What DVD have you just watched?

I used to watch a lot of DVDs & Blu-Ray discs, especially in late 2016 when I was at home convalescing after a bad hip infection,  followed by a hip replacement.  One movie that I watched really stood out, and gives me the creeps even now - Robert Eggers' The Witch.  British accents so thick I had to turn on subtitles.  It's about a family in very early America that get kicked out of their village & who must then fare for themselves in a field bordering a deep, dark woods.  Things start to happen, none of them any good for the family.  Very eerie, very disturbing.  No Hollywood special effects (for the most part), just good acting and a great story line.  Spoiler alert - not a happy ending, but definitely one that suits the movie.  I remember watching it several times in a row, starting mid-evening and continuing late into the night.  Each subsequent view added to my sense of dread.  I don't scare easily, but this one got under my skin.  Needless to say the next movie I watched was a comedy.  Highly recommended.

Transgressive Masterpiece.

Based on the unbelievable, but true events, I, TONYA is a darkly comedic tale of American figure skater, Tonya Harding, and one of the most sensational scandals in sports history. Though Harding was the first American woman to complete a triple axel in competition, her legacy was forever defined by her association with an infamous, ill-conceived, and even more poorly executed attack on fellow Olympic competitor Nancy Kerrigan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXZQ5DfSAAc

Watched this last night and was extremely disappointed.

For me it didn't represent scale of the tragedy and subsequent evacuation. 

I have a friend who was with the 51st Highland Div when he was captured at St Valery and imprisoned for the rest of the war.

Listening to him is scary about what they went through during the campaign.

Thank god I never have had to fight a war.

The Parallax View (1975) DVD

The CD of this concert is an excellent listen, but being able to watch the performances on the DVD is simply fantastic. The jamming is awesome, look out for a very young Springsteen, Brian Ferry on vocals and a set of backing singers to die for. Lots of other big names and great musicians too. Orby is (IMO) under-rated as a guitarist and he is at his best on here. You can sample it on YouTube as well ...

Netflix rather than DVD but have been sharing early Black Mirrors with my daughter.

“White Bear” from S2 tonight!

Steven Spielberg's The Post, starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks;

An enjoyable film, well made, well acted, but just missing something for me.  Almost as though SS wasn't sure whether to focus completely on the relationship between Graham and her Editor, Bradlee, or to focus more on the surrounding story, that of the leaking of the Pentagon papers and the subsequent court case brought by the US Government in an attempt to prevent their further publication. And in the end, you were left with not quite enough of either. However, don't let that put you off.  Well worth watching.

I watched it on a DVD courtesy of Cinema Paradiso.  It's an anamorphic release with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and a decent but slightly soft picture.  I probably should have got the blu-ray instead...

Richard Dane posted:

Steven Spielberg's The Post, starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks;

An enjoyable film, well made, well acted, but just missing something for me.  Almost as though SS wasn't sure whether to focus completely on the relationship between Graham and her Editor, Bradlee, or to focus more on the surrounding story, that of the leaking of the Pentagon papers and the subsequent court case brought by the US Government in an attempt to prevent their further publication. And in the end, you were left with not quite enough of either. However, don't let that put you off.  Well worth watching.

I watched it on a DVD courtesy of Cinema Paradiso.  It's an anamorphic release with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and a decent but slightly soft picture.  I probably should have got the blu-ray instead...

Watched that several weeks ago while visiting friends who had it on Netflix.  I intend to watch it again as I came away disappointed and am not sure why.  I thought Streep was excellent but I totally did not connect to Hank's character or perhaps his portrayal of same.  I need to do some research on Bradlee and watch some video of him to see if I can reconcile that.  Either Bradlee was not an individual I could connect with or Hanks did a great job and I just found some of Bradlees mannerisms, methods and thoughts less than truly noble.  I was in the Washington DC area serving in the Army around this time.  I was well aware of Watergate (watched the hearings on TV in the office daily) but have little to no recall of the Pentagon Papers issue.  Very complex times then.  I will try to follow-up after I do my research and re-watch.

I found The Post to be a flat and uninspiring film despite the interesting topic in contrast to the excellent Spotlight which followed the The Boston Globe's team investigating cases of widespread and systemic child sex abuse in the Boston area by numerous Roman Catholic priests.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CItEtnp3nPY

Haim Ronen posted:

I found The Post to be a flat and uninspiring film despite the interesting topic in contrast to the excellent Spotlight which followed the The Boston Globe's team investigating cases of widespread and systemic child sex abuse in the Boston area by numerous Roman Catholic priests.

Haim, I agree that Spotlight seemed to be a better film.  Maybe the charms of the Post are more subtle. However, I do think it was stuck between two ideas of how to tell the story, neither of which was really allowed to fully flourish. Frustrating, as there's much that's really good, but personally I would have like more of the main characters and I do wonder whether it was cut down too much in editing.

Richard Dane posted:

Steven Spielberg's The Post, starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks;

An enjoyable film, well made, well acted, but just missing something for me.  Almost as though SS wasn't sure whether to focus completely on the relationship between Graham and her Editor, Bradlee, or to focus more on the surrounding story, that of the leaking of the Pentagon papers and the subsequent court case brought by the US Government in an attempt to prevent their further publication. And in the end, you were left with not quite enough of either. However, don't let that put you off.  Well worth watching.

I watched it on a DVD courtesy of Cinema Paradiso.  It's an anamorphic release with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and a decent but slightly soft picture.  I probably should have got the blu-ray instead...

No blu-ray rentals at Cinema Paradiso?

Yes, you can order on Blu-ray as well. I tend to stick with DVD for most rentals as it means I can play them on more different devices if need be. Also if I really like the film then I’ll order the Blu-ray for keeps.

Ah ok, didn't see that you could choose the format.

Will be watching this one next;

The new Paradiso cinema is a DVD movie. Maybe because I love movies, or maybe because the theme of the soundtrack you live on the skin, but this is for me Tornatore's best work. Emotionally intense film that can not help but move the viewer, especially the final scene. With great pride, I inserted the DVD of this movie into my personal video library. Highly recommend!

Helena posted:

The new Paradiso cinema is a DVD movie. Maybe because I love movies, or maybe because the theme of the soundtrack you live on the skin, but this is for me Tornatore's best work. Emotionally intense film that can not help but move the viewer, especially the final scene. With great pride, I inserted the DVD of this movie into my personal video library. Highly recommend!

Maybe you misunderstood. The conversation is not about the movie Nuovo cinema Paradiso but of a dvd/blu-ray rental company called Cinema Paradiso that Richard is a member of.

Drikus, what did you think of these last two films?  

I've been anticipating the release of Journey's End on DVD...

Synecdoche is a weird arty farty movie, at least to me that is. Not my cup of tea. I can only advice to rent it before you buy it, wish I had.

Journey's End on the other hand is a top movie, well worth the wait. Setting and acting is all top notch. Shows you the madness of that particular war in glorious detail. Be sure to check it out, you won't be disappointed.

Mediocre at best. Even Tom Stoppard, the talented playwright who co-wrote the script, couldn't save it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2djWwOK0Im8

Drikus posted:

Watched this last night a very original take on an old story with some really top acting.