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State of movie theaters: mini rant.

North_Sky

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Speaking of music (ASR is all about Audio which is Music Reproduction ... Sounds from musical instruments including the human voice and computer recreated synthesized beats), it's one of the most important elements in most movies we watch...the music scores, the tunes, the sound effects, the sound mixes, the sound edits.

Two recent films to prove that case in point just as a quick example; Joker and 1917
The music score in Joker is its main character, the dancer teaching the actor the dance of performing...the actor and the music score they go hand and hand. The film wouldn't have the same impact if one of them was missing...IMHO.

In 1917 it's less severe but the sounds aren't.

Those two are only recent examples, we can easily find hundreds just in the last sixteen months.

* You like black and white silent Charlie Chaplin's films from the 10s, 20s and 30s?
 

xr100

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Was "dragged along" to see the latest comic book franchise instalment this week, namely "Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey." Definitely in the "popcorn movie" category but it was actually pretty good fun.

I saw at an an IMAX auditorium (single "commercial laser" version of IMAX with Laser projection system) and snapped the following shot in the end credits:

1581811967669.png


OK, so a quick photo on a smartphone is highly unlikely to be accurate, but it gives some idea of the colours/saturation that can be achieved.

I also saw another movie in a "regular" auditorium, was not terribly impressed by the picture or sound quality. Nothing glaringly wrong with it but particularly corners seemed to have been cut on projector (laser phosphor!) brightness and LFE capability.
 
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North_Sky

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That's cool...live organ with silent films.
_____

If we look today @ the state of the film industry ... IMAX, Laser, 4K, HDR, Atmos, Birds of Prey, Joker, Marvel, Pop out colors, bombastic sound, Parasite, Foreign films, Hollywood, the Oscars, etc. ... it has quite evolved since the Charlie Chaplin silent films era.
Also compared to what we have today in our homes...OLED, 4K front projectors for less than some arge 4K premium TVs versus what we had in the 20s (nothing), the 50s (b&w round cathode ray tube TVs...large 25" ones), 60s (8mm films and video cameras and projectors).

The Oscars of the last couple years I find it quite amusing and liberating and surprising how the film industry in Hollywood is opening up his heart with full embrace to the entire world of cinéma; foreign films...like Roma and a Parasite just to name two.

The state of movie theaters depends of the State (city, province, etc.) we live in.
...Who and how often they maintain it for optimal performance...like changing the bulbs, busted speakers, screens with big holes @ the bottom and top, etc.
It's annoying to go in theaters where they cannot afford to maintain them properly for a good movie experience. Might as well stay home and buy a large 4K OLED TV and quality affordable 4K front projector and sit few feet from them to get the 40 degree field of view.

The state of our audio gear depends of who's building it and the parts used and their implementation and their measurements and integration and synergy with all other components.

The state of our lifestyles depends of the work we perform and the amount written on our paychecks, and our investments.

The state of all affairs depends of our health and wealth.

It is our choice or not where we live, what we do, what we like, the films we like, the theaters we don't like, what we buy, how we spend our money to be entertained in life...visuals (motion pictures) and sounds (stereo and multichannel surround music and sound effects) ...All pleasure for the senses, the brain, the heart and the advancement of the state of movie theaters surrounding the neighborhoods where we live in.

Quality life time in a healthy environment for our entertainment is important.
We value entertainment in our lives, and movie theaters that are well maintained and performing.
 
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xr100

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Went to the "IMAX Film Festival" at London's Cineworld Leicester Square yesterday (IMAX with Laser GT dual projection/12 channel audio.)

FOUR films in one day...

1582512477054.png


For our friends in Europe, that's ~€3.50 per screening, and our friends the US, that's ~$4 per screening. (The auditorium was well filled, of course; fortunately I booked about as soon as tickets were available, and so got the best seats in the house. :))

The choice of movies, of course, might not be exactly to taste, but at that price who can complain? What an awesome day!

The final screening was "Joker," having not yet seen it. It is certainly an impressive piece of filmmaking; but, alas, for me did not live up to the hype.
 

North_Sky

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An annual pass @ IMAX would also give you similar average price ticket per screening.
Some particular IMAX theaters.

You mentioned one out of four, Joker. Just for the music score alone you got your money's worth.

