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

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Are any of our intrepid Blu-ray.com journalists covering CEDIA like they did for IFA 2010?

no idea

[Vincent Pereira]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

... I’m currently convinced that many videophiles don’t pay much attention to the colors of Blu-ray home video incarnations as compared to the theatrical presentations as long as three criteria are now met….
1. The color changes for home video have been *approved* by the Director.
2. The color changes now are more in line with an *eye candy* look….meaning more vivid than drab and dull.

And most importantly,

3. Pretty much all color discrepancy to theatrical is dismissed if the images are sharp as a tack with no evidence of haloing.

EXACTLY, which ties into the "color timing" issues that have been associated with such Blu-ray releases as Sony's GHOSTBUSTERS and BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA, which you have previously defended to the hilt but now seem to be attempting to use as a case study against the original intent of the director...

So anyway, I'm confused as to what your actual argument is here.

Vincent

[Dennis M]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Where's sharkshark?

Shark is completely buried in TIFF right now.

Going a full week without sleep. Being fueled by a intake of Coke and coffee.

To be followed with a 2 day coma when it's all over.

[Penton-Man]

Oh Lord, I just read Martin’s review of American Beauty….
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Ameri...y/7746/#Review
If his assertions are correct as to the picture quality (and I have no reason to doubt them at this time), this is indeed a pity given the fact that American Beauty recently slotted in at #10 for the respective 10 year time period…

http://www.theasc.com/asc_news/News_...s/News_304.php

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

no idea

Well, if we do have someone covering the show in person, Deci, tell ‘em to behave themselves and stay away from all the strip joints in Hot-Lanta!

Plus, if they happen to run into paidgeek while there, mention to the geek-ster that he looks like a lean, mean bicycling machine, which should inspire him to pedal even faster at the next Century he participates in.

I normally don’t read the Consumer Electronics publications but, once in awhile I’ll take a gander at the fine reviews that fellow Club members Kris Deering and Dave Vaughn do over there and I happened to come across this projector review from one of their colleagues, which may be of interest to some folks –
http://www.hometheatermag.com/3d-fro...itan_1080p_3d/

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Dennis M

Shark is completely buried in TIFF right now.

Going a full week without sleep. Being fueled by a intake of Coke....

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

If his assertions are correct as to the picture quality (and I have no reason to doubt them at this time), this is indeed a pity given the fact that American Beauty recently slotted in at #10 for the respective 10 year time period…

If he's right, it's a pity because every movie deserves high-fidelity presentation.

However, the idea of American Beauty being on a top 10 list for its decade is also a bit of a pity.

It's solid, but highly overrated, IMO.

[Dennis M]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

LOL... we're talking about the liquefied sugar drink, not the white powder.

[KubrickFan]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

If he's right, it's a pity because every movie deserves high-fidelity presentation.

However, the idea of American Beauty being on a top 10 list for its decade is also a bit of a pity.

It's solid, but highly overrated, IMO.

We're talking about cinematography, here. You can say whatever you want about the film itself, but the cinematography is an absolutely beauty.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by KubrickFan

We're talking about cinematography, here. You can say whatever you want about the film itself, but the cinematography is an absolutely beauty.

I'm not sure how you can distinguish the two.

[KubrickFan]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

I'm not sure how you can distinguish the two.

A bad movie can have great camerawork, and vice versa. You think the movie itself is overrated, but the ASC list is just about the work the directors of photography and their crews did.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by KubrickFan

A bad movie can have great camerawork, and vice versa.

The purpose of cinematography is not to produce aesthetically appealing acontextual images, but to translate meaning.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Dennis M

LOL... we're talking about the liquefied sugar drink, not the white powder.

[Penton-Man]

Regarding American Beauty -

If the motion picture is accurately represented in the upcoming Blu-ray incarnation, then to those with very discerning eyes, the imagery should in fact look a tad soft, as Connie Hall used a light grade softening filter from a popular line of Tiffen products, specifically in order to tone down the sharpness of the images during the principal photography.

