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'Annie' Blu-ray Detailed[teaser]Details are now in for the 1982 musical coming to Blu-ray in October. [/teaser] As previously reported, Sony is working on 'Annie' for Blu-ray on October 2. The charismatic little orphaned Annie's luck changes for the better when billionaire Oliver Warbucks (Albert Finney, 'Erin Brockovich') arrives at the orphanage looking to take one of the children for a short time. Annie soon charms the billionaire with her lively, warm nature, and together they set out to search for Annie's parents. With the mean head of the orphanage, Miss Hannigan (Carol Burnett, 'The Secret World of Arrietty') attempting to hinder their plan, Annie's search will prove to be quite a heartwarming journey. The Blu-ray/Ultraviolet combo will feature 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements will include: My Hollywood Adventure with Aileen Quinn, Musical performance of "It's the Hard-Knock Life" by Play, original trailers and TV spots, and a Blu-ray exclusive Sing-Along with Annie! Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $14.99. You can find the latest specs for 'Annie' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's now indexed under October 2.Posted Fri Aug 3, 2012 at 06:00 AM PDT by: -
HDD Attends a Virtual Roundtable with Andy Parsons (BDA), Jeffery Baker (Warner Home Video), and Ned Price (Warner Technical Operations)[teaser]Last time the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) had a virtual roundtable, we discussed a wealth of information about Disney and their commitment to the Blu-ray format. This time around Warner Brothers is in the hot seat.[/teaser] The people present for this virtual roundtable were Andy Parsons of the BDA, Jeffery Baker of Warner Home Video, and Ned Price who is in charge of Warner Bros. Technical Operations. As soon as the roundtable was ready and all the journalists had joined in, the questions came fast and furious. As always the Q&A session is definitely the most informative part of these Q&As so we'll get right to it. Below are the questions that were asked during the session. Personally, I was impressed with the amount of information given about the restoration process and particularly how expensive it is to convert a 2D movie to 3D. Although, their explanation on the restoration behind 'Singin' in the Rain' could have been expounded on, a lot. [Note: The text has been cleaned up for grammar and spelling errors from a live chat environment.] Q: Jeff, does WB hold rights to the new restoration/reconstruction of an extended version of 'Once Upon a Time in America'? Jeffrey Baker: We do have the rights, a release date has not yet been determined. Q: How does 4k play a role in this effort and how will it fit on an expected 4k Blu-ray? Andy Parsons: We think that Blu-ray would be suitable for 4K content because of its high capacity and data throughput (particularly in comparison to streaming), and the BDA continues to explore new technologies, though at this time, no 4K development activities are taking place within the BDA. Q: Ned, could you please talk about new techniques that WB has been experimenting with to extract images from older films with damaged elements like 'Red Dust', 'Test Pilot', 'A Guy Named Joe'? Ned Price: One of our largest challenges is creating algorithms to correct density fluctuations from photo chemical processing of the films, density pulsation also occurs in color film as a result of dye fading, we lose density in the negative as well as color layer. The emulsion layers of a color negative deteriorate unevenly which creates color pulsation as well as density flicker. Q: Jeff, I know WB has been looking at 2D tests for 'The Wizard of Oz' for years. Are you encouraged this will be going forward in the near future? Jeffrey Baker: We are testing many films while watching consumer interest and demand from theatrical exhibition to the home on 3D, conversion costs from 2D to 3D are quite high ($4M to $6M), until they come down further it will continue to be a deterrent in our converting library films to 3D. Q: I would love to hear a little about the amazing restoration work that went into bringing 'Singin' in the Rain' to Blu-ray. Jeffrey Baker: We performed a 4K scan and took advantage of current state of the art color correction tools, we also enhanced the audio quite a bit. Q: It's been a long time since we've heard anything regarding Blu-ray and managed copy. Can you offer any update on the feature? Andy Parsons: We are hearing that AACS, the entity that is responsible for implementing managed copy, should be launching the capability soon. In the meantime, a great aspect of Blu-ray is that many titles are being offered in combo packs that include a DVD and "digital extensions" such as Digital Copy and