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Friday, April 30, 1999
10:59am PST - Excuse me sir, is this your dog? Jeff hurls (fill in the blank here) at the DVD transfer of THE JAZZ SINGER. Better take cover. Things could get ugly...

8:06am PST - Ah, the lilting Gershwin melodies... The athletic grace of Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron (those legs!). It's an MGM classic musical and Bob Banka reviews AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, baby!

2:23pm PST - Ultimate TV news reports that A BUG'S LIFE "has become the No. 4-selling VHS title and No. 10-selling DVD title of the year" after just one week. Special thanks to Mark Holtz for the link.

2:21pm PST - Here's a sneak peak at what The Kubrick Collection is going to look like.

1:58pm PST - Everything's coming up -- daisies? As part of the extraordinary promotional push that Warner Bros. has lavished upon YOU'VE GOT MAIL, Warner Home Video will be giving away tens of thousands of daisies in Central Park, New York on the day the video is released (May 4th). Tom Hanks character of Joe Fox gifted Meg Ryan's Kathleen Kelly with a bouquet and if you're a New Yorker, here's your chance to spread a little happiness, too, courtesy of Warner Bros. If you're in NYC and want some free flowers, converge on the Columbus Circle entrance (59th & Broadway) beginning at 7am.

12:57pm PST - As promised, here's The BIG Picture's in-depth review of YOU'VE GOT MAIL and man, is this disc loaded to the gills! Here also is Bob's review of RETURN TO PARADISE, which sounds like another good film to check into!

9:44am PST - Studios: Be sure to check our DVD Wishlist Forum for some great new title ideas.

12:16am PST - She's driving me nuts, but the woman has a point... Am I the only one whose wife continually asks why none of the movies "she" wants to see are on DVD yet? "Where's THE GRAPES OF WRATH" she demands. "Whaddya mean JURRASIC PARK isn't out on DVD"? she cries. "What about CITIZEN KANE then?" she muses. "Or BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S"? I just have to shrug and say: "Uh... Well...Yeah, but what about GONE WITH THE WIND?". Well, my lovely bride can unclench her tiny little fists and stop beating them on my chest for a few minutes, now that MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS has been announced for DVD. And I can draw courage from the knowledge that BILLY JACK, that wonderful low-budget flick that brought us the song "One Tin Soldier" is being released soon, too (look for the dealer plates on the borrowed trailer that Billy calls home for the movie). Can BORN LOSERS co-starring sex-symbol turned battle-axe Jane Russell and Robert Tessier (the bald-pated bully who gave new meaning to the word "creep") be far behind in Warner's budget gourmet line? Check the latest DVD release info here...

5:43pm PST - We're looking for a few good posts... When we announced that Michael Bay, director of ARMAGEDDON would be in Los Angeles signing autographs last weekend, we asked our contacts at Buena Vista if they wouldn't mind getting us an autographed copy of the DVD to give away. Not only did they come through for us, but today, our Michael Bay-autographed copy arrived -- and it's the deluxe Criterion Edition of ARMAGEDDON. Nice... So... how should we give it away? We're going to make it real easy... The contest will involve our DVD & Home Theater Forum. Sometime between now and Monday, we'll be looking for the most interesting, thought-provoking message topics posted between now and then. On Monday, we'll announce the five finalists for this rare, collector's DVD. Then, we'll let you, our readers decide who should win the DVD by taking a vote, right here on our news page. We'll narrow the field to five, but you, our readers, will ultimately determine who actually wins. So put your thinking caps on and get cranking on some interesting message topics -- and good luck! Thanks, Buena Vista/Disney for this very cool prize!

12:31pm PST - Special delivery! TBP just received a review copy of Warner's much-anticipated YOU'VE GOT MAIL. Expect our in-depth comments by this time tomorrow!

7:12am PST - What have you done for me lately, a.k.a. Hasta la vista, baby! Who says the best things in life are free? We're kissing LE (Link Exchange) goodbye. It was bad enough when the company forced us to resize all their banners last year. Frankly, we can't recall anyone ever telling us that our banner appeared on another LE member's site... And a quick check, refreshing our screen repeatedly showed just two sponsors on our LE banner at the bottom of the page, repeating over and over and over again. With the hundreds of thousands of Link Exchange members that are purportedly out there, we smell something rotten in Denmark (no offense to our Danish readers). So, beginning now, TBP is jettisoning Link Exchange from our pages. Adios!

9:59am PST - Yes, check under the hood, and clean our LCD displays, please. Awhile back, GM unleased a VHS-based video system for their minivans, featuring a flip-down LCD display for rear seat passengers. We knew it would only be a matter of time before someone developed a DVD based system for your car, van or SUV and Panasonic has done it. WE WANT ONE! Read about it on the recently revived dvd.com website.

9:53am PST - Update: We received a funny note from one of the webmasters at DVD.COM thanking us for letting them know that their site was down. He found out by reading our news page (see below). Apparently, they're making some changes over a DVD.COM to improve speed, etc., and someody threw the wrong switch. They're working on the problem and should have the site back up sometime this morning...

9:10am PST - DVD Express info site FUBAR? What's up with dvd.com and how long has it been like this? A check of the site produced the error message: "'C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\dvd.com\stories\splash_page\index.cgi' script produced no output"

8:45am PST - We're not holding our breaths... JVC announces the June rollout of their DD 5.1 equipped Divx player with component outputs and DTS pass-through for $699. "In the future, said consumer video general manager Jerry Barbera, "as Divx grows, we'll continue to expand our lineup."

