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Posted (edited)
  On 1/13/2021 at 11:02 PM, Bartimaeus said:

@majestic I did a whole big research thing on the BDs vs. the DVDs. The consensus seemed to be that the movies looked better on BD, but all of the show looked better on DVD. Well, besides maybe Sailor Stars, there wasn't a lot of information on that one (yet?) from what I could tell. Strangely, it seemed to also be the consensus that the Italian DVDs had the best quality out of the various DVD sources. I'm not really sure why that would be.

I'll be sure to remember when that moment comes and see what they have to say in the English dub, :p.

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The German Blu-Ray version that comes out tomorrow (well, today now, it's past midnight) is based off a complete remaster from Japan, so that might take the lead in terms of picture quality. It's still 16:9 pillarboxed obviously, there's no real way around that, but from what I've read from reviews so far it should blow the quality of any prior blu-rays and DVDs out of the water.

The earlier ones seem to have two seperate video tracks on them per episode (one for the original language, one for the dub) and are therefore of lower quality due to higher compression/lower bitrate and some DVD versions are apparently simple VHS scans, if the Italian DVD version is based on a good quality source and they went with laying the Italian dub over the Japanese original video that might explain it.

That the movies are best on blu ray seems logical enough. They came out as movies after all, not as a 4:3 NTSC (ugh) showing on Japanese TV. I'm guessing they had good masters already, and were much easier to transfer.

Edited by majestic

No mind to think. No will to break. No voice to cry suffering.

Posted

I'll have to keep up with what people think about the German BD, I guess. Even the newer Japanese BDs didn't seem to be held in high esteem, so I'm a little skeptical, but we'll see! :) And hey, 16:9 pillarboxed is significantly better than cropped 16:9 a la many other shows, so I'll gladly take that, :p.

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How I have existed fills me with horror. For I have failed in everything - spelling, arithmetic, riding, tennis, golf; dancing, singing, acting; wife, mistress, whore, friend. Even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of 'not trying'. I tried with all my heart.

In my dreams, I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.

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Posted (edited)
  On 1/13/2021 at 11:32 PM, Bartimaeus said:

I'll have to keep up with what people think about the German BD, I guess. Even the newer Japanese BDs didn't seem to be held in high esteem, so I'm a little skeptical, but we'll see! :) And hey, 16:9 pillarboxed is significantly better than cropped 16:9 a la many other shows, so I'll gladly take that, :p.

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Yeah. I wouldn't know, my information is based on people who have gotten their pre-orders a day or two early for some reason, not on professional reviewers.

The very best transfers in terms of entertainment value are proper 16:9 remasters of shows made for 4:3 TV (i.e. the ones where the source video is of good enough quality). With everyone crowding in the middle of the frame and the sides curiously empty. Assuming it's even possible to do a proper 16:9 version. Star Trek TNG's blu ray version would have had good enough masters for it, but all sorts of clutter in the frame. Heh. :)

Edited by majestic
Added stuff about shows with changed display ratios

No mind to think. No will to break. No voice to cry suffering.

Posted (edited)

The only time I'm in favor of changing a 4:3 show to widescreen is if the show was originally filmed for it (or something approaching it, depending on the cameras used) but was forced to 4:3 as a result of when it came out. Very little animation (unless it had an actual theatrical release) was made for anything but 4:3 prior to widescreen becoming the standard, so it's usually impossible for that to happen. To be honest though, I don't really care whether something is 4:3 or 16:9 or anything else so long as it contains the complete picture (...unless the complete picture causes it to be ridiculously shrunk within the constraints of the resolution, I guess, but I've never heard of that happening).

Edited by Bartimaeus
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How I have existed fills me with horror. For I have failed in everything - spelling, arithmetic, riding, tennis, golf; dancing, singing, acting; wife, mistress, whore, friend. Even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of 'not trying'. I tried with all my heart.

In my dreams, I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.

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Posted
  On 12/30/2020 at 3:49 AM, Zoraptor said:

Expanse S5E5

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I didn't continue this discussion to avoid the risk of giving any spoilers. But some of what you said has been addressed in episode 5.07.

sign.jpg

Posted (edited)

That reminds me - I wanted to do a google search if the engine of episode 7 was in any kind of way realistic.

/Edit: Apparently it somewhat is.

Edited by Lexx

"only when you no-life you can exist forever, because what does not live cannot die."

Posted

Season 3 of American Gods is out, yaaaay :dancing:

"Abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is and saw Virtue in her shape how lovely: and pined his loss”

John Milton 

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” -  George Bernard Shaw

"What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead" - Nelson Mandela

 

 

Posted (edited)

Weird things you never picked up on....

STNG, Picard had an odd paperweight on his desk in the Ready Room. A beautiful crystal that served no apparent purpose except to look like it belonged there and for Picard to fiddle with during dialogue scenes.

