Movie/TV recommendations

[elmuerte]

Well, it could be just this cinema, it was the first time I went to this one (Pathe cinema in Rotterdam, Schouwburgplein). It's one of the few cinemas complexes in the Netherlands with an IMAX setup, so I would assume their overall quality should also be amongst the best.

Not sure if the movie was projected on an IMAX screen, I didn't go see the IMAX version (I hope; and according to my ticket price). But the screen was quite huge, so all dirt was scaled to be quite visible. It was everything but a clear picture.

I don't agree that there is no upper limit on analog display, it will just blur to fit the size. Sure, it might blur more nicely than a digital projector. But it will blur. So with a larger screen you will need to move away further to get the proper picture. And yes, I think I was too close to the screen. Didn't know the size of the screen beforehand, but usually dead center should be the most optimal place.

As for the 60Hz CRT like flicker. I'm very sensitive to flicker, so I notice it quite quickly. And when there's fast moving action on a huge screen I also notice the result of flickering (even on TFT screens or 100Hz CRT) due to the fact that the framerate is so low in movies. For fast moving action the trick is to simply move away further from the screen. But the effect of the analog film rolls are remain quite noticeable to me. As I'm no projectionist I don't know why this is the case. It might have been related to the fact that the focus was slightly off. Or at least, I'd assume that subtitles should be pretty much crisp on the screen and not have blurry edges.

But in the end the result is the same. I'm paying 9 euros to see a movie who's actuality is affected by the capability of a crappy assistant projectionist. I'd rather go to a cinema with a digital projector and a smaller screen (huge screen isn't better than a big screen) because there's less this crappy projectionist can screw up.

Anyway, in about 2 weeks I'm going to The Expandables in a different cinema (Cinestar in Enschede) which I used to go to when I lived there. My experience at that cinema is a bit better. For one, they have much better seats. So I'll see how my experience will be at that point.

[elmuerte]

Nothing beats the cinema, especially a near-empty one. The most annoying thing about cinema is still unruly visitors who don't have the courtesy to stay quiet!

Ugh... that was most annoying when I went to see Drag me to Hell.

People were screaming every time there was a scare moment, and right after that they had to remiss about that with the people they were with. "omg that scared me, you too? omg omg..." AAARGGGHH!!

Ok granted. I once also spoke during a movie, out loud. But that was during the 3rd time I saw Fellowship of the Ring. (final marathon with all 3 movies). All I did was yell "Run forest, run!" at a certain period in the movie. And buy the sound of the laughter, a lot of people enjoyed the remark. Most people probably saw that movie 2+ times already.

[Kolzig]

I started rewatching Angel a few days ago. I feel completely justified in saying it is my favourite long running TV programme again

I should rewatch it at some point. I have all the "Watcher's diary" dvd box versions bought, but I haven't watched Angel at all since the series came to the unfortunate end. This show is VERY underrated like ThunderPeel said.

The new season of Dexter had the trailer shown at comic-con and it looks faaaaaaantastic. Very excited!

Oh hell yes! I can't wait for that to start, I have not seen the trailer, but I think the new season starts in september, right?

9 for a ticket?! That is expensive by itself, not to count drinks.

Well, in Finland all movies cost around 9-12 euros these days. 8,90€ if it's a normal movie, then if it's supposed to be a hit then it's 10,90€ and if it's a 3D movie they rob you of 12,50 euros. In Japan the Inception IMAX / "executive seats" cost about 15-20 euros I think.

The thing I find interesting that you can drink beer in the movie theater in the Netherlands? That's not possible here.

I heard something just a few days ago that Beavis&Butt-Head might be coming back to MTV with new episodes from Mike Judge. Now that is a blast from the past. I thought MTV shows only reality crap these days?

I wanted to see Toy Story 3 in Three Dee in IMAX in Japan, but they only had the Japanese dub so in the end we watched only Inception in IMAX. It was the first IMAX experience for me and my wife. IMAX is so cool and the movie was awesome as well! I'm really disappointed that we still don't have even one IMAX theater setup in the whole Finland! The whole idea how Chris Nolan made the dreams with dreams was really great. C.Nolan never disappoints, he is seriously one my most favourite directors.

I especially thank him for saying that 3D in movies is useless and just a gimmick and that he will never use it.

