A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

Warner Bros. Live Chat Transcript

There have been so many times that I or this forum have been
called "studio shills" that it has sort become a badge that we all
proudly wear. I bring this up because I am certain by the end of
what I am about to say, someone somewhere, is going to be calling
us a "shill" for defending a studio like Warner Brothers.

My defense to these accusations is that we have a closer relationship
with all the studios than most people ever will. We know and speak
to most everyone in the Home Entertainment divisions on a semi-regular
basis. Through the years we have learned first-hand the reasons why
things are done the way they are.

Studios have embraced HTF members during our yearly meets because
it is important for them to educate consumers about some of the inner
decision making that goes into releasing product to the market. Those
who have been fortunate enough to be part of our HTF meets will attest
to the fact that politics and other unavoidable factors often result in
release delays and lost opportunities to put out that perfect Special Edition
everyone feels they deserve.


Last night we had one of the best online chats with Warner Brothers
that we ever had. There was a record 160+ attendees in the room
and we raced through approx. 42 questions in a little over two hours.
Unfortunately, we had the cut the chat short. There was a communication
error on the alloted amount of time that we had, and I got a call at
the 2-hour mark asking that we wrap things up.

I spoke with Warner Bros. this morning and they feel bad for having
to wrap up the chat when it was HOT. There is talk about there being
another chat in the near future to make up for the lost time. The
problem is, the studio has been reading some of the feedback posted
in our forum overnight.

This goes out to the vocal minority. Most all of you were polite in
your comments this morning.

Before the chat even began last night someone openly texted to me
that the studio "lied" to them in a former chat about a certain release
that never came to fruition.

This morning, I'm on the phone with Warner Bros. reading posted
comments like these:





I don't think the people that make these kind of comments really understand
the Home Entertainment business.

First, do you realize how impossible it is to get any studio to agree to a live
chat with our membership? Outside of Warner Bros., Fox has been the only
studio that has agreed to do studio chats and that was because of Peter
Staddon. Once he left, the general studio chats with Fox ceased altogether.
I was amazed they approached us for THE ROBE, and am highly appreciative
to Schawn and Kavita for making it worthwhile. I hope we made them proud.

Warner, on the other hand, has done somewhere in the area of 11 chats
with us over the years. They don't do it with any other site. That says
something incredible about their dedication to this forum and its membership.
I know for FACT that they read all your comments on a daily basis and
the reason why many of these rare titles are starting to come out is
largely based on your posted suggestions.

We can't get Fox, Paramount, Universal or Disney to do these general
studio chats. The reason is very clear why. For a studio to put themselves
on a live venue and open themselves up to any question our members
would like to ask is nothing short of suicide for them.

....and you know what, some of your negative remarks overnight prove
exactly that!

OF COURSE there are things the studio is going to be vague about.
Do you know how competitive the studio business is? None of these
studios want to readily announce secretive release plans to the public
or each other for that matter until the time is right.

And some of those titles that you feel Warner promised you and could
not deliver upon? They didn't lie to you. Many times, the studio has
product set for release and corporate steps in and pulls it. Sometimes
they run into legal snags. As it was put to me on the phone earlier
today, "things change around here on a daily basis."

Yet, it amazes me that some of you feel the studio owes you something.

Read the transcript of last night's chat and I think you will be amazed
at the amount of revelations that were announced months early. For
every vague answer, there was a wealth of information announced last
night. And for that the studio has to wake up to a thread filled with
negative comments?

Yeah, it's true that THE BOWERY BOYS, THE DEVILS, and TWILIGHTS
LAST GLEAMING have been promised for years by the studio. Each
year they feel they are are nearing the point they can get these titles
out. I personally was told the reasons why each of these films still
have not seen the light of day, and I am confident enough to tell you
that there are very valid reasons that have nothing to do with playing
games with consumers. As these titles get released we hope to explain
to all of you what the holdup was. However, to blatantly announce
that information would greatly jeopardize the chance of those titles
every seeing the light of day.

The cold hard truth is that the studio cannot just come into a chat
and give you any piece of information you ask of them.



At this point we are trying to negotiate another chat with Warner.
However, I will tell you truthfully that the negative comments that
were posted on this forum is deterring them from doing a follow-up
this year. Can you imagine their perspective on all this? They did
what most other studios would not. They put themselves on the line
and gave all of you some really great announcements and answers to
your questions. Yet, when they had to sidestep some questions in order
to keep their cards close, they were subjected to negativity.

