Ask questions to Blu-ray Producer and Filmmaker Charles de Lauzirika

[iceman]

This thread is dedicated to asking questions of industry insider Charles de Lauzirika (Blu-ray Producer and Filmmaker) who has graciously taken the time to participate here. Charles de Lauzirika and all our insiders do this out of their free time and to try to keep us informed to their best abilities, and therefore are to be treated with respect and courtesy.

Before asking a question, please skim at least the last weeks worth of posts in order to make sure that the question hasn't already been asked or answered. Using the search function is also always a good idea. Please conduct your inquiries in a professional manner and avoid asking "chicken little" questions or asking when unannounced titles will come out.

Charles de Lauzirika - Blu-ray Producer and Filmmaker - Track posts

Wikipedia profile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Lauzirika
IMDB profile: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1361273/

[Batman1980]

Wow somebody who's worked with Ridley Scott a lot over the years, a pleasure and an honor to welcome you to the forums.

[abintra]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Stormcrow

a pleasure and an honor to welcome you to the forums.

Indeed. Thanks for sharing your time and thoughts.

Speaking of which. Congratulations on, what I think, is your first upcoming feature. Anything you care to share about that process, and working with Ron Perlman, would probably make for an interesting read.

[Nick Graham]

Thanks for joining us! If you can say one way or the other, what are the odds the Blu version of the Alien Quadrilogy will have the original, uncut docs on Alien 3 that had to be edited for the DVD release?

[sharkshark]

ah, excellent... have enjoyed many of your discs for years.

A few general questions (fearing that talking about specifics or future releases will get us little):

- what are some of your previous releases that you feel may have been overlooked during the DVD period, that you would like to see either re-purposed or revamped for Blu?

- can you point to any titles from your colleagues that you particularly respect, in a "man, I wish I'd have done that" sort of way?

finally,

- what would you say is the state of BD "extras" production, compared to the same state for Standard Definition releases.

I fear that we've already seen the nadir in truly compelling additional materials (and the corresponding funding to create them), and we may see less effort from the prime title releases in the future. Curious what your thoughts are on this, if you are able to comment.

cheers, and if I may do so, welcome to BD.com!

[Monkey]

Wow, this is an awesome surprise!!! Welcome Absolutely adore your work.

I hope many of your offerings make it to blu. I really want The Cell, one of my favorite movies. Legend would be awesome as well!

[mark antony]

May i add my welcome too, your special editions have been exceptional. Really looking forward to Alien Quad...

M

[Doctorossi]

Welcome, Charles! I'm so glad you've decided to become a "regular". I'm a huge fan of yours from the LD days and a mad, mad Blade Runner nerd.

I hope your time here will be as educational for you (in a good way! ) as it surely will be for us.

[MerrickG]

You probably can't comment, but was David Fincher willing to participate in Alien 3 for the Alien Anthology?

How does Aliens look now? We all expect it to look grainy and that is OK.

[PaulGo]

Welcome, are you currently doing or planning to do any movies in 3D? Also how do you think 3D will evolve in movies and Blu-ray? Do you think eventually a majority of movies will be made in 3D and will the public adopt 3D for home Blu-ray viewing?

[SquidPuppet]

Good news indeed. Welcome!

[MerrickG]

Hey Charles, I don't want to fill up this thread before you get a chance to answer questions, but I do want to say that I am very pleased with how the Alien Anthology looks. It means a lot to us who LOVE these films to have someone like you convince Fox to make such an amazing set that is a grand slam for fans of the franchise.

I do have questions, but I am going to let you answer the other questions first before I start filling your thread.

[Doctorossi]

Hey, Charles- I feel compelled to add: while I have no further interest in owning any of the Alien sequels and am awaiting a solo release of the first film, I am feeling sorely tempted to take the (additional $60+) hit and buy the boxset, anyway... solely because of your Alien 3 doco. Regardless of which way my scales tip on that purchase decision, please know that your stuff is awesome!

