Friday, August 14, 1998
Friendly fire: My comments below drew several heated, yet cordial e-mail messages today. It seems as though many believe that limiting DVD video releases to 4:3, regardless of whether the titles are full-frame open matte or pan & scan, is a crummy idea. And of course you're right... Personally, I'd rather pay the full price and get the theatrical version, 16X9 enhanced. It's time to let Warner Brothers know how you feel on the subject. Check our new poll question above, and let your preferences be known. Several folks at Warner Brothers check The BIG Picture on a regular basis, so your vote will be seen by the right people.
I spoke to my rep at Warner Brothers today and asked him about the upcoming titles for $14.95 that have been recently announced. He confirmed that the ten titles will not be in widescreen, but rather full frame versions but not pan and scan. If this is true, you can relax. Full frame is okay. Widescreen owners can simply zoom in to fill their screen, and what is cropped will generally the same overflow that was cropped for theatrical release.
Does she or doesn't she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure... PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED -- once, but will she again? And how does Columbia Tri-Star's image quality hold up on titles that go back 12 or more years? Jeff McNeal gives Bob Banka a break and reviews this new title from Columbia with the patented BIG Picture full-tilt boogie treatment to answer these, and other scintillating questions. This review is sponsored by our friends at NetFlix.
Thanks to the DVD sPy for alerting us to this DVD versus Divx articl, written in the USA Today. And this one, from the San Francisco Chronicle
Thursday, August 13, 1998
Bob Banka has just sent us his latest review: STALINGRAD. Like DAS BOOT before it, STALINGRAD seeks to provide the ugliness of WWII from the German perspective. While not recommended for "family fun night", STALINGRAD might be a title worth your time. Read Bob's review and draw your own conclusions...
Infoseek offers a detailed look at Warner's upcoming 25th anniversary edition of THE EXORCIST -- the DVD streets on October 13th...
DVD gets the credit. Image Entertainment, Inc. Reports First Quarter Results; Net Sales $17.1 Million, Operating Income $367,000 and Net Income $205,000.
Sony. The one and only. This story has nothing to do with DVD, but we couldn't resist. Seems that Sony has inadvertently invented the worlds first consumer x-ray vision video camera with their new handycams that feature the infrared "nightvision" technology. Seems the cameras, when used in the daytime, can "see through" loose fitting clothing, bathing suits, etc.
c/net news features a Reuters story covering the Paramount title list that was announced Monday.
The Detroit News has a nice and informative article geared to PC users: DVD-ROMs may push out CDs... May? Around here, it's been a foregone conclusion for over a year!
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Enquirer briefly mentions The Big Lebowski and The Man In The Iron Mask in their "what's available on home video" column.
So... does Leonardo DeCaprio still have the goods to sweep the young girls off their feet after his Titanic hit last year? Does MGM have what it takes to turn out a decent transfer after some real turkeys lately? Find out the answers to these compelling questions and more (!!) in Bob Banka's review of THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK.
Straight from the (winged) horses mouth, part II: Last week, we mentioned the Columbia Tri-Star announcement of GODZILLA on DVD -- in Dolby Surround. We've since received a revised press release that now includes the optional DD 5.1 specification. This is good news. Thank you, mother Columbia, for lighting the way to the upgrade path with your torch.
Wednesday, August 12, 1998
Laserviews has updated their DVD news page with street confirmations and new title announcements from Warner, MGM and Coulumbia Tri-Star. There are some real exciting titles in the mix.
Beam me up, Scotty! The Scottsman Interactive poses the question: Is DVD Worth Buying? Do bears poot in the woods?
Speaking of beaming aboard, I took in the Star Trek Experience as the Las Vegas Hilton, yesterday and it was quite an experience. First the kids and I wove through a line that passed through the Star Trek museum. If you think those sets from the sixties looked cheesey with all those fake boulders and stuff, you should get a gander at some of those costumes close-up. Actors dressed as Quark and a Klingon visited with folks in the line. Their make-up was very impressive. The ride itself was preceded by a live-action interactive "show", which was really well done. I won't go into more detail because I don't want to spoil the surprise for anyone contemplating a trek of their own to Vegas. The ride itself was impressive -- the shuttle craft features large LCD window panels not only in the front windshielf area, but on the roof also. When the ride starts, the LCD's are electronically "cleared", providing a direct view to a huge, wraparound front projection display. My only disappointment is that if you look to either far side of the windows, you can see the edge of the screen, sort of blowing the illusion. The video quality of the display was also not up to par with Disneyland/George Lucas' Star Tours -- not by a long shot, and nowhere close to the stunning hi-res clarity experienced the other evening in the IMAX 3D show at the Luxor Hotel -- but it was still a blast and well worth the admission price of $14.95 (children are free, which is also nice). I'm waiting for someone to combine the realistic (I'm there!) 3D of IMAX with a motion thrill ride like Star Tours or Star Trek A ride like that will be worth the plane ticket getting to it.
NetFlix announces street date availability of all 20th Century Fox titles... Does this mean the same for Paramount titles as well?
