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Am I the only one who’s a little freaked out about the average turnaround from theatrical to home releases for movies now? I mean, Hunger Games came out in theaters in March. It’s now August, and it’s comming out on DVD. That’s, what, four, four-and-a-half months? People who saw it in theaters can probably still remember the whole movie.
Yeah, they do come out much faster than they used to, but I’m glad because if I miss something in the theater, I don’t have to wait as long to see them. I didn’t see The Hunger Games in theaters, so I’m excited to see it.
As someone who’s usually watched things on DVD rather than in theaters, I have to admit that the turnaround time has always seemed long to me. It seems that if you’ve got this great, really popular movie, wouldn’t you want to keep the hype up about it and keep people watching it? The big lag between the end of a movie’s theatrical run and the DVD release seems like it’d be antithetical to that.
But I guess they’re trying to go for those who both saw the movie in theaters and want to get it on DVD as well, and for that market, I guess maybe lag time would be good, because you’d just be coming around to the “hey, yeah, I kinda want to see that movie again” stage?
“hey, yeah, I kinda want to see that movie again” stage?
If I liked a movie enough to want to buy it, I’m usually at that stage as soon as the movie’s over.
On the rare occasion I go to a movie theater, I agree. To take my two most recent examples, the Avengers and TDKR, I would love to be able to watch either on demand right now. Not only would it be great to see them again, but it would also allow me to indulge in one of my favorite pasttimes, movie nitpicking! And just plain enjoying the background stuff in movies. When you’re watching something for the first time, you miss an awful lot of stuff in the background. It’s much easier to catch it when you’re watching it on your own, with a screen a foot from your face (I watch DVDs on a computer, not a TV), the ability to pause and rewind at your fingertips.
Well, my concern is more about there not being enough time to “digest” the movie. How many movies have you seen in theater, only to come out not liking or being ambivalent towards? It’s fine for movies that you liked, but are you going to buy a DVD/Blu-Ray of a movie you only kinda enjoyed?
Examle: I saw Chernobyl Diaries in theater, and thought it was okay. Not exactly great and a bit predictable (and I’m no horror afficianado), but it killed a few hours. But would I be willing to pay $15-20 for the DVD? Probably not, because that initial impression is still fresh in my mind. However, if I saw it for sale about a year or so after seeing it in theater, I might consider buying it, because I’d probably remember enjoying (or at least not hating) the movie the one time I saw it.
What I’m getting at is that the short turn around only works if people really liked the movie/the movie made a lot of money. It might also work for those movies that were immediately overshadowed by other, bigger films, or movies that only got a limited theatrical release. But not necessarily every movie. Just something to think about.
I see what you’re getting at there, Apep. I think that’s kind of what happens with movies in those bargain bins. You see them and think, “Oh yeah, I remember that movie.” And then kind of want to buy it because you remember it not being terrible. Except in this case, they’re also cheap, so the studio doesn’t make as much money off of it as they would if it was a new release that came out sufficiently late to garner the same reaction. I still personally prefer movies to come out as soon as possible after the theater run, but I could see how studios could make more money from waiting until people kind of forget just how much they did/did not like the movie before putting it out o DVD.
Aw, my brother got scared by Psycho. It shouldn’t be cute, but it is.
The Bourne Legacy was alright as an action flick but decidedly average as an installment in the Bourne series. I wasn’t even expecting it to be that great, since it involved genetic alteration and Rachel Weisz, and I was still disappointed.
However, Jeremy Renner is a badass so it wasn’t a total loss.
decidedly average as an installment in the Bourne series
Hmm:
Identity: great
Supremacy: great
Ultimatum: great
My math is poor, but I’m pretty sure the average of those is better than ‘disappointing’ :D
Haha, I don’t disagree. I’m not a huge Bourne fan—I’ll wait for the movie to come out on DVD to watch it—but I still like the movies. Every once in a while, I’m like “I feel like watching an action movie, like a Bourne movie, but not a Bourne movie.” And I inevitably just end up watching one of the Bourne movies again.
Pity it’s not that great, though. I didn’t figure it would be as good (no Matt Damon T_T), but I was hoping it’d at least be an interesting movie. Does it have cool fight/car chase scenes? Those are the important bits of a Bourne movie anyway.
Have any of you seen the old Bourne Identity TV mini-series with Richard Chamberlain? Followed a very different storyline but had some great actors involved.
My math is poor, but I’m pretty sure the average of those is better than ‘disappointing’ :D
Ah, true. Seems my mathy lingo was off. That’ll teach me to ever try mathematically quantifying things! By “average” I meant “mediocre”. :P
but I was hoping it’d at least be an interesting movie.
