Just picked up "X2" at the local CC and enjoyed it on the HT much more than the local Cineplex.

I got a big kick out of the initial scenes with Night Crawler attacking the President. The black smoke effects were dazzling.

Daniel

big finding nemo crowd for thanksgiving...in demoing some of the movie,this could be perhaps better than toy story series or monsters inc. in terms of pix quality...some of the scenes just looked downright hi-def..especially on the shots in the fish tank..

brickie

I just finished watching The Time Machine for the 5th time. In about one hour, about 10 family members will be arriving. They drove to Montreal and are on their way back. My wife is cooking dinner for them. I bet we will wind up watching a movie or two. I'm betting on Nemo for the first show. Probably followed by 2001 A Space Odyssey (I'm in the mood for sci-fi tonight)

Gus

P.S.

Absolutely, positively No dancing tonight... And no drunk people walking about!

After Thanksgiving diner today, the family and an invited friend sat down to watch "Spirited Away" - an amazing film and perfect for a rainy afternoon. Afterward the adults adjourned to the lobby bar and enjoyed cappuccinos and mochas (got an early Xmas present - a new expresso machine!).

The theater's been open all day - in and out watching the Macy's parade in HD and Discovery HD Theater.

BTW - in 2000 I took the family to NYC for the parade: 20 degrees and breezy. A great once and a life time treat, but much more comfortable in a Berkliner in my jammies!

Ain't life grand?

Randy

After Thanksgiving dinner, the kids went and watched Lion King and the adults cleaned and polished off another bottle of red!

The nice sounding, very expensive babysitter gives us 1.5 hours of quiet!

Originally posted by CptnRandy
After Thanksgiving diner today, the family and an invited friend sat down to watch "Spirited Away" - an amazing film and perfect for a rainy afternoon. Afterward the adults adjourned to the lobby bar and enjoyed cappuccinos and mochas (got an early Xmas present - a new expresso machine!).

Randy

If you like Spirited Away be sure to check out Castles in the Sky. Kiki's Delivery Service is ok, but more kid oriented and not quite so imaginative.

Although Spirited Away is my 10 year old's favorite movie.

watched the SE of Enigma last night. interesting movie.
after that i watched Solaris which took my breath away.
loved everything about it.
the kind of experience that seems to justify all the money and time i've sunk into this hobby.

tonight i'm looking forward to Experiment in Terror, and maybe Thief of Baghdad or Thrill Of It All.

just polished off finding nemo...it was a great end to a fabulous day!!

brickie

Last night we screened "X2" for a group of my brother in-law, his wife, her sister, his wife and kid, as well as all of us. Most hadn't even see the first movie, but greatly enjoyed it. Afterwards, I turned on Discovery HD Theater and everyone was mesmerized at "Undiscovered Disney World". Took a while, but my wife now "gets" HD!

Randy

anybody using that new VOOM hi-def satellite service?

brickie

Not me - Time Warner. In the Columbus area, pretty limited offering, but I got a hell of a deal with the combined package of Road Runner (internet), full digital package, multichannel HBO (which we never really watch) and HD. HD is currently limited to one HBO, NBC, CBS, the local WB/UPN, and Discovery HD.

Randy

i also earlier today in a mag i think,saw that dish network is now offering some satellite system geared towards the hi-def crowd.i know they have had it for awhile..but i think this was a little different.voom wants you to pay $750 for equipment,to use thier service..i guess it's okay considering you own it.

brickie

Just started watching Charlie Sheen Comedy Show "Two and half Men" on Tv. I had forgotten how funny he could be. That being said my better half put on "Good Advice" from a few years ago. It had Angie Harmon and Denise Richards (now married to Charlie).

I enjoyed the movie especially the scenes with John Lovitz.

Daniel

Yesterday afternoon, my wife went and rented two movies. She rented Stuart Little II, which she played on the 60" RPTV upstairs for my son, our toddler and their cousin whom we are baby-sitting while her parents are on vacation. After the kids got settled, the wife and I went down to the HT and enjoyed a nice, quiet viewing of George Cloony's Solaris with a glass of wine. I liked it, but then I'm into sci-fi. She hated it, but still enjoyed our quiet time together.

Gus

GUS, how do you like the cambridge sound works speakers...is the bass pretty good from your towers..?

brickie

I LOVE my CSW speakers! Yes. The bass is pretty good. The T500 towers have a 300 watt sub each. Not huge bass, but pretty good. Also my S300 surrounds are great. The only complaint is that my center channel is too small and the next larger CSW center channel speaker would block part of the screen. I've been thinking of how to get around this problem but haven't found a solution yet.

Gus

Saturday night my wife and older daughter and I watched "The Italian Job" - actually pretty good - better than I expected. The younger daughter wanted to watch "O Brother, Where Art Thou", so she was relegated to the family room TV.

Hard to believe that the 35" Sony would look so small, so soon!

My daughter (older) and a friend watched "Just Married" Sunday afternoon. Thankfully, I wasn't around!

Randy

actually i have a date with my wife to watch "just married" sometime this week..i was hoping that it would be decent.

brickie

Last night - Pirates of the Caribbean - lots of fun. Friday night was "A Christmas Story" which is funny as ever.

Randy

CAPTNRANDY, what did you think of the picture quality?there has been so much talk about this dvd being ruined by bad picture quality,just wondering what your take was?also did you allow the kids to view?

thanks brickie

we're about to goto into our x-mas movie craze...the first up is my favorite,or one of them,JINGLE ALL THE WAY.

Brickie -

Picture was fine by me - and the sound was terrific.

Of course, I'm a proponent of "pretty good" home theater. With my setup I found nothing distracting (except for the unavoidable "layer switch"). I try hard to shape my home theater experience for great experience for the content - and I go out of my way to not read the videophile reviews - I respect their expertise, but I don't want it to get in my way of having fun! And I'm trying hard not to even learn what EE is (I kid, I kid). :)

And we had seen it in the theater's this summer - my 10 year old daughter (soon to be 11) loved it. The skeletons may be scary for younger, but they're more funny than scary.

Randy

We got pounded with snow all week-end long here in Mass. I was planning to watch Pirates Of The Caribbean this week-end, but wound up not buying it (as you may have read from the other thread:) ). But with all the snow, we have been enjoying the HT all week-end.

Friday night - The Lord Of The Rings - The Two Towers. My wife hadn't seen it, the viewing was her suggestion. I had a feeling she wouldn't be too much into it, with it being so long. she LOVED it. Even I enjoyed it more than the first time I saw it. Perhaps her enthusiasm rubbed off on me.

Saturday Night - We were fishing around for something to watch. She was reading off titles and I kept saying "nah!". Then she said "The Transporter". I said "What?, we don't have The Transporter!". I had bought this back in the summer and forgot all about it. I said to her "Oh oh! better get some popcorn, this is what we call a Popcorn flick". We both checked our brains at the door and proceded to enjoy it very much.

Sunday - My son and I rented the VHS of Star Wars ( On the RPTV, of course!). He is very interested in the story. Next week-end we will catch The Empire Strikes Back.

Tonight - That's still to be decided. I was leaning toward Moulin Rouge. We'll see what the wife prefers.

Gus

P.S. Brickie, I'm also interested in the PQ of POTC.

We just got our first DVD player and broke it in by watching LOTR: TTT extended. Awesome. Sure beats watching DVDs on my 19" monitor and computer :)

there are some threads where they have really BASHED the pirates's pretty good!!!i bought it and checked out a few scenes and liked what i saw..we'll be watching it sometime this week...for the most part i don't get into what others perceive of picture quality since it can vary from setup and individual opinion..

brickie

Good for you, Brickie!

Who's with me - time to start the "good enough DVD" thread? ;)

Randy

Originally posted by brickie
there are some threads where they have really BASHED the pirates's pretty good!!!i bought it and checked out a few scenes and liked what i saw..we'll be watching it sometime this week...for the most part i don't get into what others perceive of picture quality since it can vary from setup and individual opinion..

brickie

Couldn't find reference to the threads you mentioned. However, I bought and watched Pirates of The Caribean on Friday with some friends. I loved the DTS soundtrack... the story was fun... and Depp was outrageous as the Cap'tn Jack Sparrow! I was surprised by the poor image quality of the DVD though. My 159" screen is most unforgiving to less than great picture quality DVD's.

No complaints here (57" Sony, ISF calibrated).

Brickie,

Ditto on "Pirates"!

The kids and I enjoyed the movie and couldn't believe it was Johnny Depp.

Daniel

Watched Moulin Rouge and was mildly entertained. No where near as good as Chicago. Also, maybe it is me but what's the big deal about Nicole Kidman. She can't act, can't sing or dance and is nothing really to look at. I can see why Tom Cruise threw her out. Well thats just my opinion. I am no fan of Nicole Kidman. I guess I'll keep my eyes wide shut :rolleyes:

I have to give Pirates a good review as well. To me the picture quality was excellent, but I only have 94" screen:D

Saturday I watched 2 1/2 DVDs.
#1 Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life. Not great, but not bad.

#2 Alien SE. Not as scary as I remembered. It has been a few years.

#2 1/2 Pumping Iron. I used to watch this movie all the time when I was younger and actually lifted wieghts. I watched the extras first, which is something I never do. They were very interesting. I didn't watch the movie as it was 2 AM and it was my turn to wake up with the kids on Sunday. My son tends to wake up at 6 on weekends.

later,

Don

Originally posted by I'mListening
Couldn't find reference to the threads you mentioned. However, I bought and watched Pirates of The Caribean on Friday with some friends. I loved the DTS soundtrack... the story was fun... and Depp was outrageous as the Cap'tn Jack Sparrow! I was surprised by the poor image quality of the DVD though. My 159" screen is most unforgiving to less than great picture quality DVD's.

what size projector are you using with that screen....that is HUGE!!!even in this thread you can see where some say the pic is okay and others say it's not..i guess to some degree it will depend on equipment..obviously the smaller the screen,the less you will see problems..

brickie

T3 - decent but my expectations were low... I liked the sound.