Then you have that vague recognition.. and the memory jogs that its the same crystal used in The Dark Crystal. So, a classic case of an old prop being recycled from somewhere....

But, then add in this:

139844531_4072284316124878_4753986940412

Cheryl Gates McFadden was the Choreographer on the set of Jim Henson's Labyrinth.

So, Labyrinth might have been Crusher's Holodeck adventure...

Edited by Raithe
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"Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum."

Posted

WandaVision. I have no idea what's going on but I enjoyed the first couple of episodes. I heard it was originally supposed to be released all at once but then they decided to do the weekly drip. Dunno if that's true or not but I'm really not a fan of the old style weekly release schedule

Finished A Discovery of Witches. Dunno why it's being released weekly here and all at once seemingly everywhere else. I didn't pirate it or anything but I did have to subscribe to another service in another country and use a VPN. Probably still frowned upon but as I said before I really hate the weekly releases and it's even worse when it's only released like that here. Maybe there's something else on SundanceNow that I'll like.

 

 

Free games updated 3/4/21

Posted

I straight up will not watch weekly shows until the season is fully released. I'm not usually in the mood to watch a show over several months' worth of time these days, especially because I'm the type of person that likes to watch only like 1-2 shows at a time to begin with - also sometimes my free time is limited so not being able to watch something when I do have the free time because of artificial time barriers is greatly annoying. Sometimes I *really* want to watch several episodes consecutively, particularly because shows have ups and downs and letting a show sit sourly on one of the downs for an entire week can get me disinterested in continuing it entirely, especially with the plethora of other shows out there. Some shows just straight up work better being able to see multiple episodes in a row or otherwise at your own pace. I'm also not the type to get into the whole social media aspect of watching a show "together" as its released - with only a very few exceptions, I really don't care if I'm watching a show years after everyone else did.

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How I have existed fills me with horror. For I have failed in everything - spelling, arithmetic, riding, tennis, golf; dancing, singing, acting; wife, mistress, whore, friend. Even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of 'not trying'. I tried with all my heart.

In my dreams, I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.

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Posted

With a handful of exceptions, I haven't watched weekly in years. Seems like it's contrary to the advantages of streaming when compared to network TV.

Finally got around to Madalorian s2. Maybe I'm just easy to please, but it's much better than the recent movies and manages to deliver good scifi/scifantasy that doesn't make tons of people hatewatch and complain like the new trek shows.

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"Akiva Goldsman and Alex Kurtzman run the 21st century version of MK ULTRA." - majestic

"you're a damned filthy lying robot and you deserve to die and burn in hell." - Bartimaeus

"Without individual thinking you can't notice the plot holes." - InsaneCommander

"Just feed off the suffering of gamers." - Malcador

"You are calling my taste crap." -Hurlshort

"thankfully it seems like the creators like Hungary less this time around." - Sarex

"Don't forget the wakame, dumbass" -Keyrock

"Are you trolling or just being inadvertently nonsensical?' -Pidesco

"we have already been forced to admit you are at least human" - uuuhhii

"I refuse to buy from non-woke businesses" - HoonDing

"feral camels are now considered a pest" - Gorth

"Melkathi is known to be an overly critical grumpy person" - Melkathi

"Oddly enough Sanderson was a lot more direct despite being a Mormon" - Zoraptor

"I found it greatly disturbing to scroll through my cartoon's halfing selection of genitalias." - Wormerine

"I love cheese despite the pain and carnage." - ShadySands

Posted (edited)

Finally got around to finishing up The Guest (via Netflix), a k-drama series from a couple years ago. Exorcism/possession/horror type show.  Excellent series, with some great supernatural, thriller and occasional humor bits.  The very ending was a little too tidy and a tad unsatisfying to me but nothing that ruins anything. All three leads were good and worked well together.

The actor playing Priest Choi - Kim Jae-wook (I just call him Mr Cheekbones...) - I remember him playing the serial killer baddie in Voice.  He's very good at intense roles.  Altho he was also in a more recent fluff rom-com and good in that too.  I think I prefer him in non-romance roles tho.

Edited by LadyCrimson
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“Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
Posted (edited)
  On 1/17/2021 at 5:04 PM, ShadySands said:

Finished A Discovery of Witches. Dunno why it's being released weekly here and all at once seemingly everywhere else.

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It's weekly here too- and delayed, which is kind of weird considering how comparatively little TV they have to show with covid delaying so much stuff. Schedule is determined by whoever bought the show locally.

Edited by Zoraptor
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Posted
  On 1/17/2021 at 6:16 PM, KaineParker said:

Finally got around to Madalorian s2. Maybe I'm just easy to please, but it's much better than the recent movies and manages to deliver good scifi/scifantasy that doesn't make tons of people hatewatch and complain like the new trek shows.

