Friday, July 31, 1998
ARF!! Bob Banka hits the 100 review mark with Barry Levinson's WAG THE DOG. To mark this special event, look for details this weekend, on how you can win one of four DVD's starting next Tuesday. Best of all, you get to pick the title you win! As always, free world-wide shipping included! (Region 1 compatibility required) The give-away will center around the theme: Bob Banka's reviews. Go rent or buy an open DVD title and have a great weekend!
Mystery solved. Thanks to Chris from Anime for pointing out that Laserviews is relocating their office from the East Coast to the West Coast -- hence the reason for their long absence. If I wasn't so danged busy, I would have checked their home page before sounding the proverbial alarm. I need a vacation...
Speaking of which, I'll be taking one very soon. A long deserved respite with the family and my first week off in over a year. I hope that you'll be as forgiving and kind as you are to Laserviews when I skip town for a few days in the coming weeks. If I had a laptop, I'd provide new daily updates from the road, but alas and a lack. If you know of a computer hardware dealer that wouldn't mind trading for some prime banner space, let me know... It's not too late.
Interactive movie Tender Loving Care launches a new genre of high-tech entertainment; psychological thriller stars John Hurt, debuts on DVD-ROM, with the DVD video release slated for the fall. Now this looks like fun. Finally, a mainstream use of the "angle" feature of DVD. This title is going to sell a truckload of DVD ROM drives.
To celebrate Bob's upcoming 100th DVD title review, we're going to be giving away 1 DVD each to four lucky winners -- each winner will pick the title of their choice, courtesy of Digital Eyes. Details soon.
Although I can't personally bring myself to buy it (too disturbing), read the fascinating story behind Sony's DVD authoring of the Zapruder film of the JFK assassination.
What we've all been screaming about since last September: PolkVerity Study Reveals Consumer 'Wait and See' Attitude About Divx, DVD Purchase. Sort of goes hand in hand with our latest editorial, don't you think? The good news from this, is that consumer reluctance will do abundantly more harm to Divx than to open DVD. Circuit City may have deep pockets, but not as deep as the combined resources of 500,000 early adopters that wil continue to sing the praises of open DVD.
My apologies for the rather late edition of today's news. We're working on a new forum page that will retain the "look and feel" of our current BIG Picture Forum, but it will offer some powerful new benefits to our participants, like e-mail notification, the ability to subscribe to the board and receive new posts via e-mail, profanity filtering, archiving capability and the ability to ban abusers if the need arises. We're still working out the bugs, but expect the launch by the end of next week. When we make the switch, you'll need to re-bookmark to the new forum page. We'll keep you posted (no pun intended).
Thursday, July 30, 1998
Yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle offers a reverent, in-depth review of Bruce Lee's ENTER THE DRAGON.
According to Hollywood On-Line, this years' version of GODZILLA will street on November 3rd...
The Philadelphia Enquirer offers short reviews on DARK CITY, THE GINGERBREAD MAN, and a few other titles not available on DVD.
I left my ROM in San Francisco: The DVD Forum is holding its third DVD Conference in The City on October 1st and 2nd. Among key items on the agenda will be the recent standardization of DVD-Audio, DVD-RAM, DVD-R and DVD-RW. There would also be displays and demonstrations of the latest DVD products and technologies. Comp tickets to the event gladly accepted by the editor of The BIG Picture. :-)
Yesterday, we received the received official press release from Columbia Tri-Star announcing the following titles for release on September 8, 1998:
WILD THINGS with director's commentary and three deleted scenes. DD 5.1
SEX, LIES & VIDEOTAPE will include director's commentary and interview by Neil Labute, director of "In The Company Of Men". In discreet 4-channel Dolby Digital.
CANDYMAN will be in Dolby Surround.
BLUE THUNDER will be in Dolby Surround.
All four titles will contain Full Frame and Widscreen versions (one on each side).
Wednesday, July 29, 1998
Bob Banka's 99th review covers one his favorite movies of all time. SEVEN SAMURAI. Learn more about this Japanese classic that spawned THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. The news is good.
Heads up: Jeff Peake wrote to tell us that NO ESCAPE is defective: "At 1:50:24 the sound quits for the last 5 minutes of the movie. Many are complaining!" Thanks for the info, Jeff!
The MGM moritorium on most of their Bond discs doesn't seem to be upsetting anyone too much -- and for good reason. This evening I noticed that my local Costco had a fresh and abundant supply of DR. NO, GOLFINGER, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and MOONRAKER. Costco must have stocked up for the year in their massive warehouses before the moritorium began. Either that, or it's already been quietly lifted.
Move over, CD-ROM. The corporate and industrial sectors have discovered the many charms of the sexy newcomer: DVD.
