I suppose this is where having a 19.8 inches viewable moniter comes in handy then...

--bornagainpenguin (who also has a TV card on his rig believe it or not and loves the huge screen because the closed captions are enlarged from the screen size!)

 

I watch films on my pc all the time. I can connect my pc to my 37" inch wide-screen so I don't even need to waste a DVD burning them.

 

37" inch wide-screen

GRRRRR!

--bornagainpenguin (inflicted with geek envy)

PS I'm assuming you have a DVI? I've tried using SVideo to plug in my video to a TV and it was absolutely crap. Playing video wasn't so bad, but trying to get the audio to the speakers and then later on actually USING the system from the TV was a complete eyesore.

 

And that's where having your own projector comes in handy ^^. Home cinemas rule.

 

Yeah. The DVI came with the system actually. I get decent video and have the audio coming through a surround sound setup. This room is covered in flaming speakers. Ten speakers and two sub woofers (combining PC and TV setup) in a tiny bedroom makes it darn hard to move anywhere. Add a wide-screen TV and a pc into the mix and it becomes near impossible.

 

Actually movies are still doing just about as well as always. It's the box office that's taking the hits and therefore people assume movies are failing. Considering the MPAA's only stranglehold is on the theatrical chains and keeping them from showing unrated movies, they rarely recognize DVD except when it's illegal piracy. Especially considering how much of the DVD format ignores the MPAA and releases 'unrated' DVDs.

Think of all the technological advancements in home entertainment in the last twenty years. Big screen's affordable, DVD, surround sound systems, DVR's, on demand for play/pause/rewind too, pay per view, netflix sending dvds in the mail etc... and think of how much the theatrical experience has changed in the last 50 years. Exactly. And people act surprised the box office is on the decline. The main box office draw now is if you enjoy seeing movies in crowds, with big groups laughing at funny stuff, jumping at scary stuff, or getting out of the house into a darkened air conditioned place and a reason to yell at the kids to shut up and get them away from their toys.

TV is getting a lot better, and DVRs make TV watching even smoother than DVDs. The production costs and quality of shows is nearing the level of big budget movies. And new shows like Veronica Mars or whatever can become far more popular by putting out the entire early seasons so people can watch those DVDs and get into the show. Ten years ago, you'd just jump into a series a friend recommends having not seen any of the previous episodes. Knowing the DVDs are out there, also means the writers and creators can take advantage of that and appeal to a more informed audience rather than exclusively loyal viewers who've been watching for years.

The industry is fine. It's just embracing the ability to smoke while you watch a movie, or pause and rewind a line you missed because you were laughing. Or if you like DVD like me, I prefer watching with the subtitles on as I don't have to pay as much attention that way. And espcially like me, you don't have to wear pants to do it. Until the theaters allow me in pants-less again, it's just not worth ten bucks a ticket a few months earlier, when you can wait, get the unrated director's cut, and watch it on your own schedule, leave your phone turned on, pause the movie because you feel like making popcorn or using the bathroom, and never have to listen to the geeks behind you quoting unrelated tidbits about where their friend recognized 'that guy' from in the movie.

And for what it's worth I only have a 27" Widescreen LCD. But those HD channels look truly amazing. Good god. No wonder I never want to leave the house.

 

Amen to that, amen. Add a couple of friends and some refreshments to equation and we have my sunday nights. We just rent the lastest films from blockbuster, I never buy them. I mean, I rarely watch anything more than twice so why buy it for £17.99?

Another argument against cinema of course are the ridiclous refreshment prices. At most cinemas, a medium popcorn costs the same as a ticket! And woe betide anyone who get's thirsty! On the other hand, you could pop down to your nearest supermarket and get popcorn, crisps, drinks and whatever else you want for about 10% of the price.

 

Amen to that too. Last time I took my little brother to the cinemas it cost me a small fortune just to fill the little buggers stomach. If I ever take him to the cinemas again he can darn well starve for all I care, those prices are scandalous.

 

Definitely agreed. The best theater experiences I've had in the last few years are the places that do things differently. In Pittsburgh a few years back I went to a theater with my girlfriend at the time. I want to say it was called "The Hive" but I can't remember to be honest (was just visiting Pittsburgh, dropping off a friend to see his girl). And we saw The Big Lebowski there, seriously one of the funniest movies and one of my greatest theater experiences. Because they didn't have the theater seating. They had like probably 40 old couches laying around at odd angles, and we just laid down and claimed one. There were some love seats and recliners. Coffee tables you can drag closer to you. And you'd get this massive wooden bowl (reminded me of Raiden's hat from Mortal Kombat if you turned it upside down). They had a vat of popcorn they'd just scoop you more into your bowl with. No other theater experience has been as much fun. Doesn't even come close. (I'm excluding all those back row things that might get me arrested.) And the environment was mainly college kids as Pitt and Carnegie Mellon were both a few blocks away, so there were a few snide remarks, but they added to the experience. A number of "Dude!" calls were yelled out. But in retrospect that was sort of a combination of the comforts of home, and just having a date rest her entire body on yours, or her head in your lap (watching the movie in this case) crossed with the large theater benefits of laugh tracks and gasps, etc...

