"This Movie is Crap, But I Don't Care, Cause It Looks SWEET On Blu-Ray!"

Wow, what is this world coming to. Check out this Blu-Ray Forum post I stumbled upon while looking up info about the look of The Wrestler.

These people are so ignorant, complaining about film grain, wondering why The Wrestler couldn't go to 35mm when The Dark Knight was able to go to 70mm IMAX stock. This is ignorant for a number of reasons. But before I call out their ignorance I just want to say, wouldn't the sight of film grain be a good thing on Blu-Ray? The more grain the better? Because the more grain you're seeing, that means you have a more high def image if you can see all the grain. Am I right? Anyway, their ignorance, reason one, The Dark Knight was a big summer blockbuster, therefore, extremely big budget, the movie grossed just over a billion dollars at the box office. The Wrestler on the other hand, was bought for only 4 million dollars, that's ridiculously cheap. And the movie was made for way less. I'm pretty sure most of the budget went just to paying Mickey Rourke.

This question about film choice clearly shows how unacquainted the America today is with artistic decisions. Rather than asking why they didn't choose to shoot on 35mm, ask why they chose to shoot on 16mm. Because there was a reason to it other than fiscal issues, granted that may have been the driving force. Grain gives an aesthetic and visceral look and feel to the movie. It makes it feel more raw, much like Mickey's character. The film was also shot mostly on a Steadicam to give it a documentary feel. The Steadicam teamed up with the 16mm film gives the movie the feeling of an old documentary from the 60s or 70s.

Not only do these comments make me upset with the world's artistic views, but it upsets me that the worlds standard of image reproduction has changed. We've become obsessed with megapixels and 1080i and 720p and component vs HDMI and Red Cameras and DSLRs that shoot HD video Yes HD looks great...but it looks almost too great. HD is so crisp and clean that it becomes hyper real. Please, look around you, everything you see looks real and has a raw feeling to it, as if everything has lived. HD gives you the feeling that everything has just been born, but that's not the way real life is. Film gives you a raw feeling, but yet it gives you a fantastical feeling about the world. It's separate from our world, but yet it is the same. This is why it offeres such great escapism. HD just gives us a fantasy world that is too much alike and too much more than our own lives. I could continues to rant on the differences between digital and film...but I'll hold back, this argument is really just about film grain and how we view cinema.

My main point is, stop obsessing over pixels and contrast ratios and think about how many different ways we can reproduce images and how each medium gives a different effect, hell, some music videos today are even being shot on Super8 for artistic reasons and aesthetic feel. So think about it.

Pale Flower (1964)

The 1964 Japanese movie Pale Flower was directed by Masahiro Shinoda and was shot entirely on 16mm black and white film. For having been shot on 16mm film, this movie is extremely beautiful.

I am unable to find pictures that truly show off the beautiful cinematography of this film, but trust me, if you like amazing black and white photography, that's enough reason to see this film. On an extremely small budget the film makers were able to establish a very heavy and emotional visual style that is almost film noir.

The film is about a Japanese gangster who is recently let out of prison. He tries to get back in touch with his life by seeing the people he once new and returning to his old gambling joints. While tending to his gambling needs he encounters a beautiful woman gambler with guts. She is extremely intriguing and becomes entranced by her mystique. He takes her to a high stakes gambling match and she is an instant hit with the mob crowd. This is all fun and games, but they inevitably run into problems with rival mobs and broken hearts.

The film is beautifully told and has the feel of an American about poker film, in this film they play Mahjong. Although there are some scenes that feel out of place, they are entertaining and are almost used as comic relief. Yes the film probably could have done with out them, but it's those scenes that let you know the movie doesn't take itself too seriously.