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"Maybe I'm just easy to please"

No, it's actually a decent show. It's probably the only Star Wars I've seen in years where I didn't want to scream while watching it.

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"only when you no-life you can exist forever, because what does not live cannot die."

Posted

I must be lucky somehow in SA because there are several series  on DSTV or Netflix that I am enjoying that include American Gods, Blue Bloods, The Stand ( the book by Stephen King is highly recommended as books always are if you enjoy reading ), A Confession, Manhunt : Deadly Games, Bordertown ( a Finnish produced crime series and very entertaining ) and then Lilyhammer 📺

"Abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is and saw Virtue in her shape how lovely: and pined his loss”

John Milton 

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” -  George Bernard Shaw

"What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead" - Nelson Mandela

 

 

Posted
  On 1/17/2021 at 5:34 PM, Bartimaeus said:

I straight up will not watch weekly shows until the season is fully released. 

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Geez Barti, I have never known you to be so belligerent  and steadfast before .....I understand the frustration but we dont want to overreact and suggest such a draconian response ?

"Abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is and saw Virtue in her shape how lovely: and pined his loss”

John Milton 

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” -  George Bernard Shaw

"What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead" - Nelson Mandela

 

 

Posted

Hm, saw CBS have released a trailer for a tv series of "The Equaliser".

Looks like they're trying to find something that's halfway between the Denzel films and the original Edward Woodward series.  This time with Queen Latifah playing the role of McCall.

"Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum."

Posted
  On 1/18/2021 at 6:12 AM, BruceVC said:

I must be lucky somehow in SA because there are several series  on DSTV or Netflix that I am enjoying that include American Gods, Blue Bloods, The Stand ( the book by Stephen King is highly recommended as books always are if you enjoy reading ), A Confession, Manhunt : Deadly Games, Bordertown ( a Finnish produced crime series and very entertaining ) and then Lilyhammer 📺

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You should just join us in watching Sailor Moon. You know you want to. :p

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No mind to think. No will to break. No voice to cry suffering.

Posted
  On 1/18/2021 at 10:33 PM, majestic said:

You should just join us in watching Sailor Moon. You know you want to. :p

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My fiance is going through older anime right now and wants to watch it with her. I don't actually remember much about Sailor Moon, so I guess I'll jump in soon.

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"Akiva Goldsman and Alex Kurtzman run the 21st century version of MK ULTRA." - majestic

"you're a damned filthy lying robot and you deserve to die and burn in hell." - Bartimaeus

"Without individual thinking you can't notice the plot holes." - InsaneCommander

"Just feed off the suffering of gamers." - Malcador

"You are calling my taste crap." -Hurlshort

"thankfully it seems like the creators like Hungary less this time around." - Sarex

"Don't forget the wakame, dumbass" -Keyrock

"Are you trolling or just being inadvertently nonsensical?' -Pidesco

"we have already been forced to admit you are at least human" - uuuhhii

"I refuse to buy from non-woke businesses" - HoonDing

"feral camels are now considered a pest" - Gorth

"Melkathi is known to be an overly critical grumpy person" - Melkathi

"Oddly enough Sanderson was a lot more direct despite being a Mormon" - Zoraptor

"I found it greatly disturbing to scroll through my cartoon's halfing selection of genitalias." - Wormerine

"I love cheese despite the pain and carnage." - ShadySands

Posted

I just bingewatched One Punch Man season 2 (episodes 1 to 12). Pretty good again, but too little Saitama this time. Though, middle part was a bit boring, because nothing really happened.

"only when you no-life you can exist forever, because what does not live cannot die."

Posted

Ah, well, going through Sailor Moon S at a decent pace. I'll keep this as spoiler free as possible, anyway. The last somewhat rambly post spoiled a bit too much for Bartimaeus. I mean, even without not minding spoilers.

It'll most likely still be my favorite season even after the rewatch. There are some less than stellar episodes strewn in every now and then but overall S is a decent improvement of existing strengths, there's some fun meta commentary that I may or may not imagine, i.e. Haruka / Sailor Uranus is sometimes used to lampshade just how ridiculous the Clark Kenting in this anime is.
 

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Plus she's got the best attack animation of all the Sailor Senshi, hands down:

Speaking of attack animations, Sailor Moon's grow more and more ridiculous with every season. Heh. MOON SPIRAL HEART ATTACK has a thirty seconds attack animation. ❤️

Okay, I get it. Transformation and attack scenes can easily be reused and can pad out an episode when you come up a minute or two short. It looks like every now and then an episode or two were the animation equivalent of live television bottle episodes. These episodes usually show all transformation scenes in full (bonus points if all five Inner Senshi show up to transform but only one or two of them actually do something) and the animation outside of the transformation scenes looks like they were handed over to a different team.

