Archived: Insiders Thread

[mfinochio]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

Here's to all the BD supporting companies sharpening their swords over the weekend

Paid,
Are you going to drop that bomb and then leave?
Michael

[Jack Torrance]

Originally Posted by benes

Not an insider but I can provide a partial answer here. You are right most sitcoms and so forth were shot on video. Not much reason to put them in HD. However Seinfeld was shot on film. Sony recently redid the whole show in HD. From what I read this was a big task because the show was edited on video. So they had to go back to the original film elements, re-scan them in HD, and then re-edit every episode from scratch. It is supposed to be airing in HD in syndication right now.

holy mackeral! Wow...

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by benes

Not an insider but I can provide a partial answer here. You are right most sitcoms and so forth were shot on video. Not much reason to put them in HD. However Seinfeld was shot on film. Sony recently redid the whole show in HD. From what I read this was a big task because the show was edited on video. So they had to go back to the original film elements, re-scan them in HD, and then re-edit every episode from scratch. It is supposed to be airing in HD in syndication right now.

OK, that's cool.

[UltimateFighter]

Originally Posted by beatboy77

No, but Weinstein is.

~Josh

Can any insiders comment on this? Is Weinstein going neutral?

Thanks for all the hard work in the last 24 hours, it's been crazy!

[stockstar1138]

penton or paid do any of you know anything we do not? thats all i want to know and if its good or bad for blu. please tell as i am not going to be able to sleep tonight.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by mfinochio

I thought I heard they showed off "Grindhouse" with a blu ray cover. I will try to find the link.
Michael

In regards to the title Grindhouse……………

I posted somewhere on some blu-ray thread on AVMS several weeks? ago in my typically coded fashion for.................

HD VD protagonists to say ………..”Huh”

and for the lowly number of Blu-ray supporters that are still there and haven’t left out of frustration -

to say ………….”Gotcha”

essentially that Grindhouse is a done deal on blu-ray.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by stockstar1138

penton or paid do any of you know anything we do not? thats all i want to know and if its good or bad for blu. please tell as i am not going to be able to sleep tonight.

It’s been a tough week for the Blu faithful, no doubt about it. I think many here feel that something of paramount importance that partly belonged to them was more or less stolen from them and the psychological blow has been tough to recover from…… no matter how truly important or unimportant that entity was/is in the grand scheme of things for the future.

I can only say that it has shown me that Blu-ray early adopters/supporters are overly tired of this format war already and just want it to end so they can go about enjoying their hobby at home without fear that high definition packaged media will even survive to gain widespread mainstream acceptance. Whereas, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that the red side hobbyists just want to win for the sake of wining…..PERIOD. Any interest in optimized picture quality and audio quality of movies or recordibility on their part is just superficial fluff and talking points.

All I can tell you is that the decision makers and power brokers are working their butts off behind the scenes exploring as many avenues as possible …… so go out and rent or buy a Blu-ray movie this weekend that you’ve been hesitating to get for some reason or other, and let the people that get paid for this stuff worry about it. That way you can enjoy your home theater experience and at the same time, support the format the best and most effective way that you really can.

Later.

[stockstar1138]

sorry

[shug7272]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

It’s been a tough week for the Blu faithful, no doubt about it. I think many here feel that something of paramount importance that partly belonged to them was more or less stolen from them and the psychological blow has been tough to recover from…… no matter how truly important or unimportant that entity was/is in the grand scheme of things for the future.

I can only say that it has shown me that Blu-ray early adopters/supporters are overly tired of this format war already and just want it to end so they can go about enjoying their hobby at home without fear that high definition packaged media will even survive to gain widespread mainstream acceptance. Whereas, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that the red side hobbyists just want to win for the sake of wining…..PERIOD. Any interest in optimized picture quality and audio quality of movies or recordibility on their part is just superficial fluff and talking points.

All I can tell you is that the decision makers and power brokers are working their butts off behind the scenes exploring as many avenues as possible …… so go out and rent or buy a Blu-ray movie this weekend that you’ve been hesitating to get for some reason or other, and let the people that get paid for this stuff worry about it. That way you can enjoy your home theater experience and at the same time, support the format the best and most effective way that you really can.

Later.

Thanks, and I think I will do JUST what you suggested this weekend. There has to be a Blu Ray movie I want that I dont have.

[UltimateFighter]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

In regards to the title Grindhouse……………

I posted somewhere on some blu-ray thread on AVMS several weeks? ago in my typically coded fashion for.................

HD VD protagonists to say ………..”Huh”

and for the lowly number of Blu-ray supporters that are still there and haven’t left out of frustration -

to say ………….”Gotcha”

essentially that Grindhouse is a done deal on blu-ray.

That sir is great news! Is there any chance of an announcement from Weinstein about them actually being a neutral studio? Or in fact joining the BDA?

[BluDrew]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

It’s been a tough week for the Blu faithful, no doubt about it. I think many here feel that something of paramount importance that partly belonged to them was more or less stolen from them and the psychological blow has been tough to recover from…… no matter how truly important or unimportant that entity was/is in the grand scheme of things for the future.