We are working to bring more of these chats from other studios to
this forum. However, it's going to be an impossible sell if the vocal
minority continues to post these hurtful comments.

You guys should be very proud that HTF receives more studio
interaction than any other forum of its kind. We aim to provide
both negative and positive feedback to the Home Entertainment industry.
When negative feedback is called for, we hope that our members will
continue to express it in a polite and constructive manner.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

Well said, Ron.

The last time I had this conversation around here, the general response was that Warner needed to toughen up a little if they couldn't take the heat. I'm of the mind that you should at all times be no less than courteous to an invited guest who you hope will want to return one day. Others don't agree.

So, while you said what needed to be said, I think it falls on deaf ears. Some would rather be adversarial than genial and there are always going to be those who feel it is well within their right to speak, shall we say, indelicately. Which it is. Just as it is Warner Bros. right to never come back here. It's just not especially helpful from 'our' standpoint if you're trying to build a relationship.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

Nice post, Ron.

I'd just like to say that I appreciate Warner taking the time to discuss things with everyone. And I hope that they don't think that the vocal minority (whose only apparent joy in life is complaining) do not represent everyone at HTF and that the majority of us are happy for the opportunity to communicate with them.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

Thanks, Ron.

That needed to be said.

We are very fortunate to be able to have a two way dialogue with Warner Bros and to be able to influence even in a small way their release choices.

I think we just have to let them know how grateful most of us are that they take the time to "chat" with us, and to reinforce that the discordant notes are from a vocal minority among us.

Mike

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

Very nice post Ron.

While I missed the actual chat due to work obligations (darn economy) I did follow up with the transcript and the feeling I took away from that was nothing short of admiration for Warner and their participants. Like you said, no other studio goes to these same lengths.

It is my hope that Warner does see that these overly negative comments are from a small minority and do not represent the vast majority of the HTF that greatly appreciates their participation on our forum.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

My thanks to Warner also. I couldn't be more enthusiastic about all of the new product announcements, and when reading through the posts this afternoon thought the same thing about the negative comments and complaints.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!

As annoyed as I am by their silents being delayed year after year, at least they're going to do it right by working with Kevin Brownlow. Compare to Kino, which continues to release PAL-to-NTSC releases or omitting scores even when fans constantly criticize these decisions. I'd hope WB learned a bit from the irritating work on the Chaplin DVDs.

But I'd like to hope that the delays work out to be good for timing BluRay releases with some of the more prominent silents like Greed, The Big Parade, and The Crowd. Even if the MSRP needs to be around $40 like the TCM Archives sets. I have no problems with paying that much for a comprehensive Greed BluRay.

At least WB puts an effort to answer questions. Some other studios seem to turn a blind eye. The economy is terrible right now and I can't blame any studio for having to scale back projects for classics. Except for the studio that insists only classics with John Wayne sell on DVD.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

I also agree with Ron regarding the negative comments.

As I am also guilty of posting negative thoughts before the chat begun, I was disappointed by the lack of knowledge about international releases. This was somewhat understandable, if not a bit premature considering that no one really knew what the plans were. I don't remember Warner's issuing a press release on their new archive collection so before the chat, many had to wait and figure out how they could get these movies. At least Warner's opened the chat stating that international orders would be accepted in the future.

As I posted in another thread, I think that forum members should put together a list of questions, so Warner's could answer them. Members would ask questions as before, but a least there would be some control on what questions are asked. Remember, Warner's is sitting on a lot of knowledge here , and the only way we are going to learn about upcoming projects is to ask the right questions. I doubt Warner's will just tell us everything at once.

After the forum, several members seemed disappointed that someone else did not ask about certain movies or actors. I wanted someone to ask about Lon Chaney since a collection has been promised in previous chats, but no one did. Yet, there were questioned asked about movies already on disc like Superman and Batman. Maybe the next chat could focus on pre 1970 films. This might seem unfair, but with each chat, we hear questions about the same films over and over, and these members are the ones that seem disappointed when they learn Warner's have no plans for them.

Anyway, if Warner's is reading these commands, please keep up the good work, give us plenty of Silents and please, please, ignore the negative comments here. You deserve better.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

Very well said, Ron.

I think by this point everyone knows how overjoyed I am about the latest Archives announcement and about the chat last night. I actually postponed a trip - flight and all - to be able to participate! I was happy with most of the questions asked (considering every question appeals to different persons) and greatly enthusiastic about the answers and I honestly could not ask for more after hearing all about the Archives Collection. I mean, can anything EVER beat this? An endless array of films, every month. Wow!

