Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.)

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Indyjones

Ditto....on both accounts. Nemo's probably my least favorite Pixar film, mainly because of Ellen Degeneres.

That and Bugs Life are my least favorite. I still like them just fine though.

[Indyjones]

Anything on Tron guys?

[SpaceDog]

I would have to agree on Cars. I picked up the blu-ray when it came out (the only Pixar title I hadn't seen in theaters) and I finally made it all the way through this Saturday. I did fall asleep 4 times during this go-round too.

I think that of all the characters they've created, the Cars characters are the least engaging.

[Doctorossi]

Right on! SpaceDog and I are in the prestigious Cars Is the Only Pixar Movie I Missed In the Theatre and Then It Made Me Fall Asleep On Video Club (or "CIOPMIMITTIMMFAOV Club", for all you outsiders). Any other members 'round here?

[DenonCI]

Originally Posted by merrick97

Metacritic and Rottentomatoes.

And...........ME.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Pixar_films

It comes at 74% for Rottentomatoes and no other Pixar film gets less than 90%.

I'd still give it a B though. It was entertaining, but felt it was probably about 20 minutes too long.

I'm not saying Cars in unworthy of a sequel, but based on that info it would seem that there are other Pixar films that people would prefer a sequel to.

The Incredibles seems the most sequel friendly.

Cars is my least favorite Pixar movie, but that's doesn't say it's a bad film at all. I just enjoy the other ones much more.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by DenonCI

Cars is my least favorite Pixar movie, but that's doesn't say it's a bad film at all. I just enjoy the other ones much more.

That speaks volumes to the quality of Pixar as a whole.

[phansson]

Hey Jeff or Bill,

I just caught the "avatar special edition" trailer again and noticed something.

The original "avatar" Blu Ray was of course released in 16x9 because this was how Cameron "intended" for the movie to be seen. At least that was the excuse given (even though I believe the theater I watched it in was projected at 2.40/2.35).

Anyway, has anyone noticed that special edition trailer is in 2.35?

Just interesting.........

[fdm]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Dumbo had the issue of too many things on the plate at once. Remember that Blu is not selling the way that Disney'd like overall, and Princess and the Frog only did OK theatrically, so rather than have Frog and Dumbo cannibalize each other, they moved Dumbo away. Disney movies typically come out in the fall in Europe and Asia, so Dumbo wasn't competing there

If you want it now, it's pretty easily importable. Last I checked on it, it was pencil'd in for next spring

Prefer to wait for a domestic copy. One I can hand pick off the shelf. (And get with many coupons worth of discounts.) Hopefully it won't get pushed too much further back. Thanks.

[Jeff Kleist]

The original "avatar" Blu Ray was of course released in 16x9 because this was how Cameron "intended" for the movie to be seen. At least that was the excuse given (even though I believe the theater I watched it in was projected at 2.40/2.35).

Both versions were available, and theaters instructed to book the version that would provide the largest image, so it's very much in tune with the theatrical experience

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Both versions were available, and theaters instructed to book the version that would provide the largest image, so it's very much in tune with the theatrical experience

Beyond that, I wouldn't rest my expectations for a Blu-ray release on the imagery presented in a television commercial. I've seen plenty of instances of inaccurate aspect ratios being employed in commercials, presumably to maximize the impression of a "cinematic" experience.

[Musashi]

'Afternoon again Bill n Jeff!

I've been curious about BD66 lately. Will it end up in common use? Or single layer BD33s for that matter?

IIRC CD and DVD saw capacity increases after a few years as well. Did that apply to mass media or just burnable discs?

[Jeff Kleist]

No, you will likely never see commercial discs extend beyond BD50. There really isn't a need for it. Any time you go beyond 2 layers on a disc you exponentially increase your duds, and every layer you add after that just gets worse and worse and worse. DVD-18 to this day spits out well over 5 times the bad discs DVD-9s do, a decade after introduction. I'm still VERY curious how many of Universal's hybrid discs they have to press for every good one they get (though they obviously have QC under control). Adding a third layer is asking for trouble (guess why you never saw an HD45 disc?), and anything beyond that, yow. There's just too much that can go wrong with little tiny mistakes. BD33 is the heart of the BDXL spec, which is not readable by the current drives out there (yes including PS3, it's not the Jesus player most people think it is).

Asia, specifically Japan is a rental society where everyone tapes and archives stuff from the TV, so much that recorder/DVR combos outnumber the decks on the shelves by a solid 10-1 (or more). There's a big enough market there that they should be able to make a profit. While I'm sure the next generation of BD computer drives will handle them, the prices per disc will be well beyond anything any consumer is willing to pay (BD50 blanks currently run around $20 each to give you an idea, rewriteables close to $40).

