Yes, this has been a pretty dry spell on movies out on Blu-ray, for me over here anyway. Comforted some to hear that it has been for you guys too.
When my wife can't find the blu-rays I ask her to get for me, sometimes she gets a TV series instead, to keep me out of her way.
I have been suffering through "The Walking Dead" for some 4-5 seasons now, sorta good but I wonder what all that gore is doing to me?
She just got me "Fringe" all 5 seasons, and I am LOVING it. Gory too, but a good story and some really good acting. It is not "24" but what is?
It is only on DVD, and the PQ that I get is not that great, but the SQ is pretty good. Sometimes so good that I catch myself realizing what the sound track sounds are in a really moving part, "hey, that is a heavily bowed Cello note there!"
t is amazing what listening to music on a good system can play for you!!!!!
Keep up the good reports, let us know about the return of Mad Max.
God Bless, Wayne

As a kid, I loved the Mad Max movie franchise. Well, I loved Mad Max 2 and Beyond Thunder Dome. The original was good but suffered from being and looking very much like a low budget 1970's movie. Each movie was more elaborate, and in my opinion, more fun. How can you not love Master Blaster and Tina Turner? When I first saw the previews for Mad Max: Fury Road, I couldn't help but ask myself if the world really needed a reboot of the Mad Max franchise and the previews looked hokey...

Today, I was finally able to purchase and watch Fury Road and I have to admit the the reviews were correct: it was an action packed reboot that was true to the originals while upping the ante on sound and picture. George Miller stayed true to the original films but clearly had a bigger budget for this effort. The cast was large, sets and props were beautiful, and the stunt work and old fashioned special effects were refreshing in the era of over-reliance on CGI.

Picture quality was top notch. Lighting was good and the amount of detail and texture were stellar. The color was beautiful. The war machines, which included trucks, cars, and motorcycles were elaborate and I could watch hours of video just on how they created these fire breathing death machines. Again, add in all the stunt work and the pyrotechnics and you have an action feast for the eyes! And yes, there were also some pretty female stars as well...

Sound quality was outstanding. Since the movie was mixed with directional sound for Dolby Atmos, there was a 360 degree assault on my primary listening position with full frequency sound. This is certainly not your father's Oldsmobile..., I mean surround sound. As you can imagine with the nearly constant action, the explosions, and snarling, fire breathing war machines, this is not a late night film for when others go to bed!

This movie was a non-stop thrill ride and candy for the ears and eyes. PQ and SQ were both 5/5. This is definitely worthy of being a demo disk. That said, those that don't like non-stop action may find this film a bit much. Besides that, I highly recommend this film if you were a fan of the original three movies. Apparently George Miller wrote a second script and has enough material for a third. I look forward to the next installment. If that's not a thumbs up, I don't know what else to say.

Cheers,

T Cobe

Thanks T. Cobe, you convinced me to watch it!!!!
That is high praise for your review.
God Bless, Wayne

Tonight I could not resist going back to Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin performing Bruckner's 6th Symphony, one of his "mature" symphonies. Once again Accentus have done a fantastic job of both Picture quality (awesome) and sound quality in DTS-HD MA 5.1 (to die for). This is a wonderful orchestra, truly great and under Daniel Barenboim, with the light hand they deliver a superb performance.
The man conducts the almost one hour symphony without any score, from memory. He is one of the most awe-inspiring musicians of our time and he always plays it on the down low, seemingly humble.
This symphony is written on a Phrygian scale, not major, not minor (but almost) where the first half note falls between the first (fundamental) and second note. You can hear it on the piano if you will start with E and play a scale using only the white keys. It is like a minor key in that it sounds a bit dark, but I find it rich and intriguing. The whole symphony develops themes and such until the finale where it resolves into a major key.
This symphony takes a bit of listening to, it is not as immediately friendly like Beethoven's Fifth, Schubert's "Unfinished", Dvorak's "New World", etc. But in the end it is a rich and beautiful experience in it's own right.
It is so good that I have ordered all the rest of the symphonies by Barenboim and this symphony. Bruckner just might become my favorite. We will see.
Hope this helps somebody. You can read about this blu ray on Amazon, all 5 star reviews!
I am just in awe when I see the strings plucked, the brass playing and it sounds soooooo great on my T2s, SC X and T3s as surrounds.
I hope you can enjoy something like this, God Bless, Wayne

Back to movies.
"Fast and Furious 7" is a car/action movie that has easily grown to be a parody of its own success.
The PQ is great, the SQ by way of DTS-HD MA 7.1 was OK to me, sounded like cars and bullets and such.
I am not a fan of fast cars, (I hate noisy cars or anything else) unless I am being chased by someone who is trying to catch and kill me. Since that never has happened, and I hope it never does, I can't be interested at all. But some of you will like the sound of cars.
There are some pretty girls, but it pretty much goes downhill after the first flag girl drops the flag to start a race. And then the end goes all sad because of the loss of Paul Walker, who, IRONICALLY ENOUGH, lost his life in a fast car, because these are only movies after all, don't try this at home.
Not recommended except just for silly entertainment value, nothing in the whole wide world better to do (I have been there).

"The Divergent Series: Insurgent". Ashley Judd, that is all the nice I can say.
The PQ is fine in 2D, and just OK in 3D as it is a fake 3D. SQ, whoa, this one is Dolby Atmos, I heard it in Dolby True HD 7.1 and it was almost as good as DTS. But the ATMOS beginning sound check was GREAT, even in my 7.1 system which is not and never will be Atmos.
People who like these books may like this movie. My 15 year old daughter swoons when the two major characters kiss. But I have seen screen kisses that put this to shame, I find this mediocre fiction (I am being kind here) or at least the story line here is poor for me. And the acting just sucks. This is a BIG budget movie I think, everything looks and smells like it, EXCEPT for the lead actress. Sorry she just does not cut it for me. Worse than Jennifer Lawrence.
The action seems well directed.
Recommended because of the sound, not bad.
Happy listening.
God Bless,
Wayne

I just watched/listened to "A John Williams Celebration" DVD in DTS HD with front tv speakers plus SONY wireless earphones (yes, I like to experiment).

LA Philharmonic orchestra. Stuff with Itzhak Perlman plus John Williams movie scores from Star Wars, Amistad, Jaws, The Empire Strikes Back, Schindler's List..

Sounded great. Can't wait to hear it on my GEt system when I get back to TX.

Rick