I can only say that it has shown me that Blu-ray early adopters/supporters are overly tired of this format war already and just want it to end so they can go about enjoying their hobby at home without fear that high definition packaged media will even survive to gain widespread mainstream acceptance. Whereas, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that the red side hobbyists just want to win for the sake of wining…..PERIOD. Any interest in optimized picture quality and audio quality of movies or recordibility on their part is just superficial fluff and talking points.

All I can tell you is that the decision makers and power brokers are working their butts off behind the scenes exploring as many avenues as possible …… so go out and rent or buy a Blu-ray movie this weekend that you’ve been hesitating to get for some reason or other, and let the people that get paid for this stuff worry about it. That way you can enjoy your home theater experience and at the same time, support the format the best and most effective way that you really can.

Later.

The last 2/3 of your post seems a little.... reserved. I'd like to know before I head off to bed, does it look like good news or bad news for BD? Just an impression would be good enough.

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

so go out and rent or buy a Blu-ray movie this weekend that you’ve been hesitating to get for some reason or other, and let the people that get paid for this stuff worry about it. That way you can enjoy your home theater experience and at the same time, support the format the best and most effective way that you really can.

I'm going fishing for a while starting tomorrow evening...but I'll order some BDs off Amazon, and hopefully they'll be waiting for when when I return from the middle of nowhere.

[Papi4baby]

Wow my mind is racing at a million miles per hour here, lol.

What's this about Josh, i thought it was just about the guy at WB leaving is there more, what did i miss?

[Jamh]

Penton-Man, in response to your Grindhouse post a forum member on highdefdigest.com claims to have an insider contact who says that Grindhouse is actually going to be a BD exclusive and that Buena Vista has reached an agreement with Weinstein to delay the release of one of their titles until next year. Is this true?

[Proteus]

Now, see...

I read Beatboy's coded message differently.

National Lampoon's Vacation is a Warner movie. He watched it at home instead of the theatre so we know it was on packaged media. It was 'exclusively' his to watch meaning he could only watch it on the player he has. He saved $199 so that means he didn't have to buy an HDDVD player at the supposed Xmas price of $199 (or... this could be an ubscure reference to wally world and his player costing $199 but doesn't totally fit). As per the 20 friends... how many companies are on the board of the BDA?

Could it be a hint at Warner being Blu-ray exclusive? Could this by why the VP left (although, he wasn't as pro HDDVD as many and did strongly lobby for a neutral stance during his tenure... even if he favored HDDVD with releases). Would be an odd thing for someone to leave over, but I guess I could see it happening. His message upon leaving sounded pretty stock as in 'I'm not going to say anything bad because I still want to work in Hollywood.' But, it didn't sound like he was happy, that's for sure.

North America loves drama!

[phloyd]

I heard that the Grindhouse thing is due to it being handled by Dimension rather than by the Weinstein Company. So Disney effectively.

Either way I don't care As long as I get my BDs.

Also hope that Sin City 2 will go the same way...!

[WriteSimply]

Originally Posted by gand41f

Maybe all the Japanese BD player manufacturers are going to announce price cuts in unison.

Good theory that is probable. Profile 1.1 and BD-Live mandate is just two months away and there is no reason to hang on to the unsold players anymore.

To paidgeek, considering that the sales numbers are still low but that 300 surprised everyone, how long are the lead times needed for replication for a title that's already out there? I know you're not in THAT part of the business but thought I just ask. I've always thought they're back-to-back replication at Terre Haut.

Penton, we've heard from Spielberg and Bay, and heard rumors about other talents. Is either format making any dent at all there in terms of support or does Hollywood talents have a wait-and-see attitude?


fuad

[The Guardian]

I think people are reading the "saving $199" wrong... the theory about saving $199 by not needing an HD DVD player might be closest.

But if it does refer to BD players at Wal-mart, I'd think they wouldn't be $199 but $299 ($199 off current prices) - maybe a mail-in rebate off any BD player?

[Garconis]

Originally Posted by Chris Beveridge

I'm sure others will say this, but it'd be an instant sale among some folks. I doubt it'd be a power seller, but it'd be an example of what you can do with SD material that has a number of episodes to deal with.

I love Seinfeld but I only remembered to get the first three or four seasons. I never went back since DVD fell off my radar awhile ago. Hence something like this would be at the top of my list.

I agree. It would be a no-brainer buy for me. I wouldnt buy it unless it was the whole series though. ALL the seasons. Sure it might not look like a hollywood blockbuster for PQ. And it would probably be in 4:3. But I wouldnt mind! Being able to own all episodes in great quality on Bluray would be great! (I'd be able to delete over 10GB of space on my PC hard drive. )

[Garconis]

Originally Posted by paidgeek

It's being considered...

I know Sony used to have the rights for it at once time. But I also know that NBC/Universal also did at one time. Who currently has them? I think the DVDs are from Sony. So I assume this would be possible to release all seasons from Sony?