Ultraviolet that allow us to extend our home theater experience to other locations like an airplane seat or hotel room or anyplace we want to watch movies. Q: When looking at the enhanced content aspect of your releases, what do you generally look for? Do you use outside archival sources or is it primarily internal as in the case with the 'Ben Hur'? Jeffrey Baker: We first look internally to mine assets, however, in the case of 'Ben Hur' and other films we have gone to third parties to help us source and or develop assets. Q: Are there any plans to start releasing Warner Archive titles on Blu-ray? And is there ever a time when you released a film on Blu-ray that may not have had the monetary stats to back up its release because Warner felt it was important? Is financial feasibility more important to a release than the film's impact on film history? Jeffrey Baker: We are not yet ready to convert archive titles to BD, we are hopeful that more economically viable tools in the near future will make this possible. Yes, I have green-lit numerous conversions to BD that did not meet short term financial thresholds, and we will continue to. We believe that the long term growth in BD will provide adequate ROI in the future. Q: Can you please tell me why some movies like 'Blade Runner' are given multiple releases while other classics fail to get one? Jeffrey Baker: Sometimes it's based on consumer inquiries and demand, other times it's based on finding new materials. In the case of 'The Exorcist', we released it on BD in 2010 (37 years old), we have plans although it has not been announced, to re-release 'The Exorcist' in 2013 with new extra content, I cannot disclose what it is, but it's rich! Q: To what extent is your selection of library titles to preserve/restore is filmmaker-driven (as for example the recent efforts with 'End of the Road' which were spearheaded by Steven Soderbergh? Ned Price: We approach library preservation from two angles; preservation work is primarily motivated and funded on behalf of the corporation, title selection in based on physical condition of materials rather than the current popularity of a title. The corporate preservation efforts are not motivated by sales, however the results of our corporate preservation efforts are made available for sales division use. Sales driven requests often initiate preservation as well as restoration use as was the case for 'End of the Road'. We often have film makers championing film which have influenced their work so that it's made available to the next generation of developing film makers. Q: I'm interested a bit more in what happens when a film is chosen for restoration and box set/special edition treatment such as 'Ben Hur' and a more bargain treatment that could hit the budget pricing category mentioned. Might the budget film not get a full restoration at, I think I heard 8K mentioned. Jeffrey Baker: Correct, we will render a less robust conversion on a budget priced BD release; however, to be clear the quality is still quite good and exceeds DVD. Q: Would you elaborate on your 3D strategy? Including restoration/remastering of classic titles made in 3D (i.e. 'Dial M for Murder') or 2D titles that might be converted to 3D (i.e. 'The Matrix'), as well as new 3D releases. Roughly how many 3D BD titles do you expect to release in say the next 2 years? Jeffrey Baker: More than one, less than 10! Q: How would you define the difference between preservation and restoration when it comes to Blu-ray? Is there one? Jeffrey Baker: It's 10 times more expensive to restore vs. preserve. Q: Jeff, will the next Blu-ray edition of 'A Star is Born' (1954) include the cut theatrical release version? A lot of us find the black-and-white stills in Ron Haver's restoration takes us "out of the movie" and we'd like to have this option. Jeffrey Baker: Not sure, however, I can tell you that the 1976 version of the film will be coming out on BD in the next 12 months. Q: What would you say to the argument that BD is simply another phase in the format world and soon we won’t have the need for physical items as everything will be avail via “cloud” tech? Andy Parsons: We think that Blu-ray and online distribution serve different needs, with Blu-ray offering the best possible HD picture and sound due to its very high capacity and bandwidth -- it has roughly ten times the data transfer rate as the average U.S. broadband connection. This makes it ideal for big screen home theater viewing. Streaming, on the other hand, is great for casual viewing of content on smaller screens or handheld devices such as tablets or smartphones. Also, since content tends to come and go from streaming services, your copy of a Blu-ray title will always be available to you. We believe Blu-ray sits, and will continue to sit, at the center of home entertainment