"Club Penton" - Ask questions to Hollywood insider "Penton-Man"

[Agent Cooper]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Well I'll defer to Max, just to see if we can keep our mate around here a little longer.
Yes, he does live in England.

Thanx, I'll try run it by Max later, but it seems he's pretty busy right now and I would like to give the guy a break.

Btw - I have a quite obvious question you might be able to help with - some David Lynch movies has been released on HD-DVD - any chance we will se those or other Lynch titles on Blu-ray - I'm thinking US releases?

In Europe it's quite difficult to get a grasp of which distributors hold the right to certain Lynch titles in each European country, so I'm not going to expect any sort of clarification with regards to European release plans for Lynch's movies.

Oh, I've actually met and shaked hands with Mr. Lynch when he visited the city where I live. He along with a scientist, held a lecture about Transcendental Meditation and there was a pretty interesting discussion about movies, science, philosophy and world peace. Well, that was an event I will never forget.

Edit: since Lynch's recent films are also financed in France (and Lynch is very popular there I hear), perhaps Grubert has some knowledge about Lynch on Blu-ray?

[Fozziwig]

Originally Posted by blitz6speed

If paramount didnt accept the offer, the light under the ass of the BDA and more importantly, Matsushita, never would have been lit and we NEVER would have the war ended so quickly and abruptly. Even tho paramount was a douchebag company to take it, im glad they did, because its what cause hd dvd to fold and die.

I'm not convinced.

IMO if P/DW had stayed with Blu-ray sales for Blu-ray would have been stronger throughout Q3 & Q4 leading Warner to the same conclusion. In fact I think Warner were looking for a way out of the dual format market for the duration of 2007 and probably selected Blu-ray as the best route around the time Nickerson got booted....sorry, left.

This is probably why the Toshiba bribe failed to win over Warner. Of course, none of this was known publicly at the time P/DW dropped Blu-ray support.

One thing people forget about P/DW is that they were never paid to support HD DVD. They were already doing that. What they were paid for is to cease all production and distribution of Blu-ray products. This is more sinister and it's what shocked all of us. It certainly never occured to me that a studio could be bribed to withdraw support from a format. That's why there was so much doom & gloom around that time as potentially the format war could be ended by whoever had the most spare cash. T & M have LOTS of cash.

Luckily, some outstanding work by the BDA saved the day and the rest, as they say, is history.

[Sporty]

Penton,

I know you can't comment on sensitive information. But I was wondering if you've read the article on roughly drafted about the death of HD-DVD

I find that really interesting, confirms a lot of my own suspicions about MS's motivations and behind the scenes dealing going on. Gotta give B. Hunt credit for the link on his latest column. I was just wondering if you thought the article is based on the authors own ideas or credible sources anything you're familiar with.

I think it's quite interesting that this format war almost didn't happen but for MS nudging Toshiba on.

[Penton-Man]

Eyes done work for the week and its time to ………………….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwEMxYggoKQ

I’ll try to check in after the Academy Awards sometime.
Later folks.

[Penton-Man]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Oh, b.t.w, there’s no riddle in there.
Just enjoy the weekend……..early one for me.

I must say though, that it’s great to have the writer’s strike and the high-def disc war both *officially* over by Oscar weekend.

[maximus2323]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Eyes done work for the week and its time to ………………….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwEMxYggoKQ

I’ll try to check in after the Academy Awards sometime.
Later folks.

*dances*

[sj001]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Long story short.
Last summerish, unbeknownst to the common public (well, at least nobody brought it to my attention as being discussed on the internet forums), a certain consumer elecTronics company (that is probably now spending more time selling refrigerators) approached the gate of the Lion with red suitcases and attempted to influence a content provider ala the Paramount pay-off.

Word has it that, Michael was so infuriated that this elecTronics corporation would have the gall to think that his studio was the weakest link in the Blu chain so as to offer them a pay-off that…… when he was interviewed by BusinessWeek and revealed that the rumor was WB was going Blu, it was an *in your face* to that particular consumer elecTronics company for misreading his studios fortitude concerning staying Blu.

Wow! Very interesting, and cool. Hehe, talk about a slap in the face, Lionsgate just moved up a notch on my coolest studio list!

[mh466]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I think that *professional analysts* or *insiders* of any definition should be held accountable for what they have perpetually stated or editorialized in the past. If only to question their credibility when they speak openly about new technological topics.

If people had read and remembered exactly what this *analyst* reported and opinionated about Apple from years past, they never would have even read his opinions/analysis from Day1 concerning the format war.

This is one of the reasons why I respect Bill Hunt. He’s called many things right all along, not just the high-def optical disc format war…… and he has passion for movies. The next time some controversial or debatable home entertainment media topic becomes topic of the year, read The Digital Bits first, (along with HMM) then read other *professional analysts* for laughs depending upon their past history for accurate information.

Regarding accountability, I completely agree. The question is, who are these individuals accountable to? Unfortunately past statements are quickly forgotten by most people. Without a doubt Enderle's credibility is, at best, laughable and yet he's still out there making a name (read $$) for himself. Clearly some people are still buying into his nonsense and, sadly, will probably continue to do so.
It's quite depressing actually.

Fortunately, to counter these so-called "Professional Analysts" and "Insiders", we have (waaaaaay) at the other end of the spectrum individuals like Mr. Bill Hunt. Over the last year as I've waded through all of the nonsense generated by this stupid format "war", my respect for Bill and The Digital Bits has grown tremendously. Bill's reasons for choosing blu-ray and, more importantly, seeing the need to make a choice were based on fact and logic. Technical advantages/disadvantages aside, greater studio and CE manufacturer support were the kickers and the main reasons why I chose to take a risk and purchase a PS3.

