Sony to Make and Release 4K Digital Films

Sony Pictures Entertainment will use 4K digital technology in the making of most of its filmed productions, Sony Electronics has announced.
"With the industry moving rapidly to embrace the improvement in quality that digital cinema can offer, we believe that 4K resolution gives audiences the best seat in the house," said Gary Martin, president of Production Administration and Studio Operations for Sony Pictures Entertainment. "That's why we will be making more of our filmed productions at full 4K resolution, scanning at 4K, using a 4K workflow process, and releasing a 4K DCP to theaters. The crisp and vibrant images provided by 4K are the only way to ensure that audiences both today and in the future will really be able to see the full range of what we can capture on film."
Sony Pictures has already released the summer blockbuster Hancock in 4K, with the motion picture grossing more than $600 million at the worldwide box office to date. Movies released in 4K can play in theaters with either 4K or 2K projectors. Among the next motion pictures to be digitally imaged in 4K by Sony Pictures, and available for 4K distribution, are expected to be 2012, Salt, and The Green Hornet, with more titles to be announced.
"This commitment from Sony Pictures continues the momentum that is building behind 4K," said Gary Johns, vice president, Digital Cinema Systems Division at Sony Electronics. "Exhibitors are realizing that 4K is a reality now, for enhancing their customers' experiences, and studio support is a critical element to take advantage of the superior resolution of Sony's 4K projection system. The growing number of 4K-equipped theaters will now have even more 4K content potentially available to offer their customers."

Big Screen, Big Problem?

If you are thinking of buying a big screen TV, you might think again on the basis of new work performed by a team of researchers at Scripps Institute of Oceanography at U.C. San Diego. Their study tried to estimate how much nitrogen trifluoride — a powerful greenhouse gas that is used in the manufacture of flat screen TVs — is in the atmosphere. The researchers’ findings indicate that it is at least four times more prevalent than previously estimated, according to a press release issued by the Institution.
Concerns were raised about nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) earlier this year in an article that was published in 'New Scientist' magazine. The article referred to work done by Professor Michael Prather from the University of California at Irvine. NF3 is considered to be 17,000 times more potent as a global warming agent than carbon dioxide on a molecule-for-molecule basis. It also survives in the atmosphere about five times longer than CO2. Don't panic if you ordered that 46-inch screen today, though. It is estimated that NF3 emissions currently contribute only about 0.04 percent of the total global warming effect contributed by current human-produced carbon dioxide emissions.
Of more concern is an increase in the production of NF3 to serve the consumer electronics market, including LCD TVs. Ironically news of the Scripps study was released on the same day as the announcement of a predicted increase in the market for NF3. A press release issued by Global Industry Analysts, Inc., a market research firm, says that the world nitrogen trifluoride market "is projected to reach 19.5 thousand metric tons by the year 2012." One of the main factors cited for this increase is a growing demand for LCD applications.
"Semiconductors end-use market represents the largest and the most mature application area for nitrogen trifluoride, accounting for over 45% share estimated in 2008," the release says. "Demand for nitrogen trifluoride from the LCDs end-use market, is forecast to display robust growth at a projected CAGR of 13.8% over the period 2011-2015 and surpass semiconductor industry demand by 2012."
Recent statements coming out of Panasonic, the world's largest consumer-electronics maker, are indicative of the strength of the market for flat-screen TVs. Sales of these products won't be hurt by the slowing economy because consumers tend to give them priority over other purchases, a spokesman for the company is quoted as saying on Bloomberg.com. According to that same site, sales of flat-screen TVs have helped Panasonic increase profits 86% in the first quarter of the year and the company is planning to open new flat-screen factories in the next two years in a bid to increase U.S. sales. However, sales growth of products such as flat-screen televisions is expected to be slower this year than last, according to Steve Baker, an industry analyst for NPD Group. In another article on Bloomberg.com, Baker is cited as saying that sales will rise by about three percent, compared with a rise of around 4.5 percent a year ago.
Previously it was thought that the amount of NF3 in the atmosphere in 2006 was less than 1,200 metric tons. The Scripps researchers estimate that the actual amount present two years ago was closer to 4,200 metric tons. The research also indicates that the amount of NF3 in the atmosphere this year is about 5,400, which is about 28.6% percent higher than the amount estimated for 2006. According to the news release, the quantity of NF3 in the atmosphere is increasing at about 11 percent per year.
The Scripps team analyzed air samples gathered over the past 30 years, working in association with the NASA-funded Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) network of ground-based atmosphere stations. The researchers found that concentrations of the gas rose from about 0.02 parts per trillion in 1978 to 0.454 parts per trillion in 2008. The samples also showed significantly higher concentrations of NF3 in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere, which the researchers said is consistent with its use predominantly in Northern Hemisphere countries. The current observed rate of increase of NF3 in the atmosphere corresponds to emissions of about 16 percent of the amount of the gas produced globally.
NF3 is not currently covered under the Kyoto Protocol because information has been lacking on its potential impact on global warming. Scientists are now recommending that it be added to the list of greenhouse gases regulated by Kyoto.The complete press release from the Scripps Institution can be found here.The complete press release from Global Industry Analysts, Inc. is here.

