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Friday, January 15, 1998
10:15pm PST - MGM's February 23rd release of RONIN will contain special DVD-ROM features that include a special Internet link to a live chat with director John Frankenheimer on March 14, 1999. "Using state-of-the-art technology to integrate DVD-ROM and Internet capabilities, the Ronin event invites users to partake in an online presentation with Frankenheimer about the making-of the 1998 action-thriller. A 20-minute multimedia behind-the-scenes tour by Frankenheimer, illustrated by storyboards, behind-the-scenes footage, and film action sequences played directly from the Ronin DVD in the user's DVD-ROM drive, will precede a live chat session with Frankenheimer."

4:18pm PST - We don't know if anyone else has experienced this, but while watching THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER and DEEP IMPACT (both Paramount titles), we were thrown back to the DVD menu after the first chapter while watching on our Sony 7000. Re-entering from the chapter menu, we had no further problems. To date, we haven't experienced this with any other discs... Anyone else have this happen? Or just us? Is it time for our trusty DVP-S7000 to get a tune-up?

4:06pm PST - We received a press release from Paramount in the mail this afternoon with the announcement of DEAD MAN ON CAMPUS, INTERNAL AFFAIRS, ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ, THE GOLDEN CHILD and COMING TO AMERICA -- all are set to street on March 9, 1999. All are in widescreen (but not enhanced) format; each will have theatrical trailers, except for INTERNAL AFFAIRS; All will have a French language version except COMING TO AMERICA. Audio for all titles will be in English with Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Surround, except for ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ which will be in DD Mono in English and French.

1:35pm PST - Get it together, you friggin' mouse! Hollywood.com reports that "Disney said Thursday that it will withdraw four animated classics, The Black Cauldron, Lady and the Tramp, The Little Mermaid and Hercules, from home-video circulation on Jan. 31. Once stocks on hand are depleted, the company said, the four films "will disappear indefinitely." To which we say: "Zzzzzzz....zzzzzzzz.zzzzzz." We don't care since we don't buy VHS anymore!! While we're on the subject of VHS, Hollywood.com also reports that Fox will be releasing two versions of "Ever-After: A Cinderella Story". The VHS version will have three "F" words removed, but the DVD will leave them intact, like the theatrical version. Just a hunch on our part, but we bet that the audience is going to be muttering the "F" word at least three times through every Fox movie until the venerable studio stops providing preferential treatment to Divx and starts providing anamorphic transfers of their films on DVD.

12:25pm PST - Don't be a square... Here's another five-minute diversion for you sci-fi junkies. Check our review of CUBE.

Thursday, January 14, 1998
1:38pm PST - The BIG Picture has accepted a gracious invitation by the good folks at Laser Pacific, the authoring facility of some of the finest transfers we've had the pleasure of seeing on our screens, to tour their DVD production facility next week. Our visit will include a meeting with the movers and shakers at New Line Home Video. We're looking forward to taking a peek at the proprietary DVD authoring process that Laser Pacific employs. One of our field trip highlights will include the observation of the in-progress authoring of PLEASANTVILLE. We greatly appreciate this first-hand "behind-the-scenes" look at DVD production done right, and look forward to sharing some fascinating insights we gain from the experience.

1:25pm PST - Today, Peter Bracke's DVD File contains a nice rundown of upcoming titles, broken down by studio. Check it out, if you haven't already. John Larsen's DVD Dish also has a very nice "cut-to-the-chase" list of upcoming titles.We're happy to see THE MAN WITH TWO BRAINS, THE GAUNTLET and THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES among the upcoming titles slated for March...

11:24am PST - Thanks to Marc Paulin for forwarding this interesting CNET story called "Recording, Lower Prices Coming to DVD". Incidentally, CNET has just recently instituted a feature on their news page called "The BIg Picture". Please note that CNET's version of the phrase has nothing to do with this website. So please don't be confused when you see their links to "The Big Picture". They may not be links to our website, but if they remind you of us... well, then that's fine, too.

10:49pm PST - Toshiba is rolling out combination DVD / HDCD players to enhance audio output and enjoyment for home entertainment. Huh? Confused by this gobble-de-gook? Check the link for full details.

10:40am PST - According to Showbizdata, "John Cleese has been cast in the new James Bond film, The World Is Not Enough, as a "bumbling government worker," The former Monty Python member reportedly will play an assistant to Q, who could no doubt use all the help he can get after 35 years of moviemaking.

9:00am PST - The BIG Picture takes a look through our Christopher Walken-approved magnifying glass at Dreamworks' MOUSE HUNT.

