From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V9 #60 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Thursday, March 9 2000 Volume 09 : Number 060 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Penultimate XTC concert [steve ] Re: hard to please [Jeremy Mathews ] Check out Number 100 [steve ] Re: "Louise, is the Reverend hard to please?" "You're telling me!" [Eb ] acute PAF proof ["Stewart C. Russell" ] Pet Peeve (was Re: a full week late, and $4.50 more...) [Christopher Gros] Paf! lost in translation ["Scott Hunter McCleary" ] Widescreen vs. P'n'S [mrrunion@palmnet.net] Re: Widescreen vs. P'n'S [Aaron Mandel ] even more musing on A Star For Bram [Andrew Wright ] Re: FW: pet sounds [Eb ] Re: FW: pet sounds ["Paul Christian Glenn" ] Re: FW: pet sounds ["Paul Christian Glenn" ] Re: FW: pet sounds ["Jason R. Thornton" ] Re: Royalties all over the world [MARKEEFE@aol.com] Re: Widescreen vs. P'n'S [Tom Clark ] Re: Widescreen vs. P'n'S [Capuchin ] VHS Hitchcock? ["Joel Mullins" ] radio, me [Natalie Jacobs ] eb all over the world ["FukStik 2000" ] Under the flag of Spain [digja611@student.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan)] Re: Re: Widescreen vs. P'n'S [Jeremy Mathews ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2000 23:24:38 -0600 From: steve Subject: Penultimate XTC concert http://www.underworld.net/kevin/xtc/ The sound is none too good, but it's of interest if you ever wondered what they sounded like. - - Steve _______________ We're all Jesus, Buddha, and the Wizard of Oz! - Andy Partridge ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 01:29:07 -0500 From: Jeremy Mathews Subject: Re: hard to please > Well, Demme's prominence didn't get the film shown in theaters, did it? > > > Eb > Exactly. Therefore many diehard Demme fans never saw it, and as Demme fans would indeed be more inclined to buy it if it was displayed as he made it. It is also cheaper and less time consuming to letterbox than to pan and scan. People have every right to dislike the situation. I sent MGM letters explaining this simple market logic long before the DVD was released, but revceived no reply. People should have bad reactions and write letters whenever 3/4 to 1/2 of the movie they're trying to watch is cut. Although comparing it to colorizing Double Indemnity is a bit much - Altman's Nashville has never been released in its scope format, and due to the condition and location of existing prints, may never be. This stuff happens all the time. Anyway, my point was that sales from Demme's prominence would be aided by a widescreen edition and MGM does this all the time. It must be their mission to ruin film, first by destroying Buster Keaton and the Marx Brothers, then by releasing bad transers and/or cropped versions of acclaimed films. Getting madder, Jeremy Mathews ________________________________________________ Get your own "800" number - Free Free voicemail, fax, email, and a lot more http://www.ureach.com/reg/tag ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 00:56:59 -0600 From: steve Subject: Check out Number 100 http://www.forbes.com/tool/toolbox/celeb100/html/celeb2000_pr91.htm As heard on the BBC. - - Steve _______________ We're all Jesus, Buddha, and the Wizard of Oz! - Andy Partridge ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2000 23:29:50 -0800 From: Eb Subject: Re: "Louise, is the Reverend hard to please?" "You're telling me!" Jeremy spoke: >Therefore many diehard Demme fans never saw it, and as >Demme fans would indeed be more inclined to buy it if it was >displayed as he made it. Well, that's certainly the idealistic view, yes.... Meanwhile, back on Earth, I'm wondering just how many hardcore Jonathan Demme scholars there are in the world. And out of those, how many would be rabid to own the DVD of a no-budget concert film starring an unpopular performer, which -- so I gather -- has almost no directing style at all, beyond its conscious *lack* of style? And is the number of these appreciative Demme scholars really greater than the number of people who routinely shun letterboxed film presentations? I'm guessing no, judging from how rarely letterboxed films are shown on television (which is not to say that I don't prefer letterboxing, myself). Dumb question, which never seems to get answered: Can one just rent a *videocassette* of the damn thing? Because that's where I'm focusing my own attention.... Eb, trying out Eudora 4.3 and not at all sure he likes it ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Mar 2000 11:49:54 +0000 From: "Stewart C. Russell" Subject: a full week late, and $4.50 more... A Star for Bram arrived today, minus any of the useful/interesting bumf that comes with from the US museum. I like it; I'm only on my second listen so far. I suppose we in the UK deserve the delay, worry and expense over this CD over the way we treat Mardi Gras; instead of a day of all-out partying, we fry up some batter and east it with lemon juice and sugar (not syrup). Anyone here submit the CD to CDDB? Some of the titles are wrong -- all the leading 'The's are missing. Hope my corrected submission to freedb works. Of course, since I'm not using a commercial CDDB player, CDDB won't take corrections from me; notwithstanding that the CDDB spec was originally created by Ti Kan for xmcd... Stewart (A Star for a different Bram: my new and frankly unusual mode of transport was designed by a Bram, Bram Moens of M5 Recumbent Cycles: http://www.m5-ligfietsen.com/english/2620.htm It's kind of odd hurtling around a few inches off the ground.) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 07:03:23 -0500 From: Ethyl Ketone Subject: Feg Dreaming Dream: I was in Santa Barbara visiting a friend and discussing the fact that we both were teaching English as a Second language to business clients. We were talking about the books we were having them read. I went outside and began going on these short flights around Santa Barbara, visiting my old haunts and flying low over the beaches. Then I went to a party where one of my students, a chinese woman, was enjoying herself immensley. There was loud noises coming from the front room. She came out of that room and sat on the couch with me and my ESL colleague. He began to question her as she seemed quite intoxicated. She was laughing and telling him how much fun she was having. He got quite upset and said "But these people are all drinking shots of Hitchcock* and singing his songs." I listened in earnest and realized I could hear many voices in unison singing Globe of Frogs (seems Mark Gloster was the loudest but I distincly heard Bayard as well) and realized I was in the wrong place. I got off the couch and was heading into the room with the song and drink. My colleague began yelling at me. *There was some special liquer or mixed drink called "Hitchcock" that one drank as a shot of vodka or something. I seemed to know all about it in the dream. The side effect is that it made everyone positiviely giddy... Had to share, - - carrie "Questions are a burden for others. Answers are a prison for oneself." **************************************************************************** C. J. Galbraith Ketone Press meketone@ix.netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Mar 2000 12:18:13 +0000 From: "Stewart C. Russell" Subject: acute PAF proof I think the French have it: there's a very clear acute above the 'e' of éditions. Easy to miss amongst the other bits on the background, but once you've seen it, there's no going back. Stewart ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 07:52:29 -0500 (EST) From: Christopher Gross Subject: Pet Peeve (was Re: a full week late, and $4.50 more...) On Wed, 8 Mar 2000, Stewart C. Russell wrote: > Anyone here submit the CD to CDDB? Some of the titles are wrong -- all > the leading 'The's are missing. Hope my corrected submission to freedb > works. Hmph! I feel your pain, brother. A few months ago I was thrilled by CDDB and later freedb. Then I started noticing that a large fraction -- like 50% -- of all the entries that I downloaded had errors in them. There were typos galore, misspellings, all-lower-case entries, and just really dumb mistakes. (For example, I remember a double CD where *both* discs were labelled "disc 2.") Being cranky and irritable, I found the constant errors so annoying that I spent almost as much time editing them as I would have if I just typed in everything myself. Why don't these people take a moment to proofread? Their work will be seen by thousands of people, after all. It's not like they're just spewing out to a mailing list where anything goes. - --Cranky Chris ______________________________________________________________________ Christopher Gross On the Internet, nobody knows I'm a dog. chrisg@gwu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 05:44:46 -0800 From: "Scott Hunter McCleary" Subject: Paf! lost in translation I'm suprised one of you pop historians hasn't mentioned that Paf! was the heavily Jacques Brell-influenced band George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley formed in the late '70s while living in Paris. The pair toiled in obscurity for several years, often playing for the lit Gauloises passers-by would flick at them. Their discovery of an old Hall and Oates disk at an open-air market one day in 1982 took the duo in a completely new creative direction. Inspired, they packed it in and moved back to Britain where -- after the six months it took them to finish translating the lyrics to <> -- they were somewhat better received. - ---------------- Sent from a WebBox - http://www.webbox.com FREE Web based Email, Files, Bookmarks, Calendar, People and Great Ways to Share them with Others! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 07:07:52 -0800 From: mrrunion@palmnet.net Subject: Widescreen vs. P'n'S And the debate rages on... Preface: While I am an avid fan of widescreen presentation and rarely purchase standard versions, especially if I have a choice between the two, I also realize there is a bit of a resolution/clarity issue here, isn't there? When viewed on any video monitor, loss of vertical height means loss of lines of resolution. So, to my reasoning, it's not simply a question of seeing 100% of the original image vs. 50-75% of the image, but also is there benefit to increased clarity of the "center" of the image. Body Proper: I've read that Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" is only being released in standard format. I was shocked by this, but then read the mysterious phrase..."Stanley Kubrick's preferred format". What does this mean exactly? The movie certainly wasn't 4:3 or whatever in the theaters. I know "2001" is widescreen only on DVD...not sure about the others. Has Kubrick publicly denounced widescreen format on television in the past? Weird. On to "Storefront". Sam Sutherland's editorial review on Amazon.com states "For DVD and VHS, Demme has opted for a full-frame transfer that actually makes sense in terms of sustaining this intimacy." So, at least according to this, standard format was Demme's choice. Eh, who knows. Two viewings of the Storefront DVD so far have led me to pleasantly tolerating, if not outright liking, the full-screen presentation. Mike (who instantly clicked widescreen before watching "The Big Lebowski" last night. Shut the fuck up, Donnie!) Runion - ----- Sent using MailStart.com ( http://MailStart.Com/welcome.html ) The FREE way to access your mailbox via any web browser, anywhere! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 11:54:43 -0500 (EST) From: Aaron Mandel Subject: Re: Widescreen vs. P'n'S On Wed, 8 Mar 2000 mrrunion@palmnet.net wrote: > On to "Storefront". Sam Sutherland's editorial review on Amazon.com > states "For DVD and VHS, Demme has opted for a full-frame transfer > that actually makes sense in terms of sustaining this intimacy." this is the only explanation that makes sense yet. fine, demme and robyn are both cult artists. it is still, if i understand correctly, *easier* to just slap down a widescreen transfer than it is to make a full-screen version. what i was originally afraid of was that the studio had spent time on a full-screen transfer because they were just waiting for that big mainstream breakthrough whose failure to occur has consterned a variety of record company people over time. and since Storefront (which i still haven't seen) DOES sound like a niche product, it would be bad for anyone to pin their hopes on that, as opposed to robyn's major role in the upcoming Harrison Ford vehicle. aaron ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 08:53:51 -0800 (PST) From: Andrew Wright Subject: even more musing on A Star For Bram Damn. My parents' cd player is skipping...Bram came to my house just in time to accompany me on a very long trip through some very boring places. So I've listened to it enough times to do a track-by-track: Daisy Bomb-- Pleasant and perky enough. Kind of fun to sing. When I played it for Robert in Arkansas, it made him laugh. I kind of wish it weren't the first song on the album, but I like it. Nick Drake-- I still don't get it, but I like listening to it. It kind of pulls back the energy of Daisy. Adoration-- A nice song to bounce around to. Somehow I remember it being much crunchier in Ferndale. I like the part about bumper to bumper. 1974-- Eeeeeeeenteresting. I'd never been too overwhelmed by the Storefront version, and this one seems more like something they would be wearing funny wigs while they played it. I Wish I Used To Say I Liked You, part one-- Skip button! The first line of the blues is always sung two times I said the first line of the blues is always sung two times You sing it twice so you can find a way to make it rhyme Nietzsche-- This is a squirmy little song. I think I like it. I think I might figure out what it means by 2008. The Philosophers' Stone-- This track is really bitchin'. Just a tiny bit hypnotic. The Green Boy-- This is an oasis of cool water in a hot album. No, that's not quite it. It's the least pop song on the album, and it makes me think of Robyn's comment on _Spectre_ about "The Arms of Love," how it didn't rush from chord to chord. Jesus and Me-- THE reason to buy this CD. Catchy, but thought-provoking. I can't get over this song. Dubwoman-- I like it. Then again, I'm into that crazy stuff. I wish I used to say I liked you, part two-- or is it part three? At any rate, this gives my skip button a little more exercise. The underneath-- A nice crunchy end to the album. Deee-licious. Overall, I think it's a great disc. It just might surpass Sophia in my list of favorites. It comes across as very unified for an outtakes album, which is something you can't really say about _Oblivion_. The man in breeches leans against the wall in Nebraska, 'drew __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Mar 2000 13:12:57 -0800 From: "Jason R. Thornton" Subject: FW: pet sounds This was just posted on the E6 list. I wonder if it's true. >---------- > > >Wilson to take 'Pet Sounds' on road > > Brian Wilson will be taking his "Pet Sounds" out on the road for a summer >tour. > > Rolling Stone reports the Beach Boys' leader will spend the summer on the >road with an orchestra performing his classic album -- something Wilson >didn't even do back in 1966 when the album was released. > > The reclusive musician abandoned touring with the Beach Boys in order to >focus on working in the studio on music for the group, and while the Beach >Boys subsequently toured to support "Pet Sounds" -- an album now considered >a classic -- Wilson stayed home at the time. > > Wilson's summer set will include "Pet Sounds" performed in its entirety, as >well as a set of other Beach Boys hits. > > "Brian had such a good time on the road last year that he decided to go out >again, but wanted to do something a little different," his publicist Ronnie >Lippin told Rolling Stone. > > "A symphony orchestra only enriches the work, and with it the possibilities >are staggering." > > As previously reported, Wilson is recording shows being held April 7 and 8 >at Los Angeles' Roxy Theatre. The results will be available exclusively >through his website. > >-- JAM! Music - --Jason "here's hoping MP3.com dies the painful death it deserves" Thornton "Only the few know the sweetness of the twisted apples." - Sherwood Anderson ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 13:19:55 -0800 From: Eb Subject: Re: FW: pet sounds >>This was just posted on the E6 list. I wonder if it's true. I saw this story posted somewhere else, for what it's worth. Then again, we're fresh off that McCartney-tribute hoax.... >> As previously reported, Wilson is recording shows being held April 7 and 8 >>at Los Angeles' Roxy Theatre. The results will be available exclusively >>through his website. This baffles me. Judging from the concert I saw, the *last* thing Brian should do is release a live album. Eb, now marvelling at how deadly listless the Departure Lounge album is PS I like the new Eels album quite a bit...the best release I've heard from this young year, so far. It's not so fussy about cutesy samples and production tricks -- that's a relief to me. It may not sell much, however. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 15:22:43 -0600 From: "Paul Christian Glenn" Subject: Re: FW: pet sounds > Eb, now marvelling at how deadly listless the Departure Lounge album is "Out of Here"? I was just telling someone yesterday that it was the best musical investment I've made all year. :P Paul Christian Glenn pcg@mailandnews.com Eon Chamber http://eonchamber.virtualave.net Currently Reading: "Shadow Song" by Terry Kay ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 15:25:25 -0600 From: "Paul Christian Glenn" Subject: Re: FW: pet sounds Afresh from all my time-travelling escapades, I wrote: > "Out of Here"? I was just telling someone yesterday > that it was the best musical investment I've made all > year. :P I, uh, meant *last* year. Paul Christian Glenn pcg@mailandnews.com Eon Chamber http://eonchamber.virtualave.net Currently Reading: "Shadow Song" by Terry Kay ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Mar 2000 13:30:08 -0800 From: "Jason R. Thornton" Subject: Re: FW: pet sounds At 01:19 PM 3/8/00 -0800, Eb wrote: >>>This was just posted on the E6 list. I wonder if it's true. > >I saw this story posted somewhere else, for what it's worth. Then again, >we're fresh off that McCartney-tribute hoax.... The following website: http://www.brianwilson.com/ is also making the same claim. Is this possibly an example of squatters purposefully making trouble? I can't imagine a "symphony orchestra" fitting into the Roxy. - --Jason "Eudora 4.3 has MORE cut-n-paste bugs than 4.2.2" Thornton "Only the few know the sweetness of the twisted apples." - Sherwood Anderson ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 17:30:12 EST From: MARKEEFE@aol.com Subject: Re: Royalties all over the world In a message dated 3/6/00 2:35:44 PM Pacific Standard Time, jh3@winco.net writes: << Maybe that just means that WB insisted on retaining some rights to the material - in other words, on the off chance that some radio station starts playing songs from ASfB and that song takes off and gets enough listener requests, WB wants to be able to release it themselves. But knowing what we know about the music biz, it could easily mean that WB, not Robyn, had the CD's manufactured in the Czech Republic and then *took their entire cut off the top,* out of Robyn's cash account, presumably minus the royalties Robyn would have been paid for selling the entire press run (since he's handling the sales himself). That might explain the fact that the CD isn't filled up - WB might only have been willing to pay royalties on the standard 12 songs. >> A couple of months ago, I got a 2-track promo single from my Warner rep that "I Saw Nick Drake" and "I Wish I Liked You" on it, which leads me to think that, even though it *seems* like we're buying this homespun little CD directly from Robyn, we're really just adding a few more bucks to Steve Case's piggy bank. - ------Michael K., back form Santa Fe! ps - I found a $1.99 used copy of the Keegan + Departure Lounge CD in a bin on the floor of Bow Wow Records in Albuquerque. Good album! :-) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 15:52:18 -0800 From: Tom Clark Subject: Re: Widescreen vs. P'n'S On 3/8/2000 7:07 AM, mrrunion@palmnet.net wrote: >Body Proper: I've read that Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" is only >being released in standard format. I was shocked by this, but >then read the mysterious phrase..."Stanley Kubrick's preferred >format". What does this mean exactly? The movie certainly wasn't >4:3 or whatever in the theaters. I know "2001" is widescreen >only on DVD...not sure about the others. Has Kubrick publicly >denounced widescreen format on television in the past? Weird. If you check out the technical details of Kubrick's films on imdb.com, you'll see that most of his stuff was filmed in 4:3. I dunno why... A friend of mine has the Kubrick DVD box set ("Lolita" through "Full Metal Jacket") and apparently there are notes about how the films were edited to fit European and American theater screens. - -tc ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 16:45:48 -0800 (PST) From: Capuchin Subject: Re: Widescreen vs. P'n'S On Wed, 8 Mar 2000, Tom Clark wrote: > On 3/8/2000 7:07 AM, mrrunion@palmnet.net wrote: > >Body Proper: I've read that Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" is only > >being released in standard format. I was shocked by this, but > >then read the mysterious phrase..."Stanley Kubrick's preferred > >format". What does this mean exactly? The movie certainly wasn't > >4:3 or whatever in the theaters. I know "2001" is widescreen > >only on DVD...not sure about the others. Has Kubrick publicly > >denounced widescreen format on television in the past? Weird. > If you check out the technical details of Kubrick's films on imdb.com, > you'll see that most of his stuff was filmed in 4:3. I dunno why... > A friend of mine has the Kubrick DVD box set ("Lolita" through "Full > Metal Jacket") and apparently there are notes about how the films were > edited to fit European and American theater screens. If you're using lenses that don't do funny distorting things (i.e. panavision or cinemascope), your shot's aspect ratio is that of the film itself. And the aspect ratio of thirty-five millimeter film is much closer to that of a television than any letterbox I've seen. I read that James Cameron shoots for the whole frame and crops top and bottom for the big screen, but the video releases show more. Could be that he crops top and bottom and then someone pan-n-scans the remaining frame for video. That'd be a shame. J. But man, oh man, does that new pan-n-scan Ghostbusters SUCK. The slides are nauseatingly smooth and mechanical. Blech. - -- ______________________________________________ J A Brelin Capuchin ______________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 13:58:33 -0800 From: "Joel Mullins" Subject: VHS Hitchcock? Someone posted a quote from Amazon.com saying that Storefront Hitchcock = had been released in both VHS and DVD, but I'm only finding the DVD for = sale. Has it been released on VHS? And if so, where can I get it? I = don't have a DVD player. Joel ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 21:46:23 -0500 (EST) From: Natalie Jacobs Subject: radio, me Sorry for short notice... I'm doing a show tomorrow from 12-3pm, if y'all want to tune in. It will provide a tuneful respite from your busy work day. www.wcbn.org (That's Eastern time as usual. Not Central. Central is for wusses.) n., now new, improved, and unemployed ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Mar 2000 18:44:33 PST From: "FukStik 2000" Subject: eb all over the world can i say that i don't really follow the logic of Lady Waters And The Hooded One? didja see where tipper gore promised some college crowd that if her husband were to get elected he'd "make the trains run on time"? makes me think we're living in a post-satire age. KEN "At least it proves Ron Wood can do something other than chopping out lines of coke!" THE KENSTER ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 16:48:50 +0100 From: digja611@student.otago.ac.nz (James Dignan) Subject: Under the flag of Spain The Great Quail cheeped: >James Dignan, what's with the flags? Are they real flags? Imaginary >flags? Computer flags? Little colored pieces of paper stuck to a >cocktail toothpick? Or have you never mentioned this at all, and just >started going on about flags, wondering which Feg would finally say, >"OK, I just have to ask...."? :) probably the latter. They're real flags. An old rotary clothesline in the back yard that was falling to bits got recycled and extended into a 15 foot flagpole, visible from much of South Dunedin. I have a collection of some 40 national & regional flags, all 900mm (3 foot) hoist length, which I change daily, sometimes to represent national holidays, sometimes just at my whim. Many of the flags are official, bought from various places around the world (or exchanged by email), others - the simpler ones - are hand made (I'm one of that 1% of males who can use a sewing machine). James (who has also been known to write cranky letters to editors from time to time...) nf - Madagascar. horizontally red over green, with a broad white stripe down the hoist. James Dignan___________________________________ You talk to me Deptmt of Psychology, Otago University As if from a distance ya zhivu v' 50 Norfolk Street And I reply. . . . . . . . . . Dunedin, New Zealand with impressions chosen from another time steam megaphone (03) 455-7807 (Brian Eno - "By this River") ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 02:18:27 -0500 From: Jeremy Mathews Subject: Re: Re: Widescreen vs. P'n'S ________________________________________________ Get your own "800" number - Free Free voicemail, fax, email, and a lot more http://www.ureach.com/reg/tag - ---- On Wed, 8 Mar 2000, Capuchin (capuchin@speakeasy.org) wrote: > > On Wed, 8 Mar 2000, Tom Clark wrote: > > On 3/8/2000 7:07 AM, mrrunion@palmnet.net wrote: > > >Body Proper: I've read that Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" is only > > >being released in standard format. I was shocked by this, but > > >then read the mysterious phrase..."Stanley Kubrick's preferred > > >format". What does this mean exactly? The movie certainly wasn't > > >4:3 or whatever in the theaters. I know "2001" is widescreen > > >only on DVD...not sure about the others. Has Kubrick publicly > > >denounced widescreen format on television in the past? Weird. > > If you check out the technical details of Kubrick's films on imdb.com, > > > you'll see that most of his stuff was filmed in 4:3. I dunno why... > > A friend of mine has the Kubrick DVD box set ("Lolita" through "Full > > Metal Jacket") and apparently there are notes about how the films were > > > edited to fit European and American theater screens. > > If you're using lenses that don't do funny distorting things (i.e. > panavision or cinemascope), your shot's aspect ratio is that of the film > itself. And the aspect ratio of thirty-five millimeter film is much > closer to that of a television than any letterbox I've seen. > > I read that James Cameron shoots for the whole frame and crops top and > bottom for the big screen, but the video releases show more. Could be > that he crops top and bottom and then someone pan-n-scans the remaining > frame for video. That'd be a shame. > > J. > > But man, oh man, does that new pan-n-scan Ghostbusters SUCK. The slides > are nauseatingly smooth and mechanical. Blech. Almost all theatrical releases are shot in 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 (anamorphic lense or, like 2001 but rare, 70mm). Kubrick shot his post video films in 1.66:1 because he didn't like the look of the bars on the top and bottom of the screen, or didn't think viewers would. He decided to shoot in 1.66 so it wouldn't be cropped too much when put into 1.33:1 for TV. Of course, wide screen TVs may become the new trend, and the current "standard" screen will have bars on the side. The only things you'll see in the theaters in 1.33:1 are certain documentaries and video or 16mm shot films like the Blair Witch project. As for Demme's decision, I think he should have offered both. While the wide shots don't lose much, the composition in some of the close-up shots is ruined. Besides, he could have just said that to avoid argument with MGM. I guess we'll never know. Leaving town tomorrow so replies will be a few days, Jeremy Mathews ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V9 #60 ******************************