tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6546786153962013594.post6919695175437288990..comments2024-01-07T00:42:11.139-08:00Comments on Mondo Cine: The Wave Of The Future is a StreamRoger L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18132623003395075177noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6546786153962013594.post-13533489104046860792008-11-06T11:17:00.000-08:002008-11-06T11:17:00.000-08:00A large part of the experience of going to films n...A large part of the experience of going to films nowadays is picking the theatre (and therefore the demographic surrounding you?) as carefully as the film.<BR/><BR/>I saw a screening of Cool Hand Luke on the Warners lot recently - industry people (of all stripes and levels) who sat in reverence of the film...and of Mr. Newman.<BR/><BR/>You could have heard a pin drop.<BR/><BR/>Thanks again for reading.<BR/><BR/>RRoger L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/18132623003395075177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6546786153962013594.post-69889878299007364902008-11-05T12:31:00.000-08:002008-11-05T12:31:00.000-08:00Roger,Of course, my account was an amalgam of vari...Roger,<BR/><BR/>Of course, my account was an amalgam of various experiences. The last one, which made me swear I would never go to a movie theatre again (unless someone else required my company) was sitting in a private screening room full of industry professionals. I could not believe it. There was talking all through the auditorium!<BR/><BR/>I had made the mistake of sitting in front of my hosts. I should have sat behind them, so I could get up and walk out and enjoy some fresh air.<BR/><BR/>I think there will come a time when everything is released for streaming on day and date with theatrical.<BR/><BR/>By the way, I do know the experience you speak of, seeing a movie with a respectful crowd of strangers in a dark room. You recommended "Pepe Le Moko" to me, and I saw it at the Castro. I also saw some other French noirs at the Castro ("Bob Le Flambeur") and it was a joy to be with a like-minded crowd, and my pleasure was enhanced by exchanging some small talk about the picture afterwards we walked out.<BR/><BR/>kennKenn Fonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00381315903467639353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6546786153962013594.post-77521477993828123072008-11-01T18:06:00.000-07:002008-11-01T18:06:00.000-07:00Fantastic story, Kenn and it deserves a posting al...Fantastic story, Kenn and it deserves a posting all its own. The point of my post, I guess, is that there are values inherent in the old style of "film" that will not be recoverable in the future. Regardless of what's/who's sitting in front of it.<BR/><BR/>And the future audiences may not ever miss it. And if that's a reason to be nostalgic or glum is a topic for another post.<BR/><BR/>Best, RogerRoger L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/18132623003395075177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6546786153962013594.post-3843512931015621722008-10-28T02:00:00.000-07:002008-10-28T02:00:00.000-07:00Roger,This whole discussion sounds a lot like the ...Roger,<BR/><BR/>This whole discussion sounds a lot like the ones we had when you were my manager and we worked together at one of the grand dinosaurs known as a movie theatre. (Hell, the place even looked like a fossil from the inside, with its carvernous architecture revealed for all to see, trapped in time and revered by "preservationists" who insisted it was their favorite venue while informing us they only bought tickets because the other, more modern, dinosaur was sold out.)<BR/><BR/>I concede that at one time there was merit to the idea of sharing the experience with a crowd of strangers. However, the inconvenience of having to travel to a venue other than my own home, enduring conditions which I cannot control such as starting time, ambient comfort, rude fellow customers, a feature which continues playing despite my need to exit the auditorium for calls of nature, etcetera... etcetera. (I say, echoing Yul Brenner, a reference I shall not bother to explain because those who would care would already know it and those who do not know it would not care.)<BR/><BR/>I do not need a massive physical screen to sate my motion picture appetite. My 20-inch iMac liquid crystal display does very well, with its built-in stereo speakers. Set just 18 inches from my eyeballs, I get a crisp and clean image which occupies the same expanse of my field of vision as I'd get sitting 16 rows back in the old movie theatre where we used to work.<BR/><BR/>But I get a lot more. I get a movie I can start and stop when I choose, volume I can raise or lower to suit my taste, the healthy and tasty snack and beverage of my choosing, and -- this I can't equal in any movie theatre -- my adorable 12-year-old American shorthair cat, Jewel, purring contentedly in my lap.<BR/><BR/>I don't have to sit near someone whose questionable hygiene or worse yet, cologne bath will upset me, and force me to give up the seat I carefully chose when I arrived a half-hour earlier than my late arriving neighbor, who fancied his time too valuable to sit through his misnomered (is that a word?) "commercials," which in reality are only policy statements and trailers. ("Trailers," now <I>there's</I> a misnomer!)<BR/><BR/>Inevitably, my late-arriving neighbor has smuggled in pizza or a something from a Chinese, Mexican, Indian take-away, and not only the aroma, but the sound of the crinkling, but the pervasive aromatic blanket which accompanies the rule-breaking meal is enough to make me nauseous and take me out of the movie.