It was interesting, even though the science made me squirm. There were quite a few Sweeping Vistas courtesy of Alaska, and a motorcycle chase scene that was pretty cool, and some fight scenes that were also cool but it was sometimes hard to get what was going on because of the trademark Bourne Shaky Cam.
Also was it just me or was Aaron Cross way too much of a nice guy to be an asset? Half the time when something might have gone wrong he was able to amiably chit-chat his way out of it. Because of that, and because he never seemed to embrace his job in any wholehearted way, I wasn’t very convinced when he was forced to do morally reprehensible things by Norton’s character in the name of his country and seemed all right with it after a brief pep talk about how he was a ““sin-eater”. I suppose the point must have been that Operation Outcome unknowingly created a man who could outthink them but it seemed unfeasible to me that they wouldn’t have foreseen that and done more to prevent the subjects getting the hell out as soon as possible.
The soundtrack was GREAT though, and it made me really really want to watch the preceding films again.
I would think being able to nicey-nice your way out of situations is a skill. Much quieter than getting out guns blazing. So… not sure if Aaron is really nice, or just very good at putting on a nice facade to get things done.
I lolled … but still interested in Legacy >.>
Yeah, what Rocky said. Also, this.
Totallynotdroolingoverhisarms
Nope
Nopedynope
Especiallynotallthenicemuscle
Nothingtoseehere
It is true; Jeremy Renner is pretty swoony.
Yeah. Actually, the entire reason I went to see the movie? Because Total Recall looked dumb, I wanted to see something fun with my cousin and his friend (I kidnapped them from my aunt, they were in town visiting), and when I looked at the listings I went “hey, Hawkeye! He was a bundle of fun, let’s go see that!”
Then, everything changed when the shirtless scene attacked.
Then, everything changed when the shirtless scene attacked.
Shirtless scene singular? I recall several.
Well, one of them had the most affect. Specifically, the one where he was sweaty. So very sweaty.
No. Tom Hardy is awesome in Inception and in Dark Knight Rises, but I have no interest in him half-naked and sweaty.
Seriously though, Warrior looks quite good, but a bit depressing. I did see The Fighter. Seems to be some very similar themes there.
I really liked Warrior, even disregarding the shirtless scenes. It was a good movie on its own merits.
Re: Vertigo. What the fuck did I just watch?
It is true; Jeremy Renner is pretty swoony.
YEP.
See, this is why I can’t get mad at guys who are drooling over hot chicks, because I kinda drool over hot guys too…
Yep.
Ah, so I suppose you and Willow have an understanding.
Re: Vertigo. What the fuck did I just watch?
I love Vertigo!
It’s kinda slow, but the twist at the end makes it worth it.
For me, at least.
WAT.
On a better note, Raiders of the Lost Ark, having been digitally restored and enhanced, will feature a CGI Ark, better lighting effects, and Indy’s hat will be fully-rendered in 3D.
Fixed that for you.
Raiders movie is best movie.
Rest in peace.
Just watched V for Vendetta... Let me just say that, with everything the US government has been up to lately, it struck a chord.
The Hunger Games was really good. I liked how they shot it, and I think a lot of things that were wrong with the book were not wrong with the movie, which was nice.
Spoilers sort of:
Watched the second recent Sherlock Holmes movie. It was alright. I guess.
^^Not watching the Sherlock series instead?
I guess the conversation is over a week ago, but I wonder if partially they’re releasing DVD’s faster due to piracy? Digital distribution puts the movies in the hands of people so much faster than having to wait a year for it.
Bourne had weird pacing for me. When they were on the boat and Moby starting playing, I was thinking this is a really odd time to be playing that song. I was thinking we were at the end of the second act or something. Turns out nope. Credits rolled and 2 hours had passed. In retrospect I get that the LARX guy was the third act boss fight, but for some reason it didn’t feel that way to me when I was watching it. And not for lack of intensity. At one point I had to look away because the relentless rate of changing camera shots was just a little overwhelming. Information overload or something.
I guess I kinda figured they were going to the Phillipines to fix Aaron and then they’d go and do something else after that. Rather than the Phillipines was the end goal.
For a slightly older film, I watched The Name of the Rose with Sean Connery, which I absolutely loved. Medieval film with bickering religious orders by way of Sherlock Holmes murder mystery.
Marquis, I do hope you’re referring to the superior BBC series.
I saw Expendables 2.
