Last Movie You Watched

[drogulus]

     I watched Resolution, a film about 2 characters who come to believe they are being watched by a malevolent force that wants them to inhabit a horror film.

     If you've seen The Endless, you know about Cabin Guy and the friend who comes to rescue him from drug addiction. Resolution was made 5 years earlier.

[SonicMan46]

Well, a couple more 4K UHD purchases:

Green Book w/ Viggo Mortensen & Mahershala Ali - seen on the big screen when released but never purchased until now in excellent 4K UHD production (review HERE); winner of 3 Oscars including Best Picture & Supporting Actor for Viggo - highly recommended.

Spartacus (1960) w/ Kirk Douglas, Jean Simmons, and MANY OTHERS!  Outstanding 4K upgrade (review HERE) - watching over two nights.  Dave

 

[drogulus]

     I strongly recommend the 4K restoration of The War Of The Worlds (1953) by Criterion.

On that same note, it's important to consider previous War of the Worlds discs came from Eastman color prints, changing the saturation and revealing wires where they didn't show before. Now, Paramount/Criterion draws from a true three-strip Technicolor print, and it's marvelous. Reference grade, even. Dazzling hues give War of the Worlds a natural yet intense glow. Every primary sees renewed life, splendid and rich without fault. Eerie reds and the gorgeous copper/gold metals never looked so beautiful at home.

     I approve this message. The film looks spectacular.

[Karl Henning]

     I strongly recommend the 4K restoration of The War Of The Worlds (1953) by Criterion.

On that same note, it's important to consider previous War of the Worlds discs came from Eastman color prints, changing the saturation and revealing wires where they didn't show before. Now, Paramount/Criterion draws from a true three-strip Technicolor print, and it's marvelous. Reference grade, even. Dazzling hues give War of the Worlds a natural yet intense glow. Every primary sees renewed life, splendid and rich without fault. Eerie reds and the gorgeous copper/gold metals never looked so beautiful at home.

     I approve this message. The film looks spectacular.

Zowie!

[SonicMan46]

     I strongly recommend the 4K restoration of The War Of The Worlds (1953) by Criterion.

On that same note, it's important to consider previous War of the Worlds discs came from Eastman color prints, changing the saturation and revealing wires where they didn't show before. Now, Paramount/Criterion draws from a true three-strip Technicolor print, and it's marvelous. Reference grade, even. Dazzling hues give War of the Worlds a natural yet intense glow. Every primary sees renewed life, splendid and rich without fault. Eerie reds and the gorgeous copper/gold metals never looked so beautiful at home.

     I approve this message. The film looks spectacular.

Well, last July, I bought the Criterion BD of the 1953 film which was sourced from a 4K restoration - same one as you mentioned above?  I've not tried to view the BD on the new 4K BD player/4K HDTV but would be curious about the 'upscaled' appearance?  The new BD look excellent on my old HDTV.  At the moment, I cannot find a 4K version on Amazon or the Criterion website, but may have missed it?  Dave

[71 dB]

I liked Split but avoid the sequel.  If you want to go back in time for your horror movies I suggest checking out all of Cronenberg's films from that era.  I rewatched them a year or two ago and they are each unique,  insightful and not cliche and not filled with jump scares (like the other movie you mentioned).

Also cult classic to find if you can (it has been frequently banned): Possession (1981) which is very Lovecraftian.

For modern horror movies that won't disappoint, I highly recommend The Wailing (2016) and Memories of Murder (2003).

Interesting, Glass is sequel to two movies! 

I have Cronenberg's Shivers, Fly and early work on Blu-ray. It's about getting Blu-rays at affordable prices.
Thanks for the recommendations.

[drogulus]

Well, last July, I bought the Criterion BD of the 1953 film which was sourced from a 4K restoration - same one as you mentioned above?  I've not tried to view the BD on the new 4K BD player/4K HDTV but would be curious about the 'upscaled' appearance?  The new BD look excellent on my old HDTV.  At the moment, I cannot find a 4K version on Amazon or the Criterion website, but may have missed it?  Dave

     It's a 4K restoration on a 1080p BD. Criterion hasn't released any UHD discs. So what you have is the one I'm talking about.

     There is a 4K HDR version of the film out there. The Criterion is superior.

     

     I snapped this from the Criterion edition.

[SonicMan46]

     It's a 4K restoration on a 1080p BD. Criterion hasn't released any UHD discs. So what you have is the one I'm talking about.

     There is a 4K HDR version of the film out there. The Criterion is superior.

GREAT!  Thought that I was up to date -    I've been waiting a LONG time to upgrade from my old DVD - this Criterion production is just SO much better - Dave

[SimonNZ]

After what struck me in the first third as a colour-by-numbers standard Hollywood approach to Holocaust storytelling I was much more impressed when out on his own then unfolding of history is viewed only as one can see it from a single window, and in the way the lead is not portrayed as heroic or even cunning but rather a survivor by luck and chance.

