Home Theater United

Episode 47

December 21, 2023, 2023 6:00 PM EST

Re-Introducing Brian Dobbs, founding cohost and cohost emeritus of Home Theater United and new Documentarian with his film Blue Planet Red - 

• Intro by Sam: Welcome back Brian!  You have been busy moving cross country and back and now have your first film under your belt!  Blue Planet Red is on sites like Vimeo and purchaseable as an honest to goodness self authored Blu-Ray.  Tell us as much as you can without spoiling Blue Planet Red
• What the heck sent you down this path?
• How has the initial reaction been?  How hard has it been to build an audience? Sam Loves it!
• Tell us about working with Swarm
• You had a model shoot in the desert for the film, with amazing drone photography.  Uh, whaaaat?
• The scientists are real characters.  Were you expecting that?
• Are you going to film festivals? Trying to get it on Netflix or other streaming services in the future?
• What was your production like? Did you do everything yourself? Tell us about the tech specs of the bluray
• How can our viewers watch it? 
• What’s next for you?
• Anything else you would like to talk about or promote?
• Quick Good Bad and Ugly

Background info:

https://blueplanetred.net/

https://twitter.com/BrianCoryDobbs/status/1737642166967746642

Vimeo

vimeo.com/ondemand/blueplanetred…

Blu-ray

/blueplanetred.net/store

Two-Page Summary 

//blueplanetred.net/store

Website

/blueplanetred.net

Quick Good Bad and Ugly:

Sam - Barbie

Brian - The Eternals

What movies do you consider to be Hidden Gems?  Join host Sam Posten and guests Todd Erwin, John Rice and Josh Steinberg as they highlight 3 movies each which they feel deserve wider exposure and acclaim than what they got theatrically or on home video.

Sam:

The mist
Antebellum
Inside man

Todd:

Solo: A Star Wars Story
Ghostbusters: Answer the Call 
Grand Canyon

Josh:

Rope

Tomorrowland

Sunshine

John:

A Monster Calls
Paper Towns
Never Let Me Go

Plus we play a new game: "Know what's mad? That I have never seen THIS movie" and a whole new (not really!) Good Bad and Ugly!

The show returns after a 6 month break! We are BACK, baby!

Todd Erwin joins us once again to talk about his picks for best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, focusing on TVs and other Home Theater gear.

Plus Todd announces the launch of his own new show, coming soon on Youtube!

ANDDDDDD we will have cohost emeritus Brian Dobbs back soon to talk about his new feature length documentary, Red Planet Blue!

Home Theater United

Episode 44

March 6, 2023, 2023 7:30 PM EST

Introducing immersive recording artist and storyteller Brent Watkins

Introducing Brent Watkins a musician focusing on immersive audio experiences 

• Intro by Sam: Welcome Brent, you bill yourself as an immersive recording artist and congrats on the launch of your website and second album!  What does the focus on immersive music mean to you and what kind of music are you creating? 
• With Apple’s new focus on Atmos it seems like a major shift has occurred. Previously artists wanted front heavy experiences mimicking a stage performance and now they want the listener to be in the middle of the storm. Do you think this is sustainable and is the new normal?
• The example I use is Tom Sawyer where you literally hear the drums in a 360 experience.  Besides your own work, what are your favorite immersive music experiences?
• Are you 100% self produced, do you have other artists joining you in your work?
• You recently built a dual purpose home recording studio and home theater! That sounds amazing, what can you tell us about how you built that and what kind of gear you are using?
• The barrier to entry designing immersive music continues to fall down.  What does your workflow look like? How hard / expensive is it for a new artist to move from stereo to build their first tracks?
• Is Atmos mastering something you can ‘add at the end’ or do you think you need to think about the room for every track from its inception now?
• How do you manage folks listening to stereo vs immersive headphones versus full 7.1.4 home theaters?
• You also produced two documentaries!  What can you tell us about them and how folks can find them?
• You do all this on your own time while working full time.  How do you juggle it all?
• What would you like to see in the next evolution of sound technology (ie atmos) or music production?
• Anything else you would like to talk about or promote?
• Quick Good Bad and Ugly