As I said in an earlier post this morning, I am so sincerely grateful to the HTF who hosted the chat and to Warner for being willing to share so much with us. It IS a privilege and I am not taking it for granted. There will always be complainers, but they are not the vast majority. It's just that they are usually more vocal than the happy, but calmer majority. Thank you for a very rewarding experience and for all the amazing, triumphant news we've had in the past few days.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

Excellent post Ron. We are damn lucky that any company decides to talk directly to us, and I thank them for spending that time here. I missed the opportunity to ask about more Cinerama releases, but if WB decide to come back soon hopefully I'll get a chance. I have yet to look through the Archive site but it's my next stop. Thanks WB!

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

I totally agree with Mr. Epstein and Karine.
The only won that angry nowis my wallet, considering the amount of titles I'll have to buy from this Archives Collection.
Tks again, WB!

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

I wrote the grumpy DEVILS post and want to apologise to Warners and HTF for the narky tone of it. They preluded their response to the original query with a hint that they were fully aware of its hot potato status and the various threads here and elsewhere requesting it. Logically, if it aint out, something's holding it up, and it was foolish of me to vent my frustration at the good WHV folks for things that are likely out of their hands. Apologies to Ron, HTF and Warner.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

To add to this people could also start up their own website, get a few sources and see how some of this stuff really works. God knows you don't have to have a massive site like this one but even a small one with a few members would work because one "source" or studio could teach people a lot.

I hit upon your quotes in the original thread last night but before the chat was over, sure enough, a wildfire had broken out about "lies" the studio were spreading. A bunch of B.S. that goes around as the truth, which is sad.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

I agree with everything you wrote, Ron!

There was a lot of useful information in that chat transcript.

And the sense of entitlement and lack of manners that lay behind some of those comments is unfortunate.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

A lot of it also has to do with people just liking to feel cheated.

I'm sure if titles XYZ were announced the same people would just get upset that the next three on their list weren't talked about.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

I read this thread earlier today, but I was not able to post at the time. Now that I have the time to post, most of what I would've said has been more eloquently stated by other members of the forum. I especially appreciated the Pete's comments about invited guests. Seeing as we're all really guests here, courtesy should rule the day.

I don't think that means we can't discuss valid criticisms and questions, but it does inform how we discuss those issues. One of the strong points of this forum is that for a group of passionate, opinionated people our discussions remain civil. I think it is one of the reasons that a company like Warners is willing to have a chat here.

As we all tend to be passionate about the films we love, I also think we should be willing to cut the the "vocal minority" some slack. Like those that have posted already, I too appreciated Ron's post as it is indicative of how this forum is led and we have already had some of that "minority" respond positively to the post. I think that speaks well of the forum membership.

Even though I thanked Warners in another thread, I'd like to reiterate it here. They certainly have no obligation to engage in these chats and the fact that they do underscores their commitment to bringing their films to the home video market and to the customers that make up that market.

One of the negative comments that really stood out to me was along the lines of "messing with their customers." No successful company that I know of would "mess" with their customers. I think Ron's post does a good job of explaining the many factors that are at work regarding the flow of information and product. It is natural to want to know more or to be disappointed in product delays---I often am, but that doesn't mean that Warners or any other studio doesn't value its customers. They do want our money after all.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

Absolutely agree with you, Ron. It must feel like a very thankless task at times.

Just two slightly lateral points, though.

The first is that WB should understand that people respond in this way because they care, possibly to an unhealthy degree. I, myself, was struck by quite an irrational feeling of anxiety when I heard that BARRY LYNDON, one of my favourite films, wasn't coming to Blu-ray.

It's pathetic, in some ways, to care so much about something so essentially trivial. Probably most of us need therapy. But that passion that gets us foaming at the mouth when we find out they're not releasing that obscure cowboy movie only we remember in high def or anamorphic or its original stereoscopic, sepia-tint, roadshow version - that's the same passion that means we'll buy everything and not just once; that's the same passion that means we'll disseminate information throughout the internet and bully our neighbours into investing in Blu-ray.

WB don't need to talk to us. But they do need us, for all our whining, just like we need them, with all their cloak-and-dagger politics. They don't have to talk to us but it's damn good policy to do so, because we are their footsoldiers. And like any footsoldiers, we'll complain about the Generals. But we'll still be the ones that go into battle when it comes to it; no matter how bitter the recession gets, we'll be the ones missing lunch so we can buy that frankly awful old horror movie. We'll just bitch that they're starving us while we do.

