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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Autumn in New York (2000)

Autumn in New York (2000)

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Released 9-May-2001

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Menu Audio
Dolby Digital Trailer-Egypt
Theatrical Trailer-2:24
Biographies-Cast & Crew
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 2000
Running Time 101:40
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Joan Chen
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Richard Gere
Winona Ryder
Anthony LaPaglia
Elaine Stritch
Vera Farmiga
Sherry Stringfield
Case C-Button-Version 2
RPI $34.95 Music Gabriel Yared


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English for the Hearing Impaired Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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Plot Synopsis

    In Autumn In New York, Richard Gere plays yet another fiftysomething playboy who manages to woo just about every woman he comes into contact with, including many half his age. My big question after watching this movie is - can he possibly play anything else?
 

    Will Keane is a successful restaurateur who just happens to be single and completely unable to make even the slightest commitment to any female that walks into his very one-dimensional life. This apparently changes when he meets the shy and very young Charlotte (Winona Ryder), who at 22 is young enough to be his daughter (there are a couple of references to Will previously dating Charlotte's mother, but this is not developed further). Unfortunately, Charlotte has a terminal illness and is likely to not live much longer than through this, her last autumn. Can Will suddenly find it in his heart to love someone and make a commitment?

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Transfer Quality

Video

    This is overall quite a decent transfer except for one very noticeable MPEG artefact that is detailed below and reduces the overall rating.

    The transfer is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    Sharpness is excellent, as is shadow detail. There is some minor edge enhancement scattered throughout, most noticeably at 49:30 on Will's coat.

    The colour is certainly the strongest feature of this transfer. It is simply magnificent, especially the shots of...autumn in New York! The myriad of greens and every shade of brown and orange leaves on the trees in the parks are a sight to behold.

    There is a glaring case of macro-blocking on some leaves in the park at 64:23. The scene begins with a high shot and angles down to where Will is walking. Fallen leaves cover the whole of the ground and they are quite uniform in appearance except for a centre strip that is completely blurred. It lasts for around 5 seconds and is very obvious and distracting. Minor pixelization is otherwise also noticeable throughout, though is not overly distracting.

    There is only 1 subtitle track, being English for the Hearing Impaired. I liked the way the caption is placed close to the person who is talking.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There is only one soundtrack on this disc, English Dolby Digital 5.1 sampled at the higher bit rate of 448Kb/s.

    Dialogue is always clear even though Richard Gere does have a tendency to mumble at times. There are no visible audio sync problems.

    The music is by Gabriel Yared and fits the style of film quite nicely. It is upbeat most of the time and captures the snappy professional side of New York.

    There is minimal use of the surround channels.

    Being heavy on the dialogue, the subwoofer received little workout.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Menu Audio

    A simple instrumental piece that plays on all menus and sub menus

Dolby Digital Trailer

    Egypt - At least it is quiet!

Theatrical Trailer (2:24 min)

    Presented in an aspect ratio of 1:85 and 16x9 enhanced. Doesn't spoil the plot, even though it is so paper thin you can work it out 10 minutes into the main feature.

Biographies-Cast & Crew

    Very detailed and easy to read bios for 4 of the cast and director Joan Chen. Nice to see that Anthony LaPaglia is recognized as being Australian.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    The Region 4 disc misses out on;     The Region 1 disc misses out on;     Stick with the local product unless you have a dire need for the French or Spanish soundtracks. The superior PAL formatting wins out over the inferior NTSC despite the existence of the mildly distracting MPEG artefact. This isn't highlighted by any of the Region 1 sites but is of little significance as it only lasts 3-4 seconds.

Summary

    Autumn In New York is a fairly standard join-the-dots type of romantic drama of the older man falling for younger woman sub-genre. Throw in Richard Gere in a role that he has played several times before (Pretty Woman, et al) and Winona Ryder playing the gushing young naive girl who falls for his charms and you have a pretty standard Hollywood formula.

    I found the script to be wanting, and both myself and my wife found ourselves cringing at times with some of the exchanges between Will and Charlotte. The script really didn't really fully develop the characters to such an extent that I actually believed they were in love.

    Some of the scenes were nice to look at and the music was listenable. The glaring artefacts were distracting, although the colour more than made up for that. The lack of extras was disappointing.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Darren Walters (It's . . . just the vibe . . . of my bio)
Friday, May 04, 2001
Review Equipment
DVDToshiba 1200, using S-Video output
DisplayLoewe Calida (84cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationHarmon/Kardon AVR7000.
SpeakersFront - B&W 602S2, Centre - B&W CC6S2, Rear - B&W 601S2, Sub - Energy E:xl S10

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