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

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by sharkshark

I actually think that Ratatouille is a better film story wise, along with several others.

Me, too. Wouldn't really be fair to nominate Ratatouille this year, though, would it?

I really shouldn't qualify myself to vote, as I haven't seen many of the TEN, but from what I know, I'd be happy with an IB win or an Up win.

I never agree with the winners, anyway, so I may as well root for my favorites to be passed over, like they always are. More consistent that way.

[sharkshark]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

So, I’m looking at the recent Blu news and this article piques my fancy……
https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=4113 and scanning the offered comments reminds me

of the last paragraph of this article from December last –
https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3912

To my good friend George F., I recommend one of two things to you , either -
1. Do not read “everything that people say on the boards”.
or
2. If you continue to do so, then take 5mg. of Valium P.O. about 45 min. prior to reading.

What, such delightful prose as this?

"Warner screwed the pooch here. This was one of their first BDs. It certainly deserved to be reauthored. Instead they throw in barely relevant things like a generic gangster doc and, of all things....gangster Warner Brothers cartoons! "

Yeah. Stupid, relevant, historically interesting relevant cartoons and a feature length doc. Boo!

I guess I'm weird that I've always thought GF, while not a perfect disc, looks good in HD, and, as per my comments above, was actually the disc (along with Unforgiven) that convinced me to buy a player in the first place.

Still, there should be a way of allowing for the desire for rereleases to have shiny new transfers to be articulated, with respect to the content producers, without the sordid rhetoric. Certainly you can see that in an ideal world there would be unlimited funds to treat each and every HD re-release, particularly this early in the format life, as an opportunity to use the latest in restoration capabilities, no?

That said, pissing on this release with such patent disregard for the content is just sad, and, I hate to say it, par for the course in other, less rarefied environs of this (and other) fora.

[sharkshark]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Eat your heart out …………..
http://oscar.go.com/

Now, without Googling, impress us all and tell me who is sister of the brother/sister motion picture team, the brother of which is the Co-Producer of 82nd Annual Academy Awards Show this year.

And for the Big Sea-gar (which I doubt you’ll find by Googling but, who the hell knows for sure these days), tell me who they pitched The Wedding Planner to and whether or not it was a hard or soft sell?

Yeah, I actually had no idea that Shankman and sis even DID the Wedding Planner, so I'm no help there... Unless, you're letting us know that they pitched YOU. I cheated and checked his Wiki page, and it shows he got the film in 10 minutes, so I'm going with "hard" sell....

I do loves me some Hairspray, though (shot, don't you know, two blocks away from where I'm currently typing...)

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by sharkshark

I guess I'm weird that I've always thought GF, while not a perfect disc, looks good in HD

It does, indeed. Re-done today, however, it could certainly look even better.

Originally Posted by sharkshark

That said, pissing on this release with such patent disregard for the content is just sad, and, I hate to say it, par for the course in other, less rarefied environs of this (and other) fora.

I suspect the distaste for the added content springs largely from the knowledge that it was acquired by the wholesale importation of an already-produced disc from another DVD set. Regardless of the quality of the actual bonus materials, it smacks of not giving a shit about the product any more than to do that which can afford them a bullet-point on the new packaging. Couple this with the "20th Anniversary" fanfare on the cover and people are going to wonder why they're being asked to get into a lather when the studio seems to have done zero with this release beyond telling us to "Get hyped- now!"

[sharkshark]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Couple this with the "20th Anniversary" fanfare on the cover and people are going to wonder why they're being asked to get into a lather when the studio seems to have done zero with this release beyond telling us to "Get hyped- now!"

Fair enough, but it comes across as denigrating the content (unnecessary).

I've bought enough Star Wars crap in my lifetime to be immune from such stuff... I'd have loved a new remaster, naturally, but the pissing on Warner (given their titles) is just tired, and a clear residue from the bad old days of the format "war".

Hell, I've got the title on "red" disc, so might even pickup this release. And then, when they remaster it, I'll buy it then. It's GOODFELLAS, damn it. I bought it at least twice on DVD, and I think twice on Laser. It's just one of those titles that Warner can just take money from me as often as they'd like.

