Archives For Moving Media

OotP DVD Technical Opinion

December 15, 2007 — 1 Comment

Ok, I admit it. OotP is the first Harry Potter film on DVD I’m not buying, as well as the first HP soundtrack that I’m not getting…

I didn’t even remember the DVD came out this past week, so I decided to check some of the reviews. It was interesting to see some complaining about the technical aspects of the discs, so I thought it important to write about.

wakecowboy writes about buying two different copies just to see if his dvd was damaged.

i bought another widescreen harry potter dvd from a different store, the first came from wall-mart, the second from best-buy.
same thing…at times, the images are so bad, faces are blurry and unrecognizable, sometimes the background wall-paper is over their faces.
terrible, terrible job of dubbing.

Ryan Rowley writes about how bad the video quality is, even if he enjoyed the film.

I thought I knew what I was getting when I bought this movie. I had watch it in the theater and was excited to watch on the big screen in my home. During the opening sequence I knew something was amiss and it just got worse from there. The video quality is the worst I have seen on a recent release highly touted movie.

Descent also writes about the technical aspects.

As for the DVD itself, generally you will see a smattering of special features on a primary disc with additional details added to a second disc. Not the case here. There is absolutely nothing on the primary disc but the film itself. This would be acceptable if the technical quality of the film was outstanding. It’s not. Far from it.

HPFan wrote too…

Think twice before ordering the two-disc Special Edition Order of the Phoenix in wide screen;
the DVD-Rom stuff works poorly or not at all on Macs; the menu designs are terrible;
there is no director or actor commentary; there is no real addtional information on the movie
except an extended piece of fluff with the character Tonks; a cheesy edit your own movie bit
is a waste of space. This DVD seems really thrown together in a hurry.

Important to note that I’m not even posting reviews based on the film, but the DVD in itself. I think one of the users pointed out that maybe this is happening so users are encouraged to get the HD version instead. However, the HD version seems as poorly transfered.

GG nods were announced this morning, see complete list here.

Marion Cotillard got a nod, WOOO for Best Actress Comedy/Musical – WOOOOOOO. Allez, allez, Marion! x’D Julie Chrisie for Away from Her got a nod for Best Actress Drama, so there won’t be any competition there, haha…

Also nominated WOOO are Johnny Depp for Sweeney Todd, Ryan Gosling for Lars and the Real Girl, Ellen Page for Juno, Amy Adams for Enchanted… Juno got a nod in the Screenplay category, and Best Picture… Sweeney Todd got a Best Picture (Comedy/Musical), and some Best Foreign nods go to Persepolis (!!), The Kite Runner and Lust, Caution…

Film Listing 2007 Update~

December 10, 2007 — 1 Comment

Follow up to this post~

This is the current list:

  • Across the Universe (2007)
  • The Other Boleyn Girl (Hopefully 2007)
  • Goya’s Ghost (2007?)
  • My Blueberry Nights (2007?)
  • The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
  • I’m a Cyborg, but it’s OK (2007???)
  • Martian Child (Oct 26, 2007)
  • The Savages (Sept. 7, 2007)
  • Fido (Jun. 15th)
  • Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman (Jun. 1st)
  • Becoming Jane (Aug. 3)
  • Rocket Science (Aug. 10)
  • Margot at the Wedding (Oct. 19)
  • Paprika (out now)

Adding these titles…

  • Persepolis
  • No Country for Old Men
  • Juno
  • Gone Baby Gone
  • Lars and the Real Girl
  • El Orfanato

Been meaning to update my list for a long while…

Golden Compass hits Lima!

December 6, 2007 — 3 Comments

Northern Lights - Golden Compass - PosterOh, yeah! And Amy was there for the 4.20pm show~~ Amy needed her fix of Northern Lights. There weren’t many people then, and even though it was a subtitled version, there were a few kids… one of them was annoying! Talking all throughout the film… kinda cute (bordering on ‘I want to kill that kid’), but really bad-looking on the parent there who couldn’t shut him up.

