On 4/18/2022 11:34 AM, anim8rfsk wrote:
> Ubiquitous <weberm@polaris.net> wrote:
>> I watched:
>>
>>
>> What did you watch?
>
> Hey, thanks for asking!
>
> BARBAREN 2020 On the Netflix
> “Torn between the mighty empire that raised him and his own tribal people,
> a Roman officer's conflicted allegiances lead to an epic historical clash.”
> Ian’s IMDb entry promises “severe sex & nudity” but I haven’t seen any yet.
> The bigger problem is that the dubbing is so atrocious it’s pretty much
> unwatchable.
>
> FANTASTIC BEASTS one and two
> First on SYFY and then on the Peacock
> Sci-fi ran Harry Potter and Beasts movies all weekend. Their picture was
> dark and muddy and almost without color. So I looked to see if it was
> available anywhere else and the Peacock had it with a much better looking
> image.

I watched it a few weeks ago. I started the first movie in 3D and
watched it that way for about 30 minutes. But I found the picture too
dark and switched to blu-ray and found that picture still too dark as
well. The problem wasn't the 3D it was just the movie was shot that
way. I have the second one in 4K and the HDR helps with the picture
quality and brightness levels.

Plus they only had three or four commercials per movie and front
> loaded them and then ran the movies commercial free (although there seem to
> be commercial breaks built in that they didn’t use)
>
> The first movie was OK. It was somewhat alarming that magic seemed to be a
> lot stronger and more reliable 100 years before the harry potter movies we
> are used to.

Most of the people you see using magic in the Harry Potter movies are
children still learning how to use magic. The adults in the Harry
Potter movies know what they are doing and with one exception, the adult
magic always works properly. With the FB movies everyone is an
experienced wizard, and not just experienced but because of their
profession tend to be expert magic users.

Also the characters all looked alike which made it hard to
> follow.
> Which brings us to the second movie. I watched all 13 hours of it. I swear
> Johnny Depp was just making up his dialogue on the spot because it didn’t
> make any sense at all and was quite often contradictory to what we were
> seeing on screen. And it didn’t even really end it just cliff hung. It
> certainly didn’t make you want to rush out to the theater to see part
> three!
>
>
> THE SILVER CHALICE 1954 TCM on demand
> Paul Newman’s first and worst movie.
> Newman is an artist commissioned to create a chalice or holder for the holy
> grail. Jack Palance

Sorry, my mind immediately went to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRYaZQaaxKw

is a magician trying to prove he has all the same
> powers as Jesus or Peter do and he builds a 400 cubit high tower to jump
> off and prove he can fly. He does not so much fly as plummet. Young
> Natalie would and may be the only role where we can see her hideously
> deformed left arm shattered in an on set accident years earlier plays the
> girlfriend character who grows up and also throws herself off the tower.
> The sets are all bizarre surrealistic stuff with big flats and no detail
> that look like a zero budget high school play. TCM screwed up the
> CinemaScope aspect ratio three different ways so you’ve got tall skinny
> people and still have the sides cut off. A desperately poor substitute for
> the 10 Commandments for Easter viewing.
>

I watched:

Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (HBO) - "Invisible Man" -
The assistance coach filling in for the injured regular coach has to win
or else. Meanwhile Magic Johnson continues to have casual sex with
groupies all over the country. They warn him to use protection. But
what's the worse that could happen?

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (blu-ray) 2021 MCU movie which
follows the adventures of a parking valet whose dad turns out to be the
real "Mandarin" although he doesn't like that name. Anyway lots of
Empire Strikes Back / Return of the Jedi vibes as the evil father tries
to turn his kid to the dark side. The movie holds up very well. But I
discovered as I've been going through the MCU movies that the 4K discs
do not have *any* features and since I wanted to listen to the
commentary track I had to watch this one on blu-ray. The blu-ray looks
fine, but I always well aware that the picture quality wasn't as good as
it would have been had I watched the 4K disc instead. And it bugged me
to no end while watching.

Eternals (4K disc) 2021 MCU movie that answers the question where were
the Eternals during Thanos. I like this one well enough and it holds up
to repeat viewing. But it does suffer a bit from being an origin story
that has to set up a bunch of new characters.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (4K disc) Latest MCU movie (until next month
when Doctor Strange 2 comes out). This one directly connects the MCU to
the multiverse, and more specifically the Sony Spider-Man movies when
villains from the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield Spider-Man movies
make their way to the MCU, Tom Holland's Spider-Man needs to team up
with some Amazing Friends to stop them. This movie is a love letter to
Spider-Man fans and hits it out of the park. And the fight scene
between Holland's Spider-Man and Willem Dafoe's Green Gobliln remains
one of the best fight scenes in the MCU.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWei_28_ZFo

On 4/18/2022 1:18 PM, anim8rfsk wrote:
> Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>> On 4/18/2022 11:34 AM, anim8rfsk wrote:
snip
>>
>>
>> Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (blu-ray) 2021 MCU movie which
>> follows the adventures of a parking valet whose dad turns out to be the
>> real "Mandarin"
>
> So will this wash the awful taste of Iron Man three out of my mouth?
>
>
>

That is a really loaded question and the answer is full of spoilers.