And for me, I used to do Netflix and went through several other dvd-by-mail programs but just have the blockbuster movie pass now. It's $30 for 3 at a time. And with Blockbuster on my way home from work, I always hit them on tuesdays for new releases, and usually at least 2 other times a week. Got a box with 500gb's for movies where I can keep them until I watch the movies (or tv shows on DVD). Delete them when done. Theoretically I could make a temporary back-up onto a blank dvd too, but that would be illegal.

 

Padma and Parvati pissed me off so much, but John Cleese coming back is brilliant news

 

Agreed on John Cleese, but how did Padma and Parvati piss you off? I mean they barely did anything bad or good in GoF. Nearest complaint I can think of is they're not identical enough.

 

All they'll do is just stand in the background anyway. Literally stand in the background.

 

Bring the sig size down a bit Xan, or Mid will be all over your ass. Doeth not bringeth the fury of the Admins upon yourself.

 

If I had the equiptment you're talking about I'd watch all my stuff at home too! Wowsers...

I had to ask you about the subtitles\Closed captions thing though--Are you Deaf or hard-of-hearing? I ask as a (politically) Deaf (Hard-of-hearing) person myself. My hearing is about half what most people get and with the hearing aids its about maybe 60-75% IIRC, I don't exactly carry my evaluation graph with me at all times. ;P

Also, "The Hive" sounds alot like what I've heard a bout a place near where I live called the Brew-n-View in Chicago. I don't know if they're as homey as "The Hive" but it still sounds like a relaxed place to go for a flick...

--bornagainpenguin

 

No, I'm not clinically deaf or hard-of-hearing. Though occasionally my earwax buildup gets to the point where I need to dip a Q-tip in industrial solvent and break out a chisel.

It's more just a habit formed after so many azn action movies in high school (the dubbed ones are comically horrible, the subtitled ones stay true to their artistic roots) and then foreign films in college. And especially, roommates in college who have gone to bed already at 7 AM just because the sun is out, so I can't watch movies with the volume very loud. So we'd watch it quietly with subs on to make sure we can understand what's being said. After doing this for so long, you realize how many jokes/points you don't get because you misheard a word or weren't sure. But anytime English subtitles is an option, I'll watch with them on.

I mean how else would I know when the lights were off in South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut, and Satan and Saddam were in bed that the quiet audio just before Satan moaned was a "[squishy splunging sound]". Oh man that killed me reading that. And like in that movie, the lyrics to the songs... I had no clue that french kid was singing "They may cut your dick in half, and feed it to a pig. And though it hurts, you'll laugh, and dance a dickless jig..."

And frankly, finally knowing those lyrics, just makes me a better person.

Some people can't stand it, but so many surround sound effects make background sounds too loud, or if you try and bring up the voices more, it makes them sound slightly off... depending on DVD. And after tickers with my sports, my mind is used to devoting just slight attention down there, while watching the movie's action.

 

Oh.. okay cool! I must say that this is quite a refreshing attitude to see from a hearing person then. My Dad (obviously older than the both of us but sadly typical in this regard) refused to bother with closed captions for YEARS even though he had both myself and my sister in the house and we're both hard-of-hearing! He used to constantly complain if the subject was brought up about how the captions covered up the bottom and ruined stuff for him, ect.

Heh...that echos my own reactions too. My Dad (who is finally learning now that he himself is slowly losing his hearing as he gets old :twisted: ) has more than once rewound a video or DVD to recheck a caption or subtitle and says he can't believe how much he was missing. Then there's the unintention humor in captions; have you ever watched a program on TV that had the captions from a different show altogether and what was said was absolutley opposed to what was captioned? Or those times when the 'close' symbol is forgotten and the closed caption is overlaid on something totally extranaeous to what is being showed on the screen. Commericals have really cracked me up at times when this has happened. Not to mention watching the news...

--bornagainpenguin

 

Yep, subtitles are very dangerous habit.

I've seen soo many US movies with subtitles, that these days I just can't get rid of them, even though I know english rather well. And then, the few times when I tried watching movies on my own native language, I realized that I couldn't understand even them without subtitles!

Fucking hollywood fucked up my brain... I WANT MY SPOKEN-LANGUAGE-INTERPETATION ABILITIES BACK!!!

 

Whee! John Cleese is back! The stuff that he and the rest of Monty Python did was great! Especially Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

 

He hast attracted my attention, guys use a damned sanity check please for your sig stuff. It eats up bandwidth, and if it's stupidly large don't use it. 160ish pixels height is pretty much in the upper limits of what we want to see, if the sig is 3 inches long, it's a hint that there's going to be some smackage going on. adding on to that, the next noob's stuff I have to move b/c they wanted a huge picture, then tons of text + break lines is going to get a electronic mixer shoved into their ear.