Ray Faiola Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 A friend just told me that TCM ran THE THING widescreen yesterday (Thurs 3/23). Did anybody see this? While it's true that, for the 1954 reissue, RKO squeezed (rather than re-photographing a la LOST PATROL) the main titles so that they would be 1:85 safe, the film itself was not cropped. It was and always will be a 1:37 picture. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Missed it. And after what my friend said about it years ago I have trouble sitting through it without chuckling a bit Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Missed it. And after what my friend said about it years ago I have trouble sitting through it without chuckling a bit Sepiatone Please tell. To me this sci-fi film is one of the best. All such films have a degree of camp but this one is well balanced. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJH Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 The Thing is my favorite '50s sci fi film, and a large part of the reason for that is that while, yes, it's about an outer space visitor, the presentation is far more intelligent than most films of this kind and largely that of a suspense thriller. Think of that moment, for example, when the serviceman throws a plugged in heating blanket over top the giant block of ice that has the Thing trapped inside. And for a moment that genuinely SHOCKS you, that scene in which the army guys approach the green house door, their geiger counter telling them their visitor is inside the room, slowly open the door and - BOOM! - the Thing is standing right there taking a swing at them with a growl, has undoubtedly made more than a few members of an audience jump out of their chairs. It's a great moment. I also get a kick out of the fact that this Howard Hawks film has an inside reference to another Hawks film with the line "I saw Gary Cooper in Sergeant York." 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnm001 Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 I love this film, as well. While it isn't my favorite sci-fi from the 50s (that would be THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL), it is certainly right near the top. I love the redo by John Carpenter, too. Both films, for me, are perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJH Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 I love this film, as well. While it isn't my favorite sci-fi from the 50s (that would be THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL), it is certainly right near the top. I love the redo by John Carpenter, too. Both films, for me, are perfect. Day The Earth Stood Still is clearly another winner. And, again, like The Thing, it's an intelligent film. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet0312 Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Missed it. And after what my friend said about it years ago I have trouble sitting through it without chuckling a bit Sepiatone Trying to figure out what could be so funny... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamradio Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 It is a movie within a movie in "Halloween" (1978). How many make it a ritual to watch it on that date along with "Forbidden Planet"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamradio Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Trying to figure out what could be so funny... "Attack of the Jolly Green Giant"? (or will that be "Attack of Matt Dillion" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet0312 Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 "Attack of the Jolly Green Giant"? (or will that be "Attack of Matt Dillion" I'm sorry. I'm just not getting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 I'm sorry. I'm just not getting it. What I'm getting from that poster is that the poster implies the movie is a lot more "cheeser" than it actually is. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vautrin Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 I noticed The Thing seemed just a bit "widescreen," but much less than Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I get a kick out of the outfit that Robert Cornthwaite is wearing. Looks like he is going to a yacht outing instead of being holed up in the Arctic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NipkowDisc Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 the only colorized film that tcm ever had the guts to show,... but the purist hoy-faloys corrected them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Please tell. To me this sci-fi film is one of the best. All such films have a degree of camp but this one is well balanced. Eh? You don't recall the tale of my old friend Doug, who when I dropped of a bag of South American smoking preparation to him one winter's morn, found him watching the movie on one of those Saturday matinees, and when I asked him, "You know who plays "the thing" in this, don't you?" and he said "no", I told him it was JIM ARNESS and he was surprised.... "The GUNSMOKE guy? I didn't know that. And I find it hard ot believe he's that other guy on TV's brother." So I asked, "You mean PETER GRAVES?" and HE asked, "Who's Peter Graves?" So I said, "You know, the white haired guy PHELPS on MISSION IMPOSSIBLE." and he then asked, "Oh, HE'S his brother TOO?" And I came back with... "TOO? Who are YOU thinking of?" And he said.... "You know, that OTHER guy on TV. The guy who played RICKY RICARDO." And I shouted, "You mean DESI ARNAZ?" and then I snatched the "joint" out of his mouth telling him he'd had enough.... Sepiatone 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Eh? You don't recall the tale of my old friend Doug, who when I dropped of a bag of South American smoking preparation to him one winter's