criterionforum.org

Did the Optimum Blu-ray of Persian Cats get canceled?

Persian Cats was getting a release from Network, not Optimum and it appears it's no longer listed on their web site, only DVD edition.

Review of the new Pianist Blu-ray

Look at the first additional screen capture, Brody looks very waxy.

Looks like a repackaging of the original Optimum release. Meh. That better not be the case with Mulholland Drive.

Quick report on the new Studio Canal/Optimum Mulholland Drive Blu:

First big relief - there is no PAL speedup pitch anomaly in the audio, as was the case on the previous HDDVD. I haven’t noticed the vertical banding described in that release either, or any other digital artifacting. DNR isn’t a problem and light grain is present throughout.

If people complain about ‘softness’ or ‘lack of contrast’, they’ve likely forgotten both how this looked cinematically and on the SD DVD! The blu represents the dreamy diffuse look well with detail as and when the lighting etc affords it. The image this reminds me of most would be Universal’s 12 Monkeys – it seems similar lens filters and such were used in both and, as with that disc, one wonders whether a newer higher-k scan would yield better results. Who knows?

Comparing directly with the region1 SD (which I was very happy with after owning the dreadful Uni R2), the look and colour palette is exactly the same, with about the improvement you’d expect from the step up. It looks much better on the projector, while the DVD is a bit smeary. The low light scenes are much tighter as well.

Screencaps here

Great news! I'm glad I didn't wuss out of preordering it.

I should mention, for those who care, Laura Elena Harring still has her modesty (digitally) preserved.

He's traded up for a Naomi Watts' Eyes fetish

For anyone who is remotely skeptical about the Mulholland Drive Blu-ray: do me a personal favor and don't be. I know how badly you want to shit on Studio Canal but this release is visually spectacular, and is one of the best BDs I own upon arrival. If there's anything to complain about, it is that this is [like any good Lynch film] not recommended for apartment viewing while others closeby are sleeping: the audio track goes up from earplugged chess match during dialogue scenes to airplane taking off during loud moments (the historically terrifying diner scene, the car crash, the smashing-up of the limo, the office building gun'fight')... but I can't stay mad at this Blu-ray. A pitch-perfect transfer of a pitch-perfect film.

So far, so ehhhh for the The Graduate release. The transfer isn't bad per se, but it is quite yellow compared to the American Blu-ray transfer, and not having seen it on the big screen, I'm not sure whether to consider that a good thing. Very nice depth, grain, and flicker though; with edge enhancement only noticable at certain far distances (good example: Hoffman at the bottom of the steps being beckoned to bring Bancroft's purse upstairs). This scene shows quite a bit of heavy edge enhancement when you try to focus your eyes on Hoffman's face, it's sort of a heap of blackish lines and some tan flesh, any nuances on his face are lost to the transfer. It's not all bad, but it could be a lot better! And oh, this commentary track: so literal! I've been watching for some time now and nothing has remotely made me think. A lot of it is just repeating what's going on onscreen. What I wouldn't do for a proper scholary track for this film.

So, correct me if I'm wrong, the general concensus on the third wave of Studio Canal Collection is:

EXCELLENT
Le Cercle Rouge
Delicatessen
Mulholland Drive
A Bout de Souffle

FLAWED
The Third Man
The Graduate
The Pianist

Which suggest that Canal are on the right track but still need to tighten up their quality control if they want to be mentioned in the same breath as Criterion, the BFI and Masters of Cinema.

A Bout de Souffle needs to be on the flawed list with its excessive contrast boosting and subtitle sync problems.

Good to hear about Mulholland Drive though, i feared it was going to use the pal master.

EXCELLENT
Le Cercle Rouge
Delicatessen
Mulholland Drive

FLAWED
A Bout de Souffle
The Third Man
The Graduate
The Pianist

Hmm, now it looks a lot less impressive. Still a long way to go, it seems.

broadwayrock wrote:A Bout de Souffle needs to be on the flawed list with its excessive contrast boosting and subtitle sync problems.

Good to hear about Mulholland Drive though, i feared it was going to use the pal master.

The A Bout de Souffle is certainly not flawed. Subtitle sync is not a matter of serious concern and the contrast boosting is there but not "excessive" (usually Criterion territory).
I have the SC and the Criterion on BD. IMO, both have their pros and cons.

For me, Le cercle rouge is excellent, but with an asterisk: it possesses some of the same strange black grain in light areas that Breathless has. Otherwise, it looks amazing.

I'm not saying the SC is bad, its a good disc for someone who is region locked. but compared to the Criterion, it is flawed.

Look the details in the highlights and slight cropping on the left and bottom of the frame:

SC BR 01
CR DVD 01
SC BR 02
CR DVD 02
SC BR 03
CR DVD 03

Thank you for the caps, but to my eyes both have their shortcomings. The Criterion looks overall (too) dark (therefore losing information) and the SC have some instances of blown out brightness which results in unevenness within certain frames and - ironically - as a consequence also loses details.
In motion the Criterion looks certainly cleaner, smoother and as a whole more balanced, whereas the SC possesses an unprocessed and unmanipulated rawness which is for me more appropriate to the film (i.e. "film like").

The A Bout de Souffle is certainly not flawed. Subtitle sync is not a matter of serious concern

I disagree: the subtitles for particular lines appear well before they are spoken, and often linger afterward. The result really disrupts the timing of the film.

Aside from this, the quality of the translation is much poorer than is the case for the Criterion version.

About "The Third Man", the Euro disc is Region B, the Lionsgate is Region A.

Here's something: Is the Lionsgate missing the "Shadowing The Third Man" documentary? I found a scan of the back case and it's not listed, a review I read didn't mention it, but it is on the Region B disc...

Why would they leave that significant piece off? If it's a rights issue, it's a dumb place to slap them with...

clydefro's excellent review of Le Cercle Rouge

edit:

Digital Fix review of Mother

Delighted to see the Optimum Blu is nearly identical to the excellent A/V of the Korean release

Finished the Delicatessen Blu which, while not a demo disc as I first thought upon seeing some of the Beaver caps (the image can be inconsistent: several scenes do look excellent but there are also a handful of shots that are barely looking better than an upscaled DVD), it still provides a solid HD image, and I thought the essay was a very good read. A worthwhile upgrade for anyone who loves the film but the Lionsgate DVD will probably be more than good enough for more casual fans.

My review of Le Cercle Rouge here:
http://michaelgloversmith.wordpress.com ... ed-circle/

The Studio Canal Blu Ray version of Le Cercle Rouge seems to be unanimously praised, so I hesitate to express a concern here. During the final shootout the image was so dark that I could not see what was going on, could not recognize characters as they fell. I played the same scene on my Criterion disc, and while it also projects overall darkness, the characters were recognizable. My display has been professionally calibrated, and I never fiddle with brightness/contrast settings to remedy this type of problem. Since I have not seen the original theatrical release I cannot comment on the color balance of the two releases, but in my layman's opinion the Studio Canal disc is too dark. I read knowledgeable members of the forum comment that the film is supposed to be dark, but when in the crucial denouement of the film you cannot recognize the 3 main characters, perhaps the pendulum has swung too far.

So Studio Canal appears to have added more DNR to their Mulholland Drive BD on top of the DNR used for the HD-DVD version...

Whiggles