1014 Roma (2018)

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phantomforce
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#51 Post by phantomforce » Wed Nov 14, 2018 3:39 am

Netflix knows they are in a tough position with other filmmakers (Coen Bros, Scorcese etc), Studios and Theaters by putting so much faith into Roma and giving it the all star treatment, but they also know Roma has a strong chance at a Best Picture / Director win, so this could just simply be a power play for them.

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mfunk9786
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#52 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Nov 14, 2018 12:12 pm

Alamo Drafthouse's PR person deserves a raise, but if this same article were about, say, Paul Thomas Anderson instead of Netflix, the animosity would be directed at Alamo Drafthouse, not the other way around. If they can't commit to exhibiting the film the way that Netflix (and surely by extension, Cuarón) would like, then maybe they shouldn't exhibit the film.
McCrutchy wrote:
Wed Nov 14, 2018 2:59 am
Nutfux
Clever, wow! Very cool. I'm also very annoyed that The Other Side of the Wind's restoration got paid for and completed this year, and all my auteur faves got blank checks to make the movies they wanted to make

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domino harvey
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#53 Post by domino harvey » Wed Nov 14, 2018 12:29 pm

Nutfux doesn't even rhyme. Netdix is right there, dude

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Brian C
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#54 Post by Brian C » Wed Nov 14, 2018 12:47 pm

mfunk9786 wrote:
Wed Nov 14, 2018 12:12 pm
Alamo Drafthouse's PR person deserves a raise, but if this same article were about, say, Paul Thomas Anderson instead of Netflix, the animosity would be directed at Alamo Drafthouse, not the other way around. If they can't commit to exhibiting the film the way that Netflix (and surely by extension, Cuarón) would like, then maybe they shouldn't exhibit the film.
I dunno, it sounds from the article that the main sticking points were basically money and time. Even if it's directly instead of "by extension," I don't see why Cuarón should be able to dictate how many consecutive weeks the film plays or what percentage of ticket sales goes to Netflix. It's not like Alamo Drafthouse is refusing to commit to proper projector bulb brightness or something.

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mfunk9786
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#55 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Nov 14, 2018 12:51 pm

This is also one of the biggest releases of the year for the sort of patrons that Alamo has - if they can't make it work then it's definitely Alamo's loss

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swo17
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#56 Post by swo17 » Wed Nov 14, 2018 12:54 pm

Or not, because they weren't going to get to see any of the profits

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hearthesilence
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#57 Post by hearthesilence » Wed Nov 14, 2018 1:01 pm

Screw Drafthouse. I prefer to watch this without people walking in and out of my view carrying food and beer.

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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#58 Post by McCrutchy » Wed Nov 14, 2018 1:13 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Wed Nov 14, 2018 12:29 pm
Nutfux doesn't even rhyme. Netdix is right there, dude
Nutfux is more apt, because the company is a bunch of fucking nutters.

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domino harvey
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#59 Post by domino harvey » Wed Nov 14, 2018 1:24 pm

How so?

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mfunk9786
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#60 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Nov 14, 2018 2:14 pm

I've got to gander my cinemas on the bloody telly, the load of bollocks
hearthesilence wrote:
Wed Nov 14, 2018 1:01 pm
Screw Drafthouse. I prefer to watch this without people walking in and out of my view carrying food and beer.
You don't like the smell of ketchup wafting through your movie theater? Your loss

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MichaelB
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#61 Post by MichaelB » Wed Nov 14, 2018 3:34 pm

mfunk9786 wrote:I've got to gander my cinemas on the bloody telly, the load of bollocks
Literally nobody in the UK has ever constructed a sentence quite like that.

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mfunk9786
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#62 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Nov 14, 2018 3:36 pm

I don't doubt it.

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Persona
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#63 Post by Persona » Thu Nov 15, 2018 1:57 pm

mfunk9786 wrote:
Fri Nov 09, 2018 3:08 am
The film suffers from the lack of a score. The surround sound mix of urban noise is often jarring - if Cuaron is adding a well-written score at the last moment it's unorthodox but could be a major + for the final product.
The new trailer for this is set to "The Great Gig in the Sky" and, boy howdy, it works.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#64 Post by FrauBlucher » Sat Nov 24, 2018 2:21 pm

I was blown away. A very human, heart felt drama that’s placed in Mexico but really can be anywhere. Love stories like this. The cinematography was beautiful. The combination of tracking shots, still shots and handheld is so well crafted it will be remembered for a long time. I like that there was no score. I didn’t miss it.

Looking forward to reading what folks think.



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hearthesilence
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#65 Post by hearthesilence » Thu Nov 29, 2018 2:02 pm

The immaculate 2.35:1 photography isn't the only reason to see this in the best theater possible - equally important is the sound mix, which is incredibly meticulous about where it places sound around the theater. Cuarón’s greatest strengths as a filmmaker seem to go hand-in-hand with immersion. You see it in the unbroken scenes stitched together in Children of Men and the way he composed his set pieces for 3D in Gravity. Here it’s to bring the audience into the Mexico he remembers and the sound mix plays a major role in this. Don't know if Beck's score has been mixed in elsewhere but there was no score in the print we saw. I don’t think it’s needed and wonder if it would be a detriment, undermining what’s already being done with the sound.

