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

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

Maybe, things are still fluid. There's a SAG strike pending. While I don't think it will happen, if it were it's possible that SDCC would be boycotted, in which case the big splash stuff would likely be canned and no one wants to schedule specific panels until that's settled. From what I hear there's a lot of blocks labeled "reserved for WB/Paramount/Fox/whoever"

Mostly I expect to see a lot of dates nailed down and features talked about

I just want to see the Alien films get announced.

[Woody]

/slash wrists

I for one, care not what Penton "does". It is obvious often he knows of what he speaks.

Does this community put him up on a throne? Possibly. Is it annoying? Sometimes.

But to come in here and call him out about not wanting to discuss DNR, when all you had to do was go back 15-20 pages and read the LENGTHLY, BORING, and REPETITIVE discussion to see that he is/was NOT afraid to discuss it is is bush league.

He doesnt want to talk any more about it, and frankly MANY posters don't want to read any more about it in his thread.

Which reminds me, IT IS HIS THREAD, HE CAN TALK/NOT TALK ABOUT WHATEVER HE WANTS.

When you get a position where you can "pass along" the info that Penton has or "be a mouthpiece", you can get your own thread and talk about DNR all day long. Until then, respect his wishes and stop talking about it in his.

[Slec]

Brad no offense but I think you missed the mark, from the tongue in cheek joke at the beginning to the meaning of the post.

I'll try to summarize:
No one wants DNR. Many can't even tell what it is. When it is confirmed people go nuts everywhere like its occurring with all titles when in fact it *may* only pertain to that title. "May" because, many can't even tell what it is.

I don't see how taking shots at Penton or demanding he tell you who is is will solve anything. He's been vetted by the people who run this place. If that's not enough for you, then oh well. If he wanted us to know who he was, he'd use his real name and job position. Those things aren't always good for people to know, especially considering how rabid forums can be, and the lunacy that some fans go to.

If you think his commentary is worthless, the internet is a vast and wondrous place where you can find like minded individuals and converse. Hell, you could just visit the other sections of this great site, no harm, no foul. I say keep posting, keep enjoying, keep rallying for your format, but keep it to that level.

[Mr_Bester]

Penton,
since you seem to have the ear of many in Hollywood, would you mind suggesting to Universal that when they release "In Bruges" on Blu-ray they get rid of the terrible floating mask/brightening of Colin Ferrell's face early on in the night scene in the hotel room at the beginning of the movie. I just saw it on DVD last night and it took me out of the movie for a minute.

I realize if this was done before the theatrical release, there may be no hope.

thanks
Dug

[WickyWoo]

I just want to see the Alien films get announced.

Don't hold you breath for that this year

But what do you do again? I’ve gathered over time that you have some sort of inside with some studios (mostly Sony) and you know people who know people who give you information that you share with people eager to fawn over you. So from what I can tell, that merely makes you an excellent messenger and an expert on nothing in particular… except relaying information.

Penton is a certified insider in a position to know things because of who he is, not who he knows. While he does not choose to tell even the staff who he is, those who we do know who they are/where they work have verified his legitimacy (because they DO know who he is)

Penton is trying to make sure that people know that DNR is a tool as well as a destroyer, and that like any tool it can be
misused. It's like "Cocaine bad! But when used properly, say in surgery, it's an invaluable tool to control bleeding"

[Deciazulado]

It's interesting how continually people bring up the anonymity issue as reason of non-legitimacy when the words said many times end up surfacing in the end as true, while other people who are not anonymous but say the silliest things are not challenged and oftentimes followed blindly.

[coolmilo]

Hello Penton,

Would you please tell Warner to stop excluding lossless audio in their releases?

A Christmas Story Gets Utilmate Collector's Edition is hardly "Ultimate" with the following specs:

BD-25, you can expect 1080p VC-1 video and a Dolby Digital soundtrack.

Sheesh, what's with Warner anyway?

[neo_reloaded]

Originally Posted by coolmilo

Hello Penton,

Would you please tell Warner to stop excluding lossless audio in their releases?

A Christmas Story Gets Utilmate Collector's Edition is hardly "Ultimate" with the following specs:

BD-25, you can expect 1080p VC-1 video and a Dolby Digital soundtrack.

Sheesh, what's with Warner anyway?

I agree Warner should always use lossless audio. But I think it's a bit early to complain about this title in particular - no tech specs have been announced. The author of the article you're quoting is making a guess based upon the fact that the disc is a BD-25, but there are plenty of BD-25 titles that have lossless audio.

[Kris Deering]

Warner has stated already that they have no intentions of re-doing releases for Blu-ray that already have HD DVD counterparts. They plan on just porting over their HD DVD assets and including extras on a case by case basis (ala BB). Video and audio will most likely be identical to the HD DVD.

[SBrooks1]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

Warner has stated already that they have no intentions of re-doing releases for Blu-ray that already have HD DVD counterparts. They plan on just porting over their HD DVD assets and including extras on a case by case basis (ala BB). Video and audio will most likely be identical to the HD DVD.

I understand that but there was already a version of A Christmas Story released on Blu-ray. This will be the 2nd one. So the HD DVD version is irrelevant now. If they are going to release a 2nd version of this on Blu-ray then it should be a new encode with better audio.

[Arecsa]

Originally Posted by coolmilo

Sheesh, what's with Warner anyway?

Arrogance. They don't care what the enthusiasts think of their releases. Average Joe isn't interested in lossless audio, and apparently that's who's buying all of the discs being sold. It seems that any feedback Warner has gathered from here, and other Blu-ray enthusiast forums, is completely ignored. It's been easily a year since the lack of lossless releases from Warner has been an issue, still with no change in their attitude towards it.

