!!! wonka widescreen dvd !!! - NOT A HOAX! ARRIVING 11/13! (2 Viewers)

[Phong]

Well, after an evening and night of speculating whether you all would forever brand me as a joker or the originator of a cruel hoax, I'm glad to see that the widescreen version is a success (and hopefully will do well in sales!). I'm off now for a weekend at The Gorge to see Dave Matthews Band.
I hope that after I'm back, more details will have been announced, and that it will be anamorphic!
Thanks again to all who made this a success. Hopefully this will spark a change in WHV's feelings about familes and widescreen.
Have a good weekend!

 

[rob kilbride]

Phong could you please ask Josh Sabarra if there is any chance of a widescreen Lord of the Rings DVD?
[Edited last by rob kilbride on August 24, 2001 at 03:38 PM]

 

[JohnS]

Ah man, this better be 16x9. unless I missed it, I didn't see the term 16x9 or anamorphic in the press release.
Don't tell me W.B. is this careless
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[Richard Kim]

quote: Oh man, it would be bad if it wasn't anamorphic.[/quote]
I wouldn't worry. Virtually all of WB's recent releases in 1.85 are anamorphic. Why should they stop now?
[Edited last by Richard Kim on August 24, 2001 at 03:20 PM]

 

[Ben Tallen]

Why should they stop now?

You're asking for logic from Warner Home Video?

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"The Mob is run by murdering, thieving, lying, cheating psychopaths. We work for the President of the United States of America."

 

[PeterB]

Howdy all
Ugh, very frustrating. I posted a litle thing on this at DVDFILe, but the last 24 hours have been way weird. Phong sent me the press release yesterday, and as we always do with emails, called Warner. We were connected to a rep (who shall remain nameless) who said they new nothing about a widescreen release, etc.
We got a call this morning that the release is indeed real. Either happy hour comes early over there at Warner, or some temp is sitting at the wrong desk, but very confusing and frustrating.
in any case, we got a hard copy of the announcement, and I think one of the above posters is probably right. The release wasn't supposed to go out or something, who knows...
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Peter M. Bracke

 

[Patrick McCart]

Yeah, why would WB not enhance it for widescreen?
Wonka is meant for 1.85:1 matting, and all of WB's matted 1.85:1 titles are anamorphic.
C&D is a hybrid open matte/ pan & scan film (open matte for all non-CGI scenes, p&s for CGI scenes)
Who knows...maybe WB spent a few extra dollars to get the movie computer effect-ized in 1.33:1...I doubt it though.
Remember: If a 1.85:1 film isn't hard matted and/or has no CGI, it's not being "horribly cropped" on a TV.
Matting is the "pan & scan" of 1.85:1 films.
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P.S.: There's no P.S.

 

[cafink]

Remember: If a 1.85:1 film isn't hard matted and/or has no CGI, it's not being "horribly cropped" on a TV

Yes, that is occasionally the case, but you're stating it like it's a rule — far from it. It's more the exception.

 

[John Berggren]

Thank you Warner Brothers. This is great news. I do hope you follow through as such with all titles.
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Rationality is not a commodity which is evenly distributed.
Thank you Sci-Fi channel for Season 6 of Stargate SG-1
View SpaceDog's DVD Collection

 

[David Lambert]

I sorta got fustrated a bit with the not-knowing, so I just this second called up Josh Sabarra at Warner and asked him a few questions posed in the past day or so:
Q) Is Wonka going to be anamorphic?
A) "Yes" (he recently e-mailed Phong to tell him that).
Q) Will Cats & Dogs be widescreen? Will Lord of the Rings be widescreen?
A) "I can't get an answer to that right now."
Q) Is the answer not available or is someone not answering their phone or something?
A) "I'm looking around the room and I can't find any copies of those yet, so I'll probably get them closer to their release."
Q) Can you contact me or contact Phong or anybody else with the answer to that as soon as you know it?
A) "I'll be in New York all next week for the Wonka launch event, so I won't be available until Sept. 4th (after Labor Day). Since Phong will be out too for a while, tell him to contact me on the 4th about this."
You hear that, Phong? Call Josh on the 4th, okay?

I left Josh with the impression that we all want widescreen on all of the releases, not just WW. I told him that we all want to give Warner our money, we just want to have the choice to view it whichever way pleases us. He agreed that it is all about the entertainment we all find in it.
When I asked if he ever lurked in the HTF, he said that he "keeps up with all of the online sites". I told him to look for my son's picture with the Superman shirt, and he said he will. We talked about some of the "mean" things folks have said about Warner and people who worked there.
He points out, of course, that lots of folks take out their anger on people (like him) who didn't actually make the unpopular decision. In the end, he realizes that it's not personal; it's just about communicating what we want from his company.
I hope noone minds me "muscling in" on his territory or anything, but I was just hoping that some direct action would settle things down a bit. Now we have a target date to shoot for on some answers.
I can wait a bit longer...and I reason to trust Warner to do the right thing. I think they'll do it again. Just in case, keep signing them petitions, folks! Cheers,
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DAVE/Memphis
Widescreen is Family Fun!

