Info and forum posts by 'José Azevedo'

Joined on: Friday, 22nd June 2001, 00:49, Last used: Friday, 22nd June 2001, 00:49

Access Level: Competent

About this user: Brazilian, 37 years old, advertising art director, entered the DVD bandwagon in 99, have 100+ discs and growing (06/2001), likes Classics (The Seven Year Itch, Lawrence Of Arabia, Rear Window), Action (Terminator 2 - The Ultimate DVD, 007s, Indiana Jones), Comedies (This Is Spinal Tap, A Fish Called Wanda, Young Frankenstein, Dr Strangelove), Thrillers (8mm, Seven, Enemy Of The State), and "Relations" (Magnolia, Almost Famous, Wonder Boys). Actually I`m not deeply into rotulation. As long as the movie is fine, I like it.

This user has posted a total of 51 messages. On average, since joining, this user has posted 0.01 messages a day, or 0.04 messages a week. In the last 30 days, this user has posted 0 messages, which is on average 0 messages a day.

Recent Messages Posted:

RE: Magnolia help!!!! *SPOILER**

Hi,

during the whole film, but more explicitly on the scene where we`re on the roof where the boy about to jump, you`ll see a sequence of numbers that`ll drive you to the answer next time you open the Bible. Don`t remember the numbers now, but they`re formed by a group of wires on the floor, to the right of the boy.

To save you the trip, here we go:
things were going so wrong, people so absorbed by their tragedies, that all were about to collapse. To bring them back to reality, it was needed a really absurd/epic/unusual fact. Just like when someone is so shocked or histerical that you need to slap this person to bring back reality. After that people started to realize they can regain control of their lives.

For a more "interactive" experience, pick your Bible and enjoy it.

regards,

José Azevedo

RE: Anyone know when Monsters Inc. (by....... Pixar) is showing at the cinema?

November 2, according to the trailer.

RE: KNOW ANY GOOD DVD`S WITH A KNOCKOUT SOUNDTRACK?

Saving Private Ryan - effects
Almost Famous - soundtrack
The Talented Mr. Ripley - soundtrack
Pulp Fiction - soundtrack
T2 Ultimate DVD Edition - everything
The Mummy - effects
Lawrence Of Arabia - soundtrack
Any James Bond movie - from Thunderball on they`re at least stereo. But the mono on Golfinger is exceptional. As the movie.
High Fidelity - soundtrack
Wonder Boys - soundtrack
Top Gun - soundtrack/effects
Tarzan (Disney) - soundtrack/effects
Die Hard - Five Stars Edition - effects

Well, should you need more, just ask

Regards,

José Azevedo

RE: Is it me? Or a Phantom Menace?

I`d call it The Franchise Menace.
Technology killed its charm.
George Lucas should`ve never returned to direction. He`s obsessed with creating a "mark" in cinema history. He had already done it when creating the saga. But he insists on something bigger.
So... he went 100% digital. Episode II won`t have a single frame shot on film. He claims that this allows him to even use one actor`s "better" acting shot with another actor`s one faster than ever. He also believes he`s a top director. Seriously. I`ve read this and more on American Cinematographer.
I believe he`s gone nuts. He should have stayed as the saga`s father allowing those who can direct and those who can act do their jobs. Some people don`t know what to do with age and tons of dollars.
The result:
Episode I, one of the most boring movies EVER. Its budget alone would probably pay for episodes IV, V and VI. And what we got? A mediocre piece of film that, where it not dependent on the saga it would`ve been history`s greatest joke. Final Fantasy is much more an achievement than this pain in the grass.
Look at X-Men. It`s much better as an initial movie. it presents every character in a very good way and then shows what they`ve come here for. Episode one is poor even on its basic purpose.
I won`t buy it.
The Simpsons` first season seems to me a much more entertaining addiction to my DVD collection.
José Azevedo

RE: Memento

Can`t understand the hype around the chronological order play.
It`s just like hearing music backwards.
Have you ever watched a movie using the rewind w/image method? Found it exciting?
The film wasn`t meant to be watched this way.
If you want to watch anything on chronological order, pick any other movie, not Memento.
Don`t screw this movie. You`ll lose, it`ll lose. What`s the point?

José Azevedo

RE: Ultimate Surround Sound DVD ?? Suggestions PLEASE ....

DTS ones:
T2 Ultimate Edition, Saving Private Ryan, The Mummy, Almost Famous, The Road To Eldorado, U-571, Die Hard Five Stars Collection.

