Hi-Tech or Lo-Tech?

[Philly Q]

I would add to that is Blue Ray ever going to take off? I have my doubts.

I had very strong doubts too, but with HD-DVD (almost) out of the picture there's one less obstacle, so I think Blu-ray will take off.  Especially since every PS3 is a Blu-ray player too, and (I assume) most new TVs now being sold are HD ready.

HD broadcasting hasn't really taken off in the UK yet, but it has in the USA so it'll become established soon enough.  And once we're watching broadcast TV in HD, even the nearly-blind and totally stupid won't be happy with standard definition DVD any more.

The only thing threatening Blu-ray then will be movie downloads, but I think that's still a little way off.

[TwilightOdyssey]

Blu-Ray is a stopgap until downloadable movies becomes commonplace.
VUDU is probably going to be the first real piece of convergence gear due to its networking strength* and low price. :)




*Edit: By network strength, I mean in the business sense, not the tech sense.

[dave_mc]

 even the nearly-blind and totally stupid won't be happy with standard definition DVD any more.

did you have to make it so personal, philly?  :oops:  :lol:

[Philly Q]

 even the nearly-blind and totally stupid won't be happy with standard definition DVD any more.

did you have to make it so personal, philly?  :oops:  :lol:

:lol:  :lol: I could say "if the cap fits", Dave, but that would make it sound like it really was aimed at you!

I expect Ben's right about downloadable movies, Blu-ray will probably be relatively short-lived.  But somebody has to make all those movies available for download, which will take a long time - especially for those of us who like older movies, world cinema, non-mainstream stuff.  Fine for people who like brainless Hollywood cack like Transformers.  :x   :roll:

Personally I dislike downloading, I like collecting material "things" and I don't really want everything I own to be on a hard drive.  And downloading a movie in HD takes bloody hours, so bang goes any idea of spontaneity.

[dave_mc]

:D

i agree about having something tangible, i always prefer a book over a digital download, say... (though granted there's less glare from a book, so it's not solely psychological there).

and i hope you're talking about the newer transformers live action film, not the classic from the 80s. awesome soundtrack too. :D

[Philly Q]

and i hope you're talking about the newer transformers live action film, not the classic from the 80s. awesome soundtrack too. :D

:lol:  Oh god, yes of course.  Didn't it have some tracks by Spectre General, aka Kick Axe?

[blue]

" You got the touch, you got the powwwerrrr!!!"

great soundtrack!  and they used a couple of those tracks in Boogie Nights! another great movie.

[dave_mc]

never seen boogie nights, but yeah, it had spectre general, stan bush etc. lion did the theme tune, i think doug aldrich played on that one?

:D

[Philly Q]

lion did the theme tune, i think doug aldrich played on that one?

I guess so, he was certainly a member of Lion.

[TwilightOdyssey]

I expect Ben's right about downloadable movies, Blu-ray will probably be relatively short-lived.  But somebody has to make all those movies available for download, which will take a long time - especially for those of us who like older movies, world cinema, non-mainstream stuff.  Fine for people who like brainless Hollywood cack like Transformers.  :x   :roll:

Keep one eye on www.vudu.com and the other on www.hulu.com

[dave_mc]

lion did the theme tune, i think doug aldrich played on that one?

I guess so, he was certainly a member of Lion.

yeah, from what i remembered he had a credit on the writing of the theme song too (i checked...  :oops: )

[nfe]

Fine for people who like brainless Hollywood cack like Transformers.  :x   :roll:

BIG FUCKING ROBOTS FIGHTING.

What's not to love?

[Philly Q]

What's not to love?

Well, the complete lack of a plot for a start.  The annoying teen hero (also the "star" of super-lame teen thriller Disturbia and the new Indiana Jones travesty).  The lame attempts at comedy (including an astoundingly ill-judged conversation about wanking which must have launched a great many awkward conversations between parents and their 8-year-olds).  The hide-behind-your-fingers embarrassing performance of once-respected actor John Turturro (they must have paid him a lot).  

But mostly the fact that it's so incompetently directed that you can't actually see the BIG F*CKING ROBOTS FIGHTING.  The human soldiers charge around on motorbikes and things, shouting rubbish at each other, in a seemingly totally random manner.  When one of the good robots "dies" at the end I (a) hadn't noticed when he got injured and (b) had no fecking clue who he was or if I'd ever seen him before.

To quote from a most excellent review:
 
"Imagine you took apart a whole bunch of cars, mixed the parts up and welded them all together into a giant ball maybe 15 or 20 feet in diameter, then rolled it down a hill. Shoot that in closeup and you got every fight scene in this movie."