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

[Oliver K]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Oliver’s back!

Did you have a good summer holiday?

Thanks for the headsup, no summer holiday this year but other nice things that prevented and still prevent me from posting more, although I still followed this and a few other threads here and there

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Renting, hah, a novel idea!

Yep, I feel bad about having too many movies in my collection that I do not like that much and/or that do not have a proper presentation (by my own twisted standards of course ) either.

Braveheart on the other hand looks like a must have and is already bought

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I do get a kick out of all these people who spend so much of their time and energy posting screenshots to convince others (and themselves) from purchasing or even watching any particular Blu-ray movie when if they used that same time to mow one extra lawn in the neighborhood, they would have the cash to add the best available high definition packaged media video rendition of the motion picture to their collection, and at the same time getting a little exercise and Vitamin D.

I think that really depends on the neighborhood - as you would have to have neighbors with a properly equipped wallett and a properly sized lawn

When I write more than a few words about a Blu-Ray I also usually suggest to rent or buy based on the merits of the release but never not to watch it at all, that would be silly.

[mark antony]

Penton, the european editions of "Leon" seem to have a mediocre picture quality with evidence of image tampering, if and when this comes to the US will it get a new master or is it likely to use the same master that the euro distributors have?

Thanks

M

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Oliver K

When I write more than a few words about a Blu-Ray I also usually suggest to rent or buy based on the merits of the release but never not to watch it at all, that would be silly.

Good to hear.
If you are a true home theater cinephile, there is always something new to be learned or appreciated by watching/listening to another home rendition of a flick.

I haven’t viewed the Blu-ray and actually don’t plan to for awhile, as this motion picture (as well as Braveheart) are still very fresh in my mind (for example, I pulled this quote off the top of my head for the contest - https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...ostcount=84260)
but, given all the chatter by some actual viewers of the Gladiator Blu-ray on the Braveheart vs. Gladiator thread here, I suspect Para just used an old master for the later so, your mileage may vary. Meanwhile, if the *screenshot scientists* get their way, in the end, I wouldn’t at all be surprised if Gladiator will inevitably be only remembered by the forum crowd(s) in much the same vein as Patton or Gangs of New York.

Nevertheless, I spoke with Bill Hunt about another matter several minutes ago and he mentioned to me the fact that he is close with the producer that does all of Ridely’s home media titles and once he gets his review copy, he plans to speak with said fellow for further details about the Blu-ray production itself.

P.S.
Jeff, my favorite sci-fi TV show apparently is not being renewed.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by mark antony

Penton, the european editions of "Leon" seem to have a mediocre picture quality with evidence of image tampering, if and when this comes to the US will it get a new master or is it likely to use the same master that the euro distributors have?

Thanks

M

Let's at least wait until it is formally announced for the U.S., o.k.

[mark antony]

fair enough, regards

M

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Jeff, my favorite sci-fi TV show apparently is not being renewed.

Homeboys in Outer Space was cancelled quite a long time ago Penton.

Seriously though, which show is it?

[Jeff Kleist]

Defying gravity

Dialog norm is not necessary on DVD and Blu-ray's. It's just another unnecessary process in the Dolby signal chain. Its great for broadcast, and that is about it.

Charlie did the bonus materials, but if the usual pattern holds true with a reissue like this he was not directly involved with the Blu-ray production (he wasnt on Top Gun and a bunch of others)

[syncguy]

Originally Posted by Constitution 101

...
I've seen the PQ of HD streaming and it can't touch Blu...

Simply there is no sufficient capacity in the Internet for mass market take-up of HD streaming. Unless billions are invested on a massive upgrade of world-wide Internet, HD streaming is just a dream...

[Oliver K]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Good to hear.
If you are a true home theater cinephile, there is always something new to be learned or appreciated by watching/listening to another home rendition of a flick.

I make time for 200 movies a year and movies that I rewatch are chosen carefully. Others (like Gladiator) I just sample out of curiosity and because I know them very good for one reason or another, so that rewatching them from beginning to end is not an option at the time. There are only so many hours in the day

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I haven’t viewed the Blu-ray and actually don’t plan to for awhile, as this motion picture (as well as Braveheart) are still very fresh in my mind (for example, I pulled this quote off the top of my head for the contest - https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...ostcount=84260)
but, given all the chatter by some actual viewers of the Gladiator Blu-ray on the Braveheart vs. Gladiator thread here, I suspect Para just used an old master for the later so, your mileage may vary. Meanwhile, if the *screenshot scientists* get their way, in the end, I wouldn’t at all be surprised if Gladiator will inevitably be only remembered by the forum crowd(s) in much the same vein as Patton or Gangs of New York.

Gladiator is a bit like TDK in that it is a very BIG title for many home theater enthusiasts and therefore they demand perfection or sghould I say for the studio to go the extra mile ? From what I have read perfection is not exactly what they got so this is another case where what would be good enough for other titles is not good enough for Gladiator. I very much doubt this will be as bad as Patton and Gangs of New York and these titles are always the ones that get the most heated discussions - just look at Baraka and TDK

[SquidPuppet]

So. Jorge stays. Negating the always entertaining musical chairs affair.