DD 5.1 or else, but with nice spatial:
The Blues Brothers, Tarzan, 8MM, Pink Floyd - The Wall, Matrix, Vertical Limit (action scenes, please), Memento (has its moments, but far from an action movie), Jurassic Park (Rex`s roar will shake your groove).

For those who think they don`t have space for a home theatre, I must recommend something like my Pioneer HTZ 55DV. It`s payd every cent invested on it, withou occupying half the space a "normal/usual" home theatre system would require. Sounds simply great.

Regards,

José Azevedo

RE: Superbit

Hi,

I doubt it will pay for it.
Seems to look more like a "well done" transfer than something out ot this world. Sound seems to gain more than video.

Above all it looks more like a marketing creation than a breakthrough technical innovation.

Check at http://www.widescreenreview.com/ for reviews on The Fifth Element and Air Force One on Superbit editions.

Regards,

José Azevedo

RE: Snow White

The R4 here in Brazil won`t be like the R1 edition, obviously showing fewer extras. If you really like this movie, get the R1 edition.
Due to copyrights, R1 editions always get the bigger stuff.

Regards,

José Azevedo

RE: Ultimate DVD

Hi,

was just reading exactly the same review just before reading your posting.

Come on. This is "momentum" reaction. You happen to be shocked. That`s it.

In a few years, when Hollywood produces an epic about this historical moment we`ve just lived, you`ll pay to watch it all again on the big screen. The star will be Haley Joel Osment, now on his 30`s. Just can`t assure if Bay and Bruckheimer will still be alive to make it. Ah, you`ll probable find it very poor, just like on that old movie Pearl Harbor.

I sincerely hope this be restrained to the US and the bad guys.
Pray and try to be happy.

Regards,

José Azevedo

RE: How many do you have?

Hi,

I`m from Brazil. Our region is 4, but titles are NTSC and not exactly with the same extras as in UK. Sometimes more, sometimes less.

I have, after a year and a half, 136 titles. Of these, 46 are R1.

Regards,

José Azevedo

RE: Can we watch films in the same way again?

Not by now, but we will.

The problem is there are movies in which violence is inherent to the context, like in The Silence Of The Lambs, for example. But it`s not THE reason for that movie`s existence.

Take a look at the Rambo franchise. The first movie is a good one, where a man is pushed beyond his limits and acts against it. The others are pure "kill them all" movies, trying to enter the Guiness Book of Records.

I like action movies and have lots of them. Die Hard (the first one), is excellent. Apocalypse Now is a classic. Fight Club too. The all feature violence, but that`s not the reason for their existence. It`s not gratuitous.

I hope this week`s facts brings us more of The Seven Year Itch, Almost Famous, The Blues Brothers stuff. There`s no need for the ammount of violence we are offered by the "entertainment" industry. If their primary target, the US market, loves it, maybe after this week their taste for it will change. Unfortunately, I believe we will see more war movies, where an immortal superman explodes a whole country after being denied a hamburger for breakfast.

Hope not.

My sincere thoughts for all those gone and their families.

José Azevedo

RE: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Deluxe Edition 2 Disc Set - Advice Please!

If you buy directly from Disney.com, it comes on the same package.
(Nothing on the page says the contrary, and it wouldn`t have too much logic buying directly from Disney and mailing a coupon to receive the gift... directly from Disney. They would have to pay for the second shipping, which I`m sure they prefer you to... Check the page for yourself.)

From other sellers, you`ll have to use the mail-the-coupon method, which is available only in the USA and Canada.

Regards,

José Azevedo

RE: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Deluxe Edition 2 Disc Set - Advice Please!

Hi,

if you preorder from Disney.com by October 8 you`ll get the 2 disc set PLUS:

- four lithographs
- a Collector Pin
- One free DVD from eight to choices (Fantasia, Fantasia 2000, Pinocchio, The Jungle Book, The Lady and The Tramp, Lion King II, 101 Dalmatians and The Little Mermaid)

All this for US$ 19.99 plus shipping and customs taxes. Anyway, very worth it, I believe.

I plan to buy it and it`s hard to believe that ANY version will be more full featured than the R1 version. Why? Well, Disney is R!.

Regards,

José Azevedo

RE: Too many version of Pearl Habor! which is best?

None.

With so many great films on DVD why buy this?
If only for the attack scenes, go for the cheapest one and buy Tora, Tora, Tora.

