Cool News
A Couple Of Dissatisfied Readers Write In About Tonight’s POLTERGEIST Event!
Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.
I’m sorry to hear that this event was so mismanaged. I am not sure what would possess anyone to show a film in a theater in the wrong aspect ratio in the year 2007? That’s a basic mistake that no one should make. It’s not the same as the home video debate because we’re talking about a theater. In the theater, it makes sense to show it in the theatrical ratio... hence no need for letterboxing or pan and scanning and digital zooming.
I’ll let these guys tell you what they saw:
So Harry I went to the screening of Poltergeist this evening. I have been looking forward to seeing it since the posting here a few weeks back.
Well it did not go well.
Once upon a time I worked in a theater, so I know just a little something. The show starts off very much full screen and just as the credits start the pictures pulls back and shows the "scope" that should be presented. The darn thing is wide-screen (letter-boxed)just for the opening and closing credits. I am a forgiving sort on some things but when I have to pay for a "pan and scan" version of a beautiful film like this it is a shame.
I was not impressed with the projection system used either. As I understand it most movie theaters have might have two kinds of digital projectors. The very expensive one for the movie and one for the Movie Vision pre-show. Well guess which one was not used. Not the good one, thus a blurry, dull and dark movie experience with those annoying little boxes that show up on titles and very bright images. Why not just throw a sheet up and grab a lap-top and your $500.00 Best Buy LCD projector. Totally not what I wanted this evening.
I do have one good thing to say...the movie was very clean. I found the "print" to be pristine and flawless, just presented poorly.
Needless to say I did get my dollars back and will use them to purchase the DVD movie next week. I am sure my TV will do the trick, once I place my hands on it and proclaim "They're Here!"
Just call me Mr Voice.
This next one is just a quick reaction:
Hey Harry & Crew,
Just got back from the "one night only special screening" of Poltergeist at the AMC theater in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Loved the flick, as always, but was appalled to see that it was PROJECTED IN THE WRONG ASPECT RATIO. Or I guess I should say, since I assume it was all digital, they USED THE WRONG VERSION for the screening. Basically we got a full-screen version of the flick, with correct aspect ratio main and end titles. Jeebus H. Criminy. Even movie theaters don't understand the appeal of widescreen now. Or at least Fathom Entertainment doesn't.
Just thought I'd share ...
Troy "Minnesota T-Rex" Tradup
-
+ Expand All
-
Now I'm not. Glad I didn't get bamboozled! Here's hoping they do a better job of it, one day. Poltergeist is a classic.
-
Ye i do.
-
Afterwards, I went and complained to the manager on duty. I realized the aspect ratio screwup wasn't his fault. They just projected whatever signal they received from their satellite feed. But for ten bucks, I expect it to be correct.
-
Although POLTERGEIST never amounted to more than a few well-crafted scare scenes directed by Spielberg while Tobe Hooper was off on a coke binge.
-
Well, at least nobody died.
-
...but you didn't move the headstones! And you showed the movie, but you had the aspect ration all wrong! Gaaawd is in his ho-ly temmm-PULLL!
-
These two theaters must of had the disc flipped because I rented the movie from Blockbuster and watched both sides and the Pan & Scan side had the main titles and end credits in widescreen but went full screen during the movie. The sad part is I'm talking about the last DVD not the upcoming remastered version. They must of used the P&S master for TV if it was the remastered version shown. Still could of been the old DVD at some theaters based on how fuzzy the review said it looked. And they made you pay for this pleasure lol. Glad I got to see the original in a nice super large curved screen A+ run theater with a union projectionist ( That is now gone : ( ) the week before sneak preview and again the opening night with a sold out crowd. Good times.
-
It's the fault of the asshole projectionist who can't put a DVD in on the proper side. Dumbass.
-
They provide tons of content and programming people want to see. Then they send it though a Satellite feed on crappy christie projectors. I have a problem with it everytime. Sound drops out, picture is blurry. And the events are 3 dollars higher than regular ticket prices. For a substandard presentation. They have great content ruined by terrible presentation. Pockets are being lined here
-
I saw it last night in Ft. Worth, and though I loved the movie, and relished seeing it on the big screen, I thought the sound quality was very poor. And the "Science of Ghosts" featurette they showed afterward (which I only watched about 5 minutes of before feeling stupid and leaving) was LAME! It almost ruined my evening. But then I thought back to JoBeth Williams getting flung around the room in her panties and all was good.
