Various thoughts about NEWS from the WB Chat! (1 Viewer)

[Paul_Scott]

2003 is seeing 3 big superhero event movies released (and probably 3 big dvds as well).
they are all Marvel properties.

it stood to reason, in this climate, you were going to have a lot of people asking about the DC/WB properties.

 

[Paul_Scott]

also, if i'm not mistaken, it sounded like more of the Thin Man films were going to be coming out sometime.
alas, no box sets though.

i'm guessing 1 or 2 a year.

 

[florence franks]

Woo! Finally some fans speak out about WB's treatment of there animated properties and I miss it!!
Since everyone is calming this was large portion of chat,what did we find out about Batman, Batman beyond, superman and justice league on dvd then?
Did anyone have guts to ask them about crappy transfer of Dawsons Creek and if they be watching their properties abit more closely?
I dont get complaints about too many questions though?
Because its animation you consider it waste of time but if was all about Matrix or one live action flick then be okay? You realize WB current treatment of these would take fans over 20 years to see ten year old show? How would you feel about that?
I for one am glad some fans spoke out and that this site gave the oppurinity to do so. Sure did not seem like there was any other way they start getting the hint.
Way to go guys!

 

[Paul_Scott]

the non- loony tunes animated material was only mentioned by two or three people.
but several more people also asked about the live action Batman SE.
and at least 2 more people asked about a Donner re-cut of Superman II.

so thats about 6 questions at least that could have been devoted to other specific titles that were never mentioned.


the big problem with the animated material seems to be that it falls in the domain of the "Family" division.
it seems that the home video and Family home video are completely seperate with their own chain of command.
for the last couple of chats, people have broached the subject of season sets for animated material and the matter is always said to be "getting forwarded to the Family division".

the Family division, imo, is not the best place for this stuff, because as they aptly demonstrated with the Willy Wonka Full Screen debacle- they are ill-informed as to just who are the actual consumers of this material- and, consequently are unable to understand what those consumers really want.

 

[Adam_S]

Yep it definitely looks like we're getting more Thin Man on DVD, disapointed there'll be no box set, but I'll buy them all anyways based on the strength of the first three (just got Thin Man on dvd for easter), and its already clear they're more than rewatchable.

I too was disapointed that noone asked about King Kong or followed up on Looney Tunes release styles (chronological, character sets, animator sets, themed sets?). My guess is it will be either chronological or animator sets if they are aiming at the collector market. I wouldn't be surprised to see the expensive sets released in tandem with single disc releases similar to the old vhs releases that had a handful of cartoons each. That way they have something to stock at grocery counters that moms and dads will pick up on impulse for 7$ as well as getting the collector as well.

The many many questions on Batman TAS, Batman movies, SUperman II, and DArk Shadows (whatever obscure bit of junk that is, seemed like a mini fan club run on WB--very, very annoying and time consuming) were extremely frustrating by the end of the chat.

Amaziningly enough noone asked about the upcoming matrix box set (of all three movies, you just KNOW there's gonna be one) and whether or not The MAtrix (original) will get a new trnasfer and 4xx (numbers slip my mind) DD soundtrack.

News on DTS was unsurprising.

The news on TOm and Jerry was the highlight surprise for me.

Adventures of Robin Hood and Treasue of the Sierra Madre will be must buys.

why didn't someone ask about King Kong?

sad news about the snapper and digipak but nothing upsetting there, its just packaging.

sad news that Bette Davis is number four in the lineup of Warner releases, but it sounds like that Mr. Skeffington will be released eventually.

utterly wonderful news about Police Academy (lets hope for a box set of the first six (they can leave off number 7 we'll just pretend it doesn't exist) all in anamorphic widescreen.

Christmas Story in 16:9 made me very very happy

Christmas Vacation in 16:9 made me even happier


Huzzah for WB! Definitely the best Studio chat I've ever attended!

Adam

 

[Paul_Scott]

i'm still thinking there is a possibility that WB would postpone the release of Kong to better tie-in with the upcoming Peter Jackson remake.

maybe not a great possibility, but it does exist.

other than that, i don't see much reason to ask about it.
we KNOW its coming. it's been pushed back.
it will be special.

i didn't hear a whole lot of specifics being mentioned about ANY title.
even the ones they themselves volunteered info on (like Casablanca).
no reason to expect they would have rattled off a laundry list of features for this even if it was brought up.




(+ i'm just as anxious as anybody to get it!)

