Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.)

[wallendo]

Originally Posted by ThatArtGuy

I just loved how quick the Academy was about adding a "Best Animated Feature" catagory after "Beauty and the Beast" was nominated for "Best Picture of the Year" in 1991. It was BLASPHEMY to consider an animated film (read as "cartoon") to be in the same league as "Prince of Tides", "The Silence of the Lambs", "Bugsy", and "JFK".

The Academy made sure that scenario never happens again.

To me, the Academy is as relevant as Baroque is to pop music.

I suspect that there are a lot more fans waiting for "Beauty and the Beast" on Blu-ray than for "Bugsy" and "Prince of Tides"

[hollywoodguy]

Originally Posted by wallendo

I suspect that there are a lot more fans waiting for "Beauty and the Beast" on Blu-ray than for "Bugsy" and "Prince of Tides"

Hey! No dissing "Bugsy" on this board! We don't want Penton to get into trouble in his neighborhood.

[HeavyHitter]

Regarding Star Trek - Season 1 - Bill mentioned how both the original and remastered would probably be in the set. Is it known if the original are in fact 1080p, or are they DVD quality? I thought there was some technical reason with the effects which made it hard for the originals to be released in high definition.

[Michael.Schinke]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

Regarding Star Trek - Season 1 - Bill mentioned how both the original and remastered would probably be in the set. Is it known if the original are in fact 1080p, or are they DVD quality? I thought there was some technical reason with the effects which made it hard for the originals to be released in high definition.

I think it had something to do with the condition of the film elements for the optical effects used in the show. They didn't have the original negatives for the elements to re-composite them, and the output footage was just too beat up to do anything with. I don't know if this was a limited or pervasive issue.

[Jeff Kleist]

Toshiba paid the authoring and compression bill on TOS. While money they paid to secure the rights to the title may have been put toward the restoration, that's where it stopped

European divisions are total leaky faucets. There weren't official announcements usually, just people, particuarly in Spain with big mouths

It'd be a real shame if they didn't keep Trek2 the way it should be with the TV version

But they're probably saving those for JJ Trek 2: The Wrath of Jobs

[Eternal_Sunshine]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

FWIW the actors making up the largest voting block with their own inherent biases as to how they view the best storytelling.

Is this the reason why Wall-E (and earlier Pixar movies) isn't (weren't) nominated for best picture? Actors don't vote for films without actors in them?

To me, a system that doesn't recognize that Wall-E was in the Top 5 of 2008 (#1 IMO...) is simply broken.

For the person waiting for Die Hard 3, Disney does release that on March 5th in Germany. I'm sure it'll soon be released in the UK as well.

[Mr. Cinema]

Originally Posted by Eternal_Sunshine

Is this the reason why Wall-E (and earlier Pixar movies) isn't (weren't) nominated for best picture? Actors don't vote for films without actors in them?

To me, a system that doesn't recognize that Wall-E was in the Top 5 of 2008 (#1 IMO...) is simply broken.

For the person waiting for Die Hard 3, Disney does release that on March 5th in Germany. I'm sure it'll soon be released in the UK as well.

Everyone in the Academy votes for Best Picture.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

2 of my favorites of the year didn't get nominated at all I might add

Son of Rambow and Be Kind Rewind. They both do a wonderful job of celebrating cinema as a community experience, and have that wonderful glow of playing making your own movies as a kid

Both movies have flown horribly under the radar for a lot of people.....

A lot of flying “under the radar” in terms of Oscar nomination for Best Picture can be attributed to how active an Oscar publicity campaign is mounted by the studio and the contracted movie publicist.

Of course, even an intense campaign for The Dark Knight by a movie publicist (in this case Michele Robertson) will not guarantee a Best Picture nomination.
TDK is the first campaign in eleven years that a film which she has promoted (she *worked* previous films like The Departed) didn’t get a Best Picture nomination.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by AKORIS

re--post 3285

Jeff, have you or Bill heard anything at all about the Hammer films
or classic Universal horror flicks being released this year?

If you’re really interested, you may want to PM one of our reviewers (Dr. Svet Atanasov) and kindly ask him to make an inquiry with James White. You may get lucky.

See………….
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...postcount=6062

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Eternal_Sunshine

Is this the reason why Wall-E (and earlier Pixar movies) isn't (weren't) nominated for best picture? Actors don't vote for films without actors in them?

See Mr. Cinema’s comment above. I had thought I made that clear in my last post by linking Caleb’s spiel about the nomination process…..you may want to go back to the last page and listen to that YouTube link as Caleb is a member of the Academy Board of Governors.

I don’t pay too much attention to Best Picture nominations (other than winning the office pool) because they’re extremely subjective, and as I said, actors make up the largest voting bloc and have their own inherent biases. Also, keep in mind that the typical age of Academy membership is roughly a generation older than the average age of a moviegoer, which invariably skews the selection process.

