The film thread.

[davidf]

Hot Fuzz on 4k - love it. Quintessentially British humour. Shaun of the Dead is every bit as good, though I've only seen The World's End once and wasn't that taken.

Edgar Wright is one of the UK‘s best, upcoming directors in my opinion. I knew he’d come good as soon as I saw his sitcom Spaced. The World’s End will come to you. It ain’t as good as the other two, but it’s still a really good film. Nice take on the Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. Wright’s films are usually filled with pop culture references, and he does a number of clever things, and there are a number of common themes throughout his films. The opening Hot Fuzz, where Nick is travelling to Sandford, the taxi ride into the village passes all the main scenes of what happens later in the film. In TWE, Gary is telling the story of the Golden Mile at the beginning, which is basically a complete commentary on exactly what happens later in the film. Almost every line uttered is a reference to something that happens later, or is repeated later. TWE made me want to sit down with the script and wrote next to every line what it is referring to later in the film - it’d take weeks! It’s quite deep when you start linking the dialogue. Even the names of the pubs are a reference to the incidents they meet on the Golden Mile - example - at the Two Headed Dog, Nick fights with the fenail twins. Once all the references are identified, it’s almost mindblowing! It’s extremely clever, but can come across as quite average if very little can be identified.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

That feels too much like hard work to me!

Alien3 on blu ray. Some dodgy CGI, but I really rate it. It was hated at release, largely because of the immediate expunging of Hicks and Newt, I think. Much more in keeping with the first film than Aliens, though still probably the least strong of the three. Definitely the point at which the saga should have finished, though.

 

[davidf]

Alien3 on blu ray. Some dodgy CGI, but I really rate it. It was hated at release, largely because of the immediate expunging of Hicks and Newt, I think. Much more in keeping with the first film than Aliens, though still probably the least strong of the three. Definitely the point at which the saga should have finished, though.

David Fincher’s first credit directing a feature film. He went on to make Se7en, The Game, and Fight Club during the rest of that decade, so Fincher’s credentials aren’t in question, but full control of the film was taken from him at some point during filming - we can only guess what we would have got if he had been allowed to make the film he wanted to make.

I’ve grown to quite like it as it’s something a bit different to the first two, and I certainly like it more than the fourth film, which I no longer watch.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

we can only guess what we would have got if he had been allowed to make the film he wanted to make.

I rate much of Fincher's work very highly. There is a second version of the film, supposedly close to his vision, and it's a bit of a mess - uncharacteristically the studio approach did seem to work this time. Fincher famously hates all versions of it with a passion.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

28 Days Later on blu ray. Scarcely an improvement over DVD, but a great film nonetheless.

Thinking of the likes of the two Trainspotting films, Shallow Grave etc, few directors use music as well as Danny Boyle - Tarantino does, but not with as much variety.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Poltergeist on 4k - still enjoyable after all these years. Picture quality is pretty good, though it seems like in older films, panoramic shots don't have the clarity you'd expect of a more modern film. There's the odd duff scene in terms of quality, but it's pretty good.

When I first read about HDR I thought it was another new thing to make people feel the need to shell out for a new set, but in older films it adds every bit as much as the higher resolution. The flickering TV is unnerving, and there's the odd detail that just shines through as something you haven't seen before - such as the lamp shade above the table when the family and investigators are sitting and talking in the semi-darkness.

 

[davidf]

Poltergeist on 4k - still enjoyable after all these years. Picture quality is pretty good, though it seems like in older films, panoramic shots don't have the clarity you'd expect of a more modern film. There's the odd duff scene in terms of quality, but it's pretty good.

When I first read about HDR I thought it was another new thing to make people feel the need to shell out for a new set, but in older films it adds every bit as much as the higher resolution. The flickering TV is unnerving, and there's the odd detail that just shines through as something you haven't seen before - such as the lamp shade above the table when the family and investigators are sitting and talking in the semi-darkness.

Poltergeist looks great in 4K. Nowadays we’re used to pristine looking films with no grain due to digital capture, is great - makes you feel good about the TV you bought! And they seem to come across well on streaming platforms. Movies captured on film relied on skill (much like using an old SLR film camera rather than a digital camera) to set the camera settings correct, and this is usually the reason for the odd scene to look a bit rough or overly grainy. I always remember the library scene in Ghostbuster (1 or 2?), where the camera moved slowly down the isle, with the fluorescent lights above every 10 feet or so. The picture looked great underneath the light, but when the camera moved into the darker areas between the lights, the picture went grainy. Certain lenses on film cameras produced different looks, and you’d find that certain parts of the picture weren’t in focus. This is evident on Close Encounters.

