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  1. Douglas Monce

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ Cleopatra (1963) - U.S. Release -- in Blu-ray

    The studio was literally closed. There were two films being made, Cleopatra, and The Longest Day, both in post production. The studio needed cash NOW, which is why Cleopatra was released as one 4 hour movie. The suggestion had been made to rush The Longest Day into release, but it was Darryl...
  2. Douglas Monce

    special effects becoming noticeable

    Analog TV, at least the NTSC variety, had a resolution of 640 X 480. That is 480 scan lines high, by 640 individual RGB phosphors wide. At least thats the way the tubes were built. Most TVs overscanned making the effective resolution somewhat less. I think the 240 you are referring to was the...
  3. Douglas Monce

    special effects becoming noticeable

    The lagoon in Gilligan's island is actually the same lagoon that was in MANY Republic Serials of the 30's and 40's. Giligan's Island filmed on the old Republic lot, and made extensive use of the "jungle" "lagoon" and "Cave" sets. Doug
  4. Douglas Monce

    Could the original, unaltered STAR WARS be on its way to Blu-ray?

    None of the prequel films exist in a completed form on film. Episode 1 was shot on film, but all post production was done at 2k digital resolution. I'm unaware of any degraining done to the original masters of this film. It was likely unneeded, as the film was shot with anamorphic lenses using...
  5. Douglas Monce

    Happy birthday Back to the Future; will its Blu-ray transfer ever get corrected?

    The "To Be Continued" Appeared on the original VHS release of the film. I never liked it, as I thought the smash cut to Robert Zemeckis' director credit was far more effective. Doug
  6. Douglas Monce

    Aspect Ratio Documentation

    2001 was not anamorphic, it was Super Panavision 70, which is 65mm film with spherial lenses. Doug
  7. Douglas Monce

    Man of Steel - quick review

    In Superman The Movie, there is the scene where Ma Kent is looking out the kitchen window at Clark out in the field. She, and everything else in the kitchen are in silhouette, except for the Cherios box which has a kicker light on it so the logo will STAND OUT! Even when I was 12 in 1978, this...
  8. Douglas Monce

    Aspect Ratio Documentation

    The long credit crawl started not with Star Wars, but in the early 70's some time. It came mostly because all of those people were no longer studio employees, and their unions started demanding credit. I've always been baffled by the fact that some of the performers that contribute most to the...
  9. Douglas Monce

    Netflix goes bat@#%@ insane, it's $16 a month now if you want to keep 1 DVD + streaming, $18 for 1 B

    That would violate their contract with Netflix and would end up costing them in court. Besides they make money from Netflix success that they have to do almost nothing to earn. Doug
  10. Douglas Monce

    Which Aspect Ratio(s) is your preference for "Shane" on Blu-ray?

    If I were a suspicious man, I'd say that Warner Bros is crazy like a fox. With all this controversy, they will sell 3 times as many units of this film!Doug
  11. Douglas Monce

    Shane Blu-ray... in 1:66?

    On two different occasions I shot short films in HD at a 1.78:1 ratio, then changed my mind in post and recomposed them, one for 2.35:1 and the other to 1.33:1. It was not particularly difficult to reframe the shots for the new ratio, and on screening, no one was the wiser in either case.Once...
  12. Douglas Monce

    Which Aspect Ratio(s) is your preference for "Shane" on Blu-ray?

    Sorry I didn't see the ...etc. Doug
  13. Douglas Monce

    Shane Blu-ray... in 1:66?

    Every film has comppromises, be they imposed by a studio or by fate. Doug
  14. Douglas Monce

    Which Aspect Ratio(s) is your preference for "Shane" on Blu-ray?

    I think you forgot 2.20:1. Or is Todd AO/ Super Panavision 70 not a proper aspect ratio? Doug
  15. Douglas Monce

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ Life of Pi -- in Blu-ray & 3D

    I will still wait and see if the people who worked on this film are paid what they are owed. So far that hasn't been the case. Doug
  16. Douglas Monce

    The War of the Worlds (1953) possible Blu-ray release?