<BR/><BR/>He has so thoughtfully shared the odor of his meal, which forces ME to interrupt the movie experience for others, as I try to cause them little disturbance while escaping to an unoccupied area on the wings of the theatre, which now affords me both an angular view of the screen AND a seat far-removed from the aural center of the theatre.<BR/><BR/>So now I've settled into my seat and gotten back into the movie experience as well as possible when I note I'm sitting below a heating vent. I consider leaving the auditorium to ask if the heat might be shut off only to recall that the center of the auditorium was considerably cooler and decide to endure the discomfort in favor of the customers in center, who might need the warmth.<BR/><BR/>Somewhere around the third reel, I have to get up to answer a call of nature, and decide this is also the time for a delicious beverage. Ignoring my experience as a coworker to the unfortunates employed at the snack bar (also known as another misnomer, "the concessions" which are wholly owned by the grand proprietor of the theatre as a whole). I said "ignoring my experience," because I remember watching them load the ice wells at the soda fountain with a bucket which is regularly placed on the filthy floor or worse, on the grimy lid to the large cart used to shlep the ice from the ice maker, a lid which is used as a bench by these poorly educated wretches who either have no knowledge of hygiene or if they do, fail to care enough for the well-being of their customers to take even the most rudimentary measures to ensure safe food handling.<BR/><BR/>So I trundle back to my seat with my bladder freshly emptied, hoping to replace that void with a huge, over-priced container of artificially flavored and articificially-sweetened carbonated water and salmonella tainted-ice. Meanwhile, about ten minutes of movie has passed and I have to patch up the plot holes in my head as I watch the balance.<BR/><BR/>I get comfortable and slowly infect myself with various intestinal fauna and flora only to notice some additional dialogue! One of my fellow customers is thoughtfully explaining the plot to a friend who couldn't make the movie. Not wanting to miss the experience, he called his buddy in the theatre, and his ill-mannered friend decided to answer, after only 15 seconds of loud rap music serving as a ring-tone.<BR/><BR/>[By the way, I also had to listen to people talk all around me when I was a guest at screening in a private, industry-only, movie theatre.]<BR/><BR/>All of a sudden, the sound goes out and we're treated to minutes of what Erich von Stroheim called "MOS," or "mit out sound!" What a treat! With 2/3rds of the movie in my head, I decide I've had enough. Your replacement stands there in the lobby with a worried face and a handful of "re-admits," or "Re-Admission Tickets""as he explains that the projectionist has been called, and is working on the problem.<BR/><BR/>I politely refuse the re-admit, and insist on a refund. I swear an oath to my Netflix as I add my truncated movie to my queue: I'm never cheating on you again, even though it means I have to wait 5 or 6 months to see some new movies.<BR/><BR/>Kenn, stuck in a Blue StateKenn Fonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00381315903467639353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6546786153962013594.post-7086177710547636992008-09-24T14:19:00.000-07:002008-09-24T14:19:00.000-07:00"Educated" consumers will seek out quality. Indeed..."Educated" consumers will seek out quality. Indeed the exhibition industry has fallen most (not all) instances towards sub-par presentation, but the end-all answer is not digital, for financial, aesthetic, and archival reasons.<BR/><BR/>You sound like you've experienced the dying gasps of a aged business model that is on life-support. There are other options. Not all theatres are the same.<BR/><BR/>The point of the post is that the communal experience is leaving us for good. The audiences should care.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your thoughts.<BR/><BR/>RRoger L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/18132623003395075177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6546786153962013594.post-77745545757667495602008-09-24T10:44:00.000-07:002008-09-24T10:44:00.000-07:00Sorry, but 35MM film looks like total shit these d...Sorry, but 35MM film looks like total shit these days too...automated high speed processing leaves ALOT to be desired...and I count, on average, at least 2 mid-frame splices per feature. Nothing beats a communal film experience - but the industry is shooting themselves in the foot on every corner....multiplexes are PG-13 babysitters and nothing more...quality is out the window and prices are through the roof. The system is gamed too fail anything besides tweener pablum......so, while I still go see the occasional major release - and champion indie theater and vintage film with all my lifeblood (and finances!).......digital is here to stay....and shit looks damn good with uncompressed (in terms of delivery format) 1080P on my 46" television....the real question is when the industry as a whole decides to embrace modern avenues fully instead of trying to make them fail while cheapening all the traditional avenues as well......leaving true consumers with little choice besides downloading illegal copies with questionable quality......Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com