CatBus

rodneyfaile said:

I just thought I would have a conversation with a few people knowledgeable about the subject. I didn’t know it was already talked about and was to never to be brought up again. I thought people here would enjoy talking about it.

Bleh. Just answer the question. If there are follow-ups, start a new thread.

Harmy: Blu-ray footage of trilogy despecialized using film elements, etc. The quality you’d expect from a Blu-ray restoration, some (usually unnoticeable) SE elements still present. Complete trilogy available.

Verta/Legacy: Professional restoration of Star Wars from multiple Technicolor prints. Not available to the public. An attempt to archive the film legally for the benefit of future generations.

Whatever Negative1 is calling himself this week (4K77 and whatnot): Scans of faded theatrical prints of Star Wars and Empire (Jedi eventually?), color-corrected. Star Wars and Empire available, looks more like it did in theatres, no SE elements (except maybe individual frames for GOUT-syncing?), but not the sort of quality you’d expect from a Blu-ray restoration (print source vs negative source, and the prints aren’t in pristine condition). Works well with Harmy’s Grindhouse release of Jedi.

And don’t forget Poita – like Negative1 but with Verta’s professional resources, but nothing available just yet 😉 And Puggo – 16mm prints just as lo-fi as they ought to be, Jedi still pending (any day now, Puggo!).

How low have we fallen when USA Effing Today has an investigative reporting scoop?

Over the last 12 months, about 70% of buyers of Trump properties were limited liability companies – corporate entities that allow people to purchase property without revealing all of the owners’ names. That compares with about 4% of buyers in the two years before.

Because simply staying at one of his hotels doesn’t shift quite enough of your cash into his pockets to get real leverage, and sometimes paper trails can be such a hassle.

Wonder which paper won’t be found in Trump hotels real soon now? That is, assuming it hadn’t already been replaced with the print edition of InfoWars.

Simply not answering any questions from reporters achieves the same thing, without the nasty PR of officially restricting access. Even better, they could still answer questions, but only from friendly outlets like Breitbart and the National Enquirer. Sorry, only have so much time for questions, guys! Maybe you’ll get your chance next time! *snicker*

Mocata said:

George isn’t going to last forever… I can’t believe anyone would think it won’t ever happen.

The second I can buy a new copy of the Narnia series numbered in the correct order, I’ll start entertaining the possibility. But C.S. Lewis has been dead for 50 years, and fans still can’t get what they want (although they are admittedly way easier to despecialize, and decades-old correctly-numbered versions aren’t inferior in any way, so the analogy only goes so far). Publishers and studios may fight authorial control tooth and nail in the production stage, but once they have a hit on their hands, they are incredibly deferential to the perceived desires of the perceived creator. C.S. Lewis made a comment in a private letter humoring an enthusiastic fan and that had an impact 50 years past his death (and counting). Why would an unwavering, obnoxiously loud public 20-year (and counting) campaign by Lucas and his sycophants have less impact?

It will happen, though. When the copyright expires and anyone is free to do it–and not a second earlier.

crissrudd4554 said:

Theoretically speaking what sounds like it’ll profit more even if by a fraction?? A 4K release with only the SE or a 4K release with both cuts??

From 1997:

Theoretically speaking what sounds like it’ll profit more even if by a fraction?? A DVD release with only the SE or a DVD release with both cuts??

From 2011:

Theoretically speaking what sounds like it’ll profit more even if by a fraction?? A Blu-ray release with only the SE or a Blu-ray release with both cuts??

It’s always made market sense. It’s made market sense for twenty years. But it makes a little less sense every year, as fewer people even remember the Star Wars trilogy. What’s stopping it has nothing to do with profitability. It’s deference to Lucas’ ego.

Besides they did a half-assed run at the dual DVD release with the GOUT’s DVD SE/Laserdisc OOT set. The relative unpopularity of that set will likely sabotage the projected sales numbers should this ever reach the beancounter stage, because nobody will admit they did a crap job.

TV’s Frink said:

Is he an idiot because it makes him look even more guilty, or brilliant because nothing he does matters?

Not a brilliant guy, just a connected guy. In every sense of the phrase.

