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

[Jeff Kleist]

I wasn't aware that it had, who's telling you this?

[MerrickG]

Hey Jeff,

It seems like Fox is trying to release the Alien Anthology in France around the same time as other Ridley Scott films, which makes sense AND I do wonder if that is also the time that Fox will release the Avatar special edition.

[MerrickG]

Also a big shout to Warner for the bluray release of the Exorcist (as long as its DNR free and Friedkin tampering free) for including both versions of the film AND including all extras from both dvd sets.

Thats what we need to see more of. Nothing pisses me off more than when a studio releases a barebones bluray and it not contain special features that a previous dvd edition had.

[abintra]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I wasn't aware that it had, who's telling you this?

Michael's Movie Mayhem / hometheaterinfo.com

I believe they get their info from studios that are sent to distributors/retailers.

[Jeff Kleist]

There aren't any notices of being discontinued in their databases, probably some kind of glitch or something,

[abintra]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

There aren't any notices of being discontinued in their databases, probably some kind of glitch or something,

Thanks Jeff.

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

If anything should be done to that ending, they should insert some stuff about how Anakin caused internal bleeding they can't stop, and none of this "will to live" crap.

Ha, I agree. I remember when I first saw the movie - I was like WTF!?

[Bobby Henderson]

Jeff, has The Digital Bits' been getting any visitor complaints about malware alerts? The last couple times I've tried visiting the site Google Chrome has stopped the page load with a big red warning screen and message:

Originally Posted by Google Chrome Message

The website at http://www.thedigitalbits.com contains elements from the site http://www.ejdueyhs123.com, which appears to host malware – software that can hurt your computer or otherwise operate without your consent.

I've seen this on my notebook PC at home and desktop at the office. It's pretty strange.

[JimSD]

^^ I PM'd Jeff about that earlier today.

[SpaceDog]

Originally Posted by merrick97

Yeah, I like that better. But then again his whole turn to the darkside needs to be redone. I still never get over how one minute he is a good guy and five minutes later he abandons everything he has learned and becomes a jedi killer.

A baby jedi killer at that.

[SpaceDog]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

It didn't fail. The only place it failed to do big business was in the country with an organized campaign against it. The movie did close to $400 million total, and given the usual advertising formulas that puts it well into profit. A more reasaonable analysis is that the bad press definately hurt the film, but a general overload of epic fantasy flicks combined with the unfamiliarity of the American audience that wasn't in the protest's target demo with the franchise in general might have contributed to audience apathy.

His target demo is far more conservative christian protestants than it is Catholics. There is no doubt in my mind he put enough stink on the movie to reduce it's box office.

Right-wing US broadcaster Bill O'Reilly, of Fox News, attacked its release in 2007, calling it a "war on Christmas".

I forgot this movie was wrapped into that wingnut campaign.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by SpaceDog

His target demo is far more conservative christian protestants than it is Catholics. There is no doubt in my mind he put enough stink on the movie to reduce it's box office.

Like a skunk in a manure factory?

I think the film stunk enough on it's own.

[SpaceDog]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Like a skunk in a manure factory?

I think the film stunk enough on it's own.

This is your opinion, and it is shared by plenty of people. That said, part of the reason that blockbusters do well is that beyond the traditional advertisements they have stories from fluff publications and tv programs touting it well in advance of the film arriving. The Catholic League / Bill O'reilly changed that dialogue and branded the movie before the movie was able to brand itself.

This happens in politics all the time, which is the arena both are comfortable in. Define your opponent before they have a chance to define themselves.

Apart from the missing ending, I thought the film was actually quite good - as did plenty of people in the international community. It's too bad a British or European company wasn't the primary on the production, or the first sequel would already be in the can.

EDIT: I could more see your point if the movie opened big and crashed hard. The fact that it didn't open suggests pre-campaign interference rather than opening night word of mouth. If it was "because it sucked" it would have been more of a Batman & Robin box office trajectory.

Not to mention that "because it sucked" hasn't stopped 2 of this decade's biggest blockbusters from selling a $#!+-ton of popcorn.

[Jeff Kleist]

Google has crawled our site in the last hour and found nothing. No idea why it happened, but it'll purge from the system in the next day or two

[Uxi]

Originally Posted by SpaceDog

This is your opinion, and it is shared by plenty of people. That said, part of the reason that blockbusters do well is that beyond the traditional advertisements they have stories from fluff publications and tv programs touting it well in advance of the film arriving. The Catholic League / Bill O'reilly changed that dialogue and branded the movie before the movie was able to brand itself.