Ora Xvatfyrl jub cynlrq gur snxr Znaqneva NXN Geribe Fynggrel va Veba
Zna 3 vf va guvf zbivr, va n ovt ebyr. Va bar bs gur Zneiry fubeg svyzf
gurl fubj uvz va cevfba orvat pncgherq ol gur erny "Znaqneva." Va guvf
zbivr ur'f fubja nf n cevfbare bs gur erny "Znaqneva." Ur urycf gur
urebrf rfpncr naq wbvaf gurz va gur svany onggyr. Uvf punenpgre vf pbzvp
eryvrs.

So it works if you hate Iron Man 3 and it also works if you like Iron
Man 3. Also this movie is better than Iron Man 3 IMO. But that's not
hard to pull off.

On 4/19/2022 5:01 AM, anim8rfsk wrote:
> anim8rfsk <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:
>> Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>>> On 4/18/2022 1:18 PM, anim8rfsk wrote:
>>>> Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>>>>> On 4/18/2022 11:34 AM, anim8rfsk wrote:
>>> snip
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (blu-ray) 2021 MCU movie which
>>>>> follows the adventures of a parking valet whose dad turns out to be the
>>>>> real "Mandarin"
>>>>
>>>> So will this wash the awful taste of Iron Man three out of my mouth?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> That is a really loaded question and the answer is full of spoilers.
>>>
>>> Ora Xvatfyrl jub cynlrq gur snxr Znaqneva NXN Geribe Fynggrel va Veba
>>> Zna 3 vf va guvf zbivr, va n ovt ebyr. Va bar bs gur Zneiry fubeg svyzf
>>> gurl fubj uvz va cevfba orvat pncgherq ol gur erny "Znaqneva." Va guvf
>>> zbivr ur'f fubja nf n cevfbare bs gur erny "Znaqneva." Ur urycf gur
>>> urebrf rfpncr naq wbvaf gurz va gur svany onggyr. Uvf punenpgre vf pbzvp
>>> eryvrs.
>>>
>>> So it works if you hate Iron Man 3 and it also works if you like Iron
>>> Man 3. Also this movie is better than Iron Man 3 IMO. But that's not
>>> hard to pull off.
>>
>> Thanks for that. I just finished watching the movie which I’m never going
>> to get the title right and if I do spell check’s going to hurt me anyway.
>>
>> Spoilers follow
>>
>> Generally I like this. A lot. It’s got a few problems but it’s definitely
>> one of the better Marvel movies. I wouldn’t say it’s anywhere near the best
>> though which I’ve been reading people say.
>>
>> I had no idea that Shang Chi was the “master of kung fu“ from the comics of
>> the same name. Those came after I had stopped reading comics and I only
>> knew that such a thing existed. So they re-purposed him from being the son
>> of Fu Manchu to being the son of the Mandarin. There are a lot of people
>> making comments about why this was done and they’re all completely wrong.
>> Fu Manchu got ret conned out of marvel comics because there are rights
>> issues with him. That’s the same reason he got taken out of the LXG movie.
>>
>> On the other hand, Katie‘s grandmother is played by the daughter of Fu
>> Manchu! How cool is that?
>>

I'm pretty sure they didn't mention that on the commentary track. Unless
they did and it went over my head.

>> Speaking of Katie, I’ve never seen Awkwafina before. I just read a lot of
>> stuff where people were saying she was annoying. I thought she was just
>> great here.

Same. Like Shawn, I've enjoyed her in other projects as well. I think
like "Pee-Wee Herman," "Bobcat Goldthwait" or "Gilbert Gottfried" she is
a bit of a performance artist so she's *always* in character no matter
what role she plays. When she's in other movies, she's doing the same
routine. I like her routine so it doesn't bother me. But if you don't
like her in one thing you won't like her in anything else.