Pathetic, but true... One format I've not bought it in yet is, well, Blu Ray...

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by sharkshark

And then, when they remaster it, I'll buy it then. It's GOODFELLAS, damn it. I bought it at least twice on DVD, and I think twice on Laser. It's just one of those titles that Warner can just take money from me as often as they'd like.

I'm with you (and I still have my LD and DVDs, too) but I draw the line at nice packaging. A/V improvement would've earned (more of) my money, but this is literally the same disc I already have.

[sharkshark]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

I'm with you (and I still have my LD and DVDs, too) but I draw the line at nice packaging. A/V improvement would've earned (more of) my money, but this is literally the same disc I already have.

...with the second bonus disc (yes, DVD) which I think is worth having.

But, yeah. We're in agreement in what "should have been", and the tone by which the discussion could/should take...

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by sharkshark

We're in agreement in what "should have been", and the tone by which the discussion could/should take...

Honestly, if this same re-packaging had just been sold as exactly what it is, a product refresh/excuse to bump the average street price back up, I'd have a lot less problem with/disappointment in it.

That they're calling this the "20th Anniversary Edition" while doing nothing to add value to the presentation of the film itself galls a little bit. I would say that the presentation on this disc meets the market standard of two years ago, but not of today.

[Alan Gordon]

I haven't been keeping up with this thread, so I apologize for commenting on a couple of older quotes, but I'll make them quick.

Originally Posted by sharkshark

Hell, take some more contemporary films, like Amelie (with Tatou's sweet, warm voice), or even Chasing Amy (shout out to Vincent!) - she may have broken Kevin's heart off-set, but the film's charms are enormously helped with the timbre of Joey Lauren Adams' voice.

Originally Posted by Eternal_Sunshine

Funny you should bring that example up as I watched Chasing Amy (in English with subs!) just two weeks ago. The female leads voice was the most annoying thing about it for me, actually.

While I still haven't seen Audrey Tatou in "Amelie", but I do love JLA's voice... though not as much as Penelope Cruz's voice... which is why I simply couldn't imagine watching a dub of her voice...

Originally Posted by Anthony P

Like Gorkon said "You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon."

Aah... I have always LOVED that quote...

Though there may be exceptions that I have not thought of, I simply will not watch a film dubbed... though I'm probably the only person I know of (in the real world) who feel that way...

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I also don't understand why Death at a Funeral, a film barely 2 years old, directed by an American (Frank Oz), and starring 2 hilarious and wonderfully talented Americans (Alan Tudyk and Peter Dinklage, who is also in the remake) needed to be remade either, from all appearances simply trading a white upperish middle class British people for Black upperish middle Americans and using a nearly identical script from the trailer.

Why is "Torchwood" and "Being Human" having American versions made... particularly BH which is still in it's 2nd season... and will have at least a 3rd as well?

While I like some of the actors in the new film, I may pass on it, but I suspect that it will most likely make far more money (domestic) than the original. I'd hope for a BD release of the original in time for the BD release of the new one, but I'm not exactly thrilled with the odds given that it's an MGM release.

~Alan

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Or, how about:

3. Do not repackage old assets and then expect to be met with anything but frustration on the part of others who also "care about" film classics.

Well, my empathy for audio challenged Blu-rays has expired by now.
I probably shouldn't say anymore.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by sharkshark

Yeah, I actually had no idea that Shankman and sis even DID the Wedding Planner, so I'm no help there... Unless, you're letting us know that they pitched YOU. I cheated and checked his Wiki page, and it shows he got the film in 10 minutes, so I'm going with "hard" sell....

Counter intuitively, actually, it was an easy sell for the filmmakers, which is why it only took 10 min.

Concerning today's Academy announcement, if you add the nominations for Sony Pictures Classics (13) and Sony Pictures (5), you get a total of 18 nominations, which I think is the MOST for any movie company (combining the parent with the arthouse division).

