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Last movie watched

Currently watching the new 4K HDR version of Willow, a childhood favorite. Given that it's Disney and the Upgrade/D2D price is $22, anyone on the fence might want to hold out for a sale.

First, I love this movie, and have seen it many times. The VHS got well worn, but I was rather disappointed in the DVD which I thought really highlighted all of the composite shots to the point of distraction (Brownies really stuck out, miniatures were obvious, etc.). However, I thought that the Blu-ray really addressed all of these concerns and looked great. The 4K? Well, it's not AI enhanced or DNR scrubbed. And, it's certainly not worse. It's not noticeably better either. This is obviously an upscale and not remaster.

To be fair, I haven't watched the Blu-ray in my theater yet. I need to do an A/B with the 1080p if that tells you anything. Perhaps the HDR is adding a bit. But, it's missing all of the telltale signs of a good 4K upgrade. I'm not seeing any obvious improvements in details in faces, clothing, etc. Don't get me wrong, it still looks good. But, so did the Blu-ray.

Anyway, I'm only halfway through and need to revisit HD on my theater screen. Regardless, I love this movie and don't regret the purchase. The 4K will certainly be my go-to for the future, it's just lookling like the improvement is marginal at best. I'll follow up if it turns out my memories of the HD master are mistaken.

P.S. The new poster art on the K Store (and other digital stores) is the best photoshop amalgamation that's cursed this title to date, but the downloaded file still shows the prior abomination. I'll still take the original "two in one" poster(s) from John Alvin any day.
 
Broncowrangler said:
Went in with tempered expectations, wasn’t disappointed. B flick, but definitely punches above its weight class. Interesting for sure. Worth a watch imo.

www.kaleidescape.com

Cuckoo

A young woman uncovers dark secrets while staying with her father's new family at a resort in the Bavarian Alps. Horror. Directed by Tilman Singer. Starring Hunter Schafer, Jan Bluthardt, Marton Csokas, and Jessica Henwick. Purchase and download today in 4K HDR.
www.kaleidescape.com www.kaleidescape.com
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I wanted to buy. How is the horror part? I don't want too much gore but subtle. Thanks.
 
It's a Wonderful Life - "A toast to my big brother George: The richest man in town."
 
AidenL said:
I agree totally.

Watched Small Things Like These tonight, powerful performance by Cillian Murphy, about a dark period in history here in Ireland.
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Good to know, Im going to watch this for sure.
www.kaleidescape.com

Small Things Like These

In a small Irish town, a coal miner confronts his conscience when he uncovers disturbing secrets at his local convent. Drama. Directed by Tim Mielants. Starring Cillian Murphy, Emily Watson, Eileen Walsh, and Michelle Fairley. Purchase and download today in 4K HDR.
www.kaleidescape.com www.kaleidescape.com
 
We watched Red One last night on Amazon Prime. I wish K could have snagged an early release on that one. It was fun enough. Neat Santa lore. It's hard to see Chris Evans and not see Captain America, LOL, since I'm such a Cap fan.
 
Techthusiasm said:
We watched Red One last night on Amazon Prime. I wish K could have snagged an early release on that one. It was fun enough. Neat Santa lore. It's hard to see Chris Evans and not see Captain America, LOL, since I'm such a Cap fan.
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Being Amazon, what did you think of the Atmos?
 
cgreene said:
Being Amazon, what did you think of the Atmos?
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We actually didn't watch in our theater, just the living room. My kids wanted to be where the Christmas decorations are to watch Christmas movies. :) Sound was fine, but my living room is a 2.2 setup.
 
Been chewing through the Marvel movies with my college-age daughter who's never seen them before.

The first 5 (Iron Man through Captain America) all looked and sounded great in either HDR or DV (when available). Video on those titles were markedly better than 4K disc but I hesitate to call them a "revelation". But then we watched The Avengers in HDR. Right from the get-go my wife and I were floored. What an upgrade! I don't know what changed in the production/source but WOW! Detail and HDR were absolutely outstanding!

The most obvious jaw dropping sequence was after Thor shows up and grabs Loki. On 4K disc the video bitrate is highly variable (dipping into the 20-something mbps range) resulting in a dark murky mess with occasional sharp moments. On K it was clean, clear, and sharp to the point it made it easier to follow the action during the subsequent twilight fight in the woods. And don't get me started on the lightning in HDR on my Sony Z9K...so good! 😵

About the only negative was the audio was a bit low...requiring a good 3-4 dB boost over the previous movies and ~8 dB over normal movie volume levels. Sounded excellent after goosing it though.

I've watched a lot of great stuff on K but this one really knocked my socks off. Absolutely stellar! I'm sure most everybody has it in their library but it's worth a revisit if you have new gear.
 
DaveN said:
L.A. Confidential is great film noir. Not reference quality sound or picture but references quality acting and writing.
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Thanks I have been looking at this one. Sometimes these older films are such a great watch.
 
I picked this one up at release and watched it on K the other night:
www.kaleidescape.com

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

200 years before the War of the Ring, a princess sparks a war across Rohan by refusing to marry a tribal prince. Anime, Action, Adventure, Fantasy. Directed by Kenji Kamiyama. Starring Brian Cox, Gaia Wise, Luke Pasqualino, and Miranda Otto. Purchase and download today in with Dolby Atmos audio.
www.kaleidescape.com www.kaleidescape.com

Huge LOTR fan, as is the way, and was pleased to see original producers involved, so I gave this one a LOT of leeway. In the end... it's OK.

It's overly long for what takes place, as if they were taking notes from The Hobbit movies. It certainly visits locations we all know and love, and name checks the versions of characters that we remember, but it just doesn't quite get there. There are some musical cues in place, but not the soundtrack we want. The characters often look more Anime fantasy than LOTR. And then there's the main character... Merrida. I mean, Hera. But, really, it's Merrida from Brave in Anime form.

Is it LOTR? It's as much not LOTR as it is. It's like those later Friday the 13th or Hellraiser movies where they have the script of a horror film that they shoe-horn in Jason or Pinhead to drive more rentals. If they really wanted to make this feel more authentic, they'd have Weta design the characters and Howard Shore do the score as a start.

Anyway, it's not a complete waste of your time, but I think your brain will be doing a lot of effort to connect this to LOTR. If you're not into Anime, I think it's an easy skip.
 
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