Just finished watching American Pie 2. I think it was even better than the first one, which I watched a few nights ago. Great music - Blink 182, Sum 41, 3 Doors Down, Fennix TX, The Lemonheads, Michelle Branch, Uncle Kracker, etc... it all takes me back. And some really funny scenes. I just loved the Lesbian Artifacts!

Maybe tomorrow I will do American Pie 3, if it gets here from Netflix by then.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Mar 18 2016, 11:03 PM

Brave Sir Robin

One of my favorite parts of this movie which is probably on my top 10 list of best movies of all time

Just finished watching Crimson Peak. Excellent movie. There are ghosts in it, but it is not a ghost story. Plus, Tom Hiddleston. I especially liked the protagonist - played by Mia Wasikowska. She seems like a fragile flower, but proves to be the toughest of the bunch by the end.

American Pie 3 came in the mail today, so that is what I am watching. The dvd has a lot of scratches though, and its having problems with the playback. I think I might go out and see if I can buy the whole set on blu-ray.

I got as far as the gay dance battle though. I love that scene! And once again, more great music that takes me back to turn of the millennium - Foo Fighters, Good Charlotte, New Found Glory, All-American Rejects, Gob. Everything I was listening to back then.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Mar 19 2016, 06:22 PM

Is this the scene? I love this one:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NteoKAN6gYc


(A kind of "Zoolander" moment, )





This post has been edited by mALX: Mar 19 2016, 06:53 PM

That's the one. It had me laughing my ass off.

Same here!

Just finished watching Hayao Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky (Laputa) on DVD. Very nice image quality when upscaled to 1080p. As is my decided preference, I watched it in its original language with English subtitles rather than the English language (default) option.

I first saw the film while in the military stationed in Japan during the late 80s. A friend brought both it and Akira to my off-base apartment as Laserdisc rentals. Akira did absolutely nothing for me, but I was instantly enraptured by Laputa. Years later I made it an early DVD purchase.

This time round, I watched it up until everyone arrives at Laputa a number of evenings ago, then became too sleepy to continue. I meant to finish up in the morning, but as luck would have it felt too poorly for serious movie watching the next several days. By the time I got to feeling better absent-minded me had forgotten about it . . . until this morning. The break did no harm, familiar as I am with the film.

At YouTube, I watched this interesting discussion of Mail Coifs by Lindybeige. I had not realized how few actual historic coifs survived the ages.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Mar 20 2016, 11:12 PM

I always watch anime or other non-'Merican films in their native languages, with English subtitles on. You not only hear the emotion in the actors voices, but after a while you start to pick up a few words.

This morning I watched a trailer for the upcoming remake of Ben Hur. Meh

It remained me that, thanks to a discussion at the film forum I recently joined, I had planned to watch my laserdisc of the 1926 silent Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ. I'd not viewed it since before being able to upscale laserdiscs to 1080p, and mabe not since my 27" tube TV days. Presentation wise the film is impressive. Image quality is top notch, especially for a mid 1980s restoration. Not perfect mind you, but so good its easy to ignore the few minor imperfections that crop up from time to time. The down side? The picture is so clean I notice how soft it is compared to newer disc formats. Not lease-breaker soft by any means, but regrettable. Fine tinting. The movie's technicolor scenes show to good effect, though being two-strip (color) technicolor are of course wanting by modern standards.

A very big plus, the film is accompanied by a Carl Davis music score. (I'd have had no idea who Davis was when I bought the disc set.) It's fine music in its own right, and fits the mood and often specific actions of the movie very well. Some nice sound effects too.

As for the movie as a movie, I like it quite a lot. I think the 1959 Charlton Heston Ben Hur is overall the better of the two, but not by all that much, and the older film certainly has its moment of glory. The chariot race is very well done and quite exciting, with a buildup of intensity as it progresses. The naval battle ain't bad either.

Alas, I can find no linkable YouTube clips from the 1926 Ben Hur that utilize Carl Davis's music . . . and there was much rejoicing.