A good day indeed!
Which I think portends that you don’t need to have a super big budget to be good …..
http://kino-zeit.de/filme/trailer//winter-in-wartime

Oh no, on second thought, the colors in the trailer don’t appear “natural”….maybe we made a mistake!

[blindcat87]

Agreed completely and the reason why I gave in to the urge to add my own complaints on the comment pages. Personally, I would have bought this release if it had just added lossless audio, but with what they released, I can go buy the original released used for next to nothing and pick up the DVD set the extras disc originally came out in and have GF, the documentary and animated content plus a bunch of gangster films not available on BD yet. I also agree that the reaction would have been much less hostile had this not been listed as the 20th Anniversary Edition and raised a lot of expectations.

I also agree though, that the vast majority of the reaction is way, way over the top. I am getting really sick of the 'what do you expect from WB', 'the standard <insert offensive term here> from Warner' and other such comments. WB, and in particular the classics division have been doing some of the best work on BD today. From new releases like the latest Harry Potter to catalog like Boogie Nights, WB has been doing top flight BD work. To me, the only major complaint I have had of late is the consistent refusal to add lossless audio to TV releases. While I think there is always room to raise the bar even further, I think WB has truly done some amazing things in the past year, so this constant WB bashing when people find something to complain about is just plain unfair. JMO.

Chris

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Honestly, if this same re-packaging had just been sold as exactly what it is, a product refresh/excuse to bump the average street price back up, I'd have a lot less problem with/disappointment in it.

That they're calling this the "20th Anniversary Edition" while doing nothing to add value to the presentation of the film itself galls a little bit. I would say that the presentation on this disc meets the market standard of two years ago, but not of today.

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

And speaking of Fearless, dat girl done good last night ……..
https://forum.blu-ray.com/insider-di...ml#post2756709

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

For my money, there's hardly anything in the pop realm these days that's really worth listening to, but I don't find it that tough to find something I can simply stand. I find Beyonce's stuff roundly more listenable than Swift's. Horses for courses.

I rarely listen to the radio these days... not really by choice, but rather by happenstance... and there's only a handful of artists I follow (outside of the occasional song here and there), and Taylor Swift is one of them. In fact, outside of the "Glee" soundtracks (AWESOME TALENT THERE FOLKS... can't wait for Matthew Morrison's solo album), Taylor Swift is probably the (modern) artist I listen to the most.

Beyonce is certainly more talented vocally, but I'm reminded of a quote from Garth Brooks about Vince Gill in which he admitted that he will never have as good of a voice as Vince Gill, but that he was lucky that the fans allowed him to go up on stage and "yell" and have fun.

While I'm not going to compare her to some of the greats, we can look back and see that many of the most popular singers were not always the best... vocally.

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

I don't really care one way or another; I was just saying I find her song irritating.

She has more than one...

Originally Posted by sharkshark

That said, once I finally hear her tracks, I was kinda shocked that this is what was passing for "country" these days... In a good way! Really, there's little she's doing that wouldn't have been set for Nelly Fertado or Alannis if they hadn't gone the angry/Timbalake route. It's girl power pop with Banjo, completely removed from the dreck that normally passed for pop country (I'm looking at you, Travis Tritt!) Again, one can blame Shania for this, I think - it seems hooking up with the producer of Def Leppard and AC/DC has inexorably changed contemporary pop-Country for a while.

Country music has changed... while I'm a fan of both "classic" and "contemporary", it's been both a blessing and a curse. A few years back, the most "country" thing on Country radio was when Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow, two rockers, did a duet.

As for Shania, yeah, she's definitely mostly to blame. Her first and least successful album was, IMHO, her best. Then she teamed up with "Mutt" and came out with her "pop"-flavored Country second album which blew up. By the time her third album came out, she pretty much gave up all pretense as far as I'm concerned...

BTW, for those who are not fans of Taylor Swift's catalog, perhaps you may find her duet with T-Pain to be more your speed...

Thug Story - Taylor Swift and T-Pain

~Alan<~~~~~~~~~~~Who feels like he's trying to copy Penton-Man whenever he posts a YouTube link...

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

She has more than one...

Tell it to the Grammys telecast.

