Friday, August 28, 1998
4:08pm - PDT TBP EXCLUSIVE We've seen MIDNIGHT RUN and the news is good. 1.85:1 and a very clean print on par with MAD DOG & GLORY. Even though the disc is not 16:9 enhanced as earlier confirmed, no one should be disappointed with the image and sound quality of this disc. The particulars: 16 chapter breaks, 2.0 Dolby Digital surround, no special features or extras to speak of . Plain vanilla, but they got the beans just right, it looks like.
2:30pm PDT - Our DVD sPy dropped us a line to say that Circuit City employees still don't know when the national Divx rollout (or roll-up, whatever the case may be) will take place and that the national launch might be delayed until October. Any CC employees care to comment?
2:21pm PDT - The BIG Picture has received confirmation that a BIG DVD title will be in our hands within 24 hours. The street date of this highly anticipated title isn't until October... You'll find our exclusive, first look at this ground-breaking title on Sunday...
2:19pm PDT - Forget about the rumors that SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION is being readied for December release. Someone in a position to know -- our inside rep at Warner Brothers, tells me that the rumors are, unfortunately, false.
11:15am PDT - The DVD sPy has found another nice DVD article from The San Jose Mercury News' Glenn Lovell. Terrific Finds on DVD.
8:49am PDT - With all the whiz-bang news earlier in the month regarding Fox and Paramount, we forgot to announce the update to our BIG Links page. We've added another 50 or so links to the hundreds that we started out with. This work-in-progress is an indispensible reference when searching for other DVD-related web sites and DVD news. Bookmark this valuable resource and use it!
8:18am PDT - This article extolls the virtues of DVD-ROM drives as seen through the enthusiastic eyes of the writer who only now is experiencing the joy of DVD discovery.
8:09am PDT - Fire up the grill... Looks like you're either going to need a DVD player in your kitchen or a convection oven in your living room. Multimedia 2000 announces the shipment today of the Better Homes and Gardens Ultimate DVD Cookbook. Just how many ways can you serve polycarbonate-coated aluminum platters, anyway?
1:03am - PDT - I implore you my fellow DVD junkies (and you know you are) -- who else but Criterion would issue a movie whose opening scene starts off with a vicious fistfight between a man and a woman -- whose wig is snatched off, revealing that she's BALD! And who else but The BIG Picture would feature a review of this mid-60's black and white film noir gem? Not to worry about the woman. She beats the living crud out of the guy with her shoe -- wielding it with the same detached, artistic, sweeping grace that Hannibal Lechter exhibited while dispatching the helpless, handcuffed guard with his own nightstick in The Silence Of The Lambs. Something tells me that Anthony Hopkins has seen this bald-pated bully kicking bootie in NAKED KISS -- and perhaps... just perhaps ...still has a thing for bald-headed women to this very day...
Thursday, August 27, 1998
11:15pm PDT - Another blow from the stonecutter: (and a special BIG Picture wink to those that remember what that means) The DVD sPy provided us a link to a rather saucy little article written by Glenn Lovell of the San Jose Mercury News last week that would seem to suggest Paramount is abandoning Divx and that Fox never really was in the Divx camp at all, opting to jump off the fence on the side of open DVD. I don't think that's necessarily the case, Glenn -- but we like your saucy style nonetheless. We knew with a wry grin that we were going to dig this article when we opened our sPy's communique in the cool evening breeze of our San Diego evening and it began with the line "If this is what it sounds like, DIVX is really screwed...." Screwed, blued and tattood. Nice work, 007. Thanks for the link...
3:58pm PDT - Just to lay any rumors to the contrary to rest, Universal/Image's release of MIDNIGHT RUN will in fact be 1.85:1... Still no word on 16 X 9 enhancement -- we can only hope. TBP will be among the first to review this anticipated title. Stay tuned...