9:40pm PST - Like yelling FIRE! in a crowded theater... A rumor has been started by Digital Bits that a DVD rental window program similar to the one used for VHS might soon be started (if it hasn't been already) by Divx-supporting studios. Digital Bits new partner in crime, Home Theater Forum, has an interesting thread called "The End of DVD as We Know it?" going as a result.

9:19pm PST - Uptight, outasight and in the groove, baby... So... How much do you know about the movie OUT OF SIGHT? Enough to know that it just received an honor that calls it a better movie than SAVING PRIVATE RYAN? What's THAT you say?!! Check Bob's review of OUT OF SIGHT and come away better informed as a result. This might just be the next DVD you pick up for purchase or rental as the result.

11:06am PST - Call forwarding... DVD Empire has entered into a partnership with Spokane, WA, electronics retailer Huppins Hi-Fi, Photo, & Video, to become the exclusive online vendor of DVD and DVD-ROM titles for Huppins' Internet sales arm, One Call. Beginning this month all Huppins online customers who click the OneCall DVD link will be transferred to DVD Empire. At a stroke the deal enables Huppins to multiply its inventory of 400 DVD titles seven-fold to 2,800 -- all the DVD titles now in print. In addition DVD Empire will take over all the warehousing and order fulfillment which Huppins has done up to now for OneCall DVD customers. DVD Empire maintains a 6,000 square foot warehouse outside Pittsburgh, PA from which all orders are shipped. In return, OneCall will be linked to DVD Empire as the latter's exclusive electronics hardware partner.

10:50pm PST - Daniel Boone hosts DVD school... We've reported the creation of DVD PRO University in the past; here's more detail on what DVD content authors can look forward to learning by attending the upcoming seminar at Fess Parker's Doubletree Resort in Santa Barbara, CA.

10:44am PST - Image has announced that the final stages of the Ken Cranes acquisition is now complete.

10:26am PST - ZDNet features tech news on the quest for DVD recording standards, a new Disney/Infoseek (yawn) Internet portal and a new bug destined to hit all Windows based PC's on April 1, 2001. That leaves 99% of all users with plenty of time to download and install a bug fix from Microsoft. Sounds fishy...

Meanwhile, we'd sure like to see the studios adopt common operational standards for their DVD's. Our pet peeves? Discs that make you sit through the copyright notices before being able to watch the movie. Discs that are 16:9 but feature 4:3 menus that don't look right, unless you switch aspect ratios. Discs that default to Prologic instead of DD 5.1. Discs that won't let you use your "audio" button on your DVD remote to switch modes easily. Discs that don't have enough chapter breaks. Discs that place the RSDL switch in obvious places that interrupt (albeit briefly) the flow of the movie. And gee, that's just the tip of the iceburg. We doubt it will ever happen, but it would sure be nice from a consumer's standpoint if all the studios adopted a single software format for DVD presentation. Our personal favorite? We prefer the direct approach. Warner Bros. way of immediate movie launch in DD 5.1 after the studio logo plays is simple and involves no interaction unless the viewer opts to engage the DVD menu for extras. We like that... a lot.

10:16am PST - Contrary to what we heard yesterday... it appears that Criterion will not be releasing ARMAGEDDON in anamorphic form. Sorry for the false (hope) alarm...

12:15am PST - Image/Laserviews News has updated recently with a smorgasbord of street dates, new title announcements and all that other stuff we've come to know and love, including some good concert titles and more Twilight Zone discs. Hot stuff! Speaking of Image, they've recently overhauled their own website, making it easier to navigate the format of your choice: DVD, Laserdisc or VHS. We'll take door number one, Monte.

2:16pm PST - The love you take is equal to the love you make... In this Techweb story, the author explores the symbiotic relationship between studios with a strong commitment to DVD and their consumers. We don't know who that home theater guy is that's quoted for the article, but we certainly agree with everything he says!

12:12pm PST - US News features an article that illustrates the success of DVD -- and catches the Divx spin, also.

8:17am PST - Thinking about picking up Disney's EMMA? Better take a look at Bob Banka's review first...

7:49am PST - Here's one that slipped under the radar from a few days back, but well worth visiting now if you haven't already seen it. A ringing endorsement of DVD from Hollywood Video.

10:24am PST - According to VideoScan, here are the list of top selling DVDs for 1998 at point-of-purchase. In other words, this listing probably only factors retail store purchases and may not include on-line retailers.

