A couple of new ‘Twilight-Zone’ style films available on iTunes prompted me to write a joint review, so here goes:
The One I Love is fantastical romantic drama, written by Justin Lader and directed by Charlie McDowell. Sophie (Elisabeth Moss) and Ethan (Mark Duplass) are struggling to patch up their marriage when their therapist recommends a romantic getaway to re-discover their marriage, but when strange things start to happen, both of them are forced to make choices that will change everything.
Coherence is a low-budget ‘style thriller written and directed by James Ward Byrkit. A comet passing close to the earth scrambles the reality of group of friends at a dinner party who struggle to understand what is happening to them, while tensions within the group threaten to tear them apart.
Comparing these two films is an interesting exercise: Both are low budget features confined to small locations, both have a similar Twilight-Zone setup and use on set improvisation to better flesh out characters. However the differences are marked: ‘The One I Love’ is far more ‘classic’ Hollywood in it’s compositions, and structure with a handful of well defined characters, while Coherence is more fragmented with more characters, and overlapping dialogue and deploys the dreaded handheld shaky-cam frequently, which is not such a great idea on a rolling shutter digital camera.
Coherence – iTunes HD Review
Desperate hours for Em (Emily Baldoni) in ‘Coherence’. Note the sensor noise. Digital cameras have a lot to answer for.
The Coherence iTunes HD download clocks in at 2.88 GB, and features an average bitrate of 3.9 Mbps and a peak bitrate of 13.7 Mbps. It has a Stereo AAC soundtrack and 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack. Aspect ratio is approximately 2.35:1. Frankly the bitrate here is just too low, the available-light digital-cinematography combined with handheld camera jiggle leaves the cast looking waxy, noticeable.
The One I Love – iTunes HD Review
Sophie (Elisabeth Moss) and Ethan (Mark Duplass) give couple’s therapy a whirl in ‘The One I Love’. Yes – that is Ted Danson.
‘The One I Love’ iTunes HD download is a slightly heavier 2.93 GB, with a similar average bitrate of 3.82 Mbps and a peak bitrate of 11.8 Mbps. It also has Stereo AAC with a 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtracks. Aspect ratio is 2.40:1. The limited bitrate is also an issue here, leaving some scenes a bit too soft, but with less shaky camera work, the compressor has less work to do, so overall the film looks good, and it certainly wasn’t distracting while watching it.
Conclusions
The iTunes HD version of ‘Coherence’ ranks 3 out of 5 – ‘fair’, too much camera movement with too little bitrate. A blu-ray would certainly look better.
On the other-hand, ‘The One I Love’ scrapes a ‘Good’ 4 out of 5, Though the bitrate is the same, there is less difficult material to compress, and the careful static compositions are pleasantly rendered throughout.
They are certainly both interesting films, but ‘The One I Love’ has stayed with me for the past few days, so if you only have room for one – then I’d go with ‘The One I Love’
iTunes HD Screenshots of ‘Coherence’ and ‘The One I Love’
Logic meets feelings in ‘The One I Love’. Mark Duplass and Elisabeth Moss.
Sophie (Elisabeth Moss) in ‘The One I Love’
Em (Emily Baldoni) finally puts the pieces together in ‘Coherence’.
Dinner with friends in ‘Coherence’.