'Being John Malkovich' - High-Def Digest Review

[HDDVD73]

I'm just glad to see the HD DVD get an extra half star.

[DoubleJ]

I don't think this one can stand much a chance of ever having stellar video. It never looked good in the first place. Still strange, though, as Nate points out, that they talked about cleaning it up and there seems to be no great evidence of that.

[BostonMA]

Last night, Apple started running an iPhone commercial featuring none other than Mr. John "Horatio" Malkovich himself.



I really like to imagine this is exactly how Malkovich spends his days when not making jewel heist movies. Lazily sitting in well-appointed rooms, listening to operas, pondering the meaning of life...

i saw the commercial while watching the Celtics/Sixers game and thought of the film as well. funny stuff, could be a subtle marketing scheme to have a both-ways-benefiting sort of thing happening.

[gle_helle]

5 stars?!?
Try 1 star. This film was overhyped and terrible.

I've always said that everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Now I'm not so sure.

[Mr. Mojo]

I've always said that everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Now I'm not so sure.

Keener plays a detestable, totally unlikable character that we're supposed to believe Cusak's character is obsessed with through the entire movie? The portal was clever at first but got silly as it went along. It's definitely original but didn't work at all for me.

[Josh Z]

I don't always agree with Robert Harris (we'll probably never see eye-to-eye on Bram Stoker's Dracula, and I believe he defended the Ghostbusters Blu-ray as well), but let's please bring this conversation back to reality. The man knows more about motion picture photography than anyone here (myself included) will ever learn in a lifetime, and his work in film preservation more than entitles him to a little respect.

A polite difference of opinion is one thing. What's been written in this thread is something else entirely.

[Attebery]

Last night, Apple started running an iPhone commercial featuring none other than Mr. John "Horatio" Malkovich himself.

I saw that. Certainly better than that stupid pixie eyed lady who shall not be named looking out the window at RAIN and asking her phone if it's raining. Tomato sooooooup.... today, we're daaaaaancing. God help me if I have to watch that one more time.

[ungood]

I saw that. Certainly better than that stupid pixie eyed lady who shall not be named looking out the window at RAIN and asking her phone if it's raining. Tomato sooooooup.... today, we're daaaaaancing. God help me if I have to watch that one more time.

hahaha! you know what they say, 'quirky' is just a polite way of saying 'weird'

[Super-VHS]

I saw that. Certainly better than that stupid pixie eyed lady who shall not be named looking out the window at RAIN and asking her phone if it's raining. Tomato sooooooup.... today, we're daaaaaancing. God help me if I have to watch that one more time.

I already posted this in the water cooler...



https://twitter.com/#!/zooeysiri

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

[gravis778]

Keener plays a detestable, totally unlikable character that we're supposed to believe Cusak's character is obsessed with through the entire movie? The portal was clever at first but got silly as it went along. It's definitely original but didn't work at all for me.

My issue was that it just a very bleak view of humanity. Is life really that bad? Are humans really this shallow? The lesbian love story. And then the ending:

Spoiler:

Let's break into the mind of a six year old girl! Oh god, I sure hope he doesn't get horney while he is messing with her mind

That being said, I can appreciate the movie. It is probably one of the few movies that I can honestly say that I don't like, but I totally support the five-star rating on. Just because I don't like it doesn't mean that I can't see how great this movie actually is.

[Josh Z]

I saw that. Certainly better than that stupid pixie eyed lady who shall not be named looking out the window at RAIN and asking her phone if it's raining. Tomato sooooooup.... today, we're daaaaaancing. God help me if I have to watch that one more time.

The thing that bugs me about the stupid Siri commercials is the way that the shots are all awkwardly composed to crop off the top of the actors' heads right at the eyebrows, so as to give the shots more room below the faces to see the damn phone. It looks ridiculous. I hate it. It makes me never want to buy an iPhone (not that I would anyway).

[Attebery]

The thing that bugs me about the stupid Siri commercials is the way that the shots are all awkwardly composed to crop off the top of the actors' heads right at the eyebrows, so as to give the shots more room below the faces to see the damn phone. It looks ridiculous. I hate it. It makes me never want to buy an iPhone (not that I would anyway).

Ahhh, but notice they keep her dumb bangs in frame. I didn't used to mind her, then my wife and I rewatched '(500) Days of Summer' and decided Summer was the devil. I don't get the cult of Deshanel. Also, her show is one of the worst things in history.

[SonicH04]

A lot of hyperbole getting thrown around here today, huh? Oh typical internets! You silly bitch!

[Flu Ray]

I just watched my copy of BJM, and I was pleasantly surprised by the video after being prepared for a disaster based on the review. In particular, I looked & looked for all of the dirt that was mentioned, and I didn't see it. At all. Almost makes me think this is a different transfer than the one Nate viewed. There was grain, but I didn't see any specks or hairs. It was murky and drab, but that's inherent to how it was filmed and it's looked that way since its theater days.

[bruceames]

With it being a Criterion release, there is probably noting TECHNICALLY wrong with the transfer, which is why Blu-Ray.com scored it so high.

Except that this release is cropped. Approximately an 8% zoom on all 4 sides. That's compared to the HD DVD and the German BD. The colors are boosted more on the Criterion, but overall the picture is slightly softer.

3 stars is about right.