Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 7:42 pm
Yes, the subtiles are removable!
Apologies if this has been mentioned before, but I couldn't find it.
8 disc DVD Box set to be released by Umbrella in September.
Page 6 of 11
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 9:23 pm
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 10:11 pm
Looks fascinating! I don't know any disc from that company, are they usually reliable for good quality? "The Pillow Book" and "Drowning by Numbers" deserve better editions than those out elsewhere for sure, so I feel really tempted about this set. But if they duplicated the transfers of the old Australian discs of "Macon" and "Drowning by Numbers", better beware....
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 7:55 am
I have the two Fred Schepisi films "Devil's Playground" and "Jimmie Blacksmith" from Umbrella and they are both excellent editions. Good transfers, extras and commentaries.
The omens are good.
The omens are good.
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 10:15 am
Unfortunately, Umbrella should be considered on a film by film basis. they release some truly wonderful films for such a small home market, but quality can be at the extreme ends of the spectrum. The few I've seen make me suspect some, if not all are unconverted pal/ntsc etc (where applicable). Subtitles can be variable, as well. On the whole, ghosting is my biggest problem with their releases I've seen.tojoed wrote:I have the two Fred Schepisi films "Devil's Playground" and "Jimmie Blacksmith" from Umbrella and they are both excellent editions. Good transfers, extras and commentaries.
The omens are good.
This reads like a hatchet job, but better you have some sort of picture before importing these titles.
Having said that, one of my sweetest discoveries over the past year was Umbrella's poorly subtitled, but decent print of De Sica's The Roof. A great film, despite the limitations of the dvd.
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 6:04 pm
Discshop.se now has stock of The Baby of Mâcon BD. Note that they do not currently ship to the USA, only within Europe.
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 5:49 pm
I have received my copy of the new Atlantic Baby of Macon and Prospero's Books dvds.
The Baby of Macon dvd is of quite wonderful picture quality -- georgeous deep reds. Considering the previous alternatives on offer (a UK VHS, and an atrocious Region 4 release) I would strongly encourage Greenaway fans to pick up this release. Subtitles are removable.
Prospero's Books is more disappointing. The picture quality is superior to my dutch Kalverliefde release, however it is very obviously cropped -- during one close-up of Gielgud, for example, his eyes actually go off the screen! The cinematography and the colours and the crispness are all great -- but the cropping is really annoying.
It will be interesting to see whether the new Australian Umbrella release is the same...
The Baby of Macon dvd is of quite wonderful picture quality -- georgeous deep reds. Considering the previous alternatives on offer (a UK VHS, and an atrocious Region 4 release) I would strongly encourage Greenaway fans to pick up this release. Subtitles are removable.
Prospero's Books is more disappointing. The picture quality is superior to my dutch Kalverliefde release, however it is very obviously cropped -- during one close-up of Gielgud, for example, his eyes actually go off the screen! The cinematography and the colours and the crispness are all great -- but the cropping is really annoying.
It will be interesting to see whether the new Australian Umbrella release is the same...
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 6:17 am
Thanks a lot! If you have time and the possibility, could you post a comparison screen shot between the Dutch and the Swedish releases of "Prospero"? Would interest me very much to see the cropping; the aspect ratio of "Prospero" is 1.85/1.78 on the Swedish release, isn't it?
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:59 pm
I watched the BFI Blu-Ray of A Zed and Two Noughts over the weekend and it looks amazing. Some nice bonus features too.
Also, the movie is much better than I remembered it being. I hesitated to purchase it, now it's one of my favorite Greenaways.
Also, the movie is much better than I remembered it being. I hesitated to purchase it, now it's one of my favorite Greenaways.
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:01 am
From a very quick read of the boxes for said set, I note:tojoed wrote:Apologies if this has been mentioned before, but I couldn't find it.
8 disc DVD Box set to be released by Umbrella in September.
1. Baby of Macon
- 117 minute feature length
- 2.35:1, 2.0 soundtrack
- dvd 9
- no subtitles
- no special features
2. Propoero's Books
- 121 minute feature length
- 1.77:1, 2.0 soundtrack
- dvd 9
- no subtitles
- no special features
3. The Draughtsman's Contract
- 104 minute feature length
- dvd 9
- 1.77:1, 2.0 English/french sountrack
- french and dutch subtitles
- special features as per standalone release
4. Drowning by numbers
-119 minute feature length
-dvd 9
-1.66:1, 2.0 soundtrack
- no subtitles
- no special features
5. A Zed and Two Noughts
- 112 minute feature length
- dvd 9
- 1.66:1, 2.0 English/French/Dutch sountrack(s)
-dutch and french subtitles
- special features as per standalone release.
