Home » Audio » Movies & Music » Sky Captain was pretty good
Sky Captain was pretty good [message #5607] Sun, 30 January 2005 12:29 Go to next message
lon is currently offline  lon
Messages: 760
Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (2nd Degree)

When I got this I watched it 2x on a couple different days.

Unfortunately it was vhs _and_ on a monophonic player.


I've only recently bought a dvd player. The first thing I got
to test it out was Mike Oldfield's Concert In Heaven which was
some outdoor performance on a New Years Eve in Berlin.

Pretty hot concert piece. Other first thing I played of my
own was the reissue of Mimi Perin's Le Double Six a' Paris
first release. The most famous alumnus out of The Double Six
was Ward Swingle whose Swingle Singers recordings of classical
composers are still in print.


And I saw the Count Basie Orchestra with Neena Freelon live
at the local performing arts place. As a volunteer usher, I
did extra time to be able to work that show.


There was one joe at the Basie who wanted to sit up in
the 4th balcony because he said the acoustic would be
better than 2nd.


I have tried to get an impression of what reproduction
of concert hall sound would be like but I am still stumped.
I'm stumped in the sense that normal sense of stereo right/left
soundstage and volume are obvious isolated in place in the
home environment. But concert hall listening does not give
(for me) any of the effects of separation when listening
to a big band or orchestra. Then you throw in the amplification
system and that adds more coloration. That leaves me with
the question: Aside from volume or loudness, how to reproduce
the orchestra sound?




Re: Sky Captain was pretty good [message #5608 is a reply to message #5607] Sun, 30 January 2005 15:26 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Manualblock is currently offline  Manualblock
Messages: 4973
Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (13th Degree)
Didn't Paul Klipsch used to place two horns in the corners and a small horn in the middle of the two? Seriously I have never heard imaging or stagedepth or any of the other catchphrases attending a classical or concert jazz concert for that matter. The only real thing for me is musicality; that I recognise.

Re: Sky Captain was pretty good [message #5611 is a reply to message #5607] Sun, 30 January 2005 23:18 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18738
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
I liked it too. I guess it didn't do that hot at the box office, but I thought it was pretty cool.



Re: Sky Captain was pretty good [message #5613 is a reply to message #5608] Mon, 31 January 2005 13:01 Go to previous messageGo to next message
lon is currently offline  lon
Messages: 760
Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (2nd Degree)
Whelp, I spoze the only full emersion way to listen to
concert stuff is wirth headphones.


I hate headphones. The closest word I can give to using
headphones is claustrophobic... makes me feel trapped.

Re: Sky Captain was pretty good [message #5614 is a reply to message #5611] Mon, 31 January 2005 13:19 Go to previous message
lon is currently offline  lon
Messages: 760
Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (2nd Degree)
I am not doing movie reviews like I did on the early days of
usenet. But if I did, I would say that if the film was not
favorably received it's likely that a lot of the references
to the cliffhangers of old and early science fiction were missed.


A slew of names came to mind while watching this both the
first and second time I viewed it:


Flash Gordon, Hugo Gernsback, Phillip Wylie, Commander
Cody, Amazing Science Fiction, Captain Video, Island of
Dr. Moreau.

There were a jillion film quotes in it.


The dialog style is based on stock themes from the
period: Airborne hero, plucky reporter etc etc.


I watched the credits for the various production teams roll
and roll and roll. It was like every CGI house in the
world had a piece of this.

In another sense, I see this as a first-- an experiment
with these new techniques like Final Fantasy before it.


But what I've thought for many years now is: When will
they adapt the really great science fiction stories now that
the technology provides the means?


Phillip K. Dick's works have been mined in depth by
now and a few still remain.


But what about Niven, Farmer, Clark and Moorcock?


Sky Captain gives a bit of the flavor of Steam Punk as
did The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and even Equilibrium.


It's time to tackle something like The Difference Engine
by Gibson and Sterling. Or Neuromancer.


Lastly, I'm not real acquainted with a book series I've seen at
the Barnes and Noble which features a woman protagonist. The
costuming for this was brought back by the navvie gear of
the British fuel station team in Sky Captain.


So there's lots out there which should sell to the movie
going crowd. I just wish there were more of it.


And, please, somebody, finish the Dune films!

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