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

[Blu-Ray Watcher]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

To be crystal clear to those who have not yet taken the time to become members of this forum, that pic be one of the sets (closed) in a stage on the Sony lot utilized for this motion picture…

http://www.theamazingspiderman.com/

When are you guys heading to NY? I know it finishes filming in April.

[JimSD]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

P.S.
Say Hey, in honor of JimSD’s brand new avatar , which I now just noticed at the bottom of the last page of this thread -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dK6zPbkFnE

Little League is under way so I had to go with a baseball theme. 8th and final year of helping coach and we have the best collection of attitudes in all those years. A fun group of kids to be around.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Penton,
Is there any work being done for creating a 3D test set for testing a Blu-ray/video display device set-up? And thanks to SPHE for updating the current test set.

Hi Wendell, long time no hear. I’m hesitant to comment on that because it gets into more confidential plans/areas. I will say if such a thing were to occur, that comparably, it would be a more complex project to bring to market.

b.t.w., seeing as you’ve renewed your Club membership by your presence here , as an aside, and on another entirely different technological quality note, I recall that you’re somewhat of a fan of Once Upon a Time in the West, and for those who are unaware, so am I….I love the flick. In fact, back when a show print from the new restoration was exhibited at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn theater in June of ’08 for its West coast premiere, I really wanted to attend with my old friend Rob T. (if only to drive through Bev Hills in his *babe magnet*, namely a 2007 Arctic Silver Lotus Exige S ) but alas, I had a conflict (

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

) and missed the premiere there. Should have gone to the movie as they had air conditioning and I remember it being over 100 degrees for those of us outside that day.

Anyway, I remember Rob telling me that prior to the showing, the speaker (Barry A. from Paramount) gave an introduction in which he detailed the restoration to the audience. If memory serves, the archivists/preservationists only did a photochemical restoration at the time. Honestly, I don’t know what shape the source element(s) were in but, things like flicker, image misregistration, and jitter are extremely difficult to remedy solely utilizing photochemical lab work. More importantly, for those videophiles who don’t consider those visual deficiencies to be particularly problematic, it should be noted that a digital restoration (complete 4k) tends to harvest all the detail (inherent sharpness) from the film source, which a photochemical lab restoration tends to lose or dilute along its process.

Given the above, I’ll certainly be interested in seeing how the upcoming Blu-ray edition pans out…perhaps something like a 7 or 8 out of 10 vs. a 10 out of 10 for PQ? I don’t know, regardless, I’ll bet the sound will be mesmerizing given the score.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

things like flicker, image misregistration, and jitter are extremely difficult to remedy solely utilizing photochemical lab work. More importantly, for those videophiles who don’t consider those visual deficiencies to be particularly problematic, it should be noted that a digital restoration (complete 4k) tends to harvest all the detail (inherent sharpness) from the film source, which a photochemical lab restoration tends to lose or dilute along its process.

Which reminds me, since I put my teaching cap on for that ^ post, I hope you guys consider me to be a *good* teacher rather than a Bad Teacher ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SinLWqqZK4A

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Blu-Ray Watcher

When are you guys heading to NY? I know it finishes filming in April.

So, you say you want yet another treat from the Spidey set….with regards to that - making the cast and crew happy with the little things in life counts too! Setting a theme with a custom designed eatable goodie -
Spider-man reboot Pic 141.jpg

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by JimSD

Little League is under way so I had to go with a baseball theme. 8th and final year of helping coach and we have the best collection of attitudes in all those years. A fun group of kids to be around.

Well, I knew the Little League season had begun as I pass through a local city park in the late evening to and from the mountain bike trails which I ride and sometimes I stop for a moment to watch the action (and catch my breath) but, I didn’t know that you were a coach like DenonCI.
Cool.

You should be commended for your community service.

[JimSD]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

I didn’t know that you were a coach like DenonCI.
Cool.

Not like DenonCI, he's probably a good one.

[sharkshark]

Grover on the 'Bits talking TAXI DRIVER:

http://thedigitalbits.com/articles/t...interview.html

[Penton-Man]

^
Nice write-up by Bill.

My only reservation being that I am somewhat confused by Bill’s statement...”We heard that the Lawrence restoration has already been completed.” I would love to know his source for that blatant misinformation.

For the record, LoA is longer and even more complicated than Bridge on the River Kwai and the work will not be rushed.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by JimSD

Not like DenonCI, he's probably a good one.

