* Did you watch a film last night (on Blu or DVD), and what was it? *

[cjfrbw]

Hey, YashN, thanks for the great 4k reviews, you have a niche there.

Playing the 480p through my older Pioneer Elite DVD player does not seem to have the same visual impact as playing the same DVDs through the Samsung Blu Ray player then upscaled to 4K. I am finding the effect through the blu ray player to the 4k projector to have the same shadowy evocativeness of older film, rather than the new order of ultra sharp and ultra bright. I find it a bit puzzling to find this kind of comfort in DVDs of all things with all the new formats available.

I suppose one would have to see what I see to determine agreement or not. The blu ray player came with a couple of Blu ray discs, J Edgar, Dark Knight, and the Dark Knights predecessor. Those also look amazing, sharp, colorful upscaled to 4K, but they don't have that same suggestive, film-like, impressionistic effect while still having great color and contrast.

The effect also held for an old DVD copy of "The Matrix" that I had lying around.

Anyway, could just be my personal perversity. I like the 4K stuff I have seen as well, I am just surprised to be drawn in to the 480p stuff this way.

 

[YashN]

Hey, YashN, thanks for the great 4k reviews, you have a niche there.

Playing the 480p through my older Pioneer Elite DVD player does not seem to have the same visual impact as playing the same DVDs through the Samsung Blu Ray player then upscaled to 4K. I am finding the effect through the blu ray player to the 4k projector to have the same shadowy evocativeness of older film, rather than the new order of ultra sharp and ultra bright. I find it a bit puzzling to find this kind of comfort in DVDs of all things with all the new formats available.

You're welcome.

There definitely is a measure of nostalgia at play.

Witness the similar phenomenon we have seen with the adoption of Instagram - old style digital filters applied easily to modern pictures: the quality certainly isn't better, but people like it.

 

[NorthStar]

I watched The Accountant (2016) last night:

I liked the puzzle @ the beginning...I won't tell. And I liked the tune @ the end.
In the middle there were some parts a la Jack Reacher, John Wick, Jason Bourne, and other parts a la TV melodrama soap opera.

"The film follows a highly-functioning autistic small-town certified public accountant who makes his living uncooking the books of dangerous criminal organizations that are experiencing internal embezzlement."

But before getting there it is slow; we are first introduced to his childhood, his Dad raising him up and his brother. And his Mom simply cannot handle any of it, so she splits.

Ben Affleck doesn't seem to be the right guy for the role, IMO.
Jon Bernthal is efficient, till things truly fell apart @ the end...I won't tell.
J.K. Simmons is one of my favorite actors; this guy is a real professional. He is a delight watching doing his chops.

There are scenes that are just too painful watching; in the sense that it takes out of the movie to bring you back in kindergarten when we started losing our innocence. ...Way of speech to describe one aspect of boredom.

? Music by: Mark Isham (I like his music).

Overall it didn't gel together; it missed too many fundamentals...IMO. The few moments I was entertained were not supported by the rest, for an overall inferior experience. {- I have to admit that I can relate to Steve's impression here. And Steve didn't like it @ all.}

The Blu-ray is fine; picture and sound and dialog. It's the film that has no soul.
My rating score: 44 (very short of the minimum 65).

Last word: You might give it a rent and see what side of the fence you're in. Only for your own curiosity, not much else.

P.S. I was looking for an "honest trailer" but there are none...yet.
[The distance between zero and forty-four is short, accounting for not much, the one between sixty-six and ninety-nine counts]

 

[NorthStar]

I revisited this last night:

 

[NorthStar]

_____

Revisited (1977):

 

[NorthStar]

I revisited this last night:

 

[Mike]

I revisited this last night:

Why. It's awful

 

[Mike]

I revisited this last night:

Great flick.

 

[NorthStar]

Lol, the music score in Payback is great. And Mel Gibson is right in his element...with a bunch of funny criminal crooks/corrupted cops.
The assembled cast is special.

My stance in the face of Payback is a progressive upbeat jazz ? tune...a la Miles Davis defending his property with his gun. ...Frank Sinatra & gang. It has panache, flavor, humor.
You won't find these characters again together, unless Quentin Tarantino has a new plan.
Look @ each actor/actress in this flick; their performance interacting with each other.
It's a slick flick, with a high dose of adrenaline polished rush...well calculated, well constructed, with a unique "cool" atmosphere.

Yes, it's violent; it's a crime/action/drama/avant-garde jazz...neo-noir film.

Our way we approach films has a lot to do with our final verdict/critic.
It's our mood...it's different than a bottle of wine's taste. ...But when that bottle is empty @ the end...

????????? ------------------------------------- ??????? -----------------------------------_ ?????????

______

- Directed by Brian Helgeland
? Music by Chris Boardman

 

[Mike]

Ok Northtstar.

 

[NorthStar]

Ok Northtstar.

Ok Mike. You said why; I said [strike]Playback[/strike] Payback is like playing a 60s jazz LP. :b

 

[NorthStar]

I revisited this last night; Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

- Director: Ridley Scott
- Music by: Harry Gregson-Williams
- Starring: Eva Green, Liam Neeson, Orlando Bloom, Jeremy Irons

The music score is the star here, along with Eva Green. It's like an addictive trance, a guilty pleasure. 'Nuff said.