[sharkshark]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Hey, Charles- I feel compelled to add: while I have no further interest in owning any of the Alien sequels and am awaiting a solo release of the first film, I am feeling sorely tempted to take the (additional $60+) hit and buy the boxset, anyway... solely because of your Alien 3 doco. Regardless of which way my scales tip on that purchase decision, please know that your stuff is awesome!

Agreed - we've talked about it before, but when I saw it theatrically, Alien3 was absolutely one of the most disappointing film experiences of my life. I had all these expectations from Aliens, and it just met none of them.

As I've become older (and, hopefully, wiser) I've grown very much to appreciate what Fincher was doing, what he was up against with the weight of the franchise behind him, and how the tale was a very different one from what Cameron provided (and, interestingly, closer to the Scott original).

As Ridley has made more and more films that personally disappoint, and that the farther away from adolescence I get the less fun I have with Aliens or any other Cameron project, Alien3 has in fact improved over repeated viewings. The doc certainly went a long way to showing me some of the challenges and drama behind the production, an excellent example of when these so-called "extras" can really benefit the enjoyment of a film.

In short, Aliens now comes across as a silly shoot-em-up, but Alien3 maintains the same sense of doom, menace and nihilism that infected the first flick. Looking forward to the BD set (it's been some years since I delved into the entirety of both of the Alien sets).

ps. Hell, I even like Alien Resurrection quite a bit, another film that I think wasn't appreciated at the time as much as it should have been.

[The Big Blue]

Can you offer any insight as to how long it will be before the Alien films are sold separately?

Really appreciate your commitment to home video over the years. Thanks and welcome.

[sharkshark]

Hadn't seen this 'till now:

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=4881

Very impressive indeed - ok, another question: what, if anything (!) is left off from the DVD sets?

[abintra]

Originally Posted by sharkshark

Hadn't seen this 'till now:

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=4881

Very impressive indeed - ok, another question: what, if anything (!) is left off from the DVD sets?

Probably can get a fairly complete idea of that by comparing the above link with http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparison...php?fid=4361#1

[sharkshark]

Originally Posted by abintra

Probably can get a fairly complete idea of that by comparing the above link with http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparison...php?fid=4361#1

heh, cool site, I've never seen that before... As per JW's request, here's one less question to answer! (Unless, of course, there's a simple list )

[Charles de Lauzirika]

Hi all. Thank you so much for the very warm welcome and kind words. Much appreciated. I have to say, I'm a little caught off guard by the sudden appearance of this thread. When the offer was made to me, I said I'd be interested but also expressed major reservations about joining a forum where some insiders are allowed to post under an alias. I understand that it affords some insiders the ability to freely express an opinion that would be unpopular with their employers and perhaps legally actionable...and to some degree, I sympathize. I guess we'll see how things sort themselves out.

I'm currently in Chicago working on "Transformers 3" and then heading back to the West Coast for Comic-Con, so I'm little pressed for time at the moment. I'll check back in at some point in the near future to start tackling your very interesting questions. In the meantime, thanks again for the friendly welcome! If any of you are going to Comic-Con, please come to the DVD Producer's panel on Thursday at 1pm in Room 32AB. Hope to see you there.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by Charles de Lauzirika

Hi all. Thank you so much for the very warm welcome and kind words. Much appreciated. I have to say, I'm a little caught off guard by the sudden appearance of this thread. When the offer was made to me, I said I'd be interested but also expressed major reservations about joining a forum where some insiders are allowed to post under an alias. I understand that it affords some insiders the ability to freely express an opinion that would be unpopular with their employers and perhaps legally actionable...and to some degree, I sympathize. I guess we'll see how things sort themselves out.

I'm currently in Chicago working on "Transformers 3" and then heading back to the West Coast for Comic-Con, so I'm little pressed for time at the moment. I'll check back in at some point in the near future to start tackling your very interesting questions. In the meantime, thanks again for the friendly welcome! If any of you are going to Comic-Con, please come to the DVD Producer's panel on Thursday at 1pm in Room 32AB. Hope to see you there.

Enjoy Comic-Con and I hope you have a good time working with Spielberg and Bay!