- On the whole, image quality is very good, streets ahead of anything we've seen before for this film and a marked improvement on noisy transfers like THE CAT O' NINE TAILS and Arrow's version of TENEBRAE. It's much better than I was expecting and it's really nice to be pleasantly surprised rather than let down. It's not razor sharp but at least in this case I think we can be reasonably confident that we're seeing the limitations of the source material rather than any fault in the transfer.
- There are a few minor flaws. First of all, there is some noticeable posterization in the first bedroom scene after Roberto "kills" his stalker. It's more distracting on a plasma display than an LCD.
- Second, in the park scene, like on the MYA DVD, there is an abrupt cut from day to night rather than the gradual fade that should take place over several shots.
- In attempting to correct the horizontal line that's visible during the slow-mo car crash at the end, they've ironically made the effect even more distracting. By the looks of it, they've simply cut the line out rather than painting over it, which means that there are several lines of vertical information missing, which really emphasises that the image is literally "chopped in two". In my opinion they should just have left the line as it was.
- Other than that, extremely good work on the video. Taking these flaws into account, it gets an 8/10 from me.
- Audio is, like the video, a vast improvement on the whole. The pitch problem that affected the MYA DVD is completely absent, though that's not surprising as Shameless seem to have used a different source - one that's much cleaner and almost completely devoid of any of the hiss, crackle or muffling often associated with films like these. Honestly, it's a revelation, and lines of dialogue that were previously hard to make out are now crystal clear.
- There are problems, though, all of which occur in the final 10 minutes. The snatches of Italian dialogue when Mimsy Farmer is confessing suffer from frequent ear-splitting cracks or pops. The tyres screeching and eventual explosion when the car hits the truck suffer from similar distortion. These problems are NOT present on the included Italian tracks.
- Also - and this is probably a more minor complaint - the sound cuts jarringly during the explosion at the end before the closing credits music ("Come un Madrigale") starts rather than fading between them as it did on the MYA DVD. And finally, after the closing credits, the music cuts out a couple of seconds before it should end, which is again jarring (though nothing like as bad as what happened on the Arrow PHENOMENA BD).
- Overall, an extremely welcome upgrade for a film that I automatically assumed would look average at best on BD (going by how many of these films have suffered from mediocre or poor HD transfers) but quite honestly it knocked my socks off. The audio problems in the final 10 minutes are sloppy and something I'd hope Shameless will look into - I'm not sure the pops and screeches in the final scenes could actually damage anyone's speaker equipment, but they're certainly not pleasant to listen to - but overall this is a very strong presentation and definitely one of the better-looking and -sounding gialli on BD.
Captures:
(BD, Shameless Screen Entertainment, Region ABC, UK)
All credit to Shameless, this is a very impressive presentation. Visually it's close to being the best-looking giallo I've seen on BD - no noise-riddled CRT transfer, this - and the audio is streets ahead of any previous release. Expect my full impressions later, but so far colour me impressed. I'd be lying if I said I had massive expectations for this release, so it's nice to be so pleasantly surprised.
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(BD, Studio Canal, Region B, UK)
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(BD, Icon, Region B, UK)
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The music sampled in this episode is from HANNA, DRIVE, TRUE GRIT, ARRIETTY, 13 ASSASSINS, ANGELS OF EVIL and BLACK SWAN.
Please note that we have NOT been able to play every single MP3 list we received. The response was far greater than we were expecting and some of the submitted MP3s were a little on the long side, which would have resulted in what was already a four-hour epic being extended to somewhere approaching the five-hour mark. As a result, we have played the first three MP3s we received and are holding the rest back for a standalone mini-episode to be made available in the near future. We hope you understand and are not too disappointed not to have had your clips featured in the episode itself.
Created by Lee Howard & Michael Mackenzie
Edited by Michael Mackenzie
Click image to enlarge to full size.
I no longer have my old Miramax DVD set so I've no way of comparing it, but I don't remember having seen anything like this in the past.
In addition, it would be good if someone could confirm, but I would assume that the UK Artificial Eye release, said to be derived from the same master, is similarly affected.
And on the subject of image problems on BD releases, is anyone as horrified as me by the captures Studio Canal have released of their upcoming DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS BD? It looks very much like their horrid DON'T LOOK NOW release was no fluke and that there is something seriously wrong with their remastering process.
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(BD, Artificial Eye, Region B, UK)
I was NOT a fan of Lars von Trier's previous film, ANTICHRIST. We'll see how this one fares...
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(BD, Artificial Eye, Region B, UK)
This was an extremely pleasant surprise - so much so that, after watching a rental, I immediately went online and ordered a retail copy, and it found its way into the upper echelons of my Top 10 of 2011. Kim Rossi Stuart is fantastic in it.
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(BD/DVD combo, Studio Canal, Region B/2, UK)
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(BD, Entertainment In Video, Region B, UK)
Getting my yearly Luc Besson brainless action movie fix...
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(BD, Momentum, Region B, UK)
]]>So, get in touch with us with your favourite films of 2011. Either list the films in order of preference or not, and use whichever criteria you like (e.g. theatrical release dates in your country, home video release dates, etc.), just as long as you let us know what they are. Also, feel free to let us know about your most hated and/or most disappointing film(s) of the year, and anything else that takes your fancy. Either post your comments here, or email them to moviematterspodcast[at]gmail[dot]com. Alternatively, feel free to get creative and submit your nominations in MP3 form. We've had a couple of these already and would love to feature more, time permitting.
Deadline is Saturday, January 21.
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(BD, Paramount, Region ABC, UK)
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(BD, Paramount, Region ABC, UK)
Do you like movies about gladiators?
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