Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Monster House (2006)

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Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 07-21-2006, 12:25 AM:

This was a fairly good movie, but I'll tell ya, it's extremely dark for a kids flick. Little kids will be scared.

Had some decent jokes and I liked how the 2 guys try to impress the girl.

2.5 stars out of 5.

Posted by Don Anderson (Member # 397) on 07-21-2006, 01:34 AM:

I totally agree. Any parent that would take any kid under the age of 8 to this needs to have their head examined. Terribly frightening stuff, the old man from the house is enough to give anyone nightmares. Watch for the product placement, its bouncing around. Note that the Mountain Dew 20oz bottle has no label on it, see the movie and you'll know why. How did this ever get a PG rating??? Maybe, because the F word wasn't used? I can only imagine how many parents will be leaving the theatre with their small children, after about 25 minutes of the film. Cute storyline, awesome CGI, but....marketed to the wrong age bracket.

Posted by Allison Parsons (Member # 2728) on 07-21-2006, 01:55 AM:

Yeah. This has the Babe Pig In the City problem: a bit too dark for kids. LOVED how the house looked. Very sharp. Wish I could see it in 3-D. Though I must say, it did have a 3-D effect anyway. All in all I really liked it and if I had a penis, I'd pee in bottles as well.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 07-21-2006, 03:52 PM:

Today 7/21/2006, 12:40PM, Cinemark 17 in Springfield, House #8, presented in DLP & Real D 3D. This is a presentation review since I only saw about 10 mins. of the feature.

The screen in this theater is common-width with top masking. Screen is about 40' wide and flat (meaning not curved). I was sitting dead-center and around 2 screen heights back.

I tried to identify the make of DLP projector, but the booth was pitch dark so I couldn't see anything clearly.

All the FirstLook preshow stuff was projected "flat" with the masking set to "scope" so roughly 1/3 of the image was on the top masking. Nice. I go tell someone, and they already know. "This is a new system and we're still working out the bugs".

The sound abruptly cut off in the middle of the last ad (Coke).

"Put on your 3D Glasses". Check.

The image looks, umm, how can I put this. WRONG. There is kinda-sorta some 3D to it, but it mostly looks blurry and WRONG. Maybe the feature will look better. Feature starts, and it still looks WRONG. On a hunch, I turn my glasses upside down, and presto changeo, the image looks RIGHT. I try this several times and there's no doubt that the glasses have to be upside down to get the proper 3D effect.

I go tell someone. They send in a girl who looks about 15. I tell her to try turning the glasses upside down. She does, going back and forth several times, and declares "You're right, it looks way better with the glasses upside down". We try another pair of glasses with the same result. She then says "Our booth person is gone right now and anyway we're under strict orders not to touch any settings on the projector."

I got a refund and left. The other 75 or so paying customers will leave wondering why the Digital 3D show they paid a $1.50 premium for looks so ordinary, if not outright bad. They will tell their friends, and so on.

It's unbelievable that A) The installer(s) apparently got this wrong, and B) The staff hasn't been trained to recognize how the 3D image is SUPPOSED to look.

And besides all that, the screen is very noticeably hotspotting, brighter in the center with dramatic falloff on the sides. And it seemed like the overall illumination was just barely adequate, in fact, probably not bright enough.

I give my first D-Cinema show, and Cinemark #235's current implementation of Real D, an F. [fu]

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 07-21-2006, 08:27 PM:

So - why didn't you just watch the movie with the glasses on upside down?

Just Kidding.

This proves a point: The image on the screen can only be as good as the operator/tech involved in the presentation. So I think that Digital Cinema may not be the director's answer to a flawless presentation. Murphy's Law will always be in effect. When we convert to Digital we will still need good people in the booth, even smarter people. Hmmm, did I just say that?

[Roll Eyes]

quote: David Stambaugh
She then says "Our booth person is gone right now and anyway we're under strict orders not to touch any settings on the projector."

Well, that says it all right there. Where was he/she - out to friggin lunch?

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 07-21-2006, 08:33 PM:

quote: Allison Parsons
Wish I could see it in 3-D.

Why can't/didn't you? It's playing in 3D at the Rave Grand Prairie 18. Isn't that theater within a few miles of you? Or does Rave not provide comps to employees from a competitor? (I once worked at a UA and an AMC was right across the street; each theater allowed employee comp admission from one another.)

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 07-21-2006, 09:22 PM:

I considered staying with the glasses on upside-down, but it was very uncomfortable and there was no way I could have made it through 90 minutes like that. Beside, it's the principle of the thing! What I really wanted to do is yell out in the theater "You people are all getting screwed and should demand a refund!" But I didn't. [Big Grin]

Posted by Allison Parsons (Member # 2728) on 07-21-2006, 10:47 PM:

quote: Michael Coate
It's playing in 3D at the Rave Grand Prairie 18.

Michael,
I JUST found that out about 2 hours ago! Might help if I looked in the newspaper more often... I don't think that they provide comps from other theaters. All the managers I knew have either quit or got fired from there, so I'll have to pay. Which I don't mind because I want to see it again anyway, especially in 3-D!

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 07-21-2006, 11:28 PM:

Allison,
Too bad you didn't catch this thread from Film-Yak or you could've been armed with the information a day or two sooner.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 07-23-2006, 06:48 PM:

Today 7/23/2006, 10:05AM, Cinemark 17 in Springfield, House #8. Christie CP2000 2K DLP, Real D 3D. Attendance about 10-15.

