What the hell?
I was really disappointed with the technical quality of this movie. I don't know if my DVD was just F'ed up or what, but the Widescreen side of the disc had the titles in Full Frame (so the edges were cut off), so I put it in Full Frame, which showed them in Widescreen. Most of the movie was then shown in full frame. The dialog is very badly dubbed (in Italian, no less). It was almost as though they only really went for Roberto's voice and did the rest in Post. And the party scene at the beginning of the movie had the most flagrant, unmotivated violation of the 180 degree rule I have ever seen. I loved La Vita é Bella. I also enjoyed Johnny Stecchino, even though I watched it by myself in a library (makes it a lot harder to laugh). Il Mostro, though enjoyable, left a lot to be desired. The technical flaws were quite distracting, and the plot was very formulaic. The jokes were telegraphed ahead a bit too much, and anticipating a gag can take a lot of the fun out of it. In short, the story is very predictable and does exactly what you think it will. Not a terrible movie, but not Benigni's best. . .
What I want to know is, did I just get a bad copy or something? (I got it from Walmart DVD Rentals by Mail). Has anyone else noticed problems similar to what I have?
Thanks.