28 Days Later - very cool and different if you can handle a little gore. Has some good "make-you-jump" scary moments.

Last night after digging my driveway and my cars out from under aprox. 15" of the white stuff, I gathered the troops and popped in Ice Age. I had forgotten how good this looked and sounded. I had planned to watch Moulin Rouge, but the kids wanted to join us, so Ice Age won.

Gus

I use the opening to Ice Age as a great intro demo for the HT - the combination of big and little sound and terrific picture makes it a winner.

Randy

The only complaint is that my center channel is too small and the next larger CSW center channel speaker would block part of the screen. I've been thinking of how to get around this problem but haven't found a solution yet.

Gus,

The answer to your problem is to go with a perforated screen and put the speaker behind it.

GUS, perforated wouldn't be good for your projector, would it?

brickie

Brickie,
I don't know how a perforated screen would work for my LCD. However, because I have a permanently mounted screen, I still would have no room for the speaker there, as the wall is there. I can't place it above because that is a heating duct behind the sheet rock up there. The only way I can see to do it is if I place it IN the stage. What do you guys think?

Gus

the stage question i can't answer GUS, i know i read that a perforated with an lcd would creat a bad screen door effect...i think that's what it is called..i have my center about 12" off fllor with slight angle up towards couch.what i did is took a string and had my wife sit on couch and i went from here ear to the center..i adjusted the center accordingly until i had a perfect parallel point between her ear and the speaker cone.

brickie

Originally posted by brickie
what i did is took a string and had my wife sit on couch and i went from here ear to the center..i adjusted the center accordingly until i had a perfect parallel point between her ear and the speaker cone.

brickie

That's exactly what I did brickie. I had my wife help me holding the string at the back row of seats (ear level), which are higher then the first row, then ran the string down pass the first row of seating at ear level and then to the center of the speaker. I angled the speaker to match the angle of the string and then built the top of my center speaker platform to the same angle.

Don
The Stars Come Out Home Theater (http://starscomeout.com/temp/HT-Pictures/)

I'm Curious,What did your wife say when you did the string to speaker thing?

Thanks

Debra

i personally explained to my wife why we were doing this,and she had no problems with it..i'm very lucky in that i have free roam as far as the home theater goes...she wants the best ,absolute experience so she understands when the need arises to do these things..

when i push my receiver,especially with dts movies sometimes it cuts out..i completelt rewired my theater about 2-3 weeks ago so i know theres no short anywhere..but she HATES it when this happens!!!!so she now is pushing for me to get a new receiver..i'm thinking about that sony 5000es..maybe after holidays!!

brickie

I just find it funny.lol

I'm into all that also.I have the sound meter and also did the string thing only I used a pen laser.

My friends think it's a little too much,but they are always at my place when they want to watch a movie!

They find it amazing and also think I'm some kind of nerd when I'm tweaking my set with the codes from the HTS.

LOL


Debra

Can your wife come over to my house?

Friday night - National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation!

Randy

Friday night: Bruce allmighty, Bad Boys II

Saturday night: Boxing

Sunday evening: Austin Powers III, Dinosaur Planet (Discovery Channel special).

Gus

Friday Night - Holes
Saturday afternoon - Finding Nemo (...just keep swimming, just keep swimming, ....)
Saturday Night - Deperado SuperBit
Sunday afternoon - Monsters Inc.
Sunday Night - Blast from the Past

Yes, all the kids are here!

Daniel

man, i'm jealous...i get to watch maybe 2-3 movies per week if i'm lucky...i have got to make more time for my theater.

brickie

I've been sick with the flu and have been out for a few days now. The first few days with fever were tough but after the fever broke its been relaxing iin the theater watching movies. I've rewatched both LOTR, terminator 3, Sahara (Humphrey Bogart oldie), Sabrina (Humphrey Bogart and a young Audrey Hepburn), What women want, Tomb Raider II, Xmen 2, Legally Blonde 2 and Matrix reloaded. I've watched so many movies I can't remember what I have watched. I'm like in a perpetual fantasy land now. I wonder if I can get long term disability and just keep watching movies :D


Gus,

Build a false wall out from your current wall and inlay (inset) the screen in there (kind of a shadow wall like described by Russ Herschelman in SGHT). Build the wall deep enough to hold your center channel speaker and you should be alright. Once you have heard what that will do to your sound you will never want to listen to center channels above or below the screen again.

Dave

Gosh, Dave. You've got me hoping I catch the flu!

Randy

Last night I checked out my new demo disk that was made by an AVS member named jeffxjet. He threw in action scenes from his favourite movies and also tossed in all the THX demo clips. Included were:

1. Diva scene from 5th element.
2. Barbarian battle from Gladiator
3. Pod race
4. U-571 depth charges
5. SAM scene from Behind Enemy lines
6. Toystory II scene
7. Straffing scene from Hart's War
8. Attack scenes from Pearl Harbor.

All in either DD 5.1 or DTS. He did a pretty good job on it. The menu is pretty crude, but the quality is very good.
Too bad the THX demos with all the clips from the Lucas movies weren't anamorphic, that would have RULED. It included blended scenes from the original Star Wars trilogy and the Indiana Jones trilogy.

It's pretty good. If you are interested, pm jeffxjet, I think he is willing to help others out with this.

Gus

With the cold weather setting in it's nice to be able to spend some time reading the posts and catching up on some movies.

Monday was Bad Boys 2. As far a sequels go this was one of the better ones I have seen. It was an obvious attempt to bring never before seen stunts and digital work to the screen equaled only by the Matrix films. Definitely had some eye candy. The plot was riddled with good comedy and one liners. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence will certainly be back for another go.

Tuesday was new release day so I had to take in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Another eye candy flick. The plot was very thin but the line up of acting talent made it enjoyable to watch. It was a nice break from the blockbuster Marvel comic movies and the mix of fantasy/sci-fi worked well. And make sure your audio is tuned and ready. The first 10 minutes is full of deep bass that is sure to make your house shake.

Wednesday I watched A Man Apart with Vin Diesel. I have never really enjoyed a Vin Diesel movie. But this one I kinda liked. I went into it not expecting to see the stereotypical Vin Diesel movie and was pleasantly surprised. I think he needed a break and this is a step in the right direction.

I enjoy all movies and am not usually to picky so my reviews will usually not be negative unless I found it utterly disappointing. Even if a movie is half way decent I will let my self enjoy it.

Last night we watched Seabiscuit and I am amazed at how much I loved the movie. You root for the underdog and it just makes you feel good.

The movie appears to be a great transfer and the cinematography reminded me of the old Cinemascope movies.

Daniel

It's Thursday and I am a sucker for a good con.

Confidence with Ed Burns as the leading con man. Dustin Hoffman and Andy Garcia with supporting roles. Good flick. This one really shows the detailed anatomy of a good con. Who ya gonna trust, who's got the money, how did they do that....

Lately we've been goin' old school with our movie picks. We watched Jurrasic Park, T2 and finally Titanic.

We've kinda been going with a "Blockbuster" theme.

Anyone got some suggestions on what to watch next?

Pearl Harbor?

You can't go wrong with a Die Hard movie or maybe a Lethal Weapon.
The wife and I have always watched the Die Hard movies around the holidays. It's like a family tradition now.

I have to ditto Mr. Bishop's comments. I hate when I rent a movie I am not sure about that turns out to be a great movie and then just go out and buy it the next day. Sea Biscuit is a definite keeper and a great way to show off your system.

We watched League of Extraordinary Gentlemen last night.

Suspend disbelief at the door, kick back in your home theater seat, get a bowl of "King Brickie" approved popcorn, pop open a coke and enjoy the ride!

I have been a big Sean Connery fan for over thirty years and enjoyed this flick.

Daniel

PS: For a wild action movie "The Replacement Killers" always satisfies! I had never heard of Chow Yun Fat before but he has been a big chinese action hero for many years.

Just finished "Scrooged"!

"Oooo. You know I like the rough stuff!"

Randy

Last night we watched 2 movies. I was pleasantly surprised twice!:)

1. Shallow Hal - I had been avoinding this, fearing another sophomoric teen romp with all the gratuitous sex, violence and toilet humor ( not that there's anything wrong with sex, just gets a little boring with these teen flicks, besides, can't watch with my son in the room.), but the wife insisted. It turned out Hal was only half as "shallow" as I expected. Don't know if it was the low expectations, but I did enjoy it.

2. Seabiscuit - WOW! It is so refreshing to see a well done movie with no gimmicks to keep your interest. No guns, no explosions, no f-words every 5 seconds. Just a good story told well. Throw in an outstanding transfer and you got a winner! I rented this one, but I'll be picking it up today.

I also picked up all 3 VHS copies of the original Star Wars trilogy to watch with Gabriel (my 7-y-o) today. He has picked up a real interest in Star Wars and has been asking to see the older movies. So today, we are getting rid of mom and little sis and we are having a Star Wars marathon upstairs ( on the 60" TV, as I have no VCR connected at the HT). Should be fun. He should be waking up in the next few minutes, I'm sure he'll want to get right to business!

Gus

Last night the grandkids and grandma insisted we all watch "Finding Nemo". I chuckle every time I think of Dorrie! Each time we watch the movie I see something new to laugh about!

Daniel

My recent viewings include:

1. True Lies in HDTV from HBO. This is a personal favorite. Excellent cast, James Cameron, good fun. The HDTV transfer was nothing short of spectacular. If you have an HBO HDTV feed then don't miss it. It's on one more showing this month.

