Physical & Digital EST: The Future of Home Video Discussion Thread

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I decided to try my luck with Best Buy online for both Jaws 4K and War Of The Worlds 4K. Amazon has been a bit of a clusterf*** lately even with accounting for the pandemic.

Amazon has been great on my end. My copy of Parasite was supposed to arrive today but shipped out late, so it will get here tomorrow along with the new BD of Gengarry Glen Ross.

[alchav21]

JawsUHD.jpg

Hey you Disc guys can't have all the fun, I upgraded my Jaws HDX to UHD. I'll watch it tonight, and enjoy it to the Max!

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by gotmule

I still remember being 9 yrs old on vacation at the beach, and my parents taking me and my older brother to go see Jaws. I was pretty much hiding in between the rows of seats for the majority of the movie. Next day, I am standing on the beach looking for dorsal fins in the ocean, not wanting any part of the water to touch me. What the hell were my parents thinking?

You won’t be the first traumatised child!

I remember watching it with family and when the famous head roll scene played, everyone jumped in tandem.

This film had it all. Suspense, drama, horror, comedy (subtle), action, the lot.
Hard to pick one scene as there is so many.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Attachment 241397

Hey you Disc guys can't have all the fun, I upgraded my Jaws HDX to UHD. I'll watch it tonight, and enjoy it to the Max!

Well as max as you can go with streaming.

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by alchav21

It's a good Movie.......But it's just a Movie!

You really don’t have a clue, do you?

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Well as max as you can go with streaming.

And with wireless headphones.

[bhampton]

I saw Jaws in a theater when I was 7. At that time it was packed with people.
Fair to say I've been obsessed with it. That summer it was the movie everyone was talking about.
It was (and still is I guess) PG and I saw it with my mom.

After seeing the movie I found a battered paperback copy and read the book. Recommended.

My daughter is studying marine biology and I know she's going to call my bluff with shark dive tickets at some point. I'll post pix if I ever do.

[stonesfan129]

I'm going to wait until they come out at Walmart. I am 100% certain that if I order something that ships through USPS I won't see it for a month. I literally have 3 packages that were supposed to arrive last week that went lost/missing.

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by bhampton

I saw Jaws in a theater when I was 7. At that time it was packed with people.
Fair to say I've been obsessed with it. That summer it was the movie everyone was talking about.
It was (and still is I guess) PG and I saw it with my mom.

After seeing the movie I found a battered paperback copy and read the book. Recommended.

My daughter is studying marine biology and I know she's going to call my bluff with shark dive tickets at some point. I'll post pix if I ever do.

I read the book when I was a freshman in college. You are 100% correct. Great book. Good luck with the shark dive if and when it happens!

[JohnAV]

Are We Ready for Movie Theaters to Reopen? Part II - Sound & Vision 6/2/20

It’s only been two months since I last opined on this topic, but things are never static in these interesting times. The subject of the survival of movie theaters, important not only to the movie industry but to the home video market as well, continues to evolve. Both industries, for better or worse, are dependent on the on the health of the film industry.

Some pundits believe that the market for streamed movies will compensate for any permanent closing of theaters. For instance, the latest Trolls film earned a hefty bundle when it went direct to streaming. I’m no expert on the theatrical vs. streaming channels (I’m not sure anyone is), but I don’t see a streaming model that will pay the production and marketing costs of the next Marvel blockbuster. As the saying goes, No Bucks, No Buck Rogers—or no Marvel. If you want a steady diet of Oscar Bait, or the original, stand-alone, film-like dreck content that dominates the direct to streaming market, that’s what you might get if the theaters all close.

Home theater fans don’t spend thousands of dollars to load up their homes with enough gear to launch the next astronaut into space just to watch Downton Abbeyor Victoria & Abdul, though they might appreciate such beautifully scripted and acted productions. I know I do, but I’d still miss the latest throbbing actioner like the Mission Impossible series , fantasy fests like almost anything from Marvel, or sci-fi fests like The Edge of Tomorrow, Arrival, or Galaxy Quest (the best Star Trek film ever made!). Those are the films that rake in the big bucks on your local theater and pay for their AMC IMAX or Dolby Cinema screens.

This isn’t the first time movie theaters have been written off as obsolete. Pick any headline like, “Will Movie Theaters Survive Covid-19,” substitute “Television” for Covid-19, and you’ll likely find a similar headline in any newspaper from the early 1950s. In 1948, movie studios had to divest ownership from theater chains they had owned for decades. There was also World War II and before that the Great Depression of the 1930s. But even during the latter era 65% of Americans went to the movies at least once a week. It helped that ticket prices then were around 25 cents, but that’s relative to the average annual household income in 1935 of under $500.

Today the average price is just under $10—roughly double any inflation-adjusted increase from that mid 1930s price. But the 3 million Americans who still attended a movie theater each day before the current pandemic (a significant number, but a fraction of the patronage in the 1930s) weren’t enough to cover the studios’ production and marketing costs. If you want to know where all the money goes, just sit through the end credits for any recent blockbuster—or even a modest comedy. Movie production is notoriously inefficient (a subject for another time) which is why Hollywood now counts on overseas revenue for balancing the books—even engaging in self-censorship to get it.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Are We Ready for Movie Theaters to Reopen? Part II - Sound & Vision 6/2/20

If he is no expert on the subject, then why is he writing about it in an online publication? Movie revenue is tracked for every distribution method: theatrical box office receipts, physical media sales, VOD/physical rental, digital sales, etc. Publications like Media Play News, The Numbers, and Box Office Mojo track these revenue sources just to name three; the article's author is clueless.