-
DO NOT WATCH MOVIES PRESENTED BY FATHOM EVENTS.
-
However, this is not an issue of a theatre making a mistake or having two digital projectors and using the shitty one. Most regal cinemas do not have digital projection yet. Nearly all have the smaller digital projectors used by National Cinemedia for the pre-show advertising. Harry did a story about Regal going digital that was very accurate about a year ago, but he jumped the gun. The conversion won't be done for over two more years. Thus, for this event to be possible, this is the only way it could be shown. That's why it wasn't a full-scale re-release. Fathom events nabs this sort of deal and shows it in the only format they have available to them. The $10 price tag is outrageous for the quality you are getting, and is only worth it for special events that won't be shown in theatres OR dvd otherwise.
-
Not the fault of the theatre... The image is presented to them digitally and shown in the format they received it. This was solely the fault of Fathom Events. Moriarty made it sound like the projectionist showed it in the wrong aspect ratio... A terrible way to present a film, but also a very obvious mistake any projectionist would catch. The picture gets too distorted. There is no way to change the aspect ratio on the projectors these were shown on. Just distortion of the picture.
-
I saw this last night as well, at the AMC theater in Hamilton, NJ. In addition to the 1.85:1 pan & scan image (not counting the proper 2.35:1 credits) the image was warped around the edges. It seemed like the projector was a consumer-level product, and the projectionist did not know how to properly use the product. Also, the sound mix was sub-standard. There was NO low-frequency rumbling and the channel separation merely panned from left-to-right front, no surround effects. Finally, the obese lady geek who felt the need to talk during the movie, pick out cool 80s toys in the kids rooms, and quote lines that we have all known for twenty-five years (thank you very much) bothered me to no end. Guess what...you weren't impressing anyone! Afterwards, we were shown a 10min long featurette, where ghost hunters tried to explain the science of paranormal psychic investigation, as it related to the film. NEWS FLASH people, Senior Spielbergo wrote the SCREENPLAY. It's just a movie. Regardless, even with ALL these stumbling blocks, I still had a grand time at the movies. This further proves to me that the cr@p Hollywood is spewing out these days pales in comparison the guerilla film-making of the 70s and the fantastic character development of the 80s. I am sad the DVD that comes out Tuesday won't have all of the dirt gathered around the production. I want to see Craig T. Nelson complaining about Tobe Hopper snorting up his director's advance pay, and then calling up Steve and telling him that the movie he wrote is falling apart. Then Jobeth Williams stating how Steven saved the day by flying down from Northern California every night after filming E.T. to shoot the sucker. I know this is urban legend about the cursed movie, but it's a great story and I love repeating it, even if it isn't completely true. Poltergeist wasn't the scariest film of all time, thank you very much Billy Friedkin. However, it was a fun roller coaster romp. Let's hope Michael Bay's production team doesn't get the bright idea to reboot this one. It's fine as it is.
-
Every complaint everyone has mentioned goes for me too, PLUS in my screening the channels were reversed, so not only was the sound simply left-to-right, it was left-to-right whenever it should have been right-to-left. Do we blame that on Fathom, or was it the icing on the cake from the projectionist?
-
I went to a pre-Dvd re-release of Nightmare on Elm Street about a year ago and they did they same thing, in that they projected what seemed like the DVD print with a lesser-projector. It was nice to see it with people who dug the movie, but the projection su-ucked.
-
I work for Regal Cinemas and last year they did the same thing with Nightmare on Elm Street, piss poor mono sound with lackluster imaging. Basically what people paid for was a giant mono tv screen about as bad as something from the 80's. In reality one would be better off with a flat screen at home with dts surround sound. I went to work last night to peak in on Poltergeist and must say was underwhelmed.
-
I attended the screening in Wisconsin. The aspect ratio was a big problem and the projector did look very grainy. However, what a great event. After seeing this movie mutiple times at home and on cable (years ago), it was really cool to see it on a big screen. More bigger movie chains should do these old film screenings. I would think they would get more people coming back to the theaters with classics like Poltergeist. Years ago, the AMC theater chain down in Chicago use to do midnight showings of movies like Top Gun, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Ghostbusters to name a few. It would sell out on each showing. Just a thought.
