Site created 12/15/97.		page updated: 5/2/01 My Two Cents (Archived Posts 4/12/01 - 3/19/01) Back to Previous Archives Back to Current Posts 4/12/01 This should be fun - we've just gotten confirmation that Dave's Video: The Laser Place here in L.A. will be holding a special DVD signing event for charity on May 1st. The featured guests will be director Richard Donner and creative consultant/screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz, and they'll be signing copies of Superman: The Movie on DVD! Details on the event will follow, but the rules usually are that only two items can be signed and one of them must be a copy of Superman purchased at Dave's. A percentage of the profits will go to a charity of the guests' choice. Should be a blast, and you can bet we'll be there. In other news this morning, one of our retail friends has informed us that Universal has confirmed that their Legend DVD is still "TBD". Apparently, they inadvertently used the word "discontinued" in a letter to retailers yesterday, and they've acknowledged the error. So as we told you yesterday, the 2-disc set is still on the way. And it definitely promises to be the ultimate version of this film ever released on home video - it'll be well worth the wait. By the way... I just realized that I made an error in my Superman: The Movie review from yesterday. GLENN Ford played Jonathan Kent... not Henry Ford. You know how it is for us mild-mannered DVD reviewers... brain fart's are common. Just wanted to let you know that it's been spotted and fixed. ;-) Stay tuned... (LATE UPDATE - 4/11/01 - 6 PM PDT) We've got a couple more great DVD reviews for you this afternoon. Todd and I have updated our review of Rocky to include MGM's new special edition disc (which streets April 24th). And I've spent the last 2 days prepping a review of Warner's terrific new DVD-18 release of Superman: The Movie. I can't tell you how much fun I'm having with this disc. The special edition title streets on May 1st, and you're really gonna love it. Great picture and sound quality, and some VERY cool extras too. John Williams' complete isolated score in Dolby Digital 5.0? How can you not love that?! Enough said - check out the reviews for more. Stay tuned... (EARLY UPDATE - 4/11/01 - 10:15 AM PDT) This is just a quick early update to clarify some news that's being reported elsewhere online, specifically that Universal's 2-disc collector's edition DVD release of Ridley Scott's Legend has been cancelled. To our knowledge, the title was NEVER officially announced. Retail orders were being solicited for a time last year (with a November 21st street date), but the title was delayed before it was announced to the media. Fans should worry not. Legend is DEFINITELY still coming to DVD. I've spoken with various people involved in the title's creation, and there has been no change in its status, as we've reported it here before. The title is being reworked to improve both quality and content, and should be released later this year. Most importantly, the 2-disc set will definitely be better off for the delay. We've been getting a lot of panicked e-mails about this today... so rest easy, folks. We'll be back with reviews soon, so stay tuned... 4/10/01 Well... it's official. Buena Vista has confirmed that October 9th is the release date of their much-anticipated Snow White and the Seven Dwarves: Platinum Edition DVD. How did they confirm it, you might ask? Well... they've launched a section dedicated to the title over at their Disney.com site. They've also posted an official press release, and promise to have more content on the page in May. Disney claims that, "This amazing treasure trove will represent the industry's first truly immersive DVD experience and includes bonus features, behind-the-scenes programs, production features, audio commentaries and much more, providing the most complete package ever assembled for this animated classic." And here we thought "immersive" was a word only we at the Bits used in our reviews! Anyway, the multi-disc set (for that's what we've heard it will be) should be very cool. Now if we could just get Disney to bow The Lion King as their Platinum title for 2002... Moving on, we're very pleased today to bring you another review of a great upcoming Criterion DVD, the long-awaited French New Wave classic, Rififi. It's no exaggeration to say that this great heist flick is probably Todd's all time favorite film, and he can't stop gushing about how great the disc is. So do check out his review and see for yourself. The title streets on April 24th, along with Criterion's Spartacus (which we reviewed the other day). Stay tuned... 