Search results

  1. Alistair_M

    Vivendi and RHI Press Release: Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection

    Wonderful news! But...no order for me as I stopped buying dvd years ago. As these were created from high def transfers - when do you think we will get the Blurays? I'm interested in hearing the commentaries - should be fun! Bluray soon please :)
  2. Alistair_M

    Has Paramount abandoned p;lans to release ELEPHANT MAN and SUNSET BLVD. on Blu?

    Hi - Elephant Man is coming to region B land - released by Optimum Releasing in UK. Don't know if they release region free. The Elephant Man [Blu-ray] [1980]: Amazon.co.uk: Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Hannah Gordon, David Lynch: DVD September 28...
  3. Alistair_M

    Golden Compass - 4/29/08

    I don't think a worldwide gross of 321 million dollars could be categorised as a financial disaster. Its a decent overall profit. I think the production budget was 180 million dollars. Sure the greedy execs wanted more - they probably were thinking all of their movies will do LOTR grosses. It...
  4. Alistair_M

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ King Arthur -- in BD

    Just a note for european bluray fans - I have imported the US version of King Arthur which despite having the region coding on the back of the box listed as region ABC, it does not infact play on my region B PS3 blu-ray player. Not a happy bunny as I love this movie.
  5. Alistair_M

    PIP on Blu-ray, will PS3 be upgradable to do it???

    My gut feeling is that when they designed PIP on bluray they would have made sure that the solution would be PS3 upgradable to do it. None of the required specs look above the PS3. So I'm assuming its all going to happen on PS3 in an autumn PS3 firmware update.
  6. Alistair_M

    Katzenberg: HD is a Niche

    Criterion released onto laserdisk and that was a niche format that did fine for videophiles in its time. I think warners totalhd format would be perfect for a company like criterion - they can release on both formats using one disk, and all I care about is getting criterion quality transfers...
  7. Alistair_M

    Katzenberg: HD is a Niche

    The next argument often mentioned by the marketting guys for hd-dvd or blu-ray is that the hardware prices are stopping the mass market move to high def. Well I think thats another bogus story in that in the UK, where everything consumer electrical is always at a ripoff price - you can buy a...
  8. Alistair_M

    Katzenberg: HD is a Niche

    The above list was part of a report released in the past day or so ago by Sony. The link for the full report is on eg the digitalbits website. I think Sony released the report to show how they are trying to market blu-ray as 2:1 or 3:1 against hd-dvd in terms of sales ratios. I wonder if...
  9. Alistair_M

    Katzenberg: HD is a Niche

    Here are some example sales figures - and firstly are what the figures mean left to right. Title Blu-ray/HDD B.O. $MM Genre MSRP Rating Retail Release Sub- Label First 8 Wks (Total) 2006-TD Annual 2006 YTD 2007 16 BLOCKS-BRY BRY $36.89 Action/Adventure $34.99 PG13 10/10/2006 WHV...
  10. Alistair_M

    Katzenberg: HD is a Niche

    Six months ago I would have said that hd on disk was going to do really well. But now I am also beginning to think that both blu-ray and hd-dvd will be niche formats as well. I can't believe how low the sales figures are - I mean plenty of releases haven't even sold 2000 copies eg Chicago, best...
  11. Alistair_M

    Batman Begins for Blu-Ray?

    I don't know why warner doesn't do the same 'in movie experience' that the descent has on bluray - basically is a re-encoded movie with all the 'inmovie stuff on it' so its all one movie - no bdjava needed. There's plenty of space - 20 gigs on a bd50 is ready for the inmovie experience...
  12. Alistair_M

    HD-DVD or Blue ray:When do I jump in?

    For those that replied that they would not buy into either format at this stage, can I ask why you think so? And what would need to happen for you to think that the time would be right, taking the situtation as it is right now. Thanks.
  13. Alistair_M

    Region-coding on Blu-Ray discs?

    For some info on which bluray titles have region coding: http://bluray.lindsite.dk/
  14. Alistair_M

    I still blame the studios....

    Its a nightmare deciding. But I have done it. I'm getting a ps3 and going bluray. As I see it, only one main studio Universal has to agree to release on bluray and then I can get everything I want. So yeah its a risk, but I think I've gone for the winner. It doesn't mean that hd-dvd will...
  15. Alistair_M

    HD-DVD Officially Wins Format War !

