Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Howl's Moving Castle

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Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 06-10-2005, 06:15 PM:

5/5.
Truely amazing. Everyone do yourselves a favor and watch this.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 06-10-2005, 08:29 PM:

But I don't like Japanese cartoons, especially the weird ones (which is pretty much all of them). Do I still hafta see it?

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 06-11-2005, 02:23 PM:

Nobody in 'Vegas is planning to screen this one. Looks like I'll have to get down to SoCal to see it. A bunch of us from several of the local anime clubs are looking at a van rental for the trip...

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 06-11-2005, 03:49 PM:

Paul ... hold off a week ... it expands to 200 runs next week ... probably wide enough for a Vegas house ... most likely one of the Century houses.

[ 06-14-2005, 01:35 AM: Message edited by: Mike Spaeth ]

Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 06-13-2005, 12:54 PM:

Saw this at the El Capitan in Hollywood yesterday. Amazing film, a little bit "Westernized" (since it apparently takes place in Europe). I saw the dubbed version (the theatre also shows the Japanese with English sub-titles twice a week). The dubbing was spot-on, however. The ending was a bit pat for my tastes, but the creativity used in the images made the entire morning soar with adventure.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 06-24-2005, 11:26 AM:

Well, it's the 24th and Howl still hasn't opened here. I have seen the badly subbed Chinese camcorder pirate bit-torrent file, but I would like to see it properly. Time for a SoCal road trip where I can catch both the English and Japanese versions.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 06-24-2005, 03:17 PM:

Just wait for the DVD. That way you can see it properly, which is something that can't be done in too many theaters anymore.

Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 06-24-2005, 11:00 PM:

As far as my theatre experience went, it was absolutely perfect. The focus and brightness eas even across the screen, well tuned sound system, and a live organist on the Worlitzer instead of Movietunes, three curtain openings before the previews (the one "letterboxed" preview within the 1.85 screen they actually brought masking in both below and above, then reopened for the rest of the previews. I've never seen this done here before, since they usually go wider for true "scope" prints). Then they closed the curtains between previews and main attraction.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 07-08-2005, 01:46 AM:

This is finally opening tomorrow on three screens here. Will give the Century Orleans 18 a try since their track record with me suggests the greatest chance of catching a presentation that'll meet most of my standards.

[Edit] The combined forces of members of CCSN's anime club Meijin Kenryoku, UNLV's anime club, and the Anime 'Vegas group shall descend upon the Century Orleans 18 on Sunday the 10th for the 4:55pm screening...

[ 07-09-2005, 12:03 PM: Message edited by: Paul Mayer ]

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 07-11-2005, 11:29 PM:

Century Orleans 18
Screen #16, 4:55pm
$6.25 matinee price, approx. 20 people

Joe isn't going to like this one. [Big Grin]

It's definitely wierd, but in a good way; you'll walk out feeling like you just woke up from an intense dream. You know, the kind that doesn't make any sense when you try to rationalize it, but it leaves images in your head that replay for hours afterward.

It was great to hear the voices of Jean Simmons and Lauren Bacall coming from a big screen again.

Not Miyazaki's best screenplay work (only the third time in his career where he's adapted someone else's original story), but even his worst are still worth seeking out. This one had a rather rough time in pre-production and it shows in the somewhat disjointed plot, freely adapted from Diana Wynne Jones' 1986 novel. In the mean time go see this just for the escapism and the artwork and Joe Hisaishi's music.

* * * * *

The show started early so that the feature would hit the screen at the advertised time. The feature played fine in this small THX auditorium--in frame and in focus. The print had one lab splice in the first reel--other than that and the lab stains, er, newer bigger better CAP code, it was fine. Trailer pack looked dirty and the snipes were definitely dirty and scratched. Picture cropping and aperture size looked good. Sound seemed a little anemic in the bottom end but nonetheless played cleanly in SR-D except for a momentary analog reversion at the ending house lights up to half cue. Not a perfect show, but no showstoppers either. It was a typical 'Vegas performance, the luck of the draw.