320:pm PDT - A first on The BIG Picture. Frustrated by our inability to find any scene graphics when composing our review for OF MICE AND MEN, we did the only sensible thing: We grew our own. We feel that graphics add a tremendous appeal to our reviews here, and for the first time, you'll actually get to see scene stills derived from the DVD itself. We've dutifully notified the folks at Image Entertainment of our actions and will immediately remove the graphics without further comment if there are any objections. It is not our intention to violate any copyright laws or to cause any harm. It is our intention to provide a compelling review that shows you just how great the movie looks. In case anyone is wondering, we linked our DVD player to our computer remotely via Wavecom Jr. RF units, then tapped into a Snappy video capture interface and edited the graphics using Microsoft Image Composer.
11:40am PDT - Ah... here's one of those nice little culural art-house ditties about digital movies and the Internet that is best read while lingering over a cup of espresso with some soft jazz lilting in the background. Oh, and don't forget to wear your beret...
11:32am PDT - TBP Scoop: Been wondering where all those great monster flicks from Universal are? We know where one of them is -- Bela Lugosi's DRACULA is being remixed at Skywalker Ranch in Northern California getting a new surround sound score added for eventual DVD release! Other monster flicks like FRANKENSTEIN and THE MUMMY are being spruced up as well, though so far, they're not receiving the royal audio treatment like DRACULA is. Check this article in the San Francisco Chronicle for full details...
7:44am PDT - Inspired by the NetFlix story below, we were curious to see what the most often viewed review was this month at The BIG Picture. As of yesterday, here are the top 5 for the month of August, and their respective page views:
DARK CITY 2,257 WAG THE DOG 2,185 SILENCE OF THE LAMBS 1,772 FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE 1,759 U.S. MARSHALS 1,667
7:37am PDT - Talking the talk: Pioneer boasts that they want to be to DVD what Howard Stern is to morning radio in this c/net article. To be honest, they make no reference to the king of all media in this story at all -- they just say they aim to be number one in DVD.
7:34am PDT - Now this is interesting! NetFlix has published their top ten DVD rentals. 2001 is number two. Click here to see which title is numero uno...
7:28am PDT - Congratulations to Brian Puntney of Madison Wisconsin for finding our "little dancing apostle" and winning THE APOSTLE DVD from The BIG Picture. Brian found the little guy at the bottom of our editorial page -- DVD: In Search of Standards at 1:14am PDT. Hallelujah! We're mailing your copy of this excellent movie today, brother!
12:28am PDT - Unbelievably, we still don't have a winner for THE APOSTLE. Get cracking!
12:15am PDT - The BIG Picture provides our patent-pending full-tilt boogie review treatment to Image's transfer of the original 1939 John Steinbeck classic: OF MICE AND MEN.
1:35am PDT - Bob Banka handles our first review of an Anime title: A quirky little number called Roujin Z! This film reminds me why my grandfather's driver's license should have been revoked when he became too old to stand up without a cane.
Wednesday, August 16, 1998
It's nice to have Laserviews back on track again after their move to Surf City. They've confirmed several titles previously announced here and elsewhere (which mean that our sources must be pretty good -- heh, heh) and thrown in another dozen or two on their own because those bad boys are plugged in. All studio DVD release information should be faxed to 619.673.9487 or forwarded via e-mail to editor@ohms.com
It appears Disney is testing the waters with a price increase for their Beauty And The Beast: Enchanted Christmas feature. $34.99? Ha ha. Are they kidding? C'mon, Disney, it's not even the real Beauty And The Beast for crying out loud. Rather than get angry and start flaming Disney (a real waste of energy, in my opinion) your friends a The BIG Picture strongly urge you to simply refrain from buying this title. It won't make you a bad parent -- really. A quiet boycott will be the most effective way to protest the increase without coming off like some insolent child that this video is intended to pacify while mom and dad do other things.
Two more upcoming reviews to add to our growing list below: Steinbeck's OF MICE AND MEN and Abbott and Costello's IN THE NAVY are on the way soon...
