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Tom's Guide
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
TCL finally added this key feature to its 2025 TVs — here's why you should use it
If you're a stickler for preserving the creator's intent when watching movies and shows at home, this news is for you: TCL has finally added the popular FIlmmaker picture mode to its latest TV lineup. Previously, TCL had been one of the last remaining holdouts to incorporate Filmmaker mode among the biggest TV brands in the industry. For several years, Filmmaker mode has been a common feature among the best TVs on the market. Now, TCL is finally in the fold. As a TV expert, I not only use it everyday when evaluating TVs in my day-to-day duties at Tom's Guide, I also use it when watching flicks at home. In fact, I love Filmmaker mode so much that I recommend it to folks whenever I get the chance. Making its debut in 2019, Filmmaker mode is the brainchild of the UHD Alliance — a group of TV manufacturers and Hollywood studios — along with some of the biggest names in filmmaking, including Patty Jenkins and Christopher Nolan. The goal was (and still is) to bring the cinema experience into the living room by offering a TV picture mode that adheres as close as possible to the reference standards used by Hollywood in the production of shows and movies. In other words, Filmmaker mode ensures that your TV is delivering a picture that falls in line with the creators' intent as much as possible. It achieves this by fixing the TV's white point to the industry standard, disabling motion smoothing and reining in the TV's color saturation. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. As a TV-reviewer and a film buff, I've been an avid user of Filmmaker mode since its inception. As a TV-reviewer and a film buff, I've been an avid user of Filmmaker mode since its inception. Comparable picture modes — like Movie, Cinema, and Theater — often adhere quite close to Hollywood reference standards, but brands frequently enable various picture processing enhancements (like motion smoothing) for these modes, too. Filmmaker mode is stricter in its approach. Compared to over-processed, over-sharpened and oversaturated picture modes like Vivid (a picture mode you should avoid at all costs), Filmmaker mode is a breath of fresh air. In action, Filmmaker mode's impressiveness ultimately comes down to the overall performance of your TV. That said, regardless of the price and performance of your set, there's a good chance that Filmmaker mode will be the most accurate picture mode available to you. In fact, because it's so accurate, Tom's Guide runs several picture-related tests in Filmmaker mode for every TV review we publish. This ensures that we're reaching a valuable conclusion about a TV's ability to produce an accurate picture. At the time of publishing, Filmmaker mode is a confirmed feature across all of the models in TCL's 2025 main TV lineup. This includes the recently announced TCL QM8K, the brand's flagship Mini-LED TV this year (and a follow-up to the superb TCL QM8). The QM8K also arrives with a special Bang & Olufsen sound system and a new 'Precise Dimming' feature for better backlight control, so Filmmaker mode should add to an already-cinematic can also be found on the fantastic QM7K, a mid-range TV that just got way more affordable thanks to a recent discount. In our TCL QM7K review, Matthew Murray made note of how impressive 'Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning' and 'Deadpool & Wolverine' look on the QM7K in Filmmaker mode. Take Filmmaker mode out for a test drive on the all-new TCL QM7K, the brand's budget-friendly, mid-range Mini-LED TV for 2025. The QM7K cracks an impressive 1,700 nits of brightness in HDR, pairing these searing highlights with impressive backlight control. When you're done with movie night, switch over to the QM7K's dedicated game mode for smooth gameplay up to 4K/144Hz. Filmmaker mode can also be found on the brand's entry-level Mini-LED for 2025, the TCL QM6K. Given its performance profile, this set benefits greatly from Filmmaker mode's careful guidance. It doesn't offer the high-level brightness you'll find on the QM7K and the QM8K, but you're getting a lengthy list of features for the price, including Dolby Vision and a handful of gaming enhancements. The entry-level QM6K is on a crash-course with our round-up of the best affordable TVs of 2025. While not as bright, colorful and kitted out as higher-end TCL TVs, you're getting plenty of features for the price, including a 144Hz native refresh rate, quantum-dot color and Dolby Vision support. According to FlatpanelsHD, while TCL has not ruled out the addition of Filmmaker mode to models from 2024, there are currently no plans to add the picture mode to older models. If Filmmaker mode made its way to TVs like the 2024 TCL QM7 and last-year's TCL QM78, the feature would arrive in the form of a firmware update. For now, however, picture purists and all-around A/V enthusiasts will have to stick with the brand's latest offerings, should they want a taste of Filmmaker mode on a TCL-branded TV.
