What Blu-Ray did you watch last night?

[Steve Klare]

There's No Business like Show Business!

1954, Ethel Merman, Marilyn Monroe, Donald O'Connor

We're kind of big on the Golden Era Hollywood musicals here, so I picked up the disk for There's No Business like Show Business and we watched it for the first time tonight.

It's a Big Movie, so we let it get a Big Movie presentation: a couple of trailers and a cartoon before we roiled the feature. (-all Super-8)

It gave me some technical angst! I was back at the audio controls and I heard popping in the speakers!
-not cool: I just replaced some cabling to avoid that exact kind of thing!

(It's OK: on-screen they were tap-dancing!)😀

[Graham Ritchie]

Tonight it was a blast from the past, I still remember going to the cinema when it first came out, the years all 45 of them has certainly passed quickly. The blu-ray image and sound are both very good with a running time of 2hrs 5 minutes, if you like being time warped back to the 70s like I did tonight, it does make for a good nights entertainment. Projected using the Epson VP. I notice the 4K version for sale at the moment. I have no idea if its better than the Standard blu-ray I watched tonight, anyone watched the 4K?

[Douglas Meltzer]

Graham,

Did you have someone come by to shake your chair to approximate that Sensurround feeling?

[Ed Gordon]

I enjoyed the original Battlestar Galactica TV Series, but it has not aged well. The 2004 - 2009 TV series was superior in many ways, albeit very dark.

[Graham Ritchie]

I agree Ed its not aged well like a few others from that era, if I remember right the 35mm feature cinema run came out before the TV series.

Interesting enough Doug the blu-ray does say English DTS-HD Master Audio 2:1 with Sensurround, in saying that the Yamaha amp only played it at DTS 5:1 and in saying that, what I heard a mono track would have been just as good . Interesting enough, we had a number of amps that were once used at that time to give that Sensurround which originated from cinemas that used them for that effect in NZ. They must have bought them second hand when Movieland opened. They were really nice high quality amps, I think each had a rating of 750 watts. I should have bought some them when the place closed, they were going for less than a couple of hundred dollars each.

[Ed Gordon]

...

Interesting enough Doug the blu-ray does say English DTS-HD Master Audio 2:1 with Sensurround, in saying that the Yamaha amp only played it at DTS 5:1 and in saying that, what I heard a mono track would have been just as good . Interesting enough, we had a number of amps that were once used at that time to give that Sensurround which originated from cinemas that used them for that effect in NZ. They must have bought them second hand when Movieland opened. They were really nice high quality amps, I think each had a rating of 750 watts. I should have bought some them when the place closed, they were going for less than a couple of hundred dollars each.

When I read Doug's comment, I thought, "I bet Graham has the Sensurround setup from the theater he worked at before it was closed". You must be kicking yourself for not buying that equipment at fire sale prices!

PS: Did you try to change the soundtrack source on your Bluray player to DTS MA 2.1?. More than likely that your Yamaha amp will decode it.

[Graham Ritchie]

I certainly am Ed is was good stuff, thanks I will try DTS MA 2:1 The amp I use for everything is a Yamaha RX-V750.

I have had it for a few years now so its getting on, but still good it really comes alive when the digital processor from the 35mm is fed into it.

I picked up second hand the LP of the soundtrack a few years ago, its really good. I like the way the cover is done "very nice".

[Alan Paterson]

DOCTOR DOLITTLE (1967)

Yup, the Rex Harrison version. It was mentioned on this very website a few weeks ago so I had a hankering to see it again. I last saw it in a Dunfermline cinema around the time of release when I was 10 years old. So slow and ponderous that I'm not surprised it didn't do well. My other half and I stuck it out till the very end. Can't see a modern audience lasting that long. Only a couple of good songs in it, but they weren't exactly delivered with great gusto by the cast. Jeez, all that fuss about about a giant pink sea snail that turned out to be a damp squib. The movie lived up to its title as 'Doctor Dolittle' didn't do much for me. Just put me down as undecided. :-)

[Ed Gordon]

Is The Birds really "Alfred Hitchcock's second scariest movie" ?

In my opinion, that is a hard NO!. I watched this 2 hour long dud last night. The 4K transfer is suburb, but this movie has not aged well. I found it painfully slow paced and it never motivated me to suspend my disbelief. The review I read was overall unjustly positive with this exception:

What makes The Birds so compelling, unsettling, and a tad frustrating is that we don't ever discover what causes such a docile species to suddenly go berserk. There's no nuclear explosion, solar anomaly, or climate issue to incite such a drastic behavioral change.

If you are an avid Hitchcock fan, watch the Universal 8 400 foot cutdown instead of this 4k disc.

[Graham Ritchie]

Came across this blu-ray in the $2 pile in excellent condition when we were out and about two days ago. I have not watched anything of "The Sixth Sense" since I ran the 35mm print many moons ago. The film itself did really well at the cinema, that I do remember and tonight with the help of the Epson VP, watched it. Both the blu-ray picture and sound quality was really excellent. The cast in particular, Bruce Willis was I think one of his best films he has made. The story was top notch, keeps you guessing until the end. Although I did run the film print long ago, I could not remember much about the film itself. Well tonight made up for that, I really enjoyed watching it and I guess to sum it up as, a good nights entertainment.

[Steve Klare]

We're in kind of a Mel Brooks phase: last night it was Silent Movie.

It's interesting with our discussion of streaming video this week: in this case my son couldn't find it being streamed anywhere. (That's his job: I just know where all the 8mm and 16mm films are!) So in this case we had to find the disk.

It's good that we liked it!
.

"-No!"

[Osi Osgood]

Here's some really neat trivia about "Silent Movie"! When the film came out, there was a novelization of the film, which was really just the script. It was paperback, but what was really neat about it, was that all four corners of the paperback, had a complete "flip book" of four individual short scenes from the film! You had, Mel Brooks making funny faces on one, Dom Deluise eating corn on the cob and spitting it up, Marty Feldman saying naughty things to a nurse on stairs and getting whacked, and one other one which I can't remember, off hand. So, this almost one of a kind paperback book was not only about the film "Silent Movie" but also even had four genuine silent movies on all four corners of the book!

[Douglas Meltzer]

I did not know about the book. I do know that John Morris' score is perfect for that film. I wish the Piccolo digest included the Paul Newman wheelchair chase.

[Graham Ritchie]

One of the interesting things about both those films below is that they were written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, and in both cases he is in it as well, With "The Sixth Sense" I picked up, that he was the hospital doctor, with "Signs" he there neighbour. Both good movies. There are some real good bargains out there in blu-ray land, combine it with Video projection and we really have it made .

PS I only have the 35mm trailer for Signs and its a good one I will have too look for a Sixth Sense one, better still 35mm prints of the features would be a nice find

[Mike Newell]

Double bill of Clint. Where Eagles Dare & Kelly Heroes. I have watched Where Eagles Dare a zillion times on all formats. It still holds up well after all those years but have to admit Burton is a bit annoying with his typewriter delivery of the twists and turns in the story. Clint apparently handed dialogue to him and he comes out on top. Another downer is the state of some of the actors Richard Burton and Donald Huston look decrepit and old. The action scenes which the double did particularly the cable cars. Amazing how Clint and Mary hit every German they shoot at every time. The 3x400 digest 51-54 minutes really did grasp the spirit of a 2 and half hour Film.

Kelly Heroes has aged better but then it was a comedy. Great cast and story. Oddballs Donald Sutherland is still a strange character 1960s hippie in WW2. Positive Waves.