What Blu-Ray did you watch last night?

[Ed Gordon]

Ed,

I re-recorded the Universal 8 Earthquake digest using the Blu-ray audio and screened it at CineSea. We added an additional speaker for the Sensurround bass, however it was only partly successful. I hope to try again, using Midway.

Walter Matthau did that cameo gratis for the producer Jennings Lang. They had previously worked together on Pete 'n' Tillie and Charlie Varrick.

Doug, your background on Matthau explains the why he was credited with a name he made up. I had not noticed Matthau until seeing the Bluray (hard to believe that we used to have to put up with 480 resolution on a 19" TV).

The Sensurround effect on a 5.1 setup was impressive. The second Bluray release (2019) also includes the original 2.1 Sensurround audio track:

There are three options for this release: a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track (the default option; likely carried over from Universal’s previous Blu-ray release), a 2.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track (which contains and closely replicates the original Sensurround track heard during the film’s crucial earthquake sequences), and a 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio track. All three tracks showcase strong dialogue and sound effects to go with great fidelity and ambiance to John Williams’ score; of the three, the 5.1 track has the best overall quality while the 2.1 is the most faithful to the original sound mix and the most effective with the Sensurround sound effects. Either way, all three represent the best the movie has ever sounded on home video.

[Douglas Meltzer]

Ed,

I re-recorded the Universal 8 Earthquake digest using the Blu-ray audio and screened it at CineSea. We added an additional speaker for the Sensurround bass, however it was only partly successful. I hope to try again, using Midway.

Walter Matthau did that cameo gratis for the producer Jennings Lang. They had previously worked together on Pete 'n' Tillie and Charlie Varrick.

[Ed Gordon]

Earthquake! (1974) revisited.

Following the success of Airport (1970) at the box office, Universal Studios quickly looked to cash in on the trend of disaster pictures they helped usher in at the start of the decade. However, the success of Irwin Allen’s The Poseidon Adventure (1972) for 20th Century Fox forced the studio to step up their game; the result, Earthquake, offered up a Grand Hotel style cast with innovations in technological and special effects. Previously released by Universal on both DVD and Blu-ray, Shout Factory has licensed the film for their Shout Select line and given it a two disc “Collector’s Edition”.

Having previously watched Earthquake! on a DVD, this Bluray release was a pleasant surprise. The DTS 5.1 soundtrack delivers the Sensurround audio very effectively. The movie itself has gotten old enough to become a bit campy, which is a good thing. I remembered it have a few bad performances, for example, Marjoe Gortner as a perverted National Guardsman.

Coming in at the height of the disaster genre craze, Earthquake does succeed as a decent entertainment that’s overshadowed by the technical achievements. The big pluses here are the innovations in special effects and sound – Sensurround was created to replicate the immersive feeling of an actual earthquake – that give the impression of an actual disaster happening; they deservedly earned the film’s 2 Oscar wins for Sound and a Special Achievement Award for the visual effects.

Source: https://www.hometheaterforum.com/ear...lu-ray-review/

I enjoyed Walter Mathau's performance as a drunk who manages to survive the earthquake, only to fall off his bar stool when it is over. I looked for his name in the end credits and found the name Walter Matuschanskayasky instead. Apparently Walter would often make up names to give interviewers.

[Graham Ritchie]

Double feature tonight using the Panasonic VP and its a good one, first of was "The Thing" from 2011, that's the prelude to John Carpenters 1982 film, then after a short break it was onto the 1982 film. The ending of the prelude does flow nicely, to what you see at the start of the 1982 film. Both picture and sound of both blu-ray are very good

It really makes for a nice double feature night .

[Ken Finch]

Not last night but last friday it was wife’s WI charity film show “ I Wanna Dance With Somebody” the bio pic of Whitney Houston on dvd, then Gladiator which I watched on the tv in the lounge. This was the 2 disc special edition dvd. Watched this prior to visiting the local cinema next day to see Gladiator 2. Used the lounge to try out a new Sony dvd player from Argos which upscales to blu ray definition. The existing player having developed problems with the disc tray refusing to open. The new player was £40. To think the first one I ever bought, a Wharfdale was far more. I still use it regularly in my cinema set up.

[Graham Ritchie]

Hi Ken

The new one is out on DVD and blu-ray. I bought the blu-ray a while back but have not got around to watching it yet. We ran the Johnny Depp version on 35mm at the cinema, although its good as well, I still think the original 1971 with Gene Wilder is the best.

Last night being Saturday night, it was a long one with "Lawrence Of Arabia" blu-ray using the Panasonic VP. Both picture and sound are excellent, you certainly have to be in the right frame of mind to sit through almost 4 hours of it, last night I was

[Ken Finch]

Screened this version a number of times for various grandchildren staying with us for sleep overs. Also the Johnny Depp version. Also took two of them to the cinema to see the recent prequel. Not sure if it is out on dvd or Blu-ray.

[Graham Ritchie]

Last night the store I was visiting was having a sale and highly recommend it

[Graham Ritchie]

Guess what I was watching on blu-ray last night?.

Oh! for the fan of this movie and lots of money you can buy this from Imprint, sadly its way out of my price range, but be in quick folks if you want one as its a limited run.

[Graham Ritchie]

Tonight, another screening of the 1977 film "Islands In The Stream" released onto blu-ray by Imprint, its one of those film I like to watch every so often, tonight being one. George C Scott was brilliant. My understanding it was filmed in 1976 and released in 1977. The transfer to blu-ray is very good indeed, I will include a couple of previous screen shots to show the picture quality. I used the Epson VP tonight.

[Steve Klare]

Last night I watched The Dying of the Light, a 2015 documentary by Peter Flynn about the end of film projection in commercial cinemas. This is a look at the lives of the men and women in the booth historically and especially in those years 2010 and later when digital projection was really displacing film.

It shows the projectionist at a Drive-In theater dismantling the 35mm machines after their end of season: he brought them home to save them from the scrap heap. He says he needs to find another job, but there s nothing else he feels as passionate about (In the epilogue, it says he retired.) In another sequence, the ticket booth attendant/snack bar worker/usher/janitor/plumber-electrician/projectionist/manager of a small town theater in Michigan is talking about the dilemma he was facing given the end of 35mm prints plus the high cost of digital conversion. He wasn't sure what could be done to save the theater (-it closed down soon afterwards.).

There is a generous amount of loading film onto platters and threading up, plus some demonstrations of two-machine changeovers. There are also sequences of equipment collectors climbing up into long abandoned booths trying to salvage what they can.

There is also a lot of in-person discussion of what the lives of a cinema projectionist were like and how they were quickly changing. This reminded me of another film I have: Black Five, about the end of steam on British railways. In both cases people in the film discuss how new technology is easing (-while also maybe even eliminating) their jobs and yet how they will miss the satisfaction of working with the old technology and the pride they got from producing the best results by virtue of their own skill and ingenuity. (It's not the same when everything is automatically done.)

Forum members Mitch Dvoskin and Joe Vanicola both appear in the film. (Joe also appears at CineSea!)

Peter Flynn has another film that is currently making the rounds of independent cinemas and recently showed on Turner Classic Movies. Film is Dead, Long Live Film! is about people like you and me: film collectors, and what their lives are like and the benefit they provide in preserving film and the practices and culture of film based cinema. Many people that I consider to be friends are in this one because Peter and his camera have been attending CineSea since well back into the Ocean Holiday era. One of the areas where it really shines is by interviewing family members of film collectors: their comments and expressions are priceless! (-and often vaguely...familiar!)

We saw a late edition of Film is Dead... at CineSea 25 and really enjoyed it.

[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.