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Films I saw for the first time in May 2011

11:55 PM / Cinema / 15 Comments

• Monday, May 2, 2011: SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD (USA/UK/Canada, 2010) 4/10
• Wednesday, May 4, 2011: TAXI DRIVER (USA, 1976) 8/10
• Wednesday, May 11, 2011: UNTHINKABLE (USA, 2010) 4/10
• Thursday, May 12, 2011: MISERY (USA, 1990) 7/10
• Sunday, May 15, 2011: MY NIGHTS ARE MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN YOUR DAYS (France, 1990) 7/10
• Wednesday, May 18, 2011: FANTASIA 2000 (USA, 1999) 6/10
• Sunday, May 22, 2011: THE VIRGIN SUICIDES (USA, 1999) 6/10
• Tuesday, May 24, 2011: EYEBALL (Italy/Spain, 1975) 2/10
• Wednesday, May 25, 2011: LET ME IN (UK/USA, 2010) 5/10

BDs and DVDs I bought or received in May 2011

11:52 PM / Blu-ray / 1 Comment

• Wednesday, May 4, 2011: TAXI DRIVER (BD, Region ABC, USA)
• Thursday, May 12, 2011: DEEP RED (BD, Region ABC, USA)
• Thursday, May 19, 2011: M (BD, Region ABC, Germany) (sample copy)
• Thursday, May 26, 2011: THE CAT O' NINE TAILS (BD, Region ABC, USA)

Trailer for Fincher's Girl with the Dragon Tattoo remake

9:41 AM / Cinema / 16 Comments

This will probably get pulled before too long, so enjoy it while you can:

Any thoughts? I must say that my curiosity is piqued. Judging by the various shots shown, Fincher and Zaillain are sticking pretty closely to the book, which by virtue also means that the film is pretty close to the Swedish adaptation - virtually every shot in this trailer has an easily identifiable analogous moment in the original film. I'm not sold on Daniel Craig as Blomkvist - he seems too dapper and movie star-like for someone who is supposed to be a middle-aged and slightly out-of-shape journalist - and Rooney Mara's take on Salander, or rather the make-up and costume designers' take on her, is odd to say the least (I'm always reminded of Voldemort whenever I see her). My fear is that I won't be able to watch the film without constantly thinking of Noomi Rapace's stunning rendition of the character in the Swedish films. Mara may well be excellent, but she's stepping into the shoes of an actress who delivered an iconic, unforgettable interpretation of the character, and will be an incredibly hard act to follow.

But what am I saying? It's David Fincher, for crying out loud. He's had his misfires (ALIEN 3, BENJAMIN BUTTON) but he's always an interesting director, and when he's on the ball, he's REALLY on the ball. As such, there's no way he's going to do a workmanlike or slavish copy of the previous film, no matter how similar they might look from this trailer. I'll be deeply disappointed if this turns out to be nothing more than the LET ME IN to the original's LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (now there's a remake with no reason to exist beyond the fact that certain people are too bone-headed to read subtitles), but it's not exactly likely, is it?

(Thanks to Toecutter, Stefan and Erik for all pointing this out to me.)

BD impressions: The Cat O' Nine Tails

2:13 AM / BD Impressions / 60 Comments

The film: At one point, Dario Argento was quoted as saying that THE CAT O' NINE TAILS was his least favourite of his films, and while I personally think he's being a tad harsh, it does stand out to me as the least impressive of the films he made in the 70s and 80s, when he was at the peak of his powers. Compared to the exciting, energetic THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, this sophomore effort and the second instalment in his unofficial Animal Trilogy feels rather more plodding and conventional. It feels long and the roster of suspects, with the exception of the icy Anna Terzi (Catherine Spaak), all tend to blur into one another. Put simply, it feels like Argento is going through the motions with the plot, which at times feels a lot like the work of one of his lesser competitors.

The film's strengths lie primarily in a couple of powerful set-pieces in the second half of the film, among them a tense rooftop battle and a nail-biting sequence in a mausoleum, as well as the strong characterisation of the two protagonists, blind puzzle maker Franco Arno and ambitious journalist Carlo Giordani. That they are played by Karl Malden and James Franciscus respectively is an impressive casting coup and Argento makes the most of their combined talents. The two men form an unlikely bond and there is genuine chemistry and affection between them. Stylistically, the film lacks the perfect synergy of THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, in which every frame was fresh and exciting, but Argento's growing fondness of subjective point of view shots is very much in evidence here, and Ennio Morricone's nervy, atonal score makes for a nice companion piece to that of the previous film.

It's far from Argento at his best but it's ultimately a solid giallo with better than average performances and a genuinely haunting coda. "Nine times more scary" than THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE (to quote the trailer)? Hardly, but it sure beats just about anything the maestro has given us since the end of the 80s (barring the excellent THE STENDHAL SYNDROME). 7/10

Image quality: * Dons bulletproof vest. * I write this review knowing full well that I'm opening myself up to a barrage of hate mail. Blue Underground's BD of THE CAT O' NINE TAILS - the film's high definition debut - has been getting uniformly positive reviews, with some even calling it the best disc the label has produced. I'm sorry, but I can't see it. I wish I could say otherwise, but THE CAT O' NINE TAILS looks bad - shockingly bad, in fact, and I'm going to do my best to explain that badness here as clearly as possible. If you want to disagree with my assessment, that's OK, and I'd be more than happy to read any reasoned rebuttals - but please, let's keep it civil.

