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The HD Movie thread

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mattiewheels said:
who's getting persepolis tomorrow? i sure am.

persepolis-poster-1.jpg


i hope it's got the english AND the french audio tracks.
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Me me me.
 
OokieSpookie said:
Sweeney Todd 10/21/08
Zodiac 10/08
The Mist (2007) 9/16/08

Bourne, American Gangster, and Serenity are also locked for 08 but no set date yet.
There are per Geonosis on bluray.com who has been batting 100%

Amusing side note for those that were on hddigest during the format wars, the flaw known as spartanjohnson is now running around trying to be the blu news person :lol
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The Zodiac date has me ecstatic. Where did you see this, Ookie? Sweeney is also going to get boughten... Yes!
 
Very excited about Persepolis and Men in Black.

Hey, a question revisited:

We're having our living room remodelled and than mean that the projector is going in the ceiling. That also means no more easy access to cables, so I am inclined to get a new receiver that can put everything out over HDMI. Thoughts? What's good for this, and is there any lag?

I'm not too concerned about non-HDMI sources looking slightly worse, as most of my inputs will be HDMI or SVGA for the laptop.
 
Pizza Luigi said:
Anybody knows when Cloverfield is being released in the Netherlands/EU?
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It's on Amazon Uk announced for September 8th but why don't you just buy the US disc? It's codefree.

BTW Axelmusic did just send me 2 mails that Gotham Knight and Batman begins are being processed. :D
 
More from the EMA conference in vegas :

Warner Home Video has revealed a piece of their upcoming Blu-ray releases scheduled for this fall at the Entertainment Merchants Association Conference in Las Vegas. At the event, they confirmed (again) that HBO's ground-breaking WWII series 'Band of Brothers' would be released this fall on Blu-ray.
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And one that I am happy about :

Acclaimed theatrical troupe Cirque du Soleil is set to make their high-def debut this September, when Sony Pictures releases their latest live spectacular 'Corteo.'
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Just got back from Best Buy with Persepolis. I saw it in the theater, so I'm not in a rush to watch it again, but I'm actually interested in checking out the new English dub.
 
Ignatz Mouse said:
Any opinions on the Onkyo TX-SR606?
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Onkyo's DAC's are pretty questionable and their HDMI units have had popping problems for the last few years. I would go with the same model Yamaha personally, probably cost about 200 dollars more, but much better audio quality.
 
Stooge, as a non-audiophile, what is questionable?

And popping problems-- meaning popping noises?

What I am looking for is a receiver which will handle all my inputs and get them to my (soon to be 20 feet away) projector. Flexibility and number of inputs is important, and I'm also wondering if there is any lag going from a non-HDMI source out the HDMI jack.

$200 is going to be a big deal, since I'm still fairly happy with my 5-year-old receiver's sound.
 
Would Persepolis make for a good blind buy? One of the movies I really wanted to see last year but never got around to it. Also, how's the PQ?
 
Duderz said:
Would Persepolis make for a good blind buy? One of the movies I really wanted to see last year but never got around to it. Also, how's the PQ?
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While I can't comment on the Blu-Ray, I can say that the film itself is a damn fine movie, following the life of a girl growing up during the Iranian Revolution, leaving to study abroad, and then returning as an adult, all told with plenty of humor and insight. The animated style of the film captures the feel of the comic perfectly, looks fantastic, and will probably be incredibly clean on Blu-Ray.

FnordChan
 
PQ on persepolis is perfect. i'm listening to the english track because i was really interested in it since i heard about it, but i think this the french actors suit everything much better.

buy it, it's wonderful.
 
Ignatz Mouse said:
Any opinions on the Onkyo TX-SR606?
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I ordered it from Amazon yesterday. $337 shipped after the HD DVD coupon. Unfortunately, I'll probably have to wait until next week to get it since I had to have it shipped to an alternate address (a cargo company).

I plan to do a really thorough, but non-audiophile review. I don't have the kind of speakers to give a super-thorough review anyway. I've been pretty happy with optical as well, but I needed a new receiver and folks here recommended the 606. I'll have it hooked up to a Ps3 and HD A3 via HDMI, and probably optical for the 360.

