not having used it for the last 2-3 years... despite my 99-strong HD DVD library. Reason being? The ubiquity of Blu-ray. I began taking my collection for earnest in August 2010, about the same time that I started buying from Amazon and keeping tabs of what comes and goes in global cinema... via the highly erudite TOTAL FILM magazine (airlifted from England). Anyways, as a seasoned hi-def consumer, I've been pondering the whys-and-wherefores of what makes my esteemed Blu-ray collection so "special". It can't solely be the purity of sound and vision - because I'd already scooped that up via the tragic 'half-life' of HD DVD. So I looked a little closer and found a rather revealing (oo-er) interlude that spoke to me in the opening scene to Chapter 5 (Message in a Bottle) of S. Darko. Here was a sequel to one of the all-time sci-fi classics (Donnie Darko), somehow stripped of relevance in the modern age. The leading 'lady' (a barely legal Daveigh Chase) awakes on a park bench, thereto riffing on the somnambulism of her older brother. The local cop sidles up and says: "You know, there's a pervert loose in town. Can't be, uh, dressin' like - like that. Tell you what, hop in. I'll give you a ride. It's right by the motel." Given that Ms Chase is wearing what could 'loosely' be described as pyjamas, there's a certain po-faced irony to the dialogue. Nevertheless, in 1 minute and 34 seconds, I've witnessed an epiphany. The 1.78:1 pristine encode has titillated, tickled my fancy; taken my inner voyeur for a "ride". And suddenly it dawns on me: the reason this shameless travesty of a sequel has sold me on Blu-ray is because it's eminently WATCHABLE - in a "beauty's only skin deep" kind of way. Daveigh Chase has all the emotional resonance of a China doll, but damned if she's not a living, breathing testament to the power of steadicam (altogether now... HMM). Anyway, I'd be delighted to hear how Blu-ray has been "sold" to others. What makes a Blu-ray release special? Special? When the film finishes and you go "wow"! For me that would be Avatar, Star Wars (2009), Gladiator .... Plenty of other movies are great for the content so BD is not a necessity however if you want max wham bam thank you mam then a well mastered BD is "special". Can't say I've heard of Daveigh Chase but after that build-up might have to check her out!
kulfi Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 Daveigh Chase Isn't she the creepy girl from "The Ring" ? "Samara, you don't want to hurt anyone". "But I do. And I'm sorry".
brake Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 What makes a Blu-ray release special for me? When it has something great about it I deem it a "special" release. Like great PQ, AQ or both. If it's a good movie then that's extra "special" points. One example would be the '56 John Wayne movie "The Searchers" to answer that. Stunning PQ and a great movie to boot. Another one that always springs to mind is No Country for old men.
GaryCook Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 Interesting topic..............for me there are 4 categories; 1. Good movies that I have watched, but don't need or want to see again. The Sixth Sense is one of those, once you know the plot twist there is no need to watch the movie more than twice, with the second viewing to pick up on those clues you missed the first time. 2. Good movies that I want to watch but haven't yet for any number of reasons. This includes movies that I want to watch and it's cheaper to buy them on Blu Ray than go to the movies or rent them. After watching that I may keep or onsell. 3. Good or bad movies that I don't want to watch. Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ is an example, possibly a good movie but not one I feel any need to watch 4. Good or bad movies that I have watched and want to have on BluRay. The Kill Bill's are an example, I have watched them 5 or 6 times, for the action, the sub culture and the acting. Obviously music BluRays fall into this category. #1 or #4 can be good stories or bad stories, that isn't the criteria I use to judge whether or not I want to have a copy. It's the ability to watch a movie more than once, be it for the action, the video and/or audio quality, the sountrack, the acting etc. A good story line may get me to watch a movie once but it won't be enough to get me to buy on Blu Ray to keep, Cheers Gary
X-phile Posted May 10, 2011 Author Posted May 10, 2011 (edited) Another one that always springs to mind is No Country for old men. D'oh! I saw this on SBS recently - albeit in letterbox on my old Panasonic CRT. With the Coen Brothers' upcoming release of True Grit already preordered, I'd be a fool not to plump for the "special" Blu-ray edition of No Country in the meantime. Another impulse buy lol. A great response from GaryCook and he makes a good case for why repeat viewings of Blu-ray are "special". I rather enjoyed Alien Anthology, and my mind often lingers upon crucial scenes and iconic images... now forever preserved in their digital glory. Re-reading my original post, I picked up on some keywords: "pervert", "inner voyeur" and "watchable". When I'm not immersed in otherworldly experiences