Miscellaneous Movie Musings - Page 258

innerSpaceman · 11-14-2007, 05:56 PM

Reporting for duty. (I'll get to Beowulf in a mo.)

I'm buying the new CE3K DVD - maybe tonight in fact, if it was released yesterday, as scheduled - - with the hopes that it will have the 1977 original. But I seriously, most seriously doubt that it will.

Back in the days of laserdisc, the reputable Criterion company put out what it billed as the original 1977 version of CE3K, but it wasn't. If Criterion would either commit such fraud, or fall for false representations by Columbia Pictures without doing even a modicum of research ... then I don't put it past Columbia to tell such lies again now. And I fear the 2 lost scenes and 2 missing miscellaneous shots may be lost forever to the mists of time and careless film preservation.

Keep in mind that Lucasfilm recently issued a DVD which it advertised as the original 1977 version of Star Wars ... which it wasn't. But it was closer than the new CE3K DVD is likely to be. Star Wars had several sound differences and the opening crawl was most likely a recreation of the '77 version. But Close Encounters will, unless I will be overfreakingjoyously wrong, be missing two entire scenes (plus some other footage).

If the DVD is already available, I will report back tomorrow.

innerSpaceman · 11-14-2007, 06:02 PM

From what I hear, the eyes in Beowulf are improved over prior efforts like Polar Express ... but it still seems as if the actors aren't really there, and imagining them as the animated characters they really are doesn't much help. It will be interesting to see if they come off as better characters than Muppets, who have no eye movement at all.

It's always amazed me that we accept the Muppets as true characters. But these Beowulf creations may do themselves in by being so close to lifelike and yet not lifelike enough. I have the feeling it will look like a really cool video game. That's not good enough for me.

And I don't care that they buffed up Winstone to the point of not even looking like him. JW Bear's creations notwithstanding, computer hotness just doesn't do it for me. I think the thing I will enjoy the most about Beowulf's fight in the buff will be the AustinPowersy ways they strategically hide his junk rather than the salaciousness of nude death fighting by a hunky warrior king.

BUT ... being that this one's probably best in 3-D, I will be seeing it in theaters instead of my customary Netflix wait for the type of film I'm merely MEH about.

Gemini Cricket · 11-14-2007, 06:43 PM

See? That iSm is real learned, he is.

JWBear · 11-14-2007, 06:57 PM

I thought the hobo in Polar Express was hot!

CoasterMatt · 11-14-2007, 07:14 PM

Hey iSm! Wanna go see Beowulf in IMAX 3D for Free?!? PM me!

Alex · 11-14-2007, 07:37 PM

I saw the IMAX 3-D. I have to say it has really improved but still not something that is great for a feature length experience.

Especially if you're someone who tends to tilt your head. I didn't realize I was such a person but the 3-D glasses only work when straight up and down (because of how they polarize) so as my head tilted the picture started to ghost.

innerSpaceman · 11-14-2007, 08:48 PM

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

ARRARRRRGHGHJSKFFFGGHGGHGHGHGH!

Why Must They Frelling LIE?!?!?!?

Ok, I haven't watched the DVD yet ... but there's a handy comparison chart provided with the set. Handy, that is, if you don't mind outright FRAUD.

The fact that they bothered to print up a chart that lies about the two missing scenes and other changes pisses me off even more than if they just left that stuff off the DVD.

DON'T BUY THIS SET!

I will watch the movie anyway, but UGH. This is not good.

Most people who saw the film in 1977 don't remember the missing scenes. One of them is pretty inconsequential, and I can understand why no one seems to recall it. The other one is not really a big deal either - by itself.

But if you ask anyone who saw the film in '77 whether the Mashed Potatoes scene was hilarious the first time they saw Roy Neary carving the infamous "shape" in the spuds, they will undoubtedly recall that the joke was funny precisely because the man could not stop carving that shape.

The scene still garners laughs because it's just plain silly for him to carve mashed potatoes. But the real joke is lost, and the two prior scenes where Roy goes from merely seeing the shape to actually recreating it in his model train set are (apparently) still and (likely) forever missing.

In all subsequent and now existing versions of the movie, we don't see that Roy's been carving a mountain shape in his model train set until after he does it with the potatoes. Pardon me, but that's revisionist BULLSH!T and a crock of total fraud for them to put this out as the 1977 original theatrical version.

Arrrgh! One of the greatest movies ever made, and it existed for only two years and then was LOST to the annals of history. Bah and double and triple and infinity BAH!

I bet they have that insert shot of the UFO shadow over the truck, too.

And I bet they use the long shot of Roberts Blossom saying "They can run rings around the moon, but we're years ahead of 'em on the highway" from the cutting room floor instead of the close-up that was in the movie.

And I double-down bet they have the shots of the astronaut's pre-departure prayer meeting that were NOT in the '77 film.

Oh, here goes two hours of my life about to be wasted in frustration and wrath.

Sigh.

innerSpaceman · 11-14-2007, 08:53 PM

P.S. What if iSm is just plain wrong about what he remembers from seeing a film thirty+ times in 1977 and '78?

Yeah, well, they all thought I was wrong about the Star Wars opening crawl from the same year. And we all know how that turned out.

Gemini Cricket · 11-14-2007, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

ARRARRRRGHGHJSKFFFGGHGGHGHGHGH!

So we should buy the new set?

CoasterMatt · 11-14-2007, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

ARRARRRRGHGHJSKFFFGGHGGHGHGHGH!

