FilmFour touts itself as a channel for film lovers who want to see the director's 'vision'. So why is it that when I watch, say, 'Alien' the closest the titles get is 'lie'?
FilmFour showed the director's cut of 'Aliens' in Pan and Scan (where DID you get that print - I did not know that there was a P&S version!). And DO NOT get me started on what counts as Pan and Scan on FilmFour movies.
In the good old days when I had a 4:3 TV it was nice to see the BBC and ITV showing the opening credits in a letterbox so that we could see the name of the film and the full names of the stars. I guess we do not need that now.
I am sure 'Ust Devi' is worth watching - Mark Kermode appears to think so. Did he know that you were going to show it in such a ridiculous manner?
I understand that some films do not NEED to be shown in widescreen, however some demand it. Examples are the Michael Moore documentaries; they really do lose a lot of impact if you cannot read the documents that are being shown as evidence. 'The Corporation' would have more impact for the same reason.
I think people who subscribe to FilmFour do so because they like movies. I do not get the chance to see many of these films, and I am grateful to FilmFour for showing them, but it is disappointing that it is not possible to see them 'As the director intended'.
I am sure there are pan and scan prints of films like Dark Water (which I have just watched) and Satyricon (which I am watching now - but will not be for much longer), where the subtitles are not trimmed left and right. It really does make them a pig to read.
Come on F4, what is the problem with getting widescreen prints of movies?
These films were in widescreen on my television. Perhaps you should alter your TV settings, or perhaps the fault lies with your server. I get FilmFour through NTL - faultless widescreen transmission.
I used to get a similar problem when I watched FilmFour on an NTL digibox a few years ago - except in my case, the picture was often stuck on 16:9, when I only had a standard 4:3 telly. The result of this was that widescreen pictures were vertically stretched, no matter what option I chose on my digibox's picture setting. Other channels were fine, it was just FilmFour, and in particular, the much-missed FilmFour World. Phone calls to NTL's infamous customer service centre were met with a predictable lack of knowledge, and the problem was only occasional anyway. I'm guessing it was something to do with a flag on the broadcast, which tells the digibox whether it is broadcasting an anamorphic widescreen signal, being set wrong. Sounds like you have the same problem, except that it is forcing the picture setting onto pan-and-scan. Check your digibox picture set-up, then get onto NTL customer services. Make more of a fuss than I did, or you'll have to put up with it!
Gary Painter? I know someone by that name. You live in Walthamstow?
Anyway... enough mistaken identity.
That sounds a lot like what is happening with me to be honest. When I had $ky Movies I got widescreen films in widescreen. I have changed the settings on my STB (Samsung), from 4:3 to 16:9. I will see how Ju-On looks tonight. Not sure if it is supposed to be in widescreen or not. Miranda appeared in widescreen last night though.
Actually, I've seen a few films on F4 that haven't been in the proper cinematic aspect ratio. I remember von Trier's Breaking the Waves and Europa were both cropped from 2:35.1 to 16x9 a few years back, whilst just the other day Dario Argento's The Bird With the Crystal Plumage was cropped in the same way (credits show in cinemascope, film shown in 16x9). I've seen a few other exampes as well, though on the whole, the widescreen issue on F4 is usually rather good.
There was a response from one of the Film4 guys or gals, on a different subject, that said they try to get the cinematic prints but it is not always possible or economical for them to do so.
Having worked out how to set up my set top box I think they do a good job.