I was unconvinced by the "Good German" character, though. If the lead hadn't been able to play Chopin to prove he was a pianist would the officer still have still seen a fellow human and taken pity on him or would he have shot him on the spot?

[drogulus]

I was unconvinced by the "Good German" character, though. If the lead hadn't been able to play Chopin to prove he was a pianist would the officer still have still seen a fellow human and taken pity on him or would he have shot him on the spot?

     I was convinced by the character. It didn't occur to me that the viewer was supposed to be convinced of his goodness.

[SimonNZ]

Hadn't seen this in a couple of decades and its even more powerful and brilliant than I remembered. And not at all dated.

[Todd]

The Dig.  The Sutton Hoo excavation gets the Netflix treatment.  Carey Mulligan dons her poshest accent and Ralph Fiennes digs deep (ahem) for his most regional, working class accent in this retelling of the unearthing of Anglo-Saxon loot.  (Wait a few centuries, and things switch from grave-robbing to important sciency stuff, and no matter what you call it, the dead don't care.)  The principals have skill so of course they do their thing well, but the movie as a whole is sub-par.  Director Simon Stone and cinematographer Mike Eley try way too hard to put some beautiful compositions on screen, and don't succeed as much as they should.  For instance, one cutaway scene, with the two main characters lying down, ready to sleep, in the same position is particularly annoying and ham-fisted.  The duo often hold a shot for a while - but not quite long enough.  It kind of wrecks the mood.  That written, there is one truly magnificent shot of Fiennes sitting on the bank of a stream as a ship, very much like the one he has unearthed, sails by.  The movie also suffers from pointless sub-plots, presumably inherited from the source novel.  But the killer is the music.  Stefan Gregory's compositions are of the most treacly, heavy-handed, gloppy type, taking an obvious visual scene and then underscoring it to the point where everyone involved in making the film fairly shouts at the hapless viewer "see how poignant this moment is!"  It doesn't stop.  Ugh. 

[aligreto]

Gran Torino





This was my first time to see this film. Eastwood is old and rickety but I really liked his deep, angry snarl of disapproval throughout the film.

[milk]

Well, this was an odd duck of a movie. I give it 4 bags of popcorn and two powdery wigs. Have you seen this? OK, obviously it's from a book. That's obvious while watching it even if you haven't read it - and I haven't. So I can't care about however it falls short but it does kind of feel like it's falling short of something. At the same time, it has really intriguing elements and Swinton is awesome. It's a movie that feels like a dream in that the stuff that's happening is fantastical while, at the same time, the attention to detail is stunning. I guess dreams can be like that.

[Iota]

I may possibly be the only member here who hadn't seen this before, but late certainly proving preferable to never for me on this occasion.
I found the thirteen-year-old Christian Bale extraordinarily impressive in the central role, conveying the power and ambiguity of his feelings with riveting natural mastery. And simultaneously matching the charisma powerhouse that is John Malkovich inch for inch in that department, whenever he appeared, no mean achievement at any age!
Certainly not a brutal expose of war in the Dunkirk or 1917 mode, but nonetheless conveying the epic mess human beings are only ever a few feet from with conviction, and one I certainly found moving at times.

[drogulus]

     There's a definite improvement going from the HD version of Heat to the UHD HDR version. It's a subtle difference though, with richer colors and brighter highlights. I've come to the conclusion that for many films, maybe most of them, it's the HDR and not the higher resolution that's responsible for the improvement over standard HD.

     I'm thinking of running a test to see if I can spot a meaningful difference between a UHD HDR file and a 1080p HDR reencode.

     Revise and extend: Michael Mann supervised a 4k restoration of Heat in 2017, and it was released as a 1080p SDR version that year. Mann made some color changes to make the film look more contemporary. Upon further viewing the 4k HDR is a significant improvement over any SDR version.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

The first one of the Department Q trilogy:  "The Keeper of Lost Causes".  Sat on the edge of my seat but enjoyed doing it. 

PD

[Wanderer]

I watched less cinema than I'd like in February, but there's always March.

Worthwhile and recommended films:

13 Assassins (Takashi Miike, 2010)
The Wild Goose Lake (Yinan Diao, 2019)
Burning (Lee Chang-dong, 2018)
A Touch of Sin (Jia Zhangke, 2013)
Ash Is Purest White (Jia Zhangke, 2018)
Black Coal, Thin Ice (Yinan Diao, 2014)

[Karl Henning]

Hadn't seen this in a couple of decades and its even more powerful and brilliant than I remembered. And not at all dated.

I need to watch that.

[Karl Henning]

I watched less cinema than I'd like in February, but there's always March.

Worthwhile and recommended films:

13 Assassins (Takashi Miike, 2010)
The Wild Goose Lake (Yinan Diao, 2019)
Burning (Lee Chang-dong, 2018)
A Touch of Sin (Jia Zhangke, 2013)
Ash Is Purest White (Jia Zhangke, 2018)
Black Coal, Thin Ice (Yinan Diao, 2014)

I should watch 13 Assassins again.