mfedley

The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake (US Release) Movie Itself: The movie is set roughly between 1890-1910 in China and Japan, where we follow a story of a female in China which did not want to follow protocals for being a woman and changed the history of China as a result. There are some reasonable fight scences but I felt it took a while to get into the movie itself. However, once it get's over being taken too seriously a feeling a little too hollywood like in the first 30 minutes, it becomes a rewarding movie which is a little different. It's worth a buy for people after something a little different. Score: 3.5/5 PQ: The PQ is quite good - but is not up to reference quality. That does not mean there is not much detail - it just does not blow your socks off. ScoreL 4/5 AQ: No problems here - just nothing spectacular. Score: 3.5/5

Yi Yi (US Release - Region A Locked) Movie Itself: The movie itself is set in Taipei around 2000 and follows the life of an upper class family for a year (the movie states middle - but I can tell you from experience there is nothing middle class in this family from a Taiwanese perspective). I would call it a rare movie that actually shows you normal life - albeit through the more turbulant times. Many of the hypocracies in Taiwanese expectations are seen here - and thankfully there is nothing melodramatic in how the movie is acted. I suspect that most people will love this movie - but some may find it a little too slow or even slightly unrealistic. However, after picking up the pieces of what happens inside a Taiwanese house for some time (I was a teacher in Taiwan) it unfortunately hits the nail on the head. Score: 4.5/5 PQ: As with many Criterion titles - it's a good transfer here. I've lived in Taiwan for a while, and it feel eerily familiar apart from the lack of pollution. Score: 4/5 AQ: It does the job. It's nothing fancy but does everything it needs to do. Score: 3.5/5

If anyone wants a youtube link to this cinematic masterpiece - PM me. It's truly worth a watch.......

Hi All, As normal, I was trawling through the new release movies and came across "Nazis at the Centre of the Earth". http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Nazis-at-the-Center-of-the-Earth-Blu-ray/37641/#Review It sounds like a must pick up for me once it falls below $10 USD in price.... IS anyone aware of other trashy or so bad they are good titles out there which can be reccomended??? Best Regards, mfedley (in Japan)

Thanks for the question. I preferred the story from the extended edition, but preferred the picture from the theatrical release. I hope this answers your question....

Carlos UK Release (Region B Locked) Movie Itself: This is quite an interesting movie - but it is not to everyone's taste. It tells the life story of a terrorist/freedom fighter code named Carlos and shows his work with the PLA, Syrians, Libyans and Iraqi's over 2 to 3 decades. There is two options for this movie - one shortened theatrical release and one 2 part mini series. The theatrical release is much more English friendly as the mini series was made for French TV. This is not bad thing - but is something that should be noted. My preference is the extended edition as it goes into a lot more detail along with more of the back story. Score: 4/5 PQ: This one is a mixed bag. Overall its very good quality but I find that the mini series is not as highly polished compared to the theatrical release. This includes scenes found in both movies. Some may see my score as harsh, but I'm getting more pickier and some of the reduced score may be from directors intention. Mini Series: 3.5/5 Theatrical Version: 4/5 AQ: It seems to do everything that is required of it. Unfortunately, I no longer have a good sound setup so take this score as a grain of salt. Damn apartment living!! Score: 4/5 Overall Comment: This is an interesting movie to watch, and is based on a true story and has been extensively researched. It's a general recommend for people that are more into art house movies and are not squirmish...

Hi All, As some may know, I used to have a reasonably large HD DVD collection (over 230 at one stage but they were stolen last year when my storage unit was broken into. Is anyone aware of any websites that sell bulk lots of HD DVD's cheap as I know they used to do this a couple of years ago but I can no longer find them. I live in Japan so postage of a collection in Australia will probably be expensive just because of postage... I'm only after the general title that I might watch every so often...

nothing important

This is more of a look what I can buy but you can't, but it's interesting to see what other countries are selling classing Blu's for at least. I just went down to my local Asia1 Video Outlet in Kaohsiung Taiwan and purchased The Wizard of Oz (1 disk) for $199 NT ~$6.50 AUD new and sealed. They also had Gone with the Wind & North by Northwest. The first of the other two does not interest me that much, but I might pick up the second soon....

Here are some general reccomendations (may be included from above but I've seen them all on Blu at some stage): Mongol (I find that it's a good movie which should be in most peoples collection - if it's at the right price) The Orphanage (One of the better horror movies out there - it uses suspense instead of just killing people) Amelie (Get the OZ version as it has a better transfer than most countries) Downfall (A oldie but a goodie) Election (A HK film that I managed to pick up in Taiwan for $7 new. It's an average transfer but is a good story about the election of a triad godfather in HK and what happens for people to get their own way) Fearless (make sure you get the Extended version for Chinese comsumption - it's the normal disk found in Australia. It improves the movie quite a lot in my respect) Pan's Laybrenth (need I say more) Persepolis (An interesting movie about an Iranian girl who grows up during the revolution and then moves to France later in life) I'll have a deeper look later to see what else I can find.....

I lived in Seaford North (which is near Frankston) since I was 4 apart from the last year overseas.... The long pier is unmistakeable against Olivers Hill.... If people are after some strange photos, one of my old threads have some... If I'm not lazy, I might even finish the thread... http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtop...61&hl=north korea&st=0

Where were those pics taken?? It looks like Frankston foreshore after all the work they have done there in Melbourne.

Bloody hell. I finally leave Australia and purchase this from the US and Australia finally has a higher quality release than the US. What is the world coming too????

Road to Perdition (US Region A Release) Movie Itself: The movie is set around 1931 at the height of the great depression, which follows a son and fathers relationship through difficult times. Tom Hanks plays the father beautifully, along with Jude Law, Daniel Craig and Paul Newman playing fantastic supporting roles. I'd call this one of the few real character based drama/action movies of the last decade. Score: 4.25/5 PQ: I've heard people raving about the PQ for this movie, and at first impressions it just looks like a good transfer. However, have a good look at the picture. You can see fantastic quality and I'm sure you could even count the stitching on most of the clothing if your TV is big enough. Detail of the picture is also fantastic in dark scences. The movie also has limited grain which gives it a true film like quality. In my opinion, it's truely reference. Score: 5/5 AQ: From my limited audio setup, this track seems to be above average by quite a lot. You can understand every word (apart from possible problems with accents) and there is plenty of directionality in the sound. Please take into consideration that I can't listen to this on a true setup when I score this. Score: 4.5/5 Final Note: I don't normally write reviews due to time and not having a real audio setup. But after watching this movie after an Amazon order, I think that it should be included in any real collectors collection. It's just that good!!

As always, I'm always on the lookout for the latest comings and going on blu-ray. The following link has the latest new feature for blu-ray (scroll down to HD Bonus Content) and 'pocket BLU'. http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/3283/lostintranslation.html Apart from BD Live, what other useless features have other people come across on Blu. I wish studios would realise the people want good PQ & SQ, followed by normal extra features. Please don't give us crap that three people might use....

I'm a bit sad to say that I've missed most of what has happened in blu in '10. I've only purchased a very limited number this year (Up, 2012, The Others, Election (HK Gangster Movie) and Pan's Labyrenth). I do have 2 large orders finally coming (Amazon US after Black Friday ) and BSG from Amazon UK for around $100 AUD. Can anyone make any suggestions on some fantastic movies that are slightly left of centre that have been released lately. Only requirement is it's not Region locked (or Region A), plus purchased from Amazon US or UK....