09-08-2018 04:50 AM
02-01-2020 02:29 AM
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02-03-2020 02:42 AM
02-03-2020 03:00 AM
Luciferous said:
So you are the one buying discs 🙂
Let me get this out of the way right up front: 12 Monkeys will never be as sharp, as dazzling, or as striking as other notable catalog releases... regardless of how extensive a restoration it receives. Not only did Gilliam shoot the majority of his scenes with diffusion filters (to submerge the image in an unsettling, dreamlike haze), he relied on clashing light and shadow, jarring shifts in perspective and focus, and intermittent bursts of clarity and softness to keep his audience continually questioning Cole's sanity and motivations. As a result, some viewers will write off Universal's faithful 1080p/VC-1 transfer as an underwhelming fluke; a mismanaged presentation that doesn't boast the high definition swagger required to stand alongside the best catalog releases on the market.
- there's a new 2018 version though, which seems to be better. Unfortunately I didn't get that one. Still fun to watch the movie with my 12 yo son.
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02-03-2020 07:06 AM
02-08-2020 03:18 AM
Joker was shot entirely on digital with a variety of high-res Arri Alexa cameras, some as high as 5.1K (5120x2880), and finished at a true 4K digital intermediate. This means that Warner Bros.' 4K disc is a near-perfect representation of the film and, as such, boasts an extremely detailed and impressive 2160p transfer that gets the added boost of HDR color enhancement. While the separate Blu-ray edition is by no means a distant second, this disc clearly offers the tighter image in direct comparison and stands as one of the format's best-looking non-film releases to date. Though somewhat desaturated by design, Joker absolutely pops with color in all the right places: warm era-specific interior decorations (Murray Franklin's set is a particular standout), moody lighting, costume designs, and Arthur Fleck's clown makeup stand out strongly among the colder and more muted color choices that dominate most backgrounds. High Dynamic Range contributes to the transfer's most impressive color-related moments, from an early chase sequence to a deadly subway encounter and its immediate aftermath. Even if your current 4K television is not equipped to decode the full HDR10 signal, you will notice an obvious difference when compared to the Blu-ray's SDR image.
Of course, not all of Joker's visual strengths are color-related. Textures and fine detail are also extremely refined from start to finish, from those aforementioned costume designs to skin pores and caked-on clown makeup. While some of the perceived detail has been artificially produced via a fine grain filter over the digital image, it's a convincing formula that gives Joker an unusually film-like appearance. Modest to strong depth is achieved with various focal techniques, while black levels and shadow detail are both very stable with absolutely no flagrant signs of banding or compression artifacts. Warner Bros.' Blu-ray -- even with its surprisingly low bit rate -- received top marks in the video department, so it's no surprise that the 4K's much heftier 2160p transfer proportionally earns perfect scores by its own rating scale. This is simply a top-tier disc that likely rivals even the best theatrical experience just a few short months ago.
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02-09-2020 03:25 PM
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02-11-2020 12:12 PM
02-14-2020 03:14 AM
RuneSR2 said:
Never thought Phoenix could beat Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, but Phoenix did the impossible - and there's no doubt - I think this short user review from IMDB is spot on - this movie is a 10/10 (even if there are no spaceships in it 😉
The 4K version is reference when it comes to 4K image quality, maybe topped only by Mortal Engines. Blacks are really blacks due to HDR and the resolution is so high it feels like swinging a microscope over Phoenix face from time to time. I could even clearly see the dirt under his bitten fingernails - which was kinda gross. Also his dirty teeth, and every skin imperfection, all his hair etc. This movie was so disturbingly clear I was thinking that maybe the more blurry blu-ray version would be better, lol - but the clarity did add presence like (close to) never before. Felt like watching a stream of photographs. There's a small amount of film grain used, but you don't notice it in most scenes.
Sound and music were awesome too, and the 4K disc contains Dolby Atmos sound as usual - in fact the music may be another reason for buying the 4K disc version - Joker got a second Oscar:
After watching the film I was thinking that now I had just watched my very first superhero (ok, supervillain then) movie. Frank Miller would be proud - I hope, because this is the first movie from DC where I felt the atmosphere and story matched or transcended the best books. Ledger might still have delivered the best comic book Joker performance, but Phoenix just went beyond the books and made the Joker come out the books and made him into a real person. Like for the first time turning Pinocchio into a real boy 😉
I do think there might be an age problem though, unless we're going to see Batman beating up the elderly in later movies, but maybe some clever writer can fix that, lol.
Note that Joker isn't for kids including young teenagers, not really because of violence, but this is a movie for adults. It's not funny nor is it an action movie, mostly I think - like Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns books - this is a film about society - a political film about wealth inequality and the consequences. A movie cleverly disguising and reflecting our current world. To quote the movie Seven:
"Wanting people to listen, you can't just tap them on the shoulder anymore. You have to hit them with a sledgehammer, and then you'll notice you've got their strict attention."
- and the Joker hits you with a sledgehammer like never before. You could say it's also a movie about the nature of being evil. - In psychology the term does not really exist, because being evil can be reduced to many different components, so is the Joker really evil - or sick - or a product of society - or everything combined (=sum of traumatic incidents and triggers)? That - together with Phoenix' godlike performance - make this movie a 10/10.
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02-14-2020 09:33 AM
02-14-2020 09:57 AM
snowdog said:
I still think that Jack Nicholson was the best Joker. People wouldn't have been raving about Ledger if he was still alive imo. Michael Keaton has also been the best Batman by far too. Those first two Tim Burton Batman films were awesome, particularly the second one with Michelle Pfeffer in a rubber catsuit lol 😄
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