They continue to remain the only major studio not using lossless audio, in some form, on everything. Universal coming across to Blu-ray after their HD DVD exclusivity and already surpassing Warner's efforts speaks volumes for me.

[WickyWoo]

I understand that but there was already a version of A Christmas Story released on Blu-ray. This will be the 2nd one. So the HD DVD version is irrelevant now. If they are going to release a 2nd version of this on Blu-ray then it should be a new encode with better audio.

From the sound of things they're simply taking the existing discs and putting them in a tin with cookie cutters and such for both DVD and Blu

[Paul H]

Originally Posted by Slec

If he wanted us to know who he was, he'd use his real name and job position. Those things aren't always good for people to know, especially considering how rabid forums can be, and the lunacy that some fans go to.

This is a good point to emphasize and needs to be repeated every so often here. New people come in and others reminded.

Originally Posted by Slec

I'll try to summarize:
No one wants DNR. Many can't even tell what it is. When it is confirmed people go nuts everywhere like its occurring with all titles when in fact it *may* only pertain to that title. "May" because, many can't even tell what it is.

Good summary. The points been made.

More verification:

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

Penton is a certified insider in a position to know things because of who he is, not who he knows. While he does not choose to tell even the staff who he is, those who we do know who they are/where they work have verified his legitimacy (because they DO know who he is)

Penton is trying to make sure that people know that DNR is a tool as well as a destroyer, and that like any tool it can be
misused. It's like "Cocaine bad! But when used properly, say in surgery, it's an invaluable tool to control bleeding"

It's now up to the powers that be. Let's move on.

Originally Posted by Deciazulado

It's interesting how continually people bring up the anonymity issue as reason of non-legitimacy when the words said many times end up surfacing in the end as true

This has been exceptionally accurate to date.

Originally Posted by Deciazulado

while other people who are not anonymous but say the silliest things are not challenged and oftentimes followed blindly.

"Silliest things" have been challenged, NOT followed blindly.

IMHO,

Paul

[SBrooks1]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

From the sound of things they're simply taking the existing discs and putting them in a tin with cookie cutters and such for both DVD and Blu

Then they can keep it. Warner has some of the greatest movies available to give us on Blu-ray but to start off this way leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

[blitz6speed]

Originally Posted by coolmilo

Hello Penton,

Would you please tell Warner to stop excluding lossless audio in their releases?

A Christmas Story Gets Utilmate Collector's Edition is hardly "Ultimate" with the following specs:

BD-25, you can expect 1080p VC-1 video and a Dolby Digital soundtrack.

Sheesh, what's with Warner anyway?

Maybe you missed the memo? Warner Bros is the WORST studio when it comes to blu-ray releases. They have 1 single good looking disc (and its from their other studio, New Line.. Shoot Em Up) in their entire blu-ray line up. To say they are a disaster of Titanic proportions when it comes to QUALITY blu-ray encodes and mastering, is to be generous. Every other studio is doing BD specific encodes and lossless audio on EVERY disc. Just warner is the one pure crapfest.

[SS316SRV]

Originally Posted by blitz6speed

Maybe you missed the memo? Warner Bros is the WORST studio when it comes to blu-ray releases. They have 1 single good looking disc (and its from their other studio, New Line.. Shoot Em Up) in their entire blu-ray line up. To say they are a disaster of Titanic proportions when it comes to QUALITY blu-ray encodes and mastering, is to be generous. Every other studio is doing BD specific encodes and lossless audio on EVERY disc. Just warner is the one pure crapfest.

So my copy of Blade Runner is junk. My copy of Troy is junk. My copy of 300 is junk. When Warner wants to, they make some of the best looking Blu-rays. They apparently just don't want to, most of the time.

[Arecsa]

Originally Posted by SS316SRV

So my copy of Blade Runner is junk. My copy of Troy is junk. My copy of 300 is junk. When Warner wants to, they make some of the best looking Blu-rays. They apparently just don't want to, most of the time.

Blade Runner is very good. 300 is also very good. Troy is junk though.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Slec

No one wants DNR. Many can't even tell what it is. When it is confirmed people go nuts everywhere like its occurring with all titles when in fact it *may* only pertain to that title. "May" because, many can't even tell what it is.

No one wants it?

DNR is fine...when it's applied correctly. It's a tool and like all tools it can be applied incorrectly. Lowry has the ability to clean up imagery without removing the original grain texture along with the high-frequency details. Just about everything on video now has some applied in some way.

Thus is just like noise reduction on audio: apply too much and you get rid of the hiss along with all the high frequencies. Use it correctly and old recordings sound new.

Penton's tired of beating this dead horse and I don't blame him.

[blitz6speed]

Originally Posted by SS316SRV

So my copy of Blade Runner is junk. My copy of Troy is junk. My copy of 300 is junk. When Warner wants to, they make some of the best looking Blu-rays. They apparently just don't want to, most of the time.

To answer:

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

No.

Yes.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by JimSD

Just as interesting in the article you linked

http://www.cinematical.com/2008/07/0...ms-on-blu-ray/

are his comments about the Dirty Harry Blu-ray. Basically he thinks Dirty Harry has had too much processing (first review I've read that says that), yet doesn't have a problem with Patton.

Interesting indeed.
This may separate the “wheat from the shaft”, if the reviewer is correct with his recollection of the original theatrical presentation……….
and apparently he is not ‘awed’ by the studio on record for the home media version.