4/9/01 Back fresh from the weekend, we're going to start ramping up our review output this week, to catch up with a bunch of upcoming and recently released titles. First up today, is Synapse's Triumph of the Will: Special Edition, Columbia TriStar's The Tao of Steve and Charlie's Angels: Special Edition and Warner's Empire Records. We've also announced the winners in our Trivia Contest - congratulations to all and thanks to everyone who entered. In news today, Columbia TriStar has announced Guy Ritchie's Snatch for DVD release on July 3rd. Capitol-EMI will release Brian Ferry in Concert: Live in Paris on April 24th. Artisan has added Far From Home to its June slate (6/19). Rhino will debut Transformers: Heroes and Transformers: Villians on May 8th. Universal will also release more TV animated product, specifically 2 more X-Men animated series DVDs, on June 5th. And MGM has a whole bunch of great titles coming in June and July, including The Claim (6/26), Black Robe, Cotton Club, Cutter's Way, Hotel New Hampshire, Who'll Stop the Rain (7/10), Bagdad Cafe, Chocolat (1988), Go Fish, Hollywood Shuffle, La Cage Aux Folles, La Cage Aux Folles II, Lieberstraum, Marat Sade, Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey and Wild Child (7/24). We also have word that Killer Klowns from Outer Space will arrive on DVD in August. Now then... we've got lots of fun content coming this week, so we're gonna get back to work on it all. Personally, I'm off this afternoon to watch Warner's new Superman: Special Edition. So watch for a review of that and more. Stay tuned... 4/6/01 We've just gotten word of a number of new Warner titles for June and July. IMAX fans will be pleased to know that the studio has obtained the DVD release rights to the NASA-themed The Dream is Alive and Blue Planet. Both will street on June 12th. And July 3rd will see a disc of Cartoon Crack-Ups, featuring shorts from the Cartoon Network/Hanna Barbera canon (sure wish they'd just release ALL these great cartoons in DVD library editions). The studio is also prepping a Proof of Life DVD for tentative release in June or July (the exact street date is still TBD). We've updated the Upcoming DVD Artwork section today with some 13 new covers, including the FINAL Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon art, as well as A Few Good Men: Special Edition, All the King's Men, The Apartment, Playtime, Cartoon Crack-Ups, The Dream is Alive, Blue Planet, The Fugitive: Special Edition, The Horse Soldiers, Proof of Life, Quills and Sabrina. Also today, we've updated the CEA DVD Player Sales chart with the final March numbers. 409,763 players shipped to retailers in the week ending March 30th, bringing the monthly total to 1,207,489 players in all. That boosts the format as a whole to more than 16 million players. In other news, fans of the 80's arena rock band Journey will be pleased to hear that the band has officially confirmed that they've got a DVD on the way. The group was interviewed live yesterday on The Mark & Brian Show on 95.5 KLOS in Los Angeles, to promote the release of their new album, Arrival (which is pretty damn good if I do say so myself). When asked about the DVD, the band confirmed that it will present their December 30th concert in Las Vegas, a 90-minute version of which can currently be seen on Direct TV. The DVD release will feature a longer version of the concert (some 2 hours of music in all) plus Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. Street date is TBD. Finally, one last note. We've been getting a lot of e-mails regarding Todd's review of Criterion's new Spartacus DVD. Specifically, people are asking about the DTS track that was originally slated to have been included on the 2-disc set. Criterion has informed us that they abandoned the DTS track in favor of a higher video bit rate (and, thus, better overall video quality for the release). Just FYI. We'll be back to announce the winners of the Trivia Contest tomorrow. Have a great weekend, and we'll see you next week! 4/5/01 Okay... we've been very busy this week, working behind-the-scenes on some great upcoming content for the Bits, so our posts been a little thin. But we're gearing up to reward you all for you patience. And we're starting this afternoon, with Todd Doogan's early review of Criterion's AWESOME, 2-disc DVD release of Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus, which streets on April 24th. You absolutely don't want to miss this disc... or this review. It looks like Criterion's outdone themselves again, and fans