The Movie Thread

[RGMike]

The in-flight movie goes the way of the dinosaur:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/10/us-airways-to-cut-movies_n_111838.html

[urth]

The in-flight movie goes the way of the dinosaur:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/10/us-airways-to-cut-movies_n_111838.html

Not a huge loss, imo. I always thought an airplane was a lousy place to watch a film--noisy, always getting interrupted by drink/meal service, or when the person next to you has to get up to go to the loo, and invariably one channel of the headphones was shorted out. Yeah, if they have to cut something, this is as expendable a choice as they could have made.

[Lightnin' Rod]

The in-flight movie goes the way of the dinosaur:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/10/us-airways-to-cut-movies_n_111838.html

Not a huge loss, imo. I always thought an airplane was a lousy place to watch a film--noisy, always getting interrupted by drink/meal service, or when the person next to you has to get up to go to the loo, and invariably one channel of the headphones was shorted out. Yeah, if they have to cut something, this is as expendable a choice as they could have made.

Plus, the movie would always be hacked to pieces to conform to the lowest common denominator of decency.  One of the major reasons R rated films are rarely released anymore is that they are too hard to cut to airline specifications.

[RGMike]

The in-flight movie goes the way of the dinosaur:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/10/us-airways-to-cut-movies_n_111838.html

Not a huge loss, imo. I always thought an airplane was a lousy place to watch a film--noisy, always getting interrupted by drink/meal service, or when the person next to you has to get up to go to the loo, and invariably one channel of the headphones was shorted out. Yeah, if they have to cut something, this is as expendable a choice as they could have made.

Plus, the movie would always be hacked to pieces to conform to the lowest common denominator of decency.  One of the major reasons R rated films are rarely released anymore is that they are too hard to cut to airline specifications.

I'm trying to imagine the airline versions of Superbad or 40-Year-Old Virgin... (shudder)

[Gazoo]

Re the above, I always thought there were great opportunities for indie musicians to strike licensing deals with the airlines, but no one seemed interested in the idea.  Inexpensive radio programming seems low on people's lists, to my chagrin.

[RGMike]

Re the above, I always thought there were great opportunities for indie musicians to strike licensing deals with the airlines, but no one seemed interested in the idea.  Inexpensive radio programming seems low on people's lists, to my chagrin.

Of course, major labels have done that for decades. Remember, it was on an airplane that Roberta Flack first heard Lori Lieberman's orig version of "Killing Me Softly"...

[Alicat]

I was just checking show times for Mamma Mia! and noticed the Sandler Zohan flick no longer playing. Was that a bomb of a movie?

[RGMike]

I was just checking show times for Mamma Mia! and noticed the Sandler Zohan flick no longer playing. Was that a bomb of a movie?

Well, it made nearly 100 million, but that makes it his biggest (wide-release) flop since Little Nicky.  Oddly, it got some of his better reviews in years.

[ggould]

I was just checking show times for Mamma Mia! and noticed the Sandler Zohan flick no longer playing. Was that a bomb of a movie?

if I'd had the energy, I woulda gone to last night's midnight showing.  There were 6 post-midnight showings of Dark Knight to the one Mama Mia at the Daly City 20.

[mshray]

Oddly, it got some of his better reviews in years.

Not just 'oddly', utterly inexplicably (imho).  I saw most of it & it wasn't just dumb, it was offensive.

[RGMike]

Oddly, it got some of his better reviews in years.

Not just 'oddly', utterly inexplicably (imho).  I saw most of it & it wasn't just dumb, it was offensive.

as I predicted before it opened, the fact that Judd Apatow's name was attached (as a producer) meant certain critics might go easier on it -- and they did.

Speaking of Apatow, I'm very much looking forward to Pineapple Express on Aug 8th.

[mshray]

Dark Knight is awesome!  Some of the pyrotechnics demand a certain amount of suspension of disbelief, and the Joker pulls off some things that require deus-ex-machina omniscience, but, that being said, it does not play down to the lowest common denominator.  If anything it will probably lose some points with the general public for its overall density - you really have to pay attention & things happen fast - but that's only because Christopher Nolan tops his Batman Begins in both action set-pieces and in character development...

You absolutely cannot Take. Your. Eyes. Off. of Heath Ledger's Joker.  F***ing brilliant.

[Alicat]

Made it to Mamma Mia! today. I laughed, I cried, I laughed. Still have SOS playing in my head. Very enjoyable. Nice production. Meryl was/is incredibly delicious, Amanda Seyfried kept making me think of Goldie Hawn. Pierce Brosnan is aging well. Wish I had been with a more outgoing audience (singing, dancing, etc...). There was no participation other than anemic clapping at the end.

Saw a few previews I want to try to remember to see, The Lucky Ones and maybe the House Bunny when it makes it to DVD which probably won't take long. Zohan ought to make the DVD scene any moment now.

[Gazoo]

Wish I had been with a more outgoing audience (singing, dancing, etc...). There was no participation other than anemic clapping at the end.

Which is exactly why I won't go see it unless I'm with a gaggle of gay geese.

[RGMike]

Wish I had been with a more outgoing audience (singing, dancing, etc...). There was no participation other than anemic clapping at the end.

Which is exactly why I won't go see it unless I'm with a gaggle of gay geese.

Actually, that's why I avoided it on stage here in SF -- a theater full of middle-aged gay men who know Every. Single. Lyric? -- no, thanks.  But the Castro really should've booked MM rather than Indy 4.  I'm SURE there'll be a "sing-along" version down the road.