2. Orange County in HDTV from Showtime. I really wasn't expecting much out of this movie. I was of the mind that this was going to be a lot like Van Wilder, which I didn't find particularly funny. On the contrary, I was laughing my a** off with this one. I don't know what it is about Jack Black, but this guy just cracks me up. I thought he was really good in Shallow Hal as well. Great HDTV PQ and sound from this excellent Showtime HDTV transfer.

3. The Core on DVD. I've walked by this one several times at Circuit City and passed on it. I dunno, the whole premise of the movie struck me as improbable and absurd. But I was fishing for something new to watch and CC had it for $14.95, so I grabbed it and watched it couple of nights ago. I would call it mildly entertaining, though don't expect a riveting plot. The science is pretty weak, though the effects are very well done. Nice PQ and a very, very active Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. My subwoofer was working overtime in this one. The audio gets high marks. Worth a rent.

4. Solylent Green on DVD. Well, it has finally landed on DVD. I haven't seen this movie in at least 15 years and I'm happy to say it was great watching this one last night. The picture looks very good considering the movie's age and low budget. I really enjoyed Edward G. Robinson's performance in this film (it was the last movie he made, and died a few short months after the picture hit theaters).

Next Up:

1. Moulin Rouge (D-Theater)
2. X2 (D-Theater)
3. Daredevil (D-Theater)

I'll watch at least one of the above this weekend. Probably Moulin Rouge.

--Jerome

Gus,

Have you considered purchasing the Star Wars Trilogy on Laserdisc? I noticed Ebay regularly has all three LD's up for auction. PQ has got to better than VHS.

Daniel

Originally posted by Daniel Bishop
We watched League of Extraordinary Gentlemen last night.

PS: For a wild action movie "The Replacement Killers" always satisfies! I had never heard of Chow Yun Fat before but he has been a big chinese action hero for many years.

Wasn't he in "Anna and the King" with Jodie Foster.

Yes, he co-starred in the King and I with Jodie Foster. I did not see the movie, I guess that's one more I have to add to my list of DVDs to buy.

He recently starred in "The Bulletproof Monk", sadly I was very disappointed.

Daniel

Continuing the Xmas movies tonight: Miracle on 34th Street (remake).

OK, but much prefer the original!

Randy

Originally posted by Daniel Bishop
Gus,

Have you considered purchasing the Star Wars Trilogy on Laserdisc? I noticed Ebay regularly has all three LD's up for auction. PQ has got to better than VHS.

Daniel

Daniel,

I would. But I don't have an LD player:( Don't know if it's worth fishing one out on eBay.

Gus

Watched Bruce Almighty tonight--an early Christmas present. I was surprised that I laughed through the whole thing. It was really funny. The sound was good too, with a choice of DD or DTS track. A great gift.

But the news isn't all good...it's a new Universal title, so yes it has the dreaded "forced previews," which is something that drives me absolutely nucking futs.

KP

Last night I had a chance to view "League of Extrodinary Gentlemen". Fun romp with turn of the century heros.. and evil doers... together fighting the good fight to save the world. A definite worth see... and worth buying. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

I was happy to see that Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde was not produced with CGI... this would have been a mistake that "Hulk" made. Instead, good old fashion latex and foam brought the larger than life Hyde to the screen. Fantasy! Fun!.. and Monsters!

Darren,

I'm looking forward to "League" on D-Theater. I saw the trailer and it was enough to grab my attention.

Can't wait!

--Jerome

a christmas story, last night...just good somewhat clean fun...a little but of cursing...

brickie

Originally posted by brickie
a christmas story...a little but of cursing...

brickie

Unbelievable, isn't it? I caught a few minutes of the remake of Miracle on 34th Street, and couldn't believe the language. This is one that should have been left un-remade. And I remember when they made 'The Lone Ranger' movie. Who was it aimed at; kids, right? But they had to have cursing in it. And then there was the 'penis breath' line in ET. Now I use as unsavory language as the next guy, but this is the kind of crap that just doen't fit these particular movies, and in the case of ET, spoiled an otherwise wonderfully enjoyable movie, which at the time I was seeing with my mother, my wife, and my kids.

Originally posted by maxman
Unbelievable, isn't it? I caught a few minutes of the remake of Miracle on 34th Street, and couldn't believe the language. This is one that should have been left un-remade. And I remember when they made 'The Lone Ranger' movie. Who was it aimed at; kids, right? But they had to have cursing in it. And then there was the 'penis breath' line in ET. Now I use as unsavory language as the next guy, but this is the kind of crap that just doen't fit these particular movies, and in the case of ET, spoiled an otherwise wonderfully enjoyable movie, which at the time I was seeing with my mother, my wife, and my kids.

Oh yes, I agree entirely. Thank you Stephen Spielberg, for your revisionist philosophy on all your great movies. Thank you for removing the memorable "penis breath" line from ET. Thank you for inventing police without guns chasing a potentially "dangerous" alien. And finally, thank you George Lucas, for cleaning up the violent and cruel Han Solo. Greedo shoots first, forever!
(/sarcasm)

I just saw League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Didn't expect to have this much fun! definitely exceded my expectations. Action from start to finish. Effects were top notch.

Gus

My wife purchased "Santa Clause 2" for the kids and we watched it last night. The kids and my wife enjoyed it...yes I fell asleep. Spent all day in the shop putting the christmas presents together!

Daniel

Watched "League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen" and "T3" yesterday. LOEG was VERY entertaining and original. As Gus said " it exceeded my expectations". The wife also enjoyed it.

T3 was pretty good also, but most of the plot AND LINES, are rehash from the first 2 movies (not as good as either 1 or 2). The action and special effects in both LOEG AND T2 were incredible.

Based on earlier recommendation in this thread, I got the Superbit Lawrence of Arabia. I had never watched this movie before and was enthralled. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed Peter O'Toole movies. The desert scenes were like viewing a documentary from Discovery HD!

Daniel

Daniel,

I never knew the PQ on LOA was that good. I think I'll pick this up tonight and check it out.

Gus

Saturday-The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen****, Miracle on Thirty fourth Street**
Sunday- A Christmas Story***
Monday-Christmas Vacation***
Tonight- Repeat the Christmas movies while we bake poppy seed cakes and ginger bread cookies, a family tradition.

Happy Holidays to all!

Tuesday - It's a Wonderful Life.

What a great movie. I can't get through the thing with dry eyes. It makes you stop and think how lucky we are. It's probably fair to say that most of us here have been blessed - I know I have been. And for that, I am very thankful.

Merry Christmas to all my friends here at AVSforum!

My daughter's sitting in my office right now watching "Antz" on my 12" Powerbook. Does that count?

:)

Randy

Movies we watched this pass week were:

"Mysterious Island" (1961)

I watched this the other night and was very disappointed. I don't know if they could have done any better with the transfer or if it is just in bad need of being restored or both. The movie was very grainy and had a lot of white speckling and scratches. I enjoyed this movie over the years watching it on TV, but now I found it hard to even finish the movie. I now consider it one of the worst looking DVDs in my collection.

"The Hulk"

I was hoping more from this movie since I purchased it. This movie is definitely not worth a second viewing (ever).

"Die Hard"

My wife and I watched this one last night. It has been years since we had seen it, the last time was on laser. This movie was a fun ride and we look forward to watching the other two within this set.

Don

Just saw Thin Red Line....good sound and all around good war movie. Also saw The Hurricane, what can I say..........It was Denzel. Enough said. Next we'll see a true classic...Philidelphia, with Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington.:D

hulk is a little slow but i did like it..as far as what's showing, we saw elf tonite at the theater..just okay..i think it's really getting hard for studios to come up with new good x-mas movies.

brickie

Christmas day: Chicago.

Got such a pile of DVDs (everyone in the family got them as gifts, too!)

Got:
Indian Jones Collection
Murder By Decree
Pee Wee's Big Adventure
Freaky Friday
Anger Management
Harry Connick Jr. In New York (Concert)
Allison Kraus (Concert)

And bought a big stack today at Best Buy on their "2-fer 9.99"!

Randy

Last night, I watched my new platinum edition of Seven. TERRIFIC movie. And it taught a very important lesson. That being of course, "Just because a f*cker's got a library card doesn't make him Yoda."

I also watched Pirates of the Carribean. Very overrated. Johnny Depp was amusing at times, and reading in Ebert's 2004 book of reviews that he was trying to channel Keith Richards made it all the more fun to watch. However, the movie as a whole was incredibly trite, cliched, and overrated. It was truly made for the lowest common denominator of the movie-viewing society. From Ebert's 3 star review of this movie, 3 star review of The Phantom Menace vs. 2 stars for AOTC, and his giving only 1/2 star to Death to Smoochy, I've decided to begin taking his reviews with slightly more than the grain of salt I had given them beforehand.

Saw "Drum Line" last night. A pretty good movie, and really gives your system a good work-out. Also saw "Bringing Down the House". Not as funny as I had expected.:)

Last night we saw Pirates Of The Caribbean, The Curse Of The Black Pearl. We enjoyed it very much. Perhaps because my expectations were low. Loved Johny Depp's character.

The wife just returned from the mall, and she brought me yet another xmas present, Lawrence Of Arabia, Superbit! I will be watching it shortly.

Gus

last night checked out santa clause 2...nice audio,and video and overall a nice x-mas movie..iv'e said i think it's getting tough to come up with new ideas for studios,but the santa claus series i like so far.

brickie

Last night we watched "The Love God?" Don Knotts

I always enjoy watching Don Knotts. This DVD is a 1:85 anamorphic with an excellent transfer.

Don

Tonight: Murder By Degree

A must if you're a Sherlock Holmes fan. The same plot (but 25 years earlier) and better told than "From Hell".

And directed by Bob Clark - who also directed "A Christmas Story", so it goes with the whole seasonal thing!

