Monday, March 31, 2008

Yet another new media discussion from a too young curmudgeon (and some random tidbits)

The other night, before I began my wedding in Wisconsin adventure I had the opportunity to catch Jaws at the Zigfield Theater in midtown Manhattan. The print was lovely and the audience pumped. I've seen Jaws by myself, with groups, I've seen it in crappy Parisan hotels, I've seen it on big screen fancy plasma-liquid-razor thin TVs. But until last Thursday night I don't think I'd ever REALLY seen Jaws. This is all just a fanciful way of saying that the raw experience of seeing a big exciting movie on the big screen can't be beat, the same can be said for seeing it with a primed, reasonably polite and expressive audience. Media grows increasingly accessible, increasingly affordable and increasingly portable, the problem is the experience is diminished. Seeing Jaws with three old-friends who are old hands at Jaws and three who had never seen it before? You can't replicate that holding your iPhone sideways. Plus seeing THIS on the big screen allows you to applaud at the end:

So what say you valued readers: Are you fed up with theaters or do you still believe in the magic? Or has a third way caught your eye? Put it in the comments.

Some other newsworthy tidbits that don't merit full posts include:
It's weird to see all this stuff about Jason Segel and movie-making buddy Nick Stoller taking over the Muppets because it could have been an honest to God Sickness Cinema exclusive as I heard about it two weeks before it was announced officially. Damn my paranoia. Anyway I could not be happier about the arrangement. Especially when Segel says stuff like this.

Apparently Juno is getting an additional soundtrack full of stuff that missed making the movie by "just that much." More Kimya Dawson, more Buddy Holly and another sampling of Ellen Page's delightful soprano voice. Haters to the left, everyone else can order online to the right. Learn more here.

1 comment:

elaine said...

i love the cinema. i saw pulp fiction, the big lebowski, and 2001: space odyssey (in 70mm) here on the big screen, and each projection was totally mind blowing.

also saw pee wee's big adventure, and that made me feel like a kid again.