Buzz Feed
23-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
23 Movies Everyone Thought Would Be Huge That Majorly Flopped
We're all guilty of it. We see a movie trailer. We get hyped. Then, we get let down. We all have different opinions, but sometimes, the majority shows in ratings or box office numbers. There have been numerous hyped-up films that have fallen flat among audiences. Here are 23 movies that had MAJOR hype but flopped hard: 1. John Carter Before Disney acquired the Star Wars franchise and before they released Guardians of the Galaxy, the big budget sci-fi vision of John Carter launched. The film was quite popular overseas, but didn't get enough of a cult following, nor good reviews, to warrant anything beyond the lone film. It didn't help that the budget was a staggering $250 million. 3. Warner Bros. Pictures / The hype was real for the follow-up to Patty Jenkins's Wonder Woman. The first film made $823 million worldwide, and the sequel only made $169 million worldwide. Enough said. There was so much that went wrong with 1984, but it's safe to say veering away from what worked in the first one was a huge factor in its shortcomings. This failed sequel totally derailed the one good thing going for the DC Universe. 4. The Lone Ranger Walt Disney Pictures With Jerry Bruckheimer and Johnny Depp back together after the success of the Pirates of the Caribean franchise, The Lone Ranger seemed like it would be the next funny adventure flick with a big budget. Along with the controversial casting of Depp as Tonto, the movie just didn't get the same following as the Pirates movies. Box office numbers were fine, and it made its money back worldwide, but I'm sure Disney wasn't happy with just breaking even. 5. Speed Racer Warner Bros. Pictures Fast cars. Intense action. John Goodman with a mustache. This movie had fun written all over it. With a campy story and even campier CGI, general audiences couldn't accept this as a family film, causing it to flop. That, and a lot of other flaws. It did gain a fanbase that swears by this movie, but the majority had spoken, causing a net loss of an estimated $30 million. 7. Pan Warner Bros. Pictures What can I say about Pan? The movie didn't have happy thoughts and failed to take off. With a whopping $150 million budget, the film grossed only $129 million internationally. It also included an infamous rendition of the Nirvana song "Smells Like Teen Spirit," which made as much sense as making a Peter Pan origin story. Powered By 8. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword Warner Bros. Pictures Ren Faire Medieval flicks have an underrated aesthetic in cinema, so an action-packed King Arthur movie sounded like easy money for a blockbuster. What the hell went wrong? Marketing? Perhaps the supernatural elements hurt the movie along with the unengaging story. Whatever the reasoning was, this $175 million film had a domestic opening weekend of $15million. YIKES. 9. Mulan Walt Disney Pictures / Disney decided to bring the popular animated film Mulan to live-action. No way it was a cash grab, though, right? I'll say this. It had a ton of flaws, but its worst sin (and I said this after seeing the trailers for the first time) is that Disney took a grounded character known for showing a young girl who could use her wit and passion to win the day into a supernatural crap show. 10. Dolittle Universal Pictures Robert Downey Jr. in the legendary role of the title character should've been enough to pull kids in to this adventure flick with talking animals. Iron Man AND talking animals? How did this not work? Perhaps the pandemic is to blame, but I'd also blame marketing, because this film flew under the radar. The film was a bust domestically with a $175 million budget, only making $77 million. I personally forgot it existed, so I would DEF blame the pandemic. 11. Jupiter Ascending Warner Bros. Pictures A sci-fi love story? Sign us up. That's what people thought, at least, with the release of Jupiter Ascending, but it fell short on delivering what the trailer had promised. Another sci-fi bomb? You bet. The film never really found legs with viewers and was a mixed bag of everything from effects, acting, and writing that left fans disappointed. 12. Ghost in the Shell Paramount Pictures The original 1995 animated cyberpunk film is considered one of the best Japanese animations ever. A US adaptation with a big star like Scarlett Johansson sounds like it would become the next sci-fi hit. The film was troubled from the start, with accusations of whitewashing the lead role. Johansson's star power wasn't enough to make this a hit at the box office, making $40 million domestically on a $110 million budget. Critics and audiences alike gave the film a big thumbs down. So, like everything on this list, a movie has to deliver quality no matter how "can't miss" the concept is. 13. A Wrinkle in Time Walt Disney StudiosMotion Pictures / A Wrinkle in Time is widely regarded as one of the most popular children's books ever written. So with a talented director like Ava DuVernay and an impressive cast, it should've been a hit. It's always easier said than done when it comes to transforming pages into a talking picture. The film didn't pull enough kids in to make it one of those classic children's book adaptations. It made an embarrassing total of $33.3 million on a $103 million budget. 