I'm not a Leo di Caprio fan, but he also did a nice job playing the lead role in my opinion. Ken Watanabe was really big on pushing this movie in Japan, every day there was a commercial with him talking about it in tv. Also before the movie there was Ken Watanabe clip about him thanking the people to come watch movie and hoping that everyone will enjoy it. A very classy guy.

Also in an interview in Japan Leo di Caprio said with his whiny voice:"Ken Watanabe should be a national treasure!" That was so funny, my wife was imitating Leo for days when we saw that.

I got maybe way too much a Batman vibe from Hans Zimmer's musics.

We also watched Predators, but that was so bad. The same level of bad as Alien vs. Predator movies. Makes me wish that someone would make a Predator movie that was as cool as the first one with Arnold. It was a waste of money and time to go see that.

Toy Story 3 we will go see at the end of the month when it finally comes to Finland.

Next week I will go see the movie that truly is the movie of the year, maybe even the movie of the decade. That is of course

THE EXPENDABLES. I'm so damn excited already, I can't wait for next week to see that on the big screen!

[elmuerte]

Next week I will go see the movie that truly is the movie of the year, maybe even the movie of the decade. That is of course

THE EXPENDABLES. I'm so damn excited already, I can't wait for next week to see that on the big screen!

Not sure if it's the movie of the year. Because there is also MACHETE!!!

Either one of these great action movies with a hint of comedy will be the movie of the year.

I really hope they don't pull a Die Hard 4 on The Expendables.

[syntheticgerbil]

The main problem with movie theaters is that multiplexes often have only one projectionist working up to 17 screens, with a few kids backing them up who are trained to press the "start" button but have no clue what they're doing aside from that. As a result, the projectionist is overworked and unable to pay the attention that each screen deserves, and the backup kids damage the fuck out of a bunch of prints. If you go to a place with 2 or 3 screens, you will see the difference. I have no idea what is giving you the flicker from a 60Hz CRT display though. Our equipment uses a high-pressure Xenon bulb, and there isn't a single CRT in the booth apart from a tiny monitor that is only on when we're forced to use our digital projector. That part of the comment just left me puzzled.

I was going to say that even though I'm cheating AMC theaters, there is also almost always some kind of problem with the movie I have to go report to someone to fix. They must have only back up kids working there.

I haven't really gone to any AMCs recently. The Alamo Drafthouse is a great experience every time, and they show movies most others won't carry, but they drain your wallet.

[Hermie]

Well, it could be just this cinema, it was the first time I went to this one (Pathe cinema in Rotterdam, Schouwburgplein). It's one of the few cinemas complexes in the Netherlands with an IMAX setup, so I would assume their overall quality should also be amongst the best.

Not sure if the movie was projected on an IMAX screen, I didn't go see the IMAX version (I hope; and according to my ticket price). But the screen was quite huge, so all dirt was scaled to be quite visible. It was everything but a clear picture.

I actually saw Avatar in IMAX 3D there! The quality was fine, but that was an actual IMAX showing, so...

[circadianwolf]

I've been watching Veronica Mars on Netflix Instant View... really an excellent, well-made show that's worth watching if you never did the first time around. It's amazing what they can do with what can be boiled down to a story about high school kids.

Veronica Mars season 1 is one of the best things ever made for television. Seasons 2 and 3 aren't as good, but still quality.

[Nevsky]

Three projection tidbits:

- I saw Inception this week in a crappy multiplex in Finland (7ish Euros a ticket during the day), and it was a totally fine picture, apart from a few minutes where the picture was rocking vertically. It was sorted out eventually, though. No problem.

- Last week, I went down to the Prince Charles Cinema and saw a dirty old print of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It took a few scenes to get used to the scratches and the iffy sound, but it was quite a joy. Also, it still had the classification information from the original release (it was an 'A'!).

- I was watching a film a few weeks back at a preview screening room, the kind that has small screens that seat a couple of dozen people. About halfway through, I saw a flickering light in the corner of my eye. I looked over my shoulder, right into the projection booth. And the dude was playing Modern Warfare 2 on a little TV.

[Ben X]

if anyone fancies seeing any of these films, like say THE LOST BOYS or WRATH OF KHAN, let me know.

[dpp]

I just watched Inception in an IMAX theater.

Sweet movie, not the best choice for a first date though.

