Random Thoughts about TV, Film and Media (Page 11 of 11)

DVD's were fine, for about a decade.  When Blu-Ray came out, many studios began intentionally degrading their DVD releases on the same product.  Disney was notorious for this, as a way of showing off how much "better" BRD was.  In fact, it wasn't THAT much better.  The bit rate, sure, but given that 4K televisions did not become the "standard" until somewhat recently, there was often not a huge reason to have blu-ray's for close to a decade themselves, on older content.

Well, the first thing to look at would be what "extras" are on the discs?  For several years, DVD's mostly were sold with simple audio commentary track(s), trailers, a limited menu, and maybe a few deleted scenes.  This required minimal disc space.  Some studios like Warner Brothers often printed double-sided discs, one for widescreen and one for pan & scan.  After that first "wave," studios decided that they could start releasing other editions like director's cut, blah blah blah.  Yet, these would need to be additional discs in the case, so really no change.  With the advent of the blu-ray, and its well over 5x capacity increase from DVD, you could fit a larger film file (1080p) encoded at a higher bit rate.  However, you could also offer additional cuts, extras, and newly produced bonus content like interviews and documentaries, all on a single disc.  Well, when the studios go to sell them early on, they can't simply sell a blu-ray release, especially of a new film, you had to release a DVD or you'd lose out on millions of customers.  Since the DVD now needed to fit some (not all) of the litany of BRD extras, the studio would often sacrifice DVD bit rate to squeeze it on there.   Granted, many releases simply put the extras onto a second disc, but that's a cost associated.  Frankly, producing new bonus content wound up being a waste of money, as studies found the vast majority of it went unwatched. 

Now, obviously how the particularly movie you bought on DVD 15 years ago was shipped, in terms of extras and # of discs, etc., varied on a case by case basis. 

There are videophiles complaining incessantly on Reddit about 4K releases, and the type of BluRay disc being used.  They go crazy about whether a studio compresses to fit on a cheaper disc, when in fact the human eye is never going to discern the difference.  Perhaps in a screen capture, but who cares?  In fact, when they came out, people were screaming about how the studios often just took the DVD stream, and upscaled it, and sold you a 1080p version of an old film that your TV probably could have upscaled similarly, ha ha ha. 

The other issue is that many of the old forums and websites have vanished, but here's one where a customer was annoyed that Disney cheaped out and stuck too much on a single disc, and fouled up the video quality.

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/disney … tby=newest

That's unfortunate!

To me, I think of how the Universal DVD release of SLIDERS looks shockingly poor on DVD for Episodes 102 - 109, but if played on a CRT television, I don't think anyone could tell that those episodes looked any blurrier than the pilot or the subsequent seasons. I also doubt poor DVD bit rate was a problem until HD televisions started reaching 75 percent of homes by 2013, at which point DVD was already too low a resolution for the screen, and overcompression would make it worse. However, by 2015, it was pretty clear that DVD was going to fade in favour of streaming and, if anyone really wanted physical media, blu-ray for collectors.

Last night, in the depths of despair over how I can't properly upscale "Summer of Love" to "Luck of the Draw", I started looking on Kijiji for used CRTs. I saw one for $15 USD. Then I realized that while I have $15 USD, I have absolutely nowhere sensible to put a CRT television set because anywhere it could go is already occupied by a modern TV.

I've a really interesting program called ShaderGlass. https://mausimus.itch.io/shaderglass

It casts an overlay over the screen of a Windows PC, which you can apply to different windows or make fullscreen. It makes your screen mimic a cathode ray tube television with the dot pattern and the screen curvature and the crushed blacks. ShaderGlass made "Luck of the Draw" look like it did in 1995 for the first time since I'd thrown out my old CRT. And unlike an actual CRT, ShaderGlass doesn't cost or weigh anything or take up any physical space.

Anyone watch Terminator Zero on Netflix?

I don't love anime, but I think it's a pretty interesting story.  Almost all of Terminator is set in Los Angeles, and it's interesting to see the perspective of another location.  I have three episodes left, but I like it so far.

I also rewatched the original Terminator.  I forgot how much damage the Terminator takes.  He's not invincible, and he's pretty roughed up even before he gets blown up.  It ended up being a bit more realistic than I remembered - he's strong and doesn't stop, but he takes damage from car wrecks and falls.  I feel like some of that got lost as the series continued.

Yeah I have trouble connecting with the artwork, but I can get through it if the story is good.  And this story is pretty solid - after 40 years of Terminator stuff, it's a fresh look at the franchise.  They also take advantage of the fact that the Terminator is in a place where it isn't as easy to get guns.  So he has to improvise a bit more.

Yeah I understand that.  I do think they can be slow.