First of all, I've looked at the disc on three different displays, ranging from large to small: the projection setup on which I watch all my BDs (a JVC DLA-HD750 projector and a 123" Da-lite Cinema Vision Perm-Wall screen, calibrated by an ISF-certified technician), a 42" Panasonic Viera TX-P42G20 Plasma and a 27" Dell Ultrasharp 2709W LCD monitor. I've both watched the entire film in motion and examined individual frames in considerable detail, and my assessment is that what we're looking at is an image that has been blasted with grain reduction and has a harsh electronic noise pattern overlaid on top of it. Similar accusations have been levelled against other BD releases of Italian cult titles in the past, among them DJANGO and CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD, the latter of which looks extremely similar to what I'm seeing here: soft, little to no fine detail except in close-ups, but with a uniform blanket of harsh noise making the image look unnaturally fuzzy. Fabric and wallpaper textures disappear, faces in anything further away than medium shot are an undefined blur, motion resolution is nonexistent... With CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD, some argued that the film's look on BD was that of 16mm film. I didn't believe it at the time (a) because it looked nothing like any 16mm film I'd ever seen and (b) because this was the first time anyone had ever claimed the film to have been shot on 16mm. To me, it seemed like an attempt to rationalise an inexplicably poor quality image. Now, a virtually identical look has shown up on a film that there can be no doubt was shot on 35mm film in 2-perf Techniscope (the same process as THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, the BD of which looks immeasurably better).

What can we say about the image that's positive? Well, for a start, it's in the film's correct aspect ratio, unlike the new Storaro'd THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE master. Some very tight close-ups actually look quite detailed, particularly those in which there is little to no movement (e.g. Example 18). Also, compared to the overly dark-looking DVD, the overall balance seems much more appropriate. Of course, it's difficult to ascertain which - if either - is the correct look, but I know which one I prefer. It's because of this, and a lack of the unfortunate sharpening the plagued the DVD, that means that this BD is on the whole an upgrade. That's about the best I can say in the disc's favour, though.

Let's be clear: I don't hold Blue Underground responsible for this transfer. My guess is they were handed the master tape (quite possibly after they signed the licence agreement) and simply had to make the best hash of it they could. No, the blame lies solely with the company responsible for the creation of the master. This is, as far as I can tell, the first time this master has seen the light of day, and while it's entirely possible that it has been languishing in a vault for a number of years, dating back to a time when standards were considerably lower than they are today, I'm more than a little concerned by the possibility that this is in fact a freshly minted transfer. If so, then the company responsible needs to take a serious look at their mastering process, because the results simply don't pass muster in 1080p.

I actually discussed this disc, among others, the other day with a highly respected film restoration and preservation expert, and we were very much on the same page as regards what is wrong with transfers like this and a number of other Italian cult titles. In a nutshell: no actual detail, just a whole load of harsh noise. Look, I'm not expecting every BD of a 70s film to be another TAXI DRIVER or even a DEEP RED, but let's be clear: the flaws we're seeing here are nothing to do with the film's budget, obscurity or the condition of the elements. Everything that's wrong here is digitally induced and, I'm sure, could have been avoided.

I know my review is the exception. Plenty of other reviewers are more than happy with this disc, and I'm pleased for them. Given that, I can only assume that plenty of viewers will also be happy with the disc, but I'm not in the business of tailoring my reviews to match those of the majority. I can't get inside someone else's head, so all I can do is call it as I see it and make a reasonable stab at trying to work out WHY I'm seeing what I'm seeing. If anyone has any questions, please let me know. 4/10

PS. As you can see from Example 1, the opening credits have been electronically generated, failing to properly match the font of the original titles. The end credits are intact. In the grand scheme of things, it's a minor issue (certainly compared to everything that is wrong with the transfer), but I thought I should mention it.

The Cat O' Nine Tails
studio: Blue Underground; disc country: USA; region code: ABC;
codec: AVC; aspect ratio: 2.35:1

May 2011 railway update redux

9:20 PM / Model Railways / No Comments

The baseboard is no more! After giving it much consideration, I've decided to shelve the idea of trying to fit a bulky, unwieldy baseboard into a relatively small area that I need continual access to (cuz, well, I need some way of getting from my bed to the door) and instead just run the layout on the floor itself on a longer term basis. Obviously, this is a disappointment, as it means I won't be able to do anything with scenery, but on the plus side it lets me make my layout slightly larger, laying the track right up to the edge of the floor at one end of the room and partially under my desk at the other:

I WILL have a proper layout on an actual baseboard some day, preferably when I'm living somewhere where I can actually dedicate a room (or part of a room) to it instead of trying to cram it in around the rest of my life. Until that day, whenever that might be, at least I've got a setup that, despite not being in the running to win any awards for realism, at least has a decent length and lets me run three trains at once. Upon getting rid of the baseboard, I took the opportunity to make the most of the reclaimed space thanks to it no longer being propped up against the wall, using up what was left of my spare straight track to extend the length of all three lines, and to fit a "diamond" crossing, which means that each of the two "sidings" of my terminus station connect directly to its own loop of track, rather than having to faff about transferring exiting trains from one line to the other:

Currently, this means that the station services the inner and middle lines, although given the tighter radius curves and smaller circumference of the inner line, the plan would be to restrict it to goods traffic. As such, I suspect I'm going to end up picking up a couple more diamond crossings to allow me to instead connect one of the station "sidings" to the outer line:

Above: Two trains waiting to leave the station.

Above: Printer paper. It makes great underlay, honest.

PS. This post is dedicated to ImportFanatic, who is a huge fan of model railways.

Coming soon...

1:07 PM / Blu-ray / 12 Comments

vs.

(Click images to enlarge.)

An Argento BD status check

3:19 PM / Blu-ray / 25 Comments

With the dust having settled on the latest round of Dario Argento BD releases, now seems like a good time to take a look at the current status of the maestro's films in HD. If, a couple of years ago, you'd told me that by the middle of 2011 more than half of Argento's filmography would be represented on BD, I wouldn't have believed you. That's the way the land now lies, though, with arguably all his best films - with the glaring exception of OPERA - being available in one form or another.

In this post, I've done my best to catalogue every Argento BD release to date and provide, where possible, some cursory comments about their image and sound quality and extras. Where there are multiple releases of the same film, I've also recommended which release I consider the best. Obviously, though, it's just my opinion, and like the man said, opinions are like assholes. Depending on your priorities (image quality, extras, etc.), your preferred version may be different from mine.

