Films (Almost Entirely Surround)

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well , it really ain't no "SURROUND MOVIE", but man, I just got home from "2001: a space odyssey" in IMAX!!!!!!

So...what did you think? Overall I thought it was worth the time, but I found the image quality frustratingly variable. I don't think it was anything the theater did wrong but something in the source material or the digitization or...I just don't know. Parts of it were incredibly sharp while other parts seemed to be a blur (and I'm not talking about deliberate focus/composition things).

The shots that always stand out to me are the closeups of Bowman during the "You're working up your crew psychology report" scene. The color and clarity of those are usually spectacular, but looked absolutely awful at the IMAX showing I went to. It didn't just lack sharpness but the color was way off--had it been on TV I'd have reached for the remote to crank it down.

[Spoilers follow!]

On the other hand, I noticed things I don't remember seeing before, for example, when Floyd calls his daughter, there's a bank of digital clocks to his left with cities ("Bombay", "Sydney", "San Francisco", etc.). Speaking of Floyd, I've known forever that the scene where the stewardess picks up his floating pen was done by attaching the pen to a rotating sheet of glass. You can tell that the stewardess' nails actually make contact with the glass when she picks it up. What I never noticed until last night is that while she's doing that in the lower right of the frame, the actual rotating glass is painfully visible in the upper right. There's a really obvious scratch that the light catches perfectly. I could read some of the menu on the food dispenser in the shuttle (the last item is Apple Juice) and realized there's a General Mills logo on Discovery's food dispenser.

Another thing that surprised me: The scene where the stewardess (from the audience's perspective) walks up the wall and onto the ceiling has always had a brief flicker when she takes her first step up. I've always assumed that's because it was accomplished by having the entire set and the camera rotate in tandem, so once she starts walking and the set's presumably huge motor starts up, the initial power demand is enough to dim the lights. Unless I blinked at exactly the wrong time, that flicker has been "corrected" for the IMAX release.

I think the audio, at least in Bakersfield, is the original Todd-AO mix, that is, five channels behind the screen and mono surround. There were a few times it seemed like there was a difference between right and far right, though it's certainly possible it was an illusion. I also got the impression that no tricks were played to clean up the audio, so there was some hiss, though I'd rather have that than any artifacts that its attempted removal might cause. It was also just a hair too loud (an exhibition problem, not a mastering problem) and was right at the edge of what both my hearing and the theater's equipment could deal with comfortably.

When it was reissued in 2001, I was lucky to see the same 70mm print in both Seattle and San Francisco. There was one major change they made for that mix that I didn't hear in IMAX last night or on the new 70mm print that's making the rounds: After "THE END" and the screen goes black but the music continues to play, the 2001 mix very obviously brings up the rear channels so the music envelops you.

Overall, I'm very glad that I went. I was able to sit absolutely dead center in the middle of the theater and it was very enjoyable. But I just can't shake the feeling that the IMAXification is just not as sharp as good 70mm. There was an email address at the very end to contact their quality control person, I'm kinda tempted...but as you can tell, I'm an obsessed fanboy and possibly easily dismissed.

I may just have to go see it again locally tomorrow...
 
Thanks for the report, atrocity.

It'll be interesting to see 2001 on 4K (once I upgrade). I remember noticing things on BD that I hadn't seen on DVD, so I'll keep an eye out for what you've mentioned when I see it on 4K.

Yeah, I'm with you on the hiss. Better to leave it if removing it will muck things up. 2001 and The Shining PCM 5.1 on BD are pretty hissy.
 
So...what did you think? Overall I thought it was worth the time, but I found the image quality frustratingly variable. I don't think it was anything the theater did wrong but something in the source material or the digitization or...I just don't know. Parts of it were incredibly sharp while other parts seemed to be a blur (and I'm not talking about deliberate focus/composition things).

The shots that always stand out to me are the closeups of Bowman during the "You're working up your crew psychology report" scene. The color and clarity of those are usually spectacular, but looked absolutely awful at the IMAX showing I went to. It didn't just lack sharpness but the color was way off--had it been on TV I'd have reached for the remote to crank it down.

[Spoilers follow!]

On the other hand, I noticed things I don't remember seeing before, for example, when Floyd calls his daughter, there's a bank of digital clocks to his left with cities ("Bombay", "Sydney", "San Francisco", etc.). Speaking of Floyd, I've known forever that the scene where the stewardess picks up his floating pen was done by attaching the pen to a rotating sheet of glass. You can tell that the stewardess' nails actually make contact with the glass when she picks it up. What I never noticed until last night is that while she's doing that in the lower right of the frame, the actual rotating glass is painfully visible in the upper right. There's a really obvious scratch that the light catches perfectly. I could read some of the menu on the food dispenser in the shuttle (the last item is Apple Juice) and realized there's a General Mills logo on Discovery's food dispenser.

Another thing that surprised me: The scene where the stewardess (from the audience's perspective) walks up the wall and onto the ceiling has always had a brief flicker when she takes her first step up. I've always assumed that's because it was accomplished by having the entire set and the camera rotate in tandem, so once she starts walking and the set's presumably huge motor starts up, the initial power demand is enough to dim the lights. Unless I blinked at exactly the wrong time, that flicker has been "corrected" for the IMAX release.

I think the audio, at least in Bakersfield, is the original Todd-AO mix, that is, five channels behind the screen and mono surround. There were a few times it seemed like there was a difference between right and far right, though it's certainly possible it was an illusion. I also got the impression that no tricks were played to clean up the audio, so there was some hiss, though I'd rather have that than any artifacts that its attempted removal might cause. It was also just a hair too loud (an exhibition problem, not a mastering problem) and was right at the edge of what both my hearing and the theater's equipment could deal with comfortably.