TV’s Frink said:

CatBus said:

We’re already in a handbasket

I just heard that NBC will air Megyn Kelly interviewing Alex Jones. What the fuck?

As Fox implodes, they’re leaving behind a whole lot of viewers who like their news heavy on unsubstantiated racist conspiracy theories. Enter MSNBC, picking up the slack. When the cable news demographic skews heavily toward angry white grandpas anyway, they’re just following the money. Maybe soon we’ll have three or four cable news outlets fighting for the worst-possible-news-outlet crown! Oh, wait…

LOZ Ocarina was a dance craze about twenty years back.

Dale a tu cuerpo alegria Ocarina
Que tu cuerpo es pa’ darle alegria y cosa buena
Dale a tu cuerpo alegria, Ocarina
LOZ Ocarina

We’re already in a handbasket, and look where we’re heading.

A federal judge in Florida has granted bail to a self-professed neo-Nazi who was taken into custody last month by police who discovered bomb-making materials, weapons and ammo in the his Tampa apartment, reports Fox 13.

Federal Judge Thomas McCoun granted bond for 21-year-old Brandon Russell on Friday, stating there was no clear and convincing evidence “the defendant represents a threat to any person or community.”

According to the police who took Russell into custody, they discovered the weapons and materials used for making bombs in Russell’s garage and that he had a framed picture of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh on his dresser. Police also state they discovered Nazi and white supremacist literature on Russell’s computer.

Investigators report that Russell, a member of the Florida National Guard, admitted that he is a Nazi sympathizer and that he previously had created explosives.

Whether the judge’s rationale behind granting bail makes any sense at all depends on how you define the word “person”.

oojason said:

‘Trump travel ban suffers new court defeat’…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40252724

And yet after who knows how many many times the courts have plainly called it out as such, the headline still refuses to call it the Muslim ban that it is. They lose in the courts, but they still control the headlines.

PM sent.

oojason said:

I hope he runs again - or at least someone like him…

Unlikely–there’s nobody like him in the Democratic Party anymore (there used to be plenty–in the 1940’s), and third-party runs are for people with far larger egos than him. And he’s done, which is a shame. My guess is the Dems will stop going further and further right, which is something, and run more of a centrist candidate next time. I’m thinking Kamala Harris in 2020. A liberal, I’m afraid, would be too much to ask.

oojason said:

and a lot more to Theresa May’s friends than that, sadly…

Turns out you’ve got a case of the Trumps too. If Penicillin doesn’t clear it up soon, you have our condolences.

Found this image in oojason’s links that pretty much sums up the DUP (aka the Orange Order) for Americans:

And what is it with the color orange anyway? We’ve got an orange guy here too.

Just read up on the DUP. Not sure any situation that increases their power can be considered a good thing. Hope their alliance with the Tories proves fragile, or at least ineffectual.

Please explain the implications of all this to some people here who would rather focus on anyone else’s government right now, but don’t know how to interpret it.

My favorite part:

nevertheless President Trump persisted

Yes, with nothing except control of the House, Senate, Supreme Court, and the Executive Branch of the US government and a majority of state governments (and the assistance of some foreign intelligence services) to help him along, he struggles on. His repeated failure in the face of such overwhelming odds just adds nobility to his cause.

The conservative cult of victimhood still manages to astonish me sometimes. I expect them to run on the “shake things up in Washington” platform with a complete lack of irony in 2018.

TV’s Frink said:

Alderaan said:

Fang Zei said:

Mocata said:

If they are not doing anything right now, I don’t see how 2020 is a realistic date.

It’s simple, they don’t want to do anything other than reissuing the 2011 discs until the rights are back in their hands (with the previously noted exception of ANH, which will never be back in their hands anyway).

This is all nonsense. Releasing a new set has nothing to do with distribution rights. If that were the case, Disney would pull all copies off the shelves and just wait until 2020 to sell anything. They wouldn’t be selling the Blurays AT ALL.

Just like what happened with VHS, DVD, and Bluray, they will wait until the next technology becomes widely adopted by consumers, and then they will issue a new set with an updated master. For obvious reasons, that will most likely be after the ST is completed, so they can issue a 4k set of all the movies.

