Do we need IMAX? 70mm? Vista Vision? All I need to watch movies in the cinema is darkness and quiet | Larry Ryan
HeyWhat kind of screen should you watch “Battle after Battle”? Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film about revolutionary radicals in a devastated United States comes in a slew of films A little different, and vaguely confusing Formats.
It was originally shot on 70-year-old VistaVision celluloid, but there are only four cinemas in the world that can actually accommodate this – One in London and three in the United States. There is also an Imax release on 70mm cinema film, the more popular digital Imax format, and a 70mm film release for select cinemas. Finally, there is the majority of the mainstream Standard digital projection movie theaters, which also have very large screens so you can look at moving pictures in the dark.
With attendance declining and movie theaters under threat, I understand why there has been pressure to make moviegoing a bigger event in recent years. Since the epidemic, Tom Cruise has set himself up Front and center of a campaign to encourage people to cinema. Christopher Nolan has also produced many of his films with the big Imax screens in mind: his upcoming film The Odyssey is said to be… First big success It was produced entirely using Imax cameras (top-quality screenings of the film were sold out a year in advance). “Between the screen filling your view and the sound chasing you around the auditorium, it’s more like stepping into the movie rather than watching it at a safe distance.” Odeon website purrs For Imax showings of Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning. There is a clear desire to focus on a comprehensive feast of the senses; Granted, the cost of these special screenings is usually higher than a traditional movie ticket.
I love going to the movies and I try to watch new movies that way as much as possible. But I think the emphasis on seeing things in cinema now has become overdone – especially when it’s given a kind of moral imperative, or if the idea is formed that a certain premium version is the “real” experience. Cinema used to be an accessible and relatively affordable mass activity. Any move away from this, although likely to bring gains in the short term, may be a mistake in the long term. The fear remains that by highlighting limited, niche offerings – such as going to the opera or West End theater – the number of smaller cinemas may be further reduced, and audiences discouraged if a particular format is not available. Or it’s too expensive.
Anecdotal evidence From true believers (in the right places) points out that seeing battle after battle in VistaVision provides the greatest pleasure: the colors are more beautiful, and the look and feel are purer, like seeing a painting in person rather than seeing a copy in a book. Other cineastes (or the Letterboxd brothers, depending on modern nomenclature) say it should be watched in Imax formats for a true thrill ride. Personally, I find watching in Imax a bit like watching tennis – you move your head this way and that to keep track of where you should be looking, and the emphasis on immersive viewing is very literal. A friend suggests that unless you have the perfect seat near the center of the IMAX room, the experience will actually be less good.
What do we like when seeing a movie in the cinema? I don’t think it can be determined by screen dimensions alone. It’s being in a dark room, free of distractions, with a fairly comfortable seat, surrounded by others, watching the movie on a big — or big enough — screen above: sometimes it’s in a spacious theater, sometimes it’s a room that seats twenty people. They all have their advantages. And as one host Suggested American Film Podcast When asked about the best place to watch fight after fight: “In the movie theater you like best.”
In the end, I watched the movie on an XL screen at my nearest movie theater: I couldn’t tell if that meant a bigger screen, bigger seats, or bigger buckets of popcorn. I’ll admit that the exciting visual aspects should do well on a more high-end display, but they were pretty impressive in my opinion as well. With its kinetic energy and frenetic score, it pulls you through a strange and very funny story. To be sure, there are also valid criticisms to be made.
One of my formative moments in dealing with serious film was when I was about 14 and watched Rear Window. It immediately made me realize that there might be more to it than any other movie I’d seen up to that point. And the fact that I watched it on a medium-sized cathode ray TV in the early 1990s, on a bored Saturday afternoon, almost by accident, did not diminish the impact. A love of film can flourish in many forms. Under appropriate circumstances, Everything is cinema.
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