But it would’ve been nice if she trained for a year instead of
>> just overnight (see below).
>>
>> I couldn’t really follow if it’s the real 10 rings or the faux ten rings
>> that were the enemies of Tony Stark. Also a lot of people say they didn’t
>> show up until Iron Man three but they are behind the cave dwellers all the
>> way back to Iron Man one.
>>
>> Fin Fang Foom! ‘Nuff said!
>>
>> Fong and the abomination!
>>

Wong. You caught that was the Abomination. Everyone else seems to miss
that. I think that might also be him the the Doctor Strange trailer.

>> I’m surprised we didn’t get some sort of Ant-man cameo since they were
>> using the same shot set ups looking down the street into the bay as that
>> film did.
>>

I know! Where was Ant-Man?

>> The mandarin acknowledges that his wife is dead but also insists the
>> village is holding her prisoner in the cave. That’s some pretty good mind
>> fogging going on. I wish somebody had tried to rationalize with him and
>> point out that what he was saying wasn’t making sense.
>>
>> OK, so there’s only one day in the year that you can follow the maze to the
>> secret land. And they’re getting there by driving standard issue vehicles.
>> Why doesn’t somebody just shoot out their tires? Lay down a spike strip?
>> Ask the magic forest to grow some thorns? Toss a couple hand grenades into
>> the garage? Land minds, anybody? It seems to me there are a lot of ways
>> to slow these guys down for a year.
>>

As Sean said, so the movie can happen. But on top of that they
*already* have a ridiculously good security system that probably no one
has ever breached. As the movie showed the only way in is with inside help.

>> They also have to enter single file through a cave entrance about the size
>> of the Batcave. That’s where you set up your defenses. The bad guys should
>> never have gotten through the portal into the other universe. Certainly not
>> on the first try. Certainly not with working conveyances.
>>
>> The most amazing thing to me is how many extremely complex set ups they did
>> for just establishing shots and throwaways. That kind of stuff used to be
>> the first thing the bean counters came after. Not all of it works. There’s
>> a few CGI shots that are pretty iffy and several replacement people that
>> don’t work but all in all it’s excellently done.
>>
>> Now here’s the thing the puzzles me most. How the hell was this presented
>> in the theater?
>>
>> On Disney+, you get your choice between watching it wide screen (2.39:1) or
>> IMAX Where most of it is one:85 and it changes to one .9 for some affects
>> shots. Seriously? I’m supposed to notice it flipping back-and-forth between
>> 1.85 and 1.9?
>>

I'll try to explain what's going on here. Some movies are shot using
IMAX cameras. Sometimes the entire movie, but usually only a handful of
scenes are actually shot using IMAX. When you go to a regular theater
you see the entire movie at the same 2.39 (or whatever) aspect ratio.
But when you go to an IMAX theater you see the scenes shot in IMAX at
the IMAX ratio. So the movie changes aspect ratios. The scenes shot
using the IMAX cameras are the action scenes or breath taking vistas.
So when you're watching the movie at an IMAX theaters it's all 2.39 then
suddenly the explosions start and it fills the entire screen.

Now when you would buy the home video version on DVD or blu-ray the
movie did not change aspect ratios. It stayed 2.39 (or whatever) for
the whole movie. But on 3D, and I think sometimes 4K and the odd
blu-ray, but mostly 3D, they would change aspect ratios so you got the
same experience you got at the IMAX theater. It was a cool benefit for
being a 3D fan.

What Disney has started doing is offering the IMAX option where they,
brace yourself, show the movie open matte! See no more black bars at
the top of your TV thanks to Disney IMAX. Some people like it because
you also get more picture at the top and bottom of the frame. And I'm
sure any boom mikes have been digitally removed, so what's the problem?

Personally on an aesthetic level, I prefer scope. So I have no interest
in watching movies in fake IMAX ratio. Don't get me wrong, I like IMAX
scenes in scope movies, but those scenes were shot that way. You are
supposed to be seeing the stuff at the top and bottom of the screen.
The Disney IMAX while showing more picture is showing picture the
director and cinematography never intended the audience to see.

Just as an aside, back in the day when IMAX was the only game in town, I
always saw every movie in IMAX when that was an option. But then Dolby
Cinema came along, and personally I think it looks better, it sounds
better, and the seats are way more comfortable. So I slowly made the
transition from IMAX to Dolby Cinema. But some movies, mostly Marvel
movies and the upcoming Top Gun, are still shot using IMAX cameras. So
for those movies I still make it a point to see them in IMAX theaters.

