Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler So what are you watching tonight?

Achtung Baby was kind of weird, too, but Pop and Zooropa (?) were weirder.

Just took a break from a “Battlestar Galaxtica” marathon to watch “District 9.”

Video quality is very good through most of the movie. The only issues I had with it were the stark difference between the “movie” elements and the “documentary” ones, and an occasional increase in graininess during a few of the “movie” scenes. However, other than that the PQ was real nice.

I liked the audio quality even better than the PQ. Clear and distinct but never drawing attention to itself. There was actually a lot going on in the audio but because it was integrated so well I can't just point to a particular scene that stands out. During the “movie” segments it created a very real feeling.

If documentary and pseudo-documentary style stories don’t bother you then this is a best-of-the-year movie. Personally, I hate those styles. I like to suspend disbelief and be drawn into a movie which I find impossible when watching a documentary of people being interviewed. Also while I usually don’t mind news broadcasts as a vehicle for furthering the story between scenes, this movie has them interspersed throughout action sequences totally ruining the flow just once I started getting drawn into the scene.

Sadly I have to call this movie only average because of the pseudo-documentary style which IMO ruins what would otherwise have been a totally engaging film. Still worth watching and if you don’t mind the style then you’ll probably think it’s great.

Thanks for the review, Dean. That "documentary style" you refer to, reminds me of so many older movies like the original "The Thing" or "King Kong" for eg, where there always seemed to be a news reporter present to narrate the story or to verify the story(my how times have changed).

I generally like to be drawn into a movie, rather than just watch it as well. That also depends alot on how we relate to the characters as well as the story.

I'm not sold on buying this movie yet, esp at what it's going for locally.

Heart dvd.

I finished Samurai Champloo. I ended up liking it a lot more than when I started. I'm still not sure I'd put it in the classic, classic category, but there's some pretty cool stuff in it. I think I'll enjoy watching it again sometime.

I've also been working at rewatching Fullmetal Alchemist. I'm on the second season. My sister said that the newer Brotherhood series starts the story over and follows the manga, so that should be interesting to see.

Just finished watching the final season of “Battle Star Galactica.” Overall I liked this series but have very mixed feelings about it. There was a time I would have loved any SciFi show just for being SciFi however there have now been a few series and if you include anime quite a few that IMO do a better job of storytelling.

I really liked the beginning of the series, first season and a half. Then it seemed to loose it’s way. Got back on track toward the end of the third season and for most of the fourth but I felt the end was a letdown. Quite a few story threads are either left dangling or tied up with a fairly cliché ending which I found disappointing considering one of the main strengths I found in the series was it’s cutting edge storytelling. The finale, I watched (extended) was bogged down with a lot of backstory that I felt totally disrupted the flow while telling me stuff I either didn’t need to know (storywise) or care about this late in the game.

I am glad that I waited to watch the last season on DVD because I like the continuity that maintains with a multi-threaded story. Despite the shortcomings I found it still drew me in and kept me watching to see what was next. And after about 20 hours of watching in 2 days it’s sort of hard to come back to reality. Almost like coming down off a high or realizing your parting with friends/family never to be with them in the same way again (yes I like to get into the story). So clearly I did really like the show especially on an emotional level which it certainly does better than anything else I’ve seen, I just wish they wouldn’t have resorted to what in my opinion amounts to lazy storytelling in some parts.

Earlier I watched the Blu-ray of “Logan’s Run.” I don’t know why but I just love this movie. Ok seeing it at age 16 and becoming totally infatuated with Jenny Agutter certainly played a part but that doesn’t explain why I still like it.

The video and audio quality are both improvements over the standard def version but they’re also nothing fantastic either. About the best part is how rich and colourful the costumes look and the natural flesh tones. However, the Blu-ray goes even farther than the standard version in making the special effects look crappy. There are a couple of scenes where the audio is way to loud but overall it’s a lot clearer than the original.

This is not a movie to be taken seriously. That goes double after just coming off a “Battle Star Galactica” marathon. However, for pure entertainment and maybe nostalgia value I like this movie more than I probably should. Call it a guilty pleasure.

Just finished watching the Blu-ray version of “Trouble with Tribbles” from the original “Star Trek” Season 2 Blu-ray collection. Awesome! I was skeptical about how the Blu-ray transfers of these old shows would fare but now I’m so glad I skipped getting the standard def and waited on the Blu-ray versions. Ok it’s only one episode so far but WOW!

I’ve never seen “Star Trek” look this good. I remember when it first aired we only had a BW TV so it was a real treat to first see it in colour. This is way better than even that. It simply looks fantastic and now it’s over 6’ wide and 5’ high.

The enhanced special effects look great and do nothing to detract from the original presentation that I can see so far. However, this episode didn’t have any of the updated backdrops. It’s also cool to be able to switch between the re-mastered effects and the original.

The audio quality is also great. Especially the updated audio for the effects. Also the ambient sounds of the ship are greatly improved.

Until I finished watching this I didn’t even realize the disk also included "More Tribbles, More Troubles" from the animated series and "Trials and Tribble-ations" from DS9. So of course I watched those too. The animated version also looked great but the DS9 version didn’t look any different than I remember the original, however I don’t have a copy to compare. I can say that the way they integrated the DS9 characters into the original episode is impressive.

Looks like there is a lot of extras on these disks (got all 3 seasons even though season 3 sucked) including an extended version of “The Cage” which I have never seen by itself. Lots more to watch.

Just watched the Blu-ray version of “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie - Conqueror of Shamballa.” This movie is an extension of the series so if you haven’t seen “Fullmetal Alchemist” watch that first.

Both the video and audio quality seem pretty good but I haven’t seen the standard def version so I can’t compare them. Overall it looks and sounds the same as the series including the same English voice actors.

For the most part it’s a pretty good movie which picks up the story a couple of years after the series ended. It’s not fair to compare them but it’s also impossible not to but the series is IMO better overall. The movie is interesting in the tie-ins and also hits on all the characters which is a mixed blessing. While it’s nice to see everyone again the movie also seem to try to just do to much leaving it with a thin feel compared to the series. I would have preferred the movie budget been put toward another season or an OVA release and had the story given more depth comparable to the original series.

If you’re a fan of the series it a very good movie, just wish they would have done it as additional OVA episodes instead.

Norad Santa Tracker with the kids