Quick facts about Amy and His Dark Materials Trilogy:

  • Northern Lights (aka Golden Compass) was suggested by a friend who knew I liked Harry Potter.
  • After a while, I finally got the books at the beginning of the year.
  • Couldn’t control myself, and had to read one after the other.
  • Amy’s not a die-hard fan of HDM Trilogy, but it’s become her favorite series overall.
  • Amy liked the series so much, she gave her friend the trilogy as a gift. She liked it too.

Overall, the film was pretty good, except for the Flash pace. It is not as much as an editing fault because the film is not jumping, but many of the scenes don’t really flow… as, let say – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban artistically flows… or how Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is so choppy it makes you feel there’s a whole scene missing in between.

Now, onto the good stuff. Effects are pretty good. Iorek is great, though I think Ragnar (aka in the book as Iofur) looked better. The bear fight had me gasping, even though there was no blood… if there had been blood, I would’ve been even more so. I loved Eva Green as Serafina Pekkala… and oh! the Witches are so cool!! They flew and fought with such elegance, it left me in awe. I also loved Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Coulter… evil or not, you have to love her. Dakota Blue Richards did pretty great as Lyra, there were times I thought it was not as good, but scenes like the one in Bolsvangar were very dramatic.

I enjoyed the confrontation at Bolsvangar, even though it’s not quite epic… it was quite thrilling. The kids running, about to be attacked then Iorek shows up and BAM! SNAP! The Witches show up, arrows begin flying… golden sparkles, SWOOSH! And the Gypsies SNAP SNAP!

Would love to watch that again… or wouldn’t mind some blood on the bears, uncensored version, non? x’D How about a Director’s Cut?? Because I would’ve love to have 30min more of it… especially since the film didn’t include the OH SO OMG ending chapter (or chapters…) but I guess it would’ve been unfair to have movie-goers wait for The Subtle Knife to hit theaters in 2009… or maybe even forever if GC bombs at the Box Office. Better leave this with no cliff-hanger…

Grade: 3.5/5 – (docked a whole point for fast-pacing)

Justin Timberlake - HBO - Future/Sex Love/ShowIt’s 1hr. into the Justin Timberlake, FutureSex/LoveShow Concert on HBO Latin America. You can guess by me writing. Not enjoying it too much. Rock Your Body just began… looks promising, more on that later.

The concert began slow with FutureSex, and shortly interrupted by a black screen, and Like I Love You/My Love – that one number was good. Exciting,but then the show went down the drain for me. Can’t really say I enjoy much JT’s ballads… the whole playing instruments part is kinda nifty, but let’s just say I’m not paying to see him play any instruments… well, I’m not paying. But I wouldn’t go to his show to see him sit on his squeaky-bum… I wanna see some jumping around, and sweat… loads of breathless chorus with some playback on.

So, Amy’s not big on the whole slow jamming Timberlake does, and Rock Your Body begins, but doesn’t deliver. The next guitar-driven JT ballads are kinda alrite to listen to, snorted a bit on the whole Nsync back-in-time Gone performance, and I still think Justified is a better album than FS/LS.

If you enjoyed the whole FutureSex/LoveSound album, there’s a chance u might like this show. However, I’m one of those who just enjoyed about 5 songs of it, I’ll just stick with the downloads… not worth my DVD $$. I can live without having this in my collection, and can probably live without being in one of his concerts. Besides, JT’s got enough $$, so he won’t mind me I bet…

Anyway… loads of “ohhs,” “ooh!,” “ahhh,” “moan moan,” lick a finger over here… have a drink there, have a thrust “whoa…” how about a little rub ooh! I’m freaky, ask Julyssa if you want xD I need me some innocent sounding pop music…

Image of the concert, totally cool. Dig the giant screens where you can see JT’s giant face and the giant spirits of gospel chorus. The band was good, JT’s voice… hmm, not on the plus side. Dancing wasn’t too cool either… random shots on random bimbos not knowing lyrics to the songs, totally snort-worth. Backstage camera? I dunno…

Visuals: 4/5
Voice: 3/5
Dancing: 3/5
Music: 4/5

Overall: 14/20

Imagine Me & You

December 2, 2007 — 9 Comments

I watched Imagine Me & You about a week ago, and they are re-broadcasting it at the moment. It was quite cute, anyway… my friend thinks the last kiss was so awwwwwwwwwwwww so romantic.

