Friday, December 4, 1998
10:28pm PST - We have some busy bees over at Laserviews. Check out the terrific new DVD title announcements, including the kicker -- Fox is lowering their DVD prices. Who knows! Maybe they'll announce support for Widescreen enhanced transfers next!
4:57pm PST - Just in time for the weekend, Bob Banka reviews THE MASK OF ZORRO. Looks like Columbia Tristar has sliced out another stellar transfer.
4:16PM PST - We're told that today's Wall Street Journal features another pro DVD, anti-Divx article on page W13 (weekend section).
2:44pm PST - As mentioned below, we were wondering what the new deal between Amazon and NetFlix will mean to their "Try it, like it, buy it" program. We just got off the phone with Te Smith from NetFlix who confirmed that "there will be changes" made to their rental to purchase conversion program, but she was unable to offer details at this time or when those changes might occur, but don't expect any changes until after the holidays... We have to wonder if the Internet rental giant might be feeling the effects of more and more local DVD rental options encroaching on their once vast territory... After all, why rent on the Internet when you can just walk across the street to the local video store? Ironically, the rapidly growing success of DVD could actually hurt NetFlix as more and more retailers offer the discs for rent and sale at increasingly competetive prices.
12:29pm PST - Judging from our poll results, it could be said that Fox either made a wise decision to not create an anamorphic transfer of HOME ALONE 3 -- or a tactical blunder by pricing the disc too high. Take note of the number of sales lost from our small representative sample of just under 1,100 responses from DVD enthusiasts:
Clear & Present Danger (169) 15%
Star Trek: Generations (175) 16%
Speed (147) 13%
Predator (158) 14%
Home Alone 3 (12) 1%
Pulp Fiction (167) 15%
2001: A Space Odyssey (182) 17%
Scarface (81) 7%
11:43am PST - Just a personal aside to let you know how impressed we are with the folks at Dreamworks. We had two lengthy chats this morning with one of their DVD production supervisors regarding our review of SMALL SOLDIERS. The BIG Picture is truly amazed and grateful for Dreamworks attentive and enthusiastic support of open DVD and their positive attitudes. While their rep was understandably disappointed with some of our comments regarding the image quality (as defined in our ratings guide: "Average to good quality; no reason to avoid purchasing this title") he understood that our reviews are all based on very large, front projection displays. After all, that's how we got our name.
The benefit for all DVD enthusiasts in our reviews is that if a disc measures up to a five globe rating for image quality on our site, you can be assured that the title will measure up in your current or future home theater. We envision more and more home theaters cropping up in the new millenium with larger displays as technology continues to move forward and prices come down. This is an incredibly exciting time in home entertainment. Of course, owners of smaller displays come away as winners, too. If a DVD looks fantastic on a 100"-120" screen, it can only look better on a more typically sized display -- yet the same title can continue to thrill you, should the size of your display expand. By the way, we want to stress that due to a last minute change, the package incorrectly states that SMALL SOLDIERS is a two-sided disc, which may lead most people to assume that this disc is a flipper. Rest assured that it is not a flipper, but a very well-designed single-sided RSDL disc. Our special thanks again to Dreamworks for their enthusiasm of the format and their support of The BIG Picture. We can't wait to review THE PEACEMAKER and MOUSEHUNT.
11:20am PST - Want further evidence that DVD is here for the long haul? The Chinese government must feel that DVD is good enough to pump investment money into. This is a good thing, comrade. 3 billion people embracing DVD can't hurt. Laserdiscs should have been so lucky.
9:00am PST - The wheels are always turning in Scotts Valley, CA... In a move sure to please some and potentially alientate others, NetFlix announces a new alliance with Amazon.com today. Here's their press release:
NetFlix.com Strengthens Its Focus On DVD Rentals
And Encourages Customers To Buy DVDs at Amazon.com
Scotts Valley, Calif. (December 4, 1998) -- NetFlix.com and Amazon.com,
Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) today announced a marketing relationship focused on
making it even easier for online shoppers to rent or buy DVD movies. Under
the terms of the agreement, NetFlix.com will direct its customers to
Amazon.com for DVD purchases and Amazon.com will offer its customers specific
promotions for DVD rentals at NetFlix.com.
