Ryan McNeil
As I try to catch up, and write about the two dozen or movies I’ve seen and not yet written about, I’ve been thinking about something. I’ve been thinking that movies that I only get to see on DVD are ones that I shouldn’t write a full-out review.
I’m the sort that believes that movies are intended to be seen in a theatre. The experience, the scope, the magnitude gets lost in a home theatre – and all of these aspects are qualities I think a good filmmaker would take into account when making their movie. I believe that you could have the best home theatre set-up around…70″ screen, 7.1 surround sound, the works!…but still not get the full effect one gets in a theatre.
While I’ll admit that a great movie is a great movie no matter what, I think that a lot of movies lose something when they aren’t seen in a theatre. Take THE GODFATHER for instance. There are many scenes in the movie that are like chiaroscuro paintings – small pockets of light being pulled out of a primarily dark shot. Try watching that on a TV in the middle of a sunny afternoon. You lose a lot of the effect (believe me, I’ve tried).
I’ll go one better. If there was such thing as screener DVD’s back in 1972, THE GODFATHER doesn’t win Best Picture.
When it comes to new films I only get to experience on DVD, I do still want to write about them, I just plan on altering my format a little. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m a purist, and that to truly experience a movie, you have to sit in a darkened theatre and shut the world out for two hours or so.
Opening this Week…
SEMI-PRO (Wanna bet on how long it’ll take Will Ferrell to strip down?)
THE COUNTERFEITERS (Wanna see an Oscar winner?)
PENELOPE (A modern-day fairy tale that doesn’t star The New York Giants)
CITY OF MEN (From what I’m hearing, it lacks the teeth of the original)
THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL (I wonder if she’s one of The Others on LOST)