Quick Good Bad and Ugly:

Sam - The Fabelmans

Brent - A.I. 2001

Home Theater United

Episode 43

February 20, 2023 7:30 PM EST

Introducing the HTU Budget Challenge #1 - (Target time about  1h but will go as long as is fun):

• Intro by Sam: Welcome two Todds, two Johns, two Rices and a Sam.
• Round Table Discussion
  • What is the budget challenge?
    • Who was invited to participate
    • Who can participate following the show?
    • What are the rules?
  • Budget 1k
  • Budget 5k
  • Unlimited Budget
  • Anything else you guys would like to talk about or promote?
• Quick Good Bad and Ugly

Quick Good Bad and Ugly:

Sam - Licorice Pizza

Todd Rice - Elvis

Todd Erwin - Empire of Light

John Rice - The fallout

John Philips - Beowulf

Director and Producer (and Editor!) Bryan Storkel from SideStilt Films

Meeting up with Bryan Storkel from SideStilt Films:

• Intro by sam: Welcome Bryan Storkel.
• Interview:
  • You bill yourself as both producer and director here plus you do editing too.  How do you juggle so many hats? Are you the lead writer on these as well? 
  • What’s your origin story in the industry, did you graduate from making shorts? 
  • PEZ Outlaw just landed on Netflix (and is available to buy on all major stores)!  What can you tell us a bit about that project and your role on it? How in the world did that come to your attention? I watched it last night and it’s got a lot of heart.
  • Woah, IMDB says your “Legend of Cocaine Island” documentary is being transformed into a movie with Will Ferrell? Is that true?  What’s the current status on that? Is this your first foray into commercial features?  How excited are you to jump to features?
  • Are you a home theater guy yourself?  What’s your setup like?  How about movie theater viewing? Got a favorite local spot?
  • What’s up next for you career wise and./or for your studio?
  • What else in your background should folks dig into? That doc on Christian card counters sounds wild and has gone into my “to watch” list. You seem to have a foot into the sports documentary world too.
  • Anything else you’d like to talk about or promote?

Meeting up with HTF’s Brian Ralston and Director Chris Chan Lee from Silent River:

• Intro by sam: Meet Brian Ralston and Chris Chan Lee
• Interview Qs:
  • Brian: What can you tell us about your work on Silent River
  • Chris: The film is out on digital to buy now.  How has the reaction been from audiences?  What was the film’s journey to getting made?  Is there a disk for those who don’t do digital?
  • Brian: The music in SR is very unique yet has a lot of stings that reminded me of 70s horror films.  What was your inspiration for the soundtrack?
  • Chris: this is your fourth film.  How has the progression been going?
  • Brian: Can you tell us about the Atmos authoring process and releasing the soundtrack in Atmos?
  • Chris: a few of the reviews I have read call it very Lynchian.  What’s your take on that?
  • Brian: Having heard the final LOTR on Prime I still think your ideas would have been wonderful.  Can you enjoy the show with that in your history?  What was your take on the musical?
  • Chris: I’m intrigued by the role of the stranger.  Can you give us some insight into some of his motivations?
  • Brian: Can you tell us about your podcast?  What about your own home theater?
  • Chris: you are both screenwriter and director here, how was it managing both hats?
  • Brian: What’s up next?
  • Chris: What’s up next, both for Silent River and yourself?  Will we see SR on something like Prime or Netflix?

Good Bad Or Ugly?

Sam - Infernal Affairs

Brian - Jasmine

Chris - Everything Everywhere All At Once

Sam sits down with HTF and HTU regular guest Todd Erwin to preview the deals and don'ts for Home Theater gear and media coming up this week for Black Friday 2022.