So, so gloriously stupid. :D
I actually didn’t mind Game of Shadows. One thing it did do was make me read a lot more of the original stories. And I don’t even usually like mysteries very much.
On a better note, tomorrow night me and a couple of friends are going to see The Avengers!
I just watched Enter the Void. Probably the most innovative film I’ve ever seen, but I don’t know that I can particularly recommend it. It made me feel very happy to be alive afterwards, which was great, but the pacing towards the end was very shoddy. And the content is shocking to say the least, so I don’t recommend it to anyone with sensitive sensibilities. It would have been quite fantastic if they cut about 40 minutes.
I finally got around to watching Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. It was good for what it was, explosion-filled fighting action movie funtime, but something keeps bothering me. I have this enormous sense of deja vu about Jeremy Renner’s character’s backstory, but I can’t figure out why!
But anyway, plot holes and weird deja vu aside, it was good because it had Jeremy Renner in it, and I like him.
@swenson
I read a fanfic with a very similar plot, as far as Clint Barton guarding a couple and then one gets dead. Maybe you read it?
I don’t think that’s it, I don’t think I’ve ever read any fanfic with him in it. It’s still kinda buggin’ me, though…
The Avengers was awesome!
Captain America was the best. Though Iron Man’s dialogue had me cracking up.
And oddly enough, I liked the Hulk. “Puny god,” indeed!
My campus will be showing The Dark Knight Rises very cheaply in November. I’ll have to go and see if I like it any better the second time around.
Doing a Marvel Movie Marathon.
How did I forget how fucking good Iron Man is? Seriously, it’s amazing! Every four seconds, some other clever detail, or awesome line, or just general badassery. This movie.
Iron Man is a weird movie in that I watched it, loved it, and then promptly forgot everything that happened in it. When I went back to rewatch it the second time, I was like “wait… I don’t remember that part… or that part… and man, how did I forget about THAT part?!” It’s an excellent movie, though. Now I want to rewatch it!
Don’t watch the sequel though. It’s really just a 2-hour commercial for The Avengers than anything resembling a story.
Yeah, Iron Man 2 was… forgettable. Far too much pseudo-moralising about the rights of the individual vs. rights of the state, the difference between defence and offence, and going on and on about military funding, the antagonist’s tragic past, and Stark’s relationship with Potts. Technology that strains the suspension of disbelief even further than in the first movie (i.e. tech that clearly contravenes one of the few agreements between common sense/intuition and the laws of physics).
Some great dialogue though, and enjoyable fight scenes. The twist/revelation was stretching it, I thought. All in all, not really good, not really bad. Just – forgettable.
I liked Iron Man 2, but not as well as Cap, Thor, and Iron Man. Which… huh. Ok, so it’s in last place, but I still thought it was awesome. VANKO* IS JUST SO ENTERTAINING, OK? HE WANTS HIS BIRD.
*Fixed. Thanks Rocky, I thought it looked funny xD
I just tried wathcing How To Train Your Dragon. Enjoyed the book series as a kid, heard that the movie was fairly entertaining.
1. Uninterrupted internal monologue went out of fashion with The Wonder Years.
2. WHY is a Viking talking with a nasal Montana accent? I feel like I’m trying to sit through one of Paolini’s vacuous interviews.
3. It is supposed to be a monoLOGUE, not a monoTONE.
Suffice to say, I didn’t get past the four-minute mark.
Keep watching.
Aw, I love How to Train Your Dragon.
Doesn’t help that without subtitles I could understand maybe a third of what he’s saying. And I still have a sneaking suspicion that Paolini was hired as the voice actor.
I hated that movie. Too Dreamworks-y. And obnoxious. It seems like every five seconds it’s yelling LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, I’M DEFYING EXPECTIONS! only actually it’s the same plot as every other animated movie ever BUT DEFYING STEREOTYPES HERE, LOOK HOW PROGRESSIVE WE ARE.
Willow: Can I ask your opinion of Brave, in that context?
Brave was surprisingly predictable, especially for a Pixar film. However, it did have some charm, and the story was sweet. Absolutely beautiful animation. I thought How To Train Your Dragon looked clunky and awkward. So… yeah. Brave was equally predictable, but was rescued by charm/animation. And by childhood willingness to forgive Pixar.
I liked How to Train Your Dragon. I watched it while babysitting and may have missed a few scenes, though.
I don’t know about the rest of the animation, but I really liked HTTYD’s flying scenes. Can’t comment on the storyline being too Dreamworksy because I haven’t seen many of their films. In general, it seemed pretty typical for a kids’ movie.
I really liked HTTYD’s flying scenes
AND THE SCORE!
