Archives For DVD/BR

Maria Callas Triple Feature

January 7, 2025 — Leave a comment

A while back I was able to catch a viewing of Tom Volf’s Maria by Callas documentary, which I adored. Some time last year (near my birthday?), I got to catch a special screening of Callas – Paris, 1958, which we got to see alongside a very very very tiny group of people ^^’

And, of course, I made sure to watch Pablo Larrain’s Maria before the year was over, because why not.

It’s the perfect Maria Callas triple feature-

  • The divine diva of Callas – Paris, 1958
  • Maria seen through the eyes of Callas in Maria by Callas
  • The human being in Maria.

My absolute favorite sequence in Larrain’s depiction is probably the whole segment at JFK’s birthday party. Though Maria’s scene with her sister is devastating.

In Celebrity, DVD/BR, English, Films, French, Misc., Music, Posters/Artwork, Sharing , , , , , ,
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YAMMag Mononoke Happened

December 30, 2024 — Leave a comment

This is likely the last post of 2024, breaking a dry spell of the last few years with a record 20 posts since 2018 when I posted 38 times.

This last post of 2024 is dedicated to Kenji Nakamura’s Mononoke the Movie: Phantom in the Rain (劇場版「モノノ怪 唐傘」), which crowfunded a while ago and has recently fulfilled orders. What an adventurous journey! We got a special credit for YAM Magazine!

It is an honor that we get to put our name in one of the team’s favorite series.

Let’s all look forward to what 2025 may bring!

I hope you all had an incredible 2024, and that you all were able to achieve what you set out to do (or close to achievement, anyway).

In DVD/BR, English, Films, Fun, Japanese, Sharing, Snapshots, Torrents & Digital Streams , , , , ,
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Nicole Kidman and her Weird Audience

June 30, 2024 — Leave a comment

It’s been about a month or so since the first reports of Nicole Kidman’s AFI Lifetime Achievement Award started trickling. I had already read that she was thanking the audience that had stuck by her doing some of her weird little films, but it was still different watching the video and hearing her say it.

the audiences that have stuck by me through everything — I just want to say thank you because there’s so many little weird films I’ve done and I know there’s people out there that go and find them and watch them. You’ve stood by me and stuck up for my weird, weird choices and I’m so grateful for that.”

I was obviously to young to watch To Die For or Portrait of a Lady in the mid-90s, but it is no wonder I’m thought of as one of those odd ones when I had dragged friends from school to watch things like Birthday Girl or Steven Shainberg’s Fur, which I have rewatched this past weekend. Reese’s speech about Kidman’s passion for cinema just reaffirms my love for Nicole and her body of work throughout these past two decades, in which she has been resurrected by the press more than once with so-called “comebacks.”

Here’s to two more decades of amazing films (and series). *Cheers*

In Celebrity, Clips, DVD/BR, English, Films, Sharing , , , ,
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The Race Against Rotting DVD

On December, I wrote about a couple of my concert music DVDs rotting away.

And the YT algo just popped this on the feed, talking about a number of Warner Bros titles that are apparently being affected.

Somebody on forums (!!! They still exist!) posted a list of probable affected titles, and to my dismay, the Greta Garbo and (both) Joan Crawford collections are affected. I just popped Mata Hari and Possessed on the player and seem to be playing fine.

Another one of the fears with (new) media and products that developed in types of plastic is that they’re decaying faster than people expected. I’ve had older (retired) players that were kept on storage that have a general sticky texture after a while. However, this doesn’t seem to happen to players that are in general exposure, not directly with sunlight, but in a generally airy room that’s in use, unlike a display room. I also happen to live in the mildest of climates, though high in humidity, temperatures never go above 30C (above 90F) or lower than 14C (lower than 55F). So maybe these conditions are affecting the storage of physical media.

I did the vast majority of my library collection before 2007, though. I did buy a number of things in between the mid-2000s to late-2000s, so if disc rot is affecting a general batch produced in between 2007-2009, it is a concern. I’m generally more worried with collections I keep in drawers instead of a regular shelf display.

Posted on May 4, 2024 In Clips, DVD/BR, English, Films, Rants, Sharing , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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The Film Library Is Shaping Up~

Buying physical media has been a chore lately, you gotta keep an eye out so you make sure you don’t miss your delivery because, for some reason, people cannot just leave your package any longer.

Plus, distributors are doing physical media less and less. The whole of the Indian Cinema industry has decided to phase out physical media in favor of going all in on OTT and VOD. Even enormous hits like RRR are left with no physical release, even in the West. Even Disney is letting Sony handle its physical media, which seems like the end of an era. Then there’s the whole thing about editing and disappearing media from libraries.

So these are some of the most recent -and not so recent- films that have been added to the physical library. I wish I had more disposable income because there are a bunch of titles (and upgrades) that had been added to the wishlist.

