ValentineXavier
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Posts posted by ValentineXavier
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I'm looking forward to it. I haven't seen it in years. Brando was perfect for the part. I have several historic prints from the Mexican Revolution. I have one of Zapata. He has the most intense eyes I have ever seen on a human being!.
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> {quote:title=TikiSoo wrote:}{quote}
> > {quote:title=MissGoddess wrote:}{quote}
> > Archive DVD-Rs. They are a lot more expensive and not as durable as regular DVDs.
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> Recordable DVDs are not "as durable" as unrecordable DVDs? I do not understand, please explain.
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> (the reason I NEVER bought VHS tapes is because I knew they deteriorated in time & was thrilled with the "forever" quality of digital disks)
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There are two separate issues, physical resistance to abuse, and longevity of the encoded data.
Physically, I doubt that there is much difference, but I don't really know. I do know that the most stress a DVD should experience is when it is removed from the hub of the DVD case. One should do their best not to bend the DVD, as that can harm it, eventually, if not immediately.
Recordable DVDs use a dye layer to hold the data. Some dyes are much better than others AZO dye, such as used in the fast-disappearing top line of Verbatim DVDs is about the best. All dyes will fade, eventually. Faster, if they are left in sunlight, and/or heat. The manufacturing quality of the blank recordable DVDs varies wildly, from Memorex on the low end, to Taiyo Yuden on the high end. One hopes that the vendors use high quality blanks. If they do, the recordable DVD should last for decades, if properly cared for.
Pressed DVDs are made using a die that makes indentations in the plastic. These then have a very thin layer of aluminum deposited on the impressed plastic, to provide the reflective layer. Then, another layer of plastic is cemented to the aluminum layer. This method of manufacture is theoretically superior and longer lasting than the recordable dye discs. However, if you've ever seen aluminum lawn furniture, you know aluminum 'rusts.'
Given that the layer of aluminum is so thin, it doesn't take much oxygen to make parts unreadable. In the manufacturing process, air can be entrained in the disc. So, DVDs aren't perfect, forever. A few go bad. Thankfully, DVDs have been improved VERY much, in that regard, over LDs and CDs, which have many more problems. They do make CDs, and DVDs, that use a layer of gold, rather than aluminum. These are expected to last for hundreds of years. Longer than the players...
So, which costs more per unit, to produce, and deliver to the customer? I don't know, but I would bet that the per unit cost of recordable DVDs isn't substantially cheaper than that of pressed DVDs, which are mass produced, and have their production costs spread out over many more discs.
Edited by: ValentineXavier on Sep 26, 2010 9:11 PM
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Yes, I've seen *It's All True*. I like it, but it is nothing like *Chac*. Chac has an entirely Indian cast of real villagers, the story is based on their life, and myths, and is about as real as you can get, short of an ethnographic documentary. I would argue that in some ways, Chac is more accurate than a doc, since the people get to present, and represent themselves, no real 'science filter.'
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> {quote:title=rover27 wrote:}{quote}
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> At least Sen. John McCain came out with the truth: He was born at the *Coco Solo* Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone which at the time was under United States control at the time (1936).
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> __________________________________________________________________________________
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> I love good satire. Or even bad satire.
I would point out that "coco solo" means lone coconut. Now that John denies he ever was a maverick, perhaps that should be his new nickname...
I quite agree with Clore that we should question authority, and Government, doubly so. I learned to find authority, and religion, highly suspect at an early age. I went to Catholic school in first grade. I learned from the nuns, but not what they meant me to learn.
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MFM, after much thought, there is only one film I can think of that is not a documentary, but accurately portrays something that I think fits in with your list. That is the film *Chac, the Rain God*.It was made in 1975 by Rolando Klein, a protege of Jules Dassin. It was shot in Chiapas, Mexico. Klein spent a few years living with the Tzotzil Indians there. They helped him with the story, and are all the actors in the film, except for a dwarf actor, who was hired for the part of a Maya Alux, one of the little people. The story is based on their beliefs. It is a wonderful film, available on DVD.
Well, I just thought of another film... *El Norte* is a good dramatic, and accurate, portrayal of what life is like for illegal Latino immigrants. It is a magical film, but sad. I think children would 'get' film, but younger ones would probably enjoy *Chac* more.
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From memory, so perhaps not exact, from *The Sweet Bird of Youth*:
Heavenly, about Chance:
"When the right doors wouldn't open, he went through the wrong ones."
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Okay, no offense taken.
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Yep, I'd love to see the Weissmuller ones shown.
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Wow! Now we can finally see 100% of The Green Slime! It'd sure be nice if TCM would show it!
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> {quote:title=Sahav wrote:}{quote}
> Okay, seems I still have my terminology mixed up. Pillboxing versus Letterboxing. What I should have asked about was Letterboxing. However if I understand this correctly the SD channel has the black bars because they are assuming and/or just as a default, that people receiving this signal are doing so on a 4x3 box and not a 16x9 box, hence the black bars? And I assume this is either A) to let people know it's in 16x9 or
to have a difference between 4x3 material and 16x9?>
Letterboxing is used on a SD channel so that the full image of a widescreen film can be shown, undistorted. Letterboxing is used on a HD channel to show 2.35:1 films, without cropping or distorting them
> I've read that it's easy for the human brain to accept the distorted or "wrong way" of viewing old shows. Like a film in 1.33:1 on a 16x9 set is stretched and not in the original dimensions.
