watch movies the right way.

ridley scott recently wrote an op-ed for the huffington post about the only way moviegoers should ever see a film – and that’s in a theatre.

believe it or not, films shown in theaters are the clearest picture you’re ever going to get, with the most accurate tone, brightness, clarity, and the accompanying sound that goes with it. in his article, scott (legendary director, known for alien, gladiator, black hawk down, american gangster, and countless other films) slams the digital media revolution, for you netflix instant queue streaming on your iphone doesn’t quite live up to the original specs of the film.

i have to say, i strongly agree. allow to preface with this: i’m no theatre-head. i rarely go to theaters to see movies and when i do i make it count. i save it for the big ones. most other films i catch at home, on my computer (dvd, streaming, etc.) and i enjoy them thoroughly. but watching the big movies by the big directors in a theatre is an absolute must, and i think so for one reasons mr. scott only alluded too.

aside from aspect ration and clarity and sound and all that technical mumbo jumbo, i firmly believe that, with the very best directors (ridley scott, stephen spielberg, martin scorcese, christopher nolan, among a select few others), every single thing you see in their films is there for a specific reason. these guys pay so much attention to detail and have so much creative control that i feel that every spec of dust you see floating around a set is there because they wanted you to see it.

if you buy a dvd, you get kinda close, but the lack of high definition brings the film down. with blu-ray, you get far closer (perhaps the closest we have, as mr. scott suggested in his article), but there’s still something quite not right (i blame this not on blu-ray but on the televisions they are viewed on a consumer preference. people tend to adjust their sets to display the most vivid [read: bright and colorful] picture possible, which is not what you get in a theatre, which has a dusty, darkened layer about it).

and spielberg doesn’t shoot his film with a blu-ray disc in the camera. he shoots with film. for a reason. it looks better and captures what he wants you to see far better than anything digital can so far achieve.

bottom line, the next time you see blockbuster, if you are excited about it in any way, see that sucker in a theatre. my big up and comer is the final chapter in christopher nolan’s batman trilogy - the dark knight rises. i would consider it an insult to mr. nolan if anyone saw that one for the first time outside the comfy tempur pedic seats of an upscale theatre, preferably imax. buy two bags of popcorn, extra butter, and prepare to be wowed.