Fair Game, the movie

It can be a little scary at times. It would depend of the little one in question.

He can handle Jaws and Lord of the Rings.

Then he will have no problem with 9.


By the way, I finally picked up the individual releases of the Lord of the Rings films. Amazon has them for $7.99 each. $23.97 for all three was definitely in my acceptable price range for the theatrical versions. With all of the fuss over MGM, I am not holding my breath for the eventual extended edition release to time with The Hobbit.

I have yet to find a similar deal. I will check out the Amazon deal. I doubt Amazon.ca has anything similar, so I will have to consider import duties, which usually nullifies any savings.

The U.S site has a boatload of $5.99 and $7.99 titles. I picked up the three LOTR films plus The Long Good Friday and Triangle .

That is one of the benefits of living in a country with a population of over 300 million -- you folks get deals!

The Handmades were all $5.99. I only picked up The Long Good Friday, though, since Time Bandits is actually a 1080i transfer. I will hold out in the hopes that Criterion gets things going.


Speaking of Triangle, did you ever get a chance to watch it? I have another obscure horror/thriller recommendation to go with it: Frozen. It is about three friends trapped on a ski lift when the resort closes for the week. Most of the film plays out on the lift, and it manages to be suspenseful despite the limited setting.

I haven't seen either.

Did you know that there are about four movies entitled Triangle? I assume you're referring to the 2009 horror?

That is the one. I think I mentioned that when I suggested the movie originally. I would describe what it is about, but the movie is more enjoyable the less that you know about it. It is directed by Christopher Smith, if you want to verify that you have the right film. Otherwise, I would not even read the description on the box. It is much more fun to let yourself make assumptions about what you are seeing and then let them be subverted every ten minutes or so. The one thing that I do suggest is that you rewatch the opening credit sequence right after finishing the film -- you will understand why once you do.

Amazon U.S. had the Blu for $10.99.

Excellent. Thanks. I will have a look for both titles this evening when I pick up District 9, otherwise I'll search Amazon.

District 9, or 9? I was talking about the latter (the computer animated film.) District 9 would definitely be too much for the little one.

I've gone bug eyed.

We own and have seen 9. Thought it was great. -- I'll expand on that when I have a touch more time.

District 9 is still well worth picking up, mind you. Just not a good idea to share it with SeaJunior.


I finished watching Fellowship of the Ring last night. The reviews of all three have been a bit mixed, especially in the case of the first film. But I think that it looks as good as it probably will. The first film was a very early case of a film produced with a digital intermediate, and they got better at it with subsequent films. The first one is somewhat soft and lacking in detail, with some artifacts, but I believe that those were always present in the film, and not the fault of the transfer. I put the later films in, and they did look better.

That is also the first time that I have watched one of the theatrical versions since they were in the theatre. (I never picked up the original DVDs and instead waited for the extended versions.) While there were a few omissions that really stood out (like the rest of Galadriel's gifts) on the whole the film flowed just fine and was even paced a bit better than the extended version -- and I feel that the extended version of The Fellowship of the Ring is probably the best of the three. (The other two, while containing some really good footage, also have more silly and unneccesary footage added as well.) Granted, when the extended versions are released on Blu, they are the only ones that I will watch going forward, flaws and all, but it was actually kind of nice to be forced to rewatch the theatrical versions. I will be glad to have both.

I have read similar opinions about the transfer for Fellowship. I do wish the extended versions were available, as I have no desire to own both. Like you, I'd never watch the theatrical versions once I had the extended versions in hand. The only thing that might push me to buy the theatrical releases is so I can have the films on Blu without having to wait years for the extended versions to see the light of day.

Regarding 9: I loved the stylistic approach and the general apocalyptic mood throughout. The story was a little loose at times, but that is true of most animated movies. Overall, I thought it was very well done.

Well, I would not hold your breath waiting for the extended versions. I am happy that I got the theatrical ones, especially at that price.



On another CGI animated front, have you and Seajunior ever watched the CG Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? I absolutely loved it. It manages to skate a fine line of paying respect to the comics, the animated TV series, and the live-action movies, while striking out on its own.

Don't worry regarding the extended versions. I gave up holding my breath a long time ago.

Seajunior and I saw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the theatre and then we bought a copy on Blu-ray. Not only is it a fun film and good for all ages, it pays homage to the comic books (as you note) and it provides good demo material too. I love using the rooftop battle scene (especially when it starts to rain) to test displays.

I use the exact same scene!


What I meant about it was that the comics, animated series and live action movies all have seperate mythologies, yet the movie manages to respect all of them while nevertheless being a mythology all of its own. Not a bad achievement, that.

Indeed.



Hey, did you ever get around to testing out a RGPC unit in your system? I'm curious about your results.

Never did, no. I got sidetracked by too many other things like finishing the basement. Now we need a new dining room set and a new sofa, so it will get put off even further.

Nothing wrong with a new dining room set and sofa. I would buy those too over a new power conditioner.

Do you and Eve like wood furniture? I love red woods like cherry and rosewood.

At this point, I am going to let Eve do what she wants to. The new dining room set will likely be darker wood (we have some darker-toned wood shelving already.) The sofa or living room chairs will end up leather, probably black.

Black leather can look nice. Eve might also want to consider a dark brown leather. For whatever reason, brown leather tends to age nicer.

Well, she did buy a weird black leather chair at a garage sale a while ago, so we are probably going to stick with black. (My first response when she came home with it was, "Where did you get the psychiatrist's couch?"

Maybe she's got plans to switch careers and become a trick cyclist.

Well, she may make her sponsees lie down on it when they unload to her.