Regards,

José Azevedo

RE: Superbit discs

Hi,

The speech is amazing, the pizza graphics impressive, the theory convincing. But open your eyes wide before opening your wallet.

DVD has a top resolution of 720 x 480. They won`t improve on this area. They`re talking about compression. About color fields.

Sincerely, I doubt it will pay. Here`s why:

The most filled DVD I have is also a tranfer reference. I`m talking about the R1, two sided, T2 - Ultimate DVD Edition. On one side, on two layers, it has a newly remastered THX certified (and really a reference) transfer, a THX Test Signal Package, amazing menus, the theatrical AND the Special Edition versions, DTS 5.1 ES sound, DD 5.1 Surround EX, DD Surround 2.0, deleted scenes, english subtitles, audio commentaries and I might be forgetting something.
Yet, it`s hard to believe there can be any improvement on image quality, color field or whatever related to it. You have to watch it to believe. Don`t take my words for it.

If you pick one actual transfer, improve its contrast, saturate colors, apply a little sharpening and market it as a new improved format, many will see it as a real improved version over the older one.

Marketing can produce amazing things. But it won`t make your eyes see more colors than they can, it won`t make your ears capture audio frequencies well above its limits.

So, my advice is open your eyes wide before opening you wallet.

Regards,

José Azevedo

RE: US and UK Jaws Documentarys are different ?

Copyrights rule.

José Azevedo

RE: US and UK Jaws Documentarys are different ?

Copyrights rule.

José Azevedo

RE: America`s finest-What are your top r1 discs?

Hi,

Here I go:

T2 Ultimate Edition DVD - Audio, Video and Features 5 stars
Tarzan Collector`s Edition (2 DVDs) - Audio, Video and Features 5 stars - No DTS unfortunately
Almost Famous - Audio, Video and Features 5 stars
Die Hard 5 Stars Edition - Audio, Video and Features 5 stars
Seven Platinum Series - Audio, Video and Features 5 stars
The Road To Eldorado - Audio, Video and Features 5 stars
American Beauty - Audio, Video and Features 5 stars
Magnolia Platinum Series - Audio, Video and Features 5 stars - No DTS unfortunately
Apocalypse Now - Audio 4, Video 5 and Features 1 star - The transfer is very good
The Seven Year Itch - Audio 3, Video 5 and Features 3 stars - Amazing restoration makes delightful this adorable classic
Rear Window - Audio 3, Video 5 and Features 4 stars - Also looks beautiful and the mono sound doesn`t make too much of a difference in this kind of movie
The Bond Special Edition R1 is also one of my favorites - Audio, Video and Features 5 stars - almost always, since some of the oldies (like Goldfinger) doesn`t feature even stereo sound, but the sound is so rich it doesn`t dissapoint.

These are the best from my R1 collection. I believe animation looks specially beautiful on DVD, when the transfer is high quality. Tarzan and The Road To Eldorado are impressive on this media. My digital animation DVDs - Toy Story, Bug`s Life - are not R1.

Well, better stop by now or the list will go on and on and on.

Regards,

José Azevedo

RE: Terminator 2 DVD

Hi,

my R1 T2 Ultimate DVD Edition is the one disc only. It came with a tin/metal (looks like brushed aluminium) "envelope" for the normal plastic DVD case. It is not a box like the R1 Akira Special Edition, but a metal sheet that embraces the plastic case and the booklet.
I never saw it with commentaries, but at least on some of the special featurettes there are comments on the making -of the deleted scenes. Don`t remember if they came from James Cameron too. Don`t know if, when you play it with comments and the deleted scenes the comments also appear.
It`s so full featured that you`d have to dedicate at least a weekend to watch all the combinations possible.
The holographic cover you mention is for the T1 Special Edition, not the T2 Ultimate DVD Edition.
Regards,
José Azevedo

RE: Superbit DVD

Ooops! DVD Audio goes to 96kHz, not 96mHz as I wrote.

RE: Superbit DVD

Marketing BullS...

Just like comparing DVD Audio and Sony`s version. One can only go to 96mHz while the other goes to 100kHz. The point is an exceptional ear won`t go beyond 20/22kHz...

It won`t get any better than a good transfer like T2 The Ultimate DVD Edition, Lawrence Of Arabia, Seven, Die Hard 5 Star or any top transfer you name. There`ll come a point where the hardware is the limit, it might your TV set, you DVD player or the disc itself. No point in going beyond.

