MojoLists

Best Buy has been a part of my life for a long time, not because they always had the best prices or even the best selection. I could count on them to have most of the little computer parts, electronic accessories and other bits and pieces I needed, which made them handy when I was already on my way to pick up a new DVD.

In the last two months this has changed, they have cut way back on the computer parts they sell, even the electronics area, with the HDTV's, DVD and Blu-Ray players seem to be short on selection and inventory of many items they do stock.

Out of stock on popular movies is more common than in the past and I have walked out empty handed several times now when I had a fairly long list or purchases with me. I didn't cry when Circuit City went under, I never really forgave them for supporting DiVX in the early days of DVD and they were my last resort for purchasing.

I guess I should have mourned the loss from the beginning, I certainly am now. Best Buy and the other competition have for the most part decreased their weekly sales on movies and music. I am also seeing an increase in release week pricing across the board. I know times are tough but is it really wise to begin alienating your core customer base. I spend thousands a year in Best Buy but lately all of my money has been going to Fry's.

Fry's has always had a great selection of everything, I always know I am going to find even the most obscure computer part, movie or electronic adapter. It is just a hassle to get in and out, not because they are slow but because I can't help but wander the aisles to see what's new, on sale, or just plain cool.

I know Best Buy (Target has also followed suit but has never been on my go to list) feels a lot safer with Circuit City out of the way but they should be more worried about their core customers. I am already debating on whether to hit Fry's to pick up the latest James Bond because I also need an IDE to SATA adapter, something Best Buy is unlikely to carry anymore.

Movies are designed to place you deep inside their world, well good movies are. Watching a movie on a large television or even projector is a wonderful experience but the picture only tells half the story. Movie soundtracks envelope you, they bring out emotions, surround you in their make believe world, and complete the fantasy.

If you are listening to movies on the speakers in your television or on a cheap, uncalibrated sound system you are missing the movie. From the explosive sound effects to the softest whisper, a good sound system brings the movie to life.

Films are NOT a visual medium, they are a combination of video and audio. If you haven't watched your favorite films, no matter what the genre, in the theater or a home theater with a full 5.1 sound system, then you need to do so, right now. The difference is night and day. The importance of the sound track to telling a story on film was known even before talkies came out. Music was always played during the showing, music designed specifically for the film and timed to elicit the emotion, the action, the laughter being displayed on the screen.

Don't cheat yourself by cutting out the second half of a film, bring them to life in a whole new way. Experience the entire artistic vision of the director and invest in a sound system worthy of the movies you love.

For years I have preached about the evils of pan-and -scan. Thanks to VHS and the public's inability to endure any movie that didn't fill their entire 4:3 screen, pan-and-scan became the way we endured movies, even the early days of DVD were filled with the criminal act. Criterion had the vision and guts to start releasing movies in their original aspect ratio during their beginning with Laserdisc and eventually helped all of the studios see the value of putting out DVD's in their pristine and full aspect ratio.

Aside from the occasional release that comes in both flavors, pan-and-scan has slowly vanished, thanks in part to the popularity of HDTV with its  16:9 aspect ratio. Now a new evil has started to find its way onto DVD and Blu-Ray. The most current release of Gulliver's travels, a movie with an original aspect of 4:3, has been released in an altered 16:9 format.

No movie should be changed from its directors vision, in any way. I don't want to see any of Stanley Kubrick's 4:3 films in 16:9,  that wasn't what he wanted, that wasn't his vision.  The general public needs to be educated all over again it seems... wait, that isn't it at all.

The studios need to be smashed over the head for this idiotic practice and belief that John Q Public won't accept black bars on their screen. People have finally come to understand that some movies don't fit their screen. If they don't like it they can select from a number of options to stretch the picture (a practice I am appalled by but tolerate) and fill their screen. It makes no sense whatsoever to leave those of us who wish to see the movie as it was presented on the big screen.

I am hoping this practice dies quickly and I certainly won't be purchasing movies, in any format that don't present the movie properly. Take a stand and force the studios to do the right thing, skip the purchase until the movie is offered in the format it was filmed for.

I will go into the lesser evil of not offering original sound tracks in a later article, it upsets me just as much however so be prepared for another rant.