>> And what did they do with the audio? Probably a third of this movie isn’t
>> in English. There aren’t any options on Disney+ for audio. What they’re
>> doing is just closed captioning the whole thing. No options for that
>> either. But it’s clearly closed captioning being added on the fly
>> electronically as you watch. So were there not hard burn in subtitles in
>> the theater?
>>
>> Anyway, Fred Bob says 8 rings up.
>
> Hey, there were extras on the Disney+!
>
> Trailer
>
> There’s an audio commentary to be listened to
>

On 4/19/2022 7:42 AM, anim8rfsk wrote:
> shawn <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com> wrote:
>> On Tue, 19 Apr 2022 00:09:47 -0700, anim8rfsk <anim8rfsk@cox.net>
>> wrote:
>>
snip
>>
>>> I had no idea that Shang Chi was the “master of kung fu“ from the comics of
>>> the same name. Those came after I had stopped reading comics and I only
>>> knew that such a thing existed. So they re-purposed him from being the son
>>> of Fu Manchu to being the son of the Mandarin. There are a lot of people
>>> making comments about why this was done and they’re all completely wrong.
>>> Fu Manchu got ret conned out of marvel comics because there are rights
>>> issues with him. That’s the same reason he got taken out of the LXG movie.
>>>
>>> On the other hand, Katie‘s grandmother is played by the daughter of Fu
>>> Manchu! How cool is that?
>>>
>>> Speaking of Katie, I’ve never seen Awkwafina before. I just read a lot of
>>> stuff where people were saying she was annoying. I thought she was just
>>> great here. But it would’ve been nice if she trained for a year instead of
>>> just overnight (see below).
>>
>> I've enjoyed the few performances I've seen from her.
>
> Cool. Although I could have wished for Anna Akana in this role.
>
>

Never heard of her, but apparently she was in Ant-Man. On the
commentary track they said the guy on the bus who was filming the fight
also appeared in one of the Spider-Man movies which makes him a
reoccurring character. But would she have been the same character from
Ant-Man or a new character played by the same actress. Marvel has done
it both ways.