[elmuerte]

- I was watching a film a few weeks back at a preview screening room, the kind that has small screens that seat a couple of dozen people. About halfway through, I saw a flickering light in the corner of my eye. I looked over my shoulder, right into the projection booth. And the dude was playing Modern Warfare 2 on a little TV.

Did he beat it?

[Roderick]

I would LOVE to see Wrath of Khan in theatres. Easily the best Star Trek film.

[brkl]

I just watched Inception in an IMAX theater.

Sweet movie, not the best choice for a first date though.

Yay for dates!

[Roderick]

I once took a girlfriend to Der Untergang for a first date. We both loved it.

[Nevsky]

Oh drat, I'm sorry! I didn't even know I was going until the afternoon before, when I was down in the dumps and a friend told me it would cheer me up. It did.

[MrHoatzin]

Sweet movie, not the best choice for a first date though.

I don't think there is such a thing. One of the first dates with my wife, we hijacked a random amphitheater at the university in the middle of the night and watched Werner Herzog's Cobra Verde. Don't think of it as entertainment to pass the time, so much as a vetting process.

[Thyroid]

I've been watching Steven Moffat stuffs recently. For those of you who don't know, Moffat's a BBC writer who's done everything from Press Gang (TV drama about teenagers) to Coupling (autobiographical sitcom about a staff writer whose wife cheats on him). At one point he began writing episodes for Doctor Who. He's done a spectacular job on almost every episode he's done, and a very good-to-great job on the others. He became head writer on series 5, and it's far, far superior to the only other Who series I've seen (the new first one, with the Ninth Doctor).

He recently co-created the updated Sherlock series for the BBC (

).

See his stuff. He's ace. See Sherlock. Much more true to the original source material than the recent Robert Downey Jr. film.

[Sleepdance]

Well, in Finland all movies cost around 9-12 euros these days. 8,90€ if it's a normal movie, then if it's supposed to be a hit then it's 10,90€ and if it's a 3D movie they rob you of 12,50 euros. In Japan the Inception IMAX / "executive seats" cost about 15-20 euros I think.

Wow, and I get shit from my friends who are critising me for going to a movie theater with just 3 halls and 1E more expensive tickets(in comparison to 5E in a big theater they are trying to market as a ultra cooly cool place everyone should go to). For that one euro more I had A WHOLE HALL FOR MYSELF when I saw District 9. Again, WHOLE HALL OF ABOUT 50 SEATS FOR MYSELF(and seats have actualy suprisingly enough room around them, I'd say about 0.5 meter if you would combine both sides).

[miffy495]

I've personally projected an original print of Wrath of Khan. It was about 30 years old, so it had obviously seen better days. The entire print was tinged orange, making it look like every single scene on the bridge was on Red Alert. After starting it, I ran into the theater to watch the whole thing. Fantastic night at work.

And yeah, just an hour ago I was playing Fallout 3 on my laptop in the projection booth while putting on a show of Agora. When you've got a one screen theater to oversee, most of the time you're just killing time. As long as you're there to fix shit if it goes wrong, nothing wrong with a bit o' gaming. Just one more reason I love my job.

[Moosferatu]

Anyone watch Rubicon? Any good?

[circadianwolf]

Well, only the first two episodes have aired right? It's kind of hard to tell. It's certainly not Mad Men. I'm kind of baffled by it to be honest, but I'm going to keep watching for a while, at least.

[juv3nal]

He recently co-created the updated Sherlock series for the BBC (

).

See his stuff. He's ace. See Sherlock.

I didn't know about it until you mentioned it and then I watched what few episodes there are.

That ending. Agh. I hate you.

There had better be more of them and soon.

[Grufff]

That ending. Agh. I hate you.

There had better be more of them and soon.

I've not seen the ending yet but apparently there won't be any new episodes for at least a year due to Stephen Moffat having to deal with the next series of Doctor Who.

The BBC shot themselves in the foot in that respect by not realising how popular Sherlock would be.

[juv3nal]

I've not seen the ending yet but apparently there won't be any new episodes for at least a year due to Stephen Moffat having to deal with the next series of Doctor Who.

The BBC shot themselves in the foot in that respect by not realising how popular Sherlock would be.

Grr. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say it ends on a cliffhanger. Which is annoying as fuck if I'm going to have to wait a whole year.

[Patters]

Grr. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say it ends on a cliffhanger. Which is annoying as fuck if I'm going to have to wait a whole year.

Especially as it's better than Doctor Who, by a country mile.