for quite some time Digital extensions such as digital copy or Ultraviolet enable Blu-ray collectors to extend their content library to their mobile devices. And, a connected Blu-ray player not only plays CDs, DVDs, BDs, 3DBD's and BD Recordable, but also serves as a gateway to streamed content. It's not really a zero sum game -- physical media and online distribution can and will coexist for many years to come. Q: I know the Blu-ray format keeps adding new features. Can you tell us what we can expect in the future? Andy Parsons: We are always keeping an eye on new developments in theatrical and home entertainment, but for the moment, we are focusing on continuing to encourage adoption of the Blu-ray format we know and love to the widest possible audience around the world. Adding new capabilities is not something we do lightly, as we need to keep the millions of existing Blu-ray players in mind. It's important to maintain backward compatibility as much as we possibly can. Q: Which movie presented the most difficulty to restore for you and your team? Ned Price: The two most challenging, but ultimately most satisfying restorations were 'North by Northwest' and 'Ben-Hur' due to characteristics of the original camera negative stock and physical condition. Color fading was the most difficult hurdle; both features were shot on early single strip camera negative which was poor at capturing color and had poor dye retention, meaning that color faded very quickly. The negatives also sustained physical damage due to the popularity of the titles and multiple theatrical re-issues. Q: It is my understanding that the original negatives for 'Singin' in the Rain' were lost in a fire. How did you go about putting this film together again and with such high quality for Blu-ray? Ned Price: The studios maintain master positive protection elements on all titles, we scanned 35mm 3-strip nitrate master positives for 'Singin' in the Rain' which were manufactured by MGM at Technicolor in 1952. To their credit, Technicolor materials were extremely well made and the transition from protection masters to original camera negative. The original negative for the last reel which includes the "Broadway Melody" sequence, still survives. We did use a small amount of grain reduction on the optical sections from positive masters due to the heavy grain content due to generation loss. Q: Is there such thing as “too sharp” within the era of Blu-ray and restoration? How do you maintain the classic look within a technologically advanced format? Ned Price: There is no such thing as "too sharp" unless you are artificially enhancing the image. We never "dumb down" an image in order to make it look more like a theatrical release print as our goal is to mine the entire image inherent in the original photography. I've never encountered a film that did not hold up to scrutiny of high resolution, the craftspeople always exceeded the limitation of the capture medium, we do encounter the occasional wig line, but we find that the "fix" (hand painting) is typically worse than the problem. Q: Would you discuss any special challenges involved in restoring/remastering a 3D title such as 'Dial M for Murder'? Ned Price: The 3D titles produced in the 1950's have unique problems, the single strip titles are faded differentially, meaning that the left eye negative has faded differently than the right eye negative, so making them match seamlessly is quite challenging. On the positive side, the 3D camera work from the 50's is impeccable, so there was no need to manipulate the 3D design for the home market. Q: In a time when 35mm is slowly disappearing from exhibition, yet needs to be utilized to create these beautiful BR editions, is there any kind of thought on future restoration work down the line when we have no primary sources to go by? Ned Price: The current preservation medium for the studio is still 35mm film, we do archive the original digital production files, but until there is a long term, industry accepted digital archive solution, we will continue with creation of film materials. Q: What is your general policy on grain reduction? Ned Price: I've always been conservative when it comes to image processing for three reasons, the first being that grain reduction tools start to add artifacts before they effectively reduce grain. Secondly, I feel that grain carries image information and texture, similar to a noise floor in audio which in a way, help continuity of the shots. Also, I'm a great fan of the color information carried by the grain. That's it for the Q&A. Let us know what you thought about it in the forums by clicking on the link below. There's a lot of stuff to take in, so please continue the discussion in the forums.Posted Thu Aug 2, 2012 at 01:35 PM PDT by: -
