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Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

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Re: Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

#131

Post by tantalor »

cmckn wrote: post #67

I was in Bend a few months ago and swung by the last Blockbuster. I rented a movie (and bought a t-shirt), and had to sign up for an account. I received a laminated paper Blockbuster card with an account number scrawled in Sharpie on the back. I wouldn't have guessed that the store was still calling out to these old servers; that's pretty cool. The movie cost 99 cents to rent, which I thought was surprisingly cheap.…

> inconsiderate about including the clerks

As in, rudely excluded the clerks, or rudely included? Either way makes sense me to me.

Re: Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

#132

Post by na85 »

joosters wrote: post #119
reaperducer wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Special effects, costumes and sets are all much more believable when you're viewing them on a little grainy screen Can confirm. I recently watched Ghostbusters on Blu-ray. Wow. The special effects are really obvious.

Older 'practical' special effects still hold up better than much more recent early CGI though. Even if you can tell that something is a physical model, IMO it still looks 100x better than a poorly rendered and animated low-poly 3d effect.

Even modern CG is garbage and suffers from the uncanny valley effect.

I don't enjoy Marvel films but even if I did they're unwatchable because of the awful CG.

Re: Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

#133

Post by na85 »

pessimizer wrote: post #102
reaperducer wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Special effects, costumes and sets are all much more believable when you're viewing them on a little grainy screen Can confirm. I recently watched Ghostbusters on Blu-ray. Wow. The special effects are really obvious.

> The special effects are really obvious. I've never understood this complaint. Almost all special effects are obvious, because they depict things that aren't real. I don't remember watching Ghostbusters in the theater and wondering if those were really ghosts.

It's easier to suspend your disbelief when you can't see the little squares around the TIE Fighter as it attacks the Millennium Falcon.

Re: Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

#134

Post by Anthony-G »

reaperducer wrote: post #104
dasil003 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is only strictly true if you're talking about television. The analog nature of film and its degradation along with the imperfection of human memory mean we can't really know for sure exactly how, for example, Lawrence of Arabia looked on the big screen in its contemporary transfers. But it was definitely better than anything seen on a television prior to at least 1080p if not 4k.

The analog nature of film and its degradation along with the imperfection of human memory mean we can't really know for sure exactly how, for example, Lawrence of Arabia looked on the big screen in its contemporary transfers. It depends on the source material. As luck would have it, I just recently got the 4K Blu-ray of Lawrence of Arabia, and it is very very grainy. Much more so than the 4K version of Rear Window, t…

A couple of years ago, I was lucky to see Lowrence of Arabia in a local cinema with a 70 mm film projector. The film was originally shot on 65mm and it looked fabulous on the big screen! I don’t remember the film grain being an issue. I usually notice it at the start of the film but then quickly get used to it. It’s also likely that the picture quality was cleaned to some degree.

I presume your Blu-Ray transfer was processed conservatively. Digital filters to remove film grain can introduce their own artifacts which degrade the image quality and make the picture look different from how it was originally intended to be seen.

Re: Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

#135

Post by antiterra »

zw123456 wrote: post #87

I am old enough to remember when the wife would call me at work on a Friday and say hey, stop by the video store and get a movie for tonight and I'll stop and get wine and take out. What was special was the "Dave" at the video rental place (it wasn't blockbuster but whatever). I don't recall the guy's name, but he always remembered me and what we liked and had great suggestions and sometimes if you said, nah but how…

Eraserhead wasn’t exactly a dud for me but it was deeply discomfiting and disturbing (clearly as intended.) Glad I’ve seen it, but very little interest in seeing it again.

Re: Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

#136

Post by amyjess »

bombcar wrote: post #41
ghaff wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mostly rose-colored glasses nostalgia probably. Being able to rent a movie whenever[0] you wanted to and watch it at home was extremely transformative in a way that someone who grew up with streaming (not you I realize) would find difficult to appreciate. A lot of movies weren't even purchasable as a practical matter (priced to rent) at the time. [0] Well, if they had it and it was in stock.

They'd even rent VCRs and DVD players, which was a big deal early on when they were multiple hundreds of dollars.

They'd rent video game consoles too.