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

A pox on y'all for getting to contribute to the chat-- I got stuck at work. :frowning:

 

[Brandon Conway]

I am glad to see that the chat was a success, and I only hope that I will be around to participate in the next one.

I see that a silent film promotion is happening, and I will be elated if it includes The Crowd and The Cameraman (and does WB have rights to the 1925 Ben-Hur?).

Just out of curiousity, I had asked if someone could inquire about the following titles for me. Could anyone shed some light on if any of these were mentioned:

Bachelor Mother (1939)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Ninotchka (1939)
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

(I also just noticed that my original post requesting these titles be asked about in the chat has been deleted. If asking another member to ask for me was a no-no, I apologize).

 

[Paul_Scott]

Brandon,
i don't recall any of those titles being mentioned specifically.

Roaring Twenties being both a Cagney & Bogart (and Priscilla Lane...yum ) movie, might have a better than average shot next year.

 

[Brian PB]

Yes, they do (it was an MGM production)--I'll add it to my list.

 

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Was The Fearless Vampire Killers mentioned at all?

 

[Brandon Conway]

Thank you Paul.

I can still hope for them all, I guess, considering the higher emphasis WB is now placing on catalog titles.

 

[Marc Colella]

Missed the chat.

Did anyone ask about an OAR re-release of Fearless (current one is P&S), or a re-release of Badlands?

 

[Claes Ljunghorn]

Great news about the silent films! I hope they consider Keaton's "The Cameraman".

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Did anyone ask about the specifications for the horror/sci-fi DVDs (HOUSE OF WAX, THE OMEGA MAN, SOYLENT GREEN, THE THING etc) being released in August?


Gordy

 

[Deepak Shenoy]

I was not fast enough with my "yo"s, but I was hoping to ask about three of my most-wanted noir titles - Asphalt Jungle, Out of the Past and White Heat. I hope these come out in the next year or so along with all the other great titles that they promised.

 

[David Lambert]

Guys, really...I'm just grateful that this chat didn't see a repeat of the problem I had in the last Fox chat. I'm glad there was no "Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo" on my part! :b

There was lots of good info on the TV releases. West Wing, Dukes of Hazzard are on the way. E.R. and Smallville releases for later this year were confirmed. Lois & Clark and Night Court are under consideration (if they knew how high up these items were on the TVShowsOnDVD voting, I think they would be more firm...perhaps they need more direct feedback like e-mails from the fans).

LOTS of feedback about Batman:TAS means that they will surely look into this (if they didn't get too annoyed by the repeat questions, that is!).

Too bad that Flash isn't under consideration; the last I had heard was that ALL of the live-action superhero series (Flash and Wonder Woman included) were each possibilities. More superhero film successes, especially from the "marvel-ous" competition, may change their minds. Right now, though, it's just one disappointing item among LOTS of great news.

There was other stuff, but my brain hasn't jump-started yet this morning so I'll wait for the transcript post to remind me. Overall, a great chat and some great stuff from the fine folks at Warner. As they got more and more comfortable as the night went on, it seemed to get better and better for them, as even their negative responses had a certain edge of humor to them. So it was both informative and entertaining...the hallmark of an awesome chat.

I don't think anyone took the time to thank them for the quality of their work lately, either...GREAT choices in both greater quality and quantity. OAR is now a norm again, and they have obviously listened intently to our opinions here at HTF and elsewhere. I look forward to buying their releases, and love passing on some of the great stuff I hear about from them (as they, uh, noticed :b ). THANK YOU WARNER...FOR EVERYTHING!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

The chat transcript is up:

Click Here

Thanks to everyone that attended last evening's chat.

I couldn't believe this was Warner Brothers we
were talking to. They answered everything, they
gave us lots of exclusives, and they interjected a
lot of humor into their replies.

And the membership...wow! No whispering, no
private messages to any of us complaining about a
turn being missed. Everyone was on their BEST
behavior. Most of all, the questions you asked
last night were very, very good.

Truly a first-class chat. My thanks to the studio
and the membership for making this possible.

Hope well-oiled chats like this continue to opens
doors for more studios to do these sort of live
events with the membership.

 

[Paul_Scott]

the mind reels with the possibilities here

 

[Mark Silver]

David,

I, like you and Gord, am very into TV on DVD which is why I asked the West Wing question. I was enouraged to hear that Warner is considering a lot of their old comedies. My question for you, is there a place that lists shows by studio? I want to know what their library contains. I have looked at Warner's website and of course I am a regular at TVshows on DVD.com (shameless plug), but I couldn't find anything.