Friday, July 17, 1998
Looks like the Divx-hackers are a third of the way there. Read today's article about the group that cracked the governments 56bit Data Encryption Standard (DES). Divx uses triple- DES encoding (hence my opening line) along with Macrovision and a form of watermarking that is probably different than the new standard being proposed by IBM and NEC. Special thanks to Ebony Blue for the heads up
As we head into the weekend, on a personal note, I just wanted to tell you how impressed I was with the quality of Columbia's JASON & THE ARGONAUTS. Bob's full review is available in our archives, but I've got to tell you -- older titles like this really benefit from the anamorphic treatment. Although some brief scenes appear overly grainy or slightly out of focus, the overall experience was much more satisfying than SPARTACUS and THE GREAT ESCAPE -- two films from roughly the same era that should have been 16:9 enhanced -- and would have greatly benefitted from it. JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS has never looked better on home video and it's what we're watching tonight for Family Fun Night. Last night while I was previewing the title, my 14-year old son walked in during the skeleton sword fight and his single expletive: "WHOA!" says it all.
In the August issue of NewMedia, Making the Move To DVD explains why DVD is here to stay, despite various standards, copy protection schemes and Divx. A special thanks to The Big Picture reader Ken H. for the "heads-up" on this teriffic article.
Given the recent bashing of MGM quality control, it should come as no surprise that according to DVD Review, DR ZHIVAGO has been delayed until early 1999 because the studio had concerns about the quality of the master and are starting at square one. Although we're not usually fond of delays, if this is their reasoning, we can only say good. Take your time and do it right, MGM! They also report a slate of bizarre-sounding titles from Full Moon Pictures. I ask you -- who (besides myself) could pass up the opportunity of adding titles like: "Cannibal Women In The Avocado Jungle Of Death" to their home video library!?
Divx isn't going down without a fight: Pioneer and Digital Video Express announced today that they have signed a five-year, multi-million disc replication agreement. No offense intended, but it's news like this that makes me glad that I don't personally own a single Pioneer product. It also makes me wince for the good people that do.
An article in today's Techweb tells us what we already knew -- DVD, HDTV Gaining Consumer Favor -- This is a rehash of yesterday's International Data Corporation report, but it's good to see it in print, anyway! There's also a a new prediction for a "quick fade" of Divx -- adding fuel to the speculation that Richard Sharp cashed out over $9 million dollars of his Circuit City stock in recent weeks because his faith in the prospect for success in Divx is dimming.
Here's news that will cause Jack Valenti's skin to crawl, while making webmaster/film buffs whoop with joy. Avid Debuts Home Video-Editing Software.
Another article in Computer Retail Weekly On-line provides compelling evidence that computer retailers believe that DVD movies are going to be big sellers to the DVD-ROM crowd. Another chip in the Divx boulder (see our latest editorial above). Keep hammering.
Thursday, July 16, 1998
While this C/Net news story doesn't address DVD per se', the implications of it could and it makes for interesting reading. It involves movie executive Jack Valenti urging congress to adopt his copyright bill that has sweeping ramifications -- particularly on the Internet.
Metallica fans are going to be happy to hear that the bands' 1997 road show will be available on DVD on November 17th according to MTV news.
A BIG PICTURE EXCLUSIVE: The rich just got richer: The DVD sPy has noted that there has been a tremendous amount of insider-selling of Circuit City stock in the last 90 days by its officers. We did a little digging and this is what we discovered. On June 10th and June 19th, Richard L. Sharp sold off nearly 200,000 shares of his stock for $9,221,630, while CC is riding high with significant foreign investment. Anyone who plays the market knows that cashing out for profit now and again is a common practice -- but we find the timing -- and the sheer volume -- most intriguing. Could it be that Richard Sharp is losing confidence in the future of Divx? Why else would he be dumping so much stock now, if Divx is poised to generate the eventual millions or even billions of dollars that Sharp had so optimistically predicted? Keep tabs on the Circuit City inside trading yourself and draw your own conclusions. Good work, 007!!
We have a new editorial posted: "Chipping away at Divx: One blow at a time" Read it, then offer your own comments on The BIG Picture Forum!