morn, found him watching the movie on one of those Saturday matinees, and when I asked him, "You know who plays "the thing" in this, don't you?" and he said "no", I told him it was JIM ARNESS and he was surprised.... "The GUNSMOKE guy? I didn't know that. And I find it hard ot believe he's that other guy on TV's brother." So I asked, "You mean PETER GRAVES?" and HE asked, "Who's Peter Graves?" So I said, "You know, the white haired guy PHELPS on MISSION IMPOSSIBLE." and he then asked, "Oh, HE'S his brother TOO?" And I came back with... "TOO? Who are YOU thinking of?" And he said.... "You know, that OTHER guy on TV. The guy who played RICKY RICARDO." And I shouted, "You mean DESI ARNAZ?" and then I snatched the "joint" out of his mouth telling him he'd had enough.... Sepiatone That is funny. Looks like he had enough before he starting puffing that joint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 LOL That IS a funny story, Sepia! Tell me though. This friend of your's Doug. Did HE look anything like the reverend Jim Ignatowski??? (...'cause just from your story, THAT'S who I envisioned he looked like, anyway) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamradio Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 I'm sorry. I'm just not getting it. Man is chucking because they are being attacked by a walking carrot. I think the what Sepiatone was referring to about his friend. Thing coming up nice - should be a bumper crop. And who plays the Thing - hard to separate Arness's Matt Dillion character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 I told that story about Doug in here before. Surprised it wasn't remembered. Hell, that happened FORTY YEARS AGO and as you can tell, I NEVER forgot it! But that photo below that Ham posted made me think of another "meeting of the monsters" possibility( in the vein of "Predator vs. Alien"). How about----- "The THING vs. The TRIFFIDS"! ?? with the promo---"Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the GARDEN." Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markfp2 Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 A friend just told me that TCM ran THE THING widescreen yesterday (Thurs 3/23). Did anybody see this? Yes, Ray. I just happened to catch the last ten minutes of so. I tried changing the setting on my TV but couldn't do anything with it. It didn't looked to me like it was showing in the wrong aspect ratio and was all stretched out. It appeared that the studio had blown it up and then cropped it to fit the 16:9 ratio. In some shots taller people had the top of their heads cut off. That appears to be the new trend with the studios. I've noticed some TV show from the 60's and 70's running e the same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slaytonf Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 the only colorized film that tcm ever had the guts to show,... but the purist hoy-faloys corrected them. If not liking hot sauce in my tea is being a purist, I'm a purist. If not liking chocolate syrup on my Caesar salad is being a purist, I'm a purist. If not wanting Jack Daniels in my. . . . oh, wait a minute--anything is better with Bourbon in it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Faiola Posted March 26, 2017 Author Share Posted March 26, 2017 Yes, Ray. I just happened to catch the last ten minutes of so. I tried changing the setting on my TV but couldn't do anything with it. It didn't looked to me like it was showing in the wrong aspect ratio and was all stretched out. It appeared that the studio had blown it up and then cropped it to fit the 16:9 ratio. In some shots taller people had the top of their heads cut off. That appears to be the new trend with the studios. I've noticed some TV show from the 60's and 70's running e the same way. It's pan-and-scan in reverse. We got calls at CBS asking why RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER didn't fill up the whole screen. "When I pay for a wide-screen TV I don't want half the screen blacked out!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 It's pan-and-scan in reverse. We got calls at CBS asking why RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER didn't fill up the whole screen. "When I pay for a wide-screen TV I don't want half the screen blacked out!" My brother in law(one of 'em) had that problem with his step son. The kid, feeling their new big screen(but not WIDEscreen) rear projection TV "needed" the screen image to fill it entirely, and fiddled with the settings and compressed the image so that anything they watched had people in movies all looking like EL GRECO paintings! My brother in law couldn't figure out how to STRAIGHTEN it out, and was ready to kill the kid! Sepiatone 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eλευθερί Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 No love for this one here. Carpenter's remake is a masterpiece, as far as I am concerned. The Thing from Another World is just weak tea by comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 No love for this one here. Carpenter's remake is a masterpiece, as far as I am concerned. The Thing from Another World is just weak tea by comparison. Ah, someone that prefers a remake over the original. That is very rare in these parts. I haven't see the Carpenter film so I can't compare, but I did feel the remake of True Grit was superior to the original (mainly because of the acting chops of the two supporting lead players (Damon and Steinfeld over Campbell and Darby). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 I, too, prefer the Carpenter version, although I still like the Hawks version, as well. I also prefer the Bogart version of The Maltese Falcon. That's a good remake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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