Last movie seen — Page 153

bkev said:

RIP revival theaters. According to this petition, movie studios have promised to stop shipping out 35mm films entirely - whether they have them in the vaults already or not! This applies to both new films, and old (the latter being the bigger problem IMO). For those interested on reading more, here's an article about the disappearance of 35mm in general.

20th Century Fox said:

"The date is fast approaching when 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight will adopt the digital format as the only format in which it will theatrically distribute its films. ... We strongly advise those exhibitors that have not yet done so to take immediate steps to convert their theaters to digital projection systems."

 

I passed that article around myself, and it really seems as if they're going to try very hard to shut off the print market entirely, though it really hinders them in no way-and not everyone can afford the digital switchover. Fox switched their Asian market to all-digital a few months ago, and that being their largest market was a major step towards dropping film.

The revival house near me is literally a one man operation that only exists by the good graces of the dollar theater that hosts screenings. (Thankfully, they just posted their schedule through September.) Even if a theater keeps it's old projectors in place, this could nail the coffin shut. :(

I don't get out to the movies as much as I used to, but I haven't seen an actual film print for a first run movie since January 2011, and that was out of town.

Bingowings said:

Water for Elephants (2011)
.

After 5 years of waiting for the chance, I finally saw Whisper of the Heart. There's no other word for it than charming. It's a simple story about a young boy and girl who fall in love while exploring their separate passions. The movie does get slow, but the charm more than makes up for it. And, yes... it's corny. But I'm pretty sure they knew that when they made it haha. Highly recommended movie in the Studio Ghibli catalogue, even though it's not from Miyazaki. If you like Japanese animation it's a must.

note: this is a more realistic movie than you're used to seeing from Ghibli. It has the heart the studio's fans know and love, but much of the fantasy here stems from the protagonist's imagination rather than the situations she finds herself in like the other movies. I'm curious to see The Cat Returns because I loved the fantasy scenes so much.

3.5/4 baseballs.

DuracellEnergizer said:

Super 8 (2011)

I liked this movie - especially the cast - but I felt it would have been better had the sci-fi aspect been dropped and either replaced with a supernatural (ghosts, ghouls, etc) element or played as a regular drama with nothing otherworldly present at all.

8/10

Wow, That's what I thought when I came out of the cinema! Great minds think alike!

:D

It should've been a bit more Poltergeist-y

(But then again, Poltergeist is one of my favourite movies, so...)

Raiders of the Lost Ark

The film: One of the few perfect films ever made. Made for all those who still harbor a child's sense of adventure.

Presentation: The new 4K restoration on 35mm. Image has been cleaned up extensively with extreme brightness. Color is also extremely robust, almost seeming pumped up at times. Little grain present however. No snake reflection and no CGI cliff shot. The sound was similar if not identical to the DVD 5.1, but it was very underwhelming. Surrounds hardly ever used at all.

And for some reason the reel changes were all very badly placed, almost always right in the middle of dialogue. For example: Indy opening the book to show the picture of the Ark and opening the Well of the Souls.

The film: 4 balls out of 4. The new restoration: ??? Does anyone have memories of the original theatrical release? Wasn't it a bit dark in places? I bet this will be exactly how the Blu-ray looks and sounds, but hopefully we get the sound mix in a lossless codec for better fidelity. (Or maybe a seamlessly branched version with the reflection put back!)

Mirror Mirror

Who the heck thought paying for this was a good idea? A mess.

1 ball out of 4.

Bingowings said:

Men In Black (1997).

Still fun, shame the series went of the rails because there was a lot of comic potential for the premise and the first film only really scratched the surface.

The alien effects look so much more convincing than those in the PT which was two years later.

Men In Black is a comic book adaptation so the characters are meant to look a bit cartoonish but this guy:

seems less cartoonish to my eyes than this guy:

Three red lights.

The MIB fellow was more man in suit than CGI, so that makes sense.

It makes me smile to know Rick Baker is still making monster suits for movies.

On a related note, the first season of the MIB cartoon series has been released on DVD as a Target store exclusive. Hopefully, they will release the rest of the series.

The Big Lebowski

Greenie abides.

5 out of 4 balls

And no evil Superman being so evil he smashes liqueur bottles with bar peanuts.

Oh, wait...  :)

Seriously though- Superman III will always have a special place in my heart.  The Clark VS Supes scene is probably my favourite in the whole series.

But as bad as Hackman's Luthor is... I think Vaughn's Luthor is worse.  And Pryor, and the Tower of Pisa, and the atari game, and... tobacco.

Ugh...