On 4/19/2022 8:34 AM, Arthur Lipscomb wrote:
> On 4/19/2022 5:01 AM, anim8rfsk wrote:
>> anim8rfsk <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:
>>> Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>>>> On 4/18/2022 1:18 PM, anim8rfsk wrote:
>>>>> Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>>>>>> On 4/18/2022 11:34 AM, anim8rfsk wrote:
>>>> snip
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (blu-ray) 2021 MCU movie
>>>>>> which
>>>>>> follows the adventures of a parking valet whose dad turns out to
>>>>>> be the
>>>>>> real "Mandarin"
>>>>>
>>>>> So will this wash the awful taste of Iron Man three out of my mouth?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> That is a really loaded question and the answer is full of spoilers.
>>>>
>>>> Ora Xvatfyrl jub cynlrq gur snxr Znaqneva NXN Geribe Fynggrel va Veba
>>>> Zna 3 vf va guvf zbivr, va n ovt ebyr.  Va bar bs gur Zneiry fubeg
>>>> svyzf
>>>> gurl fubj uvz va cevfba orvat pncgherq ol gur erny "Znaqneva."  Va guvf
>>>> zbivr ur'f fubja nf n cevfbare bs gur erny "Znaqneva."  Ur urycf gur
>>>> urebrf rfpncr naq wbvaf gurz va gur svany onggyr. Uvf punenpgre vf
>>>> pbzvp
>>>> eryvrs.
>>>>
>>>> So it works if you hate Iron Man 3 and it also works if you like Iron
>>>> Man 3.  Also this movie is better than Iron Man 3 IMO.  But that's not
>>>> hard to pull off.
>>>
>>> Thanks for that. I just finished watching the movie which I’m never
>>> going
>>> to get the title right and if I do spell check’s going to hurt me
>>> anyway.
>>>
>>> Spoilers follow
>>>
>>> Generally I like this. A lot. It’s got a few problems but it’s
>>> definitely
>>> one of the better Marvel movies. I wouldn’t say it’s anywhere near
>>> the best
>>> though which I’ve been reading people say.
>>>
>>> I had no idea that Shang Chi was the “master of kung fu“ from the
>>> comics of
>>> the same name. Those came after I had stopped reading comics and I only
>>> knew that such a thing existed. So they re-purposed him from being
>>> the son
>>> of Fu Manchu to being the son of the Mandarin. There are a lot of people
>>> making comments about why this was done and they’re all completely
>>> wrong.
>>> Fu Manchu got ret conned out of marvel comics because there are rights
>>> issues with him. That’s the same reason he got taken out of the LXG
>>> movie.
>>>
>>> On the other hand, Katie‘s grandmother is played by the daughter of Fu
>>> Manchu! How cool is that?
>>>
>
> I'm pretty sure they didn't mention that on the commentary track. Unless
> they did and it went over my head.
>
>
>>> Speaking of Katie, I’ve never seen Awkwafina before.  I just read a
>>> lot of
>>> stuff where people were saying she was annoying. I thought she was just
>>> great here.
>
> Same.  Like Shawn, I've enjoyed her in other projects as well.  I think
> like "Pee-Wee Herman," "Bobcat Goldthwait" or "Gilbert Gottfried" she is
> a bit of a performance artist so she's *always* in character no matter
> what role she plays.  When she's in other movies, she's doing the same
> routine.  I like her routine so it doesn't bother me.  But if you don't
> like her in one thing you won't like her in anything else.
>
>
>
>  But it would’ve been nice if she trained for a year instead of
>>> just overnight (see below).
>>>
>>> I couldn’t really follow if it’s the real 10 rings or the faux ten rings
>>> that were the enemies of Tony Stark. Also a lot of people say they
>>> didn’t
>>> show up until Iron Man three but they are behind the cave dwellers
>>> all the
>>> way back to Iron Man one.
>>>
>>> Fin Fang Foom! ‘Nuff said!
>>>
>>> Fong and the abomination!
>>>
>
> Wong.  You caught that was the Abomination.  Everyone else seems to miss
> that.  I think that might also be him the the Doctor Strange trailer.
>
>>> I’m surprised we didn’t get some sort of Ant-man cameo since they were
>>> using the same shot set ups looking down the street into the bay as that
>>> film did.
>>>
>
> I know!  Where was Ant-Man?
>
>
>>> The mandarin acknowledges that his wife is dead but also insists the
>>> village is holding her prisoner in the cave. That’s some pretty good
>>> mind
>>> fogging going on. I wish somebody had tried to rationalize with him and
>>> point out that what he was saying wasn’t making sense.
>>>
>>> OK, so there’s only one day in the year that you can follow the maze
>>> to the
>>> secret land. And they’re getting there by driving standard issue
>>> vehicles.
>>> Why doesn’t somebody just shoot out their tires? Lay down a spike strip?
>>> Ask the magic forest to grow some thorns? Toss a couple hand grenades
>>> into
>>> the garage?  Land minds, anybody?  It seems to me there are a lot of
>>> ways
>>> to slow these guys down for a year.
>>>
>
>
> As Sean said, so the movie can happen.  But on top of that they
> *already* have a ridiculously good security system that probably no one
> has ever breached.  As the movie showed the only way in is with inside
> help.
>
>
>
>>> They also have to enter single file through a cave entrance about the
>>> size
>>> of the Batcave. That’s where you set up your defenses. The bad guys
>>> should
>>> never have gotten through the portal into the other universe.
>>> Certainly not
>>> on the first try. Certainly not with working conveyances.
>>>
>>> The most amazing thing to me is how many extremely complex set ups
>>> they did
>>> for just establishing shots and throwaways. That kind of stuff used
>>> to be
>>> the first thing the bean counters came after. Not all of it works.
>>> There’s
>>> a few CGI shots that are pretty iffy and several replacement people that
>>> don’t work but all in all it’s excellently done.
>>>
>>> Now here’s the thing the puzzles me most. How the hell was this
>>> presented
>>> in the theater?
>>>
>>> On Disney+, you get your choice between watching it wide screen
>>> (2.39:1) or
>>> IMAX Where most of it is one:85 and it changes to one .9 for some
>>> affects
>>> shots. Seriously? I’m supposed to notice it flipping back-and-forth
>>> between
>>> 1.85 and 1.9?
>>>
>
> I'll try to explain what's going on here.  Some movies are shot using
> IMAX cameras.  Sometimes the entire movie, but usually only a handful of
> scenes are actually shot using IMAX.  When you go to a regular theater
> you see the entire movie at the same 2.39 (or whatever) aspect ratio.
> But when you go to an IMAX theater you see the scenes shot in IMAX at
> the IMAX ratio.  So the movie changes aspect ratios.  The scenes shot
> using the IMAX cameras are the action scenes or breath taking vistas. So
> when you're watching the movie at an IMAX theaters it's all 2.39 then
> suddenly the explosions start and it fills the entire screen.
>
> Now when you would buy the home video version on DVD or blu-ray the
> movie did not change aspect ratios.  It stayed 2.39 (or whatever) for
> the whole movie.  But on 3D, and I think sometimes 4K and the odd
> blu-ray, but mostly 3D, they would change aspect ratios so you got the
> same experience you got at the IMAX theater.  It was a cool benefit for
> being a 3D fan.

I've watched some Blu-Ray discs where the aspect ratio changes like
that. Tenet was one, Tron Legacy was another. I usually don't even
notice it when I'm just watching but if I'm making screencaps I have to
adjust the files to deal with it.