Charanjit Chana

Transformers was one film I thought was would be absolutely stunning in HD. I was wrong and dissapointed that it wasn't. In fact, it's one of the worst examples. Played on a Blu-ray device, I felt the DVD copy offered similar quality. The biggest noticeable difference is the grain in dark scenes, something friends have said was inevitable, but watch the Dark Knight and you will see how wrong they are. In fact, my MacBook had better output quality than the Transformers Blu-ray disc!

Anyway, this post is about good examples. I have a limited selection of Blu-rays right now, but I'm thinking of signing up for LoveFilm and renting more. Here are my top 3 best examples:

Dark Knight

Excellent film and the detail is just amazing. Batman Begins also looks great, but Dark Knight has a few IMAX scenes that just blow you away when they go full screen.

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Christmas 2008 was a good one. Not many presents changed hands but it was nice to enjoy a lazy day with my family. I received a couple of Blu-ray films, Wall-E and I Am Legend and caught up with a few Sky+'d programs as well as enjoying the various Christmas offerings on the BBC, Dave and Sky Sports!

Come Boxing Day and I was out and about trying to grab a bargain but because of the media's constant bleak outlook on the near future there isn't much to be had.

The only plus point from a pretty drab Boxing Day was Liverpool's victory over Bolton. Another two goals from Robbie Keane at the Anfield Road End and Albert Riera's inventive finish to get things gowing was a great, late, Christmas present for all the Reds around the world. Being top at Christmas was a wonderful feeling and one I haven't enjoyed for 12 years, but I hope it lasts until May because a 19th title would just be something special and would be yet another item that really marks 2009 as a stand out year in my life.

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One thing I've spoken to friends about most when discussing HD is grain. Transformers is an awful example of HD in my opinion. With large portions of the film filmed in low light, grain is evident throughout. I have been assured by both friends and in forums that this is normal. Batman Begins proves otherwise.

The film was glorious. Colours looked amazing and the level of detail was superb. I know that my TV still needs to be fine tuned, so I can only imagine how good things will look once this is done.

I actually purchased the limited edition Batman Begins and Dark Knight combo box and will be watching part the second one later this week. I really can't wait!

I hope so. I recently borrowed a PS3 with the intention of buying it if I was happy with it. I will be paying for it today, so I now officially own a PS3 but I will be using it primarily for Blu-ray playback and upscalling my old DVDs. My multi-region player will be relegated to another room, but that's no bad thing.

I am waiting for 3 Blu-ray discs films to arrive so that I can make full use of it, but from what I've seen the jump from VHS to DVD was far bigger.

I almost gave the PS3 back, but at the price I'm getting it for I wouldn't be able to find a comparable deal in the next 6 months, maybe not even in the next year!

I'll write more about my experiences when I've had more time with it, calibrated my TV and watched more than 3 movies on it!

I finally got my hands on the XBox 360 HD DVD drive I'd been after for almost a week now. After Gamestation refunded me for the order they couldn't fulfill, PC World came through and had the drive waiting for me when I went to collect it instore.

As an added bonus, Play.com sent me an email saying that they'd sent out the Batman Begins HD DVD that I'd ordered yesterday. Once I have them both I'll be doing my best to get the HD DVD playing on my MacBook and subsequently into my HD TV!

While I wait for Batman Begins to arrive I'll be trying a few other things because although it was just under £30, I don't want what will effectively be a dead drive if I can't find away to get the HD DVDs to work!

I've literally just got back from an advanced preview of the new Batman film, The Dark Knight. I have to say that I was impressed. The story, the action, the acting and everything else was almost perfect.

I had heard lots about the length of the film, but never once did I urge it to hurry up. Nothing felt out of place and everything just came together so well.

Christian Bale has definitely made the Batman role his own and I just cannot see another person taking his place. Gary Oldman as Lieutenant Gordan got the bigger role he deserved. More screen time, more dialogue and just generally a lot more importance really suited him and the character.

Aaron Eckhart's role(s) were both very well done and the special effects for his role as Two Face are just mind blowing.

As I said, the story was very good. I didn't feel the need to question anything that was happening which is always a good thing.



As for Heath Ledger. Best Joker? Most probably. I have a soft spot for Jack Nicholson's version as it's the one I've compared every other too for the last 19 years, but Heath Ledger brings something special to the table. The laugh, the tone, the expressions and his general manner are all brilliantly executed. Oscar? Not for me. I had heard that he captivated the screen whenever he was on it, but he wasn't the only good thing about the film. The chemistry between Christian Bale and Heath Ledger is plain to see and really it's their scenes together that are among the best in the film. Whether that's down to Heath Ledger isn't up to me to decide, but if it was, he may well get a nomination, but not a win.

