Happy Hour (2015) (Ryūsuke Hamaguchi) -- February 12th, 2019

[McCrutchy]

KimStim will release Ryūsuke Hamaguchi's Happy Hour (ハッピーアワー) (2015) on February 12th, 2019.

[McCrutchy]

This is currently available to pre-order at Best Buy for $27.99 (it's currently $42.98 at Amazon).

[McCrutchy]

Now down to $27.99 at Amazon.

[cj535]

Has anyone picked this up? Can anyone confirm the region encoding for this release?

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by cj535

Has anyone picked this up? Can anyone confirm the region encoding for this release?

I would have, but I'm pretty concerned that it's all on one disc, so unless someone can offer evidence to the contrary, someone else will have to pick this edition up first.

[Mothravka]

I have ordered it, but haven't received it yet. Should hopefully arrive soon. Not sure about tomorrow, but next week maybe.

[Mothravka]

I got the release now.

It's on two discs, not one. So the film is split up on two discs and the extras are on the second one too. I also tested the first disc by setting my player on both A and B, both regions worked fine.

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by Mothravka

I got the release now.

It's on two discs, not one. So the film is split up on two disc and the extras are on the second one too. I also tested the first disc by setting my player on both A and B, both regions worked fine.

If you have a BD drive, you mind doing a BDinfo scan on it? I’m curious as to whether it’s 2 BD-50s or not.

Also, what is the audio codec?

[Mothravka]

Originally Posted by professorwho

If you have a BD drive, you mind doing a BDinfo scan on it? I’m curious as to whether it’s 2 BD-50s or not.

Also, what is the audio codec?

Sorry, I don't have one. I just used my region free Blu-ray player to switch between regions.

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by Mothravka

Sorry, I don't have one. I just used my region free Blu-ray player to switch between regions.

That's fine. You should be able to see the audio codec when pressing info or something of that nature. When you have the chance, would you mind checking and reporting what the audio codec is?

Thanks.

[Mothravka]

Originally Posted by professorwho

That's fine. You should be able to see the audio codec when pressing info or something of that nature. When you have the chance, would you mind checking and reporting what the audio codec is?

Thanks.

Of what I could get, it says 日本語 Dolby Digital Audio (日本語 = Japanese). It doesn't say anything about bitrate or something, but maybe you just wanted this?

[nissling]

Did watch this tonight. Long, but not lengthy (for the most part). Partly difficult to keep track of the film as a whole due to all of the characters involved but in the end I think it all ties together in a good way. Certainly worth a watch, and will perhaps make more impact on a second viewing.

Regarding the Blu-Ray it's not without its issues, though they are almost solely tied to the production itself from what I can see. One of the cameras used had a dead pixel, so you will see that in many shots. Also there appears to be certain debayering artifacts. Especially visible on a bus sign in a sequence, and also on reds in the final dinner scene. Color timing is a bit uneven but most scenes have good taste both as far as the grade goes. Outdoor scenes can especially shine. Noticed very visible posterization in one scene but otherwise there were no such issues or poor encoding.

I wouldn't be suprised if it is a straight port of a Japanese Blu-Ray. English subtitles are disabled by default and the copyright card (which plays on a separate title after the film) is entirely in Japanese. The disc change, which is prompted in Japanese as well, would've been much better if it had been just a few seconds earlier... Yeah I'm an old Laserdisc fanboy so I have to nitpick on that

Also the audio was specified as AC-3 2ch. Looked at the bitrate at one point and it said 625kbps or so. Didn't pay much attention to it. Could perhaps get a BDInfo Scan on the two discs if anyone is still interested.

[Liersi]

Originally Posted by nissling

Did watch this tonight. Long, but not lengthy (for the most part). Partly difficult to keep track of the film as a whole due to all of the characters involved but in the end I think it all ties together in a good way. Certainly worth a watch, and will perhaps make more impact on a second viewing.

Regarding the Blu-Ray it's not without its issues, though they are almost solely tied to the production itself from what I can see. One of the cameras used had a dead pixel, so you will see that in many shots. Also there appears to be certain debayering artifacts. Especially visible on a bus sign in a sequence, and also on reds in the final dinner scene. Color timing is a bit uneven but most scenes have good taste both as far as the grade goes. Outdoor scenes can especially shine. Noticed very visible posterization in one scene but otherwise there were no such issues or poor encoding.

Came here to ask if that was a dead pixel on one of the cameras or something particular to this disc. I got used to it to a degree, but it's very disctracting on occasion as the dead pixel is a glowing white in many somber scenes. Too bad if it's production related.

The film itself had a profound effect on me. After An Elefant Sitting Still, I can only conclude that this type of naturalistic, organic and observational long form narrative is my jam. The Japanese have always excelled at the style, but I'd never seen it taken to these lengths before, where there's enough time to really develop external and internal worlds in a way that makes for stimulating contrasts. The time it took was an essential part of the effect it had on me. It was like the narrative in my mind adapted to the pace by decompressing and making more room for information that would be deemed irrelevant to a plot-driven film. As nissling said, that makes it long but never lengthy. My mind felt time as I feel it in real life, not in movies, so 5 odd hours was just an evening spent with interesting people. Short, even. But it was just the right length. It shows what it wants to talk about, gives you time to take it in, and then fades out at just the right time to leave you to your own thoughts.

[Aunt Peg]

Don't know who I missed this thread. Just purchased the Blu Ray as I missed it at a festival screening last year.

[Gacivory]

If anyone wants this and hasn’t gotten it yet. The Blu is $12.74 from the distributor’s site.

https://www.kimstim.com/film/happyhour/

[beamish13]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

If anyone wants this and hasn’t gotten it yet. The Blu is $12.74 from the distributor’s site.

https://www.kimstim.com/film/happyhour/

KimStim has a ton of great titles in that sale. I got Raul Ruiz’s Time Regained, Jeanette, The Wolf House, and An Elephant Sitting Still

[TraverseTown]

Any chance this gets a release from another distro? KimStim seemingly lost the rights and I'm kicking myself for missing it.

[dwk]

Originally Posted by TraverseTown

Any chance this gets a release from another distro? KimStim seemingly lost the rights and I'm kicking myself for missing it.

Janus Films has picked it up