The new online relationship will allow both partners to offer their
respective customers even higher levels of service and authoritative selection
through cross-promotions, special DVD offers and comprehensive access to
virtually every DVD title a customer could want to rent or buy.
"NetFlix.com has chosen to concentrate all of our energies on our core
rental customers, who have made NetFlix.com the world's largest online DVD
rental store in seven short months," said Marc B. Randolph, president of
NetFlix.com. "At the same time, Amazon.com's reputation for tremendous
selection and first-class customer service makes them the ideal partner to
handle the sales of DVD movies to our customers. In addition, NetFlix.com
looks forward to introducing millions of Amazon.com customers to our
compelling DVD rental service through exclusive special offers and promotions."
"The launch of our new video store has vastly increased our DVD
selection and content," said Ram Shriram, Amazon.com vice president of business
development. "Working with NetFlix.com, we can extend our service to DVD
customers one step further, through exclusive special offers from a
fantastic partner that is solely dedicated to helping customers rent DVDs online."
The Amazon.com video store, launched on November 17, 1998, offers more
than 2,300 DVDs, all accompanied by Amazon.com's search features and
unmatched editorial content, which allow shoppers to find exactly the video they
want at sharply discounted prices, up to 30% off.
We wondered how this new alliance might effect NetFlix's rental-to-purchase conversion, so we've put a call in to NetFlix for the answer. We'll let you know as soon as we find out...
8:00am PST - Ugh. Not enough sleep. yawn...but the news marches on. We're getting close to naming our "12 DVD's of Christmas" here at The BIG Picture. One caveat to bear in mind - the titles will not be ranked in any particular order. Neither Bob Banka or I wish to split hairs. But suffice to say, every title that makes it into the list of twelve will offer outstanding image and sound qualities, along with special features and extras that make these discs an even greater standout. Gee, wouldn't it be nice if we could find a way to give away the entire set of all tweve discs? Wouldn't that be a nice stack to find under your tree for the Holidays? Stay tuned...
2:58am PST - Congratulations to Brian LeBail of New Brunswick, Canada for winning his choice of either the CRASH or DAMAGE DVD!! You could be a winner too -- just by reading our reviews! If you see our special contest banner, follow the instructions to claim your prize! Speaking of crashing, it's time for this bleary-eyed editor to get some sleep!
1:59am PST - From the webmaster that never sleeps comes a new, candid review of one of the first DVD titles from Dreamworks. Read Jeff McNeal's in-depth assessment of SMALL SOLDIERS and be prepared for some surprises.
Thursday, December 3, 1998
5:59pm PST - Here are a few more title announcements you may not have seen anywhere else. Look for New Line to release John Water's PECKER in February (much to his great relief, no doubt), LIVING OUT LOUD and a Platinum series edition of PLEASANTVILLE, both in March and AMERICAN HISTORY X sometime in mid '99.
5:36pm PST - Laserviews has updated their site in a huge way with street confirmations, delays (some open-ended ones), new announcements, dealer preorders, etc. It looks like THE GRADUATE, NEEDFUL THINGS, ROLLING STONES: IMAX and CANNIBAL WOMEN IN THE AVOCADO JUNGLE OF DEATH among others, have been pushed back... Bummer on that cannibal-woman title, especially...But on a brighter note, it looks like there's a lot of new content coming out that should make everyone happy. Everything from "Super Bowl 32:The Best One Ever" in DD 5.1 with multiple angles, to ROUNDERS, CLAY PIDGEONS, RETURN TO PARADISE, RAMBLING ROSE: SE and others. Curious that the Columbia Tristar titles we posted yesterday, including GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER weren't included.
4:29pm PST - Animeigo, one of those pesky anime companies, is looking at re-issuing one of their laserdisc box sets (10 discs with 20 hours worth of show) from the Urusei Yatsura series. They're also guaging interest for their second box set, so... if you want these funky-nassau cartoons on DVD, be sure to let them know. They just released Bubblegum Crisis, which is reviewed at Chris Beveridge's Anime on DVD site.
