AVRant #81: Wall-E Damage
July 3rd, 2008
Another threesome – this time with J and Dina. Jaime’s Flaming Onkyo update. Paul wants to know if he should be interested in tube amps or not. Do Tom and J have Audiophilenervousa? Tom’s theory of esoteric speaker design. J and Dina went to see Wall-E this weekend and had tons of stuff to share. J is old. Getting free tickets at the theater. Tom’s got a new series of editorials coming out soon. Something to look forward to or avoid depending on what you think of Tom. DRM in the future – government controlled? Tom will be on vacation next week so it will probably be Clint and Dina. Thanks for listening and don’t forget to vote for us at Podcast Alley.
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J as the third wheel? More like chaperone!
I went and saw Wall-E and Wanted last Friday morning at a new all-digital and IMAX theater in Little Rock, AR. Both were absolutely beautiful. I need to go see Wall-E again because the little kids wouldn’t stop shouting out their commentary during the movie.
Saw Wall-E and Kit Kittredge this week with my family and both were out of focus. Wall-E wasn’t as bad, but it was quite noticeable during the credits. During KK, I was going to complain but my wife didn’t think it was so bad. Since we were in the back row (where the kids like to sit), it was tolerable, plus I didn’t want to make an issue that would distract from my daughters’ enjoyment of the movie.
What was interesting was that when I went toward the front to exit the theater for a popcorn refill, all I could see was a blurred mess on the screen, and many people were sitting that close or closer and did not seem to mind at all. I guess as a whole we accept whatever we get at the theater. Not surprising no one complained about the scratch in the new print of Wall-E.
As for J’s other point about DVD packaging and pricing, it really is something that is pretty much insane right now. Among Target’s current $7.50 titles right now is Batman Begins, and all four Lethal Weapon movies can be had in one package for $14.99. Pricing continues to drop and Circuit City and Best Buy have tens of decent DVDs on sale for $6.99 or less every week.
Since I don’t like to rent movies much, the sub-$10 pricing has led me to increase my DVD purchases significantly. I keep thinking I’ll go with Blu-ray at some point, but with the cost of movies compared to DVD, I’m not sure when that time will be.
Based on Clint’s review and the discussion I heard on AVRant, it may seem anachronistic, but I picked up an OPPO DV-983H last month and have been thrilled with the quality of the unit. With current prices, studios and retailers are making DVD unbelievably attractive.
I loved Wall-E I think it is by far one of the best pixar movies to date.
I have a ton of digital projection in my area but those for whatever reason were reserved for Get Smart and Narnia. It makes no sense to me.
Film Projection is getting worse and worse. It is so annoying. Wall-E was on film and only had 2-3 drop outs nothing like the entire print being damaged.
I don’t know which is worse, lines in the print or audio drop outs.
But I don’t think most people even notice this stuff.
Seems I am not alone in finding a bad print of Wall E. In addition to the comments here, I have received 2 emails (yippee! I got emails!!!) from people who saw Wall E with damaged prints….
I watched Wall-e on opening day afternoon and the print I saw was awful. Lines, dust, muted muddy colors. I think it was more than a theater problem.
I wonder if Pixar had a bad run of prints on this one…
I pretty much stopped going to the theaters about 4 years ago with the only exceptions being Pixar movies. With the experience I had at the new all-digital theater that opened up about 8 minutes away, I plan on going there more often. I can’t wait to see Hellboy this weekend. I’m feeling pretty lucky after reading the comments on this posting. I just wish I could have the theater to myself.
I Saw Wanted (oh how I wish I could take that one back) and it had vertical lines throughout. Not constant but periodic. I find that I am too lazy to care since I can’t “Pause” it while I go find the pimply-faced manager… though with that movie I would have likely only missed a handful of f-bombs…
Oh come on, the scene with the keyboard made it worth the price of admission.
Jay, you were guilty of two of my pet peeves in this episode:
1. Stating that old music is better than new music in some general way. (You sound like the old guys who like tube amps.)
2. Suggesting that vegetarians (like me) should eat some meat.
I realize you weren’t fully sincere about either of these, but I still find them annoying. Sorry for the bitch session.
I was at my parents this weekend and my younger brother was playing the Wall-e game for PS2. Talk about lame. That game SUCKED. But what got me was there was this song that you had to play to get other robots to do what you want. I’m afraid that its from the movie and now I’m so annoyed by it that it will reduce my enjoyment of the movie when I see it.
John – I TOTALLY agree. When I see a movie for $9.99 or less, I feel like I can buy it rather than rent. When I was renting (rather than Netflixing), I often paid nearly that including late fees anyhow.
Jarret – 1) Not me. That’s all J.
2) That’s me. Sorry about that. 🙂 The minute someone grows a vegetable that tastes like bacon – I’ll consider switching.
hmmmmm. I’ll have to go back and listen to what I said in the podcast that would make you think that I think that old music is better than new music. Wait – old music IS better than new music!!! (generally speaking, of course)
And I would never want to offend any veggies out there when I suggest you should eat some red meat….but you should!
; )
I agree. Mozart is better than Cheap Trick.
Like Tom I too dont go to theaters anymore.