Sound & Delirium needs to stick to writing about hardware.

[Vilya]

Blu-ray odometer turned 4000 today.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Vilya

If he is no expert on the subject, then why is he writing about it in an online publication? Movie revenue is tracked for every distribution method: theatrical, physical, VOD rental, digital sales, etc.

Sound & Delirium needs to stick to writing about hardware.

He's been writing for Sound & Vision since 1995. Also writes for Stereophile, InnerFidelity, been a video/audio reviewer for years along with Kalman Rubinson. Why can't someone with that background write about this industry?

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

He's been writing for Sound & Vision since 1995. Also writes for Stereophile, InnerFidelity, been a video/audio reviews for years along with Kalman Rubinson. Why can't someone with that background write about this industry?

He says himself that he is no expert on this subject; read your own quote, sunshine.

"I’m no expert on the theatrical vs. streaming channels (I’m not sure anyone is)"

He disqualified himself right there.

I am sure that he knows about some topics, but by his own admission this is not one of them. He needs to stick to what he does know.

To compound matters, he ASSumes that because he is no expert, that there likely are not any in existence. That's some real arrogance right there.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Vilya

He says himself that he is no expert on this subject; read your own quote, sunshine.

"I’m no expert on the theatrical vs. streaming channels (I’m not sure anyone is)"

I am sure that he knows about some topics, but by his own admission this is not one of them. He needs to stick to what he does know.

There are few online that have extensive background with streaming industry vs theatrical business. Even in this thread we have our opinions based on our limited exposures to this topic.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

There are few online that have extensive background with streaming industry vs theatrical business. Even in this thread we have our opinions based on our limited exposures to this topic.

And how do you know there are few that have such expertise? Do you have a source for that claim? There are numerous trade publications that track movie industry revenue by every metric imaginable. I, and others, have linked to many of these publications repeatedly over the years all of which is apparently more research than this author for a so-called professional publication could be bothered to do.

The author is not on a forum like this one; we are not held to any journalistic standards and apparently neither are the authors at Sound & Conjecture. "I'm no expert (there probably aren't any), but I am going to write about this anyway..."

If I were to publish an article about nuclear fission and after I introduce my topic I state that I am no expert on the subject, and that likely no one is, that is exactly where people should stop reading.

[Vilya]

I have to go and try to troubleshoot an octogenarian's TV. Like this author, I won't let my lack of expertise get in my way. Of course, I'm not being paid, either.

I just got back; she keeps accidentally turning off the power to her cable box and then calls me in a when she sees no TV channels displayed thinking that her TV is broken. She does, however, own a blu-ray player, buys blu-ray discs, and she has no interest in streaming, so she does have great taste.

[Vilya]

Yesterday, I placed an order with Best Buy online for three movies all on 4K disc: War Of The Worlds 2005, Jaws, and Parasite 2019.

They all shipped today, so that's all hunky dory, but they each shipped separately. I hate when they do that; multiple shipments increase the chances for in-transit mishaps and for damaged items. Why is everything I order each in a different warehouse?

[JohnAV]

Apple's Next Big Thing: Live Concert Streaming - SeekingAlpha - 6/3

Several years ago, I beat the drum for live concert streaming. At the time, I advocated hard for Yahoo to take the lead, as evidence emerged that former CEO Marissa Mayer was interested in the space.

Sources at the time confirmed she was. In fact, Yahoo kicked the tires of a now-defunct live streaming company called iRocke.

Everyone I talked to in and out of the music industry told me I was nuts. That there was no way it would happen. It didn't make financial sense. Other than one-off live concert streams, it wasn't a viable option.

Enter coronavirus and we live in a world where nothing makes financial sense and everything's on the table. "No idea is a bad idea" should always be the mantra (especially when it's a good idea!). I'd like to think most executives live by those words as we morph into whatever the new normal will be.

As Netflix has a huge presence with comedy, what service might take this one on. The author thinks Apple might be a good match, as they have a close mingling with the recording studios. Yeah at their company events they always have music artists performing.

Live concert streaming is ripe for the picking. It's a billion-dollar revenue opportunity just sitting there waiting for a company to snatch it up. And given the state of our physically distant world, there has never been a better time to introduce the concept on a massive, high-profile scale.

I myself love Blu-ray concerts, but I never seen the releases ever even come a scant bit close to all the music videos being released all the time. At best if you are into this, you hunt though YouTube to see if one go your favorites content in available.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Apple's Next Big Thing: Live Concert Streaming - SeekingAlpha - 6/3



As Netflix has a huge presence with comedy, what service might take this one on. The author thinks Apple might be a good match, as they have a close mingling with the recording studios. Yeah at their company events they always have music artists performing.



I myself love Blu-ray concerts, but I never seen the releases ever even come a scant bit close to all the music videos being released all the time. At best if you are into this, you hunt though YouTube to see if one go your favorites content in available.

Meh, give me a nudge when this is possible in VR with 4K resolution, with a ‘pick your seat’ option.