The following is unverifiable info provided by one of our DVD sPies that purportedly "has a secret friend" at Paramount. According to him, this is what we are to learn today or tomorrow (unless the annoucements are delayed again - if they ever were scheduled to begin with): The titles will be as follows unless they have a last minute change in plans: Face/Off, Grease, Kiss the Girls, Twilight, Star Trek: First Contact, and In and Out. Titanic is possibly going to include some deleted scenes and a featurette and is apparently scheduled for a December release for now. All the titles will feature Amray casing. Grease will have a 20-minute documentary and Face/Off will have the same type of featurette. All titles will have trailers. The first wave will be released sometime in October and a couple more waves will follow before the end of the year.Titles after the first wave are to include: Top Gun, The Odd Couple, Clear and Present Danger and even Forest Gump. ( these titles are only tentitive, though). Time will tell.
A different DVD sPy across the pond in the U.K., reports that a U.S. source in the video industry claimed that "Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo, Lady and the Tramp, and probably Beauty and the Beast are said to be in production for DVD...Alice will be released later this year." No word on whether the B&B title refers to the previously ennounced Enchanted Christmas disc or not
Tuesday, July 28, 1998
Bob Banka has done it again... turning out another excellent, in-depth review -- this time of New Line's DARK CITY:SE. Sponsored by our friends at Digital Eyes. Read it and sleep. That's not an insult to Bob or the flick, by the way -- it's just an inside reference to the goony aliens that float around during much of the film.
We've just added a new editorial: DVD: In search of standards.
Is Disney's LADY & THE TRAMP due to be the first fully-animated feature from the studio to hit DVD? Here's a neat new DVD site site that's listing many upcoming DVD titles not found anywhere else -- except on the confidential distributor reports forwarded to subscribing video dealers... Surprises that we're happiest to see? BOYS TOWN, KINGPIN and (finally!) MAGNIFICENT SEVEN on October 27th from MGM... From New Line: LOST IN SPACE on October 6th, NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET AND HOOP DREAMS on October 27th. Check the DVD Digital Bayou for further details.
Richard Hatch fans rejoice: Our DVD sPy got in touch to reveal that a collectible version of "Battlestar Gallactica" is apparently coming to DVD before year-end, at least, according to former star Richard Hatch... It's supposed to contain some interesting behind-the-scenes and "making of" info as well. Special thanks to Jeremy at DVD Net for pointing the sPy in our direction! Nice site, Jeremy!
Monday, July 27, 1998
We just received official word from the studio that Columbia Tri-Star is releasing "The Spanish Prisoner" on DVD October 6, 1998.
For first impressions on MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN, THE JUROR, WAG THE DOG and DARK CITY, check my post on the BIG Picture DVD & Home Theater Forum. Bob will have full reviews in the very near future.
MSNBC just can't resist a good wrestling match. Read the Epic Battle of Obscure Video Formats story and take the poll while you're at it. It's funny reading about Divx spokesman Josh Dare's occasional forays into DVD forum pages. My favorite quote: “I always wonder if we are getting anywhere with these guys.” Gee, Josh... You have to wonder? Heads up: The page is a slow loader.
DVD technology is being used to help the blind and disabled shop from home. In interesting story about just one more inroad for DVD as it integrates into society.
Wow! That sure didn't take long! Within just a few seconds of our posting the contest icon, at 11:23am Pacific Time, we had a winner of the JACOB'S LADDER:SE DVD. Congratulations to Dan Thomson of Ventura, California!! Thanks to all who participated! We'll make the next give-away even more interesting and fun!
Good gracious! The Internet is rife with rumors about Paramount announcing DVD titles tomorrow morning, rumors that Paramount is threatening legal action against Divx for broken contractual promises, rumors that Panasonic is pulling out of Divx hardware manufacture, rumors that Fox may not renew their six-month Divx contract after August 19th... whew! This week is off to a rousing start, ay? I just hope that even one of those rumors turns out to be true!
WEEKEND UPDATE
Just a reminder... Be sure to look for our special e-mail "contest button" somewhere on this page between 6am and 12noon Pacific Coast Time on Monday, to win a FREE copy of JACOB'S LADDER:SE. In order to win, be sure to read the full details on our contest page. Good luck!
Required reading: One of our most loyal DVD sPies has hit the motherload with a slew of articles in this weekend's San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner. Check out "Get It All With DVD", "Defining the Video Revolution", "Movie Classics 2000", "Rent From Home With DVD Rival", "Video Games Get Upwardly Mobile" and "Time To Trash The VCR?" We've been keeping an eye on the San Francisco papers for a couple of weeks now, noting how strangely silent they've been on DVD and Divx -- considering SFO is one of the test markets. Obviously, they're being silent no more.
On occasion, yours truly will actually write and post a review. Miracle of miracles! It's happened again. Here's my DVD review of the 1972 film, THE GETAWAY, starring Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw. Even though my prose and observations aren't as astute as your friend and mine, Bob Banka's, the format of the review is the same for the sake of consistency.
Another DvD sPy (codename: DANTANA) is working overtime. Check the commentary by Richard Dean on NPR regarding DVD versus Divx