This list is probably far from definitive and will need to keep being updated, but for the time being it contains information on every release known to me.

Please note that, while I have seen a good number of these discs, in cases where there are multiple releases of the same film, I can't claim to have watched every single one of them and have to rely on screen captures, reviews and word of mouth to ascertain their specifications. If you believe I'm mistaken about any of these, please let me know. Discs I have seen for myself are marked with an asterisk (*).

THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE (1970)

• (1)* Region ABC US release by Blue Underground. Very good image quality; audio limited to multi-channel remixes only; plentiful extras; now out of print. Review
   
• (2) Region ABC UK release by Arrow Video. Image has been cropped to a 2:1 aspect ratio, colour timing has been substantially altered; original English and Italian mono mixes intact; plentiful extras.
   
• RECOMMENDATION: (1).

THE CAT O' NINE TAILS (1971)

• (1)* Region ABC US release by Blue Underground. Shameful image quality; original English and Italian mono mixes intact (English subtitles are HoH captions of the English dialogue rather than the Italian - thanks, Gasteropod); extras fairly limited, repeating content from older Anchor Bay DVD. Review
  
  (2) Region ?ABC UK release by Arrow Video. Not yet released.

FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET (1971)

• Unavailable. German release from Koch Media apparently incoming.

LE CINQUE GIORNATE (1973)

• Unavailable.

DEEP RED (1975)

• (1)* Region ABC UK release by Arrow Video. Problematic image quality afflicted by heavy artefacting and a noticeable yellow push; original English and Italian mono mixes intact (including hybrid English/Italian track on Italian cut); plentiful extras; contains both shorter international and longer Italian cuts on separate discs; opening and closing credits on international version in standard definition. Review
   
• (2)* Region ABC US release by Blue Underground. Good/very good image quality but with a noticeable yellow push; original English and Italian mono mixes intact (although hybrid English/Italian track on Italian cut is a multi-channel remix only); limited extras, repeating content from older Anchor Bay DVD; contains both shorter international and longer Italian cuts on same disc. Review
   
• RECOMMENDATION: (2).
   
• Both releases derived from same master.

SUSPIRIA (1977)

• (1)* Region ABC Italian release by Eagle Pictures. Excessively contrast boosted image with noticeable DVNR artefacts; audio in Italian only; limited extras. Review
   
• (2)* Region B UK release by Nouveaux Pictures. Excessively contrast boosted image; audio is a 5.1 remix, but recreates the original 4-channel mix more faithfully than any prior version; plentiful extras, though the somewhat academic slant may put some off. Review
   
• (3) Region ABC French release by Wild Side Video. Excessively contrast boosted image; English and Italian audio tracks are included, but English track is 2-channel only and French subtitles are forced with both; plentiful extras, but in French.
   
• (4) Region ABC Japanese release by King Records. Excessively contrast boosted image mastered as 1080i; English 5.1 and Italian 2.0 tracks included (the English track is the same as the older, less faithful remix from the Anchor Bay DVD - thanks, Miles); extras practically non-existent.
   
• RECOMMENDATION: (2).
   
• All releases derived from same master.

INFERNO (1980)

• (1)* Region ABC UK release by Arrow Video. Mediocre image quality with anaemic colour palette; original English stereo and Italian mono mixes intact; plentiful extras. Review
   
• (2) Region ABC France release by Wild Side Video. Good image quality with anaemic colour palette; original Italian mono mix intact (English mono listed on cover but unable to confirm whether it truly is mono or the original stereo), but French subtitles are forced with both; extras fairly limited and in French.
   
• (3) Region ABC Japanese release by King Records. Good image quality with anaemic colour palette; original English stereo mix intact with optional Japanese subtitles (thanks, Kannisto).
   
• (4)* Region ABC US release by Blue Underground. Good image quality with some attempt to digitally restore colour timing to match Anchor Bay DVD; original Italian mono mix intact, English stereo track is a downmix of a 5.1 remix (English subtitles are HoH captions of the English dialogue rather than the Italian - thanks, Gasteropod); limited extras, repeating content from older Anchor Bay DVD. Review
   
• (5) Region ?ABC German release by Camera Obscura. Not yet released.
   
• RECOMMENDATION: (4), pending release of (5).
   
• All releases derived from same master.

TENEBRAE (1982)

• (1)* Region ABC France release by Wild Side Video. Good/very good image quality; original English and Italian mono mixes intact, but French subtitles are forced for both; extras fairly limited and in French. Review
   
• (2) Region ?ABC UK release by Arrow Video. Not yet released.

PHENOMENA (1985)

• (only current release)* Region ABC UK release by Arrow Video. Subpar image quality; audio in Italian and English with some errors in English track; plentiful extras. Review

OPERA (1987)

• Unavailable.

TWO EVIL EYES (1990)

• (only current release)* Region ABC US release by Blue Underground. Very good image quality; multiple English audio tracks provided but not original 2-channel mix; plentiful extras. Review

TRAUMA (1993)

• Unavailable.

THE STENDHAL SYNDROME (1996)

• (1)* Region ABC US release by Blue Underground. "Controversial" image quality with heavy noise-like grain; multiple English tracks provided, but the Italian track suffers from a distracting echo (film originally mixed in 5.1 - thanks, Vincent); plentiful extras. Review
   
• (2) Region ?B German release by X-Rated. Specs unavailable, but audio listed as German only. (Thanks, Sundance.)
   
• RECOMMENDATION: (1).

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1998)

• Unavailable.

SLEEPLESS (2001)

• Unavailable.

THE CARD PLAYER (2004)

• Unavailable.

DO YOU LIKE HITCHCOCK? (2005)

• Unavailable. An HD release is unlikely, given that this TV-movie appears to have been post-produced in standard definition.

MASTERS OF HORROR: JENIFER (2005)

• (only current release) Region ABC US release by Anchor Bay (MASTERS OF HORROR SEASON I VOLUME II). Good image quality (1080i); English 5.1 track provided; lacks all extras from DVD release except commentary.

