The Official Films Thread

So you are the one buying discs :)

I thought Once Upon a time in hollywood sucked.

Luciferous said:

So you are the one buying discs :)

Seems so o:) 4K discs are the only way to get the best versions as fast as possibly on my TV, Netflix 4K is compressed and then I'd have to wait even longer to see the movies  B) And I like to have the possibility to watch movies when the zombies come and the internet goes down, lol (and Netflix has a way of removing and replacing movies after some time). 

Beware of the 12 Monkeys 2009 blu-ray release though - the transfer is quite bad, nearly looks more like a DVD version. Should have read this first - image quality rated only 3/5 for the blu-ray release...

- there's a new 2018 version though, which seems to be better. Unfortunately I didn't get that one. Still fun to watch the movie with my 12 yo son. 

Great film 12 monkeys.

Don't you just love when you order the much cheaper standard edition and some nice idio* *cough!* some kind dude makes an error and ships the limited edition steelbook instead?   :)



Note that Ad Astra is a true 4K release, the movie is not upscaled from 2K res. Atmos sound should be close to the best ever (5/5 - https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Ad-Astra-4K-Blu-ray/252161/ )

Also just got this one - it's a massive 8.6 on IMDB, can't wait to see it including HDR and Atmos sound! After comparing what the Sony 85" (series 9 panel) can do when it comes to colors, sharpness, motion flow (calculating more than 24 fps) and black levels I'm close to done going to the theaters. 



Yup - continuing the disc show, I can't be the only one in here supporting 4K discs producers?  B) :D 
The TV reveals all flaws, I'm really done viewing downloaded movies in severely compressed formats (MKV, HEVC, mp4 whatever) - guess that's an important thing to consider when buying a large TV with extremely clear image quality. 

Note that Joker is a true 4K movie, you'll really need the 4K version for optimal image quality - and it may just be close to the best 4K image quality ever (I've enhanced some of the text with bold and italics):

Btw, Ad Astra was not as good as I hoped for. It's not bad either, and may be considered an attempt to provide a post-modern version of 2001, lol. Maybe it's a more realistic, lonely and dark version of 2001. It's a movie that helps me accept not being an astronaut ;) Not sure Brad Pitt is my first choice for the main character in Ad Astra, but I never really liked Brad Pitt, he always fails to connect with me, but I did enjoy Fight Club...
Ad Astra has many great vistas and special effects, and plenty of spaceships, the movie is worth watching just for the tech show and the vision of the future. Can't decide if it's 6/10 or 7/10 - let's say 6.5/10. 

Got myself a couple of Shaun Of The Dead hoodies delivered last week. Got shafted by Customs for 12 quid though:

RuneSR2 said:

Fun thing, I did not watch the Oscar 2020 Academy Award show a few days ago - but after watching Joker last night I thought that Phoenix did the most impressive job - and then I checked and saw this, lol:

Never thought Phoenix could beat Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, but Phoenix did the impossible - and there's no doubt - I think this short user review from IMDB is spot on - this movie is a 10/10 (even if there are no spaceships in it ;-)

The 4K version is reference when it comes to 4K image quality, maybe topped only by Mortal Engines. Blacks are really blacks due to HDR and the resolution is so high it feels like swinging a microscope over Phoenix face from time to time. I could even clearly see the dirt under his bitten fingernails - which was kinda gross. Also his dirty teeth, and every skin imperfection, all his hair etc. This movie was so disturbingly clear I was thinking that maybe the more blurry blu-ray version would be better, lol - but the clarity did add presence like (close to) never before. Felt like watching a stream of photographs. There's a small amount of film grain used, but you don't notice it in most scenes. 

