Okay, off-topic rant number 2. there is a rather silent struggle among DVD that i think should have been lost in the transition from VHS to DVD. I'm talking about the existence of the Full screen DVD release. Full screen is the biggest sin among most serious movie fans, depending on the type of wide screen (there's letterbox, wide screen, 16:9) which are all some what different, you can lose up to 40% of your screen image. take a look at this image from Disney's Sleeping Beauty:
The full screen format completely destroys the existence of the 2 characters on the end of the screen. while it might not be so bad from this example (why are those 2 important? they probably aren't) there are times when it cuts off very important plot elements and that's just no good. "But those black bars on the top and bottom of the screen are annoying" this is a stupid complaint, how are they annoying? they are just blank parts of the screen they are only something you need to get used to, and that usually takes one or two movies to get rid of that feeling. most newer TVs, Monitors, and screens come exclusively in widescreen, TV shows are made in wide screen, and DVD should no longer offer Full screen as an option, not even if it includes both the wide screen and full screen options. Full screen should have gone the way of VHS and the 8-track. its current existence baffles me.
September and its lack of theater options does not mean its a movie desert, now is the time when your favorite summer releases come out on DVD for you to rent and own. so in that spirit im gonna review a couple of movies that came out before i started this blog.
First up: Iron man.
Iron man was a surprisingly good movie that may lead into a first rate movie franchise. Robert Downy Jr. gives a superb performance as a drunken rich weapons dealer, so basically himself minus the weapons. (or maybe he does that kinda thing, I can not be certain) It has a terrific performance from Jeff bridges, who i couldn't help but think of as "The Dude" from "Big Lebowski". but al together its a great mix of humor and action, not your Oscar-worthy art piece, nor the utter bore of Superman Returns. so its deserves a solid 9, which makes it worth at least a rental.
Number 2: Speed Racer
Now i am aware that a lot of critics panned speed racer as stupid and needless. they complained about the colours and the speed at which it moved. but i thought that these were the things that made the movie wonderful. the bright colors and CGI worked for this movie. The movie is highly stylized as are all of the Wachowski brothers projects, this is a movie for children, but does not dumb things down for them. Speed Racer is a movie that is fast and fun, if you can find the child inside you bring that child out and enjoy. (I paticualrly enjoyed the stunt racing, it was like hot wheels cars come to life!) So fast-paced and colorful Speed Racer deserves a solid 8.5 don't listen to the critics on this one.
Finally we have Kung Fu Panda.
I imagine that Kung fu Panda is like the CGI version of Beverly Hills Ninja. its not a bad movie but in the vast scheme of CGI childrens movies it is unfortunatly somewhat forgettable. not nearly as forgettable as say, Hoodwinked or Happily N'ever After. (yeah you don't even rember those, do you? oh really well, whatever) So in the case of the Kung Fu Panda I award a 6.5 go ahead and rent this one, or do one of them on demand things, that way you dont need to bother returning it.
SO theres a brief rundown of summer Movies along with rants and fun, sorry i don't update that often, but click the ads and i might get some money to head to the movies once and a while.
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