MASTERS OF HORROR: PELTS (2006)

• Unavailable.

MOTHER OF TEARS (2007)

• (1)* Region B French release by Seven Sept. Mediocre image quality with grain reduction and edge enhancement likely baked into master; English 5.1 track provided but with forced French subtitles; extras reasonably plentiful but in French. Review
   
• (2) Region ABC Japanese release by King Records. Image confirmed as 1080i and suffers from excessive sharpening; English 5.1 track provided with optional Japanese subtitles (thanks, Kannisto).
   
• RECOMMENDATION: (1).

GIALLO (2009)

• (1) Region ??? Brazilian release by ???. Specs unavailable.
   
• (2)* Region B Italian release by Dall'Angelo Pictures. Average/good image quality; English 5.1 track provided; extras practically non-existent. Review
   
• (3) Region ?ABC Scandinavian (?Swedish) release by Atlantic (thanks, Toecutter). According to DVD Profiler, this disc is region free, has no extras apart from bonus trailers, and features a lossless English 5.1 track.
   
• (4) Region ABC French release by AAA/MEP Video (thanks, Phil Q). Average/good image quality; English 5.1 track provided; extras practically non-existent. Appears to be equivalent to the Italian release in all but region coding and dubs offered.

#1060: Cat O' Nine Tails

2:34 PM / Blu-ray / 39 Comments

(BD, Blue Underground, Region ABC, USA)

I'm at a loss to describe the picture quality of this release. It's like nothing I've ever seen, and I don't mean in a good way. "Wet newsprint" is the most accurate description I can currently come up with. This is looking to me like Blue Underground's first serious misstep for an Argento film.

Movie Matters: call for giallo lists

8:47 PM / Podcast / 44 Comments

Lee and I are planning on recording the next episode of the Movie Matters podcast in the first week of June, along with our good friend Sandy, a.k.a. The Gialli Fan at Dark Dreams. As befits Sandy's nickname, this will be a giallo special, beginning with a discussion of the genre, followed by reviews/discussions of three films.

We would like listeners to submit their three favourite gialli in order of preference, so if you'd like to participate, please add a reply to this topic. The plan would be to read out as many of these lists on air as possible.

May 2011 railway update

7:10 PM / Model Railways / No Comments

It's been a while since I last posted an update on the evolving status of my model railway, mainly because things have temporarily stalled. The baseboard I mentioned in my previous post on the subject is partly built, though it's currently sitting propped up against the wall doing nothing because I ran into a few hitches, namely...

1. I misjudged how much clearance I would need to raise and lower it. When it's on the ground, it's literally sandwiched between the unit that runs along one end of my room and my desk that sits at the other.
    
2. Despite the insulation board I used to build it making it considerably lighter than if I'd used plywood or similar, it's still too unwieldy for me to lift on my own (mainly due to its size). Because it takes two people to lift it, lowering it for use and then raising it when I'm done simply isn't practical.
    
3. I've yet to secure the insulation board surface to the wooden frame. The superglue method I attempted was a spectacular failure.

I'm going to have to make some decisions before too long about how to proceed - and whatever else ends up being done, I'll probably need to reduce the size of the baseboard, which is a bummer - but in the meantime I've got a temporary layout running on the floor again, this one significantly larger than my last one and consisting of three lines rather than the previous two:

Fairly basic, really, but it has the advantage of being something I can tear up and put back together reasonably quickly if need be. It's nice to be able to run three trains at once, and the horizontal straight sections are long enough that it doesn't feel like they're continually chasing their tails. I'd ultimately want to build something more imaginative than this, but it's nice to be able to actually run my trains for the time being rather than leaving them to gather dust on a shelf...

...particularly as I've made a couple of new acquisitions since I last posted. The first is an Ivatt Class 4MT from Bachmann:

And the second is the Rare Bird limited edition train pack from Hornby, now sold out:

The latter is at least partly responsible for my getting back into the hobby in the first place - it was a case of seeing it in an online catalogue and immediately thinking "Want!" It was originally intended to be released last year and was delayed multiple times, eventually appearing in late March. I was so late to the party in getting my pre-order in that I was pretty shocked when it showed up at my door. The A4 Pacific is my favourite class of locomotive (you can probably tell from the number I have in my collection), and the "Express Blue" livery with which they were painted between 1948 and 1951 is probably my favourite of the various guises under which they have appeared (and in which the preserved 6007 "Sir Nigel Gresley" can currently be seen).

And to conclude, here's a quick crappy quality video of the layout under operation:

BD impressions: Black Swan

1:50 PM / BD Impressions / 7 Comments

The film: As Mike Sutton says in his review of BLACK SWAN at The Digital Fix, Darren Aronofsky's latest movie is essentially "high-trash melodrama". It's frequently over the top and absurd, and revels in all sorts of daft clichés about mental illness - particularly the A/B white/black personality split from which its heroine suffers... and yet despite all this it's a dazzling, visceral piece of work if you accept it on its own terms. I don't personally think Natalie Portman deserves quite the degree of plauditry she's received for the role (as I've mentioned on a few occasions now, I felt that her fellow BAFTA nominee Noomi Rapace wiped the floor with her as Lisbeth Salander in THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, and as far as I'm concerned the award went to the wrong actress), but the shrill hysteria that infuses her performance is entirely suited to the overall mood of the film and calls to mind Catherine Deneuve in Polanski's REPULSION.

REPULSION, in fact, is probably the film from which BLACK SWAN draws most influence (except, of course, for SHOWGIRLS) in its portrait of a deeply disturbed young woman slowly unravelling. A lot of people, among them Mark Kermode, have loudly proclaimed Aronofsky to have been borrowing wholesale from Dario Argento, and while the ballet setting and focus on a wide-eyed ingénue dancer (as well as some of the colour choices during the climax) do call to mind SUSPIRIA, I do think the similarities have been overplayed to a certain extent. Indeed, if any Argento film informs BLACK SWAN to any great extent (and I have to believe that Aronofsky was indeed drawing on the maestro's work, at least subconsciously), it's OPERA, with Portman taking on the Cristina Marsillach role (complete with domineering mother figure) and Vincent Cassel in Ian Charleson's part.

