Dark Topic
Literally dark.
My husband recently expressed an interest in seeing The Da Vinci Code, which if you knew him, you'd know what a rare occassion this is. He doesn't care for movies, except for old ones (like Casablanca). He usually watches them looking more pained than he did after he had a root canal. Seriously...it's a drag.
So, I raced out and rented the Da Vinci Code and waited for the perfect moment -- during a weekend day when he could afford to take a few hours off, he's awake enough to last the whole show, and my son, who is a major distraction while trying to watch anything, is at a friend's house.
The movie was too dark. It really was hard to see who was who and what was happening. I've read the book and seen the movie on the big screen, so for me it wasn't as much of a problem. But he gave it five maybe ten minutes, announced "It's too dark -- I'm not going to struggle to watch it." Then he went into the other room to watch football on the little TV. Argh!
Why do they make movies so dark? We tried to watch Superman Returns the other night and had the same problem. It was a strain to see. I realize they're trying to set a certain ominous ambiance, but it's ridiculous. I don't think it's our TV, because other things aren't dark.
I know this isn't world hunger or anything, as far as topics go. (In fact, I've been itching to blog about war and 2008 election politics lately (have a few drafts), but I know it's a bad idea since I don't want my blog to alienate or rile anyone.) So...for now I'll stick with the mundane. Does the dark picture irriate you? Do you have any other movie/TV pet peeves?
My husband recently expressed an interest in seeing The Da Vinci Code, which if you knew him, you'd know what a rare occassion this is. He doesn't care for movies, except for old ones (like Casablanca). He usually watches them looking more pained than he did after he had a root canal. Seriously...it's a drag.
So, I raced out and rented the Da Vinci Code and waited for the perfect moment -- during a weekend day when he could afford to take a few hours off, he's awake enough to last the whole show, and my son, who is a major distraction while trying to watch anything, is at a friend's house.
The movie was too dark. It really was hard to see who was who and what was happening. I've read the book and seen the movie on the big screen, so for me it wasn't as much of a problem. But he gave it five maybe ten minutes, announced "It's too dark -- I'm not going to struggle to watch it." Then he went into the other room to watch football on the little TV. Argh!
Why do they make movies so dark? We tried to watch Superman Returns the other night and had the same problem. It was a strain to see. I realize they're trying to set a certain ominous ambiance, but it's ridiculous. I don't think it's our TV, because other things aren't dark.
I know this isn't world hunger or anything, as far as topics go. (In fact, I've been itching to blog about war and 2008 election politics lately (have a few drafts), but I know it's a bad idea since I don't want my blog to alienate or rile anyone.) So...for now I'll stick with the mundane. Does the dark picture irriate you? Do you have any other movie/TV pet peeves?
posted by Ellen @ 8:24 AM
9 Comments:
At 5:10 PM,
Anonymous said…
My dh and I have experienced the same problem with our tv (mostly with the Lord of the Rings movies). Very dark action sequences. In fact our living room has to be completely black for the movie to be seen clearly. I don't know why this is (we have a tv that's only 2 years old - so it isn't the tv) but I have a theory that these movies are made specifically to be shown on a bright, reflective screen. And then when they make the dvd they don't brighten it for regular viewing because everyone in hollywoodland thinks we all have HD flat screens the size of our living rooms. :)
But it's just a theory.
At 6:27 PM,
Ellen said…
Well, Dad, I did like the story -- maybe liked Angels and Demons better (the other of Brown's about Robert Langdon), but I can see why others might not have liked it. I saw it the 1st time with Virginia, and she was very confused -- by everything. :)
Viv, I'm glad it's not just us. I'm the type of person to "suffer" through it, squinting and filling in the dark blanks with my imagination. LOL. But dh isn't that patient. Que Sera Sera. Huh?
At 6:48 PM,
Unknown said…
I never thought of it that way but you know me. I'm odd.
To me, it had an old world flavour.
I've never read the books but did enjoy the film.
Enjoyed LOTR better than the books. ;)
At 8:48 PM,
Ellen said…
K, if it's not too bad, then I think it does have that flavor you're talking about -- which I actually kind of like. Maybe it's partly our TV then, because in this case, we couldn't tell who was talking. Well, I thought Tom Hanks voice was pretty distinctive and told dh so, but I suppose it's a lot to expect for him to identify characters by voice. LOL.
Now people, don't throw things at me, but I've never seen the LOTR movies. (well, moments of one accidently).
At 3:16 AM,
Anonymous said…
Love the book and once I got past the darkness of the movie, liked it. We had to turn off all the lights, though, which is sort of nice since we decided to cuddle on the couch together. Overall, I wish they'd lighten those movies up!
At 6:15 AM,
Maria Geraci said…
My personal movie pet peeve is the uneven sound thing. When people are talking you have to up the volume to hear them, then some music comes on and the volume blasts you away. Very irritating!
At 8:09 AM,
Aura said…
John and I watched the movie and had no problems with the screen, so? Not sure. I enjoyed the film but didn't read the books. I'm with Maria on this one though, uneven sound drives me nuts.
At 11:35 AM,
Honey said…
Haven't read the book or seen the movie, but I had a dream I was in it last night after reading this entry yesterday. :)
I think Mr. Honey and I are spoiled in the TV department - there's not much I've had trouble seeing since we got our new one.
At 11:59 AM,
Ellen said…
Kim, cuddling in the dark sounds nice!
Maria and A, I hate that uneven sound thing too. Our volume control for the DVD player is wired so we have to turn it up and down at the box -- whenever it gets really loud, we have to jump up and run across the room and adjust it.
Honey...your subconcious mind propels you into any suggested action, in your dreams. Your secret desire to be an intergallactic superhero is getting stronger. :)
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