Home Theater United

Episode 39

September 19, 2022 6:30 PM EST

What’s cooking at Warner Archive (Target time about  1h):

• Intro by sam: Who is Mr. George Feltenstein? What’s his history with Warner?
• He’s been a great friend to HTF over the years and we’d love to visit with him again =) THANKS to Ronald Episode for bringing Mr. Feltenstein to the show!
• So big changes with Warner Archive moving from Time Warner to The new Warner Brothers Discovery, what can you tell us about this transition? 
• Adam Lenhart wonders if the sale is having effects on preservation.  How has the role of film preservation changed?  What’s the latest on it?  Is new technology helping it, or making it more economical?  
• Is Warner going “Streaming first”?  Is there a way to say what has priority between theatrical, streaming, digital ownership and physical media?  Are DVDs dead? Is MoD dead? Do you think streaming has good and well killed movies on demand?
• So… given the big changes and now 13 years in… what does the future of the warner archive collection look like? GF : I will address this
• It seems like everything is merging together into one of 2-3 big companies, yet there’s 18 different streaming services.  How do you see this shaking out? 
• How are you feeling about the future of actual movie theaters?  Can they survive? 
• What’s been recently announced that you are most excited about?

HTF questions:

• Jim Bur: THANKS for great 2020-2021 releases! Especially technicolor stuff 
• Roland L and many many others: Anything in the pipe in 3d? 
• Silent films?
• Angelo Columbus: Next year is the 100th anniversary!  Big plans? & Robert Crawford: I would like to ask him if next year’s Warner’s Centennial celebration will include titles across the different studio releases now under Warner control. Will there be a mixture of Warner, MGM, RKO and Goldwyn titles coming out on physical media in 2023, to celebrate 100 years of Warner?
• Ricard M S: Have there been any recent "unexpected" discoveries of film elements/missing footage in the vaults that are being incorporated into upcoming blu-ray release? particularly interested in the still-unreleased complete MATA HARI. 
• Battlebeast and others Any best picture winners in the pipe?  Do they tend to be given priority? 
• Rafael Piress: Any chance of getting back to 5-7 releases a month?
• SWFF: plans for more horror and/or SciFi flicks, and, maybe, more Hammer Films?
• JC Riesenbeck and others: Any chance of A Summer Place? (Sam notes this was his parents first date movie he thinks!) 
• Lots of folks asking about TV shows, Sam Favate wants to know about Babylon 5 
• Lots of folks interested in more classic animation, 80s forever notes the hints were for lots of animation in 2022,  Delayed or off the table?  GF: I will address
• Stephen J H how about collabs with cartoon network? 
• Deepscan: Any collaborations with Criterion, like maybe an ultimate Superman set GF: I will address
• Arthur Powell: Anything happening on the silent film front (Greed, The Crowd, The Wind, The Student Prince of Old Heidelberg, The Fire Brigade, So This Is Paris, the 1924 version of Captain Blood, etc.)? 
• Mark-P: The Opposite Sex Blu-ray having mono sound will ever be corrected and a replacement program initiated? Robert Harris made the following comment over a year and a half ago and nothing has come of it. 
• Xochipill: anything for fans of 70mm like Ryan's Daughter and Cheyenne Autumn?
• Keith Cobby: Any update on the hinted on Three Little Words? 
• Keith also asks Updates to 4k for big Blus like North By Northwest? Or are those not as important with great blurays already out 
• Mark Brown Ask what is Warner's position on using Perspecta on MGM titles?

Specific Titles:

Larry P: Any plans for the Warner-owned Abbott and Costello films? These are the last A&C holdouts for blu-ray. Also, how about some more love for Lucy? - more RKO and of course "The Long, Long Trailer". A complete restoration of TV's Adventures of Superman would be amazing. Oh, and Gilligan needs to be rescued from DVD and onto Blu!

Duke Togo: Will WAC/Warner have access to the restoration work that Second Sight is doing with The Hitcher in the UK?  WAC has about 200 Golden Harvest titles. Any updates on when we might see any in the line? 