I think there are about three instances… one where they’re about~~~~ to kiss. One where they finally kiss, but get all “there’s a thorn in my bum”, and the final moment in the middle of the street and the “you’re a wanker #9!!” kiss, which my friend loves~~~

I give my vote to the “there’s a thorn in my bum” kiss, but here’s a couple of graphics:
Continue Reading…

Satellite Awards nominations are in… Sarah Polley and Away from Her are kicking in~~

ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
Julie Christie, “Away From Her” (Lionsgate)

MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
“Away From Her” (Lionsgate)

DIRECTOR
Sarah Polley, “Away From Her” (Lionsgate)

SCREENPLAY, ADAPTED
Sarah Polley,”Away From Her” (Lionsgate)

But not as much as La Vie en Rose, which has 7 nods~~ (more here)

Oh, yeah. Amy first saw La Môme, aka La Vie en Rose, back in her trip to Sweden with dear Julyssa. Movie was in French, with Swedish subtitles… Amy speaks neither. LOL’ – so you can imagine. Anyway, that was a sweet little anecdote with the film, but I just got my DVD today, and re-watched it with proper subtitling that I could understood. ^^ xD

Ever since I saw Cotillard in this role, I’ve felt that she’s got Academy Award written all over her face… I mean, come on! She became Piaf!! She, at least! deserves a nomination for Best Actress. Coming award season, she will need a strong campaign so people don’t push her performance to the back of their heads coming the time of nominations… so Amy decides to campaign for her.

The film came out in the first half of the year, and just recently became available on DVD… usually, studios will release heavy awarded films during November and December to stay fresh in the mind of the ones nominating… this is not the case. Most importantly, the film is in French… it’s a powerful performance yes, but apparently languages are a pretty quite no-no for Academy Awards, lol.

I also found this blog with how the race to the Oscar is going… good read. This person mentions Cotillard, and also another fave of mine, Julie Christie for Away from Her.

But to stay on topic, Amy is campaigning for Marion Cotillard. I first saw her,briefly, on the Tim Burton film Big Fish back in early 2000s – Then, I got the amazing chance to see Jeux d’Enfants (aka. Love Me If You Dare) at the cinemas in Vancouver… which is now one of my favorite films, and then she was on The Good Year, starring Russel Crowe. Marion Cotillard does great in this film, she becomes Piaf and gives her audience a powerful wonderful performance.

For Your Consideration: Marion Cotillard for Best Actress

For Your Consideration: Marion Cotillard for Best Actress

You can find, use, and help campaigning by posting and using this banners I made. For Your Consideration: Marion Cotillard for Best Actress.

So… people knowing me would know a while back I saw The Greta Garbo Collection, which I loved! Especially watching Queen Christina and Camille! Though my surprise came when I saw Grand Hotel, and was taken away from Garbo’s famous line of “I want to be alone” by the sharply-delivered-lines of Joan Crawford. Now, I’m done watching my Joan Crawford Collection.

I loved watching it, especially The Women and Mildred Pierce… and Possessed… and yeah, most of it, really! On the side, I also saw Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? – Man! That film is freaky~~~ All recommended!

So, yeah~ back on the topic. Why am I fascinated by these two seemingly different actresses? One gave up almost everything in her life for her much wanted privacy… and never really got it because paparazzi still followed her around. The other lived to be a star, and took it as it came… even the bad publicity, and still held her head high!

