Milos viewing (1)

Just as I feared, it snowed non-stop all night. By morning, we ended up with about an inch on the ground. A little slippery but luckily didn't interfere with my plan. However, I failed to get enough sleep last night and ended up going to the closer theater instead of the ideal one. (There were only 2 to choose from.) Barely made it too. My bad. (T_T) It was really a close call as there's only one show at 12:45 PM today, and 7:30 PM on the 19th. That's it. Can't afford to screw up.

Met up with my companion and we rushed to the theater ASAP. The room was below half full. Still not too bad for Sunday lunch time. I expected to see mandatory ads before the feature, but strangely there was none! The screen was black and not even any music! Then came the first shock of the day. A Blu-ray text-only menu screen! I couldn't believe my eyes but my companion confirmed it. OMG... I paid full ticket price to watch a Blu-ray...? Unbelievable and unacceptable!!!! This is a theater, isn't it? What happened to film??? I felt so cheated!

Before I got over the first shock, there came the second. The dialogue... was in English! Well, OK, I didn't mind. It was probably better because I wouldn't be able to catch the subtitles fast enough when sleep-deprived. It's just that, Mustang's voice was a big mismatch.

Not sure if it's just the projection or enlargement, the image quality was very disappointing... even from a Blu-ray. (Or was it really a Blu-ray?) Lines were rough. Colours were dull. Julia's yellow jacket and Riza's hair, Ed's red coat hurt your eyes. Either way, if an English dub is already done, why isn't it available to the public now? Maybe the text-only menu screen is still work-in-progress.

As the story progressed, I saw why a 14A rating was necessary. There are plenty of violence and blood. The story's too dark and difficult for younger audiences. My companion liked it, which was a surprise. (He probably likes political and realistic themes.) I can't help comparing it to previous releases. And I really don't like the new character designer. The jelly-fish-like hair sucks big time. A moving picture looks better than a still, but it doesn't make the hair better. Ed's pants look like ugly tights. Al's head is elongated and over elevates. His chest and chin protrude too much. (T_T) Over all, it felt no difference from watching a big-screen TV, and lacks the quality of a film. Was I really watching a movie??? Was my expectation too high???

As the lights came back on, I noticed there were cosplayers! Wooow~ cool! So that was the group laughing and making noises every-now-and-then. Seemed like they had fun. Good.

We stayed till the very end of the end credit. Most people did. Trying to savor the last bit of this awesome cake. To my surprise, the cosplayers left soon after the end credit began. I suspect they've already watched it before... (But this was supposed to be the first showing in town? Have they watched it elsewhere?)

I'd love to take a picture but they'd probably be gone by the time I left. I was glad to find them posing outside the door. Someone might have asked to take a picture and a bunch of people joined in. So I snapped a few too. Too bad my hands weren't study enough. Too excited.

Next, third shock of the day. I tried to find a movie poster, but there was none on display! They didn't even put any pictures in the free magazine!!! (T_T) Oh well... can't blame them. Milos only gets 2 showings and that's it. They wouldn't go through the trouble of changing posters. But they could have at least put a picture into the magazine!!!!!

Shot a Pinky picture in the lobby and today's event was over... or was it? Stopped by Sakura. I was very sad to find absolutely no FMA toys. However, there were some freebie postcards! Wow thanks! After so many disappointments, this is a precious souvenir for today. I can't help but noticing Al's "hair" being beyond jelly-fish-like and disgusting! (T_T) The postcard is still precious, though. (^_^;)

To be continued...