Also, Amazon has Clovefield and Batman Begins for $17 each, I am Legend for $16, and Fifth Element for $12. Too lazy to link, since I'm just looking at the top ten list. I can't see a link for a sale, though I'm sure there are other titles on the cheap.
 
Okay, just finished the film. Definitely one of the best films of last year - humorous, poignant, and just an all around great movie. Anyone into any kind of animation will probably love it, and anyone looking to try a movie that's a little different from the norm should try it out.

And the PQ is absolutely phenomenal.
 
Ignatz Mouse said:
Any opinions on the Onkyo TX-SR606?
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After my last experience with Onkyo (SR805), I'm not touching them with a 10 foot pole. They do some serious compromises to their design that creates unusual amount of heat and has much documented HDMI issues. The 606 is no exception.

I'm a Marantz and Denon guy. Anyone looking for a low cost Onkyo alternative should get the Yamaha V663, which is nearly bulletproof for the price.
 
OokieSpookie said:
Shockingly so, definitely glad I picked it up.
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OK, so it's much better than the regular DVD?

I wasn't sure how big a difference there would be given how the movie was filmed to look like a Digicam or something. But if it's that great a difference I'll pick it up for my girlfriend.
 
Duderz said:
Okay, just finished the film. Definitely one of the best films of last year - humorous, poignant, and just an all around great movie. Anyone into any kind of animation will probably love it, and anyone looking to try a movie that's a little different from the norm should try it out.

And the PQ is absolutely phenomenal.
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glad you're into it, high five!

what i love about this is how they really USE the animation to convey emotion that isn't just played out in a scene, something that you'd expect animated movies to take advantage of all the time but feels new and refreshing in this one.
 
I'm not sure if I could watch Persepolis dubbed. Eye of the Tiger was just too awesome in the original French and would loose that humor if everything was in english leading up to it.
 
Man, there's a lot of Onkyo hate here. I'm no super-audio freak, but I have standards. I've had the 606 for well over a month now and have sampled it on a range of media. I've had ZERO overheating issues, so I'm either the exception or people don't properly vent their devices. The quality the unit outputs is everything I was hoping for when testing out items like high-rated Blu-rays. Specifically, I Am Legend, iRobot, No Country For Old Men, and Pixar's offerings have provided fantastic ranges and soundscapes. The proper attention to audio atmosphere can really blow you away on a good 7.1 range. The first two acts of MGS4 were incredible with this sucker. I'm speaking in regards to how engrossing the sound was in supplement to the gameplay, too. It really made the entire experience more visceral and informative with accurate directional sound. In summary, this particular Onkyo receiver, while it has a few shortcomings for my setup, has been a perfect fit given my price range and my technological needs. I only regret having an apartment to fill with such awesome sound, instead of a nice home theater room.

Ignatz Mouse said:
Any opinions on the Onkyo TX-SR606?
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What do you want to know? I posted a few comments a ways back but feel free to ask away.
 
Thanks all for your opinions so far.

Raiden, mainly whther you've had issues, whether there is any lag on the video, particularly if going from analog to HDMI, and anything you find notable about it. I'm not an audiophile, and what I mostly want from it is good-sounding surround and a single source to get all my video to my projector.

Unrelated: I'm doing home remodelling and without HD video for a couple of months, or I'd have been on Persepolis like a bum on a ham sandwich. Loved it in the theaters.
 
I just watched The Signal... PQ wasn't all that good (can't really blame the transfer, the movie was made with only $50k) but it was one of the better horror films I've seen lately and the horror-comedy in the second act was hilarious.
 
I know this is the hd movie thread but audio gets talked about every once in a while.


A while back though i was asking advice on receiver for two channel audio. I think i just found it.
RR2150front.jpg

http://www.outlawaudio.com/products/rr2150.html

I especially like it since it has a sub output which i need for the LSi25's.


Onix you ever get that oppo 980?
 
Ignatz Mouse said:
Thanks all for your opinions so far.

Raiden, mainly whther you've had issues, whether there is any lag on the video, particularly if going from analog to HDMI, and anything you find notable about it. I'm not an audiophile, and what I mostly want from it is good-sounding surround and a single source to get all my video to my projector.