 

[SpenceJT]

Way to go PHONG! You are truly a "King" ...Phong! (get it? "King" Phong? you should seriously consider changing your HTF handle to "SCOOP", although I would recommend "ScoopScoop" because two scoops are better than one!
More seriously Phong,
Thanks for all of your work toward the cause, and helping us all to make our wishes known. And thanks to HTF, as well as members of forums such as this, in spreading the word.
Soon it will be time to put our money where our collective mouths are (or were).
I would therefore like to issue a challenge for those who can afford an extra copy of the widescreen DVD, to purchase an extra copy. Save it as a backup, or give it as a gift to a new DVD owner... or better yet give an extra copy to your favorite "J6P"! I'll bet J6P would take a free widescreen version over a $20 full screen version (and probably still bitch about the black bars

).
Thanks again Phong, whomever you are!

Spence
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SpenceJT
Link Removed
"...now what's all this crud about no movie tonight!"
- Thank you Mr. Lemmon
[Edited last by SpenceJT on August 24, 2001 at 04:29 PM]

 

[Graeme Clark]

A different movie but....

We Did It!
Way to go everyone.
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[Edited last by Graeme Clark on August 24, 2001 at 08:19 PM]

 

[BrettB]

David,
You went to the trouble of getting in touch Mr. Sabarra and didn't ask about those damn cra...I mean snappers?

Phong 2004 we know where he stands on the important issues

 

[SpenceJT]

WOW Phong! If you are one of the people shown in the recent captures from your webcam ( http://students.washington.edu/pantala/history.htm
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SpenceJT
Link Removed
"...now what's all this crud about no movie tonight!"
- Thank you Mr. Lemmon
[Edited last by SpenceJT on August 24, 2001 at 09:40 PM]

 

[SpenceJT]

duplicate post
[Edited last by SpenceJT on August 24, 2001 at 09:38 PM]

 

[David Lambert]

Double post
[Edited last by David Lambert on August 24, 2001 at 08:10 PM]

 

[David Lambert]

quote: David,
You went to the trouble of getting in touch Mr. Sabarra and didn't ask about those damn cra...I mean snappers?
[/quote]
I was tempted to bring up snappers, and getting out more old titles, and best-of's, and lots of other stuff. However...
...as a former manager and now as the parent of a 3-year-old I've learned an important lesson in my life. This is it:
When you have a number of things that a person or group has done wrong, it is important to bring up and criticize only about a single item. It should be an immediate problem, an important problem, and a problem with a reasonably straight forward solution.
Since OAR is the issue at hand, that's what we discussed. It is immeditiate, important, and easily solvable.
If you hit 'em with multiple problems at once, you don't get anything accomplished. You come off as a bully, who looks for anything and everything to be critical of. They tune you out, and nothing gets accomplished.
Warner and their associates have done a lot for the DVD industry and at the very least deserve the same respect and consideration I would give my own employees...or my own son for that matter. We should all keep that in mind for the upcoming chat...while still finding ways to communicate all the issues that are important to us.
"One thing at a time". That's the ticket. The golden rule.
Did somebody say "Golden" "Ticket"?

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DAVE/Memphis
Widescreen is Family Fun!

[Edited last by David Lambert on August 24, 2001 at 08:11 PM]

 

[Peter Overduin]

When you have a number of things that a person or group has done wrong, it is important to bring up and criticize only about a single item. It should be an immediate problem, an important problem, and a problem with a reasonably straight forward solution.
If you hit 'em with multiple problems at once, you don't get anything accomplished. You come off as a bully, who looks for anything and everything to be critical of. They tune you out, and nothing gets accomplished.

Most excellently spoken! Its also why, as I pointed out in another thread, that petitions and campaigns such as this should be carefully considered before embarked upon. There is no question that the success of the last campaign that evoked this level and depth of response - DIVX - was successful because "passion" is what drove the issue. Then, and now.
I certainly hope that WB is accorded some kudos for having had the courage to admit - in not so many words! - that they screwed up. In other areas, such as their dealings with BB, they are showing an equal sense of intestinal fortitude, yet we seem to hesitate in our support. How many of us rent/buy at BB? If we were truly concerned about rental pricing, none of us - absolutely NO ONE from this forum would ever darken the doors of a BB. As much as I joined the fray on the Willy Wonka issue, I will also quietly support WB by renting my DVDs anywhere but a BB.
Kudos to Ron and everyone involved! I think WB will go back to drawing boards next time they do "research." Perhaps they will start with the HT forum and save themselves alot of trouble!

 

[Kenny Goldin]

Hey David you cropped your sig file!

I want to see it in al it's wide glory!

J/K
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Jay and Silent Bob in
CLERKS
[Edited last by Kenny Goldin on August 24, 2001 at 10:11 PM]

 

[David Lambert]

quote: Hey David you cropped your sig file!
I want to see it in al it's wide glory! [/quote]
You're the 2nd person to note that I pan-and-scanned it.
So here it is in 1.88:1; enjoy!

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DAVE/Memphis
Widescreen is Family Fun!

[Edited last by David Lambert on August 24, 2001 at 10:18 PM]