New Guy and hi...and a few questions

[jmgarciaiii <jmgarciaiii@yahoo.com>]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com, GulPlum <hp at p...> wrote:
> Welcome aboard, Joe!

Why, TY.

> None, beyond all references to "Sorcerer's Stone" in dialogue and 
visuals, 
> both in the film and throughout the DVD menu system appearing as 
> "Philosopher's Stone" (each mention was filmed twice).

That's what I thought. It seemed very, very odd the Canadian version 
would have a SPANISH language track. (Quebecois Spanish must be a, 
er, sight to behold.)
 
> >What differences exist (BESIDES aspect ratio) between the 4:3 &
> >(nominally?) 16:9 PS/SS releases?
> 
> None. To see a comparison of some sequences to see how they look 
visually, 
> see a web page which has been mentioned several times on this 
group, and 
> quite recently as well: http://plum.cream.org/HP/dvd.htm (as it 
happens, I 
> am the author of that page, but that's irrelevant). :-)

Hmm. Neat how you did that. :-) I might just get the cheap-o eBay 
version of the 4:3 Canadian film to satisfy my own curiosity, but I 
generally like viewing films as the director intended. Even in the 
event a 4:3 image has more visual information and the "letterbox" is 
achieved via masking, sometimes the UNmasking can have dire 
consequences (anybody who has seen the "bicycle chain gag" ruined in 
_PeeWee's Big Adventure_ will know what I mean).
 
> This has been rumoured ("hoped for" would probably be closer to 
the mark) 
> ever since it was released, but to my knowledge, nobody involved 
in the 
> production has ever expressed any intention of releasing a special 
edition. 
> This means that it probably won't happen. My own view is that if 
the 
> production team ever *do* decide to release any kind of expanded 
edition, 
> it probably won't be until all seven movies have been released, as 
part of 
> a boxed set.

Ah excellent, something to eagerly await in...say...2011.
 
> In fact, I doubt that there's much material available that we've 
not seen 
> yet in one form or another. I suspect that we've seen all the 
deleted 
> scenes we're ever going to see, so the only biggie would be a 
blooper reel 
> - however, as blooper reels are generally rarer than gold-dust as 
a DVD 
> extra (actors VERY rarely give permission to be shown at anything 
but their 
> best and I know of only a tiny number of DVDs which have ever 
offered 
> out-takes), that's unlikely as well. A further extra might be some 
kind of 
> featurette on the SFX, but again I suspect that we won't see 
anything like 
> that for a long, long time. Columbus is on record as saying that 
he doesn't 
> want to "dispel all the magic".
 
> The only really plausible extra to come is a director's/actors' 
commentary. 
> I'd certainly appreciate one. Actually, the one I'd really like is 
a 
> scriptwriter's commentary as I'd like to hear Kloves justify some 
of his 
> lame changes (anyone who's read my contributions on this list over 
the last 
> year or so will know that overall, I DON'T LIKE WHAT KLOVES HAS 
DONE). :-)
> 
> In other words, my advice is don't hold your breath waiting for a 
special 
> edition of PS/SS, or indeed CoS. :-)

I'd like to see a commentary track as well, in addition to the 
Peeves sequences (assuming these were actually shot and are not 
merely apocryphal lore) and the 7 deleted scenes edited IN, not 
standing alone...forlorn and out of context.

> P.S. We have a widescreen TV in our home theater so 4:3 movies
> >REALLY bug my kids. :-)
> 
>  From what I understand, that's quite untypical. :-)

Well, they are silly that way, complaining of grey bars at the sides 
and whining and moaning about not seeing "all" there is to see. Why 
they don't understand that Daddy is a Home Theatre geek (as well as 
a cinematic geek) is beyond me. FWIW, SS/PS looks absolutely 
brilliant in progressive scan on a suitable TV. 

-Joe in SoFla