At long last The Abyss is available in something higher than standard def! Apparently for some reason this problem plagues several of Cameron's movies, but now there's been a 4k release of it. There's also finally a good US DVD and a Blu-ray version. I went searching several times over the last decade or so and all I've ever been able to find are crappy extra-low-res DVDs, usually from other countries, not even a decent US release. The one I've had in my collection for years now won't even show on my flatscreen except hard-matted, with thick black bars on all sides and the image about the size it would be on a standard old-fashioned TV. To be honest, after a little anger on first starting to watch it, I usually forget the letterboxing after a while, but still it's a damn shame. When this sucker comes in I'm drinking to it!!
I watched It Follows (2015) and Day Shift (2022) yesterday. Both are horror with the latter being a horror comedy. It Follows was "meh" to me. I get the subject matter the allegory of the entity that follows you around very slowly. But I think the concept was done better in Smile (2022). That movie actually gave me nightmares. If you are unfamiliar with that movie, it is essentially the same movie as It Follows but with mental illness and trauma as the main theme instead of sex and STDs. Day Shift was just silly. had over the top action sequences, a ton of plot holes, a ton of tropes, random cameos, Michael Bay-esque explosions, etc. But it was just a fun movie. Nothing to gush over or rant about because even the movie didnt take its self seriously. lol, there was one scene where the MC is thrown UP the stairs. I was like "What kind of physics is this?" and the MC has a very "WTF" look on his face and mutters 'this muthafuka just threw me up the stairs???' that made me laugh, because i was thinking the same thing
Minor Spoiler: Did you see the deleted scene with the dialogue between the Engineer and Weyland? I don't know why they didn't include that in the final film.
I hadn't seen that. Just watched it on the ole YouTube. I can see why they cut it - it kinda holds up the scene. Also I found it improbable that David would be able to figure out a way to vocalize their language (though I don't recall if there were any vocalized records introduced. I didn't think there were, though I could be mistaken).
The 4K remaster of The Abyss is everything I hoped it would be. I had to pause it some ways in because I suddenly started noticing things I needed to add to my notes toward an analysis (I have some 40 movies in progress, all at different points along the way. Most of them I'll never write up an actual analysis for, but I do want to sharpen my ability to connect ideas up and notice symbolic elements). Over the last couple of days I watched a few videos about ol' Jim—one just appeared in my feed about a new book release of his drawings that was published to accompany a Paris exhibit of his work (I think only drawings and paintings). That led me to watch a couple more, mainly about his visual artwork. I knew he drew and painted, but I didn't realize how much of it he's done, or how good it is. And now I come to realize he also writes his own sceenplays. Or treatments anyway, occasionally he's listed as screenwriter on his IMDB. What a multi-talent! He basically does the things I do, except that he's successful at them (understatement), and he apparently learned how to do each artform to a professional level very quickly. I'm still struggling along to learn each of mine. Watching The Abyss I was struck repeatedly by how good the writing is, especially dialogue. And especially considering he added in the Linsey character very late in the process to depict Gale Anne Hurd, his producer and ex wife. The relationship between Bud Bridgman and Linsey represents Cameron's with Hurd. James Cameron | Drawings That Became Movies James Cameron on STORYBOARDING “It’s Going to Be Epic”: The Oral History of James Cameron
Watched Sinister (2012). It was good. Ethan Hawke rarely disappoints. Well, a few things could have been done better: Spoiler: Major spoilers for the movie Less would have been much more. The scene where the boogeyman looks at Hawke from the monitor would have been exceptionally more unnerving if it had simply never moved. There's too much payoff here. It boils off the tension so laboriously built up. It's also the inflection point where the audience becomes entirely certain there's something supernatural at play, which should have been postponed as long as possible. Also the deputy existing solely for exposition felt like a dangling thread. I wonder if there was supposed to be more to him that got cut. My favourite with him as the lead is still Predestination, though.