C/Net features a somewhat comprehensive "pros and cons of Divx" article that contains some dated references (for the record, Sears has not opted out of Divx distribution just yet). The article wraps up with the editors of C/Net saying that their reaction to Divx is luke-warm. Well, just so there is no misunderstanding, our impression of Divx is stone-cold, baby. Stone cold.
The International Data Corporation reports that consumer interest in DVD is strong.
Wednesday, July 15, 1998
Can superb image and sound quality, a great cast, loads of extras and a street price of less than fifteen bucks make up for a weak script and average special effects? Bob Banka addresses these questions -- and then some, in his in-depth review of SPHERE. I never saw the movie in the theaters, but for fifteen bucks, I'm willing to give it a go now.
The insight into Hollywood thinking as provided in this USA Today article "Digital Quality May Come With a Price", drives two important points home: Divx must be decisively stopped dead in its tracks -- and serious consideration must be given to the watermarking encryption as described two stories down. That would seem to be a very fair compromise that will thwart the "pay-per-view" (and in the case of CD's, "pay-per-listen") mentality in the motion picture and recording industry that Divx has helped to foster. It's all about money, folks. Hold onto your wallets. Divx may just be the opening bell to the biggest consumer battle against corporate control and greed of all time.
Another home-theater-in a box concept hits the streets today: Boston Acoustics and Gateway Introduce the Boston DigitalTheater 6000. It even has a remote control. Cool!
The big word in DVD circles lately is watermarking. We've noticed several manufacturers racing to gain patents on some form of watermarking technology to thwart copying (and piracy) of DVD's. Today, IBM and NEC announce their standards integration in the development of a new kind of electronic watermarking. However, before you get your buns in an uproar, take note that consumers WILL be able to allowed to create ONE digital copy for their own personal use, just th the way copy-protected Digital Audio Tape (DAT) machines can. TBP supports this kind of technology and hope that it will encourage the last remaining holdouts to join open DVD.
The Atlanta Star Telegram has a strange, little, disjointed article about DVD which is positive -- just poorly written and hard to follow -- at least when you're in a hurry like I am.
A BIG PICTURE EXCLUSIVE: The enigmatic Trillium 9 has re-emerged with a new, revealing post on The BIG Picture Forum. According to our current tracking poll, 27% believe that Trillium 9 is a legitmate Divx insider, while 33% would like to believe, but have their doubts. Read his (or her) post and draw your own conclusions. Provocative stuff...
...and by the way, thank you for all the recent kind comments I've been receiving in e-mail about The BIG Picture (TBP). It is truly my pleasure providing you with the latest and greatest news about DVD in one, convenient place. My biggest challenge in the weeks ahead is trying to figure out how to keep the page going while I take a vacation with my family. If you know of any on-line computer vendor that would be willing to loan or sell me a decent, new or used laptop PC in exchange for prime banner advertisements on The BIG Picture, please let me know via e-mail. That way, I can provide my family with a well-deserved break and still be able to maintain these pages without missing a beat.
Tuesday, July 14, 1998
Laserviews slipped us a mickey and updated their new release page for the 2nd day in a row! Here are the highlights: New titles announced from from Warner are: City of Angels: SE and (yawn) My Giant. MGM annoucnes Carrie, Leviathon Lord of Illusions: SE, Westworld and Logan's Run:SE. All of the aforementioned titles except Carrie will be 16:9 enhanced. HBO rolls out a slate of oldies but goodies with emphasis on Danny Kaye titles. Delta Entertainment releases a slew of low budget fare, including the Best of Wonder Years and Best of Wonder Years: Christmas – available today apparently. A lot of people, especially Bob Banka are going to really hate hearing this -- but Seven Samurai has been delayed – again – until next week.
Ah! Bob reviews one of the titles I have been anticipating greatly since the announcement: Rob Reiner's hilarious moc -er ROCK-umentary — THIS IS SPINAL TAP. Like Bob, I acknowledge that this cult classic isn't for everyone, but everyone should see it, if only once. My wife and I will be enjoying this disc over and over for the rest of our lives. Another review sponsored by our friends at Digital Eyes.
