No digital release for Christopher Nolan's Interstellar?

It's no secret that Christopher Nolan is a die-hard film-guy. Few directors have spoken out as strongly and as consistently as Nolan on the subject.

His love for celluloid extends into post production as well, where he forgoes the industry-standard digital intermediate/digital color grading for the classical photochemical grading. In fact, if you saw The Dark Knight Rises in certain IMAX theaters (LA and New York, I believe), you were seeing prints struck directly from the the IMAX camera negative.

Christopher Nolan's newest film, Interstellar, will be no different. But could Nolan be drawing a line with distribution, as well? From Interstellar's press release:

HOLLYWOOD, CA (August 13, 2013) – Paramount Pictures, a division of Viacom, Inc., and Warner Bros. Pictures announced today that principal photography on “INTERSTELLAR” is officially underway in Alberta, Canada. The film will be released in IMAX® and 35mm theaters on November 7, 2014.

Perhaps this is reading into things, but it sounds like Interstellar could be a film-only release, showing in IMAX and 35mm, but not digitally.

If that's the case, it could mean a sort of backwards George Lucas/Star Wars affair - where Lucas required theaters meet certain sound and picture specs in order to show the Star Wars films. This brings up questions; namely, how many theaters will there be left projecting 35mm in 2014? Would a studio even allow a film-only release? Aren't most IMAX theaters projecting digitally, anyway? Time will tell if this is just an oddly-worded press release or if there's more to it.

I can't help but think of an interview with director Rian Johnson in regard to his film, Looper. He talked about the process where the colorist plays the finished film in different formats for the director's approval. First, they projected the film digitally, then they projected a first-generation film print. Johnson's reaction to the film print was "Oh wow, that looks like a movie". Then they played a film print one more generation removed; his reaction was, "This looks like a living, breathing thing up on the screen. This is like what I grew up watching and this is my favorite version of it, actually". Maybe there is something special about film projection.

Paramount's Press Release
Interview with Rian Johnson

7 Thoughts on Star Wars: Episode VII

7 Thoughts on J.J. Abrams and Star Wars: Episode VII

The J.J. Abrams-Star Wars connection was foretold as early as 1977

1. One thing is for sure now, whether Episode VII is a good Star Wars film or not, it'll be an entertaining movie. We won't have to leave the theater making believe we had fun.

2. A side note: Abrams has already made a Star movie with R2D2 in it.

R2D2 in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek

3. J.J. Abrams isn't all-powerful on this project. Star Wars is Kathleen Kennedy's baby now, and we shouldn't forget that. Everything needs to be viewed through that lens. You can pretty well assume that J.J. Abrams won't have final cut on this film. Abrams knew full well the kind of partnership he was getting into with this deal; he's working under the auspices of Kathleen Kennedy.

4. It's a different writer than J.J. Abrams has ever worked with. It's not Kurtzman and Orci and it's not Abrams, it's Michael Arndt. And FWIW,  Arndt was probably working on the screenplay a while before Abrams was ever involved. While Arndt and Abrams will surely collaborate, Arndt works for Kathleen Kennedy, not Abrams.

By the way, these are good things - collaboration and oversight. This was probably George Lucas' greatest sin - becoming so successful that he didn't have to listen to anyone else.

5. Abrams is hugely nostalgic about the original Star Wars trilogy, I mean, big time. Think about it, he was 10, 13, and 16-years-old when the original three Star Wars films were released. He's probably more nostalgic about the Star Wars films than George Lucas is and arguably has more respect for the original trilogy than Lucas does.

6. I don't think Star Wars: Episode VII will be full of lens flares. Abrams knows what film he's making.

7. It's likely that Episode VII will be shot on film. Abrams has never shot a film digitally and I doubt Star Wars will be his first. And, with Abrams' use of IMAX film on Star Trek Into Darkness, it's possible we'll see the same for Episode VII. How cool would that be?

Apple Pie

I baked an Apple pie for Thanksgiving

Thoughts on the iPad

Just got through watching the iPad introduction keynote; some initial thoughts:

What If I want a web browser with extensions - ad blocking, etc.?

Do I really want a mid-sized device where applications have to be approved by Apple?

What if I want to use MS word?

Do eBooks really look better than on a kindle?

Watching a 2-hour movie on this would be tiresome since I have to hold it in my hands.

1 GHz A4 sounds like 1 GHz G4.

What if I want to use a different e-mail client?

How long before it's jailbroken?

It's safe to say my iBook is obsolete since Apple named an app iBooks.

I think my mom would like this.

Let me know when it's like $299.

Apple Tablet Revealed!

I've obtained a prototype casing from the much-rumored Apple Tablet. See the video:

Grad school meets The Mighty Ducks

I did an online search for Michigan universities that have any kind of film degree. Some of the major state schools, such as Michigan State University (Go Spartans!) and the University of Michigan do NOT have any kind of real film program.

Central Michigan does, however. In looking over the graduate program's courses, I ran across this:

An entire course about hockey movies? Do they sit around and watch The Mighty Ducks trilogy?

Link to the document

Watch documentaries for free

VERY cool: Documentaries go free online

The short story - watch documentaries for free online at snagfilms.com

Free Music: Leeland

I couldn't believe it, a free song with no gimmicks; I didn't have to sign up for anything. Just go to http://leelandonline.com/oppositeway/ or click here for a direct link

Michigan wins over Texas film

Drew Barrymore's film starring Ellen Page, "Whip It", was set to be shot entirely in Austin, TX - that is, until Michigan came along...

My friend won an Emmy

My friend, David Fry won a regional Emmy for his producing/editing. This is him accepting the award (he's the second one to speak).


The 45th Annual Northwest Regional EMMY Awards from David Fry on Vimeo.

Who is Roderick Jaynes?

Do you know who Roderick Jaynes is? Neither did I - until today.

He caught my attention when I noticed him on Entertainment Weekly's "50 Smartest People in Hollywood". Most of the people on the list are producers, directors, actors, but there was an editor on the list - Roderick Jaynes.

So, I looked him up and found that...

1. He's been nominated for two film editing Oscars (Fargo and No Country for Old Men) and,

2. He's not a real person. Roderick Jaynes is the pseudonym of Joel and Ethan Coen as editors.

What would happen if he should win an Oscar? Perhaps the bigger news is that the Coen brothers are a bit odder than previously thought.

Of note: Other fake people have been nominated for Oscars

Robot is really, really smart, but not really

I love stuff like this... The headline reads "Robot conducts Detroit Symphony!" Then I read the actual article which essentially says:

1. It's not really conducting the symphony, and

2. It's not really very smart and can't respond in simple ways humans can

Yay for progress

Avid's new strategy

Avid (video editing software) recently announced "new thinking" and shift in 2008 strategy, complete with a new website: www.avid.com/we-are-listening.

I guess www.avid.com/we-aren't-listening wasn't working so well.

Speed-Rater

I was watching the latest speed racer trailer on apple.com and I thought to myself, too bad this movie is rated PG-13 because this movie looks perfect for younger boys. It's like hot-wheels on a hollywood budget.

Lo and behold, somewhere along the way, they changed the rating from PG-13 to PG - a smart move, I might add. If you look on the Speed Racer trailer page, the rating still says PG-13.
Be careful of movies that have been converted from PG-13 to PG (or from R to PG-13 for that matter); they tend to push the ratings envelope a bit and have odd traces of mature subject matter.

Free Music: Coldplay

Everyone loves free music; it's like a free T-shirt for the ears (even if you don't like it you are compelled to take it because it's free).

Starting tomorrow (Tuesday) for 7 days only, Coldplay will be giving away their new single, Violet Hill

http://www.coldplay.com/song.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7370808.stm

Music as a commodity/the magic of ownership

Have you heard of this? The thought of making music a commodity. The ideas is that you pay a bill every month whichallows you to download and share whatever music you want. Apple is currently negotiating a subscription service with record labels that do just that.

I've been thinking about this. Doesn't the art that we own say something about us? For example, if you were to take a look at my DVD collection, you would see a variety of films that I have purposefully acquired and been given. I have everything from Spider Man to Koyaanasqatsi to Citizen Kane to Singin' in the Rain. I have big hollywood films, smaller films, and documentaries. I take pride in my collection and I like what it says about me. However, if everyone had access to whatever movie or music they wanted, some of that magic of ownership would be lost. What do you think?