Randy Quaid’s Felonious Flight Comes to an End

Whatever happened to Randy Quaid? The Oscar-nominated actor — known for such films asBrokeback Mountain, Independence Day and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation — has gone off the rails in recent years, running afoul of the law in incidents ripped straight from the pages of Bizzaroworld.
Most recently, arrest warrants were issued for the couple after they reportedly failed to show up for a court hearing in Santa Barbara, Calif., on allegations they were squatting in the guest house of a Montecito home they once owned in the 1990s. Quaid's 47-year-old wife Evi was also charged with resisting arrest.
Last month, the couple were released from a West Texas jail after being arrested for allegedly skipping out on a $10,000 California hotel bill.
It seems their flight has finally come to an end in Vancouver, where both were arrested Friday on outstanding warrants from the United States.
They were scheduled to appear at a detention-review hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board on Friday afternoon.
According to the Vancouver Sun, Vancouver police got a call for assistance on Thursday and while checking the identities of a man and woman, learned they were wanted on outstanding warrants.
Vancouver police turned the couple over to the Canada Border Services Agency.
Meanwhile, Duane Chapman — better known as Dog the Bounty Hunter — had been warning Quaid that he was going to track the actor down and bring him to justice. "I hope Randy Quaid and his wife are watching right now," Chapman said the Lopez Tonight show on Thursday.
"We're announcing he has the chance to call authorities and turn himself in—and at least do it for your wife and for how you were raised. If not, the Chapman family is coming after you."
Chapman said it was time for him to intervene in Quaid's life and try to set him on the straight and narrow.
"There's something going on in his life. You know him and I know him too. He's not the same guy, so we need to do an intervention, Dog style."
It's nice to know that Quaid has a humanitarian in his corner. Meanwhile, something tells us that the Quaids won't be skipping again anytime soon.
We're betting a movie-of-the-week is already in the works.

What has Monalisa got up her sleeve?

If the gist reaching the ears of Society Plus has a good stink to it the estranged Nollywood top actress and Glo ambassador, Monalisa Chinda’s lonely nights may just be coming to an end.
That is, if she’s not already wallowing in it already. Before you start running your mind rag, this is not about her publicised Henry guy, who many felt was ample enough to soothe the pains left by her ex, Dejo Richard, this is a new guy on the block who happens to be in the trade too.
The gist is that Monalisa has got a thing for this matinee dude, called Joseph Benjamin, who got his big break as a sidekick presenter on MTN Project Fame West Africa Season II.
This guy who now features on a soap ‘Tinsel’ running on Dstv is said to be in with the actress on a more than business tango unlike the “Tango With Me” flick he shot with Genevieve Nnaji. The word is that these two are running like rug rats and might already be doing what the minks do.
The public got a hint of what might have been brewing between this two when they were all over each other at the launch of ‘Jara’ an Mnet television flick to showcase the behind-the-scene lifestyle of Nollywood stars.
Both Monalisa and Joseph could not just live it down as they snuggled and giggled, nestling so close together all evening.