Kudo's to the DVD sPy for alerting us to this very interesting article writtin in this month's Virginia Business Magazine: The Rick Sharp Show. And here, we've been calling him Dick all this time. My favorite quote from Mr. Sharp: "[The critics] are just a tiny little fraction of the early adopters. ... This is a democracy, and they're free to purchase or not purchase whatever they want. It's almost funny that they argue on one hand that this thing is so terrible, so ridiculous that it will never work in the market. And yet they're so concerned about it. They doth protest too much." Pardon us? A "tiny little fraction of early adopters?" Think again, Dick. You can's "spin" your way out of the fact that nearly ALL early adopters view the Divx scheme with utter contempt and disgust. We may be David to your Goliath, but if we were such a tiny fraction, you wouldn't even bother to ackowledge us, let alone fabricate a response such as this. TBP also resents the comparision of anti-Divx sites to the Soviet Union's reaction to Ronald Reagan's Star Wars proposal.
DIVX: The creator and the financier
The BIG Picture has gone review crazy! Take a peek at our reviews of THE APOSTLE, MEAN STREETS and NEW JACK CITY -- and don't forget to find our hidden "dancing apostle" for your chance to win THE APOSTLE DVD.
Straight from the winged horse's mouth: Columbia Tri-Star has announced 5 new titles for release on October 27th: NOWHERE TO RUN (DD 2.0 Surround), SNIPER (DD 1.0), STRIPES (DD 1.0, TO DIE FOR (DD 5.1) and THE WILD ONE (DD 1.0).
Tuesday, August 25, 1998
We were beginning to wonder if our DVD sPy had been killed in action, but lo! Here's a link to an interesting article in this week's Barrons that I believe we've seen before -- but hey, on days like this, we'll link to just about anything! Thanks, sPy!
So far, it's a fairly slow news day in the land of DVD, folks -- which should give you plenty of time to scour our pages for our hidden "dancing apostle" for your chance to win THE APOSTLE DVD for FREE! Check our contest page if you're just tuning in for full details...
We just received our copies of NEW JACK CITY and MEAN STREETS this morning. I'll post the image and sound ratings later this afternoon and reviews within 24 hours.
I finally had the chance to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey last night. While you can expect a full review sometime later this week on TBP, here were my initial impressions. Since we rate our movies as viewed on a 119" screen, remember that our observations are more critical than most -- especially when critiquing clarity in particular. If you have a typically sized monitor (27"-35") or even a 40" or 50" RPTV, you may not find our observations relating to softness and lack of detail as critical to your enjoyment as we do. Bearing this in mind: On the video end, I had a tough time deciding between a two or three globe rating for 2001. Much of the film was slightly out of focus. A few parts were severely out of focus! The very first seconds of video was a tip-off -- I had real trouble reading the fine print under the film title -- you know, the Copyright XXVXVIII or whatever stuff. Please don't e-mail me -- I know those are not the correct Roman numerals... In the opening scenes, I had trouble distinguishing whether or not the shimmering I was seeing over the desert were in fact, heat-waves. As the film went on, it became apparent that no, the shimmering I witnessed was not a natural occurrence -- it appears elsewhere throughout the film. Oddly enough, the shimmering almost works the space scenes -- enabling the distant stars to twinkle as never before. Then again, with no atmosphere in space, I doubt that the stars up there would twinkle the way they do down here anyway. But I digress... There were also some annoying ghosting of edges on some scenes, as if the sharpness was artificially increased in an attempt to compensate for the lack of 16X9 enhancement. These criticisms aside, there were several instances of fairly nice image clarity, which surprised me given the aforementioned observations. The overall condition of the print is very nice in that it is relatively devoid of nicks and scratches. Color rendition seemed fine -- natural fleshtones, good saturation, and the deep black of space and elsewhere was relatively solid and pleasing. In summary, the image quality was very inconsistent insofar as clarity is concerned -- to the point of distraction and some real disappointment at times -- but all other aspects of the image were satisfactory. The sound? While there was no booming bass on the bottom end, and the music sounded a bit strident at times, the new overall mix was very pleasant and enveloping. Would I recommend it? As with many titles we're seeing these days (and not just from MGM), the overall image quality could have been greatly improved with 16:9 enhancement. Nifty menu graphics notwithstanding, this pressing is a mixed bag -- a compromise -- nothing more, nothing less. It's certainly worth a rental, though. While 2001 doesn't represent MGM's best efforts in DVD authoring -- it's a far cry from being their worst.