I have been looking for an input device for sometime now. With Blu-ray now the 'winner' in the 'war', I've primarily looked for a Blu-ray device, but a few films that I want are still only available on HD DVD.

I suddenly remembered an email I sent out to friends which showed them an USB HD DVD drive for under £20. I didn't really take notice because I was so set looking for a Blu-ray drive, but once it hit me, I went on the hunt for that email.

The HD DVD drive in question is Microsoft's one for the XBox 360. It has a USB interface and, from my research, is a Toshiba drive. A few people have already hooked one up to their Macs and made some progress with it. I'm hopeful that the versions of Apple's DVD Player and VLC I have are both up to date and have some sort of support for playing HD DVDs as I ordered Batman Begins at the same time as I ordered the drive!



I do feel somewhat odd plugging a Microsoft branded product into my MacBook, but I had previously plugged a Mighty Mouse into a PC successfully, so I can only hope that this new pairing is half as good.

If worst comes to worst, I should be able to at least read the disk and rip the contents. Any DRM might be a problem, but again, I should be able to get around this. Once I have the content, VLC should be able to handle it in it's usual support everything way!

I am hopeful that even if neither player is able to handle the discs directly that an application will arrive for OS X soon. It would be far more convenient and I wouldn't mind putting my hands in my pockets to get it.

Since my MacBook has a DVI output, sound won't be transfered to my hi-def TV, so I'll need to figure out a new audio setup too, but for the £30 I paid for the drive, movie and delivery, I'm more than happy to use my MacBook's built in speakers for testing purposes with the intent to upgrade/sort out the setup at home.

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Buses, billboards and all over the web, the new buzz around the Batman movie, The Dark Knight, is really beginning to take a hold.

Every other story on Digg seems to be something Batman related, which is great for Batman fans (like me) and the sheer variety is amazing. The simple viral campaigns are slowly winding down, which is a shame as they were quite effective and really got the buzz going, but thankfully the onslaught of amazing posters has really produced some amazing work.

I have tickets to an advanced preview for the 23rd July, with the movie scheduled for release on the 2th, so I'm really excited about it and will most definitely post up my thoughts on the movie once I've seen it.

I made the unfortunate mistake of not seeing Batman Begins until it came on DVD, largely due to the complete failure of the 4th Tim Burton movie. Had I read a review or even seen a trailer, I would have gone, but I really didn't hear much about and so wish I'd seen it on a bigger screen. To be honest, I don't remember seeing anything about it and calmly let various invites fall to the side without a second thought.

As for this 'sequal', I have heard lots. Specifically, I remember hearing Heath Ledger was going to be as the Joker and I wasn't too happy about it, but every photo, clip and trailer just seems to make him look as good a Joker as Jack Nicholson. I don't think it's fair to compare them too much because both films and actors have a different take on events and the atmosphere of each film is different, but I think it's fair to say that they will both be remembered for a long time yet as the Jokers. It will be interesting to see just how good Heath Ledger is, considering he's being tipped for an Oscar, despite his death not too long ago.

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IMDBPHP is a wonderful bit of PHP that delves deep into the world of IMDB.

As you may know, I am a big fan of Arrested Development, and really wanted to feature a quote script from bluthfamily.com but the resulting layout didn't really fit into the layout of my own blog.

I did write to the author/owner of bluthfamily.com, but as soon as I pressed send, I wondered if there was an IMDB API. It turns out there isn't, but IMDBPHP does exactly what I wanted.

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A lot of friends had already been to seen Iron Man and everyone had only positive things to say. With the trailers, hype and recommendations I couldn't help but get my hopes up! Only Transformers had got me this excited in recent times and I was really looking forward to it.

Iron Man is most certainly a film I would recommend to any comic book fan. I don't remember much about the character from my youth, but on the evidence of this film, it was most certainly a film that deserved to be made.



Rover Downey Jr is an excellent choice for Tony Stark as was the choice for every role, except maybe Pepper Pots, but that's a minor detail and she got better as the film progressed.

The CGI, acting, story and action are all very very good.

There were some wonderful touches, including finger print smudges on the helmet when he wears the completed costume for the first time. It was something that really made it all feel just that much better.

I can't wait for this to come out on DVD, but I'm hoping Blue Ray players will have come down in price by the time it's out.