my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Community   » Film Handlers' Movie Reviews   » Life of Pi (2012) (Page 1)

This topic comprises 2 pages: 1  2

Author Topic: Life of Pi (2012) Tony Gallimore Expert Film Handler Posts: 108 From: Willis, Virginia, USA Registered: Jul 2009 posted 11-24-2012 12:54 PM                     The latest from Ang Lee based on Yann Martel's best seller about the shipwreck and survival of a 16 year old Indian boy whose name is Pi (short for Piscine Patel) as played by Suraj Sharma. The tale begins with Pi and his family having to emigrate from India to Canada along with their livelihood, a zoo full of animals. The ship encounters a storm and all is lost except Pi and some of the animals. As bad as it was losing his family in the shipwreck, Pi must also share his lifeboat with various animals and in particular a royal bengal tiger named Richard Parker. On top of the threat of the tiger, he must survive even more storms, a carnivorous island and various other mishaps as told from the perspective of a years older adult Pi, played by Irrfan Khan. Although filmed in both 2-D and 3-D, I opted for 2-D and believe the eye candy of 3-D would have greatly detracted from the storyline, but then I'm somewhat biased against 3-D in any format. Life of Pi runs a little over two hours, but didn't seem excessive while watching the excellent scenery and unusual storyline. There are several additional humorous storylines, too. Check it out if you have a chance, it was a good fun movie!  |  IP: Logged Rick Raskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1100 From: Manassas Virginia Registered: Jan 2003 posted 11-24-2012 04:54 PM                     The Washington Post had a review in which they said 3-D was the way to see this one. Based on that, I'm planning to actually go to a theater and it'll be my first digital projection experience.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-24-2012 09:11 PM                        Rick: For the best possible experience, sit closer to the screen than you would for a 2-D movie. In my theatre my favorite spot to sit has traditionally been about 2/3 back from the screen, which is probably 50 or so feet from the screen. But for 3-D, after experimenting, I find that I like it best in about the 3rd row from the front, which is maybe about 18 or 20 feet from the screen. It makes the 3-D effects look much more immersive in my opinion. I just think if you sit where the image pretty much fills your glasses' field of vision, the picture will seem brighter and the 3-D will be better. I've given this advice to several of my friends and they all agree with me. (Of course, if you are the type who gets sea-sick from 3-D you probably should sit farther from the screen instead!)  |  IP: Logged Claude S. Ayakawa Film God Posts: 2738 From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 11-25-2012 02:52 AM                        Unlike Tony, I love 3-D and always see a movie in that format if it was released that way. I am very happy Regal 's Pearl Highland where I saw the movie today is only playing it on one screen and 3-D only. Boo to Consolidated theatres for playing this movie mostly in 2-D with only two 3-D showings in the evenings at all of their theatres except the Ward. The movie is playing in their Titan XC house and only in 3-D. LIFE OF PI is a very entertaining movie and in good part is due to the 3-D. Yes I agree with the one critic who said "The only way to see this movie is in 3-D". I predict this movie will do very well at the Acedemy Awards next year for best picture, director (Ang Lee), cinematography, visual effects and possibly sound and film editing. -Claude  |  IP: Logged Sam Graham AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues. Posts: 1431 From: Waukee, IA Registered: Dec 2004 posted 11-26-2012 06:32 PM                        CINEMA: Megaplex at Valley Fair, West Valley, UT AUDITORIUM: 1 PRESENTATION: Mystery Meat Digital 4K (2D), Dolby Atmos sound PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: None RATING: Two and one half stars (out of four) This is THE new room to see big releases in. It's a monster of an auditorium with a screen as big or bigger than the new LIEmax screens, leather seats, and Dolby's new Atmos sound. I counted eleven surrounds on each side wall with the front ones angled towards the rear corners. There were two rows of speakers mounted from the ceiling, a couple dozen total. Hearing the rain coming from the ceiling is FREAKY, man. I'd be interested in knowing what the setup is behind the screen, though, because my initial impression reminded me of AMC's "HITS". It sounded like the speakers were mounted way up high, and possibly no stronger than the surrounds. There is, however, no lack of subwoofer. The sound mix seems to use music in the surrounds more. Picture was just beautiful. There's no admission surcharge for this room. Standard $6.25 matinee price. THE PLOT: A kid survives a ship sinking. Wackiness ensues. Beautifully shot and soundtracked, this is a solid three-star...maybe even three and one half star...effort up until the end, when it fucks you in the ass and announces you just wasted two hours of your life. Fuck you, movie.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-26-2012 10:32 PM                        Wow, that's a review that took an unexpected twist!  |  IP: Logged Jonathan Goeldner Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1360 From: Washington, District of Columbia Registered: Jun 2008 posted 11-26-2012 11:05 PM                     yeah that ending was a kick to the nutsack. As for the 3D it was decent, but not as spectacular as I was expecting - the 3D for 'Rise of the Guardians' was superior to 'Pi' in my opinion.  |  IP: Logged Mark Lensenmayer Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1605 From: Upper Arlington, OH Registered: Sep 1999 posted 11-28-2012 04:30 PM                     I sure wish theatrical 3D was brighter...this movie really needs a lot of light. Even in a small room with a 26' screen, it was really dim (and these weren't Sony units, either). I liked the ending. It leaves it up to the viewer to decide what really happened. I don't consider this a kids movie, but there were a number of families in attendance.  |  IP: Logged Marcel Birgelen Film God Posts: 3357 From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands Registered: Feb 2012 posted 12-28-2012 07:20 AM                     The wonderful and also sad story of (Pi)scine Molitor Patel, named after the Parisian swimming pool that also saw the introduction of the Bikini. I'm not the biggest fan of Stereoscopic 3D, but I guess this movie is one of the few exceptions, it really draws you into the world. I've seen this in a dual projector Dolby3D setup on a large screen, smack in the middle of the auditorium. I came to the "somewhat biased" conclusion that this is the only way to see this... The picture was bright and sharp, the glasses aren't as heavy as those active shutter glasses, ghosting is almost a non-issue and best of all: no silver screen. The 3D is probably one of the best in a live-action movie since Avatar. It might be a bit gimmicky at times, but it sure is beautiful. Unbelievably but true, the tiger in the boat is almost entirely CGI and I didn't know this until after the movie. One of the stranger things is that the aspect ratio of the movie changes for several scenes. This results in letter-boxing for some of those scenes. Personally, I found this rather distracting and quite useless. There has been quite some discussion about HFR and the soap-opera/video look it seems to produce. Well, there was this outdoor scene at night on this sinking boat that also had this same look going. And mind you, this movie wasn't shot in HFR (and also not on RED cameras).  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 12-28-2012 06:11 PM                        quote: Sam Graham Hearing the rain coming from the ceiling is FREAKY, man. That's because when you hear rain in real life, you hear it hitting the ground. Think about it. Hearing it from the ceiling would just sound wrong. Unless the scene took place indoors and you heard the rain hitting the roof.  |  IP: Logged Marcel Birgelen Film God Posts: 3357 From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands Registered: Feb 2012 posted 12-28-2012 07:04 PM                     quote: Joe Redifer That's because when you hear rain in real life, you hear it hitting the ground. Think about it. Hearing it from the ceiling would just sound wrong. Unless the scene took place indoors and you heard the rain hitting the roof. So, what's next? A speaker *under* every seat?  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-28-2012 08:30 PM                        Well if Disney can do it for moving trains on the "Rock'n'Roller Coaster," anything's possible I guess.  |  IP: Logged Gerard S. Cohen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 975 From: Forest Hills, NY, USA Registered: Sep 2001 posted 12-28-2012 09:41 PM                     I saw it today (12-28-12) at the Forest Hills Midway Theatre #1, in 3D, but forgot to take Mike's advice to sit up close, and sat in the last row as I've been doing for at least five years, for 2D movies. I enjoyed the story, the boy's search for belief versus his father's rationalism, and the few touches of humor, such as the boy's ending the teasing his nickname engendered by teaching each class the meaning of PI, and having the entire class reciting the value of PI to the sixteenth decimal, to the bewilderment and delight of the mathematics teacher. I also enjoyed the tutorial on lifeboat usage, the way I appreciate Melville's attention to tools in Moby Dick.  |  IP: Logged Marcel Birgelen Film God Posts: 3357 From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands Registered: Feb 2012 posted 12-29-2012 06:57 PM                     quote: Mike Blakesley Well if Disney can do it for moving trains on the "Rock'n'Roller Coaster," anything's possible I guess. I've been in the Florida and Paris version several times, but never witnessed any speakers under my feet actually, but maybe I wasn't focused enough Actually, this reminds me of an experimental setup at a multiplex in Krefeld in Germany. They mounted a bunch of big sub-woofers below the wooden floor of one of their auditoriums. I've watched one show there a few years ago and every time something blew up, the floor was vibrating violently.  |  IP: Logged Sam Graham AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues. Posts: 1431 From: Waukee, IA Registered: Dec 2004 posted 12-29-2012 07:57 PM                        quote: Joe Redifer That's because when you hear rain in real life, you hear it hitting the ground. Think about it. Hearing it from the ceiling would just sound wrong. Unless the scene took place indoors and you heard the rain hitting the roof. AWESOME point.  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 2 pages: 1  2

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.