14. Mortal Engines Universal Pictures Everyone wants to stick the landing on the big-money Young Adult fiction adaptation. Mortal Engines looked very promising. It seemed to check many boxes for what works in a blockbuster. Overall, the story and move to the big screen weren't enough to garner a legitimate fanbase for the cinematic adaptation. The movie failed to meet its budget ($100 million) at the box office, losing almost $20 millon worldwide. 15. Gemini Man Paramount Pictures I love a good sci-fi action movie, and Gemini Man looked very original. Ang Lee, Will Smith, and a slowed version of the song "Forever Young" in the trailer made everything about Gemini Man feel like a blockbuster waiting to happen. The film failed to capture a domestic audience. It made $48.5 millon in the States from a $138 million budget. 16. Suicide Squad (2016) Warner Bros. Pictures / The moment the trailer dropped, people were already ready to love this movie. It had all the trappings of something people would obsess over back in the "Tumblr Internet" days. Oof. The film didn't quite stick the landing. The script was filled with memes, including a performance by Jared Leto that I would best describe as a person doing a Heath Ledger Joker impression by memory after watching Ace Ventura. 17. Napoleon Sony Pictures / After the success of Joker, Academy Award-winning Actor Joaquin Phoenix was cast to play Napoleon Bonaparte, which sounded like a slam dunk and Oscar Bait 101. Oh, and Ridley Scott was at the helm. The unofficial budget was estimated to range from $130 million to $200 million, and the film made $61 million domestically. Besides the movie not being well-received by critics and audiences, one has to wonder if international figures in an expensive epic will ever do well in the states. 18. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief 20th Century Fox / Woo! An adaptation that honors the source material! I'll keep this one short. The 2010 Percy Jackson movie was one of the most despised kid's books ever to hit the silver screen. Powered By 19. Clash of the Titans Warner Bros. Pictures How do the Titans clash? With a sick trailer with wild visuals. The promise of a reimagined classic. Liam Neeson as Zeus and Ralph Fiennes. What the hell could go wrong? A lot, apparently. Perhaps it was a mix of the story and the acting, but the movie was far from critically acclaimed despite earning enough for a sequel. 20. The Losers Warner Bros. Pictures Action movies were HUGE at the start of the turn of the century, and the adaptation of the popular Vertigo comic book series The Losers had all the trappings of a hit. The cast was loaded with big names at the time, such as Jeffery Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana, Idris Elba, and Chris Evans. Despite being a cheap film to make at $25 million, it failed to make it back domestically ($23.6 million). The rag-tag-team formula worked for many other action/adventure flicks, which would truly take off with the release of Guardians of the Galaxy four years later, but this movie failed to bring in an audience. 21. The Last Airbender Paramount Pictures The film adaptation of the popular Nickelodeon show boasted a live-action trailer that screamed potential with impressive CGI for the time and the right vibes for the big screen. The final product wasn't great, but much criticism could go toward cramming a season's content into one film. The casting choices also earned plenty of criticism for white-washing. Although it made its money back worldwide, the film didn't break even domestically, earning about $132 million on a $150 million budget. 22. Prometheus 20th Century Fox You had to be there for the hype surrounding this movie trailer. It seemed to offer a bold new vision for the prequel to the Alien franchise. Despite the film earning a sequel, the story left fans of the original franchise disappointed. Overall, the film left more questions than answers for the hardcore fans. It wasn't a box office flop worldwide but failed to meet its $130 million budget domestically (earning $126 million domestically). 23. And lastly, The Wolfman Universal Pictures / This howling period piece brought impressive effects and makeup that presented the Wolfman in a terrifying new light. The film was promoted well and the hype for the classic movie monsters returned to horror circles. For whatever reason, the movie did not connect with fans. The film pulled an abysmal $61.9 million domestically from a $150 million budget. I'll never forgive society for not getting behind this film and getting the Universal Monsters in the same style. Watch the extended edition!