Sociopolitical dynamics are powerfully woven into the film - very organic, generally avoids being didactic.

A few reservations though - as mentioned elsewhere, Cuarón has a tendency to be sentimental. There may have been a few moments where it might've been too much, but on at least one occasion, the film felt blatantly manipulative. Not for what's been plotted, but more for how it's been done.
SpoilerShow
The birth is the one I'd single out, and I'm tempted to add the cut to a close-up of a premature baby, nearly crushed to death by fallen debris that landed on its incubator.
There are genuinely powerful moments - the climax at the beach is intense and harrowing. Interesting though because the general immersive approach is more or less taken to both scenes, and yet in the former, it played very differently for me where I felt like I was being coaxed really hard into reacting rather than naturally being taken by it.

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Persona
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#66 Post by Persona » Thu Nov 29, 2018 4:12 pm

I wonder if the rumored score is a Netflix-only since most home set-ups wouldn't be able to do justice to the Atmos sound mix?

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mfunk9786
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#67 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Nov 29, 2018 4:22 pm

hearthesilence wrote:
Thu Nov 29, 2018 2:02 pm
equally important is the sound mix, which is incredibly meticulous about where it places sound around the theater. Cuarón’s greatest strengths as a filmmaker seem to go hand-in-hand with immersion.
This was perhaps the thing that drew me out of the film most. For something that pulls the viewer in on the strength of its mostly quiet telling of a small (in cinematic scale, anyway) story, having speakers fire all over the theater was too bombastic for me. Not saying it needed to have a mono mix or something, but it felt like an unsuccessful mix from a tonal perspective, as almost every time I felt as though the film had grabbed me, I would become aware of how the sound mix was working and be yanked out again.

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hearthesilence
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#68 Post by hearthesilence » Thu Nov 29, 2018 6:14 pm

mfunk9786 wrote:
Thu Nov 29, 2018 4:22 pm
hearthesilence wrote:
Thu Nov 29, 2018 2:02 pm
equally important is the sound mix, which is incredibly meticulous about where it places sound around the theater. Cuarón’s greatest strengths as a filmmaker seem to go hand-in-hand with immersion.
This was perhaps the thing that drew me out of the film most. For something that pulls the viewer in on the strength of its mostly quiet telling of a small (in cinematic scale, anyway) story, having speakers fire all over the theater was too bombastic for me. Not saying it needed to have a mono mix or something, but it felt like an unsuccessful mix from a tonal perspective, as almost every time I felt as though the film had grabbed me, I would become aware of how the sound mix was working and be yanked out again.
Wow, bombastic is NOT how I would describe it at all.

Another thing to consider is the theater's sound system - I've been to plenty of screenings where they clearly cranked up the volume (and I'm including chamber dramas where it's mostly just people in a home talking the whole time), to the point where your ears do ring when you leave. That wasn't the case at this screening though, everything was at an intimate volume - it was really immersive.

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mfunk9786
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#69 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Nov 29, 2018 6:25 pm

Theater volume was fine, I just think we differ on the sound design. In fact, it might have been in my favorite place to see a movie in my city (it's neck and neck between it [Philadelphia Film Center main screening room] and the Landmark Ritz East's rear auditorium, if any Philly folks know it). Brand new 7.1 sound system. It was just too much flourish for me, and never failed to remind me about the filmmaking heft behind the film, which shouldn't be a problem, but it becomes one when everything else is stripped down and intimate. That said, having just been to Mexico City, the recurring plane device couldn't be more apt.

I realize this might seem stubbornly contrarian, but I am looking forward to watching this in my own home, in a more modest and comfortable environment, and seeing how it sits with me then.

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mfunk9786
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#70 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Dec 06, 2018 8:28 pm

Gotta respect the balls this sort of outrageous trolling takes:

Netflix's Ted Sarandos: "[People] are going to love [Roma] on their phone"

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FrauBlucher
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#71 Post by FrauBlucher » Thu Dec 06, 2018 8:38 pm

“I have a 22-year-old son … who is a film student, who has only seen ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ on a phone. He thinks it’s one of the greatest movies of all time. Most people see most movies that change their lives on a phone,” the executive said at the event.
Image

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jindianajonz
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#72 Post by jindianajonz » Sat Dec 08, 2018 12:59 pm

I mean, at least the aspect ratio would be fairly accurate.

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dda1996a
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#73 Post by dda1996a » Sat Dec 08, 2018 1:41 pm

I hope his fellow students ridicule him. I mean what is even the point? How can you spent 3 1/2 hours watching it on your phone? And he's even proud of it.

albucat
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#74 Post by albucat » Sat Dec 08, 2018 5:52 pm

"People make stupid decisions and are proud of it, particularly my son" is a weird way of making a point. Though I guess it's a very 2018 way of making a point.

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tenia
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Re: Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)

#75 Post by tenia » Sun Dec 09, 2018 6:29 am

Actually, I think the point he made was rather this part : "Most people see most movies that change their lives at home."
Which probably is very true. And is going to be probably more and more true in the coming years. And I don't think constant box offices are going to change that because I doubt most people going in theaters are going there to watch movies like that (except if stuff like The Last Jedi, Infinity War etc are changing your lives but I doubt it).

In my case, I live too far away from theaters showing anything else than dubbed popular movies. Anything else, I catch it on video at home, or sometimes on TV.

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