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A plea: Avoid full screen DVDs
Alameda Times-Star ^ | 12/6

Posted on 12/06/2004 11:15:57 AM PST by ambrose

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To: Modernman

Did you see it on VOOM in HD last night? I thought it was great!


181 posted on 12/06/2004 3:07:08 PM PST by marajade
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To: RobRoy

I'll stick with my 65" 16x9 Toshiba rear-projection unit for now. It's still got several good years of hard watching left in it. :)


182 posted on 12/06/2004 3:07:28 PM PST by kevkrom (If people are free to do as they wish, they are almost certain not to do as Utopian planners wish)
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To: Modernman

That movie was great eye candy.


183 posted on 12/06/2004 3:09:34 PM PST by RobRoy (Science is about "how." Christianity is about "why.")
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To: kevkrom

8^>


184 posted on 12/06/2004 3:10:25 PM PST by RobRoy (Science is about "how." Christianity is about "why.")
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To: edchambers
Probably makes a difference how close you are to the screen as well.

That is very true. There's only so close you can get to the samller screens, of course, but the size of the big screen you get should be based on the size of the room it will be in. For example, the afore-mentioned 65" Toshiba looked as large as a movie theater screen from about 11 feet away, but when we re-arranged the room (new couch) to be 16 feet away, it now looks like just a huge TV (which, of course, it is).

Pairing it with a 6.1 surround system is, of course, the icing on the cake. (The TV is Mrs. kevkrom's toy... the stereo system is mine...)

185 posted on 12/06/2004 3:11:07 PM PST by kevkrom (If people are free to do as they wish, they are almost certain not to do as Utopian planners wish)
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To: marajade

I think it was HBO HD. The movie was okay, not great, IMO. Great cinematography, though. I also had a historical issue with painting the samurai as some type of noble savage good guys. The analogy to America's treatment of the Indians was kind of heavy-handed.


186 posted on 12/06/2004 3:12:48 PM PST by Modernman (Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. --Benjamin Franklin)
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To: Modernman

I thought the movie was historically based? Am I wrong.


187 posted on 12/06/2004 3:22:54 PM PST by marajade
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To: Modernman

I've heard that the intended analogy was to John Walker Lindh.


188 posted on 12/06/2004 3:27:59 PM PST by Borges
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To: marajade
They paint the Samurai as being only interested in Japan's success when they were mostly interested in retaining their feudal privileges. The modernizers in Japan realized that the only way Japan could stay independent would be if it modernized.

The movie isn't unhistorical, it just puts a post-modern spin on the events. Sort of like how recent movies and mini-series (including the terrible "Attila") paint the Romans as the bad guys while painting their enemies (such as the Huns) as noble.

189 posted on 12/06/2004 3:29:32 PM PST by Modernman (Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. --Benjamin Franklin)
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To: Borges
I've heard that the intended analogy was to John Walker Lindh.

Seriously?

190 posted on 12/06/2004 3:30:06 PM PST by Modernman (Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. --Benjamin Franklin)
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To: Modernman

That's the way some people have interpreted it. Michael Medved I think. No one can know for sure. Allegories can be tricky.


191 posted on 12/06/2004 3:32:25 PM PST by Borges
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To: jimt
I'm not running an effete art theater, I'm watching TV.

You're watching only 1/2 to 2/3rds of the film!! Do you get a discount for that? If the pic is too small, move your chair a little closer. Sheez!!

192 posted on 12/06/2004 3:33:43 PM PST by Spiff (Don't believe everything you think.)
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To: RobRoy

"Anybody ever see the movie where pirates find booty and it contains a bunch of laserdisks and one of the pirates says something along the lines of 'What good are these? You can't record on them.'"

"Amazon Women on the Moon", IIRC.


193 posted on 12/06/2004 3:35:27 PM PST by Starter ( "And no one on Earth will ever know that Santa was kidnapped by Martians!")
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To: Modernman

Thanks. I'll have to enlighten myself and learn something about the Samurai.


194 posted on 12/06/2004 3:36:31 PM PST by marajade
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To: RobRoy
For those that are interested, you can get a good projector now for $850 or so at Costco, Sams Club and probably quite a few other locations.

Problem is I wouldn't know how to set it up. With a TV, I can just plug it into the wall, stereo to the DVD output..

195 posted on 12/06/2004 3:36:44 PM PST by ambrose
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To: Borges
I don't really see it. The Cruise character doesn't really sell out his own nation. He goes to Japan as a mercenary but ends up switching to another Japanese faction in an internal power struggle. The US had interests in Japan, but neither the Japanese government nor the rebel samurai were enemies of the US.

Like you said, allegories are tricky. I see the movie as dealing more with a rejection of modernity and a return to simpler times. A pretty common theme in literature, I guess.

196 posted on 12/06/2004 3:36:49 PM PST by Modernman (Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. --Benjamin Franklin)
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To: ladyinred
I guess I stand alone in preferring the so called "Pan and Scan" version of movies. I feel like a leper.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE see posts 27 and 146 many regular people as in, non movie fanatics like full screen or "pan an scan." Mainly because letter box looks like crap and it's hard to watch on regular sized TVs.If I had the money to spend on a "Home Theater System" I can think of half a dozen other things I'd rather spend it on.

197 posted on 12/06/2004 3:37:16 PM PST by edchambers ("Pajama clad Neocon footsoldier of the Haliburton Death squad Digital brown shirts")
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To: marajade

That was a thumbnail sketch. Japanese history, especially the period from around 1860 until 1906 (when Japan entered the world scene with a bang) is fascinating.


198 posted on 12/06/2004 3:38:21 PM PST by Modernman (Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. --Benjamin Franklin)
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To: jimt

Good movies use the entire frame. What's missing very often alters the actual content of the scene. If a character is isloated by the director in the corner of the frame to show their alienation you will not see that if they are panned to the center of the frame. Throw on 'Rebel Without a Cause', 'Ben Hur' or 'Lawrence of Arabia'. They are literally unwatchable in 'slice and dice' (pan and scan).


199 posted on 12/06/2004 3:39:50 PM PST by Borges
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To: jimt
Even though I have a 54" TV, giving up 2/3 of the screen is silly. Very little is typically happening on the extreme edges. Most of it is the "panorama", "sweeping drama" type effect, and it's negligible to me.

You're not watching the same movie. A good director puts everything into a shot for a reason. As soon as someone messes with that, the effect of the cinematography is changed, and always for the worse.

200 posted on 12/06/2004 3:42:37 PM PST by Modernman (Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. --Benjamin Franklin)
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