Meanwhile, shark... I know you tried to give a bit of explanation, but I'm hoping you can expand on what intrigues you about Lady GaGa. I think it's clear she certainly has vocal ability, but to what end? For me, there's no 'there' there. To paraphrase one of my favorite film critics of the print era in his review of Rocky, "all icing and no carrot cake".

[almy]

I'm not sure exactly who to ask, but I hope you can help. During the last few months there have been at least 4 Blu titles I've wanted to get that BestBuy has never carried. Prior to today they never carried Blue Thunder, Trainspotting or N.Y. Ripper. Today I went there to buy Zombieland (which they did have) and To Live and Die in L.A. - which they didn't have. I complained to the dept. manager and was told that BestBuy is so big that if a studio does not press enough of a given title, BestBuy can't get it. Sounds a bit off to me. Don't studios/distributors tell vendors months in advance when a title is coming out, giving retailers plenty of time to place orders. And, don't studios (to a degree) plan on manufacturing a certain quantity of a given title based on how many are pre-ordered by retailers? I can't believe that a studio would say something like "OK guys, we're going to press 500,000 of this title and if we can't get 'em to some dealers, too bad." I would certainly think that it is in a studios best interest to sell as many discs as they can. Please, am I wrong or right on this? Thanks

[sharkshark]

Originally Posted by Alan Gordon

BTW, for those who are not fans of Taylor Swift's catalog, perhaps you may find her duet with T-Pain to be more your speed...

Thug Story - Taylor Swift and T-Pain

I'm sorry, did I not make my views on Autotune clear enough?

...and don't get me started on the travesty of the Glee soundtracks, and their insistence on AT'ing to hell the performances. The difference between Lea Michele singing to (processed, plasticized) playback, versus the few moments they let her actualy -sign-, is a sign that the ears of the pop audience are as deaf to real singing as those that look to grain-intact films and see nothing but fuzzy static.

Crap. You got me started...

Not a country fan (in the Nashville, pop sense) but I do loves me some Dylan/Cash/Kristopherson/Young/etc., a bunch of guys that not only would never be able to play the Opry, but are shunned by any form of "middle America" radio except for the most obvious of tracks.

Obviously you're a fan of the genre, I do encourage you to check out that Bon Iver disc if you haven't given it a listen - it may be out of your comfort zone, but it's worth a listen.

Plus, one of the most groundbreaking, amazing, desert-island worthy things that has happened in the last decade is Bob's Theme Time Radio Hour... If you haven't had a chance to listen, my lord...It's simply breathtakingly wickedawesome, and covers such a wide swath of musical forms in just a dexterous way that as a combined work it'll be remembered as one of Dylan's finest contributions to musical culture.

Yeah, it's that good.

And he's a Sony recording artist to boot!

Now, Penton, with the impending sale of Miramax (NOT to the Weinsteins, it seems) we've got another major bowing out of the indie market... How do you think this bodes for the future of Sony Pictures Classics, being pretty much the last one standing?

[sharkshark]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Tell it to the Grammys telecast.

Meanwhile, shark... I know you tried to give a bit of explanation, but I'm hoping you can expand on what intrigues you about Lady GaGa. I think it's clear she certainly has vocal ability, but to what end? For me, there's no 'there' there. To paraphrase one of my favorite film critics of the print era in his review of Rocky, "all icing and no carrot cake".

I think that under the costumes there's someone with actual musical ability and a fine (not extraordinary) voice. Did you see her on SNL when she broke into the Piano solo think, wrapped in a giant orb?

Don't get me wrong, I think her song choices are suspect, her costumes needlessly provocative, but call me crazy, I think there's a real talent there that's likely to be more than just fad. There must have been many who at the time of the big glasses and funny hats that dismissed Elton as teenage pop, and I think that he's an excellent choice to duet with, showing a connection to the theatrical flare of pre-Glam piano rock. Hell, get her working with full-on glam rockers like Bowie and it'd be even more apt.

Can I compare her track to Your Song? No, of course not. But the performance was theatrical and silly while being engaging (and not nearly as angry/fascist as Beyonce's).