Randy

Watched "Seabiscuit" last night. This movie is the best movie I have seen in 2003. This movie has Academy Award written all over it!

Don

Yesterday:

First I watched my Patriots thoroughly thrash the Bills in HD nirvana.
Then I went out to eat (Texas Roadhouse) with the family. I had to pick up a friend at the airport, by the time I got back, it was too late to watch Lawrence Of Arabia. So I watched Deliver Us From Eva with LL CoolJ.

Tonight, I plan to watch Lawrence Of Arabia even if I have to barricade myself inside the HT!

Gus

P.S.

I just may be the only person in The USA who has never seen Lawrence Of Arabia.

NAH, i own it in my collection and have not had a chance to watch it yet either...that must change.

brickie

Brickie, do you have the Superbit version?

Gus

nah, iv'e got the 2nd version released..regular dvd case, but the movie is all on 1 dvd.

brickie

I had that version in my hand twice last week, but decided to seek the Superbit on recommendations from this thread. My Wife finally found it at Suncoast yesterday. Highway robbery, I tell you. She paid $27 for it. The walmart price is $20, I believe.

Gus

Lawrence of Arabia is a true classic and yes the transfer to DVD was great in this movie. This is from the epic days of Hollywood and is well worth sitting through in its entirety. I think I have seen Lawrence of Arabia 5 or 6 times in my life and I have thouroughly enjoyed it each time. In this day and age with the war in Iraq and all it is interesting to hear the same city names in LOA as in todays headlines. Seems like things haven't changed much over there. Omar Shariff is an interesting character in this movie. I think this movie was how he got noticed. Speaking of Omar Shariff, another great movie to watch this time of year (cold winter evenings) is Doctor Zhivago. Put the kids to bed and lock yourself in the theater with your wife or other and you will thouroughly enjoy this epic love story.

BTW,

I've watched Chicago again. I just can't get enough of this movie, just great. Contrasted with Moulin Rouge which really SUCKED big time. Somebody put Nicole Kidman out of our misery, she should be banned from doing anymore movies.

Also rewatched Braveheart, another thouroughly enjoyable movie. After watching Braveheart, Patriot and Lawrence of Arabia, one begins to really hate the British and royalty. They just aren't depicted as nice caring people are they.

Also saw Jeepers Creepers II. Not an academy award favorite but a somewhat suspenseful fright flick. I guess III will be coming out sooner or later. Having watched I and II, I would probably watch III.

Finally, kept with Christmas tradition and watched Christmas Vacation with the family and In-laws. What a blast. That movie is funny every time I see it. I've seen it at least 10 times already.

Watched "Christmas Vacation" last night. I always get a good laugh when watching this one.

My favorite quote from the movie is:

Clark: Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving. Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no! We're all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here! We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny f*cking Kaye! And when Santa squeezes his fat white ass down that chimney tonight, he's gonna find the jolliest bunch of a**holes this side of the nuthouse!

Don

:D I constantly find myself saying: "Are you serious Clark?" all year round!:D

Stayed home today and had myself a movie-fest:

Lawrence of Arabia (Superbit), got to watch it all uninterrupted for the first time, yes it's a classic!

Raiders of the Lost Ark, the transfer is awesome and this movie really made the bass shakers work their magic!

Seabiscuit-just watched it about two weeks ago but it was worth a second viewing.

Bringing Down the House - Eugene Levy is sure to crack you up

Lara Croft and the Cradle of Life - sit back relax and enjoy Angelina Jolie!

Daniel

damn that was one hell uv a day!!!!i'm jealous i spent the day laying bricks and then sleeping up until now...god, i need a REAL vacation!!!

brickie

Watched League of Extraordinary Gentlemen last night. Not bad but I expected a bit more after reading the posts in this thread.

Watched Alex & Emma with the girlfriend today. Not bad for a click flick. Some good quircky humor.

Upcoming:
Seabiscuit
Better Luck Tomorrow

The other night we watched "White Christmas" with Rosemary Clooney's commentary running throughout - very cool, especially if you've seen the movie as much as I have!

Then we watched "The Lion King" (Christmas present) - WOW!!!!

Last night I watched Bruce Almighty. I can't say that I'm a real big Jim Carrey fan but this film had me in stitches. Highly recommended. If you buy or rent this one be sure not to miss the deleted scenes in the special feature section. There's one cut scene in particular that is priceless, though I understand why it was left out.

Great flick!

--Jerome

Jerome,

I thought Bruce Almighty was good too. A friend brought it over a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, he brought the fullscreen version:( , so I put it down on the coffee table and marched down to Blockbuster (about a block away) and rented the widescreen one:cool: . After the movie was over, and they were leaving, the fullscreen copy was nowhere to be found!!!! We have turned the house inside out and haven't come across it. Big enigma! We've concluded that it's not in the house, but then no one entered nor left the room during the movie!!

Gus

Gus,

It was absorbed by your theater as offensive to the universe. If I were you I'd be careful what I left laying around in there!

Randy

Just finished watching Lawrence Of Arabia. (only took me 3 days;) )

Hard to believe that movie is 42 years old!!!! Some of those scenes look like they were filmed yesterday!

The picture quality is definitely as you guys said it would be. It was refreshing to watch a movie other than the current fare. I would have enjoyed it ALOT more had I not been baby sitting my two kids the whole time. That's why it took me 3 days to watch it!

Gus

Picked up "SWAT" with Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, & LL Cool J.

Standard "shoot-em-up-bang-bang" flick. The movie had good special effects (explosions, chase scenes, loved the dark scenes in the storm drains), dragged in some parts. Overall an enjoyable picture if you want "mind fluff".

Daniel

I have been trying to get around to viewing X2 uninterrupted. Guess I am going to have to make another "movie day" on Thursday (1st day of a new "HT" year!).

Gus,
I feel your pain...we have been taking care of the grandkids for about a month...love them to death but it sure can cut into movie viewing time.

Got around to seabiscuit. Great film and looked great! All right going to have to hunt down that Lawerence Of Arabia Superbit. Girlfriend wants to see SWAT, I don't really (kind of odd she wants to see the action flick and I don't). It will be a renter.

Watched SWAT last night, and I thought it was really good. Pretty much an action film though - not much in the way of substance. I, like Daniel, was going to comment on how dark some of the scenes were. Some scenes in the sewer tunnel and in the train yards it was tough to make out what was going on. Other than that it was a fairly enjoyable flick.

Catching up:

While I've been at work this week, my wife and kids were at home - they watched "Step Mom" and "Dirty Dancing." Last night I actually managed a mid-week movie and watched "Le Fem Nikita".

Anyone catch the American remake "The Point of No Return" or watch the series? I hadn't seen any, but thought it pretty good - my favorite Luc Besson movie is still "The Professional".

Randy

Took a quick break from the movies and rented UFC Vol. 1 & 2.
Allot of good fights in the ole Octagon.
What a treat to see Gracie, Frye, Coelman, Tank, and the rest of the gang brutally beating the crap out of everyone.
I just didn't realize how long it has been. Kinda makes me feel a bit older. :(

Le Fem Nikita is best left to the original Luc Beson version. And I agree totally "The Professional" is awesome. Try to get the international version "Leon" got some extra footage that doesn't add alot but does go further into Matilda's training.

Watched SWAT tonight. I was pleasently surprised. Thought this wouldn't be very good. Worth watching.

Watched "Ronin" last night with Robert DeNiro.

If you like action packed "car chase" scenes ala "Transporter", this flick is for you. As a bonus this movie also has the actor who played Leon in the "The Professional".

The movie has lots of plot twists and surprises.

If your into action movies with a little more, you will enjoy this pic!

Daniel

PS: I took my mom to see "The Last Samurai" on Christmas day. We both loved the movie and can't wait for it to come out on DVD.

Happy New Years to Everyone on this Forum!

Well it seems all the kids and grandkids are coming over today. I have been asked to fire up all the cinemas with different themes.

New Years Day Video-fest featuring:

Grandkids-Family Room (Sony 1251 CRT)

Finding Nemo
Monsters Inc
Toy Story

Kids-Home Theater (Barco Graphics 808 CRT)
Yes my daughter wants another Colin Farrell day!

American Outlaws
DareDevil
The Recruit
Swat

Poor-old-Dad-Office (Electrohome 4000 CRT)

X2
Basic
Gone in 60 Seconds

Let's Not Forgot Mom!-Living Room (Pioneer RPTV)
Chick-flick Extravaganza!

Alex & Emma
French Kiss (Which also has Leon from "The Professional")
Notting Hill (I actually like this movie with Julia Roberts & Hugh Grant)

In between showings I will have to help with diapers, meals, popcorn runs (where is King Brickie when you need him!) and all the other requests.

Hey, how did I get into this hobby! Well you gotta love having the whole family under 1 roof again...can't wait to tell everyone I am converting the attic in 2004 to our grandest HT yet!

Daniel

Originally posted by Gus
Jerome,

I thought Bruce Almighty was good too. A friend brought it over a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, he brought the fullscreen version:( , so I put it down on the coffee table and marched down to Blockbuster (about a block away) and rented the widescreen one:cool: . After the movie was over, and they were leaving, the fullscreen copy was nowhere to be found!!!! We have turned the house inside out and haven't come across it. Big enigma! We've concluded that it's not in the house, but then no one entered nor left the room during the movie!!
Gus,

That's just too bizarre. Has it turned up yet?

Yesterday was the first day I have been in the office since Dec 22nd. My business partner left a little something for me under the tree: Blockbuster Video gift cards. So I went down to BB at luchtime and bought (not rented) Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger (the newer anamorphic releases with DTS), SWAT, Chicago, and The Hulk.