-
article since Harry screwed up (or shilled up) in his article proclaiming that the studio had struck "pristine new prints" of this for the screenings. And now I am also hearing that the DVD has been delayed? This entire "event" of the anniversary has been fucked up by the studio at every turn. Just one more scrap of evidence that these fucks don't care at ALL about the films that they are presenting or selling. They want your money and that is all it is about. The anniversary DVD is a fucking joke and these screenings were a fucking joke. If I were one of the poor folks who fell for this "event" screening, I would demand my money back for what was blatantly a case of false advertising. Hell, I manage a movie theatre and if I wanted, I could have screenings like this every night of the week for any movie that I own on DVD. You just pop it in your preshow DVD player and off you go. (Sounds like I could do a hell of a better job presenting it as well.) Demand your money back, kids. This will be the only way that your voice will be heard. Because merely crying here on AICN does nothing but make them all sit back, point and laugh at the computer screens with their office buddies as they pat each other on the backs, discussing what the next classic flick that they dupe you all into buying $10 tickets to a DVD screening for will be. Speak with your wallets, fellas. It's the only language that they will pay attention to these days.
-
i nearly went to this last night, but then decided against it because i had other things i had to do. now i'm glad i didn't go. i bet if this was an "official" spielberg film it wouldn't have been treated this way, though, spielberg actually gives a shit about his movies.
-
Man, how many people have to say that the presentation is going to suck before you go for you to believe? Well now you can at least spread the word to others about the pathetic joke that is Fathom Events. Fathom does NOT use the expensive high quality projectors that you see new releases on. They only use the crappy preshow "Regal/AMC FirstLook" systems that are improperly set up, poorly maintained, and look like absolute hell. Wanna complain? http://tinyurl.com/38gojr
or write to NCM Fathom
A division of National CineMedia
9110 East Nichols Ave, Suite 200
Centennial, CO 80112-3405
Customer Service
info@FathomEvents.com -
go retro!
-
Actually, when Nightmare On Elm Street was released it was in mono. So if they projected it in mono that was as it was originally released. I think virtually all of Kubrick's films were also in mono, as are most of Woody's movies. Shining-Mono, Full Metal-Mono. Clockwork-Mono, Manhattan-Mono, Annie Hall-Mono, Radio Days-Mono, Purple Rose-Mono...
-
Man what a let-down. This is one golden opportunity thats gotten the royal treatment up the dark channel. But given time somebody will stumble upon one or two more ways to fuck it up. eat scrotum...
-
http://www.fathomevents.com/contact/default.aspx
The one thing I will say is that it was Warner Bros. responsibility to provide Fathom with a version of the movie that was in its proper aspect ratio,--after all, Anchor Bay was nice enough to provide a 2.35:1 transfer of Halloween for their screening last year--but Fathom should have realized that it wasn't acceptable when they received the movie from them. And no, this isn't just a case of some projectionist not putting the DVD in correctly. If I'm not mistaken, the theaters receive the Fathom/National CineMedia content via satellite. -
They had it at the right aspect ratio (obviously, or else i'd be in jail for murder right now) but it looked like total shit. And i imagine their Halloween 4 and 5 event on the 30th will be just as terrible. Fuck fathom.
-
so some shithead projectionist put the thing on the fullscreen side. lolz. derp!
-
I actually left work EARLY last night to speed down to AMC in Ahwatukee, AZ. I got there before the movie started, but it was extremely hot in there for some reason. I can believe the satellite thing, because we must have waited for 20mins before the 'trailers' of Halloween 4 & 5 were brought up on the screen. I should have known something when the aspect ratio looked messed up just for those credits.
When the movie started in a 4:3 aspect ratio I was already disappointed after spending $10. Then I watched it kick into full wide which made me happier other than the fact it covered about 3/4 of the entire screen if that. The sound was terribe. I could have went home, popped in my own DVD and turned up my speakers and had a better experience.
I'm with a lot of others here that I will never go with Fathom again if that's the kind of service they feel should be given in 2007. Many of use waited a LONG time to see this again on the big screen, and this unfortunately was not what any of us waited for. -
"If they'd been expecting the movie to show at 2.35, every theater showing it would have had their curtains adjusted for it."
Actually, when I saw Halloween, it was shown in 2.35:1 but the curtains were not adjusted for that ratio. The video projectors always display at the 16:9 ratio, so they would never adjust the curtains for it. Besides, for both Halloween and Poltergeist, the featurettes shown with the movie were fullscreen. -
Unless you go to the Cine Capri, you'll most-likely not see curtains in theaters in Arizona. There was nothing stopping the projectionist from fixing the size of the presentation, at least in the theater I was in.