I'll be seeing this again over at the Regal Village Square 18 just because.

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 07-12-2005, 12:14 AM:

So yesterday I was feeling a little cabin fever and thought that a nice drive to the coast might perk me up. Point Arena is only 26 miles from Cloverdale but you can't get there from here. I drove 71 miles along roads so twisty they would make an astronaut puke. I lived in Colorado and the mountain roads there have nothing on the little coast and hill roads in Northern California. So after an hour and 45 minutes I finally arrived.

The sign on the highway says that Point Arena has a population of 540 people. And they have a movie theatre the Arena Cinema. It has 250 seats and usually shows 2 films per day. This week they have Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Howl's Moving Castle. I thought I would go. The Cinema has an Simplex E-7 in the front window and it is charmingly restored. But they did make some errors. The floor is wood and there are inset sconces on the walls. But they put in a drop ceiling with over 20 high intensity down firing spots. Brad would have been driven insane before the film started. The screen did have a nice red velvet traveller drape. The seats are nicely restored old theatre seats. The room has a balconey and a nice shape.

Presentation suffered due to soft focus, unforgivable concidering the size of the screen and soft sound probabley in derference to the wood floor. There were 4 people on staff and 20 in the audience. I think I could have run the show all by myself. And they don't even salt the popcorn before popping! Tastes like packing peanuts.

Howl's Moving Castle is a wonderful film. I'm glad I got to see it. There were 3 teenagers in the front row and 3 very small children across the isle from me. Althought the presentation suffered, I'm not sure I need to see it again. I didn't mind the dubbing except for Billy Crystal as the fire. He is so distinctive that it pulls you right out of the picture. I read in one review how the main character is more engaging as a 90 year old woman than as a young girl. I hope we all can say that when we are 90.

The buisiness, not the building is for sale for $165K. So do you think you could make a single screen work in a town of less than 600? After all the nearest WalMart, Mc Donalds and stoplight is over 100 miles away.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 07-15-2005, 12:09 AM:

Regal Village Square 18
Screen #18, 10:50am
$6.50, 3 people

No comment for the film, but the location...

This place is consistently inconsistent. On this screen the projector for The 2wenty was zoomed in all the way producing a tiny picture in the center of the screen (as opposed to another screen here where the picture was zoomed out so far that the tops and bottoms were into the valances). Very out of focus as well. Not that I critically watch The 2wenty...

Top and bottom masks were set for 1.85 but when the first trailer came up (letterboxed for 'scope) the masks moved in to 2.39 and stayed there, even when the 1.85 feature started. Someone finally caught the error and corrected it about seven minutes into the first reel of the feature. Again, a very loud and squeeky mechanism--the masks sounded like a set of Cat bulldozer treads moving, ruining the mood during a quiet moment in the story.

Focus was never checked and stayed soft throughout the show. Print showed some dirt and backing scratches throughout. Aperture was slightly under-sized and not filed correctly in the corners, especially the upper-right. Built-up dirt (or incomplete plate filing) showed along the bottom edge of the picture.

Sound was pleasant enough.

Another "meh" movie-going experience at this theater.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 07-20-2005, 07:30 PM:

Century Sam's Town 18
Screen #8, 11:35am
$6.25, private screening just for me

Hmmm...

When they made up this print they cut off the "Disney Presents" header and the Studio Ghibli logo at the head of the print. We went straight from the Century Feature Presentation snipe to the opening fade up.

Also, this screen is running with what looks like a 1.37 aperture. The main feature print is hard matted at something a little taller than 1.85, but things like the Fandango trailer and the blue rating band at the end of the feature were open matte and thus played all over the valances and the backs of the front row of seats. It also looked like too short a lens was being used as the sides and top matte of the image were at least a foot to a foot and a half past the edges of the screen. The picture was pretty tightly cropped as a result. Bizarre.

Picture focus and sound level and EQ were pretty good.