(via Indiewire).

It was a request I couldn’t turn down.  It was Valentine’s Day and we decided to spend a quiet evening relaxing at home, instead of braving the crowded restaurants with overpriced “Special Valentine’s Day” menus that the New York dining scene had to offer.  I made sushi; she made red velvet waffles topped with whipped cream cheese frosting for desert.

The film genre was obvious — something romantic.  After a few minute of flipping through Netflix’s Instant Streaming offerings and deciding No Strings Attached would certainly be an insult to our collective intelligence, we settled on David Lean’s Doctor Zhivago.  It’s a movie that I’ve seen many times, and while it’s not my favorite of the Lean canon — that honor clearly belongs to Lawrence of Arabia, despite it being the obvious choice — I simply love the beautiful cinematography, the exquisite costumes, and its intricate set design.

But what I discovered as we watched put my stomach into knots of frustration and made me shake my head in utter shame.  Doctor Zhivago, a film that is a testament to the art of cinematography — was being shown in 4:3 pan and scan.

Freddie Young’s Oscar-winning cinematography was completely ruined.

I was horrified.

Netflix, this is embarrassing.  This is not the 1980s — people today are not averse to watching widescreen films.  They are not frightened, as they once were, of the black bars that lived on the top and bottom of the screen.  In fact, the modern movie viewing audiences have come to accept them, hell, even love them.  And with the prevalence of widescreen TVs, every piece of content on your streaming service — besides 4:3 only content — should be in its widescreen version.  To make this matter even worse, the Zhivago DVD and Blu-Ray versions that you offer are in the original widescreen formats.

I’m clearly not the only one exceptionally pissed off by this insult to film.  Many people have posted in the comments/review section for the movie.  One member posted:

 AAAAAAAARGH!!! So excited when I saw David Lean’s Doctor Zhivago in Instant Streaming, but guess what? It’s freakin’ PAN & SCAN! What the gosh darn heck! This movie was shot in 70 mm and 2.20 : 1 aspect ratio. The title streams at the highest HD bitrate, but the version used is a soft looking SD master, about Laserdisc quality. Doctor Zhivago is a fabulous film, but shouldn’t be watched via Instant Streaming until the correct aspect ratio is provided.

And another:

This is one of the greatest films ever made. Unfortunately, Instant watch is in 4:3 pan & scan. It’s supposed to be 2.35:1 People keep talking to other people who are off screen. Half of my friggin’ movie has been cut off. This sort of movie is UNWATCHABLE when pan & scan.

Honestly, I couldn’t have chosen a better adjective.  Thank you anonymous Netflix poster.  The Instant Streaming version of Zhivago is simply unwatchable.

Below are two shots — the first is a majestic wide shot of the ice palace in Dacha, presented in its original widescreen glory…

…the second photo is the same shot (approximately) from Netflix’s Instant Streaming version:

Gone is the grandeur; the depth; the vastness; the emptiness.  The quiet serenity expressed in the first image is completely lost in the second.  The shot’s composition that was no doubt fretted over before rolling — ruined.  The vastness of Russia’s landscapes shrunk down into a convenient and sterile square.  In short, Zhivago’s  distinction as an Epic is gone.

Oh and it’s not even streamed in HD, despite the fact that Netflix claims it is.

Despite the recent brouhaha surrounding Netflix, I’ve always been a big fan of the product.  I supported their price increases — no one likes paying more, certainly, but there is considerable incentive for paying into the service.  I love having access to a lot of really good content on their Instant Streaming service.  I also love having access to an amazing library of DVDs — both mainstream and the more esoteric, niche films.

While I found the Qwixster plan ridiculous (as did others), I was pleased when they quickly decided to backtrack and keep everything almost as-is.  But this…  Doctor Zhivago in pan and scan?  This in unforgivable and it must be fixed.

and:

Happy Birthday, Hitch.

The array ceased operation in April when the program lost funding from it’s biggest supporter, operating partner UC Berkeley.

[via Cosmic Log]

I was wrong.

But fear not fellow Palin haters!  It’s not another Sarah Palin-endorsed masturbation fest that “The Undefeated” turned out to be.  Instead, director Nick Broomfield’s ”Sarah Palin-You Betcha!”  will be an in-depth look of the past, present, and future of the polarizing former vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor.

Broomfield interviewed friends, family members and former colleagues of Ms. Palin in an attempt to find the “real Sarah Palin.”

Broomfield’s documentary will be in good company at TIFF.  Films from Werner Herzog, Morgan Spurlock, and Jessica Yu have also been chosen.

On a side note, I’m sure “Sarah Palin-You Betcha!” will fare a lot better in both reviews and in the Box Office.  ”The Undefeated” bombed miserably, receiving a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.

[via: IndieWire. NY Mag, The Guardian]

No?

Yeah, well, now you can find out anyway, thanks to Hulu’s freshmen entry into the spectacular world of online original programming.

The streaming service (which competes directly with Netflix) has joined up with documentary filmmaker, Morgan Spurlock to produce a series titled “A Day in the Life.”

The 22-minute documentary series will follow around someone rich and famous for an entire day.  Presumably, Spurlock’s goal is to show how truly difficult it is to have an incredibly large bank account and be well known by many.

The subject of the first episode will be Virgin’s own Richard Branson and will stream for free on Hulu.com.

[via: The Hollywood Reporter]

I think of this:

Honestly, it’s the only way to make Adam Sandler stop.

The latest installment brought in $66.1 million dollars, and did very well in the oveseas market, collecting an estimated $42.9 million in box office receipts.

The B.O. results of Cars 2 ensures two things— the film is well on its way to breaking the coveted 1 billion dollar market. And also ensures that Disney will rake in a considerable amount of money from the ridiculously popular toy franchise.

For a more detailed look at this past weekend’s box office results, visit Box Office Mojo.

Kudos to Michael Bay for sending this letter out to projectionists.

But if I were a projectionist, I’d be a bit concerned that the letter might explode…