 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
I hate to be making this confession, but truth is truth, even if ugly.Life is full of great temptations and I would put the HDTV up there, right next to the briefcase full of money or a blonde in your hotel room bed.
I have always considered myself the "serious" movie lover. Over the last year about 99% of all my viewings were from the VHS tapes, perhaps 50% of them black and white. And then I brought that monster into my life. The 172lb 34" Toshiba flat screen HDTV in my bedroom.
I will spare you all the guts and gore, but it is enough to say that the last night we watched the "Vegas Vacation" in HD... What can be dumber than this? Utterly degrading... and utterly enjoyable.
Te truth is - we didn't watch the movie. We watched the pictures, the images, the purity of colors, the sharp three-dimensional focus. Comments like: "Just look at this bowl of fruit - it is sooooo lifelike!" Look at this, look at that.... disgusting...
Never mind that there are four transmitters in this area, of which I can usually receive one, sometimes two. Never mind that you get to watch the worst kind of TV trash - some idiotic cop series, local news, Hollywood Squares - can you REALLY believe that? Hollywod, for Pete's sake?
It is captivating. It is so good that you simply sit there like a complete retard, with saliva running down your chin... You forget of several still unwatched "classical" movies that you brought home on VHS. You definitely feel the beginning of slide, and it is NOT is the right direction.
Among the temptations that we all succumb to in our lives, this one may be of the more innocent kind. At least until you start seriously discussing the next episode of some martial art junk at your coffee break. How close am I to THAT?
I connect the progressive scan DVD and watch that too. No matter that the film is a complete trash - it is the images that you seek and you find them everywhere.
I sincerely hope that this beguiling experience ends soon. I hope that I WILL find the strengh to turn on my B&W projector again some day. I hope Frederico is not going to get mad with me.
In the meantime I have the still that unwatched Barry Lyndon DVD at the ready. But I am embarassed to admit having watched about 35 minutes of "Lost in Space" on that gorgeous tube, and loving EVERY SECOND of it.
Friends don't let friends by HDTV's....
A good story AND "eye candy" of the first order. As for the eye catching aspects of HDTD, I expect it'll be a lot like when I'd gotten new eyeglass prescriptions filled after several years of the same old ones - I spent about two weeks just walking around saying "WOW, look at THAT!", everything was so detailed and brilliant it was just breathtaking! And then,slowly, the newness just kind of wore off and I became acclimated. Isn't this a lot like getting a major stereo system upgrade?
Perhaps for the last twenty or so years I would always say that Barry Lyndon has been my favorite movie of all times. My love afair with it has been extremely intense over these years. I am not sure how many times I nave seen it, but every one of them was a true event - whether viewed on the cinema screen, of on the 27" Sony. Last time was probably about ten years ago. To me every viewing of it is somehting to be prepared for and cherished afterwards. I know its magic power and try not to abuse it.With that new HD TV being so good, I naturally decided it was time to see Barry again - this time, of course, using the progressive-scan DVD player as a source. So I went and bought that disc.
We started watching it when it was already getting late - and we both get up quite early. We went through it in one easly breath, almost in complete silence and with just one short intermission. The next day we could not contain ourselves - and all this while being so familiar with it over many years that there was hardly any forgotten scene.
When it comes to that movie, I get emotional. To me it is simply the best movie ever made. This while being reasonably well informed about the movies of the world - both classic and modern. I completely ignore what critics tend to say about it - strangely they often rate it as 3 on the scale of 5. There are other movies that represent tremendous artistic achievements, but to me this one simply is head and shoulders above all the rest in its unstoppable, relentless, yet subtle and elegant push. Its director himself had never risen to that level again - in my view this one represents his pinnacle too.
Some critics had accused it of being just about images... how stupid. How can anyone overlook its thorough completeness. As an adaptation of a classical novel, there is no rival to that one.
Perhaps I could go on and on, but that is hardly required. I will simply close by saying that unfortunately, the DVD transfer is far less than perfect. It s also just the 3:4, and that makes all characters fatter than apropriate on the 9:16 screen. I wish they made some day the true widescreen version - but that seems unlikely at this point.
In the meantime, for the sheer visual effect and beauty, Run Lola Run is perhas one to sit on top of the hill. Let's face it, the great majority of movies that are super-impressive from the image quality standpoint, are not that interesting from the artistic perspective. Lola is many steps above your average "demo" DVD. I would not call it a great movie in a full sense of that word, but is it a *good* movie in my view, and the image quality is simply outstanding. As a good demo, I would take it any day over, gulp, things like Lost in Space. To me that representd a wonderful relief from the necessity to watch junk.
