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Finch wrote: Wed Dec 21, 2022 3:28 pm david hare's feedback on the Trial UHD on Facebook:

This is without a doubt the worst UHD 4K transfer I’ve yet had the privilege to pay good money for and then try to watch.
God only knows what Canal did to its 4K master to render such an appalling, compressed mess of gray and white with virtually no registration that comes anywhere near a 35mm print. The first interior scene is so fuzzy, the walls are barely readable as surfaces and any hint of gray quickly merges into an overall black crush. Whites flare, and shot to shot continuity looks like the person timing the master fell asleep.
Total, pure shit. I hope the DCP at least isn’t anything like this. If it is they need to burn it and start again.

in a BTL comment on the BD:

there's definitely grain on the Blu, but it's hard to tell whether it's real or electronic, as it fluctuates and occasionally merges with the black crush and also the blown out whites. So far there doesn't appear to be much in the way of grey scales, but I need to watch the whole thing first before I can be definitive.

Two BR users also complained about the poor compression a while ago.

therewillbeblus wrote: Wed Dec 21, 2022 6:12 pm I think it's a safe bet- aren't Janus planning on touring the restoration? I feel like they only do that when they're planning to release it on disc through Criterion later

FrauBlucher wrote: Wed Dec 21, 2022 5:31 pm Rialto definitely licenses to Criterion

The Fanciful Norwegian wrote: Wed Dec 21, 2022 7:20 pm

therewillbeblus wrote: Wed Dec 21, 2022 6:12 pm I think it's a safe bet- aren't Janus planning on touring the restoration? I feel like they only do that when they're planning to release it on disc through Criterion later

I haven't seen anything about Janus touring the restoration. There's no mention of it on their site and googling didn't turn up anything either. OTOH it's currently the main feature on Rialto's website.

The Fanciful Norwegian wrote: Wed Dec 21, 2022 7:20 pm

FrauBlucher wrote: Wed Dec 21, 2022 5:31 pm Rialto definitely licenses to Criterion

They do, but they haven't sublicensed any Canal titles for a long time. AFAICT all of the Rialto-licensed Canal titles are either OOP or were relicensed directly from Canal (e.g. Le cercle rouge, Army of Shadows, Mouchette). The only possible exception is Made in U.S.A., which is still in print, but while this is a Canal title internationally I'm not sure it is in the U.S., maybe due to the legal issues around the Westlake source material. So if Criterion releases The Trial I imagine it would be from Canal, with Rialto only handling theatrical.

FrauBlucher wrote:Panique and Christ Stopped at Ebola were the two most recent titles that Rialto licensed. Maybe Chris knows of more

Gcsee wrote: Fri Dec 23, 2022 12:02 am Just watched the 4k Studio Canal release of The Trial. It looks perfectly fine in Dolby Vision on a 65 inch LG OLED. Considering the earlier remarks it seems like somebody’s settings on viewing this disc were skewed or fubar.

It’s hard to say where limitations of the production and filming of the movie and the relative quality of the transfer begins or ends with any movie not shot under perfect conditions: the wildly differing shooting locations make this budget euro production famously uneven from shot to shot which undoubtedly necessitated some compromises in preparing the transfer but 90% of the transfer looks normal in regards to grain management, with a healthy bitrate. The black/white contrast is perfect throughout, all the hideous contrast blooming and digital sharpening from previous transfers now gone.

Compared to any previous digital releases of The Trial this release is a godsend, and if all Welles’ movies will be released like this I’ll be happy to add them to my collection. If the Studiocanal 4k release of The Servant was close to a 10 out of 10, I’d give this an 8 out of 10.

jegharfangetmigenmyg wrote: Sat Dec 10, 2022 7:49 am Any news about SC's release of Visconti's Ludwig? It's out in France now, but w/o English subs.

senseabove wrote: Mon Dec 26, 2022 11:34 pm

jegharfangetmigenmyg wrote: Sat Dec 10, 2022 7:49 am Any news about SC's release of Visconti's Ludwig? It's out in France now, but w/o English subs.

Went digging a bit since this has been out a few weeks. No clue how reliable it is, but here's a brief positive review of the SC Ludwig UHD. The caps there appear to be lifted directly from DVDBeaver, so at the very least they're not relevant.

M-A wrote: Sat Jan 07, 2023 11:04 pm King Kong (1976): same story as Cat's Eye but Ritrovata instead of Hiventy and maybe not quite as badly graded. Thread is here