As on Friday, the FirstLook preshow was projected to completely fill the 40' common-width screen, even though it's masked for scope, so ~30% of the image was lopped off the top. The sound in the last ad (Coke) is still being abruptly cut off in the middle. All the advertisers deserve credit for generously allowing their paid presentation to be butchered like that. [Razz]

The 3D effect was working correctly today. No need to turn the glasses upside-down. The quality of the 3D is pretty darned good, way better than anaglyphic red/blue. Is it fun? Yes. Will I seek out other 3D shows in the future? Yes. Is it gimmicky? Sure. Would I want to see "Schindler's List 3D"? No, but thanks for asking.

As I noted before, the screen illumination is noticeably uneven. Whether that's due to the silver screen or something else, I don't know. I also noticed a "splotchy" look to the screen in bright scenes, almost like water stains. Kind of distracting.

The 3D glasses noticeably reduce the image brightness, so I reserve comment on the DLP brightness issue for a future non-3D show.

The only live-action preview was for "Night at the Museum" and it looked pasty and very unnatural. Hope that's not the way other live-action features are gonna look on this silver screen.

The sound was excellent.

So having nit-picked a lot of stuff, I gotta say that overall this animated 3D feature looked pretty good, certainly acceptable if not perfect. The 3D was worth a higher ticket price.

The movie itself is ok. Not for little kids though, too scary. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

[ 07-23-2006, 08:05 PM: Message edited by: David Stambaugh ]

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 07-24-2006, 02:22 AM:

MONSTER HOUSE was my first opportunity to see a digital presentation today at Honolulu's Dole Cannery 18 in house #8 which is one of their larger auditorium in REAL D 3-D. I have to admit, I was totally impressed! Not only was the digital projection superb but so was the 3-D. Although it is not as good as IMAX 3-D, it was very close. All of the auditoriums at the Dole are THX certified and the sound was very impressive with good use of split surrounds. I normally do not care too much for animated films because they seem to appeal mostlyl to children but MONSTER HOUSE with it's PG rating was scary at times and very entertaining. I caught the 2nd show of the day at 1:00 pm and I was very sorry to see the house was less than half full. I know Regal spent a lot of money to present the film in Digital 3-D here in Hawaii but I think many local people did not care and saw it in 2-D at a multiplex near them. The same thing happened to Pacific's Waikiki IMAX when it had to close because of lack of support. Higher admission prices to cover the cost of the Polaroid glasses might have also turned many people off. My senior admission price at the Dole Cannery for standard films is $6.25 but I had to pay $7.75 to see MONSTER HOUSE in 3-D. It was more than I was accustomed to paying for a movie but seeing it in Digital 3-D was worth it.

-Claude

[ 07-24-2006, 05:40 AM: Message edited by: Claude S. Ayakawa ]

Posted by Dick Vaughan (Member # 540) on 07-24-2006, 03:22 PM:

Went to see Monster House in digital 3D yesterday at ex Famous Players/Cineplex Silver City ,Mississauga in screen 9. 3D effect pretty good but all action seemed to be behind the plane of the screen not coming out towards you as with IMAX and "film" stopped once due to power outages during thunderstorm. Illumination of screen seeemed uniform and bright.
Odd they were screening this in one of the smaller theatres.

Similar to David's experience the video pre-show spilled over top black masking and sound on that portion of that show was apalling

Interestingly although kids and adults get the same glasses the adult premium is $2 and the kid's premium $1.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 07-24-2006, 04:04 PM:

Dick, did none of the 3D effects seem to pop "out" of the screen? I saw lots of that. In the 3D trailer for the "Nightmare Before Christmas 3D" some of the snowflakes seemed so close you could reach out and grab them. Is it possible they had the 3D "out of phase" or whatever? What you're describing kind of sounds like what I saw at the first show, where the glasses had to be worn upside-down to get the correct 3D effect.

Claude, did you notice any issues with illumination not being uniform, or any "water spots" on the silver screen?

(sorry if this is turning chatty)

Posted by Dick Vaughan (Member # 540) on 07-24-2006, 06:21 PM:

There was a bit of that with the snowflakes but not to the same degree that we get with IMAX.

I tried the upside down trick much to the amusement of the little kid sat next to me then realised I should have turned the glasses over and not stood on my head while leaving the glasses upright [Wink]

No seriously when I tried them up side down the backgrounds showed up forward of the foreground action so therefore phase was ok.

Posted by Kara Tillotson (Member # 3899) on 07-24-2006, 08:54 PM:

I enjoyed the film....great humor, but definitly a little to scary for kids...but isnt it like PG or something? We hope to get the 3D thing going soon.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 07-25-2006, 02:05 AM:

No, David

The picture illumination was very even on the Dole Cannery's new silver screen. One of the things I had noticed with Digital 3-D was the way the picture looked without wearing the Polaroid glasses. It looked almost like a normal 2-D image and not blurry like the way two projection movies look without glasses. I also did not notice anything that looked like water spots on the screen

-Claude

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-25-2006, 04:57 AM:

Which could bring up an interesting side topic: If being presented in 3D - shouldn't these circuits intall silver screens then (or have they already done so...) for 3D presentations instead of just adding Digital to a 35 house?

-Monte

Posted by Tom Hayes (Member # 3932) on 08-19-2006, 05:03 AM:

I saw it tonight at UA Horton Plaza in San Diego. The theater entrance and lobby areas look pretty messy but the theater we saw it in was great. Normal sets (not stadium) but love-seat style with ample leg room. They really upgraded the house since the last movie I saw there (Lilo and Stitch.)

Only about 7 people in the auditorium, but Snakes on a plane across the hall was packed.

I thought the movie was good but my friend who attended thought it was GREAT.

The Real-D worked very well , esp. in the climatic scenes on house vs. the kids. I'm not sure if the non 3-d version would be as fun.

I would not recommend it for kids under 12 because it might be scary. As a 36 year old man I was not scared once.

This is my second Real-D film (saw Chicken Little in Irvine Ca. last year) and I think it's a gimmick that will have me seeing films at Horton Plaza again.