Martin Freeman News

[Carol the Dabbler]

I was actually wondering what is 4K ultra?

[Pseudonym]

HD (blu-ray, 4k etc) really annoys me because I honestly can't tell the difference between HD and non HD. A lot of people are adamant there's a huge difference but it all looks the same to me. 

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Here’s what I find for differences between HD and non-HD: watching cable: HD = pixelated image when there’s a slight hiccup in the line so nothing is even discernible, non-HD = slightly fuzzy image, maybe a line across the screen but I can still see what’s happening in whatever I’m watching. (Oh wait, that’s the difference between digital and analog).

The biggest difference between HD and non-HD is the ratio format. HD is always widescreen/letterbox while non-HD might have a full screen option depending on how new the full is.

[Pseudonym]

Ratio is exactly the same on mine. 

[J.P.]

I have the cheapest option for internet/telephone (not mobile) and I never have problems with streaming HD.
BTW, it took long time for me to outsource the entertainment - just recently found out, that Spotify is an interesting source of music, even with the ads now and then. As for the movies, I get Amazon Prime for a month, binge watch what they have for free (and that's not THAT much) and cancel. The same with Netflix or Sky. After a while I come back for a month and so on…

I haven't touched my DVD collection since months now. The last one was Dad's Army.

[Pseudonym]

Lol, I do that with Amazon Prime too.  I used to do it with Netflix but they're managing to hold my interest at the moment. I mainly get my music from Youtube. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

21 hours ago, Pseudonym said:

HD (blu-ray, 4k etc) really annoys me because I honestly can't tell the difference between HD and non HD. A lot of people are adamant there's a huge difference but it all looks the same to me. 

How big is your TV screen?  Or are you watching on your laptop?  Unless you have a largish TV, there wouldn't be much difference.

12 hours ago, J.P. said:

I have the cheapest option for internet/telephone (not mobile) and I never have problems with streaming HD.
 

Let me guess -- you live in a city?

[Pseudonym]

40 inches and not that old. It's got all the gold HD leads and blah blah, but still looks all the same to me. When I worked for a media company people used to call up to harp on about HD and it always got on my pip. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Well, I'd say if you can't tell the difference, then go for whichever you like the best otherwise -- e.g., which has the best extra features.

Also, somebody told me that Blu-ray has better sound resolution, which should help me understand what the people are saying -- but I don't have anything in both formats, so I can't do an actual A/B comparison, plus I think a big part of my problem is all the loud background noise (music, explosions, etc.) in movies these days.  I never have been any good at hearing voices when there's background noise.  So in short, I can't vouch for what I was told.

[Pseudonym]

Well, I'm not the one wondering about Blu-ray vs DVD, I just buy DVDs, so works out cheaper for me anyway.

[J.P.]

Pseud, what kind of connection do you use? If it's not HDMI you won't see any difference. I do see it, and my TV is not that big/high quality/new.

[Pseudonym]

Gold HDMI cables. I think it's my eyes, I've stood next to people looking at the same screen who were adamant they could see a difference when I couldn't.

[J.P.]

Then I recommend glasses.

[Hikari]

So I was eating lunch in the breakroom and read a 3 day old paper somebody left in there.  According to Saturday's celebrity birthdays column, Mr. Freeman turned 47 on Saturday.

Happy belated birthday to him  . . .!  It appears that nobody else mentioned it, not even his best friend.   Perhaps he forgot as well.  I'm finding that's really the best policy with birthdays, but I only wish I could forget mine.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Hey, I never claimed to be Martin Freeman's best friend!  I did notice the other day that his birthday was coming up, but didn't happen to think of it on the day.

So anyhow, a somewhat belated

to Mr. Freeman!!!

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Just came across Martin Freeman Online, an unofficial fan-run site with lots of photos and other stuff.  If you scroll down to the bottom of their home page, you'll find a section called Latest Projects, which lists at least one production I was unaware of, Ode to Joy, which is in post-production.  They have the basic plot setup, and IMDb lists the cast and says it's a comedy.  Sounds interesting!

[Carol the Dabbler]

Oh, also Cargo is being released on DVD and Blu-ray this month -- in Australia and New Zealand, available now for preorder on several sites.  I'll check to see if they'll ship to the US and/or UK, etc.   (Of course one would need a region-free player.)

[Arcadia]

I agree, it sounds like it could be a lot of fun. Hope it's rated PG. R ratings take all the fun out of comedies for me.

I haven't heard of any of those! The spy one sounds interesting. Looks like the TV series didn't make, yay!!!!! Er, I mean, too bad, Martin. 😛 

[Carol the Dabbler]

The one site I've checked so far for Cargo DVDs is doing them on demand, which makes me a bit nervous.  I know I saw at least one more, though, that I haven't checked out yet.

But also noticed that Netflix says Cargo is available for download.  Does that mean as in, you'll have it as a file on your computer, which you can then burn onto a DVD?

[Arcadia]

Haven't the foggiest. You wouldn't think they'd make it that easy to make a copy, would you? But it occurs to me that's exactly what I can do with my music files … make CDs out of them. Hm.

[Hikari]

On 9/10/2018 at 6:43 PM, Carol the Dabbler said:

Hey, I never claimed to be Martin Freeman's best friend!  I did notice the other day that his birthday was coming up, but didn't happen to think of it on the day.

So anyhow, a somewhat belated

to Mr. Freeman!!!

 

Well, I assumed since Mr. Freeman is the Sherlock Forum's definitive Watson, his birthday is definitely worth a mention.  He's gotten well used to being overshadowed by Benedict all these years, and I'm fairly sure everyone here remembers Ben's birthday (July 19, 1976 for the laggards here.)

Dr. Watson's birthday is July 7th.  Mark your calendars for next year!

[Carol the Dabbler]

New Freeman TV series coming -- A Confession, based on the true story of a police official (to be played by MF) who seized the moment and put a serial killer behind bars for life (no parole), but in the process lost his job over failure to follow protocol.

I read a bit about the case this morning, and it sounds like it should make an intriguing show -- is it sometimes better to be right than to be legal?

[Carol the Dabbler]

High time for another list of Freeman Projects in Progress:

 

The Operative (spy movie) - post-production

Breeders (comedy series) - post-production

Ode to Joy (comedy movie) - release date 2019

A Confession (police drama series) - announced for 2019

A Christmas Carol (animation) - post-production, for 2019

 

[Pseudonym]

There's ANOTHER version of a Christmas Carol?! God they milk that story to death don't they?!

[Carol the Dabbler]

This one might be worthwhile.  Wish they'd announce who's voicing which character.