LaserPacific, the company responsible for the quality and innovation behind Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Spawn, among other titles, received DiVi Awards for Excellence during the DVD Production '98 conference last week. Check this article for full details.
A new page has come on-line to help support fledgling DVD developers. This one might be interesting to simply observe from time to time -- to see what the developers have to say about their work... Who knows, you might even learn something! Please don't post messages on this board unless you are qualified to -- judging by the expression on his face in the photo, it looks like the founder might frighten easily.
Monday, August 24, 1998
Laserviews has updated their website with a ton of new title announcements from Image -- who can never be accused of a lack of diversity -- everything from the 1915 landmark film -- D.W. Griffith's acclaimed and controversial BIRTH OF A NATION to ELECTRIC BLUE #5 featuring (and I quote) "Wobbling whoppers, nude busty babes, bouncy boobs, beautiful giant breasts!" Image serves up everything from music to macabre in their region-free slate. Meanwhile, Criterion serves up an eclectic mix of titles from GREAT EXPECTATIONS and OLIVER TWIST (1948) to ROBOCOP: SE -- an "unrated director's cut, including "excessively violent" shots cut from the theatrical release to avoid an X rating." Yow! As usual, there are plenty of street date delays listed.
The Arizona Republic News has published last week's San Jose Mercury News story of Dan Gillmor's less-than-flattering assessment of Divx. Here's a nice illustration to go along with it, courtesy of Wayne Bundrick.
Uh-oh. Looks like the Miami Herald picked up on Gillmor's story, too. Ouch, Dick.
Ever wish you could have heard Sinatra sing at Carnegie Hall 30 years ago? Would you settle for a superlative Dolby Digital 5.1 mix on DVD? Warner Brothers Music and Sonic Solutions hopes so. Along with new recordings to push the DVD format in music, Warner is opening its vaults. Expect the Sinatra at Carnegie Hall DVD to be among the first titles issued. The original 24 track 30ips (that's inches per second for you non-recording engineer types) were mixed down to six channels. A two channel mix will also be included for backwards compatibility with CD players. It's too bad 'ol Blue Eyes couldn't live to hear the forthcoming DVD -- but then again, he lived it. We're looking forward to this sonic delight with open ears.
The BIG Picture loves you, baby. That's why we're giving away another FREE DVD. This time of the outstanding movie THE APOSTLE starring Robert Duvall. See our contest page for details on how to win! This promotion sponsored by our friends at NetFlix.
The BIG Picture congratulates Bill Holz of Wayne, Pennsylvania!! Bill won the random drawing for our copy of PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED. You may not be one in a million, Bill -- but you're one in 2,878 that registered for the drawing!! We'll do more drawings in the future, so if you registered for this one, you're automatically in the hopper for the next one! Thanks to all who participated!
Here's the first in-depth look at Columbia Tri-Star's STARMAN. Other pending reviews this week include THE APOSTLE, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, SHOCK CORRIDOR, NAKED KISS, ROUJIN 2, THE DOORS, HORSE FEATHERS, COCOANUTS, IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, THE BELLS OF ST. MARY'S, BASIC INSTINCT & LETHAL WEAPON 3. Check our recent review section or try out our new search engine to find the review by it's title. For purposes of demonstration, we're posted it here for today. On a permanent basis, you'll find it on our main page and on our search page.
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WEEKEND UPDATE
Bob Banka delivers another insightful and entertaining review -- this time for OLIVER! -- the last musical to ever win an Oscar for Best Picture. This review is sponsored by our friends at NetFlix. FYI, we received an inquiry asking whether or not this DVD is cropped like the laserdisc apparently is and the answer is no. The transfer of this disc is top-knotch, as one would expect from Columbia Tri-Star. One interesting thing we took note of is that the soundtrack defaults to DD 5.1 -- in fact, there's not even a Prologic mix available. Just DD 5.1 and French. We hope this marks the beginning of a trend in which Columbia defaults the audio on all future titles to DD 5.1, as it should be.
Click the photo to learn more about Oliver!
