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

[sharkshark]

Well, for what it's worth the 70mm presentation of LOA here did pretty well here... How did you guys do with TAXI DRIVER? To see LOA in 4K in the larger AMC screens would be pretty damn fab.

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Do you think that fans of Lawrence of Arabia, or simply, in general, fans of old epics shot on a grand scale, would be interested in a BIG screen (theatrical) offering… something on the order of, let’s say, roughly for hypothetical purposes, about 100 participating theaters throughout the U.S. with maybe a smattering in Canada, as an appetizer or supplement to their upcoming Blu-ray experience with Lawrence?

Or wouldn’t there be much interest in that sort of theatrical exhibition of the new restoration in commemorating the 50th anniversary of LoA?

[Kris Deering]

Originally Posted by rickah88

Do you normally ride in submarines on Saturdays? If so, your country is eternally grateful for your service!

After 14 years of doing it anyday of the week for our country, I now do it to support those who serve. Meaning, I got out of active duty (now a reservist) and work full time as a civilian for the Department of the Navy. I do acoustic engineering, mainly in structureborne/machinery vibration for the US submarine fleet which entails riding submarines quite often (at least once a month typically, for about a week at a time).

[DenonCI]

I'm here Penton...been lurking for a long time with nothing much to say.

I did see the piece on the sharks though...now THAT'S a water hazard!

[horseflesh]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Probably more feasible would be...How long does it take to get from Portmarnock to London?

Well as you know Portmarnock is near the airport (and more or less under most flight paths) so all else being equal it could be done in a couple of hours
And I can always do with another reason to visit London!

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

After 14 years of doing it anyday of the week for our country, I now do it to support those who serve. Meaning, I got out of active duty (now a reservist) and work full time as a civilian for the Department of the Navy. I do acoustic engineering, mainly in structureborne/machinery vibration for the US submarine fleet which entails riding submarines quite often (at least once a month typically, for about a week at a time).

Awesome stuff! I salute you! While I never joined the Armed Forces, I am an "Air-Force brat" and grew up on military bases for my first 20, or so, years!
Just curious, is it true the crew of a sub are not supposed to discuss dive depths? When I was working as a Defense Contractor at GSFC, there was a guy who was ex-navy submariner...and we would always joke around with him about "dive depths". It was all in good fun, mind you...but he was tight lipped nonetheless!
Anyway, again, thanks so much for your service! It's always appreciated!

[Kris Deering]

Originally Posted by rickah88

Awesome stuff! I salute you! While I never joined the Armed Forces, I am an "Air-Force brat" and grew up on military bases for my first 20, or so, years!
Just curious, is it true the crew of a sub are not supposed to discuss dive depths? When I was working as a Defense Contractor at GSFC, there was a guy who was ex-navy submariner...and we would always joke around with him about "dive depths". It was all in good fun, mind you...but he was tight lipped nonetheless!
Anyway, again, thanks so much for your service! It's always appreciated!

My dad was a government worker when I was growing up and we never lived anywhere more than 3 years, so I know the drill there.

Submarine max depths are indeed classified. The latest permissable statement is that they can go in excess of 800 ft. Anything more than that and I have to hunt you down and kill you.

[ole geezer]

Originally Posted by rickah88

Hmmm, that may be debatable...see: Sanctum

I didn't see Sanctum 3D but, I thought I'd check it out on mojo and imdb. Mr Cameron didn't write it nor did he direct it. He kicked in some money as did eight other Producers. The operating budget was 30 million and it's ww gross was 108 million.

[ole geezer]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

Well as long as I'm not riding a submarine this weekend I am slated to go see LOA in 70mm this Saturday at the Cinerama in Seattle as part of their 70mm event. Honestly, if I could get the wife to sit through it, I would go to all three of the 70mm presentations they have on slate Saturday. Sound of Music, LOA and then 2001, all in 70mm. But getting her to sit through that many films would be nearly impossible. Unfortunately I've missed the showings they've had already this past week. I would have loved to see some of their lineup so far but alas work and family have been keeping me on my toes.

