What Blu-Ray did you watch last night?

[Melvin England]

Last night I treated myself to watching a Blu Ray of a film I have not seen for around 50 years or so.....

The Jungle Book

I had bought it from a charity shop a few days ago as a "3 for a fiver" deal together with The Lion King and Beauty and The Beast.... all blu ray so watch this space when I finally get around to viewing them.

Also, I watched a dvd I bought at another charity shop recently that I don't see available very often. It was "The Flight of The Phoenix." I have only seen the 200' super 8 version (still on the search for the 400') so was looking forward to seeing Richard Attenborough and company in full flight, so to speak, as per the box cover.
Put the dvd in the player and what did I get ? A 2005 ish revamp starring Hugh Laurie of all people. It wasn't bad but a let down when I expected the 1965 version. Such is life!

[Mike Newell]

20 Million Miles to Earth and It came from Beneath the sea. Two early Harryhausen movies. Great movies and miraculous that one man created the Creatures.

[Edward Nicielnik]

The Railway Children Return Jenny Agutter Tom Countenay Dr Zhviago Excellent on Ten Feet Screen

[Graham Ritchie]

Well tonight it was again "Is Anybody There" lot of truth in this film of what happens when we all get old, some being forced into an old folks home.

[Mike Newell]

Earth Vs Flying Saucers neat early Ray Harryhausen movie. Colorised version is pretty good.

[Ed Gordon]

Well folks if you only like feel good movies with a happy ending, then don't watch this one. In saying that its an impressive film based on Cormac McCarthy's novel, however the rating of Restricted R16 is for a good reason. The cast are really superb, Robert Duvall under heaps of make up, he certainly has been around as an actor for a long time. Guy Pearce, Viggo Mortensen, and newcomer Australian Kodi Smit McPhee. "The Road" is a film that does make you think what might happen, if the world you new was changed drastically eg the lack of, or no food, the total collapse of society as we know it.

It certainly makes you think, Director John Hillcoat has certainly captured the feel of the what if. "The Road" is not for everyone so be warned, for me I think its a well made film, with a top notch cast and story and well worth watching.

I always enjoyed the work of Viggo Mortensen since I saw him in A History of Violence (2005). Your comment, "if you only like feel good movies with a happy ending, then don't watch this one" about The Road is discouraging.

History of Violence is pretty intense but at least ends well. Here is a quote from IMDB:

Leading a happy and quiet life with his lawyer wife and their two children in the small town of Millbrook, Indiana, mild-mannered Tom Stall cherishes his simple, uneventful existence. However, their idyllic lifestyle is shattered when, one night, Tom saves his customers and friends in self-defence, foiling a vicious attempted robbery in his diner by two violent wanted criminals. Now, heralded as a local hero, Tom's life is changed overnight, attracting unwanted attention, and a national media feeding frenzy. Uncomfortable with his newfound celebrity, Tom tries to return to normalcy, only to find himself confronted by a mysterious man who arrives in town believing Tom is the man who wronged him in the past.

Here is a scene early in the film when Viggo's character has to break out of his assumed non-violent character, and confront the criminals:

[Graham Ritchie]

I thought Rogue One was good, looks great in 3D blu-ray version, last night "Deepwater Horizon" on the VP, they don't hold back at those who made the bad decision making that led up to this disaster.

[Mike Newell]

Rogue One the Star Wars prequel. I had low expectations but for £2.40 and to see the Peter Cushing cgi I bought this movie. It was not bad. Better than expected and not the usual Luca babble crap. Old squinty eye Forrest Whitaker is the main element. He has moved on from seeing him first in The Crying Game.

[Graham Ritchie]

Well folks if you only like feel good movies with a happy ending, then don't watch this one. In saying that its an impressive film based on Cormac McCarthy's novel, however the rating of Restricted R16 is for a good reason. The cast are really superb, Robert Duvall under heaps of make up, he certainly has been around as an actor for a long time. Guy Pearce, Viggo Mortensen, and newcomer Australian Kodi Smit McPhee. "The Road" is a film that does make you think what might happen, if the world you new was changed drastically eg the lack of, or no food, the total collapse of society as we know it.

It certainly makes you think, Director John Hillcoat has certainly captured the feel of the what if. "The Road" is not for everyone so be warned, for me I think its a well made film, with a top notch cast and story and well worth watching.

[Brian Fretwell]

I believe, from what was said on the extras of El Mariache that blowing up to 35mm from 16mm in those days gave a huge loss in colour and defitinition, the director gave a comparison between the telecine of the negatives (that he worked with for the edit) to the release print. I iamgine that 4K (or even 8K) scans of the OCNs would give a massive improvement to even 16mm prints.

[Osi Osgood]

Lee, were they able to actually improve on the original 16mm? This, from what I understand, was shot on 16mm. These days, they can make 16mm look even better than originally shot!

[Brian Fretwell]

Last night half of the 1972 Dr Who serial "The Sea Devils". A master class in restoration as the 625 line PAL video tapes of this had been junked. The version here is a combination of B&W 16mm film telerecordings (kinescopes) with the colour signal from 70's PAL to NTSC conversions which lost a lot of definition due to the crude analague converter used and noise induced by "unpicking" the merged fields produced by it. The film has been treated diigally to restore any distortions from the telerecording procedd and converted from 25 frames a second to 50 fields/sec. The sound option I played was a 5.1 remix (there was also a Dolby Atmos one but I can't play that properly).

To keep it (partly) as a serial the next 3 episodes will be for tonight.

[Lee Mannering]

We have resumed film screenings at the retirement homes after the covid nightmare
I usually show 16mm but have started varying the programme a little to keep content broad.
Sarted out doing this in the late 80s voluntarily which has been REELLY nice.
Built up some old adverts and trailers on b ray before the main event and works well. More equipment to carry but hey ho presentation is key.

The love seeing the reels turn. God bless them.

[Graham Ritchie]

Last night blu-ray was once again Logan' Run, I first saw it at the cinema when it came out and still enjoy the odd screening Last week a store in town were having a discount dvd/blu-ray all kinds of stuff sale for a few days, all new stock. I did pick Singin In The Rain blu-ray that came with a 4K disc as well, although I don't have a 4K player the quality of just the blu-ray was very good. I watched this one using the Panasonic VP a most enjoyable night.

Logan's Run.


Another blu-ray I watched last week was this classic movie which I have always liked over the years, and a blu-ray release that I was keen to get and also project.

[Paul Adsett]

Easter Parade, what else? Superb MGM musical with Astaire and Garland and supporting roles with Ann Miller and Peter Lawford. Stunning Blu Ray release with saturated color by Technicolor, pin sharp with deep blacks. A joy to watch and hear.