Maltese Falcon 4K and some comments

[Barry]

Before I talk about the movie, let me talk about this site and why I like it so much.  On other sites many have their goal as getting the best looking (and sounding) equipment they can. Many will ignore the “music” reproduction and just want the best pictures.

My goal, in having all this stuff, is to see movies and listen to music.  Of course, I want the best picture and sound I can get, but the goal is to watch the movie! Or listen to great music.  And that is what we discuss here. Yes, we have great discussions on equipment, but we share our movie going experiences. And I really like listening to two channel music.

The comments here have been very helpful in helping me chose my equpment and choosing movies. David, Tracy and others have been so very helpful. I mention my brother because we share our discs.

It's funny though. If my brother and I discuss what we have, people often have told us that they think we only watch “Star Wars,” or “Die Hard” or other sci-fi and action movies. They are continuously surprised that we watch “Casablanca,” “Citizen Kane,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” or even the “Fablemans.”  After reading about here, I just got “The Fisher King.”

Well, I just got “The Maltese Falcon.” Is it good? YES!!!!

This is a 1941 American film that helps begin the era of what will be called “Film-noir” It was written and directed by John Huston. It was Huston’s first of many great films where he directs.  The cast also includes Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, Sidney Greenstreet and Elisha Cook Jr.

The plot is relatively simple: People are searching for the very valuable black bird.  There are no great sets, nor action sequences but there are several puzzles: Where is the Falcon, why are so many people after it, who killed Sam Spades partner and, of course the biggest puzzle: Who side is Sam Spade on? This is a delightful character study that has lasted for years and inspired many other movies.  We have seen it before, but we enjoyed so much again.

This now is an eighty-year-old black and movie. It does show its age a bit when it comes to grain in this 4k disc, but it never distracting, I am just being fussy.  The shadows, the mood is just projected so well. The DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix is just great.  I think this is a big step up from the Blu-Ray.  If you haven’t seen the Maltese Falcon, please do.  If you have you will enjoy this upgrade.

I first saw this, cut up, on local TV.  It is so great to see great movies, uncut and they way they were meant to be presented. In fact,  it’s the stuff that dreams are made of.

[SRW1000]

Right on, Barry!

There's nothing wrong with trying to get the best experience possible, either with the equipment you have or the equipment you're lusting after, but it does feel like sometimes enthusiasts can lose sight of the movies and music that this is all about.  

It was more than 30 years ago when I first started with this hobby, and all I could afford were stereo speakers and my 32" color TV. And while we would watch movies in our living room, the experience felt so small.  Upgrades followed, but it would be another couple of decades before projectors were affordable to an average person, and finally those little movies started to feel like film experiences.

I could never have dreamed back then that the commonplace technology of today would be as impressive and affordable as it is today, and I've reached a place where I'm OK with what I have and can sit back and just enjoy the experience without thinking, "If I only had. . ."

This is a good reminder to think back to those early years, and remind ourselves that we have it pretty darn good right now, and we may have reached a level where we can take a breath, and a short break from relentlessly chasing that HT dragon that we always felt alluded us.

Now you'll have to excuse me, I need to do some research on those JVC laser projectors. 

Scott

[Paul Heroy]

There's obviously a reason for the phrase "audiophilia nervosa" that gets thrown around sometimes. For a long time there were really limited formats for both audio & video that compromised the experience, but now we're pushing the limits of human perception. David's comparison of Avatar viewed via K-scape vs streaming is a completely different result than, say, a VHS vs Laserdisc comparison would have been. Or cassette vs CD (which IMO is a more proper comparison than LP vs CD in many ways as cassettes were the convenient and portable medium). I've mentioned before about holding out with physical formats over streaming until a few years ago when it just tilted to where being able to enjoy a good movie or record via streaming was cheaper, and close enough (or the same) quality that the content trumped the medium. I've mostly turned in my elitist badge and it feels pretty good - and makes for more domestic tranquility, lol.