When it was reissued in 2001, I was lucky to see the same 70mm print in both Seattle and San Francisco. There was one major change they made for that mix that I didn't hear in IMAX last night or on the new 70mm print that's making the rounds: After "THE END" and the screen goes black but the music continues to play, the 2001 mix very obviously brings up the rear channels so the music envelops you.

Overall, I'm very glad that I went. I was able to sit absolutely dead center in the middle of the theater and it was very enjoyable. But I just can't shake the feeling that the IMAXification is just not as sharp as good 70mm. There was an email address at the very end to contact their quality control person, I'm kinda tempted...but as you can tell, I'm an obsessed fanboy and possibly easily dismissed.

I may just have to go see it again locally tomorrow...

oh , yeah , there were MANY things that I noticed ipn the big screen this time, even though I am sure you can see them on the DVD./BD...the IBM computer (the HAL theory gets even more interesting..!), the WHIRLPOOL oven on the lunar shuttle... etc..
yes, the image was sometiimes sketchy, sometimes REALLY GOOD!!!.. maybe the source was not the same for all of the film... what I found was that the music was really distorted (although in STEREO) but the dialogue was crisp...
the scene where the high pitched sound that the monolith emits in the Moon was PAINFULLY loud.. I had to cover my right ear (the SENSITIVE ONE)...
All in all , it was a wonderful experience which I would LOVE to do again!!!
If any of you have the opportunity, do not hesitate.. that is how it was meant to be experienced!!!
 
yes, the image was sometiimes sketchy, sometimes REALLY GOOD!!!.. maybe the source was not the same for all of the film...

I learned last night that the majority of digital IMAX theaters are running 2k...half the resolution of a cheap modern TV. I think that explains everything. Knowing that now, I'm surprised that any of it looked as good as it did but am no longer mystified why the bad parts looked bad.

There are also issues with the OCN. It's been printed a LOT and apparently has damaged sections and dupe sections. Allegedly color separations exist but have never been used for a full restoration.

what I found was that the music was really distorted (although in STEREO) but the dialogue was crisp...

For some reason, the "Requiem for [long list]" when played during the monolith-on-the-moon scene has always been filled with weird, frequent dropouts. I should double-check some day to make sure I'm not missing that problem during the other times it's played. It really stood out for me this time.
 
Allegedly color separations exist but have never been used for a full restoration.

According to restoration guru Robert Harris, a set of color separations was made in London of the original long cut and a second set made in the US after the post-premiere cuts were made.

Elsewhere I've seen Harris claim that the cut material is nothing to get excited about, but I'd sure love to see it. Kubrick always claimed that he made the cuts voluntarily (and thus never allowed their restoration), but the recent making of book suggests that he was heavily pressured by a panicking MGM. He also didn't just cut, he repeated a shot of the monolith before the tool-discovery scene to make the monolith's influence more obvious. He also inserted the "Jupiter Mission 18 Months Later" title.

Now that I know that "The radio is still dead" line refers to a deleted event, it bugs me every time.

I can understand not wanting to modify a movie that's been in its current form for over 50 years now, but I'd sure love to see those deleted scenes even just as standalone bonus material.
 
Just when we were starting to feel 'comfortably satisfied' with our 4K OLED displays........LG is at it again: https://www.highdefdigest.com/news/...3inch-microled-display-first-8k-oled-tv/42428

LGE_8K-OLED-TV_01.jpg
 
The Native 4K UHD BD~V of ACROSS the UNIVERSE is absolutely Spectacular. A major upgrade from the 1080p BD~V replete with a Dolby Atmos Soundtrack which will blow you away. Cameos by Joe Cocker, Bono and Eddie Izzard [as Mr. Kite]. The colors are dazzling and Julie Taymor's direction, set designs and costumes all add to a wonderful 2+ hours.

Blu~Ray.com's review: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Across-the-Universe-4K-Blu-ray/192175/#Review












192175_large.jpg


Large:
Front

 
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GREASE is the word......especially in Paramount's spectacular Native UHD 4K transfer. It's showing its age a bit...after all it WAS made in 1978, but unless you saw it in its original theatrical run [or in 70mm 6 track] you've NEVER seen it quite like this. Highly Recommended!

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Grease-4K-Blu-ray/199056/#Review
 
I watched the new BD release of Peter Medak's underseen ghost story The Changeling (1980) last night.

1. Freakin' awesome story.
2. New 5.1 mix. In terms of discrete sounds coming from the surrounds, they're mostly occasional and restricted to plane engines, clapping, orchestra and other noises that relate to the story.
3. DTS-MA fidelity was really good and added to the scares.
4. Got some all-over goosebumps even though I'd seen it before.
5. George C. Scott was superb as usual.
6. Lots of extras including the score on CD.

You can buy it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07B61G8J9/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
Just finished watching Oliver Stone's excellent Snowden film. For Peter Gabriel fans, the closing titles feature a song entitled The Veil in 5.1.
 
Hereditary (2018): Freaky and enjoyable horror with some very effective and discreet use of surround. They even remembered to pan things around as the camera moved, which most movies forget about.

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018): I enjoyed it more than the previous 3 SW releases but didn't find the audio particularly spectacular. As y'all know, SW movies have music pretty much constantly but on this one, it seemed to interfere with the movie sounds a bit much. Oh well, I still thought the movie was alright.
 
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