In the current issue of TPV, HP complains about the video quality of the Run Lola Run DVD. I don't understand the criticism; like you, I think it is one of the best in both picture quality and sound and it looked quite a bit better than the print I saw at the local art house theater. It holds up well to repeated viewings; picked up a few more things on my second and third viewing.Next time I go to Vegas, I'm gonna try screaming at the roulette table.
you can't retrieve HDTV picture quality from good old films. Or, can you? It would be an interesting CG acedemic puzzle if one could reconstruct a 3d composite forms from the movie & then manipulate the models as depicted by the movie in order to reanimate the virtual actors to regenerate a higher quality picture. The actors would probably look plastic, but it might work.Naw, I heard someone say "remake" instead.
How about just watching the movies that you really enjoy anyway in the HT environment?Recently I got the full HT setup. I never invested much in any of this stuff but once I started I did it in a pretty big (for me at least) way - basically some B & W speakers, bigger TV, DVD etc. Anyway, I now enjoy movies, "art" though they may be, so much more. About 50 to 65% of what I watch is probably classified as art in the US and the rest is a mix of science fiction, Arnold Schwarzneggar, Julia Roberts, etc. but the home theatre setup benefits all of it and I have not changed my viewing mix at all.
Actually, come to think of it, I have watched more of the classic art moveis recently than ever before because of the availability of hard to find ones through the internet.
Anyway, as a firm believer in the benefits of technology and as one who tries to encourage his employees to adopt newer stuff without fears, I have to say that I like most of the advances of today.
So, my point is that you should not worry. I think once the two week love affair with your HDTV wears off you will be back to enjoying what you really like. BUT, if you end up watching this newly discovered genre and enjoying it more (or else why would one be motivated to watch it) LET YOURSELF GO. There is nothing sacred about watching one kind of movie over another - this from an art movie lover like yourself.
I could barely believe it - I even found Tintin videos and a lot Asterix too (dont know whether anyone is familiar with these things but anyway...
Anyways, Victor, hope you dont take any offense (the internet interpretation of comments is sometimes aggravating to some) since I benefit much from your knowledge about movies on this forum though I dont always have much time to post.
Cheers!! And remember, movies, theatre, etc. etc. are all for entertainment too.
...but I would not know if that was NCAA or something else.I presume that NCAA or whatever IS there, because sports are always in the forefront of American entertainment. Interestingly, this transmission was in HDTV, but rather bad one. It looked like someone had intentionally set the lense out of focus and no one bothered to check the quality.
You might want to check your local TV stations schedules - by now most of them have the alternate digital channels, usually placed in the formerly unused parts of the UHF band. The one that I usually receive well is digital full time, with HDTV being three hours or so per day. That proportion is growing.
The "standard" digital signal from them is also quite good, albeit not at the HD level.
Chevy Chase on HDTV? Sounds like you've been seduced by the dark side of the force Victor -- they have agents everywhere (although most are working for the IRS this time of year).So you've got to ask yourself one question (insert Clint Eastwood voice here): Would you rather watch a great movie on a crummy gear or a crappy movie on a state-of-the-art HDTV setup? Well, what's it gonna be..... punk?!?
As your attorney I advise you to kick that beautiful blond out of bed -- VHS ain't no virgin but you can still love her in the morning. (Just got my hands on a VHS copy of Karel Zeman’s "Fabulous World of Jules Verne" (1958) -- a Czechlovakian science-fiction film that combines animated lithographs used to illustrate Verne’s novels with live action -- fantastic!)
Remember: Content is everything. The medium is the message. Blondes have more fun. Avoid cliches like the plague (They're old hat).
Always ready to help a friend in need,
ScottP.S. - Let me know when you want me to pick up that Toshiba and what brand of VCR you want in exchange for it.
I thought that I'd seen lousy films this week: "Mission To Mars" and "What Planet Are You From?".But Victor, you win the prize with "National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation", "Another 9 and 1/2 Weeks", and "Lost In Space." Holy (Wholly) Crap!!!
***But Victor, you win the prize with "National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation", "Another 9 and 1/2 Weeks", and "Lost In Space." Holy (Wholly) Crap!!!Yeah, but have you seen it on HDVT? Wouldn't you say that WAS a productive week for me?
So send me my prize. For a limited time I agree to watch just about ANY well-recorded crap.
Are there any Cheech and Chong films on DVD? Nothing drives my wife up the wall like them two characters... not even the Dumb and Dumber.
Start with "Double Team" featuring that other great action film actor--Dennis Rodman!
.
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