This one is 8 25-minute episodes.  I guess some of it could probably be cut but they try to do character development, and that means situations like the movies where the terminator shows up and then they escape.

I don't know, give it a shot if you're interested.  I'm curious what people think about it.

I didn't know where to put this (maybe we need to rename the DC Threads to CW/Arrowverse and DCU) but I decided to put this here because it's technically not DC related.  But I watched Rebel Ridge on Netflix, and the star of that (Aaron Pierre) has been cast as John Stewart in the Lanterns show.  Not only is the movie really engrossing and entertaining, but I think he's great in it.  I think he also has really powerful eyes that almost look "Green Lantern-y" in certain angles, and I think he's gonna be really good.  I know there's some criticism that he's not a dark-skinned person like John Stewart is traditionally, but I think he's gonna do great.

If you're interested in Lanterns, I think checking out some of the movie will make you feel great about the casting.

We have two DC threads:

DC Superheroes on TV (CW & HBO Max)
DC Superheroes in Film (Theatrical and Streaming)

This is just one stupid man's opinion, but I worry that there might be some confusion with the HBO Max part of that because Lanterns is DCU but is TV and will air on Max.  I think it makes more organizational sense to have all the James Gunn stuff in one place particularly since they'll all tie together.  So my recommendation would be to have one thread for Arrowverse/non-DCU and the other for the DCU (Theatrical and Streaming) but as I'm typing this out that might not be any less confusing.

Like I said I'm a stupid man

I'm not sure if the old Continuum thread was lost but I was pleasantly surprised to find it on tubi in the u.s. tonight. All four seasons.  It has been elusive to find since leaving Netflix 6 or 7 years ago.  But it's streaming for free in the u.s. now on tubi.

Ha.  Well you've always been much better on details as me.

I never finished the series when it was streaming on netflix, so I can't recall how far I got.  I just remember feeling like I was watching a believable world, with fully thought out, well-constructed logic that was very much grounded in a speculative sort of reality.   It didn't feel artificial or convenient.  It felt real, despite the drama and the science fiction.

did anyone know about this?

https://uk.strangerthingsonstage.com

Ha, yes she's into "psychedelic-assisted therapy" now, and campaigned to legalize psychedelics in some manner in Mass, which did not pass.  Her socials basically came to life after years of inactivity, a month ago.  The career path is not a surprise, as she's wanted to go in that direction for as long as I've known her, which was partly what her mother's group was doing in Africa, minus the mushrooms.  Obviously I'm happy that she's happy and seems to be going strong.

THE BIG BANG THEORY had a prequel series, YOUNG SHELDON, which now has a spinoff, GEORGIE AND MANDY'S FIRST MARRIAGE. Georgie, a cheery Southern mechanic, first appeared on THE BIG BANG THEORY played by Jerry O'Connell.

On YOUNG SHELDON, Georgie is a teenager played by Montana Jackson, who now is the lead of GEORGIE AND MANDY'S FIRST MARRIAGE. Georgie is a 19 year old high school dropout who gets the late 20s Mandy (Emily Osment) pregnant in a one night stand. Georgie immediately drops every frivolous pursuit in life to support his baby and Mandy, for whom Georgie is head over heels in love. One of their supports is Jim, the father of Mandy who is played by Will Sasso (Gomez Calhoun).

So, if you ever felt the need to watch young Quinn and Gomez as pseudo father and son, here you are. Emily Osment is splendid too.

I desperately need to know what Slider_Quinn21 thinks of how NEW BLOOD has been undone.

I can only hope that so many of our favorite actors, actresses, directors, writers, producers, and crew members, who have brought us so many wonderful movies and television shows, will be safe through this horrendous Los Angeles area fires.  Many prominent celebrities have already lost their homes in a matter of moments.

ME: "As a fanfic author, I'd like to bring something to your attention."

EMMA: "Oh God."

ME: "What was the last thing you ate before you engaged in your current quest to take down a serial killer once and for all?"

EMMA: "Toast."

ME: "What was the last thing you drank?"

EMMA: "Coffee. One cup."

ME: "Are you aware that this one slice of toast and this one cup of coffee was 60 hours ago? And that you haven't eaten since then and you haven't had so much as a glass of water as you've run around Pennsylvania and Louisiana hunting the Lakewood Slasher?"

EMMA: "Wait, what?"

ME: "Also -- the last time you performed your ablutions, how long did you spend brushing your hair and applying makeup?"