I find Pink a mess, with a terrible voice and terrible choice of songs. The Jamie Foxx/Tpain song is an abomination (BESIDES my obvious disdain for the misuse of a plugin that I've been tweaking with for well over a decade). If she can catch her breath, get her head out of butt, and find someone serious and capable to produce with her a grounded and adult album, then I do thing that Ga Ga can maintain a, uh, "unique" visual image while producing great, listenable, dare I say I, "timeless" music. She ain't there yet, but unlike many others on that stage that night, I've got hope for her future prospects.

[Doctorossi]

Thanks for the details, shark.

Originally Posted by sharkshark

Did you see her on SNL when she broke into the Piano solo think, wrapped in a giant orb?

Yeah. It felt, to me, like a bunch of little pieces of things that didn't particularly go well together, none of them interesting. I guess, these days, that qualifies as an "epic".

Originally Posted by sharkshark

Don't get me wrong, I think her song choices are suspect, her costumes needlessly provocative, but call me crazy, I think there's a real talent there that's likely to be more than just fad.

I think she'll probably be more than a fad, too. However, I have no faith she'll ever necessarily do anything that raises my curiosity.

Originally Posted by sharkshark

If she can catch her breath, get her head out of butt, and find someone serious and capable to produce with her a grounded and adult album, then I do thing that Ga Ga can maintain a, uh, "unique" visual image while producing great, listenable, dare I say I, "timeless" music. She ain't there yet, but unlike many others on that stage that night, I've got hope for her future prospects.

I'm just not sure what you're seeing in her. There are a lot of people with reasonably capable voices who could be singing interesting (or even just hooky, fun) music, but aren't. What makes her a special example?

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by sharkshark

...and don't get me started on the travesty of the Glee soundtracks, and their insistence on AT'ing to hell the performances. The difference between Lea Michele singing to (processed, plasticized) playback, versus the few moments they let her actualy -sign-, is a sign that the ears of the pop audience are as deaf to real singing as those that look to grain-intact films and see nothing but fuzzy static.

Honestly, as long as my ears are pleased, and I enjoy what I'm hearing, I could care less about AT...

Originally Posted by sharkshark

Not a country fan (in the Nashville, pop sense) but I do loves me some Dylan/Cash/Kristopherson/Young/etc., a bunch of guys that not only would never be able to play the Opry, but are shunned by any form of "middle America" radio except for the most obvious of tracks.

As with any music genre, you sometimes have to wade through a lot of crap to get to the good stuff, but there's some talent out there in Nashville. I'm certainly a fan of two of the above, so if I ever get a chance to listen to your recommendations, I'll check them out!

~Alan

[cipher]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

So, I’m looking at the recent Blu news and this article piques my fancy……
https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=4113 and scanning the offered comments reminds me

of the last paragraph of this article from December last –
https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3912

To my good friend George F., I recommend one of two things to you , either -
1. Do not read “everything that people say on the boards”.
or
2. If you continue to do so, then take 5mg. of Valium P.O. about 45 min. prior to reading.

Not to blame George for this as from everything I've read he is a passionate film person and is interested in releasing the highest quality Blu-Ray's possible, but about a year ago he was interviewed and said that going forward all catalog releases would contain TrueHD tracks...

Sound issues have also drawn ire from many consumers hungry for high-def audio on Golden Age films. Some have complained about the lack of a Dolby TrueHD track on 'Casablanca' and the upcoming 'An American in Paris.' Both 'Casablanca' and 'An American in Paris' were recorded in mono, so monaural tracks were used on their respective Blu-ray discs to preserve each film's authenticity. However, Mr. Feltenstein has noted that from this point forward, Warner Home Video intends to release all catalog titles with TrueHD tracks. When original multiple channel recordings are available, the studio may produce newer, multitrack audio mixes, but whether or not the films have multitrack audio elements, the studio believes each release deserves the absolute best audio possible and will provide it in TrueHD

With the lossy re-releases of titles such as Goodfellas and Bonnie and Clyde it looks like there are still segments of the company that "didn't receive the memo".