Archives for the Month of February 2008 on media addict
DVD vs Bluray, Blade Runner: The Final Cut
In my previous post about the PS3 I said that the image quality between DVD and Bluray was marginal on my small HDTV. This statement is true, but only for a small number of DVDs. I never realized how variable the picture quality of DVDs was. Some DVDs look outstanding and others look terrible, especially when compared with the Bluray version, even on my 26" HDTV. I imagine this is indicative of the level of compression used on some discs versus others. That said I was surprised how variable even recent titles can be. The Departed for example looks rather mediocre on DVD while The Prestige looks great. I have been going through my movie collection and deciding if:
- Do I like the movie enough to buy it again on Bluray?
- Is this the type of movie that would benefit most from upgrading it to HD? (ie. comedies in general don't rely on their cinematography and thus don't matter as much as a western or sci-fi)
Blade Runner: The Final Cut is the first movie I saw on Bluray and it is definitely an improvement over the Director's Cut. The visual upgrade it received in the remastering process is excellent along with the subtle corrections and tweaks made to certain scenes. The Bluray version is a 5 disc set that comes with tons of extras including a 3+ hour documentary on the making of the film, along with the original US, International, and Director's Cut versions of the film; all redone in hi-def. This set is definitely worth the price and is a great example of how to refine a classic without overdoing it (George Lucas should take notes from Ridley Scott).
Playstation 3
A few weeks ago I wrote about my debate over whether or not to buy a PS3. Last week Target ran a deal where if you bought the 40GB PS3 you got a free $40 gift card. This combined with the announcement that Toshiba will no longer produce HD-DVD players, resulted in me buying a PS3.I have owned an XBOX 360 for over a year and I have to say that from a hardware standpoint the PS3 is in another league. From the design, to the capability, this is one slick machine.
Pros:
- Quiet Fans (while the PS3 produces plenty of heat, it does so without the considerable fan noise that my 360 emits)
- Quiet Disc Drive (unlike the jet engine in the 360, the PS3's drive is virtually silent)
- Clean Interface (the blade interface of the 360 is good, but at times can be clunky with too many sub-menus per blade, I found the crossbar on the PS3 to be better)
- Movie Playback (the PS3 has a huge advantage due to its built-in Bluray player, but even the options for upscaling regular DVDs and the interface itself are far superior to the 360)
Cons:
- PSN (it doesn't come close to the content available on XBOX Live & its interface is clunky)
- Game Demos (require an install process which for some reason is not done automatically)
That said I am very pleased with my purchase. I definitely spend more time watching movies than playing games, so my PS3 will see a lot of use from all media.
Indiana Jones Trailer
The trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released yesterday to much fanfare. It has received over 6000 diggs. After watching the trailer a couple times, I have to say I was very underwhelmed. Harrison Ford is 65 and looks it, making the over-the-top stunts (even for Indiana Jones) look that much more ridiculous.
The amount of CGI is also very disappointing. A lot of the charm of the original movies was the amount of in-camera, real world stunts that avoid being too grandiose. In the trailer, however, there are several examples of silly, poorly executed CGI work. The car chase along the cliff looks like the terrible blue-screen shot from King Kong where the characters are running between the dinosaurs legs and appeared to have been shot in someone's living room. The shot showing Indy fleeing some natives down the steps of what appears to be a Mayan ruin reminds me of Alien vs. Predator. Another example is when Indy and company descend a spiral staircase into the earth, which is very reminiscent of National Treasure.
Indiana Jones movies should be breaking new ground, not retreading old ideas. I hate when franchises get dusted off for one more go around and can't keep up the level of quality (see the Alien, Terminator and Die Hard franchises). I realize this is just a teaser, but usually the teaser is so abbreviated that even bad movies look good. A teaser is supposed to get you psyched for the main event (like the Dark Knight trailer did). I hope I am wrong about this movie, but based on this trailer we could be in for a disappointment of Star Wars proportions.
Buy a PS3?
I have been considering buying a PS3 but I can't quite bring myself to do it. My interest in the PS3 ramped up a couple of weeks ago when Warner Brothers announced they were going Blu-ray exclusive. This solidified my belief that the HD format war was Blu-ray's to lose and that the best that HD-DVD could hope for was a stalemate. I have two primary reservations about getting a PS3: the number of exclusive games that I am interested in and the video quality difference between DVD and Blu-ray.
My first reservation stems from the fact that the only PS3 exclusive that has come out that I am interested in is Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Some other games on the horizon look interesting (Little Big Planet, and others), but they are at least several months away. The other source of doubt for me is that the difference between DVD and Blu-ray is marginal on a 26" HDTV like I have. That said, I do spend more time watching movies than playing games and while I can definitely tell the difference between HD and DVD, it isn't a make-or-break situation. In order to sway my decision I need more justification to spend $400 than just somewhat better video quality, ie. interesting games to play. The PS3 is also the most future proof Blu-ray player making it the obvious choice for a player if I'm going to buy one.
The wild card in all this is that there are a couple of movies that I would like to buy (Blade Runner: The Final Cut, Planet Earth). But there is no point in buying them on an obsolete format so why not get an HD player already? Maybe I'll wait for my economic stimulus from the government and blow it on a PS3 to do my part for the country. For the foreseeable future, however, I'm going to stay in a holding pattern. But if a couple more PS3 exclusive games look compelling or they drop the price again (come on Sony you know you want to) I'm going to have to cross to the dark side.
There Will Be Blood
After seeing There Will Be Blood I started thinking why it was that while I enjoyed the film, I didn't like it nearly as much as other movies. I realized that while the film-making was impeccable, the story just didn't inspire the kind of emotion or curiosity that other films have for me. As a director Paul Thomas Anderson is incredible. The production value and cinematography of There Will Be Blood are some of the best I have ever seen. The realism of the oil drilling must be seen to be believed.
In many films, the protagonist isn't necessarily likable, but they at least have some redeemable qualities. Daniel Day-Lewis' character (Plainview) is a single minded, obsessive, overbearing man who must win at all costs. His primary opponent is Paul Dano's shrill, backhanded minister. Neither of these men are likable in any way. No redeemable qualities emerge about either of them. This is a strange way to tell a story. If the audience can never identify in any way with the characters, they can never be drawn into the plot. PTA seems more interested in presenting a challenging piece of art than a thrilling, human tale. When compared with the magnificent No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood contains very few genuine moments between people. Every aspect of the film has been twisted to fit Plainview's insanity and thus has no room for human interaction.
Despite this criticism, I did like this movie very much. Day-Lewis is mesmerizing as Plainview, delivering a performance nearly as good as his portrayal of Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York. Paul Dano holds his own and I particularly liked the performances in their final confrontation at the end of the film. This movie is worth watching just for the camera work and the performances, if not for the plot. 4/5