5 best Brad Pitt performances

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Choosing Brad Pitt's five best performances was tough, but getting a chance to look back on his career was a joy.
Ever since his breakout role as the sexy and mysterious drifter J.D. in "Thelma & Louise" (1991), Pitt has repeatedly proven that he's so much more than just a pretty face. He's shown a knack for choosing meaty, intelligent films and working with the most respected directors, which has allowed him to explore every facet of his versatile talent.
This week he stars in "Moneyball" as Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane, a role that lets him be both charismatic and vulnerable. It's some of his best work; here are five other examples:
— "Fight Club" (1999): The first rule of Brad Pitt is, it's impossible not to talk about Brad Pitt. He's larger than life here, mythological almost, as Tyler Durden, the leader of the secret fight club and the key to Edward Norton's salvation — or so he initially thinks. Sinewy and swaggering, Pitt radiates sexy masculinity in an almost primal way. The fact that he also challenges the men who follow him on emotional and psychological levels makes him not just charismatic but downright frightening. This is one of several films Pitt has made with director David Fincher — and you might put "Se7en" or "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" on your list of his top performances — but this is the one that stands out most for me.
— "The Tree of Life" (2011): Between this and "Moneyball," Pitt is having a pretty great year. But the performances come in two films that couldn't be more different. Terrence Malick's hypnotic meditation on family, memory and the origin of life itself is full of mesmerizing imagery. But it also allowed Pitt to do some of the best work of his career as a husband and father of three in 1950s Texas. Pitt makes the character an intimidating figure, a capricious mix of toughness and tenderness. His actions may seem questionable, even abusive at times, but you get the sense that he's questioning, struggling, trying to figure out how to be the best man he can be without abandoning his traditional notions of manhood.
— "Inglourious Basterds" (2009): He's pretty much doing a bad impression of George W. Bush here — campy but irresistible — and it is always such a joy to watch him let go and goof off. Pitt tops a tremendous ensemble cast in Quentin Tarantino's daring, revisionist World War II saga as the twangy Tennessean Lt. Aldo Raine. He's the leader of a band of Jewish American soldiers who hunt Nazis with the goal of not just killing them but scalping them and sometimes carving swastikas into their foreheads. He offers a rousing mix of aw-shucks earnestness and slam-bang bravado.
— "Burn After Reading" (2008): Part of the beauty of Pitt is his willingness to toy with his own beautiful image. In the Coen brothers' comedy, he steals every scene he's in — and nearly walks away with the whole movie — as an overgrown child of a gym trainer whose bungled schemes get him in way over his head. Just his name alone, Chad Feldheimer, makes him sound like a first-class doofus, and one look at his blonde-streaked pouf tells you not to take him, or the film, too seriously. But Pitt brings an innocence to the role that makes him irresistible rather than obnoxious; with the shadow of superstardom looming so large, it's easy to forget he can be funny.
— "Snatch." (2000): Pitt went even deeper to play a weird, wild comic character here, going so far as to speak in an accent that made him completely unintelligible — but that's what made the performance hilarious. Guy Ritchie's comedy is full of his typically colorful characters, assorted British low-lifes and eccentrics. But Pitt steals the show as an Irish gypsy boxer who speaks in such a quick, mangled way, even the Brits can't understand him. In a recent Entertainment Weekly interview, he said he came up with the gibberish in a panic at the last minute when he couldn't quite nail the character's accent. But as with everything else, he made it look effortless.