6. The Pillow Book
- 121 minute feature length
- dvd 9
- Full frame/4:3, 2.0 English, Cantonese, Italian, Japanese, Mandrin, French
- English subtitles
- no special features
7. 8/12 Women
- 121 minute feature length
- dvd 5
- 1.66:1, 2.0 English
- english subtitles
- no special features
8. Peter Greemaway in Documentary
- 60 minute feature length
- DVD 5
- full frame
- no subtitles.
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2010 12:22 am
Re Atlantic's Baby blu: I'd second ola t's brief review - "looks great".
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2010 1:38 am
For customers in the USA, Megastore (English) finally has stock of The Baby of Mâcon BD. My order has been shipped and I will update when I receive it.
Order link
Order link
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2010 3:57 am
Thanks for that, just ordered.McCrutchy wrote:For customers in the USA, Megastore (English) finally has stock of The Baby of Mâcon BD. My order has been shipped and I will update when I receive it.
Order link
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2010 5:19 am
My copy arrived from english.megastore.se today!
I am pleased to report that Atlantic Film's BD of The Baby of Mâcon does in fact contain full 1080p video (24.000fps) and an English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 soundtrack (verified by both BDInfo and my A/V receiver's display). Other than the feature, the disc contains only a static 1080p loading screen (in English), followed by another static 1080p screen with subtitle options. The subtitles can be easily disabled via the pop-up menu, which is also in English. I have confirmed through a multiregion player that the disc is Region ABC (region-free).
I can also confirm that there is no timecode displayed for the feature. When playing the feature, my player's display simply showed "PLAY".
One other surprise was the lovely artwork on the obverse of the Swedish cover art (please forgive the crudity of my scanner):
BDInfo report:
I am pleased to report that Atlantic Film's BD of The Baby of Mâcon does in fact contain full 1080p video (24.000fps) and an English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 soundtrack (verified by both BDInfo and my A/V receiver's display). Other than the feature, the disc contains only a static 1080p loading screen (in English), followed by another static 1080p screen with subtitle options. The subtitles can be easily disabled via the pop-up menu, which is also in English. I have confirmed through a multiregion player that the disc is Region ABC (region-free).
I can also confirm that there is no timecode displayed for the feature. When playing the feature, my player's display simply showed "PLAY".
One other surprise was the lovely artwork on the obverse of the Swedish cover art (please forgive the crudity of my scanner):
BDInfo report:
Code: Select all
Total Video
Title Codec Length Movie Size Disc Size Bitrate Bitrate Main Audio Track Secondary Audio Track
----- ------ ------- -------------- -------------- ------- ------- ------------------ ---------------------
00005.MPLS AVC 2:01:57 20,270,481,408 20,482,378,293 22.16 20.02 DTS-HD Master 2.0 913Kbps (48kHz/16-bit)
Code: Select all
DISC INFO:
Disc Title: The Baby of Macon
Disc Size: 20,482,378,293 bytes
Protection: AACS
BD-Java: Yes
BDInfo: 0.5.6
PLAYLIST REPORT:
Name: 00005.MPLS
Length: 2:01:57 (h:m:s)
Size: 20,270,481,408 bytes
Total Bitrate: 22.16 Mbps
VIDEO:
Codec Bitrate Description
----- ------- -----------
MPEG-4 AVC Video 20018 kbps 1080p / 24 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
AUDIO:
Codec Language Bitrate Description
----- -------- ------- -----------
DTS-HD Master Audio English 913 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 913 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit)
SUBTITLES:
Codec Language Bitrate Description
----- -------- ------- -----------
Presentation Graphics Danish 17.816 kbps
Presentation Graphics Finnish 14.930 kbps
Presentation Graphics Norwegian 16.039 kbps
Presentation Graphics sve 18.035 kbps
FILES:
Name Time In Length Size Total Bitrate
---- ------- ------ ---- -------------
00005.M2TS 0:00:00.000 2:01:57.250 20,270,481,408 22,162
CHAPTERS:
Number Time In Length Avg Video Rate Max 1-Sec Rate Max 1-Sec Time Max 5-Sec Rate Max 5-Sec Time Max 10Sec Rate Max 10Sec Time Avg Frame Size Max Frame Size Max Frame Time
