175 replies to this topic

[Steve Sensible]

The reviews seem to be split down the middle - currently 49% at Rottentomatoes.

[Blank Ed Boy]

Went to see it last night and I really, really enjoyed it. Full review over at Don't Feed The Monkeys here:http://dontfeedthemonkeys.com/#!/entry/john-carter-review,1893/4

[steveuk]

Why John Carter has to be seen to be believed

<SNIP>

John Carter is the kind of movie no studio bigwig in their right mind ought ever to have greenlit: a space fantasy based on a genre – "planetary romance" – that hasn't been popular for well over half a century, populated by bizarre creatures from the mind of a writer apparently endowed with the ungrounded imagination of a small child. This is exactly why you should be checking it out. The film is out next weekend and I've posted the final trailer above. What a glorious enterprise Disney have wasted all their money on. God bless Hollywood!

http://www.guardian....arter-week-geek

A huge, sci-fi, action adventure movie about a wounded hero finding love and a place for himself?

That's EXACTLY the kind of movie studio bigwigs WANT to make.

EDIT:
The Guardian's review is a really good example of a really bad (dickish) review; http://www.guardian....n-carter-review

[Steve Sensible]

Has that guy not heard of Avatar? Y'know... the most successful movie ever made.

[garjones]

Really, I think we are seeing the death throes of actual theatrical cinema as we live and breathe.

I've heard that one for too many years. There are more cinemas around now than when I was a kid in the early 80s when the VCR was meant to have killed it. I believe attendances in the US are fairly static, the UK had good growth last year and in the developing world cinemas are sprouting up like mushrooms which is why we see the percentage foreign gross increase year on year.

3D though I think is on its 3rd or 4th iteration as a gimmick. Yes retrofitting didn't help but we're a good couple of years on from Avatar and with quite a few films made specifically for that format and it really doesn't add much.

I think the next growth area, and my pal Alex that runs a cinema says it's a rapid change, is places that offer greater options in the areas home viewing can't compete with, the shared social experience. He's quit the Odeon chain and works for Phoenix cinemas that offer that and actually have projectionists that make sure the picture is good. Table service, a bar for chatting about the film afterwards etc. Independents offering that are growing faster than multiplexes right now.

BBC film critic Mark Kermode would say it's Imax and that would probably be true for the experience but the screens are just too expensive to run to be the norm, you can't have a 150 seater Imax, they are huge by nature. Even if every multiplex converted their biggest screen to Imax that would leave 90% of screens without it.

In the end the problem with John Carter I think is less format and technology and more the rather telling 49% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, it's a bit average by all accounts.

[Steve Sensible]

BBC film critic Mark Kermode would say it's Imax and that would probably be true for the experience but the screens are just too expensive to run to be the norm, you can't have a 150 seater Imax, they are huge by nature. Even if every multiplex converted their biggest screen to Imax that would leave 90% of screens without it.

I think IMAX is just as much a gimmick as 3D. It is quite an experience having the movie filling your entire field of view, but once you get over that - and that happens very quickly - it doesn't add anything to the experience any more than 3D does.

And IMAX 3D is far worse for the loss of light problem than systems like RealD. I saw Avatar at the IMAX and at my local Odeon, and it looked a hell of a lot better at the Odeon.

At the end of the day, it makes little difference if you're watching something on a big screen or a 20-inch TV - if the story doesn't grab you, the movie has failed.

[garjones]

Yeah you could be right. I've never actually seen a proper IMAX feature, it's either been those 'race car' or 'go to the moon' features or a normal film on a very big screen.

Regardless I think the main issue is it'll always be a minority thing. There's only one IMAX screen in this entire country. It's a very nice theatre but I can't see any change that will make it economically viable to spread out from there.

[Paul F]

Regardless I think the main issue is it'll always be a minority thing. There's only one IMAX screen in this entire country. It's a very nice theatre but I can't see any change that will make it economically viable to spread out from there.

There are no IMAX screens in Ireland at all. I'd love to have seen MI:4 in IMAX, and I'm sure Dark Knight Rises will look great in IMAX too, but I'll probably not get the opportunity to see it that way.

[Ogul]

I've heard that one for too many years. There are more cinemas around now than when I was a kid in the early 80s when the VCR was meant to have killed it. I believe attendances in the US are fairly static, the UK had good growth last year and in the developing world cinemas are sprouting up like mushrooms which is why we see the percentage foreign gross increase year on year.