After watching so many films over the last few years, I prefer to watch films captured on film rather than digital. It’s almost like the digital vs vinyl debate - digital capture looks flawless, whereas film almost creates a character that’s part of the film itself. You’ll see some film directors like Tarantino still use film rather than digital.

I originally moved to Bluray for the picture quality, but I ended up being more impressed with the sound quality improvement. I also moved to 4K for the picture quality, but it was HDR/Dolby Vision I’ve been more impressed with. When someone is shining a torch around in the dark and it catches direct line of the camera, it makes you blink or close your eyes. One of the first few HDR films I watched was Bad Times At The El Royale. The scene where Billy Lee walks up to ‘Boots’ on the beach, you can’t see his face as the sun is directly behind him - as soon as that happened, I did exactly what the girl did, and put my hand up to block the sun to see who it was!

That and Atmos/DTS:X - these sound formats sound better than Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

this is usually the reason for the odd scene to look a bit rough or overly grainy

It was interesting that when Dr Lesh is talking to Diane, there are three cuts of her - two look great, the middle one looks less so. Maybe the film stock was degraded, or that bit was shot at a different time.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

I also moved to 4K for the picture quality, but it was HDR/Dolby Vision I’ve been more impressed with.

Have you seen An American Werewolf in London on 4k yet? Perfect example of the above.

 

[davidf]

Have you seen An American Werewolf in London on 4k yet? Perfect example of the above.

Oh yes, I’ve picked up quite a few horrors in 4K. Just order the Scream Factory release of The Fog as it’s a higher bit rate than the Studio Canal collector’s edition from a few years ago, and also contains the original mono soundtrack. Just about to order the Evil Dead reboot/remake in 4K too.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Alien vs Predator last night - perfect post-pub, brain off guilty pleasure. It's rubbish, but I enjoy it.

 

[davidf]

Alien vs Predator last night - perfect post-pub, brain off guilty pleasure. It's rubbish, but I enjoy it.

Better than the one that followed it!

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

The Company of Wolves - saw it at the cinema when it came out and still really enjoy it. I've heard it derided as not being a proper horror film, which is fair criticism, but I think it brings more to the party than that.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Paper Mask - Paul McGann faking it as a doctor, with decent performances from Tom Wilkinson and Amanda Donohoe. Quite obscure, it seems.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

The Dead Zone - we're away this week so I tend to take a few things we only have on DVD - no point in watching higher-quality stuff on an inferior setup!

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

No Surrender - a typically bleak black comedy from the 80s. Some great performances though.

 

[Alantiggger]

That feels too much like hard work to me!

Alien3 on blu ray. Some dodgy CGI, but I really rate it. It was hated at release, largely because of the immediate expunging of Hicks and Newt, I think. Much more in keeping with the first film than Aliens, though still probably the least strong of the three. Definitely the point at which the saga should have finished, though.

For me ALIEN 3 was raw and near to the bone, as if one Could imagine it actually happen, a Smashing movie imo.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Shrek on 4k - great fun. My favourite animated film I think, with Toy Story 2 and Up hard on its heels. Definitely a worthwhile step up from blu ray, though I doubt I'll be bothering with any of the sequels - Shek 2 is passable, but the returns were diminishing already.

Still, Pulp Fiction has a UK 4k release date for December - that'll be on my Christmas list.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Insignificance on blu ray - a fictional account of a night featuring interactions between Marilyn Monroe, Albert Einstein, Joseph McCarthy and Joe DiMaggio.

Perhaps more interesting than well-executed, though that might be harsh. Great in parts, but feels a bit ponderous in the second half.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Videodrome - still weird after all these years!

 

[davidf]

Videodrome - still weird after all these years!

It is, and quite prophetic in many ways too. Like the bit where he says that we will all live on the TV screen, and I can’t remember exactly the wording he used, but we would give ourselves special names to go by, not use our real names - pre-Internet…

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Denial on blu ray - a dramatisation of Holocaust denier David Irving's suing Penguin books and Deborah Lipstadt. It sounds dry and dull, but it's anything but. Having read Lipstadt's book that prompted the case (as well as her account of the trial itself), I'm really glad it was made. And made pretty well - Rachel Weisz as Lipstadt, Timothy Spall as Irving and Tom Wilkinson on great form as Richard Rampton, the defence barrister.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Red Dragon - vastly superior remake of Manhunter. Not up to SOTL standards, but pretty good nonetheless.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Heist - David Mamet's film, the title of which says it all. Great performances from Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, Delroy Lindo and Sam Rockwell, good dialogue and enough twists to keep the interest.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Skyfall on 4k - is there a better Bond film? Hmm...