[Musashi]

Appreciated.

I am aware of the fault rate with using 3+ layers on disc pressing. I remember that being one of the reasons flippers (with DVD sides) would cost $3-5 more than single side discs.

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3977

https://forum.blu-ray.com/blu-ray-te...-blu-rays.html

Based on the News story and your comments following I was inclined to think that playable, 2-layer BD66 were possible. No big deal ultimately.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

No, you will likely never see commercial discs extend beyond BD50. There really isn't a need for it. Any time you go beyond 2 layers on a disc you exponentially increase your duds, and every layer you add after that just gets worse and worse and worse. DVD-18 to this day spits out well over 5 times the bad discs DVD-9s do, a decade after introduction. I'm still VERY curious how many of Universal's hybrid discs they have to press for every good one they get (though they obviously have QC under control). Adding a third layer is asking for trouble (guess why you never saw an HD45 disc?), and anything beyond that, yow. There's just too much that can go wrong with little tiny mistakes. BD33 is the heart of the BDXL spec, which is not readable by the current drives out there (yes including PS3, it's not the Jesus player most people think it is).

Asia, specifically Japan is a rental society where everyone tapes and archives stuff from the TV, so much that recorder/DVR combos outnumber the decks on the shelves by a solid 10-1 (or more). There's a big enough market there that they should be able to make a profit. While I'm sure the next generation of BD computer drives will handle them, the prices per disc will be well beyond anything any consumer is willing to pay (BD50 blanks currently run around $20 each to give you an idea, rewriteables close to $40).

Since USB drives are now affordable at 32GB. The days of writeable bluray is probably over before it even begun.

[SpaceDog]

Originally Posted by Musashi

Appreciated.

I am aware of the fault rate with using 3+ layers on disc pressing. I remember that being one of the reasons flippers (with DVD sides) would cost $3-5 more than single side discs.

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3977

https://forum.blu-ray.com/blu-ray-te...-blu-rays.html

Based on the News story and your comments following I was inclined to think that playable, 2-layer BD66 were possible. No big deal ultimately.

The problem with 33/66 isn't layer fault, it's that current players won't play them. The install base is large enough that studios aren't going to put a product to market that isn't compatible with this install base. It's just asking for trouble.

[Jeff Kleist]

Since USB drives are now affordable at 32GB. The days of writeable bluray is probably over before it even begun.

Definately not.

BDXL's industrial uses for example are important. There are many areas that require locked in, unchangeable copies (legal, medical) for the archives. You can't use a flash or hard drive for that.

Flash drives are for portability and short term storage. For long term you need something far less volatile than flash. That's my personal reservation about SSD drives, I'm not confident about the long term viability of the data at least not yet. If I have something important, it's going on a quality blank in a cool, dark, dry place

[MerrickG]

Jeff and anyone who has an opinion,

In the past we have discussed comic book/graphic novels and you recommended some good ones for Batman. As of right now I feel I pretty much have all the good Batman graphic novels.

I was wondering if you had any other recommendations for graphic novels or omnibus or if you are following any comic book runs.

I find Grant Morrison's current run on Batman to be outstanding right now. Ed Brubaker's run on Captain America is equally fantastic if not better.

Yes, I recognize that this question is not exactly bluray related so I will in closing mention that anyone who is a fan of Batman: TAS owes it to themselves to pick up Batman: Under the Red Hood it was fantastic, although the person who voiced the Joker was a terrible replacement for Mark Hamill.

[Jeff Kleist]

Cerebus's first half

Cerebus, High Society, Church & State 1 & 2 and Jaka's Story are the essentials

After 150 Dave Sim went kind of crazy, and the back half of the 300 issues was increasingly incoherent and didn't go anywhere.

Bone (the color hardcovers if you can find them are lovely)

A Distant Soil

Marvels

That should hold you

[Musashi]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

That should hold you

Know what holds me over for comics? The stuff I got 2 weeks ago. My local comic store was selling trades and compilations for 1/2 of cover price, so I dropped about $600 stocking up.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Cerebus's first half

Cerebus, High Society, Church & State 1 & 2 and Jaka's Story are the essentials

After 150 Dave Sim went kind of crazy, and the back half of the 300 issues was increasingly incoherent and didn't go anywhere.

Bone (the color hardcovers if you can find them are lovely)

A Distant Soil

Marvels

That should hold you

never heard of any of that stuff! i usually just stick to the big names like batman, superman, spiderman, iron man and captain america. i think the xmen are overrated, but i will read a story or two here and there. I am a big fan of the oversized marvel omnibus but it would be nice if they weren't so damn expensive. Marvel is getting ready to release a Thor Omnibus and I plan to buy that so I can be ready for the movie.