Sorry for the overstatement: Special thanks to the ubiquitous James David Walley for correcting us on the DVD hardware comments two stories down. The enthusiasm from the DVD Group was in reference to unit numbers, not sell-through numbers. The BIG Picture regrets making this error and apologizes to everyone, including Mr. Spielberg, who may have felt compelled to release his product to open DVD by year-end in response to our original, erronious statement.
The BIG Picture is pleased to introduce you to our own San Diego, California based ISP, Millennianet. For over a year and a half, we've enjoyed exceptional customer support with no busy signals or service interruptions – ever. In short, these guys truly deliver. If you're looking to make a change, you should give Jim Raynoha (ray-NO-uh) a call at (619) 279-6638, extension 350 or e-mail him at sales@millinnianet.com Be sure to mention that you found them on The BIG Picture!
TWICE reports some encouraging, solid numbers for DVD hardware and software sales; The DVD Video Group feels confident after record-breaking June DVD sales that a million DVD players will be in the hands of consumers sold to dealers by year-end.
Last week, we were in a tizzy over the news that Sony was demonstrating their DVD authoring equipment and we enthusiastically suggested that any studio turning out sub-standard DVD's should look into Sony's technology. I spoke with Bob Tracy at Technology Solutions, Inc. a few days ago and he was kind enough to e-mail me a partial list of the DVD titles produced with this equipment. They include: Seven Years in Tibet, Glory, Das Boot: The Director's Cut, The Fifth Element, My Best Friend's Wedding, Desperado, Legends of the Fall, Jerry Maguire, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Fools Rush In, Air Force One, Jumanji and Philadelphia. I'll repeat my request once more: That every entity producing movies on DVD (with the notable exception of Warner Brothers) look into what Sony is doing with their titles — and try to do the same.
JAM Video serves up a tepid, though not damning review of SPHERE. But hey, streeting for less than fifteen bucks, I'm going to buy it, anyway. I never saw it in the theaters, and it's my way of saying "thanks, Warner — I will support your new, three-tiered pricing policy! Besides, it may be the closest I'll ever get to having THE ABYSS on DVD. I'll be picking up WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE for around ten bucks whenever I see it marked down and next week's U.S. MARSHALLS for $14.99, too. Bring 'em on, Warren!
As an aside, I went to see ARMAGEDDON last night with a couple of friends. I laughed a few times when I don't think I was supposed to... If Disney releases this one as a 16:9 enhanced version, I'll consider buying it. Otherwise...
Monday, July 13, 1998
Laserviews has updated their page with street confirmations, changes, etc. No new titles announcements to speak of.
So... Is Criterion's THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS worth the money, when you can buy Image's THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS for a LOT less? See what Bob Banka thinks in his latest review of the Criterion version of this spellbinding freak show. Read Bob's excellent in-depth review of Criterion's THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS over a bag of fried pork rinds (as a suitable substitute), a few fava beans and some nice Chianti. Brought to you by our friends at Digital Eyes.
In DVD Review's excellent coverage of the VSDA, we gleaned this exciting tidbit: Anchor Bay, acknowledging their horrifying, sub-par transfer of the horror-classic "Halloween", have found themselves a new DVD authoring facility and are preparing a new release of “Halloween” next year. It will be Special Edition with a brand new 5.1 channel remixed Dolby Digital soundtrack and lots of extras. Gee, will they be taking original copies back in trade, too? Let's hope the Anchor Bay honchos are checking into using the Sony DVD authoring suite.
After one full week of taking viewer input, The BIG Picture DVD Opinion Poll page has generated some interesting data. Here's the synopsis: 75% of DVD owners will not purchase 20th Century Fox product on any other medium than DVD, 23% will still go to Fox theatrical releases, but only 2% will buy Fox Laserdiscs and just 1% will buy Fox titles on VHS... In DVD picture and sound quality, Columbia/Tri-Star leads the pack with 46%, Warner Brothers follows with a very respectable 35%, Universal trailed with just 14%, MGM had just 4% and Disney 1%... 33% of BIG Picture readers own between 21-50 DVD's, 26% own 1-20, 23% own between 51-100, 10% own 150 or more DVD's (!) and 8% own between 101-150... In the packaging showdown, 67% prefer keepcases, 10% prefer snapper cases and 22% have no preference -- either one are okay... In DVD Pet Peeves, 35% are put-off by P&S or flippers, 30% feel that there aren't enough titles out that they like, 18% are annoyed by canceled or delayed titles that were previously announced, 13% lament that there aren't enough local DVD rental locations and just 3% are annoyed with poorly placed RSDL breaks... Check the poll page to gain other enlightening insights.