Might just have always been the same animation team, just under time constraints. Hard to tell with anime that is based on a manga still in writing. Doubly so when the mangaka involved was asked to come up with more after the first run became an unexpected smash hit. If I recall correctly Naoko Takeuchi never planned to do more than the first Sailor Moon arc.

Still, even the lesser Sailor Moon episodes are generally ahead of other shows. Look at all that Naruto or Dragonball filler. Psh.

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No mind to think. No will to break. No voice to cry suffering.

Posted

I was entertained and it works great fullscreen on your phone while lying on the couch. 😛

FAQ: Where was this first shown? A: Quibi, in 9 parts. That's why its filmed in this format.
Summary: Serialized remake of 'The Princess Bride' told in short chapters featuring celebrities at home during quarantine. (description from IMDB)
Cast:

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“Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
Posted (edited)
  On 1/19/2021 at 12:16 AM, majestic said:

Ah, well, going through Sailor Moon S at a decent pace. I'll keep this as spoiler free as possible, anyway. The last somewhat rambly post spoiled a bit too much for Bartimaeus. I mean, even without not minding spoilers.

It'll most likely still be my favorite season even after the rewatch. There are some less than stellar episodes strewn in every now and then but overall S is a decent improvement of existing strengths, there's some fun meta commentary that I may or may not imagine, i.e. Haruka / Sailor Uranus is sometimes used to lampshade just how ridiculous the Clark Kenting in this anime is.
 

  Reveal hidden contents

Plus she's got the best attack animation of all the Sailor Senshi, hands down:

Speaking of attack animations, Sailor Moon's grow more and more ridiculous with every season. Heh. MOON SPIRAL HEART ATTACK has a thirty seconds attack animation. ❤️

Okay, I get it. Transformation and attack scenes can easily be reused and can pad out an episode when you come up a minute or two short. It looks like every now and then an episode or two were the animation equivalent of live television bottle episodes. These episodes usually show all transformation scenes in full (bonus points if all five Inner Senshi show up to transform but only one or two of them actually do something) and the animation outside of the transformation scenes looks like they were handed over to a different team.

Might just have always been the same animation team, just under time constraints. Hard to tell with anime that is based on a manga still in writing. Doubly so when the mangaka involved was asked to come up with more after the first run became an unexpected smash hit. If I recall correctly Naoko Takeuchi never planned to do more than the first Sailor Moon arc.

Still, even the lesser Sailor Moon episodes are generally ahead of other shows. Look at all that Naruto or Dragonball filler. Psh.

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The spoiler sounds hilarious, that's the Sailor Moon stuff I want. My favorite episode from season 1 is probably episode 29, the ridiculous episode where Usagi and Makoto are fighting over the arcade boy, and that nonsense sounds right in line with that. I'm curious to see what I think of the other yet-to-be-introduced Sailor Guardians...

The attack/transformation sequences do get to be hella long at times, but I love the music used in them so I don't particularly mind. Actually, I love the music of this show overall and have been collecting the individual season and movie soundtracks. Sadly, none of the credits songs have been nearly as good as the one used for the first half of season 1, though, which I listened to all the way through every time, :(.

Edited by Bartimaeus
  Quote

How I have existed fills me with horror. For I have failed in everything - spelling, arithmetic, riding, tennis, golf; dancing, singing, acting; wife, mistress, whore, friend. Even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of 'not trying'. I tried with all my heart.

In my dreams, I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.

Expand  
Posted (edited)

So a few days ago I've watched some of them animal / nature documentaries (Our Planet) on Netflix, and I have to say ....

... man, I ducking hate american-style documentaries. If I am watching a documentary, I don't want to just hastily consume. I want to take in fancy landscapes and learn new interesting facts and stuff like that, but american-style documentaries are always super fast, they cut all the time and jump around in different places and make up weird animal stories that (let's be honest) we all know are just made up based on available footage. It's like whatever they are showing can never be longer than 15 seconds and then they assume the watcher became bored of it.

One episode was about desert / steppe and holy crap, they jumped the planet from left to right and it took most of my concentration to keep track of where exactly we currently are on earth. Felt like there was no red line, it just went from here to there and back again.

The visuals are epic and super fancy, but the dramatic cuts and fast pacing just completely kill it for me.

/rant over.

Edited by Lexx
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"only when you no-life you can exist forever, because what does not live cannot die."

Posted
  On 1/19/2021 at 1:53 AM, Bartimaeus said:

Sadly, none of the credits songs have been nearly as good as the one used for the first half of season 1, though, which I listened to all the way through every time, :(.

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Heart Moving shows up a lot as instrumental score during episodes though:

I'm rather fond of the Star Locket version of the theme song:

:)

Not sure how well they stand on their own, but they work perfectly to underscore the scenes they're used in.

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No mind to think. No will to break. No voice to cry suffering.

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