Make no mistake, if HD DVD was in fact the best option for HD media, I have no doubt that Bill would have endorsed it over blu-ray and he probably would have been right!

Passion and integrity...how refreshing is that??

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Long story short.
Last summerish, unbeknownst to the common public (well, at least nobody brought it to my attention as being discussed on the internet forums), a certain consumer elecTronics company (that is probably now spending more time selling refrigerators) approached the gate of the Lion with red suitcases and attempted to influence a content provider ala the Paramount pay-off.

Word has it that, Michael was so infuriated that this elecTronics corporation would have the gall to think that his studio was the weakest link in the Blu chain so as to offer them a pay-off that…… when he was interviewed by BusinessWeek and revealed that the rumor was WB was going Blu, it was an *in your face* to that particular consumer elecTronics company for misreading his studios fortitude concerning staying Blu.

Priceless!

He took some behind-the-scenes flack for spilling the beans, did he not?

Gary

[Grubert]

Penton-Man,

After all the big news of the past weeks, it seems that the next few months will be a bit of an anti-climax: Paramount and Universal still won't be releasing nothing probably till May/June, Warner isn't releasing much until June either - it's up to Disney, Fox, Lionsgate and Sony to offer some exciting stuff.

(Pulp Fiction and Sin City would be nice...)

[horseflesh]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I’ll try to check in after the Academy Awards sometime.
Later folks.

Enjoy the ceremony Penton!
Big cheers for Daniel Day-Lewis for Best Actor, and "Falling Slowly" for Best Song!!

[elwaylite]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I must say though, that it’s great to have the writer’s strike and the high-def disc war both *officially* over by Oscar weekend.

[spicynacho]

Originally Posted by Grubert

Penton-Man,

After all the big news of the past weeks, it seems that the next few months will be a bit of an anti-climax: Paramount and Universal still won't be releasing nothing probably till May/June, Warner isn't releasing much until June either - it's up to Disney, Fox, Lionsgate and Sony to offer some exciting stuff.

(Pulp Fiction and Sin City would be nice...)

Holy smokes, grubert, be patient. Do you expect them to have a table at the back of the room where they held the press conference selling the Blu Rays they have been secretly producing? These things take time. Talk about a culture of instant gratification. just relax and let things work themselves out naturally.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by horseflesh

Enjoy the ceremony Penton!
Big cheers for Daniel Day-Lewis for Best Actor, and "Falling Slowly" for Best Song!!

Indeed.

For those not attending the Oscars (hopefully it won’t rain ) but, feel compelled to get out the house this weekend might I suggest that if you didn’t hit Sundance ……………….
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...0&postcount=17

Then, you find a theater in your area showing U2 3D…………
http://movies.aol.com/movie/u2-3d/32418/main

Have a good weekend everyone.

[phansson]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Indeed.

For those not attending the Oscars (hopefully it won’t rain ) but, feel compelled to get out the house this weekend might I suggest that if you didn’t hit Sundance ……………….
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...0&postcount=17

Then, you find a theater in your area showing U2 3D…………
http://movies.aol.com/movie/u2-3d/32418/main

Have a good weekend everyone.

I saw U2 in '92, Ztv tour. Absolutely incredible concert. Still probably my favorite. Of course the "pixies" opened which might have even been better.


I missed the U2 3D. Hopefully it will come out on Blu Ray.

[TauHeel05]

Originally Posted by Grubert

Penton-Man,

After all the big news of the past weeks, it seems that the next few months will be a bit of an anti-climax: Paramount and Universal still won't be releasing nothing probably till May/June, Warner isn't releasing much until June either - it's up to Disney, Fox, Lionsgate and Sony to offer some exciting stuff.

(Pulp Fiction and Sin City would be nice...)

I would definitely love to see 'Sin City.'

[johnnyd1]

Hey Penton,
I just finished watching Across The Universe and thought it was fantastic but for one detail. The Fillmore East entrance did NOT look like that ! You think they could have found a theater entrance on a corner.

6th street and 2nd ave maybe ?

[p1rates]

Hey Penton,

I have a serious question to ask you. I've been so stumped on whether Universal is Blu-ray exclusive or neutral. I just read this article posted today and it has some interesting details. Universal and Warner are both giving incentives to retailers to reduce the prices of their movies on HD DVD so that the stores can smoothly advance their support for Blu-ray. I find it quite funny how Paramount isn't mentioned at all... maybe they're sour about having to come back to Blu-ray after embarrassing themselves. Hehe. Anyway.... Universal couldn't even confirm a release date for Atonement on HD DVD ( http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/news/...s_in_Flux/1497 ).

Here's the article about Universal and Warner giving incentives to retailers. They're phasing out HD DVD as quickly as possible.
http://www.videobusiness.com/index.a...id%3DCA6534430

Who knew the domino effect would happen so fast? Either way, I find it quite suspicious how the one studio that was always behind HD DVD refused to announce anything for new for their customers and mentioned that all plans are in "flux." I really think they're not going to release any new HD DVD movies but what do you think?

Oh and thank you for being such a great insider! <3

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by TauHeel05

I would definitely love to see 'Sin City.'

Well, the last time I saw her she was simply glowing.
Even when she is in a family way she is hot, and talk about excited geeks during a Scientific and Technical awards presentation……………………

http://www.oscars.org/scitech/2007/index.html

[JohnAlden]

Hey Penton-Man...I was just thinking you and Bill Hunt, BDA members to go on to Fox News Red Eye show and do A bit on blu-ray wining the format war.