Why go out???


Just returned from watching Knives Out at one of these supposedly premium theaters. Well the seats at least are premium. Big, reclining, and comfortable enough. None of the usual crammed in like cattle feel. That's it for the good news. For some unfathomable reason the theaters are numbered but without movie names. We walk down the hall, not one name or even a poster. We weren't the only ones, another couple was roaming around wondering where to go. 

The screen was (Guessing) not even 16:9 and with awful grainy coarse quality which you think well it'll be better for the feature but no, its not! Who in this millennium shows movies in pan and scan? Woodinville! Hard to believe this is the only one- let me know! 

In case you're wondering no, this isn't me being audio/videophile finicky, my wife was complaining all the way home! My projector is Sony, not even the latest, not even 4K, and no Blu-Ray I'm a Pirate Bay/RARBG scofflaw kinda guy, all movies watched off the MacBook Pro (with ECT, and the system is to die for but still....) MY WIFE was complaining! She actually thought it was worse than me! (Well I make allowances, but still...)

What gets me is, I've seen and know how good movies can be. Seen Lawrence, Hamlet, My Fair Lady etc in 70mm. Hateful Eight in 70mm too but that one the projectionist clearly didn't know what he was doing. Beside the point. Cinema should be an experience. A memorable experience. Hamlet was. My Fair Lady was. This one was memorable only in the sense that we will remember not to come back.

Time was not all that long ago no amount of money would get you to cinema quality. But now? Cinema has descended, home theater (IF you do it right!) is actually better. Not a little either. WAY better!

Is it me?Or are they killing the motion picture industry?

Why go out? 
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There's an interview with Schroeder, widely regarded as among the best tone arm builders around, and he's asked about the difference between live and reproduced music and practically the first words out of his mouth are its anti-social. Not how hopelessly difficult it is, nothing about dynamics or sound quality at all. Oh, he does get there, eventually. But only after talking about how fundamentally anti-social it is to be sitting in a room all by yourself in the dark playing music that only you can hear. 

For the longest time, many decades, it was rare to attend any concert and not walk around checking out the sound. Steeley Dan at the Gorge ranged from poor to atrocious depending on where you were. All except for dead center one row in front of the mixing board. There the sound was perfect. And I mean perfect. Imaging, depth, you name it, and it was hard not to believe it was even better ten feet up and back where the guys on the console were sitting.

So these audiophiles, they managed to make even a live concert anti-social, by creating good sound for the few of them and them alone. Schroeder, hate to say it, was right on.

When the audience is into it there's electricity in the air. The Seattle Symphony finally cuts the crap with their PC agenda and plays the Messiah. Daniel Craig starts putting the pieces together in Knives Out. Jordan B Peterson talking about... well, anything. The Eagles. Electrifying. Whatever it is, could be anything, could be anyone, when it starts channeling that, whatever it is, we have no name for it, yet we all know what I'm talking about, when the performers doing that and we all sense it there's a cascade and its just, well... whatever it is, its why we sit and listen in the dark- and also why we put up with the crowds and the noise and all the rest as well.

you need to get to either of the Benaroya halls, Triple Door, and Tacoma ( not the dome ) more often....
Jordan B. Peterson..Yikes.. you sent me scrambling to Wikipedia for that one. Sounds like a reasonably complex character though. I'll dig into him more as time allows but I had to smile at this closing bit of personal detail that you usually don't see on a Wikipedia entry"In late 2016, Peterson went on a strict diet consisting only of meat and some vegetables to control severe depression and an autoimmune disorder, including psoriasis and uveitis.[26][142] He stopped eating any vegetables in mid-2018.[143]"
Jordan B Peterson is simply the greatest philosopher/intellectual of our times. So many hours of him on-line, hundreds if not thousands of hours, yet its hard to find one on any subject that's not absolutely fascinating to watch. I mean the man did a 12 lecture series on the stories of the Bible that sold out each night and has been seen millions of time on-line. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-wWBGo6a2w

Complex? Watch just the first 37 seconds and see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMcjxSThD54
Awesome.
 Peterson is a brilliant fellow with a fierce intellect and intelligence. He’s all over YouTube nowadays, so easy to find him with a quick search.