BadAtGender

The JC superbowl ad remains one of the most head-scratchingly awesome bits of movie marketing ever. It's terrible for selling the film but at the same time it's pretty amazing and brilliant in and of itself. (I do like the film quite a bit, though.)

That's awesome, Corpse. I've been considering various ways to compare films in different regions, but that might be the best, because it takes everything in a relative manner.

On one hand, another film with both Amy Adams and Idina Menzel would be really cool. On the other, I'm rather worried about those writers. Though the director doesn't bother me.

How much of a 16:9 screen should be blacked out, then? It felt even wider than that. And this DVD doesn't seem to have a making-of documentary on it.

Well, you're half right.

The Abyss is really good. Good adventure and drama. I especially enjoyed Michael Biehn playing an excellent descent into madness. In seeing what the theatrical edition cut out, I can see the extended being more solid. I was still a bit surprised how much the aliens are sort of a background presence in the story. Super important, but not really onscreen until the climax. Some of the creature effects don't hold up well. This is somewhat in contrast to Close Encounters, which still looks good despite being 10 years older. I suppose Douglas Trumbull is just the best. Still, it's nice to see some of those early computer effects, which don't look too bad. The music is a bit odd. It seems strange to watch a Cameron film without a Horner score, since I've watched both Titanic and Avatar in the past week. It's still good, but Alan Silvestri just doesn't seem right for Cameron, especially in those moments that were especially Silvestri-like. Still, really good. It's the best of Cameron's "A" films, and even if it doesn't match up to his best (Titanic and T2) it's probably on par with Terminator for quality. Good times. (I do wonder if there's some aspect ratio screwup between the DVD, which is pretty old, the player, and my TV. It seemed a little squashed, but I couldn't figure out a way to change it.)

Hmm. Fair. It's been a while since I saw either, but I felt like the theatrical had a better flow. My friends tended to swear by the extended, though. Mostly for the colony scenes, oddly enough.

Extended Cameron wankery it is! (Aside, what's your opinion on the Aliens extended edition?)

Hmm... this DVD of The Abyss has both the Theatrical version and the Special Edition. Which should I watch?

Okay, no Snowpiercer tonight. I'll probably catch it in the next week or so. Maybe as my late night entertainment after fireworks on the 4th or something. So I'll go get a burrito for dinner and watch The Abyss instead.

Wasn't the tagline "When news breaks, we fix it" back then?

Sports Night.

... dammit.

I'm kinda leaning that way. Though the theater showing it is a bit of a ride, and it's nice but not the best, IMO. If it shows up at one of the local theaters for me in the next week or two, I could use a pass I have, too.

Not sure what to do with myself this evening. Could watch The Abyss at home. Or I could head to a theater to see something. TF4 or Snowpiercer or something.

I only need 111 likes for 3k total. So maybe I'll get there eventually.

Not the first, but definitely one of the most successful. Theatrical box office receipts are probably pushing past a billion WW by now.

There's nothing on the record about Disney wanting to ape Wicked, but it seems pretty clear that there are several people working at Disney who are fans. Between OzTGaP, Frozen, and Maleficent, they've essentially created a pseudo-Wicked trilogy of films. The first is the story, the second is the presentation, and the third is the theme. Universal should see if they can team up with WDAS to make Wicked.

So you aren't like this?

Kinda gross, dude.

Going off of a conversation from a few days ago, you should probably go see a dentist or you'll have teeth like that.

Avatar remains enjoyable. It's still a visual feast, even if some of the elements are starting to look their age. Many of the animals, in particular, look a little plastic nowadays. It's also pretty apparent that they were cutting it close since none of the animals have fur or feathers, which would compound the animation difficulty. It'll be interesting to see how they advance things in the sequels. Several sequences of the film exist for little reason than the visual wankery. It's pretty amazing that Cameron basically sold the film entirely on the visuals and it worked to a huge degree. That's a testament to the pretty amazing worldbuilding rather than creating a deep story and characters. People bought into it back when it was released, and it's still easy to get caught up in the fun ride. It probably is Cameron's worst film (well, barring Piranha 2), but that's mostly a testament to his strength as a filmmaker. He does things that just click with the audience. I just hope that his future films pick up the pace in the writing department.

Eh. For a film I've seen before, background noise is fine. Or for a film I kinda want to see, but don't really want to see. So it sates my curiosity without wasting a bunch of time. Or if I just want something playing. There isn't a wrong way to watch.

What is the proper way?

I guess I'll throw on Avatar as my background noise for work today. It'll burn most of the next three hours and I can see how it's held up since I last saw it in the theater. Also first time seeing it 2D.