'The Amazing Spider-Man' Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D Features Added[teaser]Still no release date, but supplements are swinging in for the upcoming Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D editions of the Marvel Comics hit! [/teaser] As previously reported, Sony is preparing 'The Amazing Spider-Man,' 'The Amazing Spider-Man' (Combo Pack), 'The Amazing Spider-Man - 3D' (Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack), and 'The Amazing Spider-Man - 3D' (Limited Edition Combo with Collectible Amazing Spider-Man and Lizard Figurines) for a release sometime in the coming weeks. In Marc Webb's action-packed franchise reboot, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) finds a clue that might help him understand why his parents disappeared when he was young. His path puts him on a collision course with Dr. Curt Connors, his father's former partner. Specs have yet to be revealed, but supplements will include: Deleted Scenes and Alternate Takes, Audio Commentaries with Cast and Crew, The Oscorp Archives – Art and Promotional Materials Gallery, Screen Tests, Stunt Rehearsals, and Interactive 3D Film School with Director Marc Webb (Blu-ray 3D exclusive). Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is set at $35.99, the Blu-ray combo pack is $40.99, the Blu-ray 3D is $55.99, and the Limited Edition Blu-ray 3D w/Figurines is $95.99. You can find the latest specs for 'The Amazing Spider-Man' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under PENDING.Posted Thu Aug 2, 2012 at 01:00 PM PDT by: -
'Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - Part One' Blu-ray Dated[teaser]The first part of the animated adaptation of Frank Miller's highly acclaimed graphic novel will descend on Blu-ray in September. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Warner Brothers has slated 'Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - Part One' for Blu-ray on September 25. It is ten years after an aging Batman has retired, and Gotham City has sunk deeper into decadence and lawlessness. Now, when his city needs him most, the Dark Knight returns in a blaze of glory. Joined by Carrie Kelly, a teenage female Robin, Batman takes to the streets to end the threat of the mutant gangs that have overrun the city. And after facing off against his two greatest enemies, the Joker and Two-Face, for the final time, Batman finds himself in mortal combat with his former ally, Superman, in a battle that only one of them will survive. Specs and supplements have yet to be revealed, but the release will be a Blu-ray/DVD/Ultraviolet Digital Copy combo pack. You can find the latest specs for 'Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - Part One' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under September 25.Posted Thu Aug 2, 2012 at 11:05 AM PDT by: -
'Post Mortem' Blu-ray Dated and Detailed[teaser]The latest from acclaimed Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín will arrive on Blu-ray this August. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Kino has revealed 'Post Mortem' will be hitting Blu-ray on August 21. The second part of Larraín's celebrated trilogy about Chile during the dictatorial reign of Augusto Pinochet, 'Post Mortem' is a "grim, intense, mordantly comic little film" (A.O. Scott, New York Times) about a civil servant transformed by the 1973 military coup. Mario (Alfredo Castro, 'Tony Manero') is an unassuming state employee who transcribes notes during autopsies. Furtive and lonely, he becomes obsessed with his neighbor, the dance hall girl Nancy (Antonia Zegers), who is involved with a group of left-wing activists. With the coup, and the death of President Salvador Allende, Nancy's friends are hunted down, and Mario's hospital becomes clogged with the bodies of dissenters. Soon the violence filters into Mario's psyche, and he begins to break down, much like his country. Following the brilliant 'Tony Manero' (2008, available from Kino Lorber), and preceding the recently completed 'No' (2012), 'Post Mortem' is "a new and original vision of political terror" (J. Hoberman, Blouin Art Info) that remains urgently relevant to the repressive regimes of today. The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements include a still gallery and trailers. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $34.95. You can find the latest specs for 'Post Mortem' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under August 21.Posted Thu Aug 2, 2012 at 10:00 AM PDT by: -