Unrelated: I'm doing home remodelling and without HD video for a couple of months, or I'd have been on Persepolis like a bum on a ham sandwich. Loved it in the theaters.
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Well, I'll give you my personal anecdote in setting up multiple systems and devices.

I basically have a Wii, Xbox 360, and my PS3 feeding into the machine. Wii and 360 are component, PS3 HDMI. By default the machine CAN and will TRY to send everything through the HDMI out. I noticed no lag as far as I could detect, but an immediate loss in picture clarity and saturation was noticeable when showing the Wii's and 360's signal through that HDMI out. Upon seeing this and confirming it was the case and not some defect I opted to just output through component. Maybe your results will vary, but I doubt it was related at all to my TV. The signal was being processed in the Onkyo so that's where the deterioration had to occur.

So right now I receive component from the Wii and 360, and output that from the Onkyo to the TV and usually switch over to that video manually (all doable on the Onkyo's remote, of course). I can still just leave the HDMI mode on and play those machines like that, if i so desire, but either way, this affected the audio in no way. The audio's always been crystal clear and pure.
 
How significant was the degredation? Was it oen of those things that you really only notice A to B, or was it dramatic?

I only have the Wii as an analog source right now, but that could change. PS3 and cabel box are HDMI.
 
RaidenZR said:
Well, I'll give you my personal anecdote in setting up multiple systems and devices.

I basically have a Wii, Xbox 360, and my PS3 feeding into the machine. Wii and 360 are component, PS3 HDMI. By default the machine CAN and will TRY to send everything through the HDMI out. I noticed no lag as far as I could detect, but an immediate loss in picture clarity and saturation was noticeable when showing the Wii's and 360's signal through that HDMI out. Upon seeing this and confirming it was the case and not some defect I opted to just output through component. Maybe your results will vary, but I doubt it was related at all to my TV. The signal was being processed in the Onkyo so that's where the deterioration had to occur.

So right now I receive component from the Wii and 360, and output that from the Onkyo to the TV and usually switch over to that video manually (all doable on the Onkyo's remote, of course). I can still just leave the HDMI mode on and play those machines like that, if i so desire, but either way, this affected the audio in no way. The audio's always been crystal clear and pure.
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I've experienced the same effect (HDMI output forced with some corruption.)
 
Ignatz Mouse said:
How significant was the degredation? Was it oen of those things that you really only notice A to B, or was it dramatic?

I only have the Wii as an analog source right now, but that could change. PS3 and cabel box are HDMI.
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It was noticeable. It looked nearly interlaced, but maybe not as bad as if it actually were interlaced.
 
Weinstein is back:


Becoming the last major studio to embrace Blu-ray, the Weinstein Co. has announced its first theatrical release on the format with the August bow of 'The Mist.'

Though the studio issued a retailer alert last month for the TV-on-high-def release of 'Lonesome Dove,' 'The Mist' will mark the Weinstein's first theatrical title on Blu-ray when it hits stores August 5. (The studio had previously supported HD DVD before pulling the plug following the format's demise earlier this year.)

Directed by Frank Darabont and based on a classic short story by Stephen King, 'The Mist' will come to Blu-ray in a two-disc set with a host of bonus features that replicate the acclaimed DVD edition (which the Weinstein Co. first issued last March). Among the extensive extras are audio commentary with Darabont, multiple making-of featurettes, deleted scenes, a series of behind-the-scenes Web-i-sodes, and theatrical trailers.

Tech specs include both the original theatrical feature and a unique "black and white" version, each getting their own disc, presented in 1080 video and Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround audio.

Suggested retail price for 'The Mist' has been set at $34.98.

You'll find the latest specs for 'The Mist' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under August 5.
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RaidenZR said:
It was noticeable. It looked nearly interlaced, but maybe not as bad as if it actually were interlaced.
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Damn. Well, I'll be connecting my 360, Ps3, and HD A3 via HDMI, so I'll be fine for now. And the Wii looks like crap on my tv even if I connect it directly, so if I ever pick one up, I won't care much about that issue.

In any case, I'll borrow a Wii and test it once it comes in and see if I see the same issues. Right now, I get these small blank/grey pixels on the screen whenever I connect the Wii, either directly or through the Sony receiver I have.
 