-
Guys, I'm a projectionist at Regal and while your right that the showing is shitty for $10 and definitely not digital cinema, it's not as bad as this news is making it out to be. This wasnt played off a DVD at our location and probably not anywhere. All fathom events run on the same system that the ads (first look) do. It's automated, so it wasn't a projectonist screwup. It was also NOT 4:3. The NCM projectors are 1.85 flat and every event and pre-run ads is shown that way. They have no scope lenses and can't do 2.35 (unless they can screw in new lenses, but i doubt it.. we're not supposed to touch those projectors). WB or fathom must have decided it was more important to fill the screen.
You're right that the projectors are shitty commercial ones from probably three years ago, but they ARE HD. Like someone else said here, they just did Gilmor and it rocked. They don't sell that it's DLP digital cinema, but they don't NOT sell it either (which is probably shady). But last night also wasn't this mess people are saying. I looked in on the theater and people seemed happy. I checked with my manager and we didn't get a whole rush of complaints.
Some people are blowing this way out of proportion with this "screw fathom" stuff. They get some cool shows now and then. Star Trek on the big screen will ROCK. -
"WB or fathom must have decided it was more important to fill the screen."
That's the problem. They didn't fill the screen. Like I said, our screen was probably 3/4 full even at the 1.85 flat if that's what it was. I wanted to enjoy the movie, so I didn't run out and complain the minute it started, but I mentioned it after the show. I'm surprised you didn't hear complaints after your showing.
Again, it wasn't any cinema's fault, and that's the drawback. If it was broadcast via satellite, then whoever was running it may have been at fault, WB may have been at fault, the player may have been at fault, who knows.
I just know that paying EXTRA to see a sub-par film doesn't sit too well with me. I think it is Fathom's fault and until I hear otherwise, that is what I will think.
Glad to hear your screening went better than most. -
Meaning they were a bunch of drunk fucks when they showed the movie.
-
Thats why the Castro theater is so awesome. They probably smelled a rat in all this and just went ahead and booked a print. The Oct. 2nd screening was awesome and there were no aspect ratio problems at all (2.35:1 throughout.) So I didn't see the new dvd version...that's ok, I'll pick it up when it comes out. I love this movie.
-
a DVD? Not a newly struck 35 mm film print. A fucking DVD? What a disgrace.
-
and yes, I was quite upset that it was shown in full screen as well, but it was re-pan & scanned for this new DVD release and it was handled well enough that I didn't let it ruin my theater experience. I just wished it was a real film print that was shown and not the DVD.
Next up... the Star Trek: The Menagerie screening in mid-November! -
...but they do have a "anamorphic" setting. If they show a DVD thats says it's "enhanced for widescreen televisions", then this type of digital projector is just switched to "widescreen", and the image is stretched out horizontally. Even if they had just popped in a "letterboxed" DVD, they could have still zoomed in on the image, making it fill the entire screen. In this case, it wasn't the fault of the on-site projectionist (as adventgrey pointed out, they don't have physical control over these pre-show projectors) but it was the event organizers being lazy over presenting the correct aspect ratio.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 339 total posts 339 posts
- SPACE 2099!! -- 141 total posts 141 posts
- Quint travels to Barsoom and visits the John Carter set!!! -- 116 total posts 116 posts
- Crom! Grant The Behind the Scenes Pics of the Day revenge! And if you do not listen, den to Hell witchu! -- 67 total posts 67 posts
- The Sensorties Revisit The Friday Docback (And Still Smell)!! DOCTOR WHO Story #7 Again, The Coming Of Season/Series 7, And More!! -- 51 total posts 51 posts
- Friday Brings SWEEPS DAY NINE!! Gab Here About Tonight’s FRINGE!! Plus Einstein on TIM, Wiig On PORTLANDIA, MAHER, CLONE, GIFTED, GRIMM, SPARTACUS, SUPERNATURAL, GOLD RUSH And More!! -- 65 total posts 50 posts
- Rest In Peace Bethesda’s Adam Adamowicz -- 45 total posts 45 posts
- SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD is something I'm very anxious to see! -- 43 total posts 43 posts
- Capone found nothing mysterious or good about JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND!!! -- 40 total posts 40 posts
- OK. So Harrison Ford Isn't In Talks For The New BLADE RUNNER. But... -- 145 total posts 39 posts