What Blu-Ray did you watch last night?

[Graham Ritchie]

Watched "Went The Day Well" again a couple of nights ago, in some ways its theme of Germans taking over an English village is similar to "The Eagle Has Landed", however "Went The Day Well" was in made in 1942 and is certainly more violent. Its a blu-ray that is well worth looking out for, here are a couple of past screen shots.

Tonight being Saturday it is was back again to watching a movie with English Sub-titles, this DVD I picked up called "Central Station" I had never seen this movie before but after watching it I am not surprised it received a number of awards back in 1998. I would certainly recommend watching "Central Station" its outstanding in every way.

Both projected using the Panasonic VP.

[Graham Ritchie]

Double feature tonight.

Last week on my rounds I came across "Ma Vie En Rose" in a second hand pile of DVDs, thinking mmmm what is this about? anyway after reading the reviews I thought I will give this one a go. It turned out to good movie and very well made, so if you don't mind English sub-titles, do give it a go. I notice it has a "R" rating overseas, but on the DVD its not "R" rated, stating only BBFC suitable for persons 12 years and over. In truth I really didn't see anything wrong with this film that would restrict it.

So after a short break it was back to another blu-ray screening of "Jurassic Park 3" I remember running the 35mm print at the cinema long ago and thought then and still do its a enjoyable full on action adventure

Both movies picture quality and sound are excellent using the Panasonic VP


Plus a couple of screen shots of JP 3 taken tonight



Trailer for "Ma Vie En Rose"

[Graham Ritchie]

Thanks Ed that's great, I notice its region "A" I will check out if there is a region "B" and review of a release

[Ed Gordon]

Tonight being Saturday it was time to sit back with the blu-ray and the Panasonic VP with a a 60s winner of six Academy Awards from 1968 and that is "Oliver." They really made some brilliant musicals back then and this was certainly one of them, what a great way to spend a Saturday night. I hope this release although it does look good, is one title that gets that 4K transfer in the future, it certainly deserves it...

Graham, your wish has been granted:




The review at https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Olive...lu-ray/293230/ is very good, but the review says the disc he reviewed had problems:

...I experienced severe pixilation and an audio dropout at the 25:41 mark. Chapter skipping resolved the issue but rewinding and replaying the scene did not. There was no evidence of dirt or grime on the disc. Cleaning the disc did not resolve the issue; as it is, my copy of the movie is unplayable without manual manipulation to skip through the trouble area.

However the review of the UHD was very good.

[Mike Newell]

Tonight being Saturday it was time to sit back with the blu-ray and the Panasonic VP with a a 60s winner of six Academy Awards from 1968 and that is "Oliver." They really made some brilliant musicals back then and this was certainly one of them, what a great way to spend a Saturday night. I hope this release although it does look good, is one title that gets that 4K transfer in the future, it certainly deserves it

However I must add, I do have the Super 8 Scope trailer shown below

Nice trailers. Wonder how many films and tv shows Patrick Allen narrated in his lifetime? Such a distinct voice.

[Graham Ritchie]

Tonight being Saturday it was time to sit back with the blu-ray and the Panasonic VP with a a 60s winner of six Academy Awards from 1968 and that is "Oliver." They really made some brilliant musicals back then and this was certainly one of them, what a great way to spend a Saturday night. I hope this release although it does look good, is one title that gets that 4K transfer in the future, it certainly deserves it

However I must add, I do have the Super 8 Scope trailer shown below

[Graham Ritchie]

Brilliant....

[Graham Ritchie]

Tonight it was back to projecting 35m film , but last night and the night before it was these two from the 80s

a couple of quick screen shots

Long before Spielberg did A.I there was D.A.R.Y.L a good 80s movie.


"Outland" well basically its "High Noon" is space brilliant soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith. I can't imagine this film without it. We watched it at the cinema way back in 82 and still like to watch it every so often.

[Graham Ritchie]

Last night and after its delivery from Amazon a couple of weeks ago, I got around to screening from the "Criterion Collection" the blu-ray release of "The Kid", for a film that was made 100 years ago, they have done a amazing 4K transfer of this classic. The picture quality is really something with so much more image detail than the previous DVD release. This is a must have for any film collector, I also watched some the extras than came with it afterwards. Criterion have excelled themselves with this blu-ray. I still can't figure how they can obtain such quality from a 100 year old film.

Now to add just one thing, my previous DVD from Image of this title has a longer running time so a small part has been left out. In saying that,the slightly shorter version I feel is much better, this is the shorter one Charlie Chaplin wanted to release sometime around the 1970s. The "Image Entertainment" DVD below, is the only release you will find being the full length.

To follow on from Jackie Coogan huge success in "The Kid" Image has also released "Oliver Twist", this is another DVD I bough new from the US many moons ago and is also worth looking out for.

Back to Criterion blu-ray of ""The Kid" get it while you can, you wont regret it.


The Image DVD



And lastly this one

[Ed Gordon]

I had seen this one a few years ago, and enjoyed it. Yesterday I watched the 3D Bluray version.



The use of 3D in Dredd avoided the gimmick of hurling stuff into your face, but instead used it to give the sense of depth. The screen became a window you see the action through. If you can only find a 2D version, you will still enjoy it. No time is wasted on credits; the action starts immediately and the fast pace continues (much like the Bourne movies) for 90 minutes.

[Graham Ritchie]

This is a film I am always a bit reluctant to watch its a tough one. "Out Of The Blue" 2006 is a new Zealand film, based on actual events here in the South Island town of "Aramoana" on the 13th November 1990. David Gray shot dead thirteen including a policeman and young children with a high powered automatic weapon before being later killed by a arm defenders squad sent down from Christchurch. Its not just a story of a man and a gun, its also a story of a person with mental illness, losing his mind, and as such control. I first watched it at the cinema when it came out, it was draining to watch, afterwards after that screening I thought what I had just watched could happen again. The film is very well made and careful with the subject matter keeping it in check.

Its been out for a few years now on DVD and is a New Zealand film I feel worth watching.

[Ed Gordon]

... If you get a chance to see it I would certainly recommend it. Shot in Black and White the acting, story is all first class.

I recently watched Morituri also. I agree with your assessment!

[Graham Ritchie]

Although I don't have "Morituri" 1965 on blu-ray I did watch the DVD projected with the Panasonic. I had never heard of this film before but its really good, so thought I would mention it here. If you get a chance to see it I would certainly recommend it. Shot in Black and White the acting, story is all first class.

[Osi Osgood]

The color is brilliant there, Graham. Though there is a strong love for the original 1977 version of Star Wars in my heart, ( and I don't like the changes ), the one sad thing about the 77 version, is the colors look "70's tired", that is, it looks old, where "Empire" and "Jedi" don't look aged in comparison, but the remastered blu-ray of Star Wars has a fresher, more vibrant look to the color that doesn't make it look as dated, as your screenshots show

[Graham Ritchie]

Sometimes you just feel like another blu-ray viewing using the Panasonic VP with its new lamp has been great