Cosmic Bus said:
I've watched four of the five movies now and skimmed through some of the extras. This was my first time seeing any of these films and I've enjoyed each one, although for different reasons, and it's definitely a worthwhile purchase for newcomers or longtime fans.

The original Dirty Harry is unquestionably the roughest-looking one in the bunch, with image quality ranging from sharp outdoor shots to the far more prevalant murky indoor and fuzzy, heavily grained night scenes. It isn't a bad transfer by any means, but clearly shows its age (and quality of the stock being used in the '70s). The rest look much better; everything is crisp and vibrant without looking unnatural (save for the blood packs, which at that point, appeared more like red paint), dark shots are minimal, and the existing grain is well-preserved without feeling overly heavy (save for a few instances in Magnum Force). The first two films also have some odd focus and depth-of-field occurances that affect the image, but these were obviously present 30+ years ago, too, and have nothing to do with the Blu-ray versions. I can't comment on the sound quality because I only have TV speakers.

The extras are fairly solid, and even though I rarely take the time to watch/listen to these sorts of things, there's plenty of interesting information to be gained from doing so. Richard Schickel does commentaries on a couple (quite good, from what I heard), John Milius does one on Magnum Force (not engaging at all, with lengthy pauses and dead air) and there are cinematographer and director tracks on the others. Lots of interviews and featurettes (surprisingly un-fluffy) but very little, if any, participation from Eastwood himself in any of this. He does include a little note in the box about how he got the role and whatnot, but it would've been nice to hear more from him.

As for the movies, I'd have to say that Magnum Force and Sudden Impact were my favorites, followed by Dirty Harry and then the Enforcer. I'm not really looking forward to watching the Dead Pool, given the sorts of things I've heard about it, and that I can vaguely recall seeing bits of it on TV once and thinking it was pretty silly. They certainly didn't waste any time shifting from the fairly serious tone of the first one to the more over-the-top, wise-cracking detective featured in the rest, but at least it never feels like you're watching an entirely different character, only a loosened-up series concept.

I also want to mention Lalo Schifrin's excellent scores -- he handled the music for all but the third film -- and most notably, for me, at least, the memorable opening theme from Magnum Force. I knew I'd heard it somewhere before: David Jack's "Medeam" uses bits of it (along with some dialog from the Towering Inferno) and Map of Africa seems, as near as I can tell, to have cribbed the funky riff for their "Dirty Lovin'". Great stuff!

Finally, a couple of obligatory pics of the contents:

2rrmqsy.jpg


A map of Scorpio's targets, poster replicas, Clint's note, and some really neat studio memo reproductions:
2lt0k2a.jpg
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Great impressions thanx.

Just ordered the box set myself, now that exams have finished. £62 is a lot but eh what can you do? It is 5 movies after all. Looking forward to watching them.
 
Ignatz Mouse said:
Hmmm. I have have to run the cables for that in the ceiling, then. Not thrilled about that.
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You should see what I had to do for my wiring setup. It's ridiculous... but thankfully hidden under the untacked carpet.

Protip: Don't have an apt media center layout that forces you to keep your receiver away from your tv and devices.
 
Ignatz.

I have owned Onkyo's before.. if you arent an audiophile you will probably be fine. Most people who are audiophiles complain about two main things:

1) Their DAC's are kinda iffy, which is what decides what gets played out of what speaker, crossovers for subs, etc. I guess this shouldnt really effect the new audio formats. I dont actually know though.

2) Their amps are low quality and overheat. This is the bigger deal honestly. The Onkyo that I last owned created a small soundstage. I'm a Denon guy normally which just creates more spacious sound. It's hard for me to describe, but the Onkyo made it seem like the audio was being blasted at me rather than being enveloped by it (same speaker set, and yes I'm a dork, I A-B'd)

The "popping" is a known issue with HDMI audio with at least the 604 and 605 generation (dont know about 606, but Onkyo has so far denied the issue exists, so I wouldnt be surprised at all). Basically you watch a movie via HDMI audio, it gets hot and starts making faint popping noises.
 
