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Re: So what are you watching tonight?
grunt #325160 10/07/10 09:32 PM
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I just watched “The Adventures of Robin Hood” (1938) on Blu-ray. I forgot how much I liked it, not to mention it’s tempo is so shockingly more subdued than the recent “Prince of Persia. . .” movie I watched a couple days ago.

I hadn’t read a review of the BD prior to watching this but expected the transfer to be good based on “Casablanca.” It doesn’t disappoint. The PQ is mostly stunning. I love the look of old Technicolor films with their over-the-top colours popping off the screen. There were a few “outdoor” scenes which were distractingly noticeable that they were shot indoors due to the vividness of the foreground and muted nature of the background. There was also some inconsistence in the grain between some scenes. Blu-ray.com says that this wasn’t noticeable but I saw it quite easily.

The SQ wasn’t much to speak of. I think the second biggest thing next about HT next to convenience that’s spoiled me is multi-channel audio. None of the DSP selections save “All Channel Stereo” send anything to the surround channels and of course no LFE. Other than that the SQ was fine from a listening perspective.

If you like old movies and don’t already have this one or want a PQ improvement then this is a good deal. It will be interesting to contrast this one with the new one that just came out.




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Re: So what are you watching tonight?
grunt #325165 10/07/10 10:32 PM
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I didn't know until fairly recently, that Basil Rathbone(THE Sherlock Holmes) played one of the baddies in that movie...Sir Guy of Gisbourne.


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Re: So what are you watching tonight?
Adrian #325192 10/08/10 06:28 AM
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Trying out Community. I'm laughing enough so far. I've always liked Joel McHale in his interviews with Letterman and Conan, but I'd never seen him in his own shows. He's good.

Re: So what are you watching tonight?
CV #325237 10/09/10 07:21 AM
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The Social Network

Really good movie. I swear. I will be owning it.

Re: So what are you watching tonight?
CV #325258 10/10/10 12:01 AM
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I just finished watching “Darker Than Black” a 25 +1 OVA episode story arc based anime series on 6 disks, though I watched streaming on Netflix.

The PQ and animation are pretty good most of the time but nothing to win any awards. 1.78:1 aspect ration of most anime these days is nice for filling up the big screen thus enhancing immersion. For the most part the animation is fluid and characters all drawn distinctively w/o resorting to bizarre cloths or hair styles to distinguish them. Action scenes are also well animated.

The soundtrack is only 2.0 but comes across loud and clear. Despite only being 2.0 there’s lots of ambient stuff being pulled out and sent to the other speakers. So it’s often quite enveloping. Not much in the way of LFE however. The soundtrack was composed by Yoko Kanno which is almost immediately noticeable though probably not her best work.

The story, set mostly in modern Japan, is about people called “contractors” who’ve developed special powers after the appearance of two “gates” (not ever really explained) on the earth. Similar to Full Metal Alchemist it’s based on story arcs each lasting a couple of episodes which ensures they are not rushed but also not bogging down the overall plot progression. Most major and even some minor characters get some focus with the lead even changing in some of the arcs. One odd but nice thing for me is that most all the characters are likable, even most of the bad guys. Far from making this lame it actually fits with the main focus on the “contractors” who are just really doing their jobs.

The interesting thing about the powers of the “contractors” that sets this apart from all the other magic power anime is that the “contract” involves each of them having to pay a sort of penance for using their power. On character has to dislocate his fingers, another smoke cigarettes, another write poetry and so on. Makes for some interesting moments in the show.

This show won’t be for everyone but for me it has just the right balance of action/drama and intrigue. The atmosphere is dark but not broodingly so. Overall I’d rate it a 4.5 out of 5.

Side note this is the first full series I’ve watched on Netflix. Have to say I loved the experience. Not having to get up and change disks right after a cliffhanger was nice. And not having to watch Hulu commercials was a blessing for marathon watching this series. As Netflix adds more series to there instant watch list I will be visiting a lot more. Between instant watch and Blu-ray rentals it’s the best $12 I’m spending on entertainment a month.


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Re: So what are you watching tonight?
grunt #325323 10/11/10 03:48 AM
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My sister sent me this. Disturbing.

Watch A Cute Girl Morph Into Jared Leto

Re: So what are you watching tonight?
CV #325327 10/11/10 05:09 AM
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I just watched “Ergo Proxy,” a 25 episode existentialist/Scifi (for lack of a better term) anime on six disks.

Ok this one is not for your mecha, high school, or magic girl crowd but rather a more cerebral existentialist cyberpunk group. While it can often become fairly obtuse it seldom becomes as distractingly surreal as something like “Serial Experiments Lain.”

Despite it’s often overall darkness and muted colours it’s combination of 2D cell and 3D CGI looks quite good. Although Netflix lists this as a 1.33:1 aspect ratio it is in fact 1.78:1 which goes a long way to pull you into the well crafted world. There are many shortcuts taken in the animation like having half the characters be expressionless androids who’s mouths don’t even move when talking, and often not showing human characters faces when they are talking. However, for the most part the PQ is very good.

The SQ is even better than the PQ. Both Netflix and some reviews say it a 2.0 audio track but the disks I got also have both Dolby 5.1 and DTS 5.1 English tracks. The SQ is very good with lots of ambient surround sound and at least some directional stuff with some pretty good LFE added in. The music also does a good job in helping the mood.

While this is mostly suspense and drama there is some action mixed in though don’t coming looking for much comedy here. For the most part the story flows smoothly w/o any real story arcs except the main plot. There are some episodes that break from the main plot to fill in some back-story but otherwise it’s fairly linear. However, there are two episodes that just don’t fit. One is a game show and the other a “cartoon.” Both distract from the feel of the show quite a bit. I found both episodes very annoying but the game show one does fill in a lot of back-story in places, but I just didn’t care for the cartoon one.

All in all I’d give this anime a 4/5 stars as very mature, cerebral and somewhat philosophical story. If those description don’t make you want to rush out and see it then I highly suggest you don’t. OTOH if you like that sort of stuff it’s a very good watch which can be done over time or marathoned.


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Re: So what are you watching tonight?
grunt #325329 10/11/10 05:26 AM
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I started that series but got distracted by other things after a few episodes. I need to try it again. My friend recommended it to me. I do remember liking the audio.

Re: So what are you watching tonight?
CV #325331 10/11/10 07:43 AM
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Still working on Community. Señor Chang is the highlight.

Re: So what are you watching tonight?
CV #325332 10/11/10 10:35 AM
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Originally Posted By: CV
My sister sent me this. Disturbing.

Watch A Cute Girl Morph Into Jared Leto

She REALLY knows her makeup.... and she really is cute.

It was funny to watch this, as I looked up Jared Leto yesterday on IMBD.

Joyce had Panic Room on HBO in the kitchen yesterday, and I walked by and said "that guy looks like Jared Leto", and so I looked it up to see if I was right....


::::::: No disrespect to Axiom, but my favorite woofer is my yellow lab :::::::
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