When they do issue the 4K set…3 years from now, 5 years from now, etc…it will be the SE version if it is left up to Kennedy and LFL, which it likely will be. The only way to get an official OOT release is for their bosses at Disney to order them to make it happen. The only way their bosses at Disney would ever do that is if you, the fans, call it to their attention and force them to do so. Most likely with your wallet.

Ah, so I see you’ve given up your “it will never ever ever ever ever happen no matter what ever” stance despite no new news. Interesting.

He just loaned it to me and I’m terrible about giving stuff back.

Meanwhile in the UK… uh, holy crap what is going on over there?

If neither Labour nor the Tories can form a government without including the LibDems or the SNP… what the crap does that mean?!? Would a Labour/Tory government even be in the cards? Would a minority government even be feasible?

I actually have a gut feeling it’s fantastic news, but that’s probably only because I don’t quite have a firm grasp on UK politics or how the system works there.

SilverWook said:

CatBus said:

rodneyfaile said:

I think the matter is just dead.

The matter has survived for 30 years on nothing more than fumes and wishful thinking. I think you underestimate the matter’s will to live.

I think you mean 20 years?

D’oh! Not in my time zone, apparently!

EDIT: Drat that Frink! Foiled again!

rodneyfaile said:

I think the matter is just dead.

The matter has survived for 30 years on nothing more than fumes and wishful thinking. I think you underestimate the matter’s will to live.

Speaking of Gunga Din, over in the House it looks like Trey “Lol” Gowdy is now in charge of the House Oversight Committee. It’s an important committee, with several important areas of oversight, including but not limited to:

• Who is leaking all this classified fake untrue news to the press?
• If Trump could be a tree, what sort of tree would he be? Would he be even more magnificent than he already is?
• How can we stop Obama’s shadow government from destroying America?
• Do we all get a chance to pee on his hugeness?*
• Where does Trump get all those fabulous ties? Should everyone wear their ties long, or should that be a luxury reserved for especially wonderful people?
• Benghazi, or e-mail, or Pizzagate, or something. Maybe Vince Foster.

* I’m actually interested in the outcome of this particular investigation.

yhwx said:

Anybody here know what the hell McCain was talking about?

I think he was talking about TrumpEmailPresidentComeyArgleBargleGhaziRussiaClintonFakeNewsOffMyLawn-Gate.

Basically I think McCain perfectly encapsulated the GOP’s latest talking points in their most concise and coherent form. Not that these talking points were always entirely relevant to the testimony, or reality.

Is McCain the Gunga Din of the Senate or what? That man can still carry water in the most perilous of situations.

TV’s Frink said:

Ok, we’re through the looking glass here people.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/north-korea-blasts-trump-silly-ignorant-paris-accord/story?id=47898345

Short-sighted, silly, selfish, and dangerous.

That’s how President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord is being described – but not by the European leaders who urged Trump to stay in the agreement or the Pacific island nations that are demanding action as rising sea levels threaten their coastlines.

Those are the words of North Korea.

The regime in Pyongyang issued a scorching statement through its official news agency KCNA on Tuesday, blasting Trump’s decision that, it said, comes “at the cost of the entire planet.”

“The selfish act of the U.S. does not only have grave consequences for the international efforts to protect the environment, but poses great danger to other areas as well,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The statement goes on to criticize Trump’s “America first” foreign policy, and calls the withdrawal, “the height of egoism and moral vacuum seeking only their own well-being … a short-sighted and silly decision ignorant of the fact that the protection of the global environment is in their own interests.”

While the White House has refused to say whether or not Trump believes that climate change is real, Kim Jong Un’s regime makes clear its position.

“Global warming is one of the gravest challenges the humankind is facing today,” it said.

I don’t know what’s more disturbing, the lack of North Korean references to “running dogs”, “supreme leadership”, “cesspool of evils”, and “super-mighty strikes”…

…or the fact that I’m now more likely to see ridiculous language like this in a certain twitter feed than in official statements from North Korea. Except with worse spelling and punctuation abuse as well.