StoOgE said:
Onkyo's DAC's are pretty questionable
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:lol

Just to clarify for all, that isn’t a generalization regarding all Onkyo's … but specifically referring to their lower end.

The Onkyo 805, 875, 905, Onkyo Professional 885, and Integra 7.8, 8.8, 9.8 all use Burr Brown PCM1796A's for each channel. It is amongst the top available DAC produced in quantity, and is what is employed in Yamaha’s top-of-the-line receiver, the $5000 RX-Z11.


captive said:
Onix you ever get that oppo 980?
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Yep, and I quite like it. I do however wonder if I should have went with the newest one. The Reon implementation is a bit wonky in my pre/pro (I’m using 480i output from the Oppo) …I’ll have to see how the firmware updates go with it.

There’s an external scaler I have my eyes on, but its still pending how it will perform. Sounds amazing for the price, but if it fails … I’ll need to consider a higher-end (Lumagen, etc) for future use. Obviously it will be a while before I can allocate funds for that (still have me 4TB server pending this summer), so the higher end Oppo may be a nice addition.

Obviously I’ll keep the 980 no matter what though, as it is great with SACD/DVD-A … and has 480i HDMI output for my eventual video scaler (the top Oppo doesn’t).


Yes ... I'm anal :p
 
Onix said:
:lol

Just to clarify for all, that isn’t a generalization regarding all Onkyo's … but specifically referring to their lower end.

The Onkyo 805, 875, 905, Onkyo Professional 885, and Integra 7.8, 8.8, 9.8 all use Burr Brown PCM1796A's for each channel. It is amongst the top available DAC produced in quantity, and is what is employed in Yamaha’s top-of-the-line receiver, the $5000 RX-Z11.
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You are correct. I apologize for overgeneralizing, but we were discussing the lower tier 606. When I say I'm a Denon guy I also mean on the mid range recievers. I don't generally spend a ton of money (800 bucks or so) on recievers since they improve so often, so I'm usually in the mid-range and much prefer Denon's or Yamaha's in that price range to Onkyo's.

Oddly enough on the extremly low end (HTIB kinda stuff) Onkyo's are usually some of the best stuff you can buy. Not that any of it is good :lol

The issues with their amps and the HDMI popping are more universal though. I dont know about the extremely high end since so few on AVS actually go that far.
 
Digital Bits says Fritz Lang's Metropolis and Wong Kar-Wai's Fallen Angels are coming to Blu-Ray in 2009 courtesy of Kino.
 
Onix said:
… and has 480i HDMI output for my eventual video scaler (the top Oppo doesn’t).


Yes ... I'm anal :p
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I cant even begin to imagine what that does to the pic. Does it scale the interlaced signal to 480p and post-process? Or is it just for convenience so you don't need any analog connections?
 
Onix said:
Yep, and I quite like it. I do however wonder if I should have went with the newest one. The Reon implementation is a bit wonky in my pre/pro (I’m using 480i output from the Oppo) …I’ll have to see how the firmware updates go with it.

There’s an external scaler I have my eyes on, but its still pending how it will perform. Sounds amazing for the price, but if it fails … I’ll need to consider a higher-end (Lumagen, etc) for future use. Obviously it will be a while before I can allocate funds for that (still have me 4TB server pending this summer), so the higher end Oppo may be a nice addition.

Obviously I’ll keep the 980 no matter what though, as it is great with SACD/DVD-A … and has 480i HDMI output for my eventual video scaler (the top Oppo doesn’t).


Yes ... I'm anal :p
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Cool. Are you using it in stereo or surround?

Im not going to be running any video what so ever on it so im not concerned with the video processing. I'll be doing just CD's SACD's and maybe DTS/DVD-A depending on how it works with 2 channel stereo.

Also Im still hesitant with that receiver and the oppo because of the limitation of needing a sub out for my two polks and how all of that is going to work with regards to 2 channel SACD etc.
 
Watched Layer Cake on Blu-Ray tonight. Not too bad, I liked it. I usually don't like endings like that, and I don't like this ending either, but overall I enjoyed the movie. I still have to get around to watching Casino Royale on Blu-Ray...
 
MIB - rocks the sub big time. Pretty good transfer all the way through, didnt notice any real flaws with it.
 
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