I hope they understand that. I'm pretty sure they do.

Second point is this: the format. With respect, I think maybe the chat format causes more anxiety than is necessary. People are desperate to view the chat and lots of them can't; people are desperate to get their questions asked; people are annoyed because no-one's asking the questions they want asked; people are annoyed because people are asking damn fool questions and wasting the little time we have. It's a recipe for discontent and that's before the studio's said anything.

Now I'm not sure how you fix that, but personally I've always felt that the rule about not deciding what's asked beforehand - whilst I understand it in some ways - is more of a hindrance than a help. Might there not be some way to reach a consensus about what's asked, and/or who's asking it? We might lose some of the gloriously democratic nature of the chats but it might be worth it for the increase in ground covered.

Perhaps we could even just vote on twenty movies and make sure they get asked about before dealing with other issues. It might mean the blood presssure's a bit steadier when the chat begins.

I don't know. I know more about studio politics than I do about running a forum and that's not saying much; so I could be talking out my beard. Hope you take these comments in the helpful spirit in which they're suggested.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

I think that this would be a very good idea as well.

HTF members could make a list of WANT titles to give to Warner, and they can say at the beginning "Of the list, there are plans for ..." That way, if someone can't make the chat, or doesn't get called on, they could get an answer.

That way, the chat could focus on larger issues rather than just a list of "Will this be released on DVD?" questions.

As for the tone of the boards, all I can say is I guess we now know why no one from TV companies holds chats here. The Warner threads were civilized tea parties compared to some of the discussions in the TV section.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

I read some of the negative comments last night right after the chat, and was thinking all the way home from work about responding just the way you did, albeit not so eloquently. Very well stated.

It boggles my mind that WB goes out of their way to spend a significant amount of time to chat with HTF, and brought us such excellent news, only to have people say "What's the purpose of the chat if they're just gonna evade questions and just say yes and no?"

I loved the chat last night!! I was ecstatic when it was done for all I had learned. There's so much good stuff coming that I want.

I sincerely hope that WB comes back, but, with such negative, unappreciative, responses like what I've read from some HTF members...

I can't imagine inviting someone over to treat them like that.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

Its because of many reasons, that i own more Warner DVDs and Blu-rays, than all the other studios, combined. Not just because they have the biggest movie library in the world. They simply know how to do it!

Thanks for everything WB, wish i could of been in the chat!

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

Personally I think it's nothing short of miraculous that Warner is so open about its plans in a public forum. I've chatted to a number of industry sources on this side of the puddle over the years, and there's always a question of contractual confidentiality about upcoming releases - just in case they don't happen.

I think we should be thankful Warner is willing to have a dialogue of any kind, and doubly so that they actually listen to us. It could so easily be the other way.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

I agree with everything you say Anthony.

I personally would like to thank Warner for taking the time to chat with us. It is so nice to see a company that cares so much for it's products and it's customers. I just wish I had more money to buy more of their products

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

Totally agree Ron, I guess the old adage that you can't please everyone is true but some people are just plain ungratefull.

Instead of WB having to come back (indeed if they ever do) how about a thread is created with a wish list of questions and you can decide which ones to ask them and then they can answer or decline to answer just as they do in the chat.

That way everyone who wants to ask something can...

M

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

I felt like the chat was good... but I felt like so much time was spent on the Archive Collection site news and titles that it may have needed its own chat! I felt like a lot of Blu Ray news was pushed away.. but I will say that about 95% of the Blu Rays mentioned I was wating for news for including Where Eagles Dare and Contact... so my comment may sound negative but it isn't.

I think it is hard to get people rounded up and questions asked etc and that nites chat the people had their questions ready!!! I mean BAM they were listed.. for some odd reason I had my original question regarding the use of the Saul Bass Warner Communication logo ready to be pasted but it wouldn't work so I tried to slam out my question as easily as I could and as graciously as I could. Cause I was wondering the main reason the logo was changed on different releases etc.

I just hope I don't come across as a total jerk in stating my love for the keeping things as they were originally created.

I wanted to ask about BLUs coming soon but made myself fight for that logo! :-)

I wanted to ask about Watership Down on BLU so bad as well as Klute All the President's Men, and if The Exorcist will PLEASE be released with the theatrical cut as well as the more recent cut (we've all seen it at this point haha)

I also love their Forbidden Hollywood sets and bought VOL 3 it Tuesday.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

I just wanted to add my two cents to Ron, Warner and anyone else reading.

