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peerpee wrote:Has no-one else had a close look at the FAUST BD yet?

This is probably of no use to anyone but I watched the DVD last night on my fairly ancient set up (Sony CRT; Phillips DVD player) and it seemed OK, possibly because I wasn't watching it on anything good enough to show up the flaws.

The picture varied in sharpness from section to section and the colours varied too, with some sections being glaringly white with a greenish/bluish hue (e.g. the church scene) and some looking more natural. However, as these variations were from different parts of the film, rather than within the same sequence, it felt as if it was deliberate. It certainly fitted with the aesthetic of other Sokurov films I have seen.

I imagine the only people who have seen it on film, apart from the filmmakers themselves, would be the audience at the Venice festival, as everyone else who saw it in the cinema would have seen it on a DCP (which I am no longer able to think of as being an acronym for anything other than Digital Crap Package). It might therefore be difficult to know what it's supposed to look like.

I don't know whether it's possible the BluRay went wrong but the DVD is acceptable as a lower grade alternative. As I said, though, I probably can't see the flaws.

I watched Faust on BD (Artificial Eye's) on Sunday. I noticed no horizontal lines at all. However, it must be said that my Full HD TV is just 40''.

Cremildo wrote:I watched Faust on BD (Artificial Eye's) on Sunday. I noticed no horizontal lines at all. However, it must be said that my Full HD TV is just 40''.

Seconded. Watched the BD on a Pioneer Kuro 60" (G8).

Can you see the lines on the full 1080p DVDBeaver BD caps? That's what I saw at my end.

I can see them in almost all the caps. It isn't related to Nick's system and I doubt it only affects the first disks sent out.

peerpee wrote:Can you see the lines on the full 1080p DVDBeaver BD caps? That's what I saw at my end.

So I just looked at a couple of the DVDBeaver captured shots (the ring, the funeral shot) on my Blu-ray and yes, the horizontal lines are present. My set up is an Oppo BDP-83 into a 42" Pioneer Kuro. I looked at the disc using the "direct source" option on the Oppo. The effect of these lines changes based on what visual preset I have on the TV. For instance when I have it on "Movie" mode which dials down the sharpness and brightness, these lines are undetectable from even a foot away. If I have it on the "Game" or "Dynamic" setting, where the brightness and sharpness are amped up, then the lines are obvious from anywhere in the room.

As a comparison, I pulled out the old AE disc of The Sun to see what that looked like. Since that film is only a DVD and most of it is set in a murky darkness, I couldn't find the lines at first. Once I got to the scene where Hirohito meets MacArthur though, I came across the effect there. To see it I had to put the TV in either dynamic or game mode to make the effect pop out. It can be seen if you pause and step through 54:40 - 55:10. Look at the MP's uniform and at the translator's head as he is bowing. Unless AE handled both films in the exact same manner, I'm going to guess that these lines are inherent in the materials they were given.

It's pointless comparing BDs and DVDs (particularly of different films). DVDs are either in NTSC or PAL and have either been made from NTSC or PAL Digibetas in SD, cross-converted or not. A host of "interlacing" things can happen there.

The horizontal lines are visible on the text of the opening titles and very visible to me during motion of the film itself. That your TV is showing the effect on some settings and not others, simply shows that your TV is masking the true nature of the disc, and that these settings are probably not the best available to you.

I never use those pre-arranged special settings (movie/games/etc). My TV is always "neutral", so to speak. But if the damn lines can be seen even in DVD Beaver's screencaps, they're probably there anyway. I bought 'Faust' on pre-order. It's definetely one of the first wave of discs.

I guess those horizontal lines were undetectable to me because my screen is relatively small.

Anybody know how long we can expect Fopp's sale on Artificial Eye blus to last? There are a few I'm after that they don't have in Bristol, but I'm hoping I can snag them cheap once I get back to Cambridge.

I'm not sure... but I do know that you can place an order in-store (without a small charge like HMV) at the current price and they'll honour it once they get it in. So perhaps if you call the Cambridge store?