These on top of some Bluray upgrades like Sion Sono’s Love Exposure, Kalatozov’s The Cranes Are Flying, brand new Criterion’s for Los Otros and Laberinto del Fauno. Some random BR UK release for Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

Also, this post makes it so that this year is the most I’ve blogged since 2020. I’m coming for you 2019. Four posts in Feb’24 is the most continuous blogging since Aug’18.

Posted on February 21, 2024 In Chinese, DVD/BR, English, Films, French, Japanese, Misc., Rants, Screencaps, Sharing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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It’s happening: Disc rot

December 26, 2023 — Leave a comment

Happy sort of belated Christmas, everyone!

I’m bummed! I was expecting to spend a quiet Xmas day with my mother, as we had agreed to catch a viewing of Celtic Woman’s A Christmas Celebration, which I happened to own a DVD of. Everything was going smoothly, we were already finishing Green the Whole Year Round when the DVD stopped playing. After checking again on the same player, through the track selection page, and testing a different player. I determined it was a disc issue.

It’s the dreaded disc rot.

I ended up testing my other two Celtic Woman DVDs. When they both had similar issues, the Celtic Woman 2005 release gets stuck at Orinoco Flow and A New Journey gets stuck at Panis Angelicus, I got worried similar DVD releases (that might be even slightly older than these) stored in the same place might have similar issues. However, it doesn’t seem to be a storage issue, as it’s a Manhattan (Now Capitol Music Group) release issue. I don’t even know if I’m allowed to post this on Amazon to try and find someone that might have similar issues, so I decided to post here just in case someone might be searching for this specific issue.

At the moment, both Celtic Woman and A New Journey seem to still be available on Amazon through sellers (wonder if they have similar disc rot issues), and A Christmas Celebration offers copies of upwards $30 from other sellers not the same ‘url product’ where it was originally purchased. A New Journey remains the only release errrr “easier” to back up in case of physical loss.

The fact that other Arista and Sony releases that are slightly older and stored in the same condition as these show no signs of rot tells me that smaller no-label releases are the most in danger of decay and most in danger of becoming lost media.

If you have a good copy of the 2005 Celtic Woman concert or A Christmas Celebration to share, please, let me know through a comment or drop me a line.

In DVD/BR, English, Music, Reviews, Sharing , , , ,
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– What if someday there came a tomorrow when we were apart?
– As long as we’re apart together, we shall certainly be fine.

from: Pooh’s Most Grand Adventure: The Search For Christopher Robin

As long as we’re apart together

Posted on June 6, 2019 In DVD/BR, English, Graphics, Sharing , , , , , ,
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Take All my Money, Shiina~

I thought I might have bought my last Shiina bluray last time, but I guess not? It does look like I might add Shiina Ringo & The Others Dwell: The Air Pocket Zone (椎名林檎と彼奴等の居る真空地帯) [HMV JP] to my collection because I cannot resist.

Posted on November 9, 2018 In Celebrity, Clips, DVD/BR, English, Japanese, Music, Sharing , , , , , ,
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Yu-chan’s Japanese Academy Best Actress for KanoTori

March 6, 2018 — 2 Comments

I was gushing about it over the weekend, but I thought I should also post about it here.

I think it’s oddly befitting that Yu-chan wins her first ever (unbelievable, right?) Japanese Academy Best Actress trophy the year that I’m celebrating my 10th year as her fan. It’s so moving. I’ve had a moving couple of days [low-ley Mamamoo insert, lol]. It was so satisfying seeing Yu-chan being so overwhelmed and so overcome with emotion that it just made me happy for her.

I haven’t seen KanoTori yet, ‘coz duh~ Japan obviousness xDDDDDDDDD but I’ve heard great things about it and, frankly, Yu-chan rarely disappoints me (I’m looking at you Henshin xDDDDDD). I had totally forgotten that Hula Girls was a supporting role for Yu, and that One Million Yen Girl was her last lead for a very long time… until Azumi Haruko and KanoTori.

Please, Yu-chan, don’t make us wait another 8 years or near-decade for your leading roles. You know it’s been ten years since Osen and since Camouflage?

Here’s to many many many more years of successes, Yu!

Your one and only Spanish-speaking Non-Japanese-speaking fan. xD

In Celebrity, DVD/BR, English, Films, Fun, Japanese, Sharing, Snapshots, Television , , , , , ,
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The Murder Case of Hana & Alice Spanish BR

I. Got. So. Excited…

When I saw that there was a bluray release of The Murder Case of Hana & Alice with Spanish subtitles by Media3 Estudio, and it comes with a freaking disc for Hana & Alice too. I suffered so much when I realized, just a minute later, that the bluray release is Region B for Europe xD

And it looks so pretty too TnT

I had been looking around for an actual region-free bluray player, because I have a bunch of R1-DVD and R4-DVD discs that I’m too lazy to re-watch on my region-free DVD player, which used to be the norm players sold down here. I really don’t look forward to having to import electronics, because I can only imagine the headache it’ll be considering the headaches I get whenever I order my preferred shampoo. LOL

Posted on December 8, 2017 In DVD/BR, English, Films, Japanese, Products, Screencaps, Sharing, Spanish , , , , , , ,
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