xyzzy
@xyzzy@lemm.ee
- Comment on Lionsgate will be releasing "FLIGHT RISK" on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on April 1. 2 days ago:
I can’t believe they didn’t include the second-best movie tagline ever on the cover
- Comment on Crocodile Dundee | New 'Encore Cut' removes footage from original film 3 weeks ago:
Yeah, I’m not going to lose sleep over it. Probably would’ve been better to have branching and a disclaimer, though.
Around Christmas I watched Holiday Inn for the first time, thinking it would be a nice movie starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. It began with an offensive content disclaimer, and I thought, oh, there’s probably some unflattering stereotypes. Then the full-on blackface musical number that included an offensive slur basically sucker punched me in the face. Really took me out of the movie.
I think it would be pretty hard to excise that one without losing a story beat, but these two Crocodile Dundee scenes are just dumb gags that contribute nothing.
- Comment on No, Sony Isn’t Ending Blu-ray Disc Production 4 weeks ago:
I mean, not really. This story and then the inevitable clarification have been going in a loop for several cycles now. No one buys BD-Rs (and never really have), but plenty of people still buy Blu-ray and 4K discs, just going by the huge volume of new titles constantly being released.
- Comment on Mill Creek is the Worst (The Rockford Files) 4 weeks ago:
They’ve done some good releases. They put out some truly incredible He-Man and the Masters of the Universe DVD sets at one point. But yeah, most of their stuff is bare bones. “Mill” is right there in the name.
I unfortunately bought my set of The Rockford Files from Amazon, and you should never buy box sets from that company because they’ll just end up crushed due to no-shits-given packing. I didn’t notice the damage within the return window, of course.
- Comment on Jackie Chan set to hit the action/comedy target with the home release of his latest adrenaline fueled family hit Panda Plan! 4 weeks ago:
Oh jeez. We get this, but no Cantonese dub and Hong Kong cut of Rumble in the Bronx or First Strike (Police Story 4), or Who Am I?, Thunderbolt, etc.?
I finally broke down and picked up the German release of First Strike. In typical German fashion it only has the Mandarin dub and not the Cantonese one.
I own just about every Jackie Chan movie through the early 2000s on Blu-ray, but most of his output from the last 20 years is pretty hard to justify buying. This is maybe the worst one.
- Comment on Lionsgate Limited will be releasing "THE THIRD MAN" Limited Edition 4K SteelBook on February 25. 5 weeks ago:
Almost certainly, but not right away. Previously there was a StudioCanal UK release in a limited edition box (Region B locked for the Blu-ray). And there are several European standard releases.
- Comment on Lionsgate Limited will be releasing "THE THIRD MAN" Limited Edition 4K SteelBook on February 25. 5 weeks ago:
That’s a nice cover. I’m in, obviously
- Comment on John Woo, Chow Yun-Fat Films Among Hong Kong Classics in Shout! Deal 5 weeks ago:
Just to impress upon folks the magnitude of this announcement, this the biggest news that’s ever been posted in this channel. The vast majority of these films have basically never been officially available on disc in the West.
There have been a couple of DVD releases of Hard Boiled and The Killer, including by Criterion. Dragon Dynasty released a typically mediocre Blu-ray of The Killer. For A Better Tomorrow, Bullet in the Head, Once a Thief, Prison on Fire, etc. you have to pick up a European release (usually region-locked, if you’re a North American fan). Many (all?) of these are bootlegs trying to pass themselves off as officially licensed releases.
The quality is what you would expect. They usually don’t have the original Cantonese soundtrack, let alone the original Cantonese mono soundtrack (the later mixes are sometimes very bad), and the picture quality is usually only passable. Sometimes they’re missing English subtitles. There are also region-free Taiwanese releases of some of these, but many are missing the international cuts.
It’s just a mess. This is the first opportunity that we’ll get many of these films in 4K or HD from new scans, with the original Cantonese mono, and with multiple cuts of the film.
- Comment on Alien: Romulus fixed a CGI issue for the home video release 1 month ago:
Member berries
- Comment on The future of Blu-ray is looking bleak (and that's a bad thing for everyone) 1 month ago:
It is what I would consider a word hanging from the cliff edge by its fingertips
- Comment on The future of Blu-ray is looking bleak (and that's a bad thing for everyone) 1 month ago:
This article is just a retread of the same things talked about for years. But boutique Blu-ray is still in a good place; there are more releases i’m Interested in than I keep up with, and particularly more 4K releases than ever.
One signal here is that some popular streaming series are still getting physical releases. Like, I didn’t think I’d see Severance or any of the Disney+ shows on Blu-ray, but here we are.
That said, now is the time to buy a dedicated player if you don’t already have one. Sony and Panasonic make the best ones, so it’s no accident they’re the last two manufacturers standing.
Nit picky: the word is “obsolescence,” not “obsoletion.”
- Comment on Paramount will be releasing "STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS - THE FINAL SEASON" and "STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS - THE COMPLETE SERIES" on Blu-ray on March 25. 1 month ago:
Before it aired I was extremely skeptical of the concept, but Lower Decks turned into one of my favorite Star Trek shows.
I own all the other seasons on Blu-ray, so I’m glad Paramount is putting out the final season alongside the complete series. So many companies just release a series set at the end, screwing over the fans who patiently bought each release.
