Monthly Archives: February 2007

Indiana Jones starts filming

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Indiana JonesThank God Harrison Ford is back.

I saw The Fugitive on TV last night and I realized how much I missed Harrison Ford. I almost wanted to go to Amazon and get the Indy trilogy (again, this time as DVDs).

Anyway, personal drama aside, Fox News reports that production on Indiana Jones 4 commences on June 18. The script is done but I’m not sure about the cast. None of the actors on the IMDB roster appear to be more than rumors at this point: Natalie Portman, Shia LeBeouf, Sean Connery, John Rhys-Davies, and Karen Allen.

The movie will release probably in 2008. From a certain (cynical) perspective, it seems this year is the year of the Threes (Shrek 3, Spiderman 3, Pirates 3) and 2008 could be the year of the Fours (Rambo 4 expected in early 2008).

Peter Jackson blacklisted

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Peter Jackson blacklistedThis is a clear indication that you can’t have everything. Peter Jackson lost 80 pounds, won an Oscar, but apparently New Line has blacklisted him because of his request to audit their accounting practices with regard to the LoTR trilogy.

Not to be 100% single-sided, here’s what New Line had to say about the row:

He got a quarter of a billion dollars paid to him so far, justifiably, according to contract, completely right, and this guy, who already has received a quarter of a billion dollars, turns around without wanting to have a discussion with us and sues us and refuses to discuss it unless we just give in to his plan. I don’t want to work with that guy anymore. Why would I? So the answer is he will never make any movie with New Line Cinema again while I’m still working for the company

Instead of getting personal as well, Peter Jackson countered with:

Fundamentally, our legal action is about holding New Line to its contractual obligations and promises. It is regrettable that Bob has chosen to make it personal. I have always had the highest respect and affection for Bob and other senior management at New Line and continue to do so.”

Nice. I’ve always thought that the one who keeps his head cool wins.

Basil Poledouris RIP

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Conan composer - Basil PoledourisI was going through a Conan fan site today when I saw “Basil Poledouris 1945 – 2006″. Such a loss!

The amazing thing is that I brought Conan’s soundtrack to work today. It’s one of my favorite pieces of music. It’s also one of the best original soundtracks (nominated for Oscar).

If you haven’t listened to it, I urge you to do so. You’ll immediately recognize some of the tracks. For example, Riders of Doom has also been used repeatedly in trailers for The Legend of Zelda series of games by Nintendo. The Anvil of Crom appears on a Gladiator trailer and others. Here’s a snippet from an “independent” review:

Basil Poledouris has written one of the year’s best scores for one of the year’s most wretched films, Conan the Barbarian. Whatever Poledouris saw when he scored this film is a wonder… The score is handsome, strikingly original and, wonder of wonders, sensitive and often convincing in spite of the film’s ghastly stupidity. This is a ceremonial work but is in its own way also concerned with joy. What is celebrated in Poledouris’ ode is nothing less than a triumph over pain and despair, with music of deeply felt certitude. The drama of Poledouris’ sensibilities is not laid on externally, but rises unselfconsciously and drawn to fable scale.

I specifically recommend the following tracks:

  • “Anvil of Crom”
  • “Riddle of Steel” / “Riders of Doom”
  • “Wheel of Pain”
  • “The Kitchen” / “The Orgy”

Blu-ray marches on

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Everyone (and their grandma) is predicting a demise for Blu-ray and hence Sony and even the Playstation 3. It’s been just over two months since Blu-ray’s premiere and these “format” wars are not decided in a day. If wars were decided in a day (or a month), Hitler would’ve taken both Russia and the UK (extrapolating his early successes).

HD DVD experienced a surge around Christmas when studios supporting it released more titles than the Blu-ray camp. The situation has changed a bit. While Universal is silent about upcoming HD DVD titles, the Blu-ray camp churns new titles.

Looking at the release lists, Blu-ray studios are going to release MORE movies in February than HD DVD released in 2006. I’m not eager to announce them winners just yet. These guys should’ve settled their difference a long time ago anyway. Sometimes it’s the consumer who’s the best judge of a format but the HD media doesn’t come particularly cheap as to allow open experimentation.

Sony FX7 and the new CMOS sensor

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When I compared Sony FX7 to Sony FX1, I didn’t know what to make of the new CMOS sensor.


In the past, CMOS sensors were only used in single-CMOS, low-end camcorders like the Sony Hc1 or HC3. As far as I know, there were practically NO advantages to using CMOS over CCD.

Things might have changed with the new generation of CMOS sensors from Sony. Just take a look at the graphic below.

Sony FX7 CMOS sensor

Apart from the 45 degree angle of the pixel layout, Sony claims the new ClearVid CMOS chips have a new processor which interpolates the 960×1080 pixels of each CMOS to achieve “full 1080p” (i.e. 1920x1080p).

Normally, interpolation is looked upon because it implies smearing and artefacts (just check out your digital zoom). Sony, however, claims that the new CMOS setup actually results in more detail and less smear and has this pic to prove it.

Sony FX7 CMOS sensor

As you can see, there’s a lot more detail in the brick wall. There’s also improvements in the way the new CMOS sensor reduces smear/flair and improves the dynamic range (see below).

Sony FX7 CMOS sensor

I eagerly expect another camera shootout that will validate (or not) Sony’s claims as this could mean a radical shift from CCDs to CMOS sensors for high-end cameras as well (e.g. Sony V1U).