1. Tomorrow Never Dies (MGM)
2. Godzilla (Columbia TriStar)
3. Air Force One (Columbia TriStar)
4. Lethal Weapon 4 (Warner)
5. U.S. Marshals (Warner)
6. Lost in Space (New Line)
7. Starship Troopers (Columbia TriStar)
8. The Mask of Zorro (Columbia TriStar)
9. Gone with the Wind (MGM)
10 L.A. Confidential (Warner)

10:17am PST - Reel.com, following a recent move by DVD Express, has launched into a partnership with E/Town and DVD Insider to start its' own news page.

10:15am PST - Would you like some chips to go with that salsa?... A company has announced the first "DVD-on-a-chip" that should further reduce the costs of open DVD players later this year, while maintaining the high quality audio and video output of more expensive machines.

9:07am PST - Jason Graham provided us with a link that doesn't specify any actual dates, but seems to suggest that TITANIC will be released on DVD sometime this year. We just hope that James Cameron has the clout to ensure that the DVD is authored to the highest levels of quality possible. Speaking strictly for ourselves, we have no interest in sitting through a non-anamorphic 3-plus hour transfer. CGI graphics can be blurry enough as it is. So far, Fox and Paramount (not to mention their naughty cousin, Disney) have sadly missed the boat in the area of consistent image quality excellence.

Recently, Bob Banka received a very nice e-mail from Robert A. Harris after reading Bob's review of MISTER ROBERTS. In case you aren't already aware, Mr. Harris has personally restored several classic films, such as LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, VERTIGO and MY FAIR LADY. While working on our review of MY FAIR LADY, I wrote to Mr. Harris and asked him for a few words regarding the technical process of restoring this film and his comments are contained in our new review of the film. Not only did Mr. Harris lend his considerable expertise to our questions, he also had this to say about The BIG Picture: "I think what you're doing is extremely important. It may even (in the long run) be a factor in the success or failure of the format. The video buying public has a right to make the assumption that when they buy a DVD that they are getting - with one single purchase - and without extreme research or effort - the finest quality transfer and selection film element possible." We are of course, honored to receive such high praise from someone as quality-conscious as Robert A. Harris and we shall try to continue to live up to his -- and your -- expectations.

We continue to get a chuckle out of the "Divx Lover's" site. It could just as easily be called the Divx Loather's site, but then it would lose some of it's tongue-in-cheek charm. In short, the site, in a very entertaining way, provides compelling reasons (many based in confirmable facts) why you should RUN, not walk away from considering establishing a Divx account.

In brief: The following items appeared on the Internet Movie Database recently:

Polly want some big bucks? MGM said Thursday that it has completed its $250-million purchase of most of the PolyGram film library from Seagram, swelling its library by 1,300 films to about 5,100. The package includes such relatively recent hits as Fargo (1996), Crying Game, The (1992) and Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985).

Forget those rumors about Sean Connery playing Blofeld in the next Bond flick. A U.S. appellate court Thursday denied a request by Sony Pictures to lift an injunction barring it from making any James Bond movies pending a trial of MGM's lawsuit, which asserts that MGM has exclusive rights to the Bond movie franchise. Sony says that it owns rights to the Bond Thunderball (1965) thriller and may produce movies based on that story and all of its characters. Meanwhile, trade reports said today (Friday) that Trainspotting (1996) and Full Monty, The (1997) costar Robert Carlyle has signed to appear as the villain in the next MGM/UA James Bond film, The World is Not Enough.(1999).

There's no denying that Divx is using the CES to try to put a positive spin on the format, but if you begin to peel away the layers from their carefully-crafted and well executed dog and pony act, some interesting facts emerge. For starters, Richard Sharp conceded that the sales figures for Divx software in December included the five promotional titles given away with each hardware purchase. Secondly, it's become known that open DVD players were in woefully short supply this holiday season, giving Divx a boost for shoppers anxious to buy a DVD player - ANY DVD player. Add to that the often misleading high-pressure sales tactics, significantly discounted Divx hardware prices and a media blitz -- oh yes, and all the Divx units going to CC employees and their families -- and you have some pretty good numbers to bandy about. Someone said the real test for Divx will be in the first quarter of '99, as open DVD inventory catches up with growing demand for players. And don't forget, it takes awhile to flush $200 Million down the toilet. Circuit City has only spent $130 Million so far, promoting this format that doesn't contain movies from Warner, Columbia Tristar, New Line, Polygram, Image, Trimark, Madacy, Goodtimes, Sterling and others. Here's another good example of Divx "spin", courtesy of -- who else -- The Richmond (as in Virgina) Times Dispatch. Let's face it, this is the kind of headline you'd expect to see from the hometown paper. While the article is fairly objective, it's readily apparent that they researched their story with numbers and info supplied by Circuit City.