This is topic Wonder Woman (2017) in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 06-04-2017, 10:11 PM:
 
CINEMA: AMC Council Bluffs 17, Council Bliffs, IA
AUDITORIUM: 1, SEAT: D8
PRESENTATION: AMC Recline-o-Vision
PRESENTATION PROBLEEMS: None
RATING: Three stars (out of four)

I was going to finally get around to checking out the Alamo Drafthouse they built on the west side, but I heard they weren't showing this to men. Thank God for the progressive, gender-tolerant Chinese.

Cripes. Who did Anthony Hopkins piss off to end up in a Transformers movie?

THE PLOT: A virgin crash-lands on Paradise Island. Wackiness ensues.

Supposedly Joss Whedon wrote a Wonder Woman script, but Warner shot it down because Whedon would have come up with something fun and likeable, which is strictly forbidden in DC movies. So instead we get a World War 1-era opus that feels like it's longer than the Twin Peaks revival. Still, all of it is good, especially the advancing the front scene. And there are moments that somehow slipped by the DC anti-fun censors.

Probably the second best DC movie behind The Dark Knight.
 

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Posted by Terry Monohan (Member # 8285) on 06-04-2017, 10:40 PM:
 
Went today to 'Wonder Women' at the AMC Imax in 3-D Metreon Theatre in SF. Another Imax rip off as only the scope middle part of the large screen was used during the whole movie. The worst 3-D this year. Sound was so so. They charged $41 for 2 Imax afternoon tickets. At least last week when they had the Pirate 3-D movie in Imax here they used most of the screen top to bottom. The best part they did show a long sneak preview clip from the new 70mm 'Dunkirk' film and that looked so crisp with all the height and width used on the big Imax screen. On WW I liked the chemical women with the ugly face, she was the best thing in the movie. I know many movies shown on Imax screens were never shot in true Imax or 70MM they just have certain parts that open up or blown up sections to fill the whole screen, WW was not one of those. This cinema with all the summer movies coming up they only keep a movie on the Imax screen for 1 week. Next Friday 6/9 The Mummy 3-D Imax opens up here.They showed a trailer that only came across the middle part of the screen so I guess this will be another Imax rip off. They charge Imax prices but It is not, and you can go see the same movie on a large curved 3-D scope screen in the same theatre with the screen almost the same width as the Imax screen. I wonder If there is a site that tells what Imax movies use the whole screen or use It some time during the movie?
 

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Posted by Bill Brandenstein (Member # 7758) on 06-14-2017, 04:22 PM:
 
Happened across a $6.50 "Twilight" 4pm show while out of town with my wife on Monday. Edwards (Regal) Camarillo 12. You guys are spot on with your reviews. This was a fun movie, not amazing, but overall works.

We LOVED the new recliners. Well, and the low price. Grade: A-
We LIKED the sound, which at first I thought was tepid, but eventually the mix bloomed when the action kicked in, and I liked that they saved some dynamic range for when it was needed. Grade: B+ cause it coulda been louder, it wasn't Atmos, and you could hear the movie next door quite frequently.
We TOLERATED the visual presentation. The Sony dual-head projector was tepid or worse in brightness. The screen wasn't masked for scope. The side masking on the right wasn't hanging straight. Worst of all, the 39,528,412 rather bright aisle lights fogged the screen and white ceiling, ruining anything but the brightest scenes, some of which lights were placed right under the screen due to a very, very long wheelchair-access ramp to the emergency exit. Grade: C-.

I really hope I can get down to Sherman Oaks and see it again in 70mm before it's gone. Good, light fun, and that's from someone who thought the trailer was kinda a turn-off.
 

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Posted by Tyler Purcell (Member # 9213) on 06-19-2017, 12:04 AM:
 
CINEMA: Arclight Sherman Oaks
AUDITORIUM: 3 (J22)
PRESENTAION: 5/70
PRESENTAION PROBLEMS: (none)
RATING 2 1/2 out of 5

I'm not a fan of the franchise, not a comic book fan either. Where I grew up with Tim Burton's Batman and rather like Nolan's take as well, super hero movies to me have very little purpose but wasting time and money. In a world where movies cost $14 -$20 depending on the theater, it's hard to justify. Still, getting a chance to see GOOD 70mm projection these days, is hard. With Warner Brothers doing an admirable job re-inventing the format, I have gone out of my way to support their and Kodak's effort by giving them some of my hard earned money. even if I'm less then enthralled with the content. As a filmmaker who shoots primarily on film, it's important to support this effort.

Never the less, the Century JJ worked flawlessly, correct screen matting, excellent brightness across the screen, registration was perfect, splices were well made (no cue marks) and not a bit of dust or scratches. I have a keen eye for anything that "could" have gone wrong and I was VERY impressed by the presentation, even after a week of showing, the print looked brand new.

I did think the sound mix was poor, it needed another few weeks and the dynamics of the mix were just not there. I also didn't care for the horrible visual effects in some areas, which were more like the filmmakers having fun with toys rather then telling the story.

Over-all the experience was good, but the film itself needed a lot of work. It was a shame because they had a lot of opportunity to make something good out of it, but it felt like another movie made by a committee of people who were more interested in whiz bang, then making a good product. It wasn't a complete waste of time, but I was happy when it was over.
 

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Posted by Bill Brandenstein (Member # 7758) on 06-20-2017, 02:46 PM:
 
Tyler, we went there yesterday! Were we there at the same time? Definitely a beautiful presentation, and Arclight, WB, and Kodak should be proud. Also appreciated hearing it on a good sound system at a good volume. However, the subs struck me as overdriven but not incorrect in general loudness. That tells me they're underpowered. So I'm curious what would you think a few more weeks would've added to the sound mix in maturity? Also, have you heard this mix "as intended" in an Atmos room? Too bad 70mmn with Atmos isn't a thing yet, which we'd all appreciate.

You missed some minor scratching: two top-to-bottom hairlines during the Dunkirk preview that cleared up within a couple of minutes; and a minor here-again gone-again issue that recurred throughout the entire show. It was about 10% of the total image height, just to the right of center, and is very intermittent but present throughout. Also, so much of the movie is dark, the problem is only visible when there's reasonable brightness. Maybe it just happened, but there IS a very little scratching about 75 passes in.

Otherwise the screen was full of gorgeous, clean, bright analog film, and IS a beautiful thing.

Now that I've seen this twice, I'll add a bit to the reviews. This has enough character development and both of the leads have enough personality to make you care about them as the plot develops. The Amazon-goddess-popping-into-a-real-world issue is worked up believably and logically, something that surely will never happen again in the likes of Justice League. The conflict of good overcoming evil is played out on the basis of unabashedly pure sincerity and moral character (helping people not specifically because they deserve it but because of what's believed to be right), almost with a sense of religiosity. And, the movie was as enjoyable the second time as the first, if not more so.

3 stars out of 4 and definitely repeatable.
 

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Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 06-26-2017, 08:27 AM:
 

quote: Terry Monohan

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I wonder If there is a site that tells what Imax movies use the whole screen or use It some time during the movie?

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quote: Bill Brandenstein

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Also, have you heard this mix "as intended" in an Atmos room? Too bad 70mmn with Atmos isn't a thing yet, which we'd all appreciate.

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