    HD-DVD is the John Holmes of high definition!
  16. Alistair_M

    HOUSEKEEPING

    I really liked Housekeeping too. I was a huge fan of Bill Forcyth after seeing three of his films in sort succession : Gregory's Girl, Local Hero (possibly my favourite film of all time), and Comfort and Joy. Housekeeping was very different from the others, as it was Mr Forcyths first american...
  17. Alistair_M

    The Searchers, Dirty Dozen, Caddyshack, Dirty Harry announced for...?

    (deleted post as someone else posted the link)
  18. Alistair_M

    Donner Superman 2 SE (merged thread)

    I'm just buying the donner cut. I'll buy the rest when its on hd-dvd/bluray.
  19. Alistair_M

    "Where's the rest of me?!" - Kings Row on dvd soon?

    from Davis DVD news item today Kings Row will be released on August 15th (according to the davis dvd news item it will be available on its own or part of a Ronald Regan boxset) Finally!! Thanks Warners.
  20. Alistair_M

    A Few Words About A few words about... Flightplan

    Personally I thought the opposite about Jodie Foster and Flightplan. I thought her performance was fairly routine, and I never felt emotionally connected to her loss of child. The film, was pretty good for the first hour - but then degenerated into close to rubbish at the end. If I was...
  21. Alistair_M

    Prevent HD double dipping

    I think there was a discussion while bluray and HD-Dvd specs were being decided, and they went for letterbox. I can't see them changing anything fundamentally now. So we've only got letterbox. Good for 1:85 releases, as we'll have 1920x1080 pixels, but only 1920x817 for 2.35:1 movies. For 4:3...
  22. Alistair_M

    Prevent HD double dipping

    Hi GeorgeM. I think both formats are letterbox only. So the max no of lines for a 2:35 movie in either HD-DVD or Bluray is 817. Since the specifications for both formats is now fixed, there will never be anamporhic formats for either HD-DVD or Bluray.
  23. Alistair_M

    Prevent HD double dipping

    A lot of people post about codecs, about how bad mpeg2 is, and how you can't fit a long movie on the disk etc, but I recently saw Ben Hur in OAR 1920x1080 which was encoded in mpeg2, and the total size was only about 12gigs, with many scenes with a bitrate between 8 and 12, and it looked good...
  24. Alistair_M

    Are there 10 titles that would make you cave in (re: HD)

    10 films to make me buy a HD player: 1. Excalibur 2. Close Encounters of the Third Kind 3. Dr Zhivago 4. Citizen Kane 5. Great Escape 6. Journey to the centre of the Earth (1959) 7. The Haunting (1963) 8. Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) 9. Spartacus (Kubrick) 10.Vertigo (and...
  25. Alistair_M

    Will you be rushing into the new Hi-Def formats in 2006?

    Well for the likes of me - I'll be an early adopter simply because I also love games. So I'll be pre-ordering a PS3. That makes me able to play bluray movies. I don't understand why there is any problem. I love games, I love movies. Buy a PS3 and you get both. I already have a HDMI interfaced...
  26. Alistair_M

    How much would it cost for an individual to buy the rights of an obscure film?

    One of my favorite films will probably never be released on dvd. The film in question is Little Dorritt (1988) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095530/ Does anyone know how much is an estimate for the cost of buying the rights of a small film such as this?
  27. Alistair_M

    Early'06 Fox Cinema Classics Collection & Marquee Musicals

    Yes! A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I ended up buying the Region 2 release as I got tired of waiting for the region 1. The region 2 was only ok IMO - reasonable picture quality but I can't wait to see it as a FSC as they are usually restored releases. Hopefully its got a commentary too...
  28. Alistair_M

    DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Titanic - Special Collector's Edition (Highly Recommended)

    Is there a good resource (website/book) that details the nightmare production of Titanic - I'd like to read it! Particularily why Kate won't work with Cameron again etc.
  29. Alistair_M

    "Where's the rest of me?!" - Kings Row on dvd soon?

    Nice post Charles. I think I will try and read it. I did a search on ebay and there isn't a copy in the UK. I'll keep looking. Thanks for the suggestion - I think I'd love to read this one. It always a good idea to read the novels of great films - I remember reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn...
  30. Alistair_M

    "Where's the rest of me?!" - Kings Row on dvd soon?

    Any more news on this classic?
Top