new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

[Foxton]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

Just got back from Paranormal Activity, worth the hype.

That said there are a couple things I think would have made the ending scarier.

Spoilers
After Katie is bitten, I think they should have went a different route, with her starting to feel better. Keep the scene where she says she wants to stay in the house basically intact, especially the smile at the end. Ending night occurs basically the same up until the very last shot of Katie as she hovers over Micah's dead body, where instead of being completely possessed she pauses and comes back to herself long enough to realize that Micah is dead, before she screams and gets dragged off into the attic to be devoured. Also leave off the little "Micah's body was found" slide. That and the internet search broke some of the mood I think, leave the Diane name up for interpretation.

Apparently the theater ending wasn't the original, which went on with Katie doing a couple different things. I'm really glad they change it.

[Terrierbyassociation]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

Almost done with Season 1 of Supernatural. Really liking it so far and I really don't like horror very much.

[BigPieps]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

I watched Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

It's one of Woody Allen's better movies. He revisits a lot of themes in all/most of his movies and this one is no different. In this particular film, he explores divorce, adultery, compromising of the artist, artists mirroring life (mirroring art?), religion and the possibility of the afterlife, the educated adulterers...

Probably because of his personal life at this time, this one, though, ends in a far more upbeat manner and has a more "positive" feel.

The list of actors in this is a who's who of hollywood, the academy, and comedy (a *VERY* young Lewis Black)...

3 Oscars - Woody for screen play, Diane Wiest and Michael Caine (that hair needs to die though) for supporting actress and supporting actor.

The monologue at the end is pretty refreshing.

I liked it.

Woody Allen fans will too. Most of you will probably hate it. And rent Transformers 2 instead.

Speaking of which...that's what I have next.

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

Saw that one (Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)) a while ago. One of his better films I think now that I've seen a number of them. interestingly enough I saw that in the theater when I was 18. I agree it's more upbeat than some of the others.

"Whatever Works" that was just in theaters was a pretty good film but not nearly as good as Vicky Christina Barcelona was.

For films I'm actually going to run through all 10 Astaire\Rogers films. I'm sure since Big Pieps isn't "really" around anymore no one else will be interested.

[BigPieps]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

Speaking of arguably the greatest American director of all time, Whatever Works (2009) comes out tomorrow on the DVD.

I'm excited to see it. Well-reviewed but not well-received.

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

Speaking of arguably the greatest American director of all time, Whatever Works (2009) comes out tomorrow on the DVD.

I'm excited to see it. Well-reviewed but not well-received.

I saw it. You will like it. I liked it.

[BigPieps]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

Saw that one (Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)) a while ago. One of his better films I think now that I've seen a number of them. interestingly enough I saw that in the theater when I was 18. I agree it's more upbeat than some of the others.

I liked the upbeatness of the film...it was, like i said, refreshing. He can be down on love, relationships, etc.

I've always feared watching a WA movie with a g/f/potential g/f. they can get the wrong ideas. heh

"Whatever Works" that was just in theaters was a pretty good film but not nearly as good as Vicky Christina Barcelona was.

That's basically what I've heard. But, interestingly enough, that's what you always hear about a WA movie. "It's good but it's not as good as X (insert Oscar-nominated movie here)"

For films I'm actually going to run through all 10 Astaire\Rogers films. I'm sure since Big Pieps isn't "really" around anymore no one else will be interested.

That's something I've never gotten into. I've seen two them I believe "Swing Time" and "Top Hat" (iirc?). I think it's because imo they're vehicles to show off the dancers' talents (ooooh they've got it)....but nothing more.

I prefer Gene Kelly movies I guess? Which seem like his singing and dancing add to the movies.

[BigPieps]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

and do post your thoughts..i do lurk. heh

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

That's basically what I've heard. But, interestingly enough, that's what you always hear about a WA movie. "It's good but it's not as good as X (insert Oscar-nominated movie here)"

With that body of work that's what happens. Hitchcock same way. Not sure if you've gone down the Blu-Ray path but I'm very excited about North By Northwest coming out on the format early November. Evidently with a lot of money pumped into the restoration and since it was filmed in Vista Vision it should look fantastic with that format. Also, it can be argued that it was the first Bond movie before Bond movies even existed. Really kick started the action movie genre.

[The Paragon of Virtue]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

How do they improve the quality so much that they're capable to even do a blu ray release?

[Terrierbyassociation]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

How do they improve the quality so much that they're capable to even do a blu ray release?

http://www.lowrydigital.com/

They've been able to restore a lot with their proprietary technology, as long as the film quality is good.

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

How do they improve the quality so much that they're capable to even do a blu ray release?

It depends on how the movie was filmed. The film was always better than the projectors back in late '50's early '60's. Vista Vision was a 70mm format if I'm not mistaken and any VHS or standard DVD transfer doesn't do the justice to that format the Blu-Ray will. Here's a snippet of a review.

"The arrival of North by Northwest on Blu-ray is a landmark event in home video history, as it marks the very first of the famed director’s films to become available on this state-of-the-art format. Accordingly, the film has received a meticulous restoration and remastering especially for this occasion with Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging scanning the original VistaVision production elements in 8K resolution.

Noise still exists - but to a far lesser degree - and there is not as much grain to report as I had anticipated. Black levels are piercing and I felt I could appreciate the darker film look rendered by Warner with VC-1 with the 2 hour feature filling almost 35 Gig of the dual-layered disc. The bitrate can fluctuate quite dramatically but lies in and around the mid 20's (Mbps). As Henrik states about the aspect ratio: "There are several different framings of “North by Northwest”. The MGM laserdisc had the AR of 1.66:1, the Criterion had 1.75:1, the DVD( and Blu-ray) is in 1.78:1. “North by Northwest” was shot in VistaVision, basic aspect ratio of 1.66:1, but it was the property of MGM, who framed their widescreen releases into 1.75:1. This was before 1.85:1 became a standard widescreen format and when each studio had their own unique widescreen format. One can thus think of the 1.66:1 VistaVision ratio as open matte, while the MGM ratio of 1.75:1 was the Original Theatrical Aspect Ratio. It remains to be said, that during the 60s, re-releases of “North by Northwest” was reformatted into 1.85:1, as this format became the standard. Please note, that this is my guess, in order to answer for the various aspect ratios."

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCom...ynorthwest.htm

[BigPieps]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

With that body of work that's what happens. Hitchcock same way. Not sure if you've gone down the Blu-Ray path but I'm very excited about North By Northwest coming out on the format early November. Evidently with a lot of money pumped into the restoration and since it was filmed in Vista Vision it should look fantastic with that format. Also, it can be argued that it was the first Bond movie before Bond movies even existed. Really kick started the action movie genre.

Agreed. Pyscho, The Birds, Rear Window (mine), pick your poison.

The last scene will undoubtedly be the biggest winner with a restoration of better technologies.

[The Paragon of Virtue]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

http://www.lowrydigital.com/

They've been able to restore a lot with their proprietary technology, as long as the film quality is good.

The article about restoring the moon landing footage is quite interesting. Especially how they have to work around the way the images were sent back to Earth and then converted to the current television standards.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCom...ynorthwest.htm

Wow. The quality on that is amazing. Makes me wish I had a blu-ray player, but I'm still a generation behind, as I usually am.

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

Agreed. Pyscho, The Birds, Rear Window (mine), pick your poison.

See, and I'm more a Dial "M", Vertigo kind of guy.