Regardless of the influences it wears so openly, though, BLACK SWAN does manage to feel cohesive and manages to forge its own identity despite not really bringing anything new to the table. I know a few people who outright loathe the film for its over the top and absurd nature, and others who think it's a load of pretentious wank masquerading as high-brow in order to avoid admitting that it's basically a B-horror movie with pretensions above its station. I see their point but I don't really agree with them: once I saw BLACK SWAN for what it is - an old-fashioned pulp horror movie packaged as high art - I got completely on board with its merging of high art and exploitation. 8/10

Image quality: Like Aronofsky's previous film, THE WRESTLER, BLACK SWAN was shot on 16mm film. The result is very grainy, and as such the usual caveat applies: it looks considerably more detailed in motion than in still frame form. The captures look a little on the soft and clumpy side, but while there ARE some shots that are naturally softer than others, the overall effect in motion is quite pleasing. As usual, Fox have done a bang-up job with the encode, resulting in a very satisfying presentation, provided you know what to expect and accept the film's intended look for what it is. 9/10

Black Swan
studio: 20th Century Fox; disc country: USA; region code: AB;
codec: AVC; aspect ratio: 2.39:1

#1059: M

1:15 PM / Blu-ray / 8 Comments

(BD, Universum Film, Region ABC, Germany)

Thanks, Torsten!

Review: Deep Red (Blue Underground release)

3:04 PM / Reviews / 23 Comments

The film

1975. The giallo craze that consumed the early part of the decade has run out of steam, with Italian audiences turning to macho crime thrillers and sex comedies where once they flocked to lurid whodunits with names like A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN (UNA LUCERTOLA CON LA PELLE DI DONNA, Fulci 1971) and WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SOLANGE? (COSA AVETE FATTO A SOLANGE?, Dallamano 1972). Dario Argento, after effectively launching the craze with his first film, THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE (L'UCCELLO DALLE PIUME DI CRISTALLO, 1970), has bowed out of the race after completing his "animal trilogy" of gialli to make the ill-fated historical comedy THE FIVE DAYS OF MILAN (LE CINQUE GIORNATE, 1973). For many filmmakers, returning to the genre in which he made his name after so visibly falling short when trying his hand at something new would be something of a climbdown. Not so for Argento: with DEEP RED (PROFONDO ROSSO to use its original Italian title), he delivers the giallo to end all gialli and, at the time, his best film.

The plot is typical giallo fare: English pianist Marc Daly (David Hemmings), living in Italy, witnesses the bloody murder of his neighbour, psychic Helga Ullmann (Macha Méril). Earlier Helga, while giving a demonstration of her abilities at a parapsychology conference, had tuned into the thoughts of a killer in the audience, claiming to be able to identify them. Convinced that Helga was on to something and that something about the crime scene doesn't quite make sense, Marc teams up with a bolshie journalist, Gianna Brezzi (Daria Nicolodi), to track down Helga's killer before he himself meets a sticky end...

As you've probably already surmised, it's not really about the plot, although DEEP RED does have an unusually good one by giallo standards. It's largely a re-tread of that of THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, once again pitting a foreign artist adrift in Italy against a deranged serial killer and presenting him with an inexplicable puzzle relating to his witnessing of the initial murder, the significance of which he can't yet grasp. Marc Daly is cut from very much the same cloth as Sam Dalmas (Tony Musante) in the earlier film, although to his credit he is somewhat more aware of his own foibles and actually seems to emerge from his ordeal having learned something about himself. Rather than simply regurgitating the story wholesale, Argento and co-writer Bernardino Zapponi use the by now familiar giallo template as a loose springboard from which to launch a variety of audacious set-pieces, frequently revolving around (but not limited to) the gruesome extended murder sequences for which Argento had become known. The use of Helga's apparently genuine psychic abilities as a plot device, meanwhile, foreshadows Argento's full-on embracement of the supernatural with his next film, 1977's SUSPIRIA.

If Argento's third giallo, FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET (4 MOSCHE DI VELLUTO GRIGIO, 1971), showed him to be growing increasingly disinterested in narrative and increasingly dedicating himself to the visuals and other technical aspects, DEEP RED is the film with which he finally cuts loose and embraces style for style's sake. That's not to say that the script isn't strong - it is, and I suspect we primarily have Zapponi to thank for that - but Argento allows the plot to meander, frequently forsaking it to indulge in, say, a debate about the different positions men and women occupy in society (culminating in an arm-wrestling contest to see which is the weaker sex) or an extended exploration of a crumbling old mansion. It's as if Marc, the archetypal foreigner abroad, has stumbled into some sort of strange otherworld where the streets are utterly deserted at night, the bar from Hopper's "Nighthawks" painting is mysteriously transposed on to the Piazza Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale as if torn from the canvas, landmarks from Turin and Rome intermingle in a single unidentified city, and it somehow seems utterly logical to launch an investigation based on no more than the ramblings of a murdered psychic. Meanwhile, the Kafkaesque machinations of the police - more concerned with non-functioning drinks machines and organising "sit-ins" than solving the case - suggest that there's not much room in this world for logical deduction.

While Argento is unquestionably the real star of the show, cranking up the stylisation to the point of excess and revelling in all sorts of seemingly unmotivated camera angles, movements and cutaways, a lot of the credit for the film's success must go to David Hemmings and Daria Nicolodi, who turn in assured and amusing performances and seem to have genuine chemistry together. Their relationship (the precise details of which are never spelled out - do they or do they not have sex?) has been described as the sweetest Argento has ever portrayed, and must surely be partly attributed to Argento's relationship with Nicolodi at the time (it's quite amusing to watch the treatment of Nicolodi's characters becoming increasingly nastier with each film as their relationship deteriorated). There's a case to be made that Gianna, who beats Marc at arm-wrestling, saves him from a burning building and does the lion's share of the investigative legwork, is the film's true hero, and her presence marks a significant shift in Argento's attitude to his female characters. Whereas in the animal trilogy the only women Argento graced with more than the most cursory characterisation were his villainesses, the relationship between Marc and Gianna eventually evolves into a partnership of equals, with Gianna prefiguring the tough-yet-vulnerable female protagonists Argento would favour in much of his later work. (It's telling that, since DEEP RED, the bulk of Argento's protagonists have been female.)