Tuesday,August 11,1998
What does an avante garde artist have in common with a deranged mafia hitman? As it turns out, not very much -- except an appreciation for art, I guess. Bob Banka has turned in another excellent review: THE JUROR. Check it out. This movie features a few real high-volume rear channel effects that get your attention!
The DVD sPy wrote to announce that the Divx version of Goodwill Hunting streets today. But with the news we received yesterday regarding Paramount and Fox, all we we can say to this news is... yawn.... Big deal. Stick a fork in it -- Divx is finsished -- and neither all the king's horses or all the kings men (or an occasional bone from Disney or any other studio) is going to be able to prop up that miserable format.
MSNBC Provides their version of the Paramount title announcements.
Everytime I walk past the blackjack tables here at the Luxor, I'm tempted to just hand a $20 bill to the dealer and say "keep it, it's yours - spare me the humiliation." So far, I've won $1 worth of quarters and gave 'em back to the machines. Easy come, easy go.
Thinking about yesterday's events, I have to chuckle to myself, thinking of all the buzz around Paramount when Fox stole the show with their unexpected announcement. I could just see Doctrow shouting "Announce our titles!! ANNOUNCE OUR TITLES!!!"
The most interesting current news about these latest announcements, of course, is the continued backlash against these studios, because of their announced pricing structure. Check our latest editorial on the subject. It's posted above...
Monday, August 10, 1998
Mark this date on your calendars, fellow DVD enthusiasts. Today marks the unofficial death of Divx. With two of their staunchest supporters -- the last of two major studios -- throwing their support behind open DVD, albeit tepid, Divx, which never had much of a chance out of the chute, stands no chance whatsoever. It's a good thing you did all that insider-selling of your Circuit City stock in June, Dick. You must have seen this day coming.
Well... at least now it's official. Paramount, no doubt embarrassed by the FOX announcement, has finally acknowledged what their first set of titles will be -- several of which were previously leaked. Here's the link to the official Paramount press release. Better late than never, boys. Better late than never.
8:00am, P.S.T It looks like someone at Fox must've read our opinion poll above...
SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS:
The initial slate of titles to be released November 3rd, include: THE ABYSS, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, PORKY'S, PREDATOR, JINGLE ALL THE WAY and MARKED FOR DEATH and each is priced at US$29.98/C$32.98 (M.A.P. US$24.95). Also part of the initial launch are HOME ALONE 3 and HOPE FLOATS, with each of these new releases priced at US$34.98/C$36.98 (M.A.P. US$29.98)." $29.98 for Home Alone 3??? (no thanks). Specific on-disc features and programming information will be forthcoming. A special thanks to all our readers that made sure we knew about the great news. As good as this news is, it's tempered by the following quote from Patricia Wyatt: ``As for a policy on new product releases, we plan to approach that on a title-by-title basis going forward.'' In other words, don't expect full DVD support from Fox until Divx is officially dead and buried - which can't be too far off now that Fox has announced (if even limited) open DVD support.
The greatest irony (and we have to smirk a little) is that apparently no one (groovy studio contacts notwithstanding) predicted this one and that while Paramount has been hemming and hawing, Fox just snuck in and trumped their competition. Of course, all Paramount has to do now is announce BRAVEHEART and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK to level the playing field... Yeah, right.
A day late and a dollar short. Okay, so I wasn't invited to the VSDA convention. All the studio reps are gone, replaced by the likes of... well, people like me. Thanks to the miracle of technology and the assistance of a good friend and former neighbor, I'm providing our latest news to you from the relative comfort of my hotel room at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. Thanks, Ron Harper, Jr! The bellman didn't lose my luggage at check-in and your laptop is safe and doing fine!
Before we launch into today's news and information, I just want toexpress my gob-smacked amazement at the IMAX 3D theater here at the hotel. My family and I donned our special liquid crystal goggles, complete with tiny stereo speakers, and filed into the theater to watch the special IMAX presentation of Into The Deep, a 50-minute documentary narrated by Kate Nelligan, featuring sea life off the coast of California. The screen is nearly 7 stories tall -- 67' to be specific -- and 80' wide. The sound system features 80 speakers and over 200,000 watts of oomph. Nothing could have prepared me for the fantastically realistic 3D images -- except perhaps the colorful demonstration cartoon that preceded the show. Simply amazing. The HUGE image, on the curved screen. Ever see Captain Eo at Disneyland? The IMAX presentation put the Captain to shame. This was the ultimate video junkie's dream. It was like being there. The high definition, 3D images were startling in their crystal-clear-without-feeling-like-you're-going-cross-eyed splendor.I'm a certified scuba diver and the images I witnessed were so clear and stunning, I can truthfully say that the experience closely resembled the real thing.
Well worth the $8 price of admission. Highly recommended if you're ever in sin-city. Talk about the ultimate BIG picture experience... Wow.
DVD File has an interesting DVD-related interview with the new chairman of the VSDA. It's worth a read.
Our friends across the pond have a permanent URL www.dvd-debate.com. They have a new section on their site relating to code-free players and information, a topic of increasing interest to videophiles that are having trouble getting behind the whole regional coding scheme. Copy protection? Sure! That's a no brainer. Region coding? Is it really necessary?
Inside sources tell us that Criterion's The Grande Illusion will probably be delayed until sometime after the new year.