I wasn't able to attend the most recent Warner chat, although I wanted to and read the transcript the next morning. (I usually don't miss these.) I've always been grateful that people at Warner have taken the time and the energy to visit us here. I'm of the mind that we should always treat people the way we ourselves would like to be treated, and the times I have been fortunate enough to be picked to as a question during the chat, I've always tried my best to do just that; I think I've succeeded.

To me, it's inexcusable that a select minority of people would use this forum to make wild claims about Warner trying to screw them or whatever. It's one thing to be disappointed in a certain release or the lack of a release, and there is both a time and a place to express that kind of sentiment. Most of us here do just that. But I don't understand how certain people can so easily jump to the conclusion that someone is out to screw them or isn't being truthful. The people at Warner are generous in giving their time to our forum for this, and for that, we owe them our respect; by coming here year after year to speak with us, they've certainly gone a long way to demonstrate just how much respect and appreciation they have for us.

I imagine it takes a lot more than we're aware of to prepare for one of these chats. On Warner's end, I wouldn't be surprised if they had to make time to meet with lawyers, department heads and sales teams on their end to make sure what titles they could and couldn't talk about. Considering they don't get the questions in advance, I can imagine that there could be a lot of preparation to cover all the bases just in case. I mean, for all we know, Warner might be 99% completed with work on an amazing special edition for a film we all want, but they may not be able to confirm that if they're still trying to negotiate rights or the like.

If anything, these chats confirm that the people who work at Warner not only care about the work they do, they care about the films and are huge fans themselves; there are times they seem as disappointed as us, if not more, when they have to say that there's not enough interest to justify putting out a certain title. I think the Warner Archive is a fantastic idea.

The only thing that's ever frustrated me in a chat, and it's not the fault of Warner or Ron or HTF administrators, is when people ask questions where the answer is already out there. Especially if it's a repeat of a question someone else asked in the same chat, but also if it's something that was recently announced or covered previously. This doesn't seem to happen a ton, so this isn't a major complaint or anything. Probably it would make sense for people to do a little bit of homework about the title they want to ask about before the chat occurs, if they don't already do that. Though I haven't compared the chats religiously before writing this post, the number of inappropriate questions (i.e. asking one studio about another's title, or asking the feature film department about a TV release) seems to be going down each year, so I think the forum is doing a great job of making it really clear exactly what we're here to talk about during one of these chats. That can only help.

I thought whoever asked about when a title goes from the "new release" department's control to the "catalog" department's control was a fantastic question; I think Warner said six months after. Simple questions like that help give us all a better picture of how things work behind the scenes there. Hopefully because of that answer, in the future people won't ask the catalog people about brand new releases; not because the questions aren't valid, but because it's not the right time to do so and asking would only take away someone else's chance to ask a relevant question.

These Warner chats, for me, are almost equivalent to a presidential press conference. As such, we all need to remember (myself included) that they are here to answer questions and give us news of releases, not to give us an all-access pass to their operation. And I, for one, thank Warner for being gracious enough to do so, and thank Ron and everyone working behind the scenes at HTF for facilitating these chats. They are a rare treat, and I'm grateful to have the chance to participate. I truly hope that Warner will not allow a few bad eggs to taint the whole experience for them.

Once again, I'd just like to thank everyone at Warner and the HTF for having these chats. It really is a great opportunity to get sneak peaks at what's coming, and it's great to have the chance to interact with the people at Warner on a limited basis. Nothing but gratitude and appreciation from this forum member!

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!

While I agree with Ron about many of his points, and I think that most of the time people is disappointed due to their own preconceived expectations, and not because of the answers given, I still think it would be fair to find this latest chat too vague.

And as long as people does not feel entitled to milk the people from Warner or any other studio for information, as long as posters do not think the studio owes them anything, and as long as board members are not childishly oblivious to the studios' inner workings and commercial limitations, I really believe it should be ok to express a measure of disappointment in a mature and respectful manner.

I feel fortunate for having people from any studio coming to this board willing to share plans and info on future releases, more so when they rarely do it anywhere else, but sometimes it just feels like too little information as oppossed to, well, just no information at all.

I hope that is not seen as adding to the negativity, neither by Ron nor by anyone from any studio following discussions here.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

With most of the major studios, I think a great deal of their libraries have been exhausted in terms of top-tier releases. Most of the "sure fire" releases need to be upgrades or BluRays. Consider how all of their best picture Oscar winners are on DVD, plus all of the AFI 100.