While I personally consider SUSPIRIA to be Argento's crowning achievement, I can at the same time completely understand why so many hold this up as his masterpiece. It's unquestionably the greatest giallo ever made, a perfection of the formula by the man who effectively launched the craze. In many ways, it's a shame he couldn't have left it at this, as his more recent forays into giallo territory have tended to be limp and derivative - futile attempts to recapture former glory that fail to do anything to advance the genre. Still, allow DEEP RED to stand alone and its status as the king of gialli - and Argento's status of the king of giallo DIRECTORS - is clear for all to see. It's a stunning piece of work, the best of its kind and one of the best movies ever made, regardless of genre. 10/10

Image quality

Blue Underground's BD version of DEEP RED arrives a few months after the UK release by Arrow Video. Reviewing that release back in January, I was disappointed by the image quality, chiefly on the grounds of what looked like poor quality scaling from a sub-1080p source and the stucco, noise-like quality of the grain. I expressed slight surprise at this at the time, given that my impression, from having previously viewed the 2005 WMV-HD DVD release from Italian label Medusa, was that the master, which the two releases shared, was a reasonably good one. Much to my surprise, there were instances in which, despite its woeful bit rate, the grain was actually rendered better on the WMV-HD version than on the Arrow BD. As far as this new edition goes, they do say that third time's a charm...

First things first, let's be abundantly clear about one thing: despite claims to the contrary, the BU release is NOT a brand new scan of the film. It's the exact same master that was created in 2004 (as far as can be ascertained under cinematographer Luigi Kuveiller's supervision) and used for both the 2005 Medusa WMV-HD and the 2011 Arrow BD. So, going ahead, we need to bear in mind that we're talking about a master that's somewhere in the region of seven years old - not something that would normally fill me with confidence. With that being said, I'm more than happy to concede that the results here are good - in places strikingly good. The scaling artefacts that plagued the Arrow release are gone, and more importantly the grain is rendered throughout with far more precision. In terms of detail and quality of encoding, it's every bit the equal of Blue Underground's earlier BD of THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, with the tight close-ups Argento has such a penchant for showing ample fine detail. Wider shots can tend to look a little soft, but I'm confident that this is simply down to how the film was shot. That said, the source material seems to have been in slightly worse shape to that of BIRD, with noticeable positive (black) and negative (white) print damage throughout (once again casting doubt on the claim on the back cover that the film has been "newly transferred... from its original camera negative) and, during the final ten minutes or so, some intermittent discolouration, with the tint fluctuating between the slightly yellowish look of the bulk of the film and a more sickly green hue. I must confess to not having noticed this when I watched the Arrow version (presumably I was distracted by its other problems), but looking at it again it's definitely there.

I've weighed in in the past on the grain that can be seen in many of the HD transfers of Italian films of this vintage, and its authenticity or lack thereof. Once again, I have to confess to being slightly suspicious that something odd is going on. The grain does at times have a decidedly noise-like quality, particularly noticeable on white or otherwise very bright areas of the screen. On the other hand, the grain in darker areas largely looks very natural, particularly compared to its messy rendering on the Arrow BD. Back when I wrote my review of that release, I attributed most of its problems to compression. Now, however, I feel more inclined to suspect that the blame may lie with a clumsy attempt to degrain the film. It would certainly fit with their modus operandi: INFERNO and PHENOMENA were both heavily degrained, so the idea that they would choose to leave the significantly grainier DEEP RED alone seems a little implausible. Whatever the reason though, it's clear that Blue Underground's handling of the master is vastly superior to Arrow's, giving this new release a clear win. 8/10

Deep Red (Blue Underground release)
studio: Blue Underground; disc country: USA; region code: ABC;
codec: AVC; aspect ratio: 2.35:1

A quick note on the two versions

Like the Arrow release, Blue Underground's version includes two cuts of the film: the full-length 126-minute Italian "director's cut" and a shorter 105-minute English export version. Both are included on the same disc but are separate files rather than being seamlessly branched. Surprisingly, the improved quality of this release allows us to see that the primary source for the HD master appears to have been a print of the export version. When scenes not included in that version arrive, the master switches to another print. There is no obvious difference in quality between the two sources, but shifts from one print to the other that occur mid-scene are noticeable: in a couple of instances, the image softens briefly during the switch, whereas a couple of frames end up being dropped at the beginning of the shot where Marc and Gianna return to Gianna's car after Helga's funeral. This probably also explains why Blue Underground have managed to get their hands on high definition English-language opening and closing credits (Arrow had to make do with standard definition ones). And, in case anyone was wondering, the image of Marc staring into the pool of blood behind the closing credits is not the awkward freeze-frame from the old Anchor Bay DVD (re-released by Blue Underground a few years back).

Audio quality

We get a myriad of sound options which vary depending on which cut of the film you're watching. The full-length Italian version offers up Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX and Dolby Digital 2.0 mono, as well as a hybrid Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX track which plays most of the film in English but reverts to Italian with English subtitles for scenes where no English audio exists. The English export cut, meanwhile, features English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX and English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono. English subtitles are provided for the Italian cut, and English SDH, Spanish and French subtitles for the English cut.

