Darn that Metropolis! - Page 2

Nate the great · 04-15-2010, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

I should probably mention that, although I could travel and stay cheaper, there is a limit to which I (and my wife) want to save money, and we won't sacrifice too much comfort or trouble to get there. So, a bus is not gonna happen. Fleatrap motel? No way. If we can't afford reasonable travel and accommodation, we won't go.

Hmm... I've still got a few relatives up that way... maybe they have space...

I don't know what comfort you'd be giving up on a Chinatown bus. All the buses I've ridden on were fairly new and in good condition.

As for trouble, my travel time was actually less than if I had taken a flight or train.

FlorenceArt · 04-16-2010, 04:35 AM

I saw this version of Metropolis on TV a few weeks ago. There was a public showing somewhere in Europe (Berlin? Can't remember) and at the same time they showed it on the French-German TV channel Arte. I enjoyed the movie and thought it was surprisingly modern at times, and amusingly old-fashioned at others. Not worth $1000 or even $200 in my book, but that's just my personal taste of course. For some reason I have lost almost all interest in movies, though I loved them when I was younger.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 04-16-2010, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nate the great

I don't know what comfort you'd be giving up on a Chinatown bus. All the buses I've ridden on were fairly new and in good condition.

As for trouble, my travel time was actually less than if I had taken a flight or train.

A train can get you to NYC in 3-1/2 hours. Just sayin'.

Nate the great · 04-16-2010, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

A train can get you to NYC in 3-1/2 hours. Just sayin'.

Ah. I'm on the other side of DC, so that does make a difference.

Greg Anos · 04-16-2010, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Ah. I'm on the other side of DC, so that does make a difference.

Is that how they make a town big enough for the both of you?

RSE

(Come on, get the joke making under control.....)

ardeegee · 04-16-2010, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

I saw this version of Metropolis on TV a few weeks ago.

Which means that it has to be floating around the internet already. And looking around, yep, it is.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 04-16-2010, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Is that how they make a town big enough for the both of you?

Well, any Texan should be able to understand that... and you don't know DC traffic!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardeegee

Which means that it has to be floating around the internet already. And looking around, yep, it is.

Yep, I've seen it, too. But a little web screen isn't quite the same as the Big Screen. Trust me, this movie is worth a Big Screen viewing (even though I do plan to get the DVD as well).

ardeegee · 04-16-2010, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Yep, I've seen it, too. But a little web screen isn't quite the same as the Big Screen. Trust me, this movie is worth a Big Screen viewing (even though I do plan to get the DVD as well).

I'm not sure what you mean by "a little web screen." If you are implying that something can be watched only in a window on a web page, that isn't remotely accurate.

Myself, I don't like the theater experience-- having to travel somewhere, pay obscene ticket prices, and be surrounded by talking/texting idiots. I haven't been in a movie theater since the early 1990s, and vastly prefer movies from the comfort of my own home.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 04-16-2010, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardeegee

I'm not sure what you mean by "a little web screen." If you are implying that something can be watched only in a window on a web page, that isn't remotely accurate.

I just meant that a web feed wouldn't match a theatre screen in size (and, usually, resolution). I haven't actually looked at the ARTE video, but I know that most web-access videos don't have a resolution that matches DVD or film quality. You didn't mention whether anyone was showing the movie in HD quality on the web.

ardeegee · 04-16-2010, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

but I know that most web-access videos don't have a resolution that matches DVD or film quality. You didn't mention whether anyone was showing the movie in HD quality on the web.

Yes, streaming video embedded on a web page tends to not be high resolution. Which is why very few people who watch movies accessed from the internet use something like that. "The web" is only one file transfer method on the internet. Most videos that people actually squire have DVD resolution as a very minimum.

(FWIW, the version I found is a 576x416 xviD that is 25 fps, runs for 2:27:04 and weighs in at 1.36 GB. The text screens are in German, though, and was surely a digital capture from the TV broadcast.)

Steven Lyle Jordan · 05-20-2010, 09:57 AM

Well, I hit the Big Apple last weekend, and saw Metropolis... and I'm glad I did.