Films are like pizzas, they have various flavors.
 

xr100

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An annual pass @ IMAX would also give you similar average price ticket per screening.
Some particular IMAX theaters.

Hmm, never heard of that?

Cineworld do offer an "Unlimited" card which allows you to watch, er, an "Unlimited" number of screenings. The premium version of the card that includes the flagship Leicester Square site costs £‭250.80/year.

However, an additional "Uplift" charge applies for IMAX screenings. I can't remember what it is, maybe £5?

So, yes, one could certainly get the cost down per film to a low amount, making full use of the "Unlimited" card... but not at that venue for IMAX per se...

I'm surprised to hear that there is a particularly lower cost option anywhere than the "Unlimited" card. "Moviepass" existed in the US--but AFAIK they basically using the startup funds to subsidise tickets, so it crashed and burned. Cineworld acquired Regal, and have been touting the introduction of the "Unlimited" card in the US as a game changer... (it's been around for more than 10 years in the UK so, unlike "Moviepass," it's not a fly-by-night offer...)

Looks like Cineworld are planning on entering the Canadian market, too, with their acquisition of Cineplex in the pipeline:

Can Cineworld's Unlimited Card Save Movie Going in Canada?. (National Post.)

Cineworld are a "British" company but they are in fact helmed by the Israeli Greidinger family (who also hold a large if not majority stake in the company.) Could kinda considered the movie theatre version of "The Cannon Group;" they seem to be suffering from a similar case of "megalomania"... but we shall see... (I wish them well as they certainly invest in their venues.)

Anyway, I assume the likely forthcoming of the "Unlimited" card in Canada does you no favours if you have no access to any multiplexes, but just in case. :)

You mentioned one out of four, Joker. Just for the music score alone you got your money's worth.

Films are like pizzas, they have various flavors.

To be honest, I cannot even remember the score! I was pretty tired by then, though.

I'm not really a fan of watching movies back-to-back as I like to go away and reflect on what I've seen, but a friend wanted to go and I actually enjoyed spending all day in the cinema. Found that it cleared my mind!
 
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Blumlein 88

Blumlein 88

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I don't get the praise for the Joker. I would say the score was the best part, but not really memorable. I thought each actor did a fine job, and the production was first class. But the plot of the movie was garbage. It was a film I left and thought, "A couple more hours of my life wasted". I see no point in this story told this way being made into a movie. An exhibition of misplaced skills let down by a horrible script.
 

North_Sky

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Hmm, never heard of that?

Cineworld do offer an "Unlimited" card which allows you to watch, er, an "Unlimited" number of screenings. The premium version of the card that includes the flagship Leicester Square site costs £‭250.80/year.

However, an additional "Uplift" charge applies for IMAX screenings. I can't remember what it is, maybe £5?

So, yes, one could certainly get the cost down per film to a low amount, making full use of the "Unlimited" card... but not at that venue for IMAX per se...

I'm surprised to hear that there is a particularly lower cost option anywhere than the "Unlimited" card. "Moviepass" existed in the US--but AFAIK they basically using the startup funds to subsidise tickets, so it crashed and burned. Cineworld acquired Regal, and have been touting the introduction of the "Unlimited" card in the US as a game changer... (it's been around for more than 10 years in the UK so, unlike "Moviepass," it's not a fly-by-night offer...)

Looks like Cineworld are planning on entering the Canadian market, too, with their acquisition of Cineplex in the pipeline:

Can Cineworld's Unlimited Card Save Movie Going in Canada?. (National Post.)

Cineworld are a "British" company but they are in fact helmed by the Israeli Greidinger family (who also hold a large if not majority stake in the company.) Could kinda considered the movie theatre version of "The Cannon Group;" they seem to be suffering from a similar case of "megalomania"... but we shall see... (I wish them well as they certainly invest in their venues.)

Anyway, I assume the likely forthcoming of the "Unlimited" card in Canada does you no favours if you have no access to any multiplexes, but just in case. :)



To be honest, I cannot even remember the score! I was pretty tired by then, though.

I'm not really a fan of watching movies back-to-back as I like to go away and reflect on what I've seen, but a friend wanted to go and I actually enjoyed spending all day in the cinema. Found that it cleared my mind!

https://imaxvictoria.com/annual-pass/

As for watching four films in a row; forget it, I'm too old for this type of movie marathon.
 

