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
>

What?!?!? I could have watched this on Disney+ in 4K and listened to
the commentary! :-/

The 4K disc doesn't have the commentary so I ended up watching in on
blu-ray. On the other hand there weren't any audio issues on the disc.
The movie was in English except for scenes where people were talking
in Chinese, but those scenes all had subtitles. I watched with closed
captions and it was all properly subtitled. The captions identified
when someone was speaking Chinese but it was still captioned in English.

But I have watched some movies where the caption will say "speaking
foreign language" and it will say that over the actual translation.