- Comment on 2024 end-of-year 4K Blu-ray blowout 1 month ago:
It’s a really nice set
- Comment on 2024 end-of-year 4K Blu-ray blowout 1 month ago:
Oh, they absolutely are. I just prefer having a disc and case and don’t want to bother with doing it myself.
- Comment on 2024 end-of-year 4K Blu-ray blowout 1 month ago:
I liked the series. I actually bought a physical copy from eBay when they announced it was being removed, because I find this accounting strategy of deleting something from the universe forever completely outrageous. The bootleg is actually great: perfect quality and it even comes with a slip cover. Only downside is no chapter skips.
- Comment on I love 4K Blu-ray and although 2024 was a rollercoaster year to be a fan, I'm hopeful for 2025 1 month ago:
The other Arrow Shaw Brothers sets, the many wonderful sets from Shout, the releases from Criterion, Eureka, Vinegar Syndrome, and especially 88 Films…
They keep telling me that physical media is dying, but I’m buying more classic HK output than ever and I still can’t keep up!
- Comment on I love 4K Blu-ray and although 2024 was a rollercoaster year to be a fan, I'm hopeful for 2025 1 month ago:
There’s never been a better time to be a fan of Hong Kong cinema.
- Comment on Paramount will be releasing "GLADIATOR II" on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on March 4. 1 month ago:
“Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?”
Made for all the Joeys of the world
- Comment on Warner Bros. will be releasing "THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM" on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on March 4. 2 months ago:
That was me asking about thoughts on the film, not literally if you have left your house to go the theater and then return, lol
- Comment on Warner Bros. will be releasing "THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM" on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on March 4. 2 months ago:
Has anyone seen it yet?
- Comment on Is this the end? 2 months ago:
Ain’t happening. I finally bought a region-free 820 yesterday after talking myself out of the price for years.
- Comment on Is this the end? 2 months ago:
When’s the last time they updated them, 2018?
- Comment on Stop taking physical media fans for granted 2 months ago:
Most (not all) games run fine without downloads or patches. It’s not very common for a game to ship with game breaking bugs like Cyberpunk 2077 did.
Anyway, it doesn’t really matter, because if the Internet disappears due to some disaster, we’ll all have much bigger problems than playing video games.
- Comment on Stop taking physical media fans for granted 2 months ago:
The thing that gets me is that for films I’m really invested in, I’m always paranoid that the initial limited release with all the paper filler and the 2x, 3x, sometimes 4x (!) price point will contain a film cut not present in the subsequent releases.
For example, let’s say I prefer the theatrical cut of a film and the extended/director’s/some other cut is the only thing that seems to be able to get a release. The 4K limited edition comes out and it has both cuts on 4K. What are the chances subsequent releases aren’t just the revised cut?
Or take it the other way, preferring an extended cut you saw long ago but you can only get the theatrical now.
There’s only a handful of movies where this makes a difference for me, but I confess that I’ve paid the premium for the peace of mind of not having to wait for a follow-up release that may never come.
- Comment on Stop taking physical media fans for granted 2 months ago:
Your comment about PS5 games isn’t correct, except for obvious ones like online games. PS5 and Xbox Series (not hybrid) games come with the entire game on the disc with a relatively small number of exceptions. Switch is even better about it, and in those cases where it does need to download something, it’s called out on the case. Xbox dual releases (Xbox One and Series) come with the Xbox One release on disc and the other version must be downloaded.
- Comment on The average life of a Blu-ray collector 2 months ago:
I just picked up this. Why shouldn’t I buy it?
- Comment on I built a Home Theatre for the Price of a Soundbar, and it SLAPS! 2 months ago:
Almost anything sounds better than TV speakers, but if you’re going to spend the money, it really is better to just go to 5.1.
I’ve had a 5.1 setup for 20 years. Back then I was playing the original Xbox on 720p widescreen and surround speakers, and it was glorious. My first setup was the cheapest all-in-one speaker/receiver set available for a fresh college graduate earning next to nothing and deep in credit card and student debt.
I think I’ve gone through three sets of speakers now, three receivers, and two subwoofers. I like to stay up on technology, but you don’t really have to upgrade very often or at all, if you like. I currently have some pretty nice Pioneer speakers with towers for left and right, and I wired my room for 5.1 outlets when I renovated my basement earlier this year.
I thought about doing 7.1 or 7.2, but ultimately I didn’t want to cut holes and try to fish wire across and down with how my ceiling is. 4K and 5.1 will probably always be enough for me.
- Comment on 'Deadpool & Wolverine' Dominated October Disc Sales, Jumps to Top of Year-to-Date Chart - Media Play News 3 months ago:
I watched this on Disney+ tonight but didn’t really care for it. The multiverse stuff really ruins just about anything it touches, and the movie just seemed a little too mean spirited toward the classic characters.
- Comment on Filmmaker Oliver Stone on studios releasing older films on 4K Ultra HD 3 months ago:
Tom Cruise is a bit like Harrison Ford. They’re both good actors, but most of the time they’re playing themselves. Or maybe they both have such a force of personality that you only see the actor. Harrison For has had similar roles where he does a good job disappearing into the role, like Mosquito Coast and Regarding Henry.
- Comment on How Fans Saved Star Wars - Laserdisc Bootlegs (Part I) 3 months ago:
But those were like 1.0.1, 1.0.2… where the Special Editions would be 2.0. I don’t know that anyone really cares about the “mini” version changes. When they talk about the original, they mean 1.0.x.