North_Sky

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I don't get the praise for the Joker. I would say the score was the best part, but not really memorable. I thought each actor did a fine job, and the production was first class. But the plot of the movie was garbage. It was a film I left and thought, "A couple more hours of my life wasted". I see no point in this story told this way being made into a movie. An exhibition of misplaced skills let down by a horrible script.

Joker has the lowest average rating scores among professional movie critics compared to the other eight Academy Awards film nominations...Parasite, The Irishman, Marriage Story, 1917, Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, Ford v Ferrari, Jojo Rabbit and Little Women (not necessarily in ranking order).

Joker ...

• MRQE: 68
• Rotten Tomatoes: 68%
• Metacritic: 59%

What made it "special" is Phoenix's lost of 50 pounds and dancing to the cello music score. Plus the violence that sells in America and abroad.
Is it a good film? No but in the bullying mentally handicapped world we live in it delivered.
It made twenty times its budget...so it paid off financially.
But spiritually, love, sensibility and affection in a human world of equality, liberty and fraternity (all that jazz) it's not Gone With the Wind. For that Parasite is closer. ;)

Anyway I agree with you; it's a senseless gratuitous violent film of extreme decadence of the human spirit. Parasite is much better with its own violence, more humorous.

And if we forget all the critics etc., the best films are the ones that you, you like.
For me in 2019 it was 1917, but that's me only and nobody else. Ford v Ferrari was also very good. Different mojos for different poses, strikes.
It's like music; I love Tango, and Opera. If kids and adults love Billie Eilish it's their own mojo. ...Etc, ... Rap, Punk, Metal, Country, Western, Chorales, Folk, Pop, Rock, Classical, Jazz, Blues, Progressive, Psychedelic, Avant-garde, Electronica, New Age, New Wave, Funk, Motown, Soul, Easy Listening, Ballads, Chamber, Organ, Soft Machine, ...
 

xr100

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According to LF Examiner–List of IMAX Theaters, the screen is almost 85ft. wide, full height 1.43:1, and the venue is equipped with an IMAX with Laser GT dual projection system.

"2020 Annual Passes now on sale for only [Can]$52.38... Feature length films for [Can]$6.50 (2D) or [Can]$7.50 (3D)."

Woah, that's one heck of a deal. I'd get an annual pass in a heartbeat if it wasn't almost 5000 miles away!


As for watching four films in a row; forget it, I'm too old for this type of movie marathon.

Yeah, it was fun but... I'm not recommending it. ;-)
 

North_Sky

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You guys in London have some nice halls ... for live music.

Here in Victoria, us Highlanders we have another IMAX theater, in addition to the one I just linked.
https://www.imax.com/theatres/silvercity-victoria-cinemas-imax

And that's another good one too. I saw Gravity in 3D there...simply awesome.
And more recently...1917...in 2D. Simply incredible, picture & sound.

I revisited Parasite last night...on Blu-ray. You appreciate more the work that went through it; the cinematography, the coherence (storyline, acting, decor sets, ...), the very nice and subtle music score (classical), the small details, the well pasted cadences, the pastel tones, the camera angles in the streets (nighttime and daytime), everything...the movements, the descents, the driving, the sun, the rain, the exterior greeneries, the skies, the water, the fantastic humor, ... the horror, the classes, ...everything.
 

xr100

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I revisited Parasite last night...on Blu-ray. You appreciate more the work that went through it; the cinematography, the coherence (storyline, acting, decor sets, ...), the very nice and subtle music score (classical), the small details, the well pasted cadences, the pastel tones, the camera angles in the streets (nighttime and daytime), everything...the movements, the descents, the driving, the sun, the rain, the exterior greeneries, the skies, the water, the fantastic humor, ... the horror, the classes, ...everything.

I saw "Parasite" for the first time today--it didn't get a theatrical release in the UK until 7th February. Alas, it was only available in secondary screens, so no photos of monumental auditoria or top-of-the-line laser projection this time! :-(

Great stuff but I wasn't happy with the ending, which to me felt like having got into a corner and having to contrive a way out... Hmm. Will mull it over...
 
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