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About fucking time.

Number_6

Number_6

beer, I want beer
Theater owners are trying to get permission to jam cell phone signals in theaters. I really hope they get it. Nothing more irritating than some fucker talking on the phone during a movie.

Now if they can just get permission for the ushers to beat the crap out of rude people, I might start going to the movies more often.

I wonder if can just get one of these jamming devices for my classroom . . .

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060315/tc_nm/media_films_cellphones_dc_3
 
The movie going experience has deteriorated since the advent of VCRs. Everyone thinks they're in their own livingroom, and act accordingly.
 
I'd be all enraged too if I wasn't guilty of it. I mean I don't care if I can't talk on it but I do talk if it rings, ooopsie and I apologize. However, I could live without the throngs of teenagers taking pictures with their phones and text massaging and running in and out of the theatre to take their calls.
 
The real downfall of film came when they stopped caring about how a film looked. It's no longer a cinematic visual feast. Not only is a film made for the DVD market nowadays, but the DVD "extras" are filmed during original production! :rwmad:

Thank God we still have films such as Lawrence of Arabia and Gone With The Wind to remind us how a film should look.
 
Well, you're partially right.

Yes, the DVD extras are filmed concurrent with the production of the film, but they always have been. Most of what's now included on DVD extras is, and has been, broadcast on one of the entertainment networks, or as filler after the movie when it's shown on regular TV.

And really, there are lots of films that are 'cinematic visual feasts'. The part that's killing the industry, and thus the film-going experience is that even (many of) the visually striking movies are poorly written or conceived.

Look at the Matrix sequels. They looked great but the writing, characterizations and plots both sucked.

So long as Hollywood keeps pulling movies out of it's ass, it doesn't matter how pretty they're going to look.

You can put perfume on a pig, but at the end of the day, its still a pig.

As for the cell phones: Damned right. Ban the fuckers. Not just in movie theatres either. Prohibit their use in restaurants, grocery stores, and any other place where the stupid fuckheads who have to be glued to the damned things are likely to use them (and talk about shit I just don't want to be forced to overhear.)

God bless technology man. But the cell phone is no longer just a convenience, it's a blight.
 
Peter Octavian said:
So long as Hollywood keeps pulling movies out of it's ass, it doesn't matter how pretty they're going to look.
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At least it would be original. Half the problem today is I don't think there's a creative bone or original concept left in Hollywood. Everythings a remake of something.

I'm also for capital punishment for kids with cell phones. Period. The little snots have enough problems without glueing a phone to their ear 24/7.
 
Peter Octavian said:
Yes, the DVD extras are filmed concurrent with the production of the film, but they always have been. Most of what's now included on DVD extras is, and has been, broadcast on one of the entertainment networks, or as filler after the movie when it's shown on regular TV.
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No, laserdisc and DVD supplements, in the beginning, were pretty much researched, pre existing material with a few interviews thrown in. It wasn't until Special Edition DVDs started gaining popularity that studios started producing their own supplemental material alongside the original production of a film.

And really, there are lots of films that are 'cinematic visual feasts'. The part that's killing the industry, and thus the film-going experience is that even (many of) the visually striking movies are poorly written or conceived.

Look at the Matrix sequels. They looked great but the writing, characterizations and plots both sucked.
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And those films look great on a TV screen as well, which is my point. The true classics were made with the large screen in mind. Ever try watching Lawrence of Arabia on TV, and comparing it to the cinematic experience? There is no comparison. The Matrix films, though they look pretty, don't lose much on the TV screen.

So long as Hollywood keeps pulling movies out of it's ass, it doesn't matter how pretty they're going to look.

You can put perfume on a pig, but at the end of the day, its still a pig.
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Agreed.
 
^^That's why you need to become a film studies professor, so you can have access to your own theater.

But I have to agree with Peter. The piss-poor writing is what's killing cinema. If you want to fix Hollywood, that's the place to start.

As for epic films like Lawrence of Arabia, I'm afraid we won't see their like again, at least not until Hollywood ends its love affair with CGI.

I mean, look at the Star Wars prequels--they are the closest thing we've had to a film epic in a long time, but they just don't pack that epic punch. A large part of that is due to Lucas's shitty writing, but the CGI just doesn't provide the same epic scope as Lawrence of Arabia, or even the remarkable use of vastness in the Tatooine scenes in A New Hope. Filming reality--and using true deep focus, instead of the obviously fake stuff you get with CGI--is always going to feel larger.
 