I thought the animation was very nice in HTTYD. I didn’t see anything wrong with it at all, and I watch rather a lot of animated movies. It’s not on the level of a Pixar movie but that doesn’t mean it was awful. Jay Baruchel’s voice is admittedly kind of annoying.
I was actually ok with HTTYD. Granted, I wasn’t expecting much of anything, so it’s likely that that had some influence on my decent opinion.
I’m not the biggest fan of Dreamworks (even though I did like Megamind). I think some of their movies are a little overrated.
I liked the first couple of Shrek movies. I still enjoy them now and again (although how Dragon and Donkey made those abominations of nature is anybody’s guess). Also, the uncanny resemblance between Jaime Lannister and Prince Charming offers some new giggles.
I can’t say I liked the first Shrek much. I guess I’m too much of a fairy tale purest or something.
I was a snob, even when I was a kid.
I liked the second one for some reason. I’m not sure why.
I just liked the whole idea of dealing with disapproving in-laws. John Cleese was way, way underused, but the idea that marriage is the happy end was pretty satisfyingly subverted.
2. WHY is a Viking talking with a nasal Montana accent? I feel like I’m trying to sit through one of Paolini’s vacuous interviews.
What exactly is a Montana accent? I’ve been to Montana and they sound the same as pretty much everyone else in North America
Sorry, I knew that a) Paolini has a very strong accent with many typical elements from the general genus of ‘American’ accents, and (b) he is from Montana. I must have extrapolated too far. (I knew I should have taken that left at Albuquerque!)
rephrasing, then: WHY is a Viking talking with any kind of non-Nordic accent, especially a strong one?
I’ve been to Montana and they sound the same as pretty much everyone else in North America
While Paolini himself sounds fairly midwestern, a lot of Montanans speak with a very pronounced Northern accent which is most evident in how they pronounce “ou” as in “out and about” as “oo” and speak at a slightly higher register so half the things they say sound like a question.
WHY is a Viking talking with any kind of non-Nordic accent, especially a strong one?
You could ask that type of question of many animated films. I don’t recall all that many bending over backwards to get their stuff dead accurate.
Apparently Viking = Scottish.
“ou” as in “out and about” as “oo”
I associate that with Canadians (or at least Ontarians), so I guess it makes sense Montanans would have that.
I don’t know why I never expected to like Midnight in Paris. But I loved it! :D Well, most of the characters at least. I think I enjoyed them more than the movie as a whole. They might have been inaccurate – I think some people may not be too happy about the way some characters were portrayed – but that didn’t stop me from liking Hemingway and Dali.
My art-history geek friends absolutely LOVED that movie. But I think many people wouldn’t understand a lot of the references.
So Beetee, one of my favorite characters from The Hunger Games, has finally been cast. He doesn’t look like how I pictured him at all, and he doesn’t seem to look much like his book description, either.
Hmm. I have to agree. It’s hard to tell before you see someone in costume, in the right setting, in character, though.
Yeah, this guy is supposed to be a good actor, though. If he can act like Beetee I won’t mind as much if he doesn’t look like him. Cinna didn’t look like his book description at all—except for the gold eyeliner.
I wish to retract my former comments regarding How To Train Your Dragon. Having now seen it in official DVD quality with subtitles, I think it is one of the more awesome Dreamworks animations there are. Probably second only to the original Shrek.
Jeffrey Wright is an excellent actor and helped make six hours of Human Immunnodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome mysticism worthwhile for Angels in America. Angels in America also features a very handsome Patrick Wilson from before he was Nite Owl.
I just watched Thor.
I think the reason I liked Thor is that he gets humbled. He’s an arrogant, overblown warrior, and he has to go through some really dark stuff, and face up to his own mistakes. So he really changes over the course of the movie, and he’ s kind of . . . sweet. You don’t normally think of the God of Thunder as being sweet, but he is. He and Jane are absolutely adorable together. And that scene where the one warrior was getting fussed at for eating too much food? Hilarious!
Woo! Totally agree with you, Deborah. You wouldn’t think a man that big could do such spectacular sad puppy eyes.
“Can I come home?”
;_;
He is pretty adorable.
I didn’t think I’d like the character at the first, but he is such a golden retriever. (Have you seen the deleted scene where he and Selvig get drunk? Hilarious.)
No! I didn’t even know that scene existed! I need to go look it up.
Thirteen Assassins owns bones.
After I finish all my exams, my friends and I are going to watch Captain America
Yeah!
And it was awesome. Though you will get “The Star-Spangled Man,” stuck in your head afterwards.