kal
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Joined: 06 Mar 2006
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Location: Ottawa, Canada
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| Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2014 2:20 am Post subject: Begin Again |
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Begin Again
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| Quote: | While 'Begin Again' may not be as perfect as John Carney's last noteworthy music-filled romantic drama, 'Once,' it's still pretty darn close to featuring that greatness. It's simplistic story is likeable and easy to connect with thanks to natural characters and great performances all around. Keira Knightley shines as a musician and Adam Levine actually does a great job as an actor. As usual, Mark Ruffalo is great. The video quality is nearly perfect, but the audio quality is stunningly flawless. Only two special features are included, so if the disc is lacking in any area, that's it. For anyone who likes strong indie films, 'Begin Again' is crowd-pleasing must-see.
The Video: Sizing Up the Picture
'Begin Again' arrives on Blu-ray with a superb 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 video quality that's only lessening quality its very occasional low-budget and lacking indie production value (and lighting).
Ninety-nine percent of 'Begin Again' features perfect, sharp, crystal clear imagery. The individual gray hairs on Mark Ruffalo's head and face – of which there are many – can be seen on a hair-by-hair basis. The textures of clothing and faces can always been seen with clarity. With many scenes set outdoors, there are plenty of opportunities for the inner-city nature to shine. Leaves, grass and water have a gorgeous look about them. Colors pop naturally, from the greens of foliage to the warm red summer dresses that Knightley dons. During a pair of staged concert scenes, the lighting is extra vibrant. The hues that appear on Knightley's face in the opening scene border oversaturation, but don't quite get there; however, the bright overly-vibrant hanging lights behind her do result in oversaturation. Having not seen 'Begin Again' in theaters, I can't say if this was intentional or not, but I assume that it is considering how fantastic the rest of the film looks.
The only true problem that I noticed arise on a couple of occasions was a small issue with black levels and contrast. A lack of lighting (or natural lighting) in dark settings seemed to be the cause. Both instances occur during nighttime scenes set on the streets of New York City. Luckily, they're brief. Aside from those two, there aren't any other faults to be found on this Blu-ray.
The Audio: Rating the Sound
Being a movie whose story is based on music and sound, 'Begin Again' carries a fittingly flawless and impressive 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix. The non-diegetic tracks (the songs that occur outside the narrative) in the film are mixed to play dynamically throughout the space. The volume plays it loudly and clearly. Being cheery pop music, it picks up the mood – but there's another more noteworthy usage of music here.
The diegetic music (the songs that are performed by or listened to by the characters) in the movie is nothing short of brilliant. Dan decides to record Gretta's demo album in New York City locations, capturing along with her music the sounds of a truly memorable summer. The music is just as dynamic as the non-diegetic songs, but with the addition of natural street sounds – kids playing, horns honking, passing vehicles, birds chirping, etc. – is equally mixed in perfection along with it. Dialog and voices are also just as richly mixed and consistently clear as the music and environmental mix.
The effects that are mixed outside of the diegetic music are just as strong as those mixed within the music. City street effects lighten up the theater space. Subway rides creak and rattle as they would if you were really riding in one. Instances of seamless imaging also appear. I literally can't find a single fault with this lossless audio mix. |
Kal
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