I think you’re being very modest as your previous post indicates to me that you easily recognize qualities in your kids that can be nurtured through coaching (not necessarily resulting in ‘winning’, per se) to aid them well for the future challenges of adult life.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

the work will not be rushed

[dobyblue]

I love that Grover notes that Sony's approach to DNR and grain is reflected in the reviews being higher, that was a great read and kudos to the team.

I'm looking forward to next Saturday...haven't been able to buy tickets to the AMC 24 in Oakville, ON yet, but I think they should be up today. People in the US seem to have been able to buy tickets already, but the Canadian sites only allow tickets up to 8 days in advance or something like that.

Really excited to see Taxi Driver in 4K.

EDIT - still can't buy freakin' tickets! I'll try calling the concierge today.

By the way, this cinema has a hidden gem, private IMAX screen that only does friends and family screenings, never opened to the public. My co-workers sister works for them, got to see Tron2 in 3D IMAX, calibrated before every screening. I wish I had that system in my house, lol, simply incredible. Best experience I've had since seeing The Fifth Element in SDDS 7.1 at the old Uptown Cinema 1 at Yonge/Bloor, the 70mm-capable jewel of the TIFF until those IDIOTS knocked it down killing someone next door in the process. All the great screens seem to be gone in Toronto in favour of the multiplexes, such a shame.

[Dennis M]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

For the record, LoA is longer and even more complicated than Bridge on the River Kwai and the work will not be rushed.

Music to the ears.

[Dennis M]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

Best experience I've had since seeing The Fifth Element in SDDS 7.1 at the old Uptown Cinema 1 at Yonge/Bloor, the 70mm-capable jewel of the TIFF until those IDIOTS knocked it down killing someone next door in the process. All the great screens seem to be gone in Toronto in favour of the multiplexes, such a shame.

That was a sad day for cinephiles in this town.

I'm plannning to catch Taxi Driver at the Yonge & Dundas 24.
In my opinion it's the best AMC operation in town. Think the newest as well.

Tickets still not available.

[sharkshark]

...And I was the last person to leave the final screening ever there (even have footage of me closing the doors), with the armrest of my favourite chair in hand (dead centre, front row, where you could put your legs up on the stage).

Ah, my beloved Uptown.

thoughts to those in Japan, Lybia, and wherever else the earth is going to hell.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

...Really excited to see Taxi Driver in 4K...

As an addendum, one person not mentioned but who should be recognized for bringing to fruition the planning and building of a full 4k in-house facility…and I’m not talking just for superb restoration work but also for current modern day feature films starting at the point of the dailies stage (the facility comprising three digital intermediate theatres outfitted with Baselight non-linear color grading systems each having a Sony 4K projector to display the work in progress, and a restoration suite among other things)….is Chris Cookson.

Of course, Chris has always been a visionary at the cutting edge of all technological motion picture matters. See the ‘mini-conference’ on the schedule at the very bottom of this link (4-5.25 P.M.)… http://www.smpte.org/events/DCS2011/

[worth]

The Uptown was good, but the Eglinton and University were even better. I miss them all.

It's a pity Cinesphere doesn't show features in the winter the way they used to - it was great seeing films like Lawrence of Arabia, Apocalypse Now and 2001 in 70mm on the IMAX screen.

[sharkshark]

Originally Posted by worth

The Uptown was good, but the Eglinton and University were even better. I miss them all.

It's a pity Cinesphere doesn't show features in the winter the way they used to - it was great seeing films like Lawrence of Arabia, Apocalypse Now and 2001 in 70mm on the IMAX screen.

Eglinton was fab, and sadly I never got to attend the University - saw Raiders in '81 at the Eglinton, last time I was there was for a wedding (!) as that's what they've converted it to, time before that was for premiere of Fellowship of the Ring.

I have a major soft spot for the York, as that's where I camped out for the SW:Special Editions and Phantom Menace. But the Uptown takes the cake, as it was not only home to some fabulous premieres (CROUCHING TIGER being one of the more obvious), but was home for many years for Midnight Madness. To see ICHI THE KILLER with 1300 people in that mad hall is true cinephilic delight.

[JimSD]

Penton,

The new Race Across The Sky 2010 Blu-ray is out. Here's the trailer:
http://vimeo.com/14871301

I have the BD for the 2009 race, so that's probably enough for me (especially at their price), but some great scenery in the trailer.

[captveg]

Hey Penton,

Just wanted to drop in and say that I hope everyone in Sony Japan will be OK.