What Blu-Ray did you watch last night?

[Graham Ritchie]

Strange as it sounds but when I worked in the projection room many moons ago, I rarely ever watched films, I would check the screen focus and sound levels but apart from " Bean Goes On Holiday" I never watched them. Folk used to say that being in a cinema, you must watch a lot of films, the truth was there was never enough time, as there was always work to do. Make up, brake down films change the weekly adds and trailers just as an example come the night I was glad to get away.

As a result I would only see bits a films on the screen, to check for focus and anything else that might seem not quite right, that's the projectionist job.

Its only now I am retired, I can at last relax and watch the complete movies and not just bits of them. One such film was this one called "Son Of Rambow".
, now this was one British film that did very well during one of our school holidays along with a lot of other stuff. Interesting that film makers contacted the man himself "Sylvester Stallone" for permission, which he did give to the film makers. You will see during the end credits "a thanks" to the man himself.

Its a fun movie, about making there own version of a Rambo or in this case a Rambow film , armed with a sort of script and video camera.

Come to think about it, we did cover a lot of ground screening a range of different films during my 10 years there.

[Ed Gordon]

Strange as it sounds but when I worked in the projection room many moons ago, I rarely ever watched films, I would check the screen focus and sound levels but apart from " Bean Goes On Holiday" I never watched them. Folk used to say that being in a cinema, you must watch a lot of films, the truth was there was never enough time, as there was always work to do. Make up, brake down films change the weekly adds and trailers just as an example come the night I was glad to get away.

As a result I would only see bits a films on the screen, to check for focus and anything else that might seem not quite right, that's the projectionist job.

And I can assure you that I and many other members of this forum do not pity you for not getting to watch all those films. You were living the dream that film enthusiasts can only imagine.

[Graham Ritchie]

I was good Ed but at the same time you were dealing with a format that is very unforgiving if you get things wrong. One city cinema multi-plex damaged a reel of there latest bond film they were going to run. The film distributor replaced the reel for them, but at a cost of $500 NZD . Films often went on to other cinemas, so anything that was damaged, even in a small way, say picked up on inspection when you first received the print, you had to write out a film condition report and fax it to them. That's why we triple check the threading "every" time. Damage to a new print of say eg "Harry Potter" could cost the cinema not just lost revenue, as once its scratched that's it for the print, as you can't really show people who are paying good money a scratched print, but also a bill coming your way from the film company, plus as prints were limited in numbers you might not get another one.

I remember a case "not" where I worked thank goodness, of a interlock that went badly wrong. The projectionist had to lock the doors, due to the not so happy mob wanting to have a piece of him.

However its great when everything is running fine

[Graham Ritchie]

I first watched "Outland" at the cinema 40 years ago, and always liked it, a bit like "High Noon" in space. Last night being Saturday, I thought that its well worth another screening One thing that really stands out with this film, is Jerry Goldsmith outstanding score.

So from the Desert in Flight Of The Phoenix to the Water with JAWS, and a couple of Rambo/Rambow movies of late, it was really time last night to visit Jupiter's Moon. where to next?

One interesting thing I never new, until reading about "Outland" of late, was that actor John Ralzenberger, better known as Cliff in the TV series Cheers was also in it.

[Lincoln Thorn]

Love Outland! Probably load up my 16mm copy this summer for some friends to watch with me!

[Graham Ritchie]

Well I have a confession to make, I had never watched "The Thing" until lately. I came across the blu-ray of late, and thought it was just a remake, later I came across the 1982 original, then watched that. The penny "quickly" dropped that the 2011 film was "a prelude" to the 1982 film....ah! it all makes sense now

I enjoyed them both, so if you feel like a "double feature" night those two movies would be good value, just make sure you play them in the right order though.

PS...Came across the soundtrack as well .

[Lee Mannering]

Have to shower praise on the new 4k uhd disc of ROBOCOP. Superb job, detailed and great sound.

[Graham Ritchie]

I watched "Mrs Miniver" last night using the Panasonic VP, giving the Epson a rest.

After watching "Mrs Miniver" you can see why this film won 6 Academy awards back in 1942. I felt after watching it, that the content is just as relevant today in 2022 as it was back in 1942.

In one particular scene, where the family are taking refuge in there small back garden air raid shelter, the noise of the bombs dropping starts of in the distant, but slowly get louder and louder as the bombs get closer. It really does get it across as to the sheer terror of being bombed. The acting, the script etc is outstanding. The blu-ray B/W quality as with the sound is very good indeed. The running is 2hrs and 11minutes.

Its a movie I would highly recommend.

[Graham Ritchie]

Well that was interesting night, I was asked by our neighbour if I could put on a mystery movie evening for her church group of 11 to 12 year old's. I agreed to come up with something, but trying to figure out a movie that folk have "not" seen is very hard these days.

Yvonne came up with the idea of "Jo Jo Rabbit" good idea I thought, but would it be to much for that age group?, sure our grandkids had seen it and they thought it was good, but would this particular group think the same.

In the end I thought OK lets just do it, and hopefully they don't mind young Jo Jo use of the "F" word near the end. As they arrived I was told one of the boys is deaf, any chance of sub-titles, sure I will go to the menu before the movie starts and select English for the hearing Impaired. What impressed me with these sub-titles, was that they were done in such a way, that they were directly under the actor talking, eg two actors on the screen one on the left one on the right, the sub-titles were directly under each. The result was its much easier for someone to directly link the sub-titles to the person on the screen itself.

Its the first time I have used them on a blu-ray using the Epson VP, and they worked out really well. This is one area of Video projection and blu-ray is great for anyone to be able to enjoy watching a movie that has a hearing problem.