Off the top of my head, the major unreleased titles are the Tex Avery cartoons, The Magnificent Ambersons, the "A" silents (The Big Parade, Greed, The Crowd), and probably the Jean Harlow films. Others could point out more than I can. There's a long list of films that seriously need reissues like Cabaret. Most other unreleased films are probably not "A" titles in terms of projected demand, unfortunately.

In the last few years, most studios have been terrific about classic films whether they take the special edition approach or the box sets.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

Im very disappointed not as cheerfull today as I could be with the news--no upgrade of BARRY LYNDON and LOLITA-even just anamorphic enhancement; I have the French box set where those are included-so they could be frisbeed-it feels like the taint the box somehow-they are in the same template designed covers on black background as the rest, BL has the leg rose and gun over black, and LOLITA the glasses; some saying the EU print of BL is a bit superior, I cannot say
MAD MAX and CONTACT-upgraded-great!

Now how could the chaps at WARNER actually utter the very word/number "2011" in a sentence-with no mention of an upgrade on 2010!?
If this is in the works I have not heard of it
They are the the top dog in dealing with customer ideas and wants, bar none. When they come to a place like this- you know the are into film too, not just as commerce

edit- its up to Lucas im sure, but I would very much like to see the unaltered, remastered THX 1138-even as a second disc in the deluxe, The current frikked-with version is an abomination-and contradicts the very message of the film! can you get a legit version anywhere in the world? I have a tape of the WS laserdisc-but that wont do

edit 2

I dont know how it works-but if Ron gets 3-4 questions at a time on his console-he can screen out the non polite ones or the question about this or that which is either already in general knowledge- or has already been asked once during the course of the chat

I hate to see valuable chat time wasted with the 3rd question of whether an SE of THE GOONIES will be out soon

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

Well, how about this for timing? One of those sources I mentioned has thrown the towel in thanks to a vociferous and hostile minority. The Doctor Who Restoration Team Technical Forum, an excellent resource for discussing the technical side of video restoration, will be closing on April 1 because of the abusive nature of a minority of so-called fans who disagree with the release strategy of 2entertain, the producers of the UK Dr Who DVD releases. Steve Roberts, who runs the website and forum, is intimately involved in the production of the DVDs and often finds himself caught between his employers (the BBC and 2entertain) and the fans. He has always barred speculation on the forum because he has to maintain contractual confidentiality about possible future releases. The only time he is allowed to talk about releases is once all the contracts are signed and 2entertain is ready for the news to be released. Fortunately his informative website on the preparation of the releases will remain, but that will probably become the mouthpiece of the PR brigade in time.

I'm not entirely sure, but I don't know if the Colour Recovery project would have snowballed as quickly into a working solution had it not been for the DWRT forum airing the concept in its early days, so potentially some real damage may have been done for the sake of not knowing how far is too far.

Re: A few thoughts about...THE WARNER CHAT [Everyone on this forum should read this!]

Hi all,

Some quick stats about me: I read this forum a lot but don't post often.

I don't know much about aspect ratios, pixels, or the names of different types of dvd cases.

No, I will NOT be going to blue-ray. I've got about 500 dvds, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna start all over again.

What I am is just a film buff, who loves movies from the 1920's--mid 1960's (pre-hippie, you might say).

But what's been obvious over the years, even to an average Joe Shmoe like me, is that George Feltenstein is the film buff's best friend. He's knowledgeable, genial, and most important, he really cares about classic old movies. But he's not God. He has to answer to the "higher-ups", just like most of us do in our daily jobs. Yeah, I'm still anxiously awaiting stuff mentioned on this and other threads like The Bowery Boys, Tex Avery, more pre-code Cagney, Harlow, Wheeler and Woolsey, more "B" movies from Warners' Monogram/Allied Artists catalog, various short subjects, The Big Parade, The Crowd, etc. But I have confidence that Mr. Feltenstein is doing all he can to get those titles out as fast as he can and in the best condition he can.

How do I know this? I'm a reader of this forum, a buyer of dvds, and a watcher of old movies. I have no other "connections" and yes, I'll admit to occasionally buying a bootleg or two out of impatience. I even stoop to watching a VHS tape from time to time. (Horrors! What a neanderthal I must be!) But even a barely literate fool like me can read the numerous times George Feltenstein's name comes up on forums like this, and in interviews and articles, as well as seeing him pop up on TCM from time to time. And what is crystal clear and obvious to me is that he is not only the "go-to" guy, but also the "get-it-done" guy when it comes to getting quality releases of classic movies (usually with excellent extras) on dvd.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.