Now explain The Da Vinci Code. Similar anti-Catholic Church sentiment, similar protest (after a similarly disputed/protested book), yet successful movie. Maybe choosing Daniel Craig (action/adventure star) instead of Tom Hanks was part of their failure at the domestic Box Office... to say nothing of the tepid script and horrid ending.

Not to mention that "because it sucked" hasn't stopped 2 of this decade's biggest blockbusters from selling a $#!+-ton of popcorn.

Sure, but it doesn't help, either. In this case, neither casting, subject matter, nor the actual content were conducive to box office success.

I said it before, but I'll say it again, it was misrepresented by their marketing/trailer as action/adventure fantasy in the same vein as LOTR and Narnia, when instead it was a drama/political thriller ending on a cliffhanger (unconventional for the 1st act, to be sure... and the gamble didn't work).

[Uxi]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Google has crawled our site in the last hour and found nothing. No idea why it happened, but it'll purge from the system in the next day or two

I work as a sys admin and have seen this happen when code gets injected in. I'll bet they injected a malicious javascript into one of the pages (usually, but not always the index).

Certain browsers (Firefox and Safari) have the detection mechanism linked but in but others (IE and Opera) don't.

[Jeff Kleist]

I work as a sys admin and have seen this happen when code gets injected in. I'll bet they injected a malicious javascript into one of the pages (usually, but not always the index).

We had Google scan the entire site and they cleared us, nothing. Perhaps it was carried in a banner ad that's now gone, I don't know. Regardless it's been properly investigated, thanks to everyone that alerted us

Now explain The Da Vinci Code. Similar anti-Catholic Church sentiment, similar protest (after a similarly disputed/protested book), yet successful movie. Maybe choosing Daniel Craig (action/adventure star) instead of Tom Hanks was part of their failure at the domestic Box Office... to say nothing of the tepid script and horrid ending.

They are in no way similar except that the Catholic League made money *****ing about them. The DaVinci code is about hiding an inconvienient truth, a point of dogma. TGC is far more of a "threat" to them. I suggest you read both books (you only have to read every other line of the DaVinci code, since it's one of the most redundant books ever written) But seriously, the Catholic League will chase after you if you make a movie that featuresa Catholic candy shop that overcharges, so any stink they make should be taken with less than a grain of salt.

[MerrickG]

hey Jeff,

I completely agree with Bill (and I know you do, too) that studios shouldn't be using old studio masters, but aren't there PLENTY of cases where no amount of re-mastering is really going to make certain films look any better than they already do and the effort to restore them just wouldn't be worth it since the gains would be minimal at best?

I just watched Major League and both Waynes World on bluray and they look pretty damn good. I highly doubt they underwent massive restoration and probably used an old master.

I watched the films and Im having a hard time believing the films could have looked any better.

What Im saying is that I think there are instances when it is better to release the film on bluray with an old master when its more than likely the film wouldn't look much better with a remaster.

Do you agree?

[MerrickG]

Btw, is the new Predator bluray REALLY as bad as the usual suspects are making it out to be?

[Jeff Kleist]

I completely agree with Bill (and I know you do, too) that studios shouldn't be using old studio masters, but aren't there PLENTY of cases where no amount of re-mastering is really going to make certain films look any better than they already do and the effort to restore them just wouldn't be worth it since the gains would be minimal at best?

I believe that there always exceptions to the rule, but that the DEFAULT should be expecting to do a new master and be pleasantly suprised by what lies in the archive upon inspection. Like K-19 from Paramount, the disc looked pretty good, and the movie is new enough that it's iffy how much of a gain running it again would achieve.

The root of the problem like I've been saying is poor education. Too many people with the Xbox Live mentality, where as long as it's technically 1080p they feel it's good to go. It's ignorance, not stupidity or malice, and not putting the right people in the right job. Sony runs a solid show straight through. Fox after the Patton debacle made sure that all their masters are inspected by good people before they go out the door. Just like with running anamorphic stuff on DVD, it's a matter of changing ingrained mindsets and I'm positve we'll get there.

A real help is that if half the studio marketing departments weren't bunkered behind their desks expecting a pink slip at any moment if their division loses a dime.

Btw, is the new Predator bluray REALLY as bad as the usual suspects are making it out to be?

Haven't seen it yet, But I'm expecting yes. I and others told people that these movies looked like garbage day 1 in a good theater. If the rumors hold true, hopefully people will finally believe that (probably not, they'll just say they screwed it up)