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Friday, April 16, 1999
9:11pm PST - If you dig Jane Fonda with big hair and tight plastic pajamas, you're going to be excited when you take a gander at Laserviews and see that BARBARELLA is slated for release along with several other titles from Paramount -- all 16x9 enhanced, for starters. Even Criterion is releasing a 16x9 enhanced disc! Kudos to Paramount for getting with the program. Could it be that consumer demand (even from large numbers of 4:3 owners) for anamorphic transfers are finally starting to be reckoned with by most studios? We sure hope so. And a BIG congratulations from The BIG Picture to all who recognize the benefits of 16 x 9 enhancement -- even if they can't take advantage of the feature just yet. You're thinking ahead. And that's a good thing for everybody.
8:58pm PST -Warning! Warning! Danger Will Robinson, danger! A BIG apology from The BIG Picture for the late edition of today's news. A major computer malfunction hit us like the tax man on April 15th... Wait a minute. It was April 15th! Two days and four hours of sleep later, we're back in top form with a most late edition of the day's news. We'll try to make up for our tardiness with lots of good content over the weekend -- including a new mystery screenshot contest sometime on Saturday!
Thursday, April 15, 1999
12:46am PST - No need to remind you what today is. Ugh. Totake our mind off our tax burdens around here, we popped in the MILTON BERLE BUICK HOUR #3 from Image Entertainment and took a fascinating glimpse into the past of early television and Hollywood in its' heyday. Pictured below are two of "Uncle Milty's" guests from this series - Peter Lawford and a very youthful Carol Channing, whose voice sounded every bit as irritating then as it does now. An Americana time capsule, each episode features schmaltzy skits with Berle himself frequently breaking into song in between vaudevillian-style gags. We get the feeling while watching these episodes that Milton Berle would have very much enjoyed being taken as a "serious" actor, but the comedic die had been cast long before this series came along. And we're not complaining. Berle's easygoing comedy style withstands the test of time nicely. It held up a lot better than the flashy new Buick convertables that he'd open each show with... Though the video and audio sometimes dip into the "horrendous" category in which DVD labels like Madacy have built a businss around, the fact that these episodes were preserved in any form at all is a miracle.
Wednesday, April 14, 1999
11:49pm PST - Everyone who's ever been frustrated with Toshiba customer service as it pertains to DVD bugs should read this article and bask in the knowledge that you're not alone. Special thanks to reader DAve (funky punctuation at his request) for providing the link.
11:40pm PST - The whole Disney/DreamWorks rivalry is driving us a little "buggy"... Special thanks to writer Bill Kelly III for providing another monthly link to his nice DVD column; this month dealing with increasing family fare coming to DVD. But if we may editorialize for just a moment. Make no mistake about it -- we believe that the primary motivation for A BUG'S LIFE being released day and date with VHS is because of the pressure that DreamWorks has brought to bear with their DVD release of ANTZ. So, which one looks better on the big (home theater) screen? Rely on The BIG Picture to give you the straight dope -- but we suspect that if you want one movie, you'll probably want the other...
11:34pm PST - The Motley Fool investment advisor page has an interesting article on MP3 audio, but an even more interesting one just underneath it that starts off with the foreboding line: Another impending disaster is Circuit City's ...proprietary DIVX video player. Special thanks to reader Roger Winston for the link!
11:22pm PST - Laserviews has a slew of new DVD title announcements and we're pleased to see that AFFLICTION, THE LAST STARFIGHTER, SILVERADO, WHITE SQUALL and ARACHNOPHOBIA are among them.
1:09am PST - Class! Your attention, please! Who hid my erasers!! Be sure to check Bob's review of the new release of APT PUPIL.
12:55am PST - Leave it to our eagle-eyed readers... Very interesting... When we asked our Pixar interview subjects for their personal opinions about Divx on Monday, we had no idea that one of Pixar's own Board of Director members apparently has a direct interest in the pay-per-view format. Given their personal opinions, perhaps our new friends at Pixar weren't aware of it, either. Special thanks to our reader who provided the link.