I watched the Director's Cut, only 194 minutes long...three hours plus.

Overall (Eva Green, cinematography and ? score emphasis): 70
______

???

? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrOSzvBX_i0&list=PL5DBF467628182C8B

 

[Ronm1]

^^^
Bob the extended version is the one to watch. It actually makes sense, they butchered the theatrical version IMHO

 

[NorthStar]

Yes Ron, the extended version is The Director's cut, the longest version (194 mins). ...The best one to watch, with more "flesh" (character development) to it.
...And with more ? music too. :b

Here: http://www.thedigitalbits.com/item/kingdom-of-heaven-ultimate-edition-bd

 

[audioguy]

Recognizing that I am more easily "entertained" than most, I thoroughly enjoyed The Accountant last night. It clearly was not Bob's deal, but that's what makes the world go round. The basis of the story, the background components, the relationship he had with the similarly gifted girl, the action scenes and the conclusion, all worked for me. And as a side note, the sound of those gun shots from that 50 calibre machine gun was amazing with four 18 inch subs, four 15 inch subs and 8000 watts of power driving them. I smiled a lot !!

 

[NorthStar]

I agree with you Chuck; films, music, cars, women, people, toys, audio gear, TVs, speakers, homes, wines, ...everything in life we have our preferences.

'The Accountant' has some parts that I also enjoyed. It's just that overall, @ the end...I came up with my own evaluation. I am extremely flexible.
It's cool too that you mentioned those three shots from the 50mm caliber sniper rifle. They sure sounded impacting.
The movie started great, with J.K. Simmons' feet advancing slowly and climbing the stairs, without knowing it was him. Only later on that we discovered it was him, near the end.
Yes, that was a nice montage, a good introduction and revelation.

I wasn't convinced by Ben and Anna. I think you can call it "synergy" with our own personal transmission chords, between the chemistry of actor's performance with our own cerebral affinities. It's a simple movie connection thing, a personal level that makes all of us invincible on our distinctive characteristics of movie critics.

The other day I recommended this film to a mid-age (60 to mid 70) young couple:

I enjoyed it myself, enough to recommend it to them. But they didn't like it; the man said that it was a kid movie. Ok, no problem.
They usually like my film recommendations, but this one wasn't one of them.
So yes, I understand very well our taste in films. ...And in life too. Because films, music, the way we live, connect with each other, with nature, all that jazz; is what makes us all who we are...beautiful people of various diversification and taste. It is the connection and respect of that connection we all have with everything in life that makes us thick one way or in the middle. Everything is important, all people are important, all taste, all differences, all precious life...all our children's children.

A guy like J.K. Simmons, IMO, deserves the best actors/actresses to play with him. In 'Whiplash' he was terrific.

Some violent films with gratuitous violence and blood (eg.; Tarantino), kids love it. ...And adults too. My Mom liked 'The Hateful Eight',

and me too. And I also know another woman of my age who doesn't like any violence in films. She is the sweetest woman I know, a lovely lady full of life's vibrancy.

Films and music recordings are artistic creations. They are like moving paintings, emotional transmitters.
We are passionate on emotions life give us, sweet emotions like trajectories of underwater arrows to the heart.
We vibrate to our own rhythm, to our own drum's beat. ...Tempo, tremolo, tone, presence...
'The Accountant', even with its good parts, on the ensemble, didn't get me an arrow into my heart. Way of speech of course, to get the illusion across.

I've just read this short review now: http://www.empireonline.com/movies/accountant/review/
His conclusion; I'm in a similar movie "bubble". ...Meaning I agree overall.

I too am entertained Chuck, very. With films, music, and everything else inside life. That's the reason why I am replying to you here, @ WBF.
By the way, Steve didn't like 'The Accountant'.

Thumbs down: The Accountant

"Saw this yesterday afternoon. MRQE.com gave it a 58 however Fandango scored it a 4.5/5 so we decided to see it

Big mistake

What a POS this film was. There was nothing redeeming in watching this film.

I would say wait until it's available as a rental but TBH it's not even worth that

Forget it "

I overall partially agree with him, and my rating score reflected that. But deep down inside we don't know exactly which specific parts, details, ...that derailed us. I have a strong feeling that some of them are similar. The final result is what our verdicts came to; our own personal transmission vibes towards films, towards 'The Accountant'.

Sorry for the long reply Chuck; I'm slowly recovering.

 

[audioguy]

By the way, Steve didn't like 'The Accountant'.

LOTS of people didn't like this movie. The movies reviewers who I usually agreed with were Siskel and Ebert who are no longer. But sometimes, even if they didn't like a movie, I still did.

Bob: What are you recovering from?

 

[NorthStar]

I am recovering from the lost of some good friends. ...Car crash.

 

[Mike]

I am recovering from the lost of some good friends. ...Car crash.

Sorry to hear that, Bob.

 

[Barry2013]

My sympathies Bob.
Stay strong and remember the good times with them