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I'm more that half convinced to buy a region-free conventional blu-ray player rather than hold out for a true 4k unit. I don't expect to upgrade my TV or A/V receiver again during this lifetime unless forced by circumstances beyond my control. Neither is 4k capable. Even should I take the 4k plunge, the movies I like to collect on disc tend to be niche products and are unlikely to appears in 4k format for years to come. As for movie streaming, it's never been my thing. In any case my slow DSL connection is incapable of streaming hi-res, high quality video. (And don't forget data caps, mine being, last time I checked, 150gb per month.) A region-free player will let me invest in some British silent film restorations not otherwise available to the American market. This is all thinking out loud and may never come to pass.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Mar 22 2016, 10:57 AM

Used to watch Deadliest Catch and Gold Rush. The latter may have had an effect on me..

Just prior to my afternoon brisk walk I watched the MCA Home Video laserdisc release of the 1931 Bela Lugosi Dracula. The disc sports the words "RESTORED VERSION" on the jacket front, without explanation. I had forgotten how oddly it ends. Dracula lies dead in his coffin, a stake driver through his heart. His intended bride (????) recovers her senses on his death. She and her fiancee begin the ascend the steps in each others' arms. About mid way up POOF, the end, without any sort of true closure sequence.

I also forgot that Dracula's chief antagonist in the film is Dr van Helsing.

I enjoy watching Dracula every now and again, but don't consider it one of the truly 'great' movies.

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I keep forgetting to mention that I have a laserdisc featuring the Washington DC National Gallery of Art. Amongst its offerings is a video catalog of 1645 of the gallery's artworks. The disc is in CAV format, allowing individual pieces to be viewed as still images. I had high hopes they would look excellent on a modern LCD TV upscaled to 1080p. Alas. They're unwatchably blurry. Such a disappointment. No great loss I suppose. I suspect many of these works can nowadays be viewed online.

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@mirocu "Used to watch Deadliest Catch and Gold Rush. The latter may have had an effect on me."
May I assume you refer to the Charlie Chaplin Gold Rush? I have that on VHS buried in a box somewhere. Mine was a pretty dismal presentation. I've not watched that tape prolly since the 80s and do not intend to do so again. That said, Gold Rush is on my short-list of silents to rebuy, this time round in a modern restoration that will hopefully do the movie full justice.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Mar 23 2016, 10:09 AM

I bought the Star Trek 50th Anniversary discs at Meijer last weekend. Since then I have been having a Trek-athon. I just finished Search For Spock. Next up is Star Trek - Save The Whales.

I also picked up the final Hungry Games movie today. I am not sure when I will get to watching it though. My plan is to do a Hungry marathon and watch all four (probably each a day apart). Not sure when though. My American Pie movies showed up in the mail today. It is the first four Pies on blu-ray (the ones that didn't go direct to video). I never saw the fourth one, so I will want to work that one in somewhere too.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Mar 22 2016, 11:00 PM

I´m afraid not. I´m talking about that American reality show where they dig for gold in Porcupine, Alaska..

"Star Trek - Save the Whales." LOL, that's exactly what I call it too. Push come to shove, I'd name Wrath of Khan not only my favorite Star Trek movie but also my favorite sci-fi film. I need to rebuy it. My laserdisc Khan is regrettably pan-and-scan, the only way the movie was offered on home video back then.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Mar 22 2016, 11:14 PM

This evening I watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit? On laserdisc of course. Amazingly good image quality considering the source. So good, in fact, that I don't feel the need to replace it on a newer format unless my LD player goes belly-up or the discs develop laser rot. Not bad sound either, to the extent my ears can judge such things. As for the movie itself, what's not to like?

On the YouTube front, I find myself hooked on What's My Line? episodes.

Really cool you actually have laserdiscs, Decrepit! Aren´t those things like vinyls?

Wrath of Khan is definitely my favorite Trek film as well. Probably most people's. It is all so very personal, which gives the story a raw, emotional edge to it. "To the end, I will grapple with thee!", and of course "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one..."

I guess that's one you either love or hate. It's the one I hate. I think of it as 'Overactors Anonymous'.

My son has just moved after staying with us while in-between apartments. I took advantage of his collection of Monty Python disks as well as browsing his cd's of Mad Magazine.

I Love Mad Magazine!!!!