------ ------- ------ -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
1 0:00:00.000 0:05:17.000 17,198 kbps 24,826 kbps 00:03:12.583 23,237 kbps 00:03:09.875 22,148 kbps 00:03:04.583 89,562 bytes 336,931 bytes 00:03:08.625
2 0:05:17.000 0:13:42.500 20,316 kbps 27,475 kbps 00:05:40.833 24,263 kbps 00:06:21.875 23,558 kbps 00:06:23.458 105,811 bytes 410,420 bytes 00:06:25.625
3 0:18:59.500 0:07:42.083 19,853 kbps 25,484 kbps 00:19:05.750 24,025 kbps 00:19:03.750 23,018 kbps 00:24:38.250 103,402 bytes 367,340 bytes 00:24:47.375
4 0:26:41.583 0:12:37.916 19,537 kbps 31,787 kbps 00:36:34.083 30,676 kbps 00:36:32.791 25,831 kbps 00:36:27.833 101,757 bytes 450,436 bytes 00:37:18.708
5 0:39:19.500 0:11:03.000 19,498 kbps 28,181 kbps 00:39:52.416 26,618 kbps 00:39:59.041 26,203 kbps 00:39:52.791 101,552 bytes 401,271 bytes 00:44:12.625
6 0:50:22.500 0:14:21.000 21,671 kbps 27,895 kbps 01:04:16.250 25,660 kbps 01:04:14.291 25,564 kbps 01:04:13.750 112,871 bytes 444,972 bytes 00:59:13.375
7 1:04:43.500 0:13:09.500 20,864 kbps 31,515 kbps 01:05:04.291 28,565 kbps 01:09:06.750 26,858 kbps 01:09:06.666 108,665 bytes 390,804 bytes 01:09:40.666
8 1:17:53.000 0:08:17.500 21,035 kbps 25,984 kbps 01:22:39.000 24,326 kbps 01:22:35.416 24,146 kbps 01:22:30.000 109,559 bytes 352,694 bytes 01:25:57.791
9 1:26:10.500 0:09:58.000 21,120 kbps 26,550 kbps 01:33:47.583 24,903 kbps 01:33:55.750 24,946 kbps 01:33:55.583 109,997 bytes 346,453 bytes 01:26:14.791
10 1:36:08.500 0:08:43.000 22,059 kbps 26,894 kbps 01:39:24.583 25,377 kbps 01:39:22.666 25,352 kbps 01:39:20.083 114,891 bytes 361,014 bytes 01:43:00.625
11 1:44:51.500 0:11:32.500 19,794 kbps 36,452 kbps 01:49:58.708 25,912 kbps 01:49:55.625 23,702 kbps 01:48:17.416 103,093 bytes 432,076 bytes 01:50:46.041
12 1:56:24.000 0:05:33.250 11,820 kbps 23,053 kbps 01:57:27.041 21,170 kbps 01:57:26.583 21,046 kbps 01:57:26.041 61,571 bytes 323,561 bytes 01:57:28.083
STREAM DIAGNOSTICS:
File PID Type Codec Language Seconds Bitrate Bytes Packets
---- --- ---- ----- -------- -------------- -------------- ------------- -----
00005.M2TS 4113 (0x1011) 0x1B AVC 7317.083 20,019 18,309,835,927 99,612,787
00005.M2TS 4352 (0x1100) 0x86 DTS-HD MA eng (English) 7317.083 913 835,193,680 5,289,606
00005.M2TS 4608 (0x1200) 0x90 PGS sve (sve) 7317.083 18 16,495,939 93,502
00005.M2TS 4609 (0x1201) 0x90 PGS nor (Norwegian) 7317.083 16 14,670,234 83,328
00005.M2TS 4610 (0x1202) 0x90 PGS dan (Danish) 7317.083 18 16,295,598 92,410
00005.M2TS 4611 (0x1203) 0x90 PGS fin (Finnish) 7317.083 15 13,655,867 78,381
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2010 9:29 am
Next in line from Atlantic Film: Nightwatching on blu on November 17. No special features, unless the fact that they've listed a running time that's about twenty minutes too long means something (but probably not).
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2010 5:53 pm
Looks like they listed 2.35 as both the running time and the aspect ratio
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 5:47 am
Thanks for pointing this out. Too bad it won't have the extras or documentary...ola t wrote:Next in line from Atlantic Film: Nightwatching on blu on November 17. No special features, unless the fact that they've listed a running time that's about twenty minutes too long means something (but probably not).
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 7:30 pm
So, this happened last night (look at that hat!)
Peter Greenaway spoke for about two and a half hours about his new project(s) (as well as his usual themes of "cinema died in 1983 with the advent of the remote control," etc...) last night at the Getty Center in LA. It was really awesome. He showed a few clips from various projects including his current, "Nine Classic Paintings Revisited," which is a continuation of the work he did with the Nightwatch in "Rembrandt's J'accuse." He spoke, to my surprise, to a totally packed auditorium (when they showed Draughtsman's Contract and A Zed & Two Noughts a few years ago at the New Beverly, the audience comprised of my girlfriend and I and about four other people). His idea behind the "Revisited" works are to apply cinematic language to classic paintings, which include, The Marriage at Cana, The Last Supper, a Jackson Pollock, Guernica, and a few others I'm forgetting (obviously totaling nine).
