Dec. 21st, 2008

BARAKA

Dec. 21st, 2008 04:53 pm
davecobb: (Default)
I was already a huge fan of Ron Fricke's BARAKA when I first saw it in 1992 -- it's a beautiful, non-narrative visual tone poem, with unexpected emotional context weaved into its staggeringly gorgeous visuals from around the globe. And as a film-tech buff, it was exciting to see something filmed in the rare 65mm Todd-AO format, with unique time-lapse and motion-control sequences to boot -- all shot on location, in 24 different countries. An emotional and technical jaw-dropper.

With this the new Blu-Ray release, I'm an even bigger fan. The filmmakers painstakingly scanned and restored every single one of its 150,000 65mm Todd-AO frames at a whopping 8k each, creating a digital master that far exceeds HD standards.

Quite literally, this is the most perfect HD release currently available for home viewing -- and the best digital media I think I've ever seen. Really.

The disc also has an hour-long behind-the-scenes documentary, detailing the fascinating production and restoration. The film's small, dedicated crew of five built the cameras from scratch and hopped the globe schlepping sixty cases of equipment -- on a miniscule budget of about $4m. It's like the most impressive indie film you've ever seen.

If you have a Blu-Ray player, it's a required purchase -- even if you don't have one, check out the equally stunning (but technically not HD) standard DVD release, which uses the same remastered version.

PIE?

Dec. 21st, 2008 09:38 pm
davecobb: (Default)

PIE?
Originally uploaded by davecobb
At DuPar's

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