Director's Intent: Kaleidescape 4K

1923 — exclusive on Kaleidescape through early August — is a prequel to the popular TV show Yellowstone that follows the Dutton family in the early 20th century as they struggle to survive the harsh realities of the American West. Set in 1923 during Prohibition — a time of cascading hardships including drought and the lead-up to the Great Depression — the Duttons must fight to keep their Montana ranch and preserve their way of life amid challenges by new enemies and rapid change brought on by the transition to electricity, modern appliances, and automobiles.

Written and directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, this is my personal favorite to win multiple Oscars this year. The film follows the story of Maureen Folan, who during a contentious IRS audit discovers she is connected to multiple parallel universes and must navigate through them in order to save her family from an ancient evil.

Game of Thrones is arguably one of the best TV shows in history — well, at least the first six seasons — and became a cultural phenomenon when it hit HBO in April 2011. It would go on to produce a total of eight seasons and one of the most controversial endings one could ever dream up. Co-creators/showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were ripped to shreds on the Internet — and rightfully so, in this writer’s opinion — leaving viewers to wonder what effect this would have on further projects set within the universe George R. R. Martin crafted in his popular book series.

James Cameron’s epic sci-fi film Avatar changed the landscape of movie-making when it debuted in 2010. Fans of the celebrated director flocked to theaters, ultimately producing box office receipts that topped $2.9 billion worldwide and making it the top grossing film of all-time. Now, 13 years later, Avatar: The Way of Water is enjoying the same mega-blockbuster success, having grossed over $2.3 billion since the sequel was released to theaters in December, making it the third highest grossing film in history behind 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, which raked in $2.8 billion.

A killer is stalking Gotham City’s elite and a trail of cryptic clues sends Batman into the underworld of the city he has vowed to protect. There he meets a bevy of characters, each with their own agenda. Some wish him success but most want him to fail. As the evidence starts to solidify and begins to hit close to home, Batman must form new relationships before he can unmask the culprit and bring his own brand of justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued the city.

The Greatest Showman is a musical inspired by the life of Phineas Tayler “P.T.” Barnum, creator of the world famous (and now defunct) Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus. It’s the story of how an ambitious and imaginative entertainer rises from humble beginnings to become a showbiz pioneer and one of the best looking and sounding movies available on home video.

A couple weeks ago I explored a different way of experiencing movies at home — one that doesn’t involve spinning 4K Blu-ray discs or streaming movies from Netflix and other services. I’m talking about the server-based movie system Kaleidescape introduced way back in 2001. The system, which is available only through custom integrators, has evolved over the years yet I never had the opportunity to experience it firsthand until recently when Kaleidescape offered to loan me the company’s Strato C Movie Player with a companion server, the 48-terabyte Terra. (You can read my impressions of the system in A Marriage Made in Movie Heaven.) To further explore the Kaleidescape ecosystem, Sound & Vision agreed to run bi-monthly blog where I review titles available from the Kaleidescape store. Here is the first installment.