Speaking of which, I miss video game rentals. I spent so much time as akid at Blockbuster looking for games to rent. Even now, I'd like to be able to play with a game for a few days before committing to paying for the whole game.

(and of course, I say this with a hundred unplayed games in my Steam library...)

Re: Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

#137

Post by actusual »

Johnny555 wrote: post #105
zw123456 wrote: post #87

I am old enough to remember when the wife would call me at work on a Friday and say hey, stop by the video store and get a movie for tonight and I'll stop and get wine and take out. What was special was the "Dave" at the video rental place (it wasn't blockbuster but whatever). I don't recall the guy's name, but he always remembered me and what we liked and had great suggestions and sometimes if you said, nah but how…

today's AI is pretty good It's pretty good at suggesting exactly the same type of movies you've watched before, but not so good at those "but how about something completely different, but something that I'll still like" suggestions, that's where a real human movie buff can help.

This isn't completely true. What you're talking about are called "echo chambers" or "filter bubbles", and there are ways to make sure they don't negatively impact users.

Additionally, studies have found that (when A/B testing recommender system vs no recommender system) users create their own, more localized "echo chambers" in absence of a recommender. This is measured by the "diversity" of content consumed, which decreases if a user is their own recommender.

Re: Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

#138

Post by PenguinCoder »

rconti wrote: post #29
awacs wrote: post #26

Growing up in the 80s with VHS, Betamax, Laserdiscs (if anyone recalls), and being a dj in the late 90s when the thought of a "USB stick instead of traveling with all this vinyl was an impossibility", makes this whole nostalgia tour a fun one. I think we all forget though just how poor the quality was back then, and what we've become accustomed to, with VHS being 240 lines, DVD 480p, etc. It's like reminiscing about…

I ripped my entire DVD collection 15 years ago, and I just never watch any of it. If I want to watch one of the movies I just pay the $4 to 'rent' a 4k stream instead of suffering with DVD quality.

Man I am the exact opposite. If I have had it on DVD, I've ripped it and I'd rather watch that, rather then pay $4 to rent any other stream of a product I already have.

Re: Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

#139

Post by ryangittins »

Johnny555 wrote: post #105
zw123456 wrote: post #87

I am old enough to remember when the wife would call me at work on a Friday and say hey, stop by the video store and get a movie for tonight and I'll stop and get wine and take out. What was special was the "Dave" at the video rental place (it wasn't blockbuster but whatever). I don't recall the guy's name, but he always remembered me and what we liked and had great suggestions and sometimes if you said, nah but how…

today's AI is pretty good It's pretty good at suggesting exactly the same type of movies you've watched before, but not so good at those "but how about something completely different, but something that I'll still like" suggestions, that's where a real human movie buff can help.

I've long pondered building exactly this, an anti-recommendation engine. You'd go through and mark some favorite films or genres, and it'd come back with something great but totally unlike your usual picks.

Foreign flicks not your thing? Try Parasite.

You don't remember what it's like to be an awkward pre-teen? Eighth Grade will remind you.

Not a big action movie person? Maybe you need to watch Die Hard.

Kids movies are just for kids? Spirited Away!

You can't connect with female protagonists? You've got to see The Invisible Man.

Don't find food interesting? Try Tampopo.

Sick of movies which try to make a statement and fall flat? Promising Young Woman.

Most dramas feel too contrived? Marriage Story.

Musicals and plays aren't really your thing? Hamilton.

Re: Plano man keeping Blockbuster alive

#140

Post by fitzroy »

jefurii wrote: post #130
Anthony-G wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They did a fabulous job of the Star Trek transfers (I’m currently watching the original series). However, some studios put very little effort into their film to HD transfers. Last year, I watched Buffy, the Vampire Slayer on Disney+ and its transfer from film is woefully bad. For certain scenes, the picture quality looked like upscaled standard definition and these transitions were very jarring. Also, whatever filter…

I don't know about Buffy but some later Star Trek series like Deep Space 9 will be really hard to remaster because they were shot on video instead of film. The detail just isn't there to be enhanced.

Deep Space 9 was also shot on film. The editing, effects, and mastering were completed on video (same for TNG). This is true for nearly every 1-hour US prime-time drama of that era (Buffy, X-Files, etc).

https://www.slashfilm.com/549088/star-trek-voyager-deep-spac...

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