are gonna love this release. Seriously, thanks again for your patience this week, while we prepare new content. Look for some great stuff to be posted here coming very soon. And don't forget, tomorrow's the last day to enter our Trivia Contest for a chance to win signed copies of Ben-Hur and Meet the Parents on DVD. Also today, I wanted to let you know that we have OFFICIALLY confirmed with Warner that they ARE working on a Goonies: Special Edition DVD, which will be out later this year. So all those of you who were concerned about the bogus April Fools info need not worry - a genuine SE is on the way. One last note... we should tell you that The Digital Bits now has its very own Easter Egg! It's hidden somewhere on the site, in the Review section. And we will say NOTHING more about it. ;-) Stay tuned... 4/4/01 Ah yes... the classic Internet Wisenheimer Syndrome. There's always some yahoo who thinks its funny to pull April Fools jokes, and every year, there seems to be someone who circulates fake upcoming DVD information. This year The Goonies was the subject. It appears that everything listed on that Goonies website was faked by an "unknown source" (according to the site today). Too bad. In any case (and with any luck), the little burst in publicity will kick Warner Bros. in the you know what and get them going on a real SE disc. We do know that a DVD release of this film IS in the works, so we'll have to wait and see... In the meantime, here's something we know is true - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have a DVD on the way. They recorded their new 2-CD set, Live in New York City, last June in Madison Square Garden at the end of their world tour. The performance was also taped for an HBO concert special, which debuts on Saturday. Springsteen himself has confirmed that it will later be released on home video and DVD, probably with additional performances. Very cool. Stay tuned... 4/3/01 We've got news on MGM's Buckaroo Banzai DVD. The title was originally supposed to be released on June 5th, as one of the studio's Contemporary Classics line of DVDs - a movie-only edition. But we've gotten word that it's been delayed until later this year, so that MGM can gather special edition materials and release it as a more elaborate edition. Now, there's still no word yet as to exactly what will be included, and much of the SE content is still TBD. We've been told that the director of the film, W.D. Richter, would love to be involved and has a LOT of material to contribute. We're going to see if we can get you an e-mail address where you can send your suggestions in to the studio. We caution you not to use personal addresses at the studio however. Our experience is that posting someone's personal work e-mail address without permission just leads to problems and could actually work against the intended effort. We suggest using the official e-mail form on the MGM website for now. Anyway, here's a look at the originally planned DVD cover art. We're not sure if the new plans will change the cover, but here it is anyway. And we've got a sneak peek at the main menu for Columbia TriStar's Close Encounters DVD for you as well (street date 5/29). Enjoy... Also today, The Goonies Home Page has information on - you guessed it - The Goonies: Special Edition, which is apparently in the works at Warner Bros. for DVD release later this year (mid-October according to the site). The DVD is reportedly going to include commentaries, deleted and extended scenes, outtakes and bloopers, tons of behind-the-scenes featurettes, Cyndi Lauper's music videos and lots more. We'll have to see if it pans out. Stay tuned... (LATE UPDATE - 4/2/01 - 2 PM PDT) You may have heard this, but just in case, we wanted to re-post it here: Warner Bros has officially confirmed the DVD release of Superman and The Superman Collection for May 1st. There was apparently some talk of delaying it to allow for a wider theatrical re-release, but the studio has decided to go ahead with the May 1st release to DVD. Speaking of Warner Bros, we've learned that the studio plans a big SciFi promotion for July, which will include the new 2001, V: The Original Miniseries and possibly a few yet-to-be-announced new titles, along with re-promotes of 2010, Brainstorm, Contact, Forbidden Planet, Mars Attacks!, Sphere, The Time Machine and Westworld. On a related note, I was checking out the DVD selection at a local WalMart the other day, when I discovered that numerous Warner titles were on sale for $14.99. Among them was Warner's repackaged version of MGM's 2010 disc. To my surprise, the back of the