One disappointment for me is that the hybrid track is only available as a 5.1 remix, meaning that there's no way to watch the full-length version of the film in English mono. That said, it's a fairly subtle remix, with little in the way of noticeable rear channel effects and no out of place sound effects. Too bad it's lossy. Otherwise, it's all good, with the Italian DTS-HD MA track sounding by far the most impressive, particularly in terms of Goblin's driving score. Despite its jarring nature, I prefer to watch the film in its hybrid form so I can at least hear David Hemmings' own speaking voice MOST of the time. If you're less bothered about losing Hemmings' voice, though, or you dislike the film constantly shifting between English and Italian, you can't go wrong with either the 7.1 Italian remix or its mono counterpart. And, if you're one of those viewers who prefers the brisker (but considerably less thematically rich) export cut, the same choices apply, except in English.

By the way, I know that some people criticised the Arrow release on account of its subtitles seeming to run ahead of the video by several frames. While I can't claim that this troubled me unduly, there's no doubt that the subtitles on the Blue Underground disc are noticeably better timed. 8/10

Extras

No question about it, this release looks pretty limp in the extras department when placed alongside the Arrow release. That version had a commentary and new interviews with Argento, Nicolodi and Claudio Simonetti. This one has... a couple of grubby-looking trailers, a reheated 11-minute interview with Argento, Zapponi and Goblin from the old Anchor Bay DVD, and a couple of music videos, one of which (and the disc's sole new feature) is a "live studio" performance of the title theme, recorded in 2010. It's a very underwhelming line-up, particularly given the film's importance, and it's hard not to feel disappointed that Blue Underground didn't make the effort to either record some new material of their own or at least licence some of Arrow's more impressive line-up (as they did for their release of Fulci's CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD). 3/10

Overall

Lest anyone be in any doubt, this release of DEEP RED is by far the best the film has ever looked on home video and, despite the paltry extras, is undoubtedly the version to own. While I suspect that the age of the master and the technical limitations that were in place when it was created have resulted in the image quality not reaching the heights that would have been possible with a new scan, it's certainly no slouch, and viewers can now confidently throw away their DVD copies, safe in the knowledge that they have been well and truly superseded. 8/10

#1058: Deep Red

11:43 AM / Blu-ray / 20 Comments

(BD, Blue Underground, Region ABC, USA)

I realised recently that DEEP RED is the only Dario Argento film I haven't written a full, in-depth review of - a bizarre state of affairs given that for many it is his crowning achievement (his best, for me, is SUSPIRIA, but DEEP RED would be a close second). As such, I may take a little longer to write a more substantial piece on the film to be posted alongside the inevitable technical review/comparison with the Arrow BD and Medusa WMV-HD releases.

A few thoughts on The Field of Blood

11:08 PM / Television / 3 Comments

(THE FIELD OF BLOOD aired on BBC1 Scotland on Sunday May 8th and Monday May 9th.)

I'm a little surprised that FIELD OF BLOOD is the first of Denise Mina's novels to be adapted to the screen. The GARNETHILL trilogy is more widely known; the DS Alex Morrow series that started with 2009's STILL MIDNIGHT (review here) and continues with THE END OF THE WASP SEASON, released this week, seems like a more natural fit for the standard TV cop show format. FIELD OF BLOOD, which introduces overweight teenage aspiring journalist Patricia "Paddy" Meehan, also centres around a particularly unpleasant child murder inspired by the real life killing of James Bulger - contentious material to say the least.

The latter is one of a number of elements from the novel that are either significantly softened or jettisoned completely in David Kane's two-part TV adaptation. The details of the murder are particularly nasty in the book; in the TV version, the body of toddler Brian Wilcox is simply found (off screen, naturally) strangled and dumped in a canal. (And in so doing, the title "The Field of Blood" becomes meaningless.) Gone too is most of the rampant sectarianism that runs through the book and provides much of the flavour of the early 80s Glasgow in which both versions take place. Much of Mina's colourful language remains (the dialogue is littered with "fucks" and "shites"), but all in all this seems like a softer, more palatable version of child murder - if the subject can indeed ever be made palatable. Meanwhile, the parallel story of the "real" Paddy Meehan, which made up a good third of the novel's page count, has been whittled down to a brief dialogue scene in which Paddy explains how the story of her namesake inspired her to want to be a journalist.

Kane - an old hand at Scottish TV crime, having penned episodes of TAGGART, REBUS and created SEA OF SOULS - does a decent job of compressing the key events of the novel into two one-hour episodes and, doing double duty as writer and director, shoots Paddy's nocturnal trawls through Glasgow in the back of reporter George McVeigh's car with a great deal of flair. The use of 80s music is also very effective, and the attention to detail in the production and costume design is impressive. THE FIELD OF BLOOD is very much a period piece, and while the book provided far greater justification for locating the story in 1982 rather than the present day, it doesn't feel like a gimmick. It's also rather impressive that, despite how much Glasgow has changed in the last 30 years, there are no obvious anachronistic clangers to be found.

In front of the camera, stalwarts such as Peter Capaldi and David Morrissey are on good form as Paddy's colleagues at the Daily News; Capaldi in particular gets to shine in the second part as the dying Dr. Pete. (He also gets by far the best line: "I've got cancer." "Balls!" "No - liver, actually.") Newcomer Jayd Johnson handles the central role well, although her Paddy is somewhat different from the one described in the book, and certainly not at all what I pictured. More troublingly, at least a dozen references are made to her being overweight despite the fact that Johnson can at most be described as curvy - seriously, virtually every major character calls her "fat" at some point. By the end of the show, it's a touch ridiculous: Johnson may not be stick-thin, but her weight is hardly something that would incur constant passing comment.

I suppose part of the somewhat critical eye I'm bringing to the adaptation stems from already being familiar with the source material. As such, it's very difficult to switch your brain out of "that bit's different" mode and simply enjoy the show based on its own merits. Looked at objectively, THE FIELD OF BLOOD provides a welcome change of pace compared to other TV crime dramas: its teenage protagonist and period setting allow it to stand out, and it's nice to see a show that revolves around an amateur investigator in a market oversaturated with portrayals of professional detectives. It even manages to serve up a decent whodunit, thanks mainly to the fact that Kane wisely doesn't go in for the sort of "stunt casting" the likes of WAKING THE DEAD was famous for (whereby you could usually guess the killer the moment the big name guest star walked on to the set).