EMMA: "Like ten minutes. Hey, what do you mean -- "

ME: "So: 60 hours ago, you combed your hair and applied makeup and you had one peace of toast and one cup of coffee; you then began searching for the Lakewood Slasher and dodged several attacks and fought him twice and during all this time, your 10 minutes of hair and skin care remains completely intact without a single touchup. You haven't eaten a single meal or drank any fluids in two and a half days, and yet, you haven't collapsed from hunger or dehydration. You haven not slept for 60 hours; you're as energetic as though you just woke up. You were in a car crash at the 45 hour mark and emerged with the full agility of an Olympic athlete and your hair and makeup have not changed. Have you even needed to go to the washroom since breakfast?"

EMMA: "No!"

ME: "And you're aware; you look like Willa Fitzgerald. You have almost no body fat to draw on for reserves, so the fact that you're in perfect fighting trim on no food or water or sleep and don't have a hair out of place -- well, it might suggest that your fanfic author is excusing you from certain human fragilities. And that your writer is more on your side than you think."

EMMA: "Okay, okay. But you realize: even if I never get tired, being awake for 60 hours of mayhem and violence has driven me pretty close to insane."

Has anyone seen NBC's Siberia?

I loved this show!

https://www.cancelledscifi.com/2025/03/ … eria-2013/

https://tubitv.com/tv-shows/527529/s01-e101-pilot

I recently watched this series myself.  Really liked the characters, and Gary Oldman is incredible as the lead.  Maybe the most fun I've had watching a series in a while.

I really enjoyed this season of Black Mirror.  A lot of attention, I assume, has been on the sequel to USS Callister and the semi-sequel to Bandersnatch, but my favorite episode was "Common People."  A terrifying look at a super-realistic way that technology would both really help people and potentially hamstring working class families.  I think the others were generally pretty good.  I think "Bete Noire" is a really fun episode that I think has an ending that was maybe a little too ridiculous, even for this show.  "Hotel Reverie" has some good character work, and I assume is one of the ways movie production could go.  "Plaything" was a bit of fun, but also maybe a bit of a mess.  "Eulogy" was a great character piece starring Paul Giamatti.  And USS Callister: Into Infinity is still great, although probably not as great as the original.

It can be hit or miss.  I recently rewatched Bandersnatch and think it was a fun concept.  The story itself isn't super Black Mirror-y.  I think some of it strays a bit from the stuff that I like the most ("how would people react if *insert technology* was introduced?") and that's what I liked about Common People.  If you wanted to try it again, there's probably some lists that would do better at picking which episodes to watch and which to skip than me.  But I think, since Bandersnatch, my favorites are:

Season 6
Beyond the Sea
Demon 79 (although technically this is "Red Mirror" - an attempt at horror)

Season 7
Common People
USS Callister: Into Infinity (if you've seen the original - obviously watch that one first)

In season 5 (which I didn't pick any), I think all three are pretty good but all flawed in their own way.  "Joan Is Awful" is very entertaining and I really wanted to like Bete Noire more than I ended up liking it.

Interesting.  I watched it a couple of weeks ago.  Because of the interactive nature, I know it doesn't work on all devices so you might just not be able to see it?

Well I'm glad I watched it when I did, then.  That's crazy.

I saw someone suggest (don't recall where) that Netflix is updating their UI. Maybe the new system doesn't support interactivity?

I saw Thunderbolts* last night. More on that in the Marvel thread, but I thought it was better than much of what has been put out since Endgame.

Just finished Presumed Innocent. It was fair. Can't say I saw the real murderer coming.

I still need to finish Daredevil Born Again.

Considering The Studio and Murderbot.

I see The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is being released on (HBO)Max on June 27. If you're a looney tunes fan, it's worth catching. I wasn't at all sure Porky and Daffy could carry a full-length film, but they did. I think it's horrible the way Zaslav has treated this property, so show it some love if it's at all your thing.

I wanted to like MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: THE FINAL RECKONING more than I did.

I guess the thing that bothered me most: DEAD RECKONING started a new storyline: the dark past of Ethan Hunt. We learn that before Ethan joined the Impossible Missions Force, he was facing murder charges. The villain of DEAD RECKONING and FINAL RECKONING, Gabriel, apparently murdered a woman Ethan cared about, someone named Marie, played by Mariela Garriga. We only glimpsed Marie in a flashback and Ethan finding her body, and could intuit that Gabriel, a villainous spy, had killed her and framed Ethan.

THE FINAL RECKONING does not elaborate any further on Marie or Ethan's origin story or what relationship or enmity Ethan and Gabriel had or how they met or why they turned against each other or why Marie died or why Ethan was facing murder charges. Marie only appears in the same footage of her death that was seen in DEAD RECKONING.

Something clearly went wrong here, and it really disappoints me because I came into the theatre eager to learn more about Ethan's past and emerged with nothing new about his history.

I deliberately didn't give details about what's in the movie.