Sounds like an endorsement to me

11-14-2007, 05:56 PM	#2571
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	Reporting for duty. (I'll get to Beowulf in a mo.) I'm buying the new CE3K DVD - maybe tonight in fact, if it was released yesterday, as scheduled - - with the hopes that it will have the 1977 original. But I seriously, most seriously doubt that it will. Back in the days of laserdisc, the reputable Criterion company put out what it billed as the original 1977 version of CE3K, but it wasn't. If Criterion would either commit such fraud, or fall for false representations by Columbia Pictures without doing even a modicum of research ... then I don't put it past Columbia to tell such lies again now. And I fear the 2 lost scenes and 2 missing miscellaneous shots may be lost forever to the mists of time and careless film preservation. Keep in mind that Lucasfilm recently issued a DVD which it advertised as the original 1977 version of Star Wars ... which it wasn't. But it was closer than the new CE3K DVD is likely to be. Star Wars had several sound differences and the opening crawl was most likely a recreation of the '77 version. But Close Encounters will, unless I will be overfreakingjoyously wrong, be missing two entire scenes (plus some other footage). If the DVD is already available, I will report back tomorrow.
	Submit to Quotes

11-14-2007, 06:02 PM	#2572
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	From what I hear, the eyes in Beowulf are improved over prior efforts like Polar Express ... but it still seems as if the actors aren't really there, and imagining them as the animated characters they really are doesn't much help. It will be interesting to see if they come off as better characters than Muppets, who have no eye movement at all. It's always amazed me that we accept the Muppets as true characters. But these Beowulf creations may do themselves in by being so close to lifelike and yet not lifelike enough. I have the feeling it will look like a really cool video game. That's not good enough for me. And I don't care that they buffed up Winstone to the point of not even looking like him. JW Bear's creations notwithstanding, computer hotness just doesn't do it for me. I think the thing I will enjoy the most about Beowulf's fight in the buff will be the AustinPowersy ways they strategically hide his junk rather than the salaciousness of nude death fighting by a hunky warrior king. BUT ... being that this one's probably best in 3-D, I will be seeing it in theaters instead of my customary Netflix wait for the type of film I'm merely MEH about.
	Submit to Quotes

11-14-2007, 06:43 PM	#2573
Gemini Cricket ... Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 13,244	See? That iSm is real learned, he is.
	Submit to Quotes

11-14-2007, 06:57 PM	#2574
JWBear Worn Romantic Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Long Beach California Posts: 8,435	I thought the hobo in Polar Express was hot! __________________ Unrestrained frivolity will lead to the downfall of modern society.
	Submit to Quotes

11-14-2007, 07:14 PM	#2575
CoasterMatt BRAAAAAAAINS! Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: One Step Beyond... Posts: 8,802	Hey iSm! Wanna go see Beowulf in IMAX 3D for Free?!? PM me! __________________ Do you like my photography? Visit photosbymatt.tumblr.com to purchase prints!
	Submit to Quotes

11-14-2007, 07:37 PM	#2576
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	I saw the IMAX 3-D. I have to say it has really improved but still not something that is great for a feature length experience. Especially if you're someone who tends to tilt your head. I didn't realize I was such a person but the 3-D glasses only work when straight up and down (because of how they polarize) so as my head tilted the picture started to ghost.
	Submit to Quotes

11-14-2007, 08:48 PM	#2577
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	Close Encounters of the Third Kind ARRARRRRGHGHJSKFFFGGHGGHGHGHGH! Why Must They Frelling LIE?!?!?!? Ok, I haven't watched the DVD yet ... but there's a handy comparison chart provided with the set. Handy, that is, if you don't mind outright FRAUD. The fact that they bothered to print up a chart that lies about the two missing scenes and other changes pisses me off even more than if they just left that stuff off the DVD. DON'T BUY THIS SET! I will watch the movie anyway, but UGH. This is not good. Most people who saw the film in 1977 don't remember the missing scenes. One of them is pretty inconsequential, and I can understand why no one seems to recall it. The other one is not really a big deal either - by itself. But if you ask anyone who saw the film in '77 whether the Mashed Potatoes scene was hilarious the first time they saw Roy Neary carving the infamous "shape" in the spuds, they will undoubtedly recall that the joke was funny precisely because the man could not stop carving that shape. The scene still garners laughs because it's just plain silly for him to carve mashed potatoes. But the real joke is lost, and the two prior scenes where Roy goes from merely seeing the shape to actually recreating it in his model train set are (apparently) still and (likely) forever missing. In all subsequent and now existing versions of the movie, we don't see that Roy's been carving a mountain shape in his model train set until after he does it with the potatoes. Pardon me, but that's revisionist BULLSH!T and a crock of total fraud for them to put this out as the 1977 original theatrical version. Arrrgh! One of the greatest movies ever made, and it existed for only two years and then was LOST to the annals of history. Bah and double and triple and infinity BAH! I bet they have that insert shot of the UFO shadow over the truck, too. And I bet they use the long shot of Roberts Blossom saying "They can run rings around the moon, but we're years ahead of 'em on the highway" from the cutting room floor instead of the close-up that was in the movie. And I double-down bet they have the shots of the astronaut's pre-departure prayer meeting that were NOT in the '77 film. Oh, here goes two hours of my life about to be wasted in frustration and wrath. Sigh.
	Submit to Quotes

11-14-2007, 08:53 PM	#2578
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	P.S. What if iSm is just plain wrong about what he remembers from seeing a film thirty+ times in 1977 and '78? Yeah, well, they all thought I was wrong about the Star Wars opening crawl from the same year. And we all know how that turned out.
	Submit to Quotes