Producer Alan J. Wands talks about the possibility of THE FIELD OF BLOOD serving as a pilot for a longer Paddy Meehan series - which, given that there are only two further books featuring the character, would presumably entail the creation of new storylines beyond the scope of the novels. (There's also the slight issue of each novel jumping forward several years in time, with the third instalment, THE LAST BREATH, taking place in 1990.) I'd certainly be up for that, though it would be nice if future episodes managed to capture a little more of the particular brand of bleakness Mina is so adept at writing.

BD impressions: Taxi Driver

3:46 PM / BD Impressions / 13 Comments

The film: I'm decidedly late to the party, having only seen TAXI DRIVER for the first time last night. As such, I very much doubt there's anything I could say about it that hasn't been said before. I really enjoyed it... if enjoyed it the right word: it's grim, gritty, blackly comic, and Robert De Niro is superb in the role of Travis Bickle. It's just a shame the whole "You talkin' to me?" scene has been lampooned to death, as I suspect it does dilute its intensity somewhat. 8/10

Image quality: Sony Pictures + Martin Scorsese definitely makes for a winning combination. This director-supervised restoration is top-notch: faithful to the source and without any overt evidence of major manipulation. As Matthew McKinnon pointed out on this side, the clarity of the transfer is such that the reduced quality of the numerous opticals (including the infamous climactic scene, which was processed to desaturate the colour in order to obtain an "R" rating) sticks out like a sore thumb in comparison with the rich detail that is visible elsewhere (see Example 13). It's a shame the original negative couldn't be sourced for the aforementioned climax, because it does look decidedly wonky in comparison to the rest of the film, but I digress: a good 90-95% of the film looks excellent. We're incredibly fortunate that both Scorsese and Sony understand how to treat a film with care for release on BD. More like this, please. 9/10

Taxi Driver
studio: Sony Pictures; disc country: USA; region code: ABC;
codec: AVC; aspect ratio: 1.85:1

By the way, there's an excellent, Blu-ray.com has an insightful interview with Grover Crisp, Sony Pictures Entertainment's Senior Vice President for Asset Management, Film Restoration and Digital Mastering, regarding TAXI DRIVER:

Scorsese insisted that the restoration should look like "a product of the time and place in which it was made," with no attempt to modernize the look or the color palette, with special mention of the shooting scene at the end of the film. Crisp starts by saying that Scorsese "feels it best to leave the film as it is."

[...]

Crisp said that at Sony "we don't take the position that grain is an automatic 'problem', and we usually just leave it alone." They are aware of all the digital tools available to alter the grain, but "unless there is a really compelling reason" to do that, they don't. He proudly adds that that decision hasn't earned them negative Blu-ray reviews; "just the opposite, it seems."

Crisp didn't shy away from the ongoing DNR debate. "I really do not like the super clean, waxy look that is often the result of over-processing," he said. "It not only buries detail, but it gives the film an odd feel to it, an artificial feel, that I think detracts from the achievement of the filmmakers and is distracting to discerning viewers, all of which ultimately just cheats the audience. Most filmmakers know what they are doing with the resources at hand and our job, after all, is to replicate the vision of the filmmaker, not to impose our own aesthetic outlook on a film. People are entitled to their opinion on this subject, and lots of people have opinions on this, but we try to take a fairly authentic and neutral approach to every title - and they all differ in certain ways - so that each title looks, feels, sounds, like a product of its time and place, while trying to make them look their absolute best on Blu-ray. And, that's kind of what it's about, you know? [...]"

Amen.

#1057: Taxi Driver

8:53 PM / Blu-ray / 4 Comments

(BD, Sony Pictures, Region ABC, USA)

...a.k.a. Classic Movie Michael Hasn't Seen #1290830280280.

Note to UK peeps: the US version is a steal for $12.99 at Amazon.com. Even taking into account shipping costs, it works out at less than the cheapest price I could find for the as-yet-unreleased UK version.

BD impressions: London Boulevard

10:03 PM / BD Impressions / 2 Comments

The film: There are some good ideas in LONDON BOULEVARD, William Monahan's adaptation of the Ken Bruen novel of the same name - itself something of a take-off of SUNSET BOULEVARD, mixing the story of a man who becomes infatuated with a reclusive movie star together with an east end gangster plot. Unfortunately, it all gets a bit muddled, with what should have been the main focus - the growing bond between Colin Farrell's en-con and Keira Knightley's skittish starlet - being given short shrift, playing second fiddle to the hackneyed gangster storyline, which revels in the sort of movie stereotypes most people will call to mind when they hear the words "east end gangster".

The supporting cast is top notch, with Ray Winstone bringing some genuine menace to the role of crime boss Rob Gant, despite the character being a walking, talking cliché - right down to the casting of Winstone himself. Anna Friel does a nice turn as Farrell's flighty, drugged-up sister, and David Thewlis is amusing as an unemployed actor-turned-producer ("I was on a kid's show... then I was on methadone... then I was a producer"). Knightley is good if sadly underused, and as another reviewer noted, it's nice that directors have started to acknowledge the fact that she has a very odd-looking face (in the best possible way) rather than hiding it. Farrell, however, feels like the weakest link. He's the glue that's supposed to hold it together, uniting the various disparate plot strands, but he's a fairly ineffectual presence, and as a result I suspect the film's failure to come together as a whole is largely because of him. 6/10

Image quality: MPEG-2. In 2011. Huh. Still, I don't think any would deny that it's very impressive-looking MPEG-2 - better even than KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, the previous reigning champ of MPEG-2 encodes (and, as coincidence would have it, also penned by William Monahan). Detail is very good, taking into account that some shots are naturally softer than others due to the focus, while the light grain is rendered very well for the most part, with some slight artefacting in the shadows visible on occasions. Regardless of the codec, it's a very good result. 9.5/10

London Boulevard
studio: Entertainment in Video; disc country: UK; region code: B;
codec: MPEG-2; aspect ratio: 1.85:1