This is pure marketing robbery. Might show zillions of differences in technical spectrum sheets. Just like placebo, legions will assure they`ve seen the real difference now, and will also feel pleased to pay more for the difference.

I doubt any conscious consumer will buy this.

Looks like an idea someone at any marketing staff meeting had concerning the actual costs of producing DVD extras. "Let`s cut them off by presenting a new technobabble uncompresssed top quality format that uses all the disc, at least in technical terms. Nobody wants to know anything today. They just want one button. So, by saying we have the DVD capacity filled with higher quality, we can cut the extras, saving x% here, and also increase prices by xx%, improving our profits by xxx%."

Guys like this made Microsoft. Hmmmm... Will they`ve joined/moved to Columbia?

José Azevedo

RE: THE CUBE - - anyone else feel suicidal after watching this SPOILER

Didn`t like The Cube? Feel it`s boring? Put your balls to the ultimate test - Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas. Now this is a little piece of that.

The Cube is an interesting film. You watched it `till the end, didn`t you? That`s the point Mr. Captain.

I was unable to watch Fear And Loathing until the end. But that`s another story.

Watch The Cube again. The story is almost "real time". Maybe that`s why you think nothing happens, if you can call nothing some people dying in the most unpredictable ways, the tension that grows between who`ll be the next, why am I here, will anyone get out, what the hell is this, why me not Bush?

Regards,

José Azevedo

RE: Star Wars : Episode II Attack of the Clones

Guess it all started with they parents, who gave their son two names George & Lucas...

RE: JBL...... are they actually any good???

It depends on how your hearing is, and how much you want to spend.
The best loudspeakers I`ve heard in my life was a pair of JBL almost half my heigh, with just a tweeter and a woofer.
Sounds simples, but the sound still remain as a standard in my memories, 20+ years after. by the way, many of my friends are audiophiles with top audio equipment, like Macintoshes, Nakamichis, Revoxes, Thorens, etc. But the best sound still came from those big beautiful JBLs.
If you can go for the best, spend on it Otherwise, spend wise, buy a Bose.
Regards,
José Azevedo

RE: On to the next great conspiracy debate ....

They`re already here.

And have taken the world`s most powerfull nation - USA.

Nowadays, whena an alien lands here, they say: "Take me to my pal, Bush, G. W. Bush."

Blargh to this brainless son of Texas.

God save the world from him,

José Azevedo

RE: Criterion discs - what`s so special

These editions are of higher quality than "standard" ones. They do new transfers, clean it, do the best possible to improve sound and dig extras you never knew existed.
Those looking for top video, audio and exclusive extras should always take a look at available Criterion Editions before buying the "standard" one.
The studios have noticed the interest on it and started offering "special editions" full featured, with better transfers and audio.

Regards,

José Azevedo

RE: Help Choosing Between JVC, Pioneer, Philips, Grundig , Samsung Players

Hi,

I`m on my second Pioneer and can only recommend this brand with five stars.
Don`t buy before taking a look at any of it.

Regards,

José Azevedo

Multi region Pioneer HTZ 55DV, Japan, NTSC and PAL question

Hi,

I`ve a Pioneer HTZ 55 DV. It is multi region, plays R1 and R4 for sure. It is NTSC. My TV is a Sony 29" that plays PAL-M (Brazil) and NTSC.

First question:
I`m interested on a DVD (The World At War Collectors Edition Box Set) that`s R2 - Europe and Japan. Well, since it is on PAL, it won`t play on my TV, although my DVD will send the signal to it, am I right? Has anyone played a R2 DVD on a configuration like this: NTSC DVD + NTSC/PAL-M TV set? Would I have to add PAL to my TV to play it?
I once tried one that came on a british DVD magazine and it playe (...) black and white out of vertical sync, grainier that an ASA 6400 20x30 print.

Second question:
Japan. They use NTSC there. How can this R2 DVD be PAL??

Any input is very welcome.

Regards,

José Azevedo

RE: seven question

Yes, it is 5.1. Maybe your Samsung has a problem reading or displaying it, but you should hear the difference from each channel, specially on street scenes, like when Brad Pitt is running for Mr. John Doe.

RE: i have a few questions about sony DAV-S300

Hi,

take a look at Pioneer`s XT-DV55 (equal to HTZ-55DV). It`s more expensive, but you won`t regret it later. Specially where bass is concerned.
Mine (HTZ-55DV) is multiregion.

Regards,

José Azevedo