Sound and music were awesome too, and the 4K disc contains Dolby Atmos sound as usual - in fact the music may be another reason for buying the 4K disc version - Joker got a second Oscar:

After watching the film I was thinking that now I had just watched my very first superhero (ok, supervillain then) movie. Frank Miller would be proud - I hope, because this is the first movie from DC where I felt the atmosphere and story matched or transcended the best books. Ledger might still have delivered the best comic book Joker performance, but Phoenix just went beyond the books and made the Joker come out the books and made him into a real person. Like for the first time turning Pinocchio into a real boy ;)

I do think there might be an age problem though, unless we're going to see Batman beating up the elderly in later movies, but maybe some clever writer can fix that, lol.  

Note that Joker isn't for kids including young teenagers, not really because of violence, but this is a movie for adults. It's not funny nor is it an action movie, mostly I think - like Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns books - this is a film about society - a political film about wealth inequality and the consequences. A movie cleverly disguising and reflecting our current world. To quote the movie Seven:

"Wanting people to listen, you can't just tap them on the shoulder anymore. You have to hit them with a sledgehammer, and then you'll notice you've got their strict attention."

- and the Joker hits you with a sledgehammer like never before. You could say it's also a movie about the nature of being evil. - In psychology the term does not really exist, because being evil can be reduced to many different components, so is the Joker really evil - or sick - or a product of society - or everything combined (=sum of traumatic incidents and triggers)? That - together with Phoenix' godlike performance - make this movie a 10/10.

https://youtu.be/qdVAMime0g8

I still think that Jack Nicholson was the best Joker. People wouldn't have been raving about Ledger if he was still alive imo. Michael Keaton has also been the best Batman by far too. Those first two Tim Burton Batman films were awesome, particularly the second one with Michelle Pfeffer in a rubber catsuit lol :D

snowdog said:

I still think that Jack Nicholson was the best Joker. People wouldn't have been raving about Ledger if he was still alive imo. Michael Keaton has also been the best Batman by far too. Those first two Tim Burton Batman films were awesome, particularly the second one with Michelle Pfeffer in a rubber catsuit lol :D

Point taken with Nicholson, but I still think Phoenix is in a league of his own. Simply because the Joker no longer felt like some weird comic book character, but real. Being "real" (at least to some degree) is taking a step away from the original books, but I like it - also this new origin of the Joker feels much more logical and coherent, there's no longer any need the take a bad in strange chemical substances (at least not literally ;-). Also confirming what we know from normal life - thus the Joker isn't born as a Joker, but life turns him into the character. Love the many triggers in the movie - the movie is like a journey through triggers, lol. 

RuneSR2 said:

I consider myself reasonably lucky with the movies I've bought lately, because few sucked donkey balls. And even though I do not really like neither Brad Pitt nor Leonardo DiCaprio, Pitt did win an Oscar for the movie and I was looking forward to see "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood". Of course mostly because I'm a great fan of several Tarantino movies. 
But this movie really did suck donkey balls - at least the first 130 minutes of the 150 minutes or so - where literally nothing happened. Sure it was nice to go down memory lane and see the sunny Hollywood in the year of 1969, and yes I did enjoy Margot Robbie in pure 4K res - then again who wouldn't :blush:


But in the end this was like $30 down the drain - this is by far not a normal Tarantino movie. There's close to no action or coherent nor interesting story. I was hoping Tarantino could force Brad Pitt into unusual roles (like Travolta in Pulp Fiction), but Brad Pitt and DiCaprio were just like you've seen them in most of their other movies. None of them expressed many emotions, neither anger or happiness - ok, DiCaprio maybe a little - but emotionally everything - apart from maybe 10 minutes - was just ... dull. I've got no clue why Pitt won an Oscar for this semi-mediocre performance. I get it why Phoenix won for the Joker - because Phoenix totally owned that Oscar - but Pitt!?!? 
If you miss reliving the summer of 1969 in Hollywood, see this collection of scenes - if you want an interesting story or action look elsewhere. I'd rated the movie 4/10, thank you Margot ;) Music and sound were great though. 

I think these reviews are really spot on:



Btw - regarding any bias - I'd rate both Pulp Fiction and Hateful Eight 10/10.