Playing By Heart (1998) - March 26, 2013

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Veronica Mars

I just read my first review of this on highdefdigest and the reviewer claims it's possibly the worst video he's ever seen. Based on the description, it sounds like my only other genuine piece of crap bd release (meaning it's a abject failure in every way, not just has problems-even some serious ones) which would be The Truth About Cats and Dogs. Reindeer Games looks beautiful compared to that release.

I haven't had time to watch anything other than Beautiful Girls and I put the Grifters on to take a quick look (BG looked quite nice and I didn't see anything terrible about the Grifters), with both looking good to decent, I really expected PBH would be at least ok. Sounds like it's not even close to being ok.

The biggest issue to me now, since PBH isn't an overly important title to me like The Truth About Cats and Dogs was, but now I'm probably going to cancel my pre-orders for Committed and Jersey Girl. I thought they were worth a shot for $5, but I'm going to wait to hear about PQ now. I don't even want to waste $10 on two more titles that are blind buys.

Here's the review:

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/8516..._by_heart.html

It depends on what you expect. The linked review starts by saying the picture is 1.78:1 when it's actually 2.00:1, so the writer clearly wasn't paying close attention. Yes, it looks dated, but I A/B'd the DVD and it's a gargantuan improvement. That said, it's still one of the weakest BDs I've ever seen. Your call.

And I'm not sure why he says the Spanish import is better, has he actually seen it? I don't see a review anywhere.

[Youre My Boy Blu!]

Finally got a chance to watch it, it's been a long time since I last saw it, but I remembered how much I liked it the first time I watched so I knew I would be getting it on blu regardless.

With all that said, the quality of the blu-ray is acceptable. It has pleasant cinematography with very warm inviting colors throughout and a good amount of vibrancy, so that certainly helps with its visual appeal but it would have been greatly appreciated to show it in its original aspect ratio of 2:35. Who knows when a truly proper release will come, if ever at all, so $6 isn't too large a fee to own it as it is now.
Can't comment on AQ since I was only listening through headphones, which almost always sounds great no matter the movie.

For anybody considering this movie simply because of the cast, then go ahead and just get it. That's the real reason this movie shines. You want to see all the performances. For those who want to watch it because it's going to be a romantic comedy, well you'll get that and more I think. It's a fairly complex romantic comedy that isn't necessarily centered around one relationship. There are a whole series of relationships in various phases, some just beginning while others are coming to an end or are experiencing turbulence and transformation so it has a few more emotional tear inducing scenes than the average budding romantic comedy will, but I think that's what makes this a better all-around movie. For what it attempts to do story-wise, I give it a 4/5. For all the actors 4.5/5. PQ and AQ are 3/5, but still the best it has ever looked when compared to previous home video releases.

[Youre My Boy Blu!]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

Excellent! I love this little film, it's kind of like a rom-com version of "Magnolia"....

Or might Magnolia be a more serious and musical version of Playing by Heart??? The similarities are even more revealing after noticing April Grace, who I forgot was in Playing by Heart, but remembered her in Magnolia. Pretty funny.

Originally Posted by James Luckard

....and features an amazing early Angelina Jolie performance....

Admittedly, modern-day Jolie rarely pops up on my radar.
But back in the day she was the only thing motivating my mission control center.
Watching Jolie in this feels like discovering her for the first time.
Back when she did Hackers and this, I was with her, or her characters of the time. Hey, there's a reason why they open the movie with her little monologue about love, she gives the most memorable performance on the subject within the movie.

Originally Posted by James Luckard

So glad to see even the most obscure films in the Miramax library getting released by Lionsgate. They may not be brand new, shiny transfers, but they're still vast improvements over the old DVDs.

Yeah, and I think in these forums it's easy to get lost in how a film looks or sounds rather than the importance of the movie itself. For now, I can cut the movie some slack for not having the proper OAR, it's just good to see the damn movie.