It's the theaters, stupid

http://jewishworldreview.com ^ | Froma Harrop

[stacytec]

I saw a few movies this year and I have to say that the advertisements are beginning to be my #1 gripe. The last flick we went to I purposely when there 10 minutes late and still saw 10 minutes of previews and ads.

With the speed that movies are going to DVD these days, I fail to see what benefit there is to going into a theatre other than seeing something in a bigger screen.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

Yup... those good old $ 5.99 humble bins at Wal Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City, thats what America thinks about Hollywood and it's liberal actors.

[RogueIsland]

"Starship Troopers" remains my #1 Bug movie.

It's also arguably the best film ever containing the line "They sucked his brains out."

[Prophet in the wilderness]

Here is a alternative to the public venue theaters.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/

For about $ 1500 for a decent DLP projector, and buy some blackout cloth from a fabric store for a screen, you can have the " THEATER " experience at home.

[OESY]

I completely agree. Why pay $20 for a couple of tickets ($60 for a family of 6), plus transportation and possible food costs, for Hollywood-quality movies today when you can wait three months and pay $1.08 for a vending machine rental?

If I wanted to see a chase scene, I could turn on FoxNews. For an explosion (or implosion), Howard Dean. For special (visual) effects, Helen Thomas ... oh, she's real? Never mind.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

By the way ?
The actor who played Gollum ( CGI ) in Lord of the Rings ( Andy Serkis ) is playing 2 parts in the KING KONG movie.
Andy Serkis is playing Lumpy the cook in King Kong, and Andy Serkis is playing.... guess who ? by CGI ??
Andy is playing King Kong himself by CGI in King Kong.

[RepoGirl]

OhhhhhhhHOOO!!! I have been waiting for this movie for a LONG TIME!!!

King Kong has been one of my favorite stories since I was little-- I remember when I was 8 years old and waiting for the Dino De Laurentis version to come out. Peter Jackson made one of the best films ever (IMHO) with the first LOTR film (The second two weren't as good, but I still own the entire trilogy!)

With the next Harry Potter, Lion Witch and the Wardrobe and King Kong--this will be a promising fall/winter.

[Chode]

[Prophet in the wilderness]

There is something about the original King Kong movie that generations never get tired of watching.
I think, they are coming out with the original 1933 King Kong DVD set in November, it was digitally remastered, and cleaned up ( I am not sure if they managed to restore it to it's original form, with the lost spider seen in it ).

King Kong
http://www2.netdoor.com/~campbab/kong3.html

[LexBaird]

I want to see the penguin movie though probably wait till that goes DVD.

Every penguin looks just like every other penguin. They are only capable of about seven different actions. They could loop a random 5 minute segment for the whole two hours, and how would anyone know?

[theFIRMbss]

>the lost spider scene...

"The following scenes for the 1938 re-release, that were excised by censors after the Production Code took effect in 1934, were restored in recent editions of the film:

• the Brontosaurus' killing of three victims (instead of five in the original)
• Kong's stripping/peeling of Fay Wray's clothing while holding her unconscious in his palm
• Kong's chewing of a New York victim and his drop of a woman from the Empire State Building
• the giant spider scene"

FilmSite

[Prophet in the wilderness]

Are they going to issue the new DVD set with all of the lost seens as the original ?

[theFIRMbss]

the lost spider scene

"This other bit said that Peter Jackson was having Weta Digital complete the partially found Spider Pit scene using CG that mimicked stop-motion animation. That sounded off to me (especially since he'd be using Universal's time and money on a Warner Bros project), so I contacted Jackson's group with the rumor. "I was told that this is not true, that Jackson's camp has been in close touch with the DVD people at Warners and while they can say a brilliant print was found for the transfer it doesn't include the Spider Pit scene. It does, however, include all of the censored scenes, which I believe would include Fay Wray being stripped by the big Ape. This might be where the confusion came from, people assuming that the Spider Pit scene was part of the censored scenes. Now the censored scenes have been around, but as part of this newly found print the scenes are bound to be in better condition than we've seen previoiusly. So, bummer ... "

[Billthedrill]

Heck, I still see lots of movies. It's great as long as you don't run out of quarters...

[mict42]

With the advent of DVDs and home theaters, the movie industry is going to have to come up with a lot more pizazz to get the public to visit their shrines to darkness. How about starting with bright, focused images? Is that too much to ask for?

[Hildy]

It's so much more than that. So many people have great home theater systems now. The movies are out on video in less and less time. I'd so much rather watch it at home than sit with strangers in a theater. TV product has gotten so much better. I'd rather watch any series on FX right now than go to any movie. Like any industry, they're going to have to change with the times. But yes, it would help if the movies didn't "STINK."

[RepoGirl]

I can't believe how great the trailer is for King Kong.

I saw the '33 Kong when I was five, and cried like crazy at the end. I just always sided with Kong in every version.

The '76 version was equally wrenching. It had the big snake and the great, jaw-ripping scene, but no dinosaurs.

I've heard conflicting reports re: the lost spider scene being restored in the original. I guess my take will be "I'll believe it when I see it." I was so disappointed when I saw the "restored copy" of London after Midnight (thinking it would actually be some marvel of computer animation, rather than just stills and bad music), that I refuse to get my hopes up for any other films.

[PMCarey]

The 1939 Academy Awards gave honors for the top movies of that year which included, "Gone With the Wind," "The Wizard of Oz," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and "Stagecoach."

I think 1939 is generally considered the finest year EVER for movie making. In addition to those classics you can also add:

• Wuthering Heights
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame
• Of Mice and Men
• Goodbye, Mr. Chips
• Dark Victory
• Ninotchka
• Beau Geste
• The Hound of the Baskervilles
• Destry Rides Again
• Gunga Din
• Made for Each Other
• Only Angels Have Wings
• Young Mr. Lincoln

An impressive list indeed.

[RayChuang88]

In addition to your list, I really blame the rapid disconnect between the movie industry and the majority American moviegoers rapidly increasing the day Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 (the most biased "documentary" since the infamous Nazi propaganda film Der Ewige Jude (The Eternal Jew) was released in 1940) came out last Summer. As such, given how the movie industry applauded Fahrenheit 9/11 and how the majority Americans HATED the movie industry afterwards, the result has been a de facto boycott of movies; I think the movie industry knows this but totally refuses to admit it.