NAKM: May 1, 2025

Motion Smoothing Sucks

Please turn off your television’s Motion Smoothing feature. It’s a marketing gimmick that will not enhance your viewing experience. Motion Smoothing, Motion Interpolation, TruMotion, and Auto Motion Plus ruin the cinematic experience.

In college, I sold home audio equipment at the local Circuit City. Our bookshelf stereos had demo modes with flashing lights and other goofy features to draw the attention of people who walked in. It worked. They bought the little stereos. One week later, I’d get a call: How do I turn off these flashing lights that I suddenly find annoying? I’d inform them of the demo/normal mode switch. Problem solved.

How does that relate to Motion Smoothing? Most people’s eyes cannot perceive the difference between HD (1080p) and UHD (4k) on screens 55-inches or smaller. To grab your attention, just like bookshelf stereo demo modes, TV makers turn on Motion Smoothing features. They want you to think you’re buying not just an upgraded viewing experience, but a revolution in viewing.

Then you get home, host a boozy Christmas movie night with friends. You turn on Gremlins. Most of your friends can’t figure out why Gremlins suddenly sucks. Your one friend who knows about Motion Smoothing grabs the remote and turns off the feature. Everyone settles in and has a great time — except you. You’re suddenly wondering why you spent $1,400 on a new television with a screen that doesn’t wow you.

The problem is, your eyes don’t see the major difference in quality — but it’s there. You’re one of many. Others are blessed and can detect the slightest change.

Long story short: Don’t make your friends and loved ones watch a television that misrepresents Gremlins. Motion Smoothing is a gimmick you fell for — not them. Don’t make them suffer.

Consumer Reports lists three features, including Motion Smoothing, that you should turn off to improve your experience by shutting down the automated features of your $1,400 television and allowing your $90 million movie to do what hundreds of professionals spent months or years doing.

I have one more tip: Buy or rent physical media. When streaming services label a film as 4k, they mean your internet’s best attempt to make 4k happen. Your internet rarely pulls it off. For the most part, you only get real 4K at your movie theater or from a UHD (4K) disc at home, which requires a 4K disc player (PS5s play them).

Again — do the right thing. Turn off Motion Smoothing, or else the next generation of movie fans might think Gremlins sucks.

Scroll down for my recommendations that look amazing…only if you turn off these features.

Also, I do not have a review or drink recommendation this week because there are so many damn new streamers! Too much data cuts off my newsletter — a blessing and a curse.

Brendan

Subscribers, please share with friends.

Fresh Cuts

The latest family films to hit all screens. Not all are winners. Watch at your own risk!

In Theaters 📽️

• (May 2) Thunderbolts 

• (May 2 limited release) A Tooth Fairy Tale

• (May 4 re-release) Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) (7+)

• (May 9) Clown in a Cornfield

• (May 9) The Lightning Code

• (May 11 re-release) Wolf Children (2012) (6+)

On Disc 📀

• (May 13) Captain America: Brave New World (2025) (7+)

• (May 13) Mickey 17 (2025) (12+)

News You Can Use (and Sometimes Booze)

• Oscars: New rules mean Academy voters will have to see every movie nominated in a category to vote on that category. Wait — you mean this wasn’t in place the whole time?

• Starfighter: That’s the name of the upcoming Shawn Levy-directed, Ryan Gosling-starring Star Wars movie. Despite Free Guy, I’ve got a good feeling about this.

• Toy Story: Combat Carl gets a new voice after the passing of Karl Weathers — and will keep moving despite the change.

• Lager: Famed Oregon brewery Deschutes is behind Costco’s tasty new Kirkland lager that sells for about $14 a 12-pack.

Papa Do Preach!

Let’s Get Rec’d!

Check my list before you wreck yourself next family film night.

Keepin’ It Real

In the wake of Star Wars, America fell into a trance with a movie unlike anything being made in that era. The Black Stallion doesn’t rely on space magic to hold you. It’s gravity is in its emotional imagery. It’s about a boy who loses his father and becomes trapped on an island with a wild horse. Together, they survive and return to the real world where the boy teaches the horse to race. The camera missing nothing — it captures the exotic beauty of the island, the heart-pounding thud of each hoof during extended riding scenes, and the growing bond between the horse and the boy. Natural light paints the screen. Some shots are almost dreamlike in their quality. The pace, the intensity, and the joy would all be wiped out with motion smoothing. The Black Stallion streams on MGM+ but I suggest the 4k Criterion disc restored under the watchful eye of the film’s Director of Photography Caleb Deschanel.

Too Soon?

You’ve likely seen this. Have your kids? Is it too soon? Probably not for preteens and teens. Sure, there’s violence but the violence is impeccably done. In fact, all effects are so well done in Mad Max: Fury Road that it has a reputation for having no CGI. The funny thing is, there are 2,000-plus effects in the film. The stunt coordination, photography, color work, effects, and editing are stacked to make the film feel like one long high-octane, fire-spewing, electric car chase. It’s hyper-stylized fun that comes crashing down when run through Motion Smoothing. You can rent the stream or buy the 4k disc. Erik Kain at Forbes can tell you why the 4k disc revived his love and affection for physical media.

Secret Sauce

Kubo and the Two Strings is a gorgeous and creative mix of stop-motion animation on CGI-enhanced backgrounds. The unusual characters visually pop on screen. Their emotive animations drive home an emotionally immersive story about storytelling and family. Animators feel free to explore ideas on screen. They create a strange but beautiful world that you enjoy exploring. Despite the adventurous nature of the artists’ creativity, every detail feels precise; every motion feels important. As you can imagine, Motion Smoothing adds fake fluidity that distorts the artists’ intentions. You can stream the HD (1080p) version of Kubo on Netflix. Shout Factory has a fantastic 4K version with a second disc full of “making of” features. Guess what? It’s on sale today.

For Your Eyes Only

What to watch after THEY go to bed.

Possession (1981)

You want to get a little weird tonight? Watch this movie. You’ll be comforted at first by the presence of a young Sam Neill. But after his character Mark gets his ass kicked a few times, you’ll realize this movie isn’t going to play friendly. Mark’s wife Anna leaves him and their son for another man — but Mark soon discovers there’s something much more sinister behind her betrayal. You think you’re watching a breakup drama. It gets a little psychotic. Then it goes off the rails.

Not just the story — the camera takes you on a journey to insanity. The angles, movement, and too-close camerawork make you uncomfortable. The acting is wonderfully over-the-top. Isabelle Adjani (Anna) doesn’t hold back with the intensity. She’s raw and emotional. And you get why when you see the horror she’s going through. Motion Smoothing disrupts the chaos and makes it look like a Telenovela.

If you want something disturbing but thrilling, you can stream Possession on Shudder or AMC+. I suggest the 4k disc to best see Adjani’s award-winning performance (Best Actress, Cannes) and why the movie’s uncensored version was not distributed in the U.S. until now.