Joel Arnt: Are more titles starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, ...

Mark Mayes Gone with the Wind in 4k?  (Sam asks has GWTW survived its time in the barrel recently!) 

David Weiker Captain Blood 

Astairefan: Any golden age musicals in the pipeline? Especially Astaire / Rogers films. 

Lots of folks asked about Northwest Passage or Raintree County.  Is raintree still problematic as reported in the past?

Stephen JH: Cartoon Network collab ?

Travelling Man: more Marx Brothers ?

Owen 35: hanna barbar?

Klaus: The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) 

Home Theater United

Episode 38 July 11, 2022 7:30 PM EST

Streaming Frustrations 2022 with Todd Erwin

Reconnection (5m or less):

• Amazon Prime day tonight at 12 midnight.  Does Todd think the $120 Apple TV is a good deal or the best deal of all time? Pretty Awesome! - Best Buy is price matching that, 64Gb is $140, Roku Ultra $80, StreamStick 4K $30 (both are Roku sales, not Prime Day)
• The adventures of Terrific Man! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuwa8vtOgB44qnnKovNDvysB_FmKQH0AG

Streaming Frustrations 2022 (Target time about  1h):

• Playstation removing content from paid customers lockers?!?!
• Lionsgate supports iTunes with unbearable weight.  One off from a specific licensee or part of a long term shift?
• Why hasn’t movies anywhere expanded?
• Doctor stranger’s picture quality thread.  
• Vudu/FandangoNow library merger
• Paramount+ (and HBO Max) HDR issue on Roku (both are now resolved)
• Disney+ and Netflix to add new lower cost ad-supported tiers
• Sony's inconsistency on HDR and Atmos across digital retailers
• Sony's content deal with both Netflix and Disney+/Hulu
• Content reverting back to studio-owned streaming after this year
• Best Streaming devices

Shout out to Spare Change talking the same subject tonight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmH32zZitZw

Quick Good Bad and Ugly:

Sam - RRR

Todd - Cinderella (2021)

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/cinderella-2021-blu-ray-review/

Episode 37

June 27, 2022 7:30 PM EST

New and returning hobbyists

Todd Rice

Dave Hahn

Reconnection:

• Sam’s new toy: Rodecaster 2 - Robot Voices and spoiler alert
• Mini G2 review: HGIG is still broken but movies and HDR10 gaming are glorious

New and returning hobbyists:

• Where are you at with your current build?  How long have you been assembling it?  
• Dave: What’s different in your current build from where your last one was at? You thought your last one would be the ultimate build and get you 10-20 years.  What changed your thinking?
• What do you wish someone had told you about home theater before you began?  What are you still investigating? What do you wish the industry did a better job of explaining?
• What's got you jazzed about 2022 displays, and what other tech are you adding?  Is Atmos on your radar?
• Are projectors part of your investigation? Are TVs big enough for you or do you desire and have room for bigger screens?  
• Have we reached saturation and maturity on display tech?  Are you into HDR?  Have you experienced it yet? Are retail vendors able to demo it well for you?
• Do you read and participate on other forums besides HTF?  Are you on AVS or Bluray.com?
• Got an opinion on physical media vs streaming / buying digitally?  Is it “And” or “Or” for you?
• Where are you buying media?  Are sites like the HTF’s WRU or HDDN’s bargain hunting useful to you?
• Are you a movie goer?  Have you returned post pandemic?
• What do you see as the biggest home theater issues that most users are facing?  It’s 2022 and we are still using one way (ie dumb) RF tech to try to coordinate all our components.  How has nobody fixed this?  CAN anyone ever fix it?
• Have you dealt with multiple HDMI and USB standards?  Are they as big a mess as Sam thinks it is?

Quick Good Bad and Ugly:

Sam - In the heat of the night

Todd - Measure of a Man

Dave - The Contractor