I’m far more interested in the nomination selections which are voted upon by members of each branch (editors choose the editor nominations, cinematographers choose the cinematographer nominations) because that process has more built-in professional specialty assessment for the critique of each motion picture.

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

If you’re really interested, you may want to PM one of our reviewers (Dr. Svet Atanasov) and kindly ask him to make an inquiry with James White. You may get lucky.

See………….
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...postcount=6062

thanks for the tip! This was my first question on this thread and so far
it seems like I've been totally ignored

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by AKORIS

thanks for the tip! This was my first question on this thread and so far
it seems like I've been totally ignored

Don’t feel badly. I just don’t think that Jeff knows, esp. with some of these more obscure titles.
If he were to respond to each and every question on this thread, I imagine you guys would be reading a lot of -- “I don’t know” replies. I think it would tend to get quite boring to readers.

Same thing goes for my Insider’s thread, i.e. if I were to respond to each and every question all you guys ask, you certainly would be reading a bunch of “I don’t know”, or even more “I can’t say” replies from me.

In regards to the later, people have inquired what I think about the Bolt news covered by Josh here………….
https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=2321,
esp. given the fact what I posted last Dec. here….
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...postcount=6507

I have a tidbit to offer regarding that differential streeting subject and I’ll have to think carefully about how to word it over the weekend before I post anything.

[phansson]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

esp. given the fact what I posted last Dec. here….
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...postcount=6507

I have a tidbit to offer regarding that differential streeting subject and I’ll have to think carefully about how to word it over the weekend before I post anything.

Can't wait to hear the "wording". This could be very exciting for Blu Ray.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by phansson

Can't wait to hear the "wording". This could be very exciting for Blu Ray.

lol, hey there is no hidden message here like I’ve done sometimes in the past.
I just don’t want to steal the thunder from the marketing folks of another major studio.

It’s more like a reaffirmation thing of the move initiated by Disney to promote the Blu-ray format.

[horseflesh]

Jeff, sorry for asking Penton in your thread, but as we're on the subject.....
How effective is releasing Bolt 2 days really expected to be?? Is it not likely that people who regularly buy new releases will turn up at stores on the Tuesday only to find the Bolt DVD and BD on the shelves, as usual for a new release. Would it not be a better idea to release the DVD 2 days late rather than release the BD 2 days early? That way people will turn up and see the BD ONLY on the shelf, and will be told the DVD won't be out until the end of the week. That might plant a Blu-ray seed in more people's minds.

[Penton-Man]

Horse - I just posted something on my Insider's Thread regarding that ^ topic.
Now it's time for me to climb the mountain in the mud and rain to take care of my four legged children who are probably mighty hungry by now.

[aramis109]

Well, Bolt is exciting news. However, I noticed that City of Ember isn't getting a blu-ray release, apparently. That's really disappointing. I was looking forward to this one with my family. I guess I already know the answer, but:

1) Is it going to get a BD release, and
2) Was it because of the box office?

Seems these days we wait more and more for movies to come via DVD and BD than we go to see them at the theater, and I'm guessing there are lots of families that do the same. Went to see Ink Heart last night, and even with a coupon it still came out to be $20 for the three of us.

Anyway, I'm getting off track. I appreciate anything you guys can dig up, though I have a feeling that the answer is, "not much".

[phansson]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

lol, hey there is no hidden message here like I’ve done sometimes in the past.
I just don’t want to steal the thunder from the marketing folks of another major studio.

It’s more like a reaffirmation thing of the move initiated by Disney to promote the Blu-ray format.

A two week early release for Blu Ray would KILL. Hopefully they are thinking big.

[Clark Kent]

Anyone know what is going on with a U.S. release of Fight Club? I hate to ask about a specific title with the vagaries of the business but I thought I would give it a chance. You would think 20th Century Fox would have prepared a Blu-ray to coincide with the success of the theatrical release of another movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, by the same lead actor and director, but we have not gotten anything as much as a hint from anyone. I realize there is an inferior European import by a foreign studio. Someone needs to knock some sense into the decision makers at Fox regarding this title.

[NoQuestion]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

Anyone know what is going on with a U.S. release of Fight Club? I hate to ask about a specific title with the vagaries of the business but I thought I would give it a chance. You would think 20th Century Fox would have prepared a Blu-ray to coincide with the success of the theatrical release of another movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, by the same lead actor and director, but we have not gotten anything as much as a hint from anyone. I realize there is an inferior European import by a foreign studio. Someone needs to knock some sense into the decision makers at Fox regarding this title.

we might get fight club when Curious Case of Benjamin Button streets on Blu. Sounds reasonable Jeff?