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Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Waiting for DVD - not always a good idea
Some comments I got on my Speed Racer review, and some I heard elsewhere recently, got me to thinking about the whole “I’ll wait for DVD” mentality.
Regular readers of this blog know that I strongly advocate the theatrical experience. At the same time, I know a lot of people don’t have the money/time/patience to venture out to the megaplex. And whether they like it or not, filmmakers know that most people will first see their movies on DVD.
That said, the way people categorize “wait for DVD” bothers me. It seems that when people hear that a movie isn’t so great, they say “Well, I’ll wait for the DVD” -as if somehow the movie won’t be so bad on DVD as it would be in the theater.
Excuse me?
I suppose the reasoning here is largely economic. People reason that if they just rent a DVD and the movie turns out to be mediocre (or worse), then at least they won’t have blown a big chunk of dough on it. All well and good, but does that mean that if you wait to see, say, Jumper at home, that passage of time and the lowering of the price suddenly makes the film better? I doubt it. A bad movie is a bad movie no matter where you watch it.
Here’s what really brought this issue home. A colleague recently asked me about 10,000 BC. When I twisted my face into a grimace of disgust, my co-worker said “Wait for DVD, huh?”
I replied, “No! Don’t see it at ALL!” If I were hogtied and forced to watch 10,000 BC on DVD, I’d still think it was a terrible movie. And if I were hogtied and forced, my opinion of the movie would probably sink even lower.
Although bad movies don’t become better at home, bad movies do work better in a theater in some cases. Take Speed Racer. I didn’t think the movie worked, but if I had a young child who wanted to see it, I would absolutely take him/her to the theater. It has enough visual pow that the movie would lose something on even the biggest small screen. (And if you mean to see it, you’d better move quick. Given how poorly it fared at the box office, it will probably be out of most decent theaters by the end of June.)
So the next time you say “I’ll wait for the DVD,” make sure you’re waiting for something that might actually be good. That’s how you get the most bang for your buck.
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Today’s DVDs - new Denzel, old Indy Jones
Today’s new DVD releases are a bit of a mixed bag, but there is one new release that is very much worth seeing, and a new release of an older set of movies that might be useful if you’re looking to play catch-up:
The Great Debaters: Yes, a movie about a lot of students talking can be thrilling in the hands of a perfect cast and a confident director like Denzel Washington, who builds his second film, about a 1930s debate team, to a deeply affecting finale. It might sound like movie “medicine,” but it doesn’t feel like it. GRADE: A
Untraceable: Clever story idea of a killer who makes his Internet audience culpable in his murders goes badly awry when smart characters become really, really stupid. Not even Diane Lane escapes the IQ drain. Full review: GRADE: C
Also out today
Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection: Here comes the inevitable double-dip just before the new movie comes out, to be followed by the inevitable triple-dip when the new movie joins the collection. If for some reason you didn’t pick these up on DVD already, now’s your chance - and this time the movies are available separately. There are some new bonus features, but if you have the box set that came out a few years ago, then, from everything I’ve heard, this new set is pretty superfluous. Purchase accordingly.
Mad Money: Diane Keaton, Katie Holmes and Queen Latifah play Federal Reserve employees who plan to steal money that’s about to be destroyed. I didn’t see this one, and a tagline like “They’re having the crime of their lives” doesn’t make me want to.
Youth Without Youth: Francis Ford Coppola’s first movie in 10 years made nary a ripple after critics collectively said “He waited 10 years to make THIS?” Still, I might check it out because Coppola does a commentary, and even his commentary on his bad movies (e.g. Finian’s Rainbow) is fascinating.
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