My respect to both of them. Nowadays, it is so hard to find stars like them. Most of them just complain about the paparazzi, and talk about their wanting privacy… but never really truly wanting it. Nights of wild partying, drugs and fights… and don’t forget the crotch shots! You’ve never seen Hollywood so unglamorous… such a shame.

I am of the opinion that we should get rid of Hollywood Ebola soon before it’s too late.

This post has nothing to do with Body Odor. HAHA.

I just recently found out Guillermo del Toro was interested in directing HP7 (a.k.a Deathly Hallows) – which would be nice… and a smart move by The WB. I mean, Yates… bah. Buhumbug! HP5 was one of my favorite books on the series, but the film was just annoying. Watch it as clips, it’s great… watch it as a whole, it’s utter trash. Why they hired him for HP6, which is also a crappy book, it’s because HP5 made more money $$ for The WB than HP4 and HP3, but the master of money-making has been HP1, so this is my theory.

Everyone wanted to see Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone (HP1) because it’s a novelty… all fans go, all curious go… that equals a lot of cash into WB’s pockets, they think they have a success thanks to Chris Columbus. But let’s face it, HP1 wasn’t so good looking back, so people kinda lost some interest in it, people lost the novelty… there’s no curiosity factor anymore, so Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (HP2) comes out, and surprise! It doesn’t do better than HP1, probably something The WB didn’t expect. Critics and the public are not very surprised, and Chris Columbus is gone! Ciao!

By this time, people have lost interest… and critics are not attracted… yet here comes Alfonso Cuaron, a decision that sparks a bit of interests in movie buffs and critics, but not your average movie goers. People have already lost interest over HP1, and the horrible HP2… so they are not expecting to see HP3. Results? Only hard-core fans and movie fans go see it. Results again? Hard-core HATE it, movie fans LOVE it! Critics praise the film, yet Hard-core fans are the one who go to the film over and over to watch it, but since Hard-core HATES HP3, it makes even less money. Cuaron is dropped! Ciao!

Mike Newell comes on board for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (HP4)… critics want more Potter now, but fans are skeptical. Hard-core fans think it can’t be worse than Cuaron… HP4 results in a summer flick full of action, but no meat. Results? Critics are divided over the fact that it was entertaining, yet lacked growth… but the average movie maker finds it fun, and the hard-core fans are in peace. In the end, HP4 is more successful commercially than HP3, but not even close to HP1. Oh, well… Newell! Ciao!

So The WB goes and picks David Yates… most people go WTF – but this decision sparks interests from movie buffs and critics. People enjoyed HP4, it was fun! Such a great summer flick… yeah, yeah. We should so totally see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (HP5) – then the keywords here were, Clips & Trailers. Everyone wanted to see, oh! the trailer looks amazing, the clips are so good! A rebellion you say? Voldemort’s back? Results? Everyone flocks to the theater to catch HP5. Results? Critics aren’t so sure, new fans from HP3 hated the choppiness of HP5, and they would’ve preferred watching separate clips, than watching all as a whole. But hard-core fans don’t care… they have their precious book… it’s the last book, oh yeah~ we should all go see the movie, because it’s the last book. Results again? Best commercial success, but still not as good to push HP1 of the #1 spot. Meaning, Yates is back for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (HP6).

M y B.O predictions are, people who didn’t like HP5 will not go watch HP6… they will probably catch it on TV, or find a digital copy. Book 6 is a bad book, meaning there’s a slim chance it will make more money $$ than HP5, meaning… Yates! Ciao! What will happen with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (HP7)? That will depend on how HP6 does in Box Office, how the critics treat HP6, and who they will choose for directing HP7.

If HP6 does as crappy as I think it will do, and critics aren’t as excited about it, as they were with HP5… The WB will need to choose some high-profile director… be it Peter Jackson, or Guillermo del Toro or someone critic-friendly to create a new buzz for the last film… because HP7 was a pretty crappy book, and The WB will only cash in more money $$ because of the director.