4:07pm PST - Looks like Dreamworks wants to be in the running for our "12 DVD's of Christmas" promotion... THE PEACEMAKER and SMALL SOLDIERS arrived today and we know what double-feature we'll be watching tonight and reviewing tomorrow! Thanks, Dreamworks! You'll be happy to know that both movies have little stickers on them saying "Never before seen footage", which in our case is 100% accurate (we missed the theatrical releases of both films -- preferring to wait for Dreamwork's embrace of open DVD). You'll also be happy to note that Dreamworks has adopted the Universal grid on the back of the package for quick and easy reference of the discs' features.
Jam Video has a new article on our favorite subject. Read: "Here Comes DVD: Digital Format Making Inroads in Entertainment World". The story features a Canadian twist -- and be advised -- the page is a slow-loader...
Jeff McNeal has another new review for you. Is NARROW MARGIN worth picking up for a stocking stuffer this holiday season? If you like Gene Hackman, Anne Archer and thrilling action, it just might be! Check it out -- it's our review of the day!
Wednesday, December 2, 1998
Congratulations to Tracy Bennett of South Dakota for finding our special contest banner this afternoon and winning YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN in the process. But take heart, we have two MORE contest banners for the CRASH and DAMAGE DVD's that may appear at on our review pages at anytime this week. And don't forget -- this Monday, The BIG Picture will announce our picks for the "12 DVD's of Christmas", along with a very special surprise...
11:03am PST - TechWeb features a strong rebuke from the Video Software Dealers Association regarding Divx, as the leadership urges its members to embrace DVD. All we can say is... It's about time. While you're at it, read our editorial, DVD Retailers: "Where's The Beef?" from July 20, 1998.
10:59am PST - The Associated Press notes that low electronics prices are spurring big sales this Holiday season. DVD features prominently in the mix.
10:38am PST - NetFlix has announced their bi-weekly top ten DVD rentals on the Internet.
The Top Ten DVD Movies Rented on the Internet are:
1. Godzilla
2. Lost In Space
3. The Horse Whisperer
4. City Of Angels: Special Edition
5. Tomorrow Never Dies - Special Edition
6. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
7. Mercury Rising
8. Star Trek: First Contact
9. A Perfect Murder
10. Species II
10:20am PST - Whoo whoo whoo whoo whoo... nyuck nyuck nyuck... We've just received word from Columbia Tristar that February 2, 1999 will bring us the following titles: GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (wow, can't wait!), THREE STOOGES: CURLY CLASSICS (featuring the 1934 episodes "Men In Black", "Punch Drunks", "Three Little Pigskins", "Women Haters" and from 1945, "Micro-Phonics"), THE ALARMIST, JACKIE CHAN'S WHO AM I, ONE FALSE MOVE and DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS. The ALARMIST and WHO AM I will be day and date with the VHS release.
Yesterday, we received word from Skip Huston that there was a Titanic DVD article in Video Business. This morning, Spero Drikas sent us the text:
From Video Business
Tuesday November 30, 1998
Director/producer James Cameron is preparing a DVD version of the
highest-grossing film in history, Titanic, with an eye toward a first half
'99 release.
Although the filmmaker wouldn't commit to a completion date, he didn't rule
out a late first-quarter or second-quarter street date. Paramount officials
said the title is not on its first-quarter schedule.
The release should be welcome news to DVD-savvy retailers, who have
enjoyed significant growth for the format this year but have expressed
frustration at not having the year's most sought-after film available on
DVD.
Cameron will be inducted into the Video Hall of Fame on Dec. 8, along with
Musicland chairman Jack Eugster and Barney creator Sheryl Leach, in part
because of the close attention he has paid to the release of his films on
VHS and laserdisc in the past.
He attributed the lag between the video and DVD release dates to creative
and technical issues, such as signal compression, authoring and the footage
that can fit on one disc.
Cameron is considering putting both a director's cut and the original film
on the same disc. A double-density disc has been "looked into," he said. Such a
double-sided, dual-layer disc would be an industry first.
Cameron personally supervised transfer of all his post-Terminator films to
VHS and laser. The transfer of Titanic, he said, took more than 180 hours.