The new footage added an additional depth to the film in multiple places. Although the Buenos Aires footage was taken from a 16mm print, and so was not in a condition equal to the rest of the restored film, it was all clear enough to recognize the images. An additional bonus: Some scenes were restored before the 2002 release, but because missing footage left the scenes so disjointed, they were actually not included in the 2002 release. The newly-discovered film allowed those scenes to be put back in, further filling out the movie.

Though I don't know how much is involved in the restoration process, I do know that the new footage was in better visual condition than much of the film and negatives that were eventually restored for the 2002 release. There is a difference between restoring from print and restoring from negative, but with enough work and the latest in computer equipment, the B.A. footage may be cleaned up further. So, hopefully, we will eventually be hearing about a fresh restoration attempt that has cleaned up the new footage even more, and a new release of a closer-to-pristine movie. (I'll still be buying the 2010 DVD when it is released in a few months.)

As for the rest of the trip: Darka and I stayed downtown, we hung and shopped in Times Square, we also saw a Broadway show (The Lion King--the opening scene alone was worth the price of admission!), we both rode the NYC subway for the first time, and we paid way too much for everything! But we loved every minute of it.

GeoffC · 05-20-2010, 11:30 AM

Brilliant ....

poohbear_nc · 05-20-2010, 11:33 AM

Quote:

we hung and shopped in Times Square

Did you see recluse? He works there.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 05-20-2010, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Did you see recluse? He works there.

'Fraid not... but it explains a lot. Anybody who works in Times Square is bound to be... well...

Anyway, we didn't see him. I wish I'd had time to get in touch with a few people we knew up that way, but it was a busy weekend for us, and visiting just wasn't in the cards. So we just ghosted in and out.

Y'know something else we're pretty sure we didn't see the whole time we were in NYC? A reader of any kind. Not even at MOMA (I forgot to mention we visited the Museum of Modern Art), where I would have expected to see one.

FlorenceArt · 05-20-2010, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Y'know something else we're pretty sure we didn't see the whole time we were in NYC? A reader of any kind. Not even at MOMA (I forgot to mention we visited the Museum of Modern Art), where I would have expected to see one.

Well, I guess people go to the MOMA to see the art, not to read

Did you enjoy it? The MOMA I mean.

05-20-2010, 09:57 AM	#26
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	Back from New York! Well, I hit the Big Apple last weekend, and saw Metropolis... and I'm glad I did. The new footage added an additional depth to the film in multiple places. Although the Buenos Aires footage was taken from a 16mm print, and so was not in a condition equal to the rest of the restored film, it was all clear enough to recognize the images. An additional bonus: Some scenes were restored before the 2002 release, but because missing footage left the scenes so disjointed, they were actually not included in the 2002 release. The newly-discovered film allowed those scenes to be put back in, further filling out the movie. Though I don't know how much is involved in the restoration process, I do know that the new footage was in better visual condition than much of the film and negatives that were eventually restored for the 2002 release. There is a difference between restoring from print and restoring from negative, but with enough work and the latest in computer equipment, the B.A. footage may be cleaned up further. So, hopefully, we will eventually be hearing about a fresh restoration attempt that has cleaned up the new footage even more, and a new release of a closer-to-pristine movie. (I'll still be buying the 2010 DVD when it is released in a few months.) As for the rest of the trip: Darka and I stayed downtown, we hung and shopped in Times Square, we also saw a Broadway show (The Lion King--the opening scene alone was worth the price of admission!), we both rode the NYC subway for the first time, and we paid way too much for everything! But we loved every minute of it.

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04-16-2010, 04:35 AM	#17
FlorenceArt High Priestess Posts: 5,761 Karma: 5042529 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Montreuil sous bois, France Device: iPad Pro 9.7, iPhone 6 Plus	I saw this version of Metropolis on TV a few weeks ago. There was a public showing somewhere in Europe (Berlin? Can't remember) and at the same time they showed it on the French-German TV channel Arte. I enjoyed the movie and thought it was surprisingly modern at times, and amusingly old-fashioned at others. Not worth $1000 or even $200 in my book, but that's just my personal taste of course. For some reason I have lost almost all interest in movies, though I loved them when I was younger.

05-20-2010, 11:30 AM	#27
GeoffC Chocolate Grasshopper ... Posts: 27,600 Karma: 20821184 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Scotland Device: Muse HD , Cybook Gen3 , Pocketbook 302 (Black) , Nexus 10: wife has PW	Brilliant ....