I guess my brain isn't human. I can't stand ANY of their various techniques of distorting a 4x3 image to fit a 16x9 screen. All HDTVs will let you stretch the picture to fill the screen, if you want. So, I see no need for the broadcasters to do it. But, the WORST distortion is when they have a stretch ratio that is variable, from the center, to the sides. You can't correct this with a setting of your display. I call it the 'fun house mirrors' technique. That's because if you watch something, or someone, move from the center to the side, or vice versa, the part of them nearest the side edge will stretch out. People with wildly asymmetric heads, when they really aren't, bother me!
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> {quote:title=molo14 wrote:}{quote}
> _*Ro wrote:*_ *For me, if I had any issues w/ "plausability" it was the place they went to "hide out". I just did not see that as being as believable as I thought it would be. I was expecting him to get her up there and "accidently" push her off a rock or something.*
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> They should have went to Mexico! Couples throughout film noir are always trying to make it across the border but can't because they are on the lam. Webb and Susan didn't have that obstacle. I just kept wanting them to go to Mexico!
The place they did end up was certainly stark and isolated. >
I commented on this in The Prowler thread. I, too, wondered why they didn't just go to some out of the way spot in Mexico, where they could put up in a motel, and have access to a Doctor, and a hospital, or clinic. How did they have water and electricity, in a ghost town?
Although I do believe that Webb wanted the baby, I think it was in the back of his mind that there could be complications, and he might want to kill his wife, and/or the baby. Easier to do that in a ghost town. He was such a planner...
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> {quote:title=LoveFilmNoir wrote:}{quote}
> > {quote:title=FredCDobbs wrote:}{quote}
> > Man, The Prowler is awful! What a cad!
> >
> > Evelyn Keyes is wonderful!
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> I recorded it to a DVD and I plan to watch it over the weekend so I stayed out of the thread on it to prevent any spoilers. However, I did watch the first 15 minutes or so of it and man oh man....Van Heflin was super creepy. This is the stuff film noir is made of! Times sure have changed! In 2010, a woman alone in her house isn't inviting a cop inside even after he's been there earlier because of a call....and she darn sure isn't offering him coffee (or milk!).
I finally got around to watching it. I liked it a lot. One thing I liked was how Van's face looked SO different than it's usual good guy look. He always looked creepy, but like it was normal, no weird facial contortions or anything.
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Now, now, don't start that stuff. This is in the Your Favorites forum, and I wouldn't call them favorites.
This is the only user name I have ever used. When I signed up, I tried to use "Val Xavier," but that was taken. I have never seen that name posted, and I have no idea who used it, if it was once used.
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Charles Middleton - Emperor Ming the Merciless!
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> {quote:title=jamesjazzguitar wrote:}{quote}
> I would add Dan Duryea to the list and Richard Widmark in his early days was often a weasel and sometimes a snake!
Duryea was great, but his characters usually couldn't be all bad, to the end. You might say he sometimes weaseled out of being a weasel...
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> {quote:title=JackFavell wrote:}{quote}
> And Allen Jenkins? He must have been loaded! I think he was in every movie ever made.
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You're wrong. He was in every other movie ever made, in his day...
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You should see *Johnny Nobody*. Unfortunately, it isn't on DVD, and I haven't seen it on TV in decades.
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Liz, if you haven't already seen it, you should see the film *Decasia*. It is available on DVD.
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Just a wild guess, but perhaps *The Last Remake of Beau Geste*, with Marty Feldman.
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I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade, but so much fisking drives me crazy. (Well, maybe not as crazy as Mark...) So, if I missed it in my skimming, and someone said this, I apologize in advance.
To me, what makes this film unique, is that Celia stays with her psychokiller hubbie, and tries to cure him. As others have pointed out, that she would do so seems rather unbelievable. Thus, Lang does various things to contrive to explain this. Celia's repeated affirmations of her strong belief in her marriage vows being an obvious example of why she is supposed to be motivated to do so. Motive not being enough, we have the pronouncements of the psych student during the murder room tour, giving Celia a means to help Mark. I'll admit that I only about half buy these, and other, contrivances, but I like the film. I am a Lang fan, and it is just so unconventional in many ways.
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> {quote:title=Scottman wrote:}{quote}
> > {quote:title=MGMMayer wrote:}{quote}
> > Donlevy could play both good guys and bad guys (and shaded combinations of both within the same film) beautifully and convincingly, just like Claude Rains could.
> Exactly. I love his performance in THE GREAT MCGINTY, where he is both a heel and a hero.
My favorite Preston Sturges film, and my favorite Donlevy film. He was a heelro!
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> {quote:title=finance wrote:}{quote}
> I remember how disappointed I was when I saw MASH at the movie theater.
I saw it in the theater, with friends, when it first came out. We all loved it! That's what began my appreciation for Robert Altman.
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Screwball comedies and the Marx Bros. by themselves, are enough to make the 30s the golden decade of comedy. I think comedy was so great in the 30s for two reasons. Everyone needed a good laugh during the great depression. But, even though the depression was on, the 30s were carefree compared to the 40s, with the start of WWII, when our very existence was in question. So, comedy couldn't be as wacky and lighthearted then.
I would also point out that in the 40s, before the beginning of the war, there were a few comedies just as good as, and no different from, those in the 30s. A personal favorite is *Sullivan's Travels*, made in 1941. Screwball comedies continued on a few years into the 40s, but died off. IMO, due to WWII.
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I think the question is unanswerable. Brando is a favorite of mine, I think I feel him the most. Mitchum is another favorite of mine, I enjoy him a lot. But, as far as acting styles go, the two are as different as night and day. As I said in another thread, I think Toshiro Mifune is a fine actor, with a scope well beyond the samurai films he is best known for. His character is immensely powerful.
to have a difference between 4x3 material and 16x9?
Overrated/Underrated--The Seventies
in General Discussions
Posted
So it would seem...