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View Full Version : The Natural is "formatted to fit my screen", but....


Pulp_Joker
07-24-2007, 01:33 PM
I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but I was watching AMC on Sunday night and two things were on back-to-back, The Natural and the tv show Mad Men. I was enjoying The Natural, except the fact that it was "formatted to fit my screen" or in the words I like to use "fuck you film buffs". Now I don't watch movies on tv much anymore, but when I do it is for the content and not about camerawork and cinematography. Then, I saw a commercial that Mad Men was coming on after The Natural and I actually wanted to check it out, so I put off watching Before Night Falls to watch Mad Men.
Well wouldn't you know, apparently AMC's tv shows don't have to be "formatted to fit my screen." So I waited a couple of seconds until the credits were finished because some networks will show film credits in widescreen (they give you a taste of just how much they like to fuck you over). Couple of seconds later and sure enough the fucking show is in widescreen with the proverbial black bars at the top and bottom. I don't get it, but apparently AMC isn't worried about complaints that their show isn't filling their screen. Now I know people probably have ranted about this before, but my god has it been eating at me these past couple of days. I don't watch much television as of late and I sure haven't seen tv shows in widescreen. So this shit came as bit of a shock and made me wonder why exactly they couldn't just show the movies in its original format (where would be maybe, what, 3 complaints) when they seem to do it for television shows. What's the difference, I don't see any. So, once again, fuck you television. I hate you.

Cronos
07-24-2007, 01:41 PM
just another of the reasons i stopped watching tv

Moviefan02000
07-24-2007, 02:26 PM
Yeah, most cable networks show their shows in widescreen. F/X is another one. I wish they're grow a pair and show all the movies in widescreen as well.

Le_Big_Mac
07-24-2007, 10:54 PM
AMC used to show movies in widescreen and without commercials, I believe. I guess they decided to cater to the people who idiotically believe black bars cut off the top and bottom of the screen and are just put there for people with widescreen TVs or think the studios are too lazy to format it from the theater screen. Even though they maintain the right to show programs in widescreen even though less than half as many of those are generally made in widescreen.

I suppose there's some sort of financial/commercial genius behind this, considering AMC is a channel that hardly any clueless mainstreamers watch anyway, but I'm not getting it. I have always ranked quality over income. And showing a movie the way the director meant it to be viewed certainly factors into quality.

I never watch a film made in letterbox in an edited format. Another perk of having premium channels in HD.

damien22
07-25-2007, 12:09 AM
Holy shit, this exact same thing happened to me the other day in a hotel room (one of the few places that I succumb to watching TV), also with Mad Men. Although the movie before was different (don't remember what it was.) But yeah that pissed me off too. And the widescreen for the credits but full screen otherwise reeeeeeeeally pisses me off as well. Fuck TV.

Le_Big_Mac
07-25-2007, 02:42 AM
Originally posted by damien22
And the widescreen for the credits but full screen otherwise reeeeeeeeally pisses me off as well. Fuck TV.

That's excusable because a lot of the time, credits are made to fill the entire wide screen.