Tuesday, April 13, 1999
6:15pm PST - The BIG Picture welcomes our latest sponsor to join the fold. Speedhost.com Internet services. If you're looking for a great Internet deal, be sure to check their pricing and packages! Yow!
6:08pm PST - Now that the cat is out of the bag... The BIG Picture's Jeff McNeal was pleased to participate as the subject of an interview by a new, startup DVD site called DVD Views. You can find our all of Jeff's deep, dark secrets and read another fascinating review with DVD File's Peter M. Bracke, too, while you're over there...
5:58pm PST - Here's a link to Ain't It Cool's report of a rumor from yet another site regarding a Ghostbusters release. One of the more detailed rumors we've seen from Emperor Nero's site. TBP thanks to our SPO (Special Field Operative) Dana for the link. Man, we just love those acronyms around here!
3:13pm PST - Here it is -- our special interview with Pixar. Our two guests, Bill Kinder and Craig Good were very easygoing and fun to talk with. They seemed more like a morning radio show than a couple of chipheads. Lots of enthusiasm and lots of laughs. There aren't a whole lot of new revelations - and no secrets were revealed, but we think you'll find their comments enlightening (especially Craig's metoric rise from effluence to affluence within the digital imaging community!) and somewhat enigmatic answers to some poited questioning about certain issues. For instance, if someone can explain to me in layman's terms what their answer was to my concerns over the non 16 x 9 enhanced treatment of the film on DVD, I'm ready to receive your comments on our user forum.
12:35am PST - So how about it? Interested in learning what all the fuss is about with the latest king at the box office, THE MATRIX? Read Michael Banka's theatrical review on our new BIG Picture Box Office Review page and found what all the buzz is about.
12:15am PST - Congratulations to Jeff Huang of Hollywood, California. It took three full days, but we finally found someone who knew that our mystery screenshot was from the opening credits of WEEKEND AT BERNIES. Stay close for another screenshot and free DVD this weekend, from The BIG Picture!
Monday, April 12, 1999
11:06pm PST - Forgive our self-indulgent excitement, but we just concluded our comprehensive interview with Bill Kinder, Editorial Supervisor and Craig Good, Senior Layout Artist for Pixar and believe that this special report will be our most enlightening and entertaining to date. Be advised -- it's going to be a long, informative read. We're going to burn the midnight oil in the hopes of having our next Special Report: A candid interview with Pixar posted by tomorrow afternoon. We hope you enjoy it.
10:08am PST - Our interview with Pixar is slated for this morning. We've got a lot of great questions to ask that were submitted by many of our readers a few weeks ago -- plus a few of our own. Be looking for the full transcript of this revealing interview with Pixar's senior staff late tomorrow, including lots of eye-popping screenshots from A BUG'S LIFE. We're excited to have been selected for this interview and we hope you'll be pleaed, too.
8:18am PST - A tit for a tat, imagine that! Toshiba has announced their own 6x DVD-ROM drive, hot on the heels of Pioneer's announcement over a week ago. Meanwhile, we noticed over the weekend that Hitachi's 6x DVD-ROM drive is already on the shelves, amidst very little fanfare.
8:14am PST - Feeling the heat from an encroaching local DVD rental market? NetFlix has announced that for a limited time, they are extending their DVD rental period from one to two weeks and also lowering the price of DVD rentals. Great news for DVD lovers still seeking local DVD rental options.
7:58am PST - Well, well well! Will wonders never cease! It looks as though we've finally found a DVD screenshot that's not so easily cracked by our vast legions of videophile readers that made our first few contests seem like child's play. And no, that wasn't a hint! Keep e-mailing your guesses and may the best video sleuth win!
WEEKEND UPDATE
Looks like we've finally found a screenshot to stump the experts. So far, anyway. Check he contest page to see if you can win the DVD! When you become bored with that, be sure to check out Bob's review of another 5-glober for image quality, DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS.
Jeff McNeal, editor & publisher