I dearly love my wife of 35 years, but I gotta admit, if I was in your shoes I'd have asked my wife to entertain herself for half a day while I indulge myself with some 70 mm presentations. Seeing those 3 classics in 70 mill again after a hiatus of 40+ years would be just too tempting.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by rickah88

Neat little story! That's the type of stuff I love to hear about during filming. I guess it's why I'm a big extras geek, as I want all the possible material(for that given film) as possible!

So, you say you want more.

In a nutshell, the story begins with a Director, in the eyes of some, having a problem with *pulling the trigger* so to speak… perhaps being intimidated by, for the first time, working on a motion picture of such grand scale that it boasted the largest budget for a British film up until then…along with having a cast of so many big-name actors.

In other words, the first Director hired for the job, namely Alexander Mackendrick, was let go early on in the production due to “creative differences”. Translated into real world-speak, what that means in this particular case was that despite being on location in Greece for four weeks, he had only shot about 30 sec. of footage, which proved unacceptable to first time producer Carl Foreman (who also wrote the screenplay). Bottom line, he just couldn’t *get it in gear* and the production could not afford any more delay.

It’s a pity really because, old timers say that Mr. Mackendrick had a true cinematic vision for ‘Guns’ as evidenced by the innumerable amount of still photographs he took during those first 30 days documenting locations with outstanding vistas, etc. but alas, when success is measured by staying on schedule and ‘producing’, Hollywood, even back then in thee olden days, could be a cold, cruel place to make a living. So, in came the Director of record, J. Lee Thompson....

Next installment. Much has been said of the chess-playing camaraderie of all the big-name actors, as if they all got along quite pleasantly. Fact of the matter is, there was a lot of tension on the set until eventually they bonded over, of all things, chess. This tension was manifested in one humorous way by the fact that nobody wanted to be the first one to show up on the set, as apparently that would be perceived as *cow-towing* to the other big-name actors.

So, in view of this *dilemma*, how did one manage to actually get all of them to walk on the set at the same time in order that nobody would be waiting for anyone and work could get started lickety-split

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by sharkshark

Well, for what it's worth the 70mm presentation of LOA here did pretty well here... How did you guys do with TAXI DRIVER? To see LOA in 4K in the larger AMC screens would be pretty damn fab.

It met expectations.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by DenonCI

I'm here Penton...been lurking for a long time with nothing much to say.
I did see the piece on the sharks though...now THAT'S a water hazard!

Good to hear as we’re getting the band back. On that note, JimSD, this is one to file under ‘A funny thing happened on the way to the finish line’. Man, I’ve seen and been involved in some rather unusual things during the course of racing mountain bikes over the years, but I must say, NEVER anything like this –

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#44867031

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

...Anything more than that and I have to hunt you down and kill you.

Kris, you forgot to add this emoticon too -

[JimSD]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Good to hear as we’re getting the band back. On that note, JimSD, this is one to file under ‘A funny thing happened on the way to the finish line’. Man, I’ve seen and been involved in some rather unusual things during the course of racing mountain bikes over the years, but I must say, NEVER anything like this –

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#44867031

It's like a mountain lion with horns.

[cjamescook]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

So, ... Next installment. Much has been said of the chess-playing camaraderie of all the big-name actors, as if they all got along quite pleasantly. Fact of the matter is, there was a lot of tension on the set until eventually they bonded over, of all things, chess. This tension was manifested in one humorous way by the fact that nobody wanted to be the first one to show up on the set, as apparently that would be perceived as *cow-towing* to the other big-name actors.

So, in view of this *dilemma*, how did one manage to actually get all of them to walk on the set at the same time in order that nobody would be waiting for anyone and work could get started lickety-split

Sounds like the old joke of three friends making a bet when drunk for a car race, the winner to be the one who came in last. The answer was to have them exchange cars.

In this case, my immediate answer would be to make a case for the actor that finished their work for the day first would prove they were the best by being so efficient.

Other solutions would be to give more time and optional lines to the actor that was available for them.