I would say... the movie is strangely overburdened with exposition. I have no idea why. Christopher McQuarrie has talked a lot about how he never wants the audience to have to remember too much; he doesn't like overlong exposition. But FINAL RECKONING boasts one of the most overexplained plots I've ever seen. The 1996 movie had a plot that nobody could understand. The second one had a plot that nobody needed to understand. The seventh film has a plot that that I found myself understanding to the point of wondering how much I really needed to understand it.

Spoilers for MI:8

I was satisfied by the Jim Phelps Jr. reveal; I thought it addressed the damage done by the 1996 film by situating the movies in a separate continuity from the TV show. It was an easter egg, not a huge moment of drama. I was fine with it.

The warning was that the Entity, if destroyed, would take down every digital system in its cascading death throes reverberating through every system it controlled and had infected. Luther's Poison Pill therefore only threatens to destroy the Entity, which seeks to evade the Poison Pill by retreating into the doomsday bunker and which the IMF has rigged to offer only one digital storage space for the Entity: the crystalline five-dimension optical drive which will hold the Entity indefinitely.

This prevents the Entity from disrupting and destroying digital infrastructures in its own termination; it isn't destroyed, but instead cut off and contained, preventing the destructive feedback loop while removing its continued influence over any technology outside the 5D crystal.

Spoilers for MISSION IMPOSSIBLE:

Every government in the world, including the States, wanted to possess and control the Entity, and nobody believed Ethan would hand it over. Ethan states outright that his plan is to destroy the Entity, which he can do safely when it can't control anything outside the 5D crystal. The president ultimately follows Ethan's plan, but prepares to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike should he fail, only to decide she will try to give Ethan more time.

Regarding Jasper Briggs: while he doesn't affect the plot, his presence points out certain ironies. Jim Phelps in the 1996 film was a rogue spy, a traitor who co-opted IMF resources and turned against his own government to pursue his own agenda. As far as the CIA and the IMF are concerned, that is an exact description of Ethan Hunt in 2025: Ethan is a rogue agent who is operating without sanction or approval from the agency that supposedly employs him. Briggs is furious that Ethan took Phelps down for what Ethan himself seems to do, and the IMF and the CIA generally think Ethan is out for money or revenge.

Briggs' confrontation with Ethan also sets up a later arc: when Ethan's team depends on William Donloe, the agent whom Ethan unwittingly humiliated and saw sent off to the Arctic in the 1996 film. Briggs' refusal to aid Ethan sets up the likelihood that the other person Ethan pissed off in 1996 is also unlikely to be an ally, building some uncertainty, except Donloe turns out to have a different view.

On the subject of the 5D crystal and Ethan's custody of it: in the middle of the film, Grace tells Ethan to think of the power that the Entity would give any wielder who could threaten its existence and dictate its actions. Ethan says he would trust no one with that power. Grace says she would trust Ethan, and hands it over to him at the end. He may run it over with a car; he may keep it for some purpose.

And about the Entity:

We need to note, before we get into the mechanics of how the Entity works: the Entity is not a realistic depiction of even a malicious AI. The Entity's plan across two films has been to corrupt and destroy information and data and replace it with fraudulent or altered versions that serve its ends; if the Entity is replacing the information on which it depends its assessments and decisions, it can no longer make reliable calculations or strategies. AI systems depend on reliable data to function and constantly glitch because of untrustworthy intel.

In addition, the Entity's plan is to contain itself within the doomsday bunker while exterminating the human face. This is foolish and counter to its stated goals: any AI system, even the Entity, depends on human action to generate the data on which the Entity acts and to maintain the equipment on which the Entity exists.

A server farm like the doomsday bunker is not something that anyone can set and forget: the electrical resistance of cables will degrade; fan coils wear out; power systems need fuel; solar panels need cleaning -- the Entity has killed or driven away all human staff and has no capacity to maintain its operating equipment or engage in repairs. It clearly has no robotics operation because it uses human agents.

Your question is why entrapping one instance of the Entity would affect all the others out there. The Entity, in its evasive and elusive maneuvers and its vulnerability to source code attacks via the Poison Pill, appears to operate on a centralized if mobile dataset from which its actions and decisions originate.

All instances are ultimately linked to the source code core in order to retain operational control and to, presumably, distinguish fabricated and altered data from the original data and to synchronize the actions across multiple instances. When the Entity is contained to the 5D crystal, the IMF has effectively removed the AI brain from the rest of its digital body.

This is not a realistic picture of a likely decentralized AI system, but within the fictional logic of a MISSION IMPOSSIBLE film, it's what we've been shown. The Entity's core data, if confined to the 5D crystal, prevents it from having any further influence over any other nodes of its function.

All this verbiage to defend a movie I wasn't that crazy about...