As one of the most active proponents of director's cuts and other special
editions of his films, such as The Abyss, Aliens and T2, he says he's happy
with the look and overall success of Titanic on the smaller screen despite
the grand scale of the picture.
"A film that looks good on a big screen will work just as well on a small
screen, if it's a good film," he said. "A good film derives its qualities
from elements that are completely independent of the size of the production."
By John Gaffney
[Copyright 1998, Video Business]
Tuesday, December 1, 1998
4:33pm PST - The December issue of American Cinematographer Magazine has an interesting article regarding DVD. Here are some excerpts provided by one of our readers:
.....after years of marketing efforts aimed their way, home-video buffs are finally beginning to appreciate the benefits of this (DVD) low-cost, high-quality distribution medium.
To get a glimpse of the format's potential, look no further than Columbia Music Video's new DVD release of James Taylor's concert last May at NY City's Beacon Theater. When experienced under optimum conditions, this new home-entertainment release cuts through miles of techno-hype and clearly demonstrates the potential of digital television technology.
While viewing some of the Taylor concert during its initial live broadcast on PBS, this writer found it to be an agreeable event. However, the very same performance was amazingly intensified when experienced via the 5.1 channel Dolby Digital Sound version in a Sony screening room in NY.
The DVD is not high-definition video, mind you, but it is high-definition sound, and that total sonic immersion gives one the sensation of sitting six feet from the performer during a live concert.
Early adopters of DVD apparently like the experience--hence its good word-of-mouth. More than a half-million DVD players have been sold in the U.S. so far, and that number is expected to nearly double by year's end. (my note: this article was probably written in August)
DVD software sales are also taking off. Sony Music estimates that it has sold more than 7 million DVD titles. Such an upswing is resulting in a flood of new releases, and more than 2,000 DVD titles are currently available.
DVD is now moving into video-rental stores--a necessary transition if the format is to expand beyond its core market of high-tech videoophiles.
According to Dean Wilson, Blockbuster's executive vice president of merchandising, the video retailer's roll-out will soon be complete. "We have been testing DVD product in approximately 100 stores since April 1997," he says. "As a result, we have determined that now is the time to roll out DVD even further.
For those DVD fans not living in major cities, software rentals are available over the Internet. Sony has entered a marketing arrangement with NetFlix.com, and online DVD rental store. All sorts of promotions are being planned for the format's aficionados, including a "Sony Club DVD."
The growing sales of DVD hardware and software have not escaped the eyes of major motion-picture studios, mot of which are supporting the format. Ditto for electronics retailers, who have seen DVD player prices drop to as low as $299 and anticipate that the tags will be as low as $199 in the near future.
A potential dark cloud for DVD is Divx, a competing disc-based digital video format for which the view pays for each usage of encrypted movies and programs.
The appeal of this format is supposed to be that viewers do not have to physically return the disk to a store after viewing it, but Divx did not test well in initial markets. After the first play or a designated period of time, the Divx disc simply stops working. For additional viewings, the consumer connects the Divx player to a telephone line and pays via a credit-card transaction.
The popularity of DVD has surged with the advent of digital-television broadcasting. Ironically, a compromise in the DTV standard has left DVD with higher sound quality than that delivered by broadcasters when transmitting 5.1 Dolby Digital sound.
In a presentation made earlier this year, Sony technology chief Peter Dare noted that the bit rate on DVD is 84 kbps. "It's criminal, but it's what we've got." Dare said. "A man with golden ears can hear the difference."
4:12pm PST - The BIG Picture is busy working behind the scenes on a very special event that's guaranteed to bring Christmas joy to our readers. Look for The BIG Picture's "12 DVD's of Christmas" promotion starting next week. It's one thing to "announce" what we consider to be the cream of the DVD crop, but we have other, more exciting plans! More details coming soon... Incidentally, we're compiling what we consider to be the 12 essential DVD's based on image quality, sound quality and extra features provided. The cost of the title isn't being considered (after all, we're not selling the discs, now are we?), nor is the artistic merit of the titles, since this is a subjective area.
12:08pm PST - When you watch a movie with emotional impact, it's sometimes difficult to put into words the feelings that a movie like this evokes. But Jeff McNeal gives it the old college try in his intimate and personal in-depth review of THE BICYCLE THIEF.
7:40am PST - Wonder what the top grossing theatrical releases were for Thanksgiving weekend?
1. A Bug's Life, $46.5 million;
2. The Rugrats Movie, $27.6 million;
3. Enemy of the State, $25.7 million;
4. The Waterboy, $19.9 million;
5. Babe: Pig in the City, $8.5 million;
6. Meet Joe Black, $8.1 million;
7. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, $6.5 million;
8. Ringmaster, $5.3 million;
9. Home Fries, $5.2 million;
10. Very Bad Things, $4.7 million.
The dismal showing of Universal's Babe: Pig in the City cost Universal Chairman and CEO Casey Silver, his job. We don't know what, if any impact this dismissal will have on DVD content from Universal.
7:20am PST - A recent article in the Dallas Morning News features an informative and balanced Q&A regarding Divx. This whould be required reading for anyone who has a friend or relative looking to buy DVD this holiday season. It's hard for us to comprehend that a pay-per-view format with a built-in late fee that also potentially charges you credit card interest on your movie rentals (and a lousy title selection to boot) would have a snowball's chance in hell this holiday season.
Speaking of Divx, we're still receiving letters about the Divx TV ad blitzkrieg going on now. Here's a sampling:
"There is another aspect that you didn't mention and the simple fact that this topic is brought up proves how powerful DIVX's marketing strategy is. As a black person, I can assure you that unfortunately not enough of my people fit the target demographic for DIVX as far as having open-ended credit cards and necessary continuous phone connections. Instead of looking at it from the obvious perspective of DIVX trying to target the minority market, I think it would make more sense to look at it as a sort of "reverse race-baiting".
The way I see it DIVX is most likely trying to target technically-deficient NON-minorities (VERY large market) by implying that there is a new technology out that this "pseudo-black looking" guy knows something about and they may not. They are trying to sucker people in by scaring them into thinking that they may buy the wrong type of player unless it has the "DIVX" feature. Heck, even that "black guy on TV" has enough sense to know which player to buy...See where I'm coming from?
Being a minority working in a computer technology field I couldn't tell you how many computers I've inadvertently "sold" once white guys (especially older, middle-aged men) discovered how competent I was around the technology. :-)
Just my opinion.."
eb
"I live in the LA area and the man in the ads is probably the same everywhere.
I think some of the ads that aired this weekend were national insertions
during network football coverage. Circuit City picked someone who looks
generic. Some people think he looks African-American and some think he looks
white (of course it doesn't matter, he sounds about American as they come.)
The good thing is the fact that open-DVD blew away the Divx offer so quickly
with their own 5 free open-DVDs offer. I love that."
William Finlay
"The salesman for Circuit City in Wichita, KS is african-american. BTW,
Circuit City was negotiating with MidWest TV & Appliance (Oklahoma and
Kansas)...MidWest TV & Applicance turned them down."
Anonymous
"Just thought I'd share a wonderful tale of the great lady I'm married to.
Every time our "affable" CC pitchman comes on she boos, hisses and
sometimes even makes faces! Her parents thought she was nuts when we were
watching the Vikings game on Thanksgiving, but fully understood when we
told them what divx was all about.
God, I love her!"
Dan Herrmann
Chester Springs, PA
7:10am PST - Onward, upward and no signs of leveling off... Want further proof that DVD is taking off like a rocket? Last month, The BIG Picture was visited 1,196,807 times by 45,575 unique sites. The latter figure represents a higher than 20% increase over just two months ago. As more of our friends and neighbors enter the DVD market, more and more of them are finding their way to DVD-related sites like ours. A special thanks to our loyal readers - and a special welcome to those discovering our wealth of DVD information for the first time today. Pull up a chair and take a good look around TBP. We think you'll like what you see!
7:07am PST - Today's reviews of the day both feature Sean Connery. THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER was just completed by Bob Banka and demonstrates the need once again, for widescreen enhanced transfers from Paramount. Speaking of which, Dana pointed out an interesting story over at DVD File that builds the business argument in favor of 16x9 enhancement. The BIG Picture's own polls are used extensively by the auther to bolster his case. We hope that the execs at Disney, Paramount and Fox find their way to this informative article.
Monday, November 30, 1998
10:29am PST - FREE DVD ALERT!! Who loves ya, baby? Tis better to give than to receive. The BIG Picture would like to bid the month of November farewell with another DVD giveaway. Find the special contest banner on one of our review pages to claim your free copy of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, delivered anywhere in the world. Just remember that it's a Region 1 disc. Good luck! And thanks for another great month at The BIG Picture!
10:00am PST - Rentrak dives into DVD on its tenth anniversary to bring DVD rental programs to more video retailers.
8:50am PST - Over the weekend, TBP wondered whether or not Circuit City might be using race-baiting tactics in their television ads to hoodwink prospective buyers into purchasing Divx by targeting minorities in their commercials. A few of the responses we received:
"Hey.. nice to hear that there is someone else out there annoyed with these
ads! We have a guy who isn't clear-cut white, rather like a white guy with
a tan. He is an incredible dork. My girlfriend has gradually gotten into
this whole DVD craze and every time they show that ad she becomes more
firmly anti-DIVX:)
What I want to know is.. when are we gonna see pro-open DVD ads like this?
I think a serious ad campaign with some kinda cheesy TV commercials would
really work. People look at complex and hi-tech ads and it scares them from
the technology. But.. if they show cheesy.. well.. eventually they may get
tired of the ads.. but what will rub off is that DVD is the best way to view
movies.. I think you get the idea.. maybe have little sketches."
Nathaniel Lloyd, Boston, MA
"The "affable" gentleman, as you put it, in the ads coming from the Seattle
stations I get was of apparent Pacific Islander descent. Just thought you
might want to know... "
-David
"In response to your query about Circuit City's DIVX ads: I'm from Jacksonville, Florida, and the only one I've been seeing features a Caucasian spokesman saying to "be sure and choose a DIVX enhanced DVD player". Also, I only ever see the commercial during football games, if that means anything. "
Sincerely,
Mike Jacobson
"Well I live About 60 miles from LA and About 90 From San Diego(I recieve the LA staions) They are using a normal looking white guy(I guess they are going for the Yuppy crowd, So Cal is a very diverse group of people of all race and nationalities)"
Terance Eubanks
"You mentioned the Circuit City DIVX commercial. I saw this too on Friday.
But on Thanksgiving during the Dallas-Minnesota game, there was a great DVD
commercial advertising the deal 5 free movies and 13 free rentals, with
players as low as $299. It was a great commercial and got lots of exposure
I'm sure."
Chris McLellan
"For what it's worth, we in the New York City area seem to be getting the "affable
African-American" version of the ad.I'm looking forward to stopping in at my local CC some busy Christmas shopping day soon to gently correct the salesmen there while they try to push "DVD enhanced with DIVX." "Enhanced with DIVX". . . Sheesh, DIVX has such a bad name, they can't sell "DIVX Players" anymore. Just "DVD enhanced with DIVX." Like it's a bonus or something! Keep up the great work."
-Augie
"My name is Roger Atkins and I live in North Carolina. I have seen the same
afro-american pitching DIVX. More disturbing to me is the DIVX ads I've seen
in Sports Illustrated lately. Isn't Sports Illustrated owned by Time Warner
who also owns Warner Brothers? Why would a company who has a significant
stake in the success of open-DVD let one of it's magazines run ads for a
competing format?"
Roger Atkins
"Hello, I live in New Brunswick Canada, and with our cable package we
get Detroit programming, and lateley I've begun to see those awful
Ads. "If you are going to buy a DVD play make sure it has Deeevx"
Well the pitchman in Detroit is African American."
Brian LeBail
"I think the ads you described for Divx are probably the same everywhere.
Divx cannot succeed by specifically targeting only "minorities," anyway, as
they need volume sales! (Besides, when was the last time you took any
interest in the ethnicity of a salesperson? It's the product you're buying
that matters in your purchasing decision.) The salesperson in the ad I saw
did a good job, but the message he had to carry was lame."
Clay Howerton
Alpha, OH
The BIG Picture DVD News Daily would like to thank all who took the time to write in over the weekend...
8:40am PST - The Oregonian predicts a cheery holiday season for DVD sales and describes Divx as "confusing". Read this interesting article brought to us by Special Field Correspondent Dana...
8:23am PST - A special thanks to all of you who put your money where your mouths are and purchased aditional Warner Brothers discs in support of WARNER APPRECIATION WEEK. While the support for this efforrt was not as widespread as we would have hoped, we think that the bean counters at Warner Brothers should see at least a small blip in the numbers for last week. We'd also like to kindly thank The Cinema Laser site for their support of our efforts, by posting a link to our promotion from their site as well.
WEEKEND UPDATE
Bob Banka has seen the light in the darkness - THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS, more specifically... Check Bob's review of this latest Paramount title!
Saturday afternoon, I decided to pay a visit to my local Good Guys! store to take a look around. I saw a rather unimpressive HDTV demo that was exhibiting some severe digital artifacts. Image breakup, pixelation, etc. The Mitsubishi set top decoder was being used with a Mitsubishi RPTV. The salesman and I just shrugged and chalked it up to the bugs inherent in almost any new technology. I asked him how Divx sales were going and he said "Great!", claiming that sales picked up in the last week and that they had sold out of Divx players. Then I asked how well they were selling in relation to open DVD players and he said "about even - we're sold out of those, too." Undaunted, I sauntered over to the DVD display, where a salesman was helping a young man who was trying to make a decision. I stood there silently, waiting for the salesman to direct the customer over to the Divx display. It never happened. Instead, the salesman gave his potential customer what I felt was very good advice as it pertains to DVD. He explained the differences between component outputs versus composite and went into detail about the anti-shock and dual-laser features of the Sony 7000 (which was on sale for $749). In a word, I was impressed and told the salesman so after his prospect left. We were chatting for awhile and I casually brought up Divx. At first, the salesman was neutral on the subject, particularly where the hardware was concerned, but as we spoke it became apparent that he was not a big fan of the format and stated that he didn't believe it was going to be successful. He conducted himself in a thorougly professional manner throughout. I asked him how the Divx sales were going. "Not that great", he admitted. "But DVD's are selling real well. Before I left, I mentioned who I was and he asked me to bring up TBP on the store's WEB TV display so he could bookmark it. I was pleased to see that this page - and our ratings and review index, were the first two bookmarks already installed. I left the store knowing that the video department is in good hands.
Boston's Daily Globe has a lengthy article featuring DVD that you'll want to read. One notable line reads: "Disney is expected to join in, but still hasn't released a popular movie in the format, only the direct-to-video ''Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas.'' This only underscores the assertion that most have us have been making for a long time: Start releasing your animated classics on DVD, Disney -- the rest of the world doesn't even know you're aleady issuing titles! I hope that you're taking notice of this news, Disney. Someone must be, considering that The BIG Picture has been visited by disney.com more than 3,047 times this month. Oh, and while you're preparing to launch a "popular" movie, would you please make it widescreen enhanced?
WOW... The day after Thanksgiving, CompUSA began selling Magnavox and Toshiba DVD players for $199. Most sold out within hours. As you can surmise, the Toshiba players went first.
In the interest of fairness, Brian Sinks of Tulsa, OK (see below) wrote back to tell us that the day after Thanksgiving, he went back to his Tulsa Circuit City store and discovered... a large rack of freshly stocked open DVD titles in the back of the store. Gee, do you think Divx is monitoring this page now, too?
We've noticed the big Circuit City advertising blitz for Divx on television here in San Diego recently. A affable African American man tells us if we're going to buy a DVD player this Christmas, be sure to by a Divx enhanced player. When comparing notes with a friend in Northern California yesterday, he noted that the spokesman was of hispanic or perhaps Pacific Islander descent. How about your area? Is Circuit City trying to appeal to America's minorities, who aren't as aware of Divx pitfalls as the Internet set, (the majority of whom are caucasian) to push their jaded wares? Is Circuit City using race-baiting tactics to sell Divx? We certainly hope not. Let us know what your local TV ads look like...