UK police suspend demand for paper's hacking files

LONDON (AP) — London police said Tuesday they were dropping a demand that The Guardian newspaper reveal its sources for stories about Britain's phone-hacking scandal.
The Metropolitan Police said it "has decided not to pursue, at this time, the application for production orders" against the paper.
The Guardian said Friday that police were seeking a court order that would force the paper to unveil source material for stories about the scandal.
The stories include a July 4 article that revealed the now-defunct News of the World tabloid hacked into the voicemail messages of missing British schoolgirl, Milly Dowler, who was later found murdered.
The Guardian had vowed to fight the demand, and rival newspapers joined it in condemning the police move to uncover reporters' sources.
Officials with the paper could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday night.
The Guardian has been at the forefront of reporting the hacking scandal, exposing the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid for routinely intercepting the voicemails of those in the public eye in its quest for scoops.
A police officer has been arrested on suspicion of leaking information about the force's hacking investigation to the newspaper.
The force said it would consult prosecutors about the next steps in its investigation of the officer.
It said in a statement that "despite recent media reports there was no intention to target journalists or disregard journalists' obligations to protect their sources."

Memorable quotes from the Primetime Emmy Awards

　　LOS ANGELES (AP) — Heard at the 63rd annual Primetime Emmy Awards:
"Modern Family was this close to being animated. That's how much we didn't want to work with kids." — "Modern Family" co-creator Steve Levitan acknowledging the child actors on the show as he accepts the award for outstanding comedy series.
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"We are showing the world that there's absolutely nothing wrong in a relationship between an old man and a hot young woman. Looking around this room, I see many of you agree." — Steve Levitan, co-creator of "Modern Family," as he accepts the award for outstanding comedy series.
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"It was delightful working on 'Mildred Pierce.' I got to have sex with Kate Winslet many, many times. (Looking at Kate Winslet in the audience.) Thank you for allowing me to insert myself into your world of Mildred."— Guy Pearce, as he accepts the award for supporting actor in a mini-series, "Mildred Pierce."
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"I love being your good wife and I'm so grateful you have no political aspirations." — Julianna Margulies to her husband, as she accepts the award for outstanding lead actress in drama series "The Good Wife," in which she plays a politician's wife.
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"Welcome back to the 'Modern Family' award show. We've decided to throw them into the drama category and see what happens." — Host Jane Lynch, upon returning from a commercial break after "Modern Family" sweeps the first slate of awards.
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"There's Betty White. She's the reason we start the show at 5 p.m. on the West Coast." — Host Jane Lynch as she opens the show, referring to the 89-year-old White's age.
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"Katie Holmes is in the audience. I'd love to say something funny about her but I'm scared of her husband" (Tom Cruise) — Host Jane Lynch, as she opens the show.
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"Real life handed us the stories. My children walked in on my wife and I while we were in the act...Thank you to my somewhat satisfied wife and to my three traumatized children." — "Modern Family" co-creator Steve Levitan, accepting the award for writing on comedy series.

loses equivalent of one Olsen Twin

Kirstie Alley, 60, long the butt of fat jokes, has finally shut up her critics. The “Dancing with the Stars” contestant has lost a jaw-dropping 100 lbs.
“I feel like I’m back in my element,” Alley told Entertainment Tonight. “I honestly didn’t even realize what I looked like.”
PHOTOS: Kirstie’s Weight Ups and Downs.
The former “Fat Actress” said she now fits into a teeny-tiny size 4. “Before ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ I bought these dresses from size 14 to 4,” she explained. “(They were) all the same dress, and I said, ‘You know what I really want? I really wanna be in this dress in a 4!’”
The now-skinny star even sashayed down the catwalk for designer Zang Toi during New York’s Fashion Week on Tuesday.
“I’ve known Zang since 1993,” Alley explained. “He just has the most beautiful clothes, period.”
While Alley lost the equivalent of one Olsen Twin, she’s not planning on going under the knife to remove any excess skin.
PHOTOS: Weight Yo-Yo Stars.
“I haven’t had plastic surgery,” said Allley. “Here’s the reason: People do plastic surgery to make you look younger. I don’t think it makes you look younger. I like it can make you look weirder.”

Even though she has a face and figure women half her age would envy, Alley says she isn’t looking for Mr. Right — she’s looking for Mr. Right Now. “This is what I think about sex,” Alley declared. “I think its fun to hookup every night for six months… Then it’s time to move on!”