Cinema: AMC Patriot 13, Lawton, OK
Screen: #7, IMAX Digital 3D, Seat J15
Format: Dual 2K Projection, 5.1 audio
Presentation Problems: None (for IMAX 2K digital standards).
Movie Rating: 3 out of 4
Almost a month after it opened I finally got around to watching Avatar: The Way of Water this afternoon. I almost didn't bother because I was pretty angry from a trip to the grocery store earlier (prices just keep going up and up and up). While watching the first two quarters of the Bills vs Dolphins NFL playoff game I saw a promo for a TV series version of True Lies. Yeah, the 1994 hit that still has no fucking proper Blu-ray (or even a 16x9 DVD) after all these years. If I try playing my old non-anamorphic DVD on my big TV set it plays window-boxed -looking like a really shitty YouTube video. Is James Cameron not embarrassed at all about that? But rather than clean up the original True Lies for retail disc sales (or streaming) let's just do a new TV series with a new cast instead!
Anyway, I forced myself to just go to the theater and get out of the damned house. The movie was pretty entertaining on its own. However it doesn't measure up to the first movie. There are lots of perilous moments, but the stakes didn't seem as high. Some action moments reminded me of similar moments in the first movie. In the first movie Jake Sully has to get away from that giant panther-like creature chomping thru tree branches to get at him. Jake's son has to back thru reefs trying to get away from some giant carnivore fish. Sequels will re-hash various moments, perhaps to stay on-brand.
The movie looked pretty cool. James Cameron (as usual) does a great job with all the sci-fi mechanical details. The 3D quality was great, although my eyes were starting to feel the strain a little past the 2 hour mark. I spent a couple minutes rubbing my eyes during the end credits. The sound, while only 5.1, was decent. The volume level was loud and the sub-bass was hitting at a decently hard level for an IMAX branded room. I didn't feel like blowing the extra gas and toll money to see the show in Oklahoma City on a Dolby Cinema screen. I don't think they were playing a HFR version at this theater. It looked pretty normal to me.
Usually I'll get a soft drink when I watch a movie. Not this time. A run time of 3:12 is deep into bladder-busting territory. There was still a decent crowd at this theater despite it being nearly a month into the run. I didn't feel like stepping and stumbling over a bunch of adults and their kids just to take a piss break.
I don't have the first clue of any details of the deal AMC and Dolby made. But I do believe Dolby made a big mistake by giving AMC what appears to be an exclusive deal on Dolby Cinema installs within North America. I think if there had been competition between various theater chains we might have actually seen some Dolby Cinema installs within the US that were much closer to the original concept -or maybe even improvements on the idea.
Yeah, they won't spring for a rolled sheet of paper to display in a cinema. But they'll blow more money on end cap displays for Walmart and Target, despite the bottom falling out in the retail movie disc sales market.
Do these movie marketing people not understand point of purchase advertising strategy? Printed movie posters are very effective advertising tools. I would laugh if one of those marketing people tried to claim they were cutting down the use of printed posters to "be more green." Using HDTV panels as a substitute for printed posters isn't a "green" solution at all. Those things use considerably more electricity than a lighted poster case.
Screen: #7, IMAX Digital 3D, Seat J15
Format: Dual 2K Projection, 5.1 audio
Presentation Problems: None (for IMAX 2K digital standards).
Movie Rating: 3 out of 4
Almost a month after it opened I finally got around to watching Avatar: The Way of Water this afternoon. I almost didn't bother because I was pretty angry from a trip to the grocery store earlier (prices just keep going up and up and up). While watching the first two quarters of the Bills vs Dolphins NFL playoff game I saw a promo for a TV series version of True Lies. Yeah, the 1994 hit that still has no fucking proper Blu-ray (or even a 16x9 DVD) after all these years. If I try playing my old non-anamorphic DVD on my big TV set it plays window-boxed -looking like a really shitty YouTube video. Is James Cameron not embarrassed at all about that? But rather than clean up the original True Lies for retail disc sales (or streaming) let's just do a new TV series with a new cast instead!
Anyway, I forced myself to just go to the theater and get out of the damned house. The movie was pretty entertaining on its own. However it doesn't measure up to the first movie. There are lots of perilous moments, but the stakes didn't seem as high. Some action moments reminded me of similar moments in the first movie. In the first movie Jake Sully has to get away from that giant panther-like creature chomping thru tree branches to get at him. Jake's son has to back thru reefs trying to get away from some giant carnivore fish. Sequels will re-hash various moments, perhaps to stay on-brand.
The movie looked pretty cool. James Cameron (as usual) does a great job with all the sci-fi mechanical details. The 3D quality was great, although my eyes were starting to feel the strain a little past the 2 hour mark. I spent a couple minutes rubbing my eyes during the end credits. The sound, while only 5.1, was decent. The volume level was loud and the sub-bass was hitting at a decently hard level for an IMAX branded room. I didn't feel like blowing the extra gas and toll money to see the show in Oklahoma City on a Dolby Cinema screen. I don't think they were playing a HFR version at this theater. It looked pretty normal to me.
Usually I'll get a soft drink when I watch a movie. Not this time. A run time of 3:12 is deep into bladder-busting territory. There was still a decent crowd at this theater despite it being nearly a month into the run. I didn't feel like stepping and stumbling over a bunch of adults and their kids just to take a piss break.
Originally posted by Marcel Birgelen
Originally posted by Mike Blakesley
Do these movie marketing people not understand point of purchase advertising strategy? Printed movie posters are very effective advertising tools. I would laugh if one of those marketing people tried to claim they were cutting down the use of printed posters to "be more green." Using HDTV panels as a substitute for printed posters isn't a "green" solution at all. Those things use considerably more electricity than a lighted poster case.
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