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September 17, 2004

I woke up this morning and immediately started calculating how much it would cost to buy the film stock for a b/w 100 minute super16mm film shot on a ratio of 4:1.

Skipping ahead a few hours in my day...

Curtis and I went to see THX--1138 tonight, and I am so glad that I caught it on the big screen instead of just waiting to get the DVD next week. It is amazing. I obviously didn't pick up on its many virtues when I saw that antiquated VHS copy a long time ago; this film is beautiful, experimental and really quite funny (in a bleak, muted sort of way). And, as these dystopic future tales often are, socially relevant too. The sound design by Walter Murch is stunning, and I fear that much of its power will be lost in lousy home theater systems (like mine). And as you may have read by now, the CGI enhancements actually do enhance; they blend in seamlessly, and I was impressed by how well ILM matched the grain and tone of the original film stock.

When you go see Sky Captain this weekend (you are going, right?), keep an eye out for the homage to THX.

I alway hear from people about how they'd rather just wait to see films on DVD, and that just doesn't make sense to me. First of all, you'd have to wait longer to see the movies, but beyond that, you loose something so essential to the cinema when you're watching it on a (relatively) small screen in your own home. When you see a film in the theater, that's what you are there to do; you have no anticipation for anything but what is happening on the screen in front of you, and if the film is good it will completely wrap you up in it and you'll forget where you are and nothing will obstruct the experience until the lights come up. Your brain goes into a different state; you're completely willing to be transported, whereas at home, I sometimes feel as if I'm waiting for the film to impress me (which, if it's a good film it always does, but the anticiapation for the impression is completely different). And you just have so many distractions; even if the film is good, the phone rings, someone interrupts you, you wonder if anyone has sent you an e-mail in the past five minutes, and the spell is broken.

Spectacles and event films demand to be larger than life, but contrary to popular belief, I also feel that the longer and more intimate the film, the more necessary it is to see it on the big screen. I've been trying to get into Yasujiro Ozu's work this week, and while his films are amazing, I can't help but feel that external stimulae -- just someone walking down the hall, even -- keeps me from being as emotionally involved as I should be. It's part of the reason why, before I got Netflix, I rarely watched movies at home. Maybe it's just me and my ritalin-free attention span, but I say: bring on the retrospectives, the cinematheques (and let me in for free until I have a job)!

I should ammend a previous statement two paragraphs up; the only thing you should be doing in the theater if you're not watching a movie is making out with your significant other in the back row. That's cool. Especially if you've already seen the movie or plan on going back to see it again later.

And on that note, I should mention that while I won't be putting my review for The Bad Education online at this site until the movie is released, I'm very happy to let AICN make it available (along with my review for Finding Neverland) right now.

Posted by David Lowery at September 17, 2004 1:44 AM

Comments

Posted by: Adam Donaghey at September 18, 2004 10:51 AM

Posted by: Ghostboy at September 19, 2004 2:49 AM