As for "Jo Jo Rabbit" it was a successful night, sometimes I do like to take people out of there comfort zone "Jo Jo Rabbit" certainly did that .

[Ed Gordon]

The only thing left is “Brothers Grimm”, which is in a shambles and they know that at Warner Brothers, and that is probably why they don't want to attack it. I am not sure I blame them.

- Dave Strohmaier, 2018

It has been a long wait, but last evening I enjoyed the exquisite restoration of The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm.

Many have heard in past years that the “Grimm” elements had suffered damage due to some sort of a flood many years ago at MGM and until now there has been an understandable hesitancy to attempt such a digital restoration due to the great expense of dealing with these 3-panel films. Utilizing new amazing software and much faster computers, it is possible to perform restoration miracles in your own home restoration/edit bay. Truth be told, and to my relief, I did not have to follow up with all of my former assumptions about the negative damage. Fortunately, we found the negatives were in somewhat better condition than a 1994 inspection report seemed to indicate, however still problematic with the many damaged and worn areas. Digital restoration can allow a lot of flexibility that photo chemical or earlier digital work could never accomplish.

We can now report that we have repaired all the damaged areas in “Grimm,” including compositing and aligning the 3 panels which now look quite stunning. For those who are very familiar with the 35mm CinemaScope version that has appeared on Turner Classic Movies, this restoration will appear like a completely different film as if it was shot yesterday.

We also obtained some IB Technicolor frame clip samples from the Bradford UK print and we feel we can give the final film something very close to the Technicolor look that audiences originally saw back in 1962.

Having done all the former Cinerama 1950s travelogues and dealing with their many grain problems, “Grimm” seems to have an almost grainless look to it now, other than some of the vintage 1961 opticals. Correcting some of the damage required several digital passes, that’s why our original composite assembly master (2K on each panel -aligned and joined together) was therefore in 6K so we could suffer multiple digital passes, however the actual restoration work is being done in 4K for speed and rendering efficiency. As with Warner Bros. "How The West Was Won" digital remastering back in 2008, the legendary Cinerama join lines are practically invisible with “Grimm” as well.

- Dave Strohmaier, 2021

Comparison "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" CinemaScope to restored Cinerama

Letterbox "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" trailer in Cinerama

Smileboxed "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" trailer in Cinerama

A full review of the Bluray is available at: https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-W...lu-ray/134981/

This release includes includes:

Rescuing a Fantasy Classic (40:19) - This restoration featurette, helmed by award-winning documentary director Harrison Engle, goes into detail about the advanced tools and techniques used to bring The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm back to life. There's a lot of ground covered, from the original Cinerama road show presentation to a "print-down" created by MGM for non-Cinerama theaters with a much grainier image, muddier colors, and even cropping on the left and right sides, and other rescued Cinerama titles such as those released by Flickeer Alley. From there it goes into a detailed (but accessible) breakdown of the actual 4K restoration, a lengthy process that erased decades of wear and tear including mold, dirt, and warping. We also see techniques used to seamlessly join all three separate image panels, as well as how the Smilebox format is successfully achieved. Comparisons from different sources against the new 4K restoration are also provided.

Unfortunately, this extra in not available to stream.

[Mike Newell]

The Untouchables. Classic Brian De Palma Classic gangster movie with a top notch cast of two major stars and two upcoming stars and support cast. Look out for Clifton James (Sheriff from Live and Let Die ) who is not even listed in credits. Super transfer with great Ennio Morricone soundtrack very reminiscent of the Sicilian Clan. 5 super in depth documentaries covers the making of the film.

[Martin Davey]

Forbidden Planet. Still looking great.

[Graham Ritchie]

Just finished watching the 3D version of "Blade Runner 2049" on the Epson, a while back I did pick up the 2D blu-ray, but was surprised to come across this one in a second hand shop for $10 dollars. I never new until I saw it for sale, that it was ever released in 3D, so had to get it.

One thing though, its a long one to watch, around 2hrs 30minutes mark I think As far a the 3D image, in general it was very good, but some small parts it did not look just right, however I am being a bit picky. Overall I feel that Blade Runner 2049 does follow on nicely from the original film and was worth watching it on 3D.

[Mike Newell]

Angel and the Badman John Wayne Gail Russell. When reviewing my DVDs I came across this title and thought there must be better out there. Most sources for this movie come from poor negatives as it was allowed to go into public domain in 1974. The German Blu Ray is a revelation super sharp print with no crackle and most if not all negative marks removed. Extras are colourised version of the movie which demonstrates what an improvement the Blu ray is as it comes from earlier sources. There is also German documentary on John Wayne which is mainly in German apart from film clips plus a trailer reel of John Wayne and Spaghetti western movies which again have been dubbed into German. Funny to see Quiet Man that way.

Price is around £12-14 mark but you can be lucky and get it on Amazon or eBay for around £7. Movie is interesting departure for John Wayne with Quaker element in story. The 1st he produced. Gail Russell is gorgeous in the Film.

Allegedly, Wayne and Russell were having an affair during this movie. Their body language and enthusiastic kissing scenes would tend to support this theory.

Can’t blame Wayne as he was with mad Chata his second wife who was a jealous alcoholic and took pot shots at him with a gun when he returned home late one night.

Actually good western more story than action. Well worth getting.

[Graham Ritchie]

Tonight it was the blu-ray of "Baraka" projected using the Epson VP. The restored image quality from the 65mm negative is stunning to watch. I would highly recommend adding this one to your collection.