brought home by Blu-ray (note: Gaspar Noé's Enter The Void arrived today), I can be found spending time "offworld" in videogames. In fact, my recent purchase of Requiem for a Dream was spurred by this quote from Edge Magazine (in its review of Test Drive Unlimited 2): How many driver selection menus are framed as pool parties that recall Requiem for a Dream's closing 20 minutes? Despite the fact there's no ostensible "pool party" to be seen in Requiem, the last 20 minutes are spent swimming in hedonism. Nevertheless, the case for cinematic experiences that can be PLAYED OUT in games is telling. And it's not for nothing I spend a good proportion of my game time playing with "girls"... Not exclusively the flesh and blood kind (although real - or reality-challenged - girls can be found swanning about PlayStation Home), but moreover the choice of playable avatar. Which again speaks to those keywords above. A preoccupation with... sex? Edge Magazine looked a little closer too, in its 'Girl Issue' of March 2003: From the voluptuous nudes of renaissance artist Titian, through Victorian peep shows and 50's pin-ups, to today's manufactured pop starlets, women - much more than men - have continually been portrayed as objects of desire. Freud identified scopophilia - gaining sexual pleasure through looking - as a key component of male sexuality. Hmm. And finally I'm beginning to understand what makes women, er Blu-rays, "special" Edited May 10, 2011 by X-phile
kulfi Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 Hmm. And finally I'm beginning to understand what makes women, er Blu-rays, "special" What were you doing in your teenage years, mate ?
brake Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 D'oh! I saw this on SBS recently - albeit in letterbox on my old Panasonic CRT. With the Coen Brothers' upcoming release of True Grit already preordered, I'd be a fool not to plump for the "special" Blu-ray edition of No Country in the meantime. Another impulse buy lol. IMO make sure you get the PCM version... I'm going to jump on the US version as soon as the price drops a bit so I can get rid of my German Steelbook edition (The US has more special features)
X-phile Posted May 10, 2011 Author Posted May 10, 2011 (edited) What were you doing in your teenage years, mate ? Hmm, let's see. As boys of Summer we were rebel yelling, mondo rocking our pseudo echoes, and Australian crawling under the milky way tonight... er, then. Is this a trick question? Edited May 11, 2011 by X-phile
ajm1503559545 Posted May 11, 2011 Posted May 11, 2011 In a word: effort. You can tell when it's been used and you can tell when it hasn't.
X-phile Posted May 11, 2011 Author Posted May 11, 2011 You can tell when it's been used and you can tell when it hasn't. Err, are we talking about Blu-rays or women? That's a very cryptic response lol.
ajm1503559545 Posted May 12, 2011 Posted May 12, 2011 Err, are we talking about Blu-rays or women? That's a very cryptic response lol. It's only cryptic if you assume everyone is following your tangent rather than your topic.
brake Posted May 12, 2011 Posted May 12, 2011 Err, are we talking about Blu-rays or women? That's a very cryptic response lol. Both and neither. You guys are talking about Blu women with Ray (guns) *pew pew* http://www.treehugger.com/avatar-navi-blue-action-image.jpg
X-phile Posted May 12, 2011 Author Posted May 12, 2011 (edited) Nice work on the treehugger there brake... now that's "special" (although I still don't have a 'fig' what ajm is on about - SWIDT ). Anyway, speaking of arthouse, while wandering amidst the Brisbane city loft of JB's this afternoon, I marvelled at the full-to-heaving rack of Blu-ray softs. Quite a departure from the days of yore, when Australia was playing catch-up to the USA. Then again, have things really changed? Because I was especially looking for an arthouse flick called Antichrist - AKA the Lars von Trier "outhouse" nasty. I mean, the reason I was looking is because I've just received my Region A copy and am actually feeling fearful; reticent to delve into one man's "tangential" (thanks ajm ) psychosis. According to the Boston Globe review, this literally takes the cake. And EVISCERATES it! It's an evil joke and devastating art; an act of audience abuse and proof of film's ability to access the most subterranean levels of experience. It's unlike any movie ever made. For that, be thankful. I mean, come on, this movie has to be "special". Why, just looking at the clear perspex packaging (the only other Blu-ray that I own that isn't in a stock blu case is Resident Evil: Afterlife), and the 'Director Approved' stamp on the cover, means *something* at least. Oh, and apparently there's a booklet inside authored by film scholar Ian Christie. At any rate, I'm going in... twice a week I have "special" viewings and this one is all set to give me nightmares. See you lot on the OTHER SIDE... if I survive! *cue the creepy music* P.S. I was checking JB's because I was curious to see if this film had received a local release. Perhaps it's lurking under the counter somewhere? Edited May 12, 2011 by X-phile
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