I'm a huge Greenaway fan, and found it amazing that we don't even get Greenaway films in Los Angeles, but then Greenaway himself shows up! Incredible! After the lecture, I was able to meet him, shook his hand and asked him if he'll ever make his project about the man who meets himself. He said that project is on the backburner and that there's filmmaking money in Brazil and that they offer great taxes incentives (haha). He signed my copy of Peter Greenaway Interviews and was very nice and gracious. He also made a comment about the Netherlands (where he lives, Amsterdam specifically) not having a strong cinema and I couldn't help but think that that was a 'greenaway-jab' at The Human Centipede, considering all the hype that movie got (and the arguable quality of it).
I don't know what else to say, Greenaway is the man!
Peter Greenaway spoke for about two and a half hours about his new project(s) (as well as his usual themes of "cinema died in 1983 with the advent of the remote control," etc...) last night at the Getty Center in LA. It was really awesome. He showed a few clips from various projects including his current, "Nine Classic Paintings Revisited," which is a continuation of the work he did with the Nightwatch in "Rembrandt's J'accuse." He spoke, to my surprise, to a totally packed auditorium (when they showed Draughtsman's Contract and A Zed & Two Noughts a few years ago at the New Beverly, the audience comprised of my girlfriend and I and about four other people). His idea behind the "Revisited" works are to apply cinematic language to classic paintings, which include, The Marriage at Cana, The Last Supper, a Jackson Pollock, Guernica, and a few others I'm forgetting (obviously totaling nine).
I'm a huge Greenaway fan, and found it amazing that we don't even get Greenaway films in Los Angeles, but then Greenaway himself shows up! Incredible! After the lecture, I was able to meet him, shook his hand and asked him if he'll ever make his project about the man who meets himself. He said that project is on the backburner and that there's filmmaking money in Brazil and that they offer great taxes incentives (haha). He signed my copy of Peter Greenaway Interviews and was very nice and gracious. He also made a comment about the Netherlands (where he lives, Amsterdam specifically) not having a strong cinema and I couldn't help but think that that was a 'greenaway-jab' at The Human Centipede, considering all the hype that movie got (and the arguable quality of it).
I don't know what else to say, Greenaway is the man!
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 10:13 pm
I got Atlantic's Baby of Macon Blu-ray a few weeks ago, and while it looks amazing and it still seems miraculous to me that it got a release anywhere near this quality, I'm having one curious technical problem with it. When I watch it on my PC (I'm using PowerDVD 8 in Windows Vista) the volume level is extremely low, such that even when I turn the volume all the way up in Windows and on the external speakers themselves, I still strain to hear a single clear word of dialogue. If I watch the disc on my dad's HDTV and player the volume level is normal and comparable to other discs, and I'm not having this problem in PowerDVD with any other Blu-ray or DVD I own. I've reinstalled the software and downloaded all available updates to no effect. Has anyone here had a similar problem? Does anyone have any suggestions?
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 9:53 pm
Next up is Prospero's Books on blu. No date yet. And if you live in Europe you might consider buying Macon and Nighwatching on blu. I know interantional postage is expencive from Sweden, but the discs themselves are only 99 SEK each, that's less than £10. Atlantic is not a great comapny, but I can't complain too much about the Greenways on blu-ray.
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 11:40 pm
As has been observed by somebody else in this thread, there is a problem with "Prospero": the framing is far too tight, at least on the dvd, and it somewhat works to the detriment to Greenaway's extremely careful multi-frame compositions. The difference is apparent if you compare it to the old VHS and also to the Dutch dvd from that ridiculously expensive "Kalverliefde" set; I clearly prefer the Kalverliefde version, which is also a bit brighter and looks more enticing to me in this respect, too. The Atlantic dvd looks a bit more filmlike though due to higher bitrate. How all this works out on blu must be seen, but if the framing isn't changed I would not necessarily recommend the Atlantic either on blu or on dvd if you can get a copy of the Dutch disc. Which is admittedly difficult.
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 7:10 am
Unfortunately not -- that's the one that was cancelled. I assume Discshop were never notified about the cancellation.RobertB wrote:Next up is Prospero's Books on blu.
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 8:20 am
Someone needs to get the rights to "Cook" already. what-the-hell! Anchor Bay didn't do it justice.
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 8:50 pm
The Anchor Bay "Cook" is a real pleasure compared to all the disastrous versions of "The Pillow Book" worldwide...
Re: Peter Greenaway
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 2:50 am
I assume this has already been discussed, but why hasn't Criterion released any of his movies in America? Are they just not interested?