In their "Ask The Computer Guy" column, the Washington Post explaines the differences between first and 2nd generation DVD-ROM drives in layman's terms.
Bob Banka loves movies. It's a good thing for us that he enjoys writing about them, too. Check Bob's latest review: JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, sponsored once again by our friends at Digital Eyes.
WEEKEND UPDATE:
The San Jose Mercury News does a nice job covering the aftermath of the VSDA in Vegas, which wasn't what it was cracked up to be in more ways than one, apparently. More poo-poohs on Divx contained herein. The most memorable quote was from Blockbuster Chairman/CEO John Antioco who said his chain was committed to DVD and wanted nothing to do with the new format (Divx), which, because of its phone hookup, is ``intrusive to the consumer, like Big Brother watching.'' I'm pleased to hear the man say this, but if Blockbuster has 4,000 stores, why are still only renting DVD in 100 of them, and how is that considered a committment? What are you waiting for now, Blockbuster? Sears to jump into bed with Divx?
Same wonderful song, different verse: Bob Banka has completed his review of the CHAPLIN MUTUALS, VOLUME 2. Bob's useful insights into the various plot-lines can help you decide wich volume to rent or buy if the entire three-volume set isn't your cup of tea.
We're trying to decide of it's worth the time, effort and bandwidth to start archiving The BIG Picture DVD News Daily. If news archiving is an important feature for enough of our visitors, we'll be happy to oblige. But if it really doesn't matter to you -- we'd sure like to know that, too. Thanks in advance for participating in our survey further down this page!
In a cruel twist of irony, Fox News reports that Digital Videodisc Still Slow to Arrive on the Scene. Well, to that, I'd retort: "If the execs at Fox would get the lead out of their asses, the pace would no doubt quicken considerably." If DVD is slow to grow, Fox has no one but themselves to blame. The results of our poll "Who is DVD's Worst Enemy' confirms it.
U.S. News has an article called: Format Wars: Videophiles deride Divx, but it has charms. Oh, really? The most interesting aspect of this story is the confirmed denial from Sears that it is backing away from Divx. In reality, the option is, in fact, still being considered by the giant retailer.
Last night for family fun night, my family and I watched Tri-Star's "Hook" starring Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman -- on VHS. What a drag. This should serve to point up the fact that there really aren't that many good family titles available on DVD yet. Oh, there are a handful -- maybe even two -- but we burned through those selections a long time ago. It's gotten to the point where I don't even want to watch VHS anymore. It feels like a demotion of some sort. While the quality of the transfer was about as good as you can expect from a pan and scan VHS tape, I couldn't help but feeling some real resentment when I saw the Amblin logo and Stephen Spielberg's name in the credits. I reflected on how strange it was that I could go from really feeling good about seeing his name attached to a movie, to feeling of resentful and disappointed. This is based, of course, on the director's apparent rebuff of DVD -- at least for the present. "Steven Spielberg" is no longer a name I feel good about seeing during the credits -- and that's a real shame. As far as family programming, there was a time (before DVD) when Disney animation titles were among the few that I'd actually purchase on VHS. C'mon, Disney. The time has come. Step up to the plate and deliver for us. We've been patient long enough.
The BIG Picture would like to welcome our newest sponsor: 21st Century Video of Escondido, California -- our first sponsor without a website (for the moment, anyway). 21st Century specializes in rare and collectible VHS titles -- but they're committed to DVD and have one of, if not the the largest DVD rental rack in San Diego County. However, all the information you need is contained on their banner, which will appear in rotation on our pages. If you live in the San Diego area, be sure give owner Bruce Cash a call and tell him The BIG Picture sent you. If you're a DVD vendor like Bruce looking to increase your exposure with thousands of DVD enthusiasts that visit our pages daily -- click here. We can help.