8:05am PST - A company called PersonalDisc is creating audio and video on demand for customers that want to assemble their own music CD's (and in the future, DVDs?) on the fly at retail establishments. More expensive than a standard CD, cheaper than a bunch of CD singles... Hmmm. Haven't these guys heard of MP3 and CD-R? Admitedly, the distribution goes beyond music CDs: "Our systems will offer any type of content and store it on any type of media. The process will be quick and fun for the customer and, at the same time, protect the rights of our content-provider partners..."

7:48am PST - In their inimitible style of giving just half the story (for free, anyway) The Hollywood Reporter tells about a shake-up at MGM -- and a potential open door to the lion's fortress for the President of Universal...

7:45am PST - DVD content on your Iomega Jaz drive? Read all about it in this report from the NAB in Las Vegas...

7:42am PST - All dressed up with no place to go -- yet. Well, the software media has arrived for DVD+RW capability... Can the hardware be too far behind?

7:37am PST - Twenty years later, our time display is still blinking 12:00...Ever wonder how Y2K might impact your VCR or camcorder? The folks at E/Town have. Read this interesting article and emotionally prepare yourself for a potential life without time-shifting.

7:31am PST - So what happens when 300 tons a year worth of LCD displays don't make the grade? Currently nothing. But Sharp Electronics is hoping to start recycling the glass used in the displays in the near future.

12:46am PST - Sure, it's a wee bit early in the day and we should be sleeping, but we just put the finishing touches on a few new reviews that we thought you might like to read with your morning cup of coffee, tea, donut, oatmeal, grits, crumpet, whatever. Heck, by the time you finish these three mini-novels, you could down a dozen eggs, twelve strips of bacon and be all set for your electrocardiogram by the time you're done! We wouldn't want you to be late for work -- or shirk your duties once you get there, but be sure to check out Bob's review of STEPMOM, Jeff's review of GORILLAS IN THE MIST and Bob's review of THE RELIC just the same. And hey, about that goofing off at work? Your secret's safe with us!

11:25am PST Danke! Wunderbar! The webmaster of this German DVD site has sent us the cover art and info for HALLOWEEN: H20. According to Darius Metzner, in his own words:

The Code2 DVD of Halloween will feature :

Making Of
Interview mit Steve Miner
Interview mit Jamie Lee Curtis
Trailer (14 Tage lebenslänglich, Brassed Off, Smoke, Blue in the Face,
Studio 54, Hallaween H20)
16x9 Widescreen
FSK 16 Fassung (R-Rated)
German in Dolby Digital 5.1
Englisch in Dolby Digital 5.1 with german Subtitel (Not to Turn Off)
Animated Menu

11:01am PST - Our exclusive review pages sponsor, BigStarDVD.com, has announced a strategic partnership with The New York Times Online today."Subscribers of The New York Times on the Web who register for the Alert service will receive e-mails when the movies they want become available on DVD or video. Visitors simply click on the "Alert" button located within the film review, and with one more click, BigStar.com's Alert database will register their request to be emailed when that specific film is available on video and DVD." Slick. For new readers that may not be aware, last Fall, TBP entered into a multi-year non-exclusive licensing arrangement with BigStarDVD.com, in which The BIG Picture's own original reviews also appear on the BigStarDVD.com site. The BIG Picture also reached a similar agreement with DVD Empire shortly thereafter.

10:57am PST - Warner Reprise Video is set to release six new music DVDs in time for summer: MADONNA "The Immaculate Collection," PRINCE "The Hits Collection," FRANK SINATRA "Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back," FRANK SINATRA "Sinatra In Concert At Royal Festival Hall," FRANK SINATRA "Francis Albert Sinatra Does His Thing" and VAN HALEN "Live: Right Here Right Now." Put us down for Frank Sinatra and Van Halen (Jeff McNeal remembers the latter from high school when they were a local, Pasadena garage band called "Mammoth").

Be sure to catch Heidi Gensch's latest BIG Box Office review of COOKIE'S FORTUNE on our new current film review page. And Jeff finds out just how much he loves his Yellow Labrador Retriever while experiencing the horrors of REVENGE starring Kevin Costner, Anthony Quinn and the lovely Madeleine Stowe.

Our very own review chameleon... Here are two more reviews for you as you boldly venture forth into the suburban shopping malls of America (and beyond!) this weekend. Either that, or you have your credit card in hand, palms sweating in anticipation of buying just one more DVD this weekend! But which one?! Bob casts a critical eye towards STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER (William Shatner beware) and saves his for THE SIEGE.

Congratulations to Kwasi Chan of Calgary, Alberta Canada for correctly identifying the movie that our Mystery Screenshot came from. A copy of THE PARENT TRAP is on the way, Kwasi!

This bears mentioning: Bill Kinder from Pixar has been in touch with us via e-mail lately, concerned that our recent editorial expressing disappointment over Disney's lack of 16x9 enhancement on A BUG'S LIFE might be overshadowing our enthusiasm over the special re-framed 4:3 version that was created specifically for home video. Make no mistake about it, The BIG Picture recognizes, resepects and appreciates the great lengths that Pixar has gone through to insure a fantastic viewing experience for the majority of home theater enthusiasts (the ones with 4:3 displays). We also appreciate Mr. Kinders' comments in his personal expression of hope that one day Disney will, in fact, release a 16x9 enhanced version of A BUG'S LIFE for those fortunate enough to own widescreen displays. We thoroughly enjoyed this movie in every regard (we watched the widescreen version) and look forward to more exciting treats from Pixar and Disney in the future. We consider A BUG'S LIFE a major achievement, not only in computer animation, but in family entertainment that will delight generations of children for decades to come.

Film critic Leonard Maltin is interviewing George Lucas on May 5, 1999 and is looking for input on questions to ask the director. Our question would of course be: "When is Star Wars finally coming to DVD?" We've submitted that very question and who knows? If several thousand more people ask the same thing -- maybe Leo will ask Lucas and we can finally get a definitive answer! Worth a shot!