'Strippers vs. Werewolves' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]The battle for supremacy begins in late September. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Well Go USA will bring 'Strippers vs. Werewolves' to Blu-ray on September 25. A war between strippers and werewolves ensues when a member of a bloodthirsty pack of werewolves is murdered in a famous strip club. The girls who work there have until the next full moon before the werewolves' vicious leader sends his wolf pack to hunt down the killers and seek retribution. Problems arise for both parties when the wolf pack realizes the club owner is experienced in dealing with hostile lycanthropes and that one of their own is dating a dancer from the club. Specs have yet to be revealed, but the Blu-ray will include an audio commentary and behind-the-scenes featurette. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $24.98. You can find the latest specs for 'Strippers vs. Werewolves' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under September 25.Posted Thu Aug 2, 2012 at 08:00 AM PDT by: -
'247° F' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]Blu-ray gets trapped in a sauna this October! [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Starz/Anchor Bay has scheduled '247° F' for Blu-ray on October 23. When four friends travel to a lakeside cabin for a carefree weekend the fun turns into a nightmare when three of them end up locked in a hot sauna. Every minute counts and every degree matters as they fight for their lives in heat that is quickly approaching the deadly limit of 247-F. Specs and supplements haven't been revealed yet, but the suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $29.99. You can find the latest specs for '247° F' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under October 23.Posted Thu Aug 2, 2012 at 06:00 AM PDT by: -
HDD Interviews Cast & Crew of 'JAWS' About the Blu-ray Restoration and Exclusive Documentaryby Michael S. Palmer [teaser]To celebrate the August 14th Blu-ray release of Steven Spielberg's horror classic, 'JAWS', Universal invited High-Def Digest to the Universal Studios backlot in Burbank, California to chat with the film's co-writer and production designer, the producer of a Blu-ray exclusive documentary, and a Universal executive who oversaw the film's 35mm restoration alongside Steven Spielberg himself.[/teaser] One of the most anticipated Blu-ray releases in the format's history, 'JAWS' is part of Universal's 100th Anniversay celebration, and is one of thirteen 2012 Blu-ray releases to receive a full film-resolution restoration (more on that in a minute). Interviews were conducted along the route of Universal's famous tram tour, so every five minutes, a new tram teaming with tourists pulled behind the four interview subjects and, to the screaming delight of everyone involved, the dock exploded in a roar of fire as a mechanical shark rose up to attack anyone with a camcorder. Simply put, it was a great atmosphere for interviews, but eight minutes with each man was far too short. First up, we have J. Michael Roddy, the producer of 'The Shark is Still Working'. This fan documentary premiered a few years ago, but appears here as a Blu-ray exclusive. The independently produced film, narrated by Chief Brody himself, took Mr. Roddy and his partners (James Gelet, Jake Gove, Erik Hollander, and Michael McCormack) years to complete. They are honored to be included on the Blu-ray. J. MICHAEL RODDY HDD: I've been reading about 'The Shark is Still Working' for many years. It was a pleasure to finally see it. How exciting is it for you, setting out to make a "fan documentary", to have it be an exclusive special feature on the 2012 'JAWS' Blu-ray Disc? J. MICHAEL RODDY: When the producers and I set out to make this documentary, we wanted to make the ultimate fan documentary. That's why we did it. We wanted it to be for the fans, from the fans. And, you know, it's interesting that's become its own genre now. We really kinda started that ball rolling and it took a long time to get here [7 years!]. The road here had many potholes like the original 'JAWS', which took a long time to get to the theatre after many trials and tribulations. We are so absolutely thrilled to now be a part of the Blu-ray and it now gives us, a small part in our minds, we're part of the 'JAWS' mythology. HDD: Take us back to the beginning. How did you guys go from fans to documentary filmmakers? JMR: It's interesting. We were all inspired by 'JAWS'. It was our favorite film. And we were in different areas of the country, working in different aspects of production. We had the opportunity to interview some of the locals on Martha's Vineyard and realized there were really compelling stories we had never heard before. So as we started to capture that, we realized no one was really talking about the impact. We all know the shark didn't work, but the reason we named our documentary 'The Shark is Still Working' is because the shark not working then means the shark still works 35 years later. So as we really started to define what that could be, the impact, and talking about the legacy of the