Number_6 said:
^^That's why you need to become a film studies professor, so you can have access to your own theater.
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Or know people with connections. ;)

But I have to agree with Peter. The piss-poor writing is what's killing cinema. If you want to fix Hollywood, that's the place to start.
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And stop seeing film as solely a marketing tool, the bastards.

I mean, look at the Star Wars prequels--they are the closest thing we've had to a film epic in a long time, but they just don't pack that epic punch. A large part of that is due to Lucas's shitty writing, but the CGI just doesn't provide the same epic scope as Lawrence of Arabia, or even the remarkable use of vastness in the Tatooine scenes in A New Hope. Filming reality--and using true deep focus, instead of the obviously fake stuff you get with CGI--is always going to feel larger.
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First...there were only three Star Wars fims. Second, I should negrep you just for referring to Star Wars as A New Freakin' Hope. Third...Lucas is a cinematic whore. ;)

And last...yeah, we have to get back to real filmmaking, and stop using modern technology just because it's available.
 
Forgot about the LOTR films. You're right--those are more epic than the Star Wars films, at least the prequels.

But as much as I liked the LOTR films, they still don't have the same epic scope as something like Lawrence of Arabia, in large part because large chunks of the most "epic" portions of the films are CGI.

Granted, a lot of it is real, and for some of the segments, New Zealand was an appropriate shooting location, but in the old days of filmmaking, Jackson would have had to travel to other locations to shoot the parts of the film for which New Zealand wasn't appropriate. And I think the films would have been stronger for it.

That's not to knock CGI altogether--I think it has its uses, and it certainly allows for the depiction on screen of things we'd never have seen even a decade ago. But over-reliance on it is going to kill filmmaking.
 
Number_6 said:
Forgot about the LOTR films. You're right--those are more epic than the Star Wars films, at least the prequels.

But as much as I liked the LOTR films, they still don't have the same epic scope as something like Lawrence of Arabia, in large part because large chunks of the most "epic" portions of the films are CGI.

Granted, a lot of it is real, and for some of the segments, New Zealand was an appropriate shooting location, but in the old days of filmmaking, Jackson would have had to travel to other locations to shoot the parts of the film for which New Zealand wasn't appropriate. And I think the films would have been stronger for it.

That's not to knock CGI altogether--I think it has its uses, and it certainly allows for the depiction on screen of things we'd never have seen even a decade ago. But over-reliance on it is going to kill filmmaking.
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In a lot of ways I think it already has. Although I'll never complain about a good CGI effect, the annoying thing is how they hit on a formula that worked for one particular movie or segment, and then commence to use it over and over again in everything that's produced.

However, I think film making relies on trends and eventually, one can only hope that some unknown young director will one day return to the roots of film making and "re-discover" the filming techniques and methods of old.

Come to think of it, I can't recall the last time I saw a film the little blurb "Filmed on location" in the credits like the studios used to add years ago.
 
Yeah, I'll agree that CGI is great in the right context, but it should never take the place of good old fashioned filmmaking. Replacing live exteriors with CGI to save money, for example, never looks as good.
 
Peter Octavian said:
As for the cell phones: Damned right. Ban the fuckers. Not just in movie theatres either. Prohibit their use in restaurants, grocery stores, and any other place where the stupid fuckheads who have to be glued to the damned things are likely to use them (and talk about shit I just don't want to be forced to overhear.)

God bless technology man. But the cell phone is no longer just a convenience, it's a blight.
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HEY! HEY! HEY! Calm down now!! If I need to talk to my mom or my best friend while I'm shopping at Target well, that's life. When I'm out I like to buy people a little happy, how am I going to know what they want if I can't have a 40 minute conversation with then while I peruse the isles?

Geez.
 
Sarek said:
However, I think film making relies on trends and eventually, one can only hope that some unknown young director will one day return to the roots of film making and "re-discover" the filming techniques and methods of old.

Come to think of it, I can't recall the last time I saw a film the little blurb "Filmed on location" in the credits like the studios used to add years ago.
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Sigh. Those were the days. Cinemascope. Now that was a filmmaking breakthrough.

More films made for Cinemascope. That's what we need! :D
 
I'd make an exception for points of sale, but that's about it. Cafes, theaters... anywhere you go to sit and relax or sit and be entertained, should have jamming technology, at least indoors. You want to yak, go outside and yak.

At least, that's the best solution I can think of that doesn't get people hurt. The other one is, let anyone who wants to yak on a cellular phone anywhere they want, but give them no legal protection from people who want to smash 'em for being rude and obnoxious with it.
 
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