[Batman1980]

Thanks for the heads-up Penton-Man, I will keep that in mind when I get around to buying/watching that masterpiece by Sam Mendes.

[sharkshark]

Hey, kids... Too sleep deprived to even read the thread, but I thought you'd appreciate this:

http://filmfest.ca/2010/09/14/the-pr...-edge-of-town/

There will be a more substantial review perhaps later, but this is what you get mid fest.

I actually got to the talk/interview with Ed Norton. Still working on write-up for that, but you'll also get that later. Short version: Ed Norton asked about 2 good questions, and would NOT shuttup... Like, Bruce trying to interrupt him and he wouldn't stop talking. They had a guitar tech pre-talk, and we figured we'd get a mini private concert. No, they talked so long they just called it a day. Great to see and hear bruce from 6 feet away, terrible choice of Ed Norton as interviewer.

Mini (read: twitter) reviews of the flicks I've seen are posted here, including some big ones (BLACK SWAN, for one). http://filmfest.ca/2010/09/13/140-character-reviews/

A film I think many of you will LOVE is genre pic SUPER (review here: http://filmfest.ca/2010/09/13/super/) It got sold to IFC, and will make a great BD. Got to chill with Ebert and Rainn Wilson for a bit, hung out with Guillermo Del Toro, and generally have been having a killer time.

There you go, as promised, info on the Promise doc and more.

[Vincent Pereira]

Originally Posted by Vincent Pereira

EXACTLY, which ties into the "color timing" issues that have been associated with such Blu-ray releases as Sony's GHOSTBUSTERS and BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA, which you have previously defended to the hilt but now seem to be attempting to use as a case study against the original intent of the director...

So anyway, I'm confused as to what your actual argument is here.

Vincent

STILL wondering what your position is on these matters...

Vincent

[KubrickFan]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

The purpose of cinematography is not to produce aesthetically appealing acontextual images, but to translate meaning.

And it can rise above what the director intended while doing that. I don't see what's so difficult to understand. There are many great music scores for B-movies as well.

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Regarding American Beauty -

If the motion picture is accurately represented in the upcoming Blu-ray incarnation, then to those with very discerning eyes, the imagery should in fact look a tad soft, as Connie Hall used a light grade softening filter from a popular line of Tiffen products, specifically in order to tone down the sharpness of the images during the principal photography.

There is what appears as noticeable edge enhancement on the Blu-ray.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

Thanks for the heads-up Penton-Man, I will keep that in mind when I get around to buying/watching that masterpiece by Sam Mendes.

Alas, unfortunately, if Martin’s review is right (and I have no reason to doubt his viewing assertions), the mild softening filter used in the principal photography further emphasizes the PQ problem with the Blu-ray incarnation, i.e. per Martin “overly sharp, digital-looking sheen and edge enhancement are major causes for concern”.

However, I doubt that the Blu-ray edition of this particular motion picture will receive the same attention from the online “collectors” because very few audiovideo forum movie fans live vicariously (even for only 2 hrs.) thru the dysfunctional types depicted in American Beauty but rather embrace generals turned Gladiators. Additionally, I doubt you will see any AB comparisons with gross objects such as flying arrows, lightning bolts and fireballs disappearing due to excessive dirt and scratch removal to make it blatantly obvious to screenshot aficionados that something *is amiss*.

If younger folks are unaware of the cinematic significance and iconic nature of Connie Hall, the DP, because he passed away awhile ago, it might be appropriate to acknowledge it at this time. In that regard, I kept an old interview with Sam Mendes by some blogger which includes a tidbit on American Beauty, but more importantly, a personal accolade to the legendary cinematographer. It’s in some folder I have to search for on this old computer…. I’ll dig it out in a few moments after I’ve checked all of today’s questions/posts.