Just saw Mia Hansen-Løve's UN AMOUR DE JEUNESSE [2011] on AE Blu (I don't know whether the director was involved with the English non-literal title of GOODBYE FIRST LOVE, but I prefer the French or a literal translation).

Loved the film very much, love Hansen-Løve's films (I run to her films now), and the Blu-ray was great (ace subs). One of the best new films I've seen in the last few years. As beautiful and heartfelt as something like LE RAYON VERT.

peerpee wrote:Loved the film very much, love Hansen-Løve's films (I run to her films now), and the Blu-ray was great (ace subs).

I've found the AE subtitles to be good recently as well.

I particularly enjoyed one example in Faust, when 'Mein Gott' was rendered as 'Blimey.'

Incidentally, while we're praising AE, it's worth noting that this year they've put out 23 standalone Blu-rays as well as box-sets of five Bergman films and three Mizoguchi films. 31 films in HD in all.

Last year they released 8 standalones and the Three Colours Trilogy box set.

So hearty congratulations to them for embracing the BD format to the extent that a DVD-only release from them is a comparative rarity.

RossyG wrote:Incidentally, while we're praising AE, it's worth noting that this year they've put out 23 standalone Blu-rays as well as box-sets of five Bergman films and three Mizoguchi films. 31 films in HD in all.

It's four Mizoguchi films. I just received my blu-ray set today and it is amazing.

While some of their decisions baffle me (upgrading Être et Avoir but only releasing Au hasard Balthazar on DVD?), AE have done an outstanding job this year, especially compared to last.

HJackson wrote:Anybody know how long we can expect Fopp's sale on Artificial Eye blus to last? There are a few I'm after that they don't have in Bristol, but I'm hoping I can snag them cheap once I get back to Cambridge.

There were quite a few in Sidney Street today. There are also BFI Flipside Blus under a tenner, and
old BFI DVDs (including the essential "Cottage on Dartmoor") for a fiver.

Kauno wrote:It's four Mizoguchi films. I just received my blu-ray set today and it is amazing.

Thanks. So 32 films in HD in one year; just one short of trebling their BD output for 2011.

Calvin wrote:While some of their decisions baffle me (upgrading Être et Avoir but only releasing Au hasard Balthazar on DVD?)...

I'm guessing that's more to do with the availability of HD masters than anything else.

RossyG wrote:I'm guessing that's more to do with the availability of HD masters than anything else.

Yes, definitely. For a back-catalogue release like that, it's up to the main rightsholder to produce HD masters - as Nick Wrigley pointed out in the Park Row thread, it's simply not economically sensible for a single-territory distributor with a comparatively small customer base to fund the entire cost themselves.

The Criterion release of Au hasard Balthazar is listed as being from a "new, restored high-definition digital transfer" but I suppose that doesn't mean that AE could get access to it.

Calvin wrote:The Criterion release of Au hasard Balthazar is listed as being from a "new, restored high-definition digital transfer" but I suppose that doesn't mean that AE could get access to it.

If Criterion created it themselves, AE would have to license it separately. Which isn't at all beyond the bounds of possibility - the BFI has licensed several Ozu and Cassavetes masters from Criterion, for instance - but it's a separate deal, and almost certainly involves a fair bit more money.

The Mizoguchi Collection Blu Ray set is currently £22 at 101cd.com, base.com, blahdvd.com and dvd.co.uk.

Edit: Classic Bergman Blu Ray set is £30.

£42 at HMV. Finger on the pulse, competing hard in this new "online marketplace".

HMV have been focusing on pre-orders for nearly a year now so that's really no surprise.

You're right, it's no surprise that HMV are gouging the fuck out of back catalogue.

tojoed wrote:

HJackson wrote:Anybody know how long we can expect Fopp's sale on Artificial Eye blus to last? There are a few I'm after that they don't have in Bristol, but I'm hoping I can snag them cheap once I get back to Cambridge.

There were quite a few in Sidney Street today. There are also BFI Flipside Blus under a tenner, and
old BFI DVDs (including the essential "Cottage on Dartmoor") for a fiver.

Cheers for the info. And I agree, A COTTAGE ON DARTMOOR is magnificent.