Siouxsie Sue wrote:
Did you listen to those Suspiria grabs? Did you hear the difference there?
No.
I'm stuck with a slow-speed dial-up connection that makes watching and listening over the internet an impossibility.

Besides, I own about 300 region 2 DVD's, including several films on both regions. I can A and B roll my region 1 (full screen) of Hard Times or Extreme Prejudice against my region 2 (widescreen anamorphic) anytime I want to see and hear the difference between NTSC and PAL speedup.
Siouxsie Sue wrote:
Putting them in sync on side by side monitors would be pointless: the difference would initially be imperceptible but would eventually become quite significant, cumulatively. Basic maths -- if something is losing a tiny but steady speed advantage the margin will grow wider and wider.
I don't have to sync them to perceive the difference. It is blazingly obvious. In the region 1 edition of Hard Times, James Coburn shouts "Hey wait a minute! I want to talk to you!" In the region 2 editon, he shouts ""Heywaitaminute!Iwanttotalktoyou!" In the region 1 he has a deep voice -- perhaps not as deep as yours' Siouxsie Sue -- but in the region 2 he has a higher voice. The PAL speed up is so obvious it calls attention to itself.
Siouxsie Sue wrote:
Are you saying that you are SO intent on the 'pace' of a shot that if it lasts 9.6 seconds rather than ten seconds this will completely derail it for you? You see, I don't understand how anyone could be enjoying a piece of film-making AND be obsessing over such a minuscule distinction at the same time. Film is to be felt, not measured and calculated in microscopic increments.
No, I'm not saying I'm so intent on the pace of a shot that the PAL speed-up derails the film for me. On the other hand, before I was able to track down the oop Criterion edition of Hitchcock's Notorious, I bought a region 2 because it was cheap and available. I'd seen the film many times, but I wanted to study the timing and the editing, and I couldn't wait, so I bought the region 2. The climactic scene of Cary Grant helping Ingrid Bergman down the stairs and outside to the car is one of Hitchcock's most meticously staged and artfully sustained suspense sequences. The duration of each shot and the pace is so important. As you say, it has to be felt, not measured. The region 2 edition feels wrong. It feels off-kilter. The distinction isn't miniscule when PAL speed-up calls attention to itself.

Richard

"... little by little the look of the country
changes because of the people we admire."
dialog in HUD (1963)