So. Is Stoner really mediaphobic? Is he faking his illness? Is he retiring? Was he playing games to get a Yamaha ride?

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Example……..
http://www.avforums.com/forums/blu-r...on-eklund.html

Additionally, Rich Peterson was invited to the Sony Pictures Authoring Center in Culver City back in the days of the format war when he was reporting on the goings on.
This is an excerpt from one of his reports……….

Demo Equipment
The demos were done using two side-by-side 46” 1080P Sony LCDs, one fed by an HD-CAM SR, the other by a standard BD player. I sat no more than 3 feet away from the displays so I could carefully scrutinize the images. Mr Eklund stressed how important it was to turn off all the video processing in the displays to insure a direct mapping from the 1080P source to the display. He also mentioned the displays were carefully adjusted (contrast turned down, brightness turned down, etc) for the best possible picture clarity and he hoped those making quality assessments on AVS also have high-quality well-calibrated displays. He also had a 50” 1080P Pioneer Plasma set up, but I concentrated on the LCDs.


Demo 2
The second demo was the most impressive to me. Mr. Eklund took a fully digitally encoded non-compressed (i.e. full I-frame) digital Master recording of the opening outdoor scene of “Casino Royale” and played it on the first display. Then he put in the AVC-encoded “Casino Royale” BD on the 2nd display and manually synced them up to play together. He challenged me to look for differences created during the encoding.

I studied the two displays carefully from just a couple feet away as they both played. I could see absolutely no difference from the Master to the AVC encoded copy no matter how hard I tried. I kept shifting my view back and forth between the displays looking for some difference and never was able to see anything. This dramatically illustrated to me how perfectly the AVC encoded BD captured the full fidelity of the Master in this scene.

This is a great read Penton, thanks!

[Jeff Kleist]

Ut oh, wasn't some DNR used in that scene as well, director authorized post-DI?

[Kris Deering]

Hey Penton. Any thoughts on the recent blip over at AICN about Nolan possibly shooting the next Batman film completely with IMAX cameras? I can't imagine the logistical hurdles on that, let alone the expense. But I would LOVE to see it!!

[Jeff Kleist]

I've heard for close to a year now he was planning on using that as a bargaining chip to reup for 3, since he wasn't signed for it.

A billion dollar box office tends to open a lot of minds to the possibility 100% IMAX Batman=teh yum

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

Hey Penton. Any thoughts on the recent blip over at AICN about Nolan possibly shooting the next Batman film completely with IMAX cameras? I can't imagine the logistical hurdles on that, let alone the expense. But I would LOVE to see it!!

I think he should hire several strong camera operators, purchase lots of duct tape and foam padding for use on the close-up dialog scenes or else shoot all those sequences with zoom lenses. If not, the talent will be spending a lot of time in audio post production.

Chris always likes to do something at a higher level and push the envelope with each of his successive films whether it be creatively or technologically.

I would love to see him do so (total IMAX) with this project.
I haven’t read the blip on AICN that you refer to.

[OARmaster]

Penton-Man...I absolutely love it when you venture outside of this thread to lay the smack-down when needed.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by OARmaster

Penton-Man...I absolutely love it when you venture outside of this thread to lay the smack-down when needed.

Well, this phrase by Grubert got my motor running as it reminded me so much of the self-proclaimed ‘grain gurus’ and ‘dnr experts’ that post on AVS…………

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...ce#post2248375

From there, I just rode the wave into shore.

[Grubert]

Right of reply!

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Well, this phrase by Grubert got my motor running as it reminded me so much of the self-proclaimed ‘grain gurus’ and ‘dnr experts’ that post on AVS…………

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...ce#post2248375

From there, I just rode the wave into shore.

Huh? What's wrong with the phrase "in my experience"?

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/d...ish/experience

experience

(...)

2 [uncountable] the knowledge that you get from life and from being in a lot of different situations
Experience told me not to believe him.

from past/previous/personal experience: Helen knew from past experience that there was no point in arguing with him.

in someone’s experience: In my experience, very intelligent people can still make terrible mistakes.

By using the phrase "in my experience", I wasn't saying or implying I am a guru or an expert or otherwise have more experience than others. Merely that that is what I have experienced.

It was certainly no grounds for flying off the handle like you just did.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Grubert

It was certainly no grounds for flying off the handle like you just did.

If you’re referring to my original response to you where I said –
“Sorry, but generic phrases like that mean very, very little to me,”
-followed by some techno babble by myself, and then ending with....

“that would be much more meaningful to me that you have direct and accurate experience in viewing/analyzing imagery pre/post grain reduction.”

I don’t consider that to be “flying off the handle”.

[Penton-Man]

Grub, maybe you are referring to my follow-up response to you?
Maybe that upset you.

I will reconsider the wording and edit if needed.