Palindromes DVD/ Blu-ray/ UHD Comparison

It's here!  Palindromes is now available in 4k on BD and UHD from Radiance Films.  This is their first UHD release, by the way.  And since its announcement, as we covered in our last post, there have been a couple changes.  Radiance later shared some changes to the specs, specifically that their UHD would not include Dolby Vision or any HDR (because MoMA didn't restore the film with HDR in the first place), but it would have a 5.1 mix rather than stereo and another special feature: an interview with actor Alexander Brickle, who played the little boy Peter Paul.

I've got the limited edition 4k UHD/ BD combo pack right here (you could also purchase just the 1080p BD version by itself), so let's fire it up and check it out!  And while we're at it, let's see how it compares to the original 2005 DVD from Wellspring Media, DVDExotica-style (click the screenshots to see them in full resolution):

2005 Wellspring DVD top; 2025 Radiance BD middle; 2025 Radiance UHD bottom.

Wellspring presented the film at 1.79:1, essentially full 16x9 with a very slight, single letterbox bar along the top.  Radiance corrects this to the exact aspect ratio of 1.85:1, which basically restores a very little bit of extra information along the sides.  To its credit, the original DVD was anamorphic, free of interlacing and generally looks pretty similar to the new 4k scan.  The colors are slightly darker and more natural, but if you weren't doing a direct comparison like this, you probably wouldn't notice the distinction.  But if you zoom in close to Mark's face, for example, the DVD clearly has a more washed tone.  And the boost in clarity is considerably more obvious.  The film always had a bit of a low-fi look with chunky grain, but there's more detail and nuance to discern in the new scan.  And the DVD just barely hints at the natural film grain structure that's not made obvious on Radiance's discs.

Wellspring gave us a choice of stereo or 5.1 mixes, which Radiance boils down to just the 5.1.  But that's fine, since the stereo sounds like little more than a basic mix-down anyway.  And Radiance bumps their track up to a lossless DTS-HD.  Radiance also adds optional English subtitles, which Wellspring had cheaped out on.

For extras, Wellspring had nothing but a non-anamorphic trailer.  Radiance restores it to proper HD, and adds several more important features.  Most notably is a new on-camera interview with Todd Solondz, conducted via webcam by Heather Strong, who did the visual essay on Radiance's previous BD of Welcome To the Dollhouse in 2023.  Palindromes gets a visual essay, too, this time by critic Lillian Crawford, and then there's that aforementioned interview with Brickle, which is audio-only and plays over clips of the film.  That's it for on-disc stuff, but if you go for the limited (to 3000 copies) edition, it also comes with a 40-page full-color booklet, one of Radiance's signature obi strips and reversible artwork.  It's absolutely the definitive way to own Palindromes on home video!

Palindromes Coming to 4k Ultra HD

Since the Museum of Modern Art announced they were restoring Palindromes in 4k in November, I've just been waiting to see who was going to be first to release it.  Turns out it's Radiance Films, who previously gave us the 2023 Welcome To the Dollhouse special edition.  This means that now, apart from Fear, Anxiety & Depression (please, please, please, somebody get on this!), and his shorts, all of Todd Solondz's films are available to own in HD.  And after Happiness, it's his second available in full 4k.

So Radiance is releasing this in separate BD and UHD editions on June 24th.  They've already clarified that this 4k scan comes from the original negative and the restoration has been approved by Solondz.  It will be a Dolby Vision/ HDR presentation with a stereo mix in uncompressed PCM audio.  We can expect a brand new on-camera interview with Solondz, a video essay by a critic, the trailer and optional English subtitles.  The initial limited editions will consist of runs of 3,000 (3000 of the BD set and 3000 of the UHD/ BD combo-pack) that will include reversible artwork, a booklet and one of Radiance's signature obi strips.  A regular, non-limited should follow around the end of the year.

Happiness Is Happiness On 4k

If you've read The New Yorker recently, you know things are not looking great for Solondz's upcoming Love Child shoot.  Very disheartening.  But one can't be too depressed in the summer when he just got the high def debuts of Storytelling and Happiness.  Because this week, Criterion has given us the first anamorphic release of Happiness is three versions: a full-on UHD/ BD combo-pack, just the BD by itself, and a DVD edition.  So let's compare the very best against what was previously available.