I think that things are fairly stable, but it's in a bit of a bad spiral. Smaller theaters can't compete with megaplexes, and less tickets are sold, but for higher prices so it balances out, but that can't go on forever. I kind of feel that they are where comics were ten or more years ago.

[steveuk]

The use of gimmicks has a long history in cinemas. This is the advert for the screen where I saw 'John Carter';



It was just a big screen in a big theatre. Very nice, but not mind-blowing and not worth the extra cash they charged for it.

So I'll be surprised if it really makes much difference to their bottom line.

[garjones]

There are no IMAX screens in Ireland at all. I'd love to have seen MI:4 in IMAX, and I'm sure Dark Knight Rises will look great in IMAX too, but I'll probably not get the opportunity to see it that way.

Yeah there aren't many anywhere: http://en.wikipedia...._of_IMAX_venues

That link lists around 450 globally but when you look at the detail a fair chunk of them are not commercial cinemas but in science centres, zoos and museums. I know from pubcast there are 430 screens in Ireland and not one Imax. I think the only reason Kermode bangs on about it is because of his ongoing rant against 3D but if he sat and thought about it for 10 minutes would see it's far less likely to catch on because there just aren't very many of them.

[Steve Sensible]

I think the only reason Kermode bangs on about it is because of his ongoing rant against 3D but if he sat and thought about it for 10 minutes would see it's far less likely to catch on because there just aren't very many of them.

I don't think it's so much Kermode who thinks that anyway, rather he's taking a cue from Chris Nolan, who loves the format. Kermode just thinks 3D isn't the future. As he mentions occasionally.

[Barry Matthew Ween]

I think IMAX is just as much a gimmick as 3D. It is quite an experience having the movie filling your entire field of view, but once you get over that - and that happens very quickly - it doesn't add anything to the experience any more than 3D does.

And IMAX 3D is far worse for the loss of light problem than systems like RealD. I saw Avatar at the IMAX and at my local Odeon, and it looked a hell of a lot better at the Odeon.

At the end of the day, it makes little difference if you're watching something on a big screen or a 20-inch TV - if the story doesn't grab you, the movie has failed.

Last movie I saw in IMAX I think was Inception though I may have seen another in IMAX since but just don't remember...

But I saw Inception first on a regular screen and then saw it on IMAX because I went with a group of friends and when we finally agreed on seeing Inception, the only time available that everyone could agree upon was the IMAX showing.

Inception on IMAX was pretty spectacular as I remember, though as you said that's probably also due to the fact that I think Nolan made a truly great movie, so that helped.

[Johnny Henning]

What's this thread about? Life on IMAX?

[Steve Sensible]

Heaven forbid anyone should derail a thread other than you, Johnny.

[Paul F]

I don't think it's so much Kermode who thinks that anyway, rather he's taking a cue from Chris Nolan, who loves the format. Kermode just thinks 3D isn't the future. As he mentions occasionally.

It helps that he lives in London, where he has fairly easy access to movies in IMAX. Same for a lot of critics and such who live in New York/LA/Chicago, etc.

[Johnny Henning]

Heaven forbid anyone should derail a thread other than you, Johnny.

Hey, I resemble that remark!

[garjones]

I don't think it's so much Kermode who thinks that anyway, rather he's taking a cue from Chris Nolan, who loves the format. Kermode just thinks 3D isn't the future. As he mentions occasionally.

Oh he does say Imax is the next big thing, fairly often actually, but yes I think it comes mainly from being impressed by Nolan's efforts and probably as Paul says being in London and usually getting in free. Someone sent an email to the show a week or so back explaining how much it costs to get in with a family and he adjusted his view slightly.

I do think in his race to damn 3D he's grabbed onto IMAX a little as a better option but hasn't really thought it through.

Personally I do find it more appealling, I can't be arsed with 3D anymore and will choose 2D if I can but that one Imax cinema is 4 hours drive away and I won't hold my breath expecting one to ever arrive here even though it's the second city with 1.5m people. It needs a very big screen which means very big seat numbers and most cinemas can't justify it. 3D just needs a new projector which is easier to manage.

[Todd Gross]

‘John Carter’ Feeble $10+M Friday And Weak $30+M Weekend Falls Behind #1 ‘The Lorax’

[Blank Ed Boy]

Well, the OCD fixation on tracking every dollar this movie is making this weekend shows the level of interest Nikki Finke has in cinema...Honestly, it's a good movie, I really enjoyed it and I'm pretty sure most people would if they gave it a chance

It's all about quality, rather than dollars and cents, isn't it?