film, we realized there were so many people positively influenced by this film: shark researchers, conservationists and, most importantly, some of our most amazing filmmakers working today -- Brian Singer, Robert Rodriguez, Stephen Soderbergh, Kevin Smith. They all cited 'JAWS' as the film that made them do what they do. And we said, that's a great story, and everything else fell into place. HDD: Your documentary covers the huge challenges faced during the film's production. What was the biggest obstacle in making your film? JMR: The biggest challenge to making 'The Shark is Still Working' is that it was independently produced by five guys that live in different areas of the country, who pooled their own resources together and just had the passion to tell the story. What kept us going is the fact that we were doing it for the fans and we were also doing it for the people who gave us the time -- Roy Schieder, Richard Dreyfuss, Steven Spielberg, Joe Alves, Carl Gottlieb. Every time we had an opportunity to speak with one of those guys, it became another weight of responsibility that became "we have to see this through to the finish line". And the fact that it's now part of the Blu-ray, which is amazing, just gives us...it's such a great end. HDD: What was the timeline for making the film? How did it go from a discussion ("Hey let's make this documentary") to the final cut? JMR: We would pool our money together and have interview trips. The Internet was our friend. We had a grassroots campaign and we had a website to let people know what we were doing. And what was amazing is that most of the movie websites that are out there really picked up on it and supported us. So we started getting contacted, saying "well you know I have this piece of information about 'JAWS'" or "my cousin was this person that was in 'JAWS'" or "he knows this person." It was just making the calls to say "this is what we want to do, do you want to be a part of it?" And everybody said yes. HDD: What was it like meeting Spielberg for the first time? JMR: Meeting Steven Spielberg was, by far, the coolest experience of this whole documentary production. The cool thing about it is he's just a film geek like us. He sat down and he loves to talk about it. He lives and breathes it. The enthusiasm he had for our film, which is more about the film's impact, he was like a kid in a candy store. He was fantastic. HDD: When did Universal first talk to you guys about being on the Blu-ray? JMR: We always hoped it would be part of some type of release. Like all the fans out there, when Blu-rays first came out, we were waiting for 'JAWS'. When's 'JAWS' going to be announced...when's 'JAWS' going to be announced? Probably late last year, Spielberg announced he was working on the restoration and, within a day, we got a call from Universal saying, "you know, you guys have bided your time, we really want your documentary to be a part of this amazing release. HDD: Awesome! So what would you say is the rarest footage you found, or something audiences may never have seen before, or something you learned that you didn't know about the making of 'JAWS'? JMR: Some of the rare footage and photos we have in the documentary have never been seen before. One of the coolest things about it is, as we started to talk to people, when 'JAWS' was made in 1974, there wasn't the security around a film like there is today. There wasn't the Internet so no one was nervous if someone took a picture. And we found all these people that had amazing photos and access to the set. Then we found 8MM footage of them making 'JAWS'. It's the highlight of the documentary for us because you get to see views of the shark where you can pick out what scene it is, but it's a different angle. Also, there are scenes like where the old man at the beginning of the film is complaining about the kids karate chopping his white picket fences. Well, they shot that scene and we have footage of them shooting it, and it's like, I never knew they shot that. That's amazing. HDD: What making-of documentaries inspired you guys to make this film? JMR: Our mark for this was we wanted this to be a companion to the Laurent Beuzerau 'The Making of JAWS' [also on the Blu-ray]. That is a fantastic documentary. The reason most of us originally bought laserdisc players is for that documentary. MIKE DARUTY, SVP, UNIVERSAL TECHNICAL OPERATIONS HDD: How many times has Universal restored 'JAWS' in the last 37 years? MIKE DARUTY: I believe this is probably the third time. We probably originally did it for VHS, and we would have redone it for DVD, and now for Blu-ray. HDD: What was the condition of the source materials? MD: We accessed the original 35mm negative for this restoration, which is the first time we've ever done that [for 'JAWS']. The negative was in a condition that's