[ishwar1]

I have Star Wars the Complete Saga on Blu-ray and I hear audio clipping pops, crackle and static on audio channel 6 and audio channel 7 of my 7.1 surround system. My Blu-ray player is a Sony BDP-S780 (updated with Sony's latest firmware) and my receiver is a Sony STR-DA5300ES. When I switch the audio output on my Blu-ray player to PCM, the audio defects are gone but sound quality is noticably diminished. I will leave the audio output on my Blu-ray player set to Auto because the sound quality of the automatic DTS HD-Master Audio "flag" is superior to PCM. But 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has got to fix these audio issues when the automatic DTS HD-Master Audio "flag" is used on all Blu-ray players when Star Wars Blu-rays are played. I've returned my Star Wars Saga to Best Buy for an exchange, but these audio problems still exist on the exchanged Blu-ray set. It was a long wait to see Star Wars on Blu-ray. Please let 20th Century Fox fix and replace our defective discs.

[Kris Deering]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Kris, you forgot to add this emoticon too -

More like this!!

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

Umm... yay?

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by cjamescook

Sounds like the old joke of three friends making a bet when drunk for a car race, the winner to be the one who came in last. The answer was to have them exchange cars...

Well, the story goes that when a runner was sent to each and every star’s dressing room and the star was politely informed that he was wanted on stage, said star would reply with something like ‘Is Tony or David Niven on set yet’? The runner would truthfully answer no, and so the star would respond back with something akin to ‘Well, call me when they are’. The runner would then proceed to Anthony Quinn or David Niven’s dressing room and tell each of them that they were wanted on stage and invariably they would ask ‘Is Greg on set yet’?

‘No ?, well, call me when he is’. And so, on it went, one after another, down the line, big-name actor after big-name actor. Probably drove the poor runner bonkers.

The solution was to out-fox them by calling all the stars in the cast…all at once, and inform them that the others were indeed on the set, which resulted in them all walking on pretty much altogether at the same time.

Next installment - there is a storm that occurs during the course of the motion picture having a set-up (water and lights) which could have been legitimately viewed by the all-star male cast as a scene potentially of some risk to place themselves in and of which they could have reasonably asked for stuntmen to fill-in.

Who was it of the all-star cast that unhesitatingly stepped forward, took the lead and volunteered to the Director that he would personally do the scene and that a stunt man would not be required to double for him…after which thee other actors similarly followed suit (albeit, one still reluctantly). Who was that daredevil in The Guns of Navarone?...Gregory Peck, James Darren, Anthony Quinn, Anthony Quayle, Stanley Baker, David Niven?

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by JimSD

It's like a mountain lion with horns.

That I can identify with. I've seen three in my time and luckily with each 'encounter', each has quickly run in the opposite direction when seeing me coming. I think they also tend to stay away from areas which carry the scent of coyotes, which offers me an extra layer of 'protection' I guess.

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Well, the story goes that when a runner was sent to each and every star’s dressing room and the star was politely informed that he was wanted on stage, said star would reply with something like ‘Is Tony or David Niven on set yet’? The runner would truthfully answer no, and so the star would respond back with something akin to ‘Well, call me when they are’. The runner would then proceed to Anthony Quinn or David Niven’s dressing room and tell each of them that they were wanted on stage and invariably they would ask ‘Is Greg on set yet’?

‘No ?, well, call me when he is’. And so, on it went, one after another, down the line, big-name actor after big-name actor. Probably drove the poor runner bonkers.

The solution was to out-fox them by calling all the stars in the cast…all at once, and inform them that the others were indeed on the set, which resulted in them all walking on pretty much altogether at the same time.

Next installment - there is a storm that occurs during the course of the motion picture having a set-up (water and lights) which could have been legitimately viewed by the all-star male cast as a scene potentially of some risk to place themselves in and of which they could have reasonably asked for stuntmen to fill-in.

Who was it of the all-star cast that unhesitatingly stepped forward, took the lead and volunteered to the Director that he would personally do the scene and that a stunt man would not be required to double for him…after which thee other actors similarly followed suit (albeit, one still reluctantly). Who was that daredevil in The Guns of Navarone?...Gregory Peck, James Darren, Anthony Quinn, Anthony Quayle, Stanley Baker, David Niven?

Penton, Great stuff!

To answer your question I would guess Gregory Peck lead the charge and David Niven was the most reluctant!