    Well lets put it this way, they were more willing to suspend their disbelief when watching something like minatures on wires, or a rear projection driving shot. Most audience members probably didn't give a whole lot of thought to it. Doug
  17. Douglas Monce

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ Life of Pi -- in Blu-ray & 3D

    I'll have to pass on this one until the visual effects artist are finally paid for their work. Doug
  18. Douglas Monce

    Shane Blu-ray... in 1:66?

    It always amuses me when someone says, "William Fraker shot this movie and he likes more head room..." Or some such thing. Well I hate to tell them this, but until the advent of the video tap, the only guy who knew how much head room there was, until the next day, was the operator. In the case...
  19. Douglas Monce

    The War of the Worlds (1953) possible Blu-ray release?

    I think a branching verision with before and after of wire removeal would be a fantastic idea, but given the choice of wires or no wires, I'll take no wires everytime. The wires were NOT intended to be seen, and while the probably could be seen if you looked closely, most audience members were...
  20. Douglas Monce

    Warner Archive Launches Streaming Service

    I have a cable connection, and have the second from the bottom speed my company offers. Most DSL connections are 10 to 15mbps. What service do you have that is much slower than 10 mbps? In my opinion anything under about 8mbps is pretty much useless for viewing any multi media over the internet...
  21. Douglas Monce

    Warner Archive Launches Streaming Service

    My connection is around 15mbps, and peeks at 30mbps. As long as you have a 10mbps connection or better, you should be able to get a 1080p video with 5.1 audio with no problem. If you are trying to stream and you have something under 10mbps its probably time to upgrade. I read a report a few days...
  22. Douglas Monce

    Warner Archive Launches Streaming Service

    If you are comparing streaming a movie in 1080p, to a movie on DVD in 480p, streaming clearly wins. Doug
  23. Douglas Monce

    NPD: Disc, Not Digital, Drives Home Entertainment Revenue

    I bought 6 or 7 blu-rays in 2012 which was up from 1 or 2 the year before. At this point it has to be something I REALLY want. I cut the cable about a year and a half ago, so streaming is my primary source of casual TV viewing. I bought myself a Roku for Christmas, and use it to access Netflix...
  24. Douglas Monce

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ Vertigo -- in Blu-ray

    I don't know, those matte shots of the house toward the end of the film are pretty amazing! Also the wide inside shot of the U. N. Lobby is also a matte painting. By the way Matthew Yuricich did most of the matte paintings for North by Northwest. Doug
  25. Douglas Monce

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ Vertigo -- in Blu-ray

    A high quality optical process for transferring 35mm to 70mm did not exist until 1964. Most films photographed in 65mm had a road show presentation exclusively in 70mm for some time (as much as a year) before 35mm reduction prints were made for general exhibition. They were always intended to be...
  26. Douglas Monce

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ Vertigo -- in Blu-ray

    My understanding is that there were never more than a handful of theaters equipped to project 8 perf vertical 35mm prints. Only 2 or 3 prints were made of some very early VistaVision films, and those were just for premieres. An optical process did not exist at the time to print from VistaVision...
  27. Douglas Monce

    Blu-ray Review Experiment in Terror Blu-ray Review

    This one would be worth it just for the isolated score! Rarely do we get one of Mancini's suspense scores in full. But the film is one of my favorites. This may well be my first Twilight Time buy! Doug
  28. Douglas Monce

    Most Anticipated films of 2013

    I have to admit, that there is nothing here I'm really interested in seeing. Doug
  29. Douglas Monce

    Hitchcock and Bogus Information

    I always understood that Niven was actually the first choice, and Flemming's preferred actor. Doug
  30. Douglas Monce

    Hitchcock and Bogus Information

    Was 58 when it became known as Review Pictures? Doug
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