typical for its age and use. We scanned that original negative in 4K on a liquid gate scanner. The liquid gate helped with some of the surface scratches. Then we went through our normal processes of color correction and digital restoration -- removing scratches and repairing torn frames. There were a scene or two that had some film damage. We process all of that, bringing Steven in a couple times during the process to get his feedback and final approval, and then we output it, in this case a new 35mm negative so we could preserve it as well as make some prints. We also made a new 2K digital cinema version and then new Blu-ray HD elements. HDD: From the 4K or 2K master? MD: Everything was done in 4K. HDD: Were there any surprises? MD: We had never gone from the original negative before. Our prior transfers were from the 35mm interpositive, so the difference is the interpositive is a [color] timed element that goes through a wet gate process. The original negative is untimed, so it takes a lot more color timing. It's not a wet gate, even though we scanned it as a wet gate. It still has a lot of normal negative dirt and scratches and, in this case, a couple torn frames. So the challenge was color correcting it and matching shots captured on different days or at different times of day. Then it was about going in and just cleaning it up. And it looks better now that it's ever looked. HDD: Is there anything in the movie, after the 4K master was complete, you noticed new that you've never seen before? MD: I think just detail. There's much greater detail in this version because it's a much higher resolution. HDD: How many films are you restoring for Universal's 100th Anniversary? MD: As part of the centennial, we've restored thirteen titles on a full-film restoration basis, which is really unprecedented for any studio to restore that many titles in a one year period. It really demonstrates our commitment to our preserving our library. We've also done remastering on another twenty-thirty titles for Blu-ray. Some of those are titles for the 'Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection' and others. But these thirteen titles were all done on a film resolution basis. We've released some already, more that are our classic horror movies will be released in the Halloween timeframe and we also have some of Hitchcock's films as well. HDD: How does 'Vertigo' look? MD: 'Vertigo' will look great. You'll be excited to see it. HDD: What are some of your favorite restorations? MD: I think, as part of this year's thirteen, we worked on some classic titles. 'All Quiet on the Western Front' was a massive restoration.Posted Wed Aug 1, 2012 at 12:30 PM PDT by: -
'Killing Bono' Blu-ray Announced[teaser]The 2010 comedy is in the works for Blu-ray in August. [/teaser] In an announcement to retailers, Arc Entertainment has set 'Killing Bono' for Blu-ray on August 7. 'Killing Bono' is a rock n’ roll comedy about two Irish brothers struggling to forge their path through the 1980’s music scene… whilst the meteoric rise to fame of their old school pals U2 only serves to cast them deeper into the shadows. Specs and supplements have yet to be revealed, but suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $20.99. You can find the latest specs for 'Killing Bono' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under August 7.Posted Wed Aug 1, 2012 at 12:00 PM PDT by: -
'Red Lights' Dated for Blu-ray[teaser]The latest thriller from acclaimed filmmaker Rodrigo Cortés is bound for Blu-ray in October. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Millennium Media will be releasing 'Red Lights' on Blu-ray on October 2. Veteran paranormal researchers Dr. Margaret Matheson (Sigourney Weaver) and Tom Buckley (Cillian Murphy) debunk fraudulent claims of ghost whispering, faith healing and other psychic phenomena by detecting what Matheson calls ''red lights,'' the subtle tricks behind every staged supernatural occurrence. But when the legendary blind psychic Simon Silver (Robert De Niro) comes out of retirement after 30 years, his once-fearless adversary Matheson warns Buckley to back off, fearing reprisal from the powerful Silver. Determined to discredit Silver, Buckley and his star student (Elizabeth Olsen) use every tool at their disposal to uncover the truth behind the charismatic, spoon-bending, mind reader. But Buckley is forced to reexamine his own core beliefs as his quest builds to a mind-blowing conclusion in this taut psychological thriller from award-winning writer and Rodrigo Cortés ('Buried'). Specs and supplements haven't been revealed yet, but the suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $29.99. You can find the latest specs for 'Red Lights' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under October 2.Posted Wed Aug 1, 2012 at 10:00 AM PDT by:
