HD Tagged Articles at Cinematical

AEG and Action 3D are betting on music lovers that will want to catch their favorite performers in a movie theater -- on the screen, that is. According to Variety, the two companies have already been getting footage from different festivals for their limited-run, 3D-only concert movies, which will be offered in a similar manner as U2 3D. The first series of movies will be footage of concerts from Dave Matthews (yay?), Relentless7, Ben Harper, and Gogol Bordello. The only group that sounds like it would wow music fans in 3D is Gogol Bordello, a gypsy punk band known for their outrageous live shows and songs like "Start Wearing Purple."

However, AEG is also behind the recent release of Michael Jackson's film This is It, along with Sony, which has made $186 million worldwide so far. While concert movies with built-in audiences like the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds have been similarly successful, I'm not convinced that semi-random concert series will really put bottoms in seats. And for all you Phishheads, AEG has apparently already "filmed several 3D live sets of Phish from Festival 8 in Indio, Calif., in late October. According to [John Rubey, president of Network Live, a division of AEG Live], the company plans to roll out 'best of' edition from Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits as followups to the Matthews feature in 2010." So get your Birks and tie-dye ready to jam out, man!

I think it's a cool idea to offer people the chance to see their favorite bands up close and personal if they can't see them live, but there isn't anything to rival the actual live experience. Granted, you're not usually that close to the stage and some jerk just spilled beer on your shoes and someone else is singing along to every song and/or shouting "WOO!" in your ear, but that's all part of the concert experience, right?

I guess it was because I grew up with Michael Caine as the star of such fantastic flicks as Jaws: The Revenge and Blame it on Rio that it took me awhile until I really understood why everyone thought he was such a genius. For me, the revelation came about 10 minutes into Sleuth, by far one his best performances. Guardian reports that two of Caine's early works are getting the HD treatment. In honor of Caine's upcoming 75th birthday, Zulu and The Italian Job will be re-mastered and aired on Britain's Sky Movies for television.

Released in 1964, Zulu was the story of outnumbered British soldiers battling Zulu warriors at Rorke's Drift. This was Caine's first starring role in the true-life story (albeit with some creative license) as Lt. Gonville Bromhead. The Italian Job is the more famous of the two films. Peter Collinson's caper about a plan to steal Turin gold starred Caine as master thief Charlie Croker. It was another iconic role for Caine, who was already the epitome of Swingin' London. It also led him to some his most famous roles in the 1970's including Get Carter and Sleuth.

Expect to see a lot of retrospectives in the coming year as Hollywood continues to reformat their back catalogs for HD. For movie lovers it comes as a relief that these classics are being preserved for future generations. According to Sky Movies' Ian Lewis: "Watching a classic title re-mastered in HD is like viewing a restored painting." Luckily, Caine was a little more pragmatic about some of the downsides of HD resolution: "I love HD ... of course, it's very unforgiving, especially on young beautiful ladies, but thank God I'm old, I don't care."

While most movie theater chains have been more interested in wooing audiences with material amenities like concession variety or a "Guest Response System," Landmark Theatres has been working on delivering the best picture quality to its customers. This week the art-house chain opens its latest theater in Los Angeles' Westside Pavillion, and the cinema is noteworthy because it is offering the city its first (public) taste of 4K digital projection. Landmark already has 4K projectors, specifically Sony's SXRD, in locations around the country, despite the fact that most content is only digitally available with 2K resolution.

While I'm no expert on digital projection, here is what I understand about the difference between 2K and 4K resolution (aided by Jette's post about digital restoration): 2K is the current standard for both digital cameras and digital projectors. The amount of (picture) information offered by 2K is less than the amount of information offered by film and film prints. 4K offers twice as much information as 2K and it more sufficiently represents the quality of film. While 4K cameras are currently available, most digital features are shot with 2K cameras and most features shot on film are digitally scanned using 2K scanners. So why is it so important for Landmark to have overqualified projectors?

Landmark is co-owned and co-run by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban, the duo that also operates HDNet (and HDNet Films and HDNet Movies). Through HDNet, Wagner/Cuban is currently producing 4K content, which they will be able to distribute to their 4K projectors, as well as to non-theatrical 4K media (like Blu-Ray, HD DVD and HD television, presumably). Cuban also points out that they are simply preparing for when 4K content becomes more common. For now, though, Landmark patrons will only be able to appreciate 4K resolution in the form of pre-show materials provided by Sony. If Wagner and Cuban are smart (which they certainly are), they will also hit up Warner Bros. for newly restored 4K versions of Blade Runner, Cool Hand Luke and Bonnie and Clyde to screen as part of their midnight movies selection.

Once again, when it comes to James Cameron, it cannot just be about making a movie it's about pioneering technology. Firstlook.net spoke with Michael Biehn during the L.A. junket for Grindhouse and he spoke about Cameron's Avatar and his possible involvement in the project. Biehn told Firstlook, "I've read the script, it's like Lawrence of Arabia in space. That's what you're looking at." Biehn's casting would make the film a reunion of sorts since Ryan gave us the news back in February that Sigourney Weaver had signed for the film. But Biehn has still not confirmed whether there will be role for him in the film.

Biehn also hinted that some of the technology behind the project would blow audiences away, saying, "Jim basically was talking to me about the technology of shooting this stuff and he said to me, 'Well, we don't really use a camera, Michael. We're not talking about film, we're not talking about HD... We don't use a camera.' -- but, unfortunately there was not much more info on what that really entails. Cameron is known for his technological advancements in The Abyss and Titanic, I for one am curious to see what he has planned this time. Cinematical was also at the Grindhouse junket, just in a different room -- our coverage is coming, as soon as we can type it all up.

[Thanks to Alex at Firstshowing.net]