1999 Trimark DVD top; 2024 Criterion BD mid; 2024 Criterion UHD bottom.

Quick Note: UHD shots appear darker in this blog because they're made for devices displaying higher nits.  If you click through to the full-sized, uncompressed graphic on an HDR device (like an imac); it'll display correctly.  Otherwise, just take it on faith that the colors look better than they appear here.  But their increased resolution will still be clear.

Critically, the Trimark DVD (and the Lions Gate reissue and all other DVD releases around the world) are non-anamorphic, meaning they weren't made for widescreen TVs.  I left the negative space around the first set of shots to show what they'd look like on any modern set.  So getting a 16x9 anamorphically enhanced picture alone is a major, sorely needed upgrade.  A smaller, but still welcome improvement, is that the aspect ratio has been corrected from 1.83:1 to 1.85:1.  A small tweak, and it actually tightens the framing rather than revealing more picture, but it's always nice to get the original composition exactly right.

The color correction is a bigger gain; with Criterion's new image looking more natural and no longer overcast by inappropriate hues (skin tones are a bit red in that first shot, and everything's a bit green in the second DVD screen grab).  And of course, the jump to HD is substantial.  Fine detail looks out of focus on the DVD, with unwelcome compression noise replaced by authentic film grain.  It's even better on the triple-layer UHD, but I have to say, it's a surprisingly strong encode on the 1080p BD, too, so it holds its own even against the higher generation disc.

Both releases offer the original stereo track with optional English subtitles, but the audio is bumped up to lossless DTS-HD on Criterion's discs.  Trimark did also include Spanish and French subtitles, which Criterion drops, though, if anybody out there cares about that.  And of course, all previous Happiness releases were barebones, apart from the trailer and a handful of bonus trailers.  Criterion now offers an all new, 40+ interview with Solondz himself.  And there's a nice, roughly 15 minute talk with star Dylan Baker.  The trailer's still here, and Criterion's release also includes a fold-out booklet with an essay by Bruce Wagner (Writer of Maps To the Stars and Scenes From the Class Struggle In Beverly Hills).  So obviously I recommend this, in a "why haven't you already run out and got this" kind of way.  Enjoy it, because it may be a longer wait for Love Child than we though.

Storytelling DVD/ Blu-ray Comparison

It's here!  So let's do another DVDExotica-style comparison of the brand new Storytelling blu-ray from Shout Factory, and the previous DVD edition from New Line Cinema, which up 'till this week, had still been the best version available.  At least it was anamorphic, which is more than you can say for the old Happiness DVD, which will also be getting its HD upgrade soon enough.

2002 New Line DVD top; 2024 Shout Factory BD bottom.

Wow!  It looks like somebody just turned the lights on.  Shout Factory has just given this film a new 2k restoration, but that color correction is definitely the first thing you notice.  There's a world of difference.  New Line's DVD is also slightly window-boxed to 1.82:1, which Shout corrects to a properly letterboxed 1.85:1.  This new scan actually reveals a little more info around all four edges, but especially the left and right.  The jump to high def definitely clarifies new detail - I can finally read "30 DAY ORGANIZER" on the calendar behind the actors in the first set of shots, and film grain may be a little soft now, but the DVD couldn't even begin to process it; so it's a series of big leaps forward in terms of PQ.

2002 New Line DVD.

The one thing I guess we lost, technically, was the optional fullscreen version the DVD threw in.  It has slight curiosity value, I guess, for opening up the mattes and revealing a lot more of the top and bottom of the picture.  But it also cuts off the sides, and of course, is completely improperly framed and spoils the intended compositions.  Honestly, as consumers, we're better off without these confusing the marketplace.

Both discs offer the Dolby 2.0 stereo track and a 5.1 remix, which I believe was created for the DVD.  Shout's edition bumps up both tracks to lossless DTS-HD.  And both discs off optional English subtitles.

The only extras the DVD are the trailer and the infamous "red box" censored scene.  The DVD also gave you the option, if you were so perversely inclined, to watch the film with the scene censored, in both full and widescreen.  So yes, the DVD had four transfers crammed onto one disc.

The blu-ray has the trailer and the red box scene, too, but only presents the film uncut.  And honestly, that's just as well.  The blu also goes the highly appreciated extra distance of conducting new, on-camera interviews with the cinematographer Frederick Elmes and the composer Nathaon Larson.  So I don't know if that quite qualifies it as a full-on special edition, but it's considerably more value added to a new BD that was already a major upgrade.  This is an absolute must-have for any serious Solondz fan.