Last night I watched Clear and Present Danger (perhaps my favorite of the Jack Ryan films). I was very pleased with the new anamorphic transfer and the DTS surround mix sounded great. I'm sure Patriot Games will at least be as good. With all the new DVDs and a huge backlog of recorded HD to watch I sure have my hands full--in a good way.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, True Lies, The Fast and the Furious, and Speed in D-Theater format came in the mail yesterday. I still haven't watched my D-Theater copies of Daredevil and X2 yet! Too many movies, never enough time.

--Jerome

Last night we had a group of 11 year old girls over to help my youngest celebrate the new year. With my older daughter and myself we watched "Seabiscuit".

Of course, we were interrupted when one girl had to go home, another had to exchange toothbrushes, and a neighbor couple showed up one at a time!

Still great movie and look forward to seeing it straight through sometime soon!

Randy

We watched 'Simon Birch' with our kids the other night.

A cute film that always gets my wife crying....Wonderful!

last nite it was x-men 1 and 2 for us...both were good although everyone preferred 2 better..there were some instances where they could have used there powers more to help themselves...but then we'd have a short movie,right?oh well,still would rate this one a keeper..

brickie

DANIEL, that is way too much popcorn even for "king brickie" to handle..3 theaters,now that's cool!!

Well it was quite a day for the family...I think everyone is "movie'd" out.

The grandkids fell asleep during the second feature, the girls wanted to go to Target after American Outlaw, my son-in-laws wanted to watch HD Sports, and I am pleased I was able to watch X2 before the interruptions began.

Brickie,
As I got each projector, I would remove the "old" one from the HT and setup in a different room. Only my son was excited when I told the family I was converting the attic into a larger HT able to seat the whole family (currently 15 members and growing!). Luckily, he is living with me and I will be able to enlist his help with the framing, electrical, sheetrock, etc...
Hopefully by next new years we can all watch a movie together.

Daniel

The Bishop Multiplex!

I told my wife the other day should we win the lottery (note to self, start buying lottery tickets) and decided to build a new house, I'd want to build TWO theaters.

One big, seating 24-30 and a second that's the size of our current one, seating no more than 10. A "daily driver" and the big impressive one for entertaining and "events"!

Last night the family watched "Keeping the Faith", which was surprisingly good. Edward Norton is becoming a dependable sign - if he's in it, it's probably a good movie. "The 25th Hour" is my top movie for 2003.

Randy

Hopefully by next new years we can all watch a movie together. Daniel, we do that now at holidays in the basement theater and it is definitely alot of fun for the whole family. But sometimes trying to get everyone to agree on what movie to watch is difficult. Then I have to invoke my executive privileges and pick the movie myself. Three theaters and a fourth on the way is way too cool. Thats like nirvana, the only thing left for you is to put one in the bathroom.

This weekend was full of football both pros and college bowl games in HD. No real memorable games, actually kind of boring this year except for a few games Purdue and UGa for one.

I did get to watch a movie though. 28 days later.... It is a British knock off of the Night of the Living Dead theme. The story line is different but the theme is the same. Basically, a guy wakes up in a hospital, alone, 28 days after the outbreak of some virus which was inadvertently released by some animal activists trying to free lab animals. Although a cool idea and starting out great, the movie falls apart about midway through. The entire sequence with the military was stupid and totally unbelievable. The movie completely falls apart there and never regains its early promise. I can only hope that this movie gets the virus and is never seen again. I hate when a movie shows early promise and captures you in those first 15 minutes but then loses itself. Avoid the dissapointment and see Night of the Living Dead over this one if you want to be scared out of your wits.

Captain Randy,

I have also become a fan of Edward Norton.

If you are able, watch Red Dragon...he plays the ex-FBI agent that captured "Hannibal". I also liked the role he played in The Score with Robert DeNiro. I think he was also in a movie with Richard Gere where he was accused of murder. Richard Gere portrayed a psychiatrist and the ending had a surprise...

David Guill,

I had not thought of potential disagreements over which movie to watch...I guess we're spoiled because you just go to another room. As for the bathroom....hmmmm, I have thought of putting an LCD TV behind a two-way mirror. I got the idea from Audio-Video Interiors magazine.

In general,
I am very fortunate my "better half" indulges my hobby. She prefers to read and it takes an act of congress to get her to watch a movie in the HT, and it has to be a romantic comedy. She loves French Kiss, That Old Feeling, The Krippendorfs, and of course Somewhere in Time.

I wish everyone an action packed thrill ride of a year!

Daniel

PS: has anyone seen "Confidence"?

Daniel,

Doctor Zhivago is a romantic comedy which your wife may enjoy. Although it is a drama and not a comedy it is a grand epic love story as only Russian authors can tell.

Watched "First Men in the Moon" last night. I loved this movie growing up, but even with seeing it the first time on my 92" screen and in it's OAR (2:35), it seemed to be now very dated and to have loss the magic it once had for me. This was the first time my wife has even seen it and it did not do anymore for her, then what it did for me upon this viewing.

Don

Slightly Off topic;

Today (03JAN04) is the last day of dVd sale at Target.
Here are some examples:

Panic Room (Jodie Foster, Forrest Whittaker) in Superbit - $7.50
Moulin Rouge (Nicole Kidman) - $7.50
Confidence (Edward Burns, Dustin Hoffman) - $10.00
* Note: not every dvd is on sale

If you have been holding off certain dvd's that are 1-2 years old, now is your chance to get them at a decent price.

Regards,

Daniel

We watched "Pirates of the Caribbean" last night. This was better then what I expected, a very fun movie.

Don

I'm not into Anime, but the other night I watched 'Spirited Away'. It was excellent. Beautifully drawn with wonderful english voice-overs. I would say it is the Japanese equivalent of 'Alice in Wonderland'. I highly recommend it.

By my son's request, we just finished watching The Fast And The Furious again. I kind of napped in and out the whole time, but he enjoyed it. I did wake up to notice a lip sync problem I had never noticed before. Toward the end of the movie when..
Torreto and Connor meet after the botched hijacking , every word that Torreto says comes out about a half a second after his lips move. This was on the DTS track. This was the only part of the movie where I noticed this.

Gus

Last night we watched the 1938 restored Technicolor Robin Hood, quite incredible really. As with all good Technicolor the movie looked better than real life. This was actually quite entertaining. The only part that went on a little was the final sword fight. Interestingly it had some similarities to the Smith Neo fight scenes in the last two Matrix films.:D

Art

I'm away for the week, but the girls are back home enjoying the theater! Yesterday they tell me they watched the new "Freaky Friday".

Randy

My wife and I watched "Freaky Friday" and "Say it isn't So" this weekend. Both were rather disappointing. Even my wife agreed and she was really looking forward to freaky friday.

I have been watching Alias: Season 1 and am up to episode 16. I honestly don't know how I missed this show. I remember when it came out, but at the time thought that it must be a rip off of Dark Angel which I did watch at the time. Had I just watched one episode of Alias I would have probably never watched Dark Angel again.

This is a great show. I'm just not sure what I'm going to do when I start watching it on TV in Standard rez(No HD yet) and have to wait a week between episodes. I may have to wait a bit now as Disk 5 is currently in long wait status at Netflix.

Saturday, between Alias episodes, I watched The Replacement Killers with Mira Sorvino and chow Yun Fat. Not a bad action flick! the soundtrack seemed a little bass heavy, but is that really a bad thing!

later,

Don

not at all, DON.

brickie

Let's see....since the new pj arrived Friday, we've seen: Finding Nemo, the Panthers game in EDTV, the Colts game (WOW! PQ), Almost Famous Bootleg, and tonight we'll see either Real Genius, Road to Perdition, or Good Will Hunting.

An earlier poster mentioned "Confidence" with Edward Burns, Dustin Hoffman, and Rachel Weisz...so I had to check it out. Luckily Target was discounting the dvd for $10.

I actually liked this movie. If you want to see a con game in action and be surprised by some of the plot twists, check out this flick.

Daniel

PS: The studios are releasing "Underworld" and "Johnny English" tomorrow. I have heard several good things about "Underworld" from my co-workers and I love the Mr. Bean series.

Originally posted by Daniel Bishop

PS: The studios are releasing "Underworld" and "Johnny English" tomorrow. I have heard several good things about "Underworld" from my co-workers and I love the Mr. Bean series.

Daniel, I sure do agree with you about the Mr Bean series. I never even knew there was a Mr. Bean series until a couple weeks ago when I happened to catch it on a PBS channel. This guy has to be one of the funniest comedians there is today.

BTW, is the movie “Mr. Bean” (I think that’s what it was called) available on DVD?

Don

We watched "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" last night. It’s been years since we last watched the Indiana Jones trilogy movies. The last time was on laser, long before there was DVD. I always considered them as some of the best fun adventure movies ever made.

Don

Originally posted by darthopus
I have been watching Alias: Season 1 and am up to episode 16. I honestly don't know how I missed this show.

darthopus,
My wife and I are addicted to Alias too. We watched Season One on DVD when it came out. Problem is, we were so hooked that we'd stay up 'til 2am on a weeknights because we just had to see the "next" one. But then barely stayed awake at work the next day. We did this all the time.

We finished Season One at the end of October and then we had one month to get some sleep before the Season Two DVDs came out on December 2nd. We did the same sleepless ritual and finished all twenty-some episodes before the end of December.

You gotta love that it fills the whole 16:9 screen and that the surround sound is great too.

Luckily I have recorded all of the new Season Three episodes on my ReplayTV, so we have now watched those ten. Now it is painful to have to wait a week for the new ones.:(

Yes we are obsessed, but the every one of the characters is so great and that Jennifer Garner isn't hard to look at either.

We did the same thing with "24" and "The Shield". Now we are going to check out the two seasons of "Dark Angel" on DVD, but I'm glad I got your take on it so that I will know in advance not to expect as much.

I'm glad you are a fan too.

Oh, over Christmas I saw that the ill-fated only season of "The Tick" (live action) is out on DVD and it encludes the three episodes that never aired.
It is silly and absurd, but fun. So I bought it. I think I was the only person watching it when it was airing on TV.

I killed 2 discs of Alias season 1 in one night (well I did it twice) ... I fricking love that show so much. It seriously ranks up there with one of the best shows in the history of TV.

However, 24 edges it only slightly because it has Kiefer and Kiefer is THE MAN. That is all.

I can't wait to get my projector so I can witness Alias at 92" via 480P scalled to 720P :-D

Starscomeout

Don,

Unfortunately, the movie is Johnny English not Mr. Bean.
I meant the actor who plays Mr. Bean is starring as Johnny English. It's supposed to be a spoof on James Bond type of movie.

Daniel

Originally posted by Daniel Bishop
Starscomeout

Don,

Unfortunately, the movie is Johnny English not Mr. Bean.
I meant the actor who plays Mr. Bean is starring as Johnny English. It's supposed to be a spoof on James Bond type of movie.

Daniel

Thanks Daniel,
I saw the previews for the “Johnny English” movie, however this was not the movie I was thinking of. I did a search on the Internet Movie Database and the movie I remembered was titled "Bean: The Movie" (1997) starring Rowan Atkinson. This movie is available on DVD and is in widescreen, but not anamorphic, however I still think I will get it.

Don

another vote for ALIAS,it rules!!!don't have the dvds,but we have NEVER missed one of the shows!!EVERYTHING gets put on hold on sunday nights...

brickie

Yeah, "Marshall" is a hero to all us gadget and techno geeks!

It's a good thing that Sydney Bristow is a fictional character, because were I single and an undercover CIA double agent...http://www.deephousepage.com/smilies/kiss5.gif

Brickie, good to know that you and I share more obsessions than just yummy home theater popcorn.:)

It's good to see so many Alias fans!

I just checked my Netflix cue and both Disk5 and 6 didn't get sent to me. I watched the last episode of disk 4 last night and am already going through withdrawels. I may have to go buy the set. Unfortunately christmas tapped us out and my daughter's birthday is next weekend so my wife, although very receptive of my obsession, will kill me if I do.

repeats to my self, "Patience...Patience...Patience..."


Markito,

Don't get me wrong about Dark Angel. I enjoyed the episodes very much, but they are nowhere near the calibur or Alias. Although Jessica Alba isn't hard to look at which is probably 50% of why I wathced it!


later,

Don

Don,
I too have NetFlix, but in a pinch like that, I'd say run down to BlockBuster and rent it this one time. The good news is that 5 & 6 come together in the same rental. The only bummer is that it is a "2-day" rental... but that shouldn't be a problem for you.:D

Jessica Alba isn't hard to look at which is probably 50% of why I wathced it!

that why everyone watched it after the first season...boy did that show go downhill...

Originally posted by lax01
that why everyone watched it after the first season...boy did that show go downhill...

this one i agree with...i think she is a little hotter than jennifer garner.although neither are a halle berry!!

brickie

You know I never even thought of Blockbuster for renting this. I will head on down there after work! I should probably just buy the set though.

Brickie:

In my Best Homer Simpson: "...Uhmmmm...Halle Barry..."

later,

Don

Just saw "Out of Time" with Denzel Washington....must say this is one of his best movies yet. Keeps you on the edge of your seat through-out the whole movie 5 Stars!! :D

We watched "Underworld" last night (Kate Beckinsale was also in Pearl Harbor, Serendipity, Shooting Fish, etc...)

The dark mood and landscapes are perfectly suited for CRT. If you liked "Blade", this movie is for you.


Daniel

SWAT

Not bad. Picture 4/5 Audio 4/5

We also watched "Underworld" last night. Kate was definitely different than the sweet, cheery little nurse in Pearl Harbor.

It is very dark, graphic and not at all for young kids (obviously).

It wasn't the best film I had ever seen, but for its genre, it was good enough. If you are into a lot of shooting, blood, vampires and werewolves, then you will probably like it.

It felt very Matrix-meets-Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer to me.

Now here is an interesting question... if Kate and her colleagues were vampires, how come we could see them in all of the mirrors in their castle? In fact one of the vampirettes even eyed herself up in a full length mirror to see how she looked in a beautiful dress. And I even saw Kate's reflection on the glass when she was looking out a window. Hmmmmmmmm.

But I must say that the special effects were absolutely amazing and the surround sound was as good as I have ever heard. Great use of separation of sound through the different channels. My wife had to tell me to shut up when I kept pointing out how great the surround sound was.:D

Out of Time

Based on HTJunkie1 rave review, picked up "Out of Time" with Denzel Washington today. Can't wait to check it out tonite.

Daniel

PS: another favorite comes to mind "The Bone Collector" with Denzel Washington, if you like suspense movies, this will keep you on edge.

PSS: A movie I favor which didn't do very well at the box office is "Assassins" with Sylvester Stallone and Antonio Banderas. Check out the action scenes where they are trying to kill each other.

If you are into a lot of shooting, blood, vampires and werewolves, then you will probably like it.


not to mention tight black leather on Kate Beckinsale...:D

Here are some of the favorites we have watched in the last two weeks:

U-571 - Awesome subwoofer workout with all the depth charges. Lots of activity in the 6th channel for those of us with 6.1

Mask of Zorro - Fun movie with excellent sound and picture quality.

Kandahar - A low-budget movie made by an Afghan-Canadian woman in Afghanistan before we kicked the Taliban out.

Seabiscuit - The whole family enjoyed it, but it got just a little sappy for me.

The Shape of Things - This was recommended by Roeper, and both my wife and I were really perplexed at first, but the surprise ending brought it all together. Features Rachel Weisz.

Dark City - This was 4 stars per Ebert, and both of us enjoyed it. Includes Jennifer Connelly, which is always a plus. After watching it, I wondered if it borrowed from The Matrix plot-wise, but actually it was released a year before the Matrix. Based on a story by Philip K Dick.

Spun - Raunchy, weird story about drug users. Includes John Leguizamo and Mickey Rourke. Very engrossing and different.

checked out school daze earlier today...simply awesome.for an older classic(for me) movie,it really had a nice transfer.

brickie

Watching Underworld as I type this (I've seen it a few times so I'm not missing anything) and it sounds VERY good. Incredibly channel seperation as well as some hard hitting bass. Definitely one of the better Dolby Digital tracks I've heard on some recent movies. Mixing is superb. I just wish my head wasn't all stuffed up so I could hear it fully ;)

Just saw Boat Trip with Cuba Gooding Jr. Pretty good movie, and if you've seen it, you know that the banana scene is the best. If you haven't seen it, and plan to, remember the banana scene!! Also watched Hollywood Homocide. Again, a good movie, but the Dolby Digital sound wasn't the best I've ever heard in a car crash scene. Johnny:D

Underworld. Loved it! Great casting, good effects, hot, hot soundtrack, not a bad storyline, excellent picture quality. Lived up to the trailer and then some. Recommended, especially for anyone who likes this genre. Reference quality audio and video!

DVD has a full dvd quality with DD 5.1 teaser for Resident Evil 2 too :D

Thursday night--cable is out so no thursday night t.v. Therefore I decide to watch a 70's horror movie called Burnt Offerings. What a turkey. Here's a brief synopsis:

Four incredibly stupid people (the late Oliver Reed, Bette Davis, Karen Black, and an annoying kid) move into a beautiful old house on the cheap, with a mysterious woman living upstairs. Nothing happens as we watch the family's vacation activities for what seems to be about three hours. Then (finally) allegedly spooky things occur including (I'll turn on inviso-text, even though there are no real spoilers):

* near-horrific events while swimming in the pool that (although newly re-furbished) looks only slightly cleaner than the toilet in "Trainspotting."

* Davis succombs to unusually frequent oversleeping and napping.

* Black refuses to "do it" with Reed in the middle of the front yard. Hmmmm....

* The old woman upstairs refuses to eat her steak and peas.And then it goes on until its incredibly insipid conclusion. I'm not exactly sure why it's called "Burnt Offerings." Asides from a few candles, I didn't notice even a single flame in the movie. Maybe Black's character Burnt the steak she was Offering the woman upstairs.

I will say this: there is one genuinely creepy moment involving a chauffeur. Really stupid. But creepy. The rest of it is a hoot.

If you do give this disc a spin don't watch the trailer first. What little action this movie has is all in the trailer, along with most of the films "secrets." But I guess it doesn't really matter since anyone with an IQ higher than a bacon cheeseburger will be able to figure out the whole thing after watching only 20 minutes.

Incredibly, the DVD includes a commentary track by the screenwriter, Black, and the director. I plan on giving it a listen, because I have no idea what can possibly be said by the makers of this flick.

KP

Friday--very suitably we watched Freaky Friday. Good PQ and a soundtrack with sudden and jarringly effective bass in a couple sequences. Well-acted and a fun night watching a movie. Much better than last night's Burnt Offerings (which still makes me chuckle just thinking about it).

Last night we watched Laura Croft... Cradle of Life.

We were both unimpressed. But it was like a car wreck, had to watch in to the end.

Last night we watched SWAT. It started out pretty good, but I expected a better plot.

Afterward, we watched a police drama on NBC (HD), I can't remember the name of the show, but it was pretty good.

Tonight, we get to watch The Pats beat some sense into those Titans in Zero degree weather in full HD splendor:D :D :D I've already filled the fridge and I'm about to go shopping for the ingreients for the "Gus-a-ritas"

Gus

We watched "Out of Time," and "SWAT" this week. OOT was excellent, nice soundtrack and edge of your seat suspense the whole way through. I've have never been disappointed by Denzel.

I actually did not expect SWAT to be very good, but I liked it very much. I also watched, Behind Enemy Lines" for the third time and once again was in awe over the sound track. Amazing!

I need a suggestion for tonight. It looks like a lot of folks like "Underworld." Maybe I'll give that a shot.

What a coincidence, we watched "Behind Enemy Lines" last night too. You are right, the surround sound and bass was excellent. I love to hear bullets whizzing over my head. Though I'm not sure why he left his buddy with the bad leg just lying in the middle of the open field, rather than carrying him to a hiding spot in the forrest just a few yards away.

We also rented and tried to get into "Dark Angel", but after being HUGE "Alias" fans, Dark Angel absolutely SUCKED. O.k., so that Jessica Alba was totally hot, but that was the ONLY good thing about the three horrible episodes that we watched. Now I should point out that the season 2 DVDs weren't available, so we had to watch Season 2, and as some of you had said here, Season 2 is supposed to be worse than Season 1. I feel no urge to watch anymore, except I do want to see the pilot episode because I assume that one would at least be pretty good. I'll take "Alias" anytime.

We finally got around to watching "Out of Time" last night. The suspense was keeping me on the edge of my seat. Half the time I was yelling at the screen for Denzel to "wake up", he was getting set up and couldn't see it coming. I have to admit...I was just a bit surprised at the real culprit.

This morning had to watch Assassins again. I get a kick out of Antonio Banderas and his maniacal intensity as Miguel Bain.

Daniel

Originally posted by Gus
Last night we watched SWAT. It started out pretty good, but I expected a better plot.

Afterward, we watched a police drama on NBC (HD), I can't remember the name of the show, but it was pretty good.It was probably "Third Watch", which is an excellent show about the police and FD in NY. I've been a fan since the beginning, but it really became popular after 9/11...

watched Underworld and Bruce Almighty. both excelent movies. unlike t3 which i thought was really poor. effects were fine and all but story was just outright stupid. next weekend its a john cussak weekend with better off dead, say anything, gross point blank, and trying to remember the other 2 movies i bought. man i love best buys 9 buck bin

Originally posted by Tony Golden
It was probably "Third Watch", which is an excellent show about the police and FD in NY. I've been a fan since the beginning, but it really became popular after 9/11...

Yes, that's it!

I had no idea this show had been around that long!! I thought it was new. I guess I don't watch much TV. It is an awesome show. I'm a believer. So refreshing to see a cop show where there are no car chases, no gun play, no jumping from tall buildings. Just smart dialogue a well written story line and fine acting. Cool!

Gus

Yeah, it's a great show. And, here's the kicker -- last night *wasn't* one of the better episodes... :-)

what about NYPD BLUE...it is a great cop drama as well..i hope that it returns to tv.

brickie

OK, this may not count, but waiting for my plane last night, I watched "Equilibrium" on my Powerbook.

Not great, but pretty good.

Randy

Picked up my X1 at CC this week and finished painting my screen today. We just watched SWAT and now are watching XMen. Swat was a pretty decent action flick, and reminded me that I used to love that TV show as a kid.

We watched "The Royal Tenenbaums" last night. I kept asking my wife throughout the movie if the paint was dry yet. Well, maybe it wasn’t quite as bad as watching paint dry, but it was a slow movie with a boring script about boring people with boring lives.

Don

Last night a buddy of mine came over to watch The Magnificent New England Patriots, lead by Lord Brady do their thing. The wives went upstairs and watched Scary Movie, but not before they set up a decent spread for us. An awesome time was had by all. I meant to catch a movie after the game, but one too many glasses of wine did me in early.

Gus

I watched Just Married on HBO in non-HD (:() and I must say that was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. It was not even funny. I guess it would have been more pleasurable in HD (:)) but since I don't have those capabilities yet, I just gotta wait.

Stay away from this one.

Yesterday the new X1 got quite a workout as I watched both playoff games and tried to stay up to watch one of my all time favorites, Dances with Wolves. Made it through the first 45 min or so of Dances before I dozed off, although just that part of the movie was great on my 100" screen. Gus, watch out for the Colts, Peyton and the boys are looking good!

I really don't recommend that anyone dances with wolves. You could get mauled or at least seriously injured.;)

Gus, Tony Golden & brickie, have you guys watched "The Shield" on FX?
Seasons 1 & 2 are available on DVD and Season 3 will finally start airing on FX in March.
I don't know if it is your kind of cop show, but I LOVE it. It is written so well and the characters are excellent.

It's kind of like NYPD blue, but much edgier and even better.

Rent the DVDs if you get the chance.

awe for me and cop shows i have to go back to law and order.. see two sides of the story from start to end. then theres reno 911 ;-)

Markito, Yes, I watch The Shield every chance I get. I just watched it this sunday night. Great show!

Gus

Originally posted by Markito
I really don't recommend that anyone dances with wolves. You could get mauled or at least seriously injured.;)

I know you're joking, but there has never been a verifiable wolf attack in the US in it's entire history. Wolves are incredibly misunderstood creatures that have had a lot of bad PR.

Now California Mountain Lions are a different stroy!

We watched Underworld Saturday and Whale Rider last night.

Underworld was interesting and entertaining, but it will never win an Oscar. There were many holes in the plot and parts that didn't really make much sense. The most irritating part for me was that the Werewolves looked like cats instead of wolves. That's just not right!

Whale Rider is a great family film. It was hard to follow the New Zealand accents though. I would suggest turning on the subtitles, at least until you've listened to them for a few minutes and gotten a little used to it.

Yeah, The Shield is awesome -- can't wait for the new season to start. It's probably my #3 favorite cop show of all time.

Number 1 was Homocide: Life on the Street -- got cancelled a few years ago, and I don't know if it's available on DVD. Number 2 is Third Watch, although it's not technically a "cop" show.

After those, are Law & Order, SVU, and Boomtown. Coincidently, almost all of these are (were) on NBC, and another interesting fact; many of the actors had roles in "OZ". Speaking of HBO, they had another excellent cop show, "The Wire"...

Sorry NYPD Blue didn't make it in there, Brickie :-) I was really into it for the first several seasons, but kind of lost interest after Kim Delaney left...

Almost forgot...

The most under-rated cop show of all: "The Job", with Dennis Leary :-)

Pen, if you like Reno 911, you'd love The Job. Don't know if it's available on DVD or anything, but it's worth searching for.

Underworld.

PQ:

1. Dark but contrast is a plenty and razor sharp
2. Picture is steely blue / gray in tone

Great soundtrack except:

1. Dialog too forward sounding
2. Mix hotter than LOTR FOTR EE
2. Bass so powerful you should watch your sub - could get hurt!

Movie....not as bad as I was expecting. Decent in fact.

We watched The Core yesterday, and although the sound was very good, it was too much like Armageddon. We also watched Catch me if you can, with Tom Hanks and that Leonardo kid. Pretty good movie, but not one of Tom's best. :p

and that Leonardo kid Yeah, that Leonardo kid is one crappy actor. I have not seen a movie that he added something to it. In fact I think he was wrongly cast it most every movie he was in. He is one terrible actor.

Bass so powerful you should watch your sub - could get hurt! Jeff, my Hsu Research and Definitive Technology Subs got on heck of a workout with this movie. However the Bass was too much and I ended up turning down the subs output level. This movie had my Hsu Chuffing.

DiCaprio was incredible in 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape', but I haven't been impressed with him in anything else.

Originally posted by Az Barber
I know you're joking, but there has never been a verifiable wolf attack in the US in it's entire history. Wolves are incredibly misunderstood creatures that have had a lot of bad PR.

O.k., o.k. then at least be careful if they are bad dancers, as they may step on your toes.:eek:

Originally posted by Tony Golden
Yeah, The Shield is awesome -- can't wait for the new season to start. It's probably my #3 favorite cop show of all time.

Number 1 was Homocide: Life on the Street -- got cancelled a few years ago, and I don't know if it's available on DVD.

Tony, Seasons 1, 2 & 3 are on DVD...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00008PHCZ/qid=1074013386/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/102-5321762-5207356?v=glance&s=dvd

Tonite we watched Johnny English, it is not bad, it has some pretty funny moments, and also is rated PG so it was easy to watch with the 4 kids without worrying about inappropriate content. Now I am rewatching LOTR:FOTR for the first time on the X1 and am enjoying it more than ever.

Finished the first two discs of Alias season 2...pure greatness...

I think the 2nd season's audio was recorded MUCH better...and though it doesn't have heavy surrounds and heavy bass, the dialog is much more clear, and for Alias, this is almost more important.

Thanks, Markito!

lax01,
I also love all of the songs that play in the background during the show. Not the score, but the actual songs by many different eclectic artists.
I go to Alias' music list website to look up the songs/artists,

http://abc.go.com/primetime/alias/music/music101.html

and since there isn't a soundtrack available (only the score), I buy the songs via Apple's iTunes site and then transfer them to my iPod. I have an Alias playlist mix.

I know, it sounds a bit obsessive, but the music is very eclectic and fun, from Nina Simone, to Beck, to Norah Jones, to Fleetwood Mack, to Smashing Pumpkins, to Lizbeth Scott, to Ryan Adams, etc.

Very cool, Markito! You ought to suggest it to Apple - kind of like the "Celebrity Playlists".

Randy

Markito: I have the actual soundtrack and I must say its good too...Michael Giacchino is a great artist...

as for supporting legal peer-2-peer, thats all you buddy ;)

Btw, on episode 8 of Season 2, they used U2...I thought it was a great use of the song ...

god I love that show.

Watched Top Gun. I was surprised that the sound wasn't better. I was expecting my system to get a good surround work-out, but it was not that great. Also watched Whale Rider,and the kids liked it. TRIED watching The Count of Monte Cristo, but I couldn't bring myself to watch the whole thing.:p

You gotta remember, Top Gun was mastered in Stereo and then up-converted to 5.1, so there is only so much they can do...

AHA! I didn't know that. Makes perfect sence. Thanks....:)

Not a problem, but it really is amazing how they re-master some of these older movies into 5.1, be it DD or dts. A good example of this is the Indiana Jones trilogy that just came out...amazing DD 5.1

Finally got around to watching "Johnny English" with Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean). Beautiful girl, car, and scenery. The movie dragged in some parts but if you appreciate "Mr. Bean" you will get quite a few laughs from his antics as the suave, sophisticated, bumbling boob.

Daniel

checked out BRUCE ALMIGHTY last night..i must say it was pretty good..many scenes had us all laughing super hard.

brickie

We just finished watching "The Perfect Storm". A very enjoyable movie.

Don

Last night, Benny & Joon - a great film for the family. And the best part: Johnny Dep's performance of some Charlie Chaplin routines had my youngest excited about seeing some of the originals!

Randy

I haven't had a chance to spend much time down at the ol' HT lately. I have a few guys coming over tomorrow to witness Brady The Great and The New England Patriots (Superbowl XXXVIII Champs) make mince-meat out of Peyton Manning and his boys.:D :D :D :D :cool:


Gus

Watched Northfork last night. Absolutely beautiful and astounding. I agree it's not for the escapist entertainment crowd since it's deliberate, quiet, and a bit challenging. But I found it moving with great performances by all involved, and the presentation on the DVD looked quite nice on my plasma system.

BTW, if you have even a passive interest in photography or cinematography, you may want to take a look at the film on those virtues alone. There is a not a single frame of the movie that isn't worthy of being matted and displayed. Beautiful.

Last night we watched "Office Space" - I'd seen pieces before, but not all in one setting.

I still think that the opening (caught in traffic) is the funniest part of the movie!

I started to watch "Ronin", but had to give up before it was over - I'll finish up today.

Randy

Saw Swimming Pool last night...incredibly weird film...I felt like the director was trying to make it more deep than it really was...and I have no idea why they put a dts track on the DVD. The track was front heavy with absolute zero use of surrounds. 3 5.1 tracks and the video bitrate definitely suffered. But it doesn't really matter, the movie didn't need high bitrate...good movie though, lots of nudity

Watched again one of the best movies/dramas/stories. Had Liam Neeson, Goeffery Rush, Uma Thurman, Claire Danes. Highly recommend to all

Originally posted by D_B_0673
Watched again one of the best movies/dramas/stories. Had Liam Neeson, Goeffery Rush, Uma Thurman, Claire Danes. Highly recommend to all

And the name of it is...

Drumrole Please...........

My bet would be Les Miserables.

Ain't google wonderful?

Randy

I went through 3 alias disks in the last 2 weeks and only have 3 more until season 2 is done for me. Now I am faced with waiting for season 3 to make it to DVD or just start watching now missing the first half of the season.

I had a choice between Freddy vs. Jason, The Medallion, and Lawrence of Arabia Saturday night. I chose the wrong one. I had really no expectations for F v J and it gave me what I expected. No real plot and the only worthy moments were at the end during the major fight.

I should have watched Lawrence of Arabia I did start it, but it was 2:30 in the AM and was not going to make it for the whole thing. This weekend for sure.

later,

Don

Finished Alias last night...7 total episodes including the New one on ABC.

lax01,
You're as crazy as me!!!

darthopus,
I HIGHLY recommend that you wait and watch season 3 from the beginning. The first episode of Season 3 is REALLY good and it all ties together well. If you can in any way wait, please do.

It's good to know that I have some obsessed Alias buddies.:D

I had my little get-together with the fellows yesterday. It was a great success. We had all kinds of food, beer and wine. But the best part was watching my Pats take poor Peyton Manning appart. They made him look BAD:D :D :D

Gus

It's good to know that I have some obsessed Alias buddies.

you know it...Episode 11 of Season 3 wasn't too shabby either ;)

Markito,

The problem is that I don't know if I'm going to be able to wait. I have the last two week's episodes captured to my Hard drive and am surprised I haven't watched them yet. I'm not sure if waiting until this summer is doable for me especially knowing there are new episodes being shown.

On the other side going from seeing the episodes in their widescreen glory on DVD to standard TV broadcasts is really tough as well.

later,

darthopus

Tonight:

The state Of The Union in HDTV. This ought to be interesting.

Gus

Originally posted by CptnRandy
My bet would be Les Miserables.

Ain't google wonderful?

Randy

Randy is correct. This is nothing like the musical. One of the best dramas to date.

Tonight:

The state Of The Union in HDTV. This ought to be interesting.


Gus is it coming in 5.1? ;)

I got a nice surprise , I picked up "Sudden Impact" , you know, the Dirty Harry Series, from Wallyworld for $5. It was actually a pretty good transfer, in 5.1 no less. Very good quality for the age of the film.

Lax, I don't know. I tried to find out, but no one seems to know. I sure hope so.

Gus

haha, so was it? did it SOUND like you were there? ;)

Wasn't in 5.1 on NBC, ABC or CBS.

awhh :(

Rented Bugs Life as we do not have the DVD version, the kids enjoyed it and now want me to buy a copy on DVD. It is interesting to me that movies that were just OK to watch again on our 27" TV now are much more enjoyable to watch on a 90" screen.

mjmchase,

I was always in the minority, but until Finding Nemo, A Bug's Life was my favorite Pixar feature. I think it's funnier than both Toy Storys and MUCH better than Monster's Inc.

Last night I watched Open Range. Loved it! The cinematography was outrageous! I think tthis is one of Costner's best.

Gus

Gus, Is that the one with Nicole Kidman?

Last night we continued to rewatch our Pixar collection with Toy Story. The kids are a few years older now then the last time we watched it together and laugh more as they get more of the subtle humor. They really enjoy Woody's facial expressions and I think enjoyed the movie more now then they did when they were younger. Tonite I think we will follow up with Toy Story 2.
I tried watching Open Range the other day and keep dozing off, have a few days left on the rental so I guess I should give it another try.

Originally posted by David Guill
Gus, Is that the one with Nicole Kidman?

No. I mean this (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0316356/) one. With Anette Bening.

Gus

We watched “Escape From New York: Special Edition” last night. This is the newer released version that is now anamorphic. I was very disappointed in this new transfer, which was overly dark. I know the movie is a dark movie to begin with, but most all shadow detail was lost, making the movie appear very dark. I never did see the older transfer on DVD, so I can’t compare it to that, but I did have this movie on laser some years ago and can remember it having a lot better shadow detail then what was lost in the dark parts of this transfer. What is it with John Carpenter’s movies, I had also noticed how overly dark the transfer of “The Thing” was. I wonder if he is even paying any attention at all to the transfer of his movies.

Don

Gus, Is that the one with Nicole Kidman?

That movie would be Cold Mountain. This is still in theaters and moreover, this movie was complete garbage. 3 hours of completely predictable storyline and cheesey character development. Diffenently not buying this one.

Open Range

We watched this Robert Duval, Kevin Costner flick and thoroughly enjoyed it. The cinematography is breathtaking!. I loved the open range, the bleakness of the town, etc...

The kids dropped by and were engrossed by the movie. They felt it was Kevin Costner's best work. I for one, enjoyed the character of "Boss". Classic Robert Duval.

Daniel

Blow

Both my wife and I didn't care for this film very much. Johnny Depps character just couldn't "Say No" to pot or coke, prison and the threat of not seeing his daughter couldn't persuade him. Not a very touching story.

We had guests over and after seeing the "Seabiscuit" was up on the marquee, decided to see it - enjoyed seeing it for a second time.

And great guests, they asked if they could bring a DVD, so they picked something off my wish list - Spaceballs! Another friend is buying "Open Range" for me (he hasn't seen it and wants to see it at Cinema Murray - works for me).

Randy

last night we checked out the disney movie HOLES..it actually turned out to be an enjoyable movie..had some serious elements,and some that had us laughing on the floor..not bad at all.

brickie

I finally had the opportunity to watch DTheater Alien tonight. It looked fantastic. I would say that this is about as good as this can look. The color ,texture, cleanliness, resolution , contrast and blacks were all top notch. A 25 year old movie and it looked great. It is nice to see a few classics out in DTheater.

Art

I finally had the opportunity to watch DTheater Alien tonight. It looked fantastic. I would say that this is about as good as this can look. The color ,texture, cleanliness, resolution , contrast and blacks were all top notch. A 25 year old movie and it looked great. It is nice to see a few classics out in DTheater.

Art

Originally posted by CptnRandy
And great guests, they asked if they could bring a DVD, so they picked something off my wish list - Spaceballs! Another friend is buying "Open Range" for me (he hasn't seen it and wants to see it at Cinema Murray - works for me).

Randy, I assume you have trained all your generous guests well, so that they don't stick you with a "Full Screen" movie, right?

Heaven forbid! They'd be banished to watch the public access channel in the kitchen. :)

Randy

I'm kind of behind everyone here in watching the latest releases due to my Alias addiction, but I did watch Underworld and Out of Time this weekend.

Underworld was aa fun movie that looked and sounded really good. I wasn't expecting any grand story as this is just a vampire/werewolf flick. I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

My wife and I watched Out of Time last night and enjoyed it, but my wife guessed the plot line and the ending way early in the film. We still enjoyed it.

I have Little big Man w/Dustin Hoffman in the mail and look forward to seeing it again. I used to watch this every time I caught it on cable.

later,

Don

Star Trek Nemesis

We broke down and decided to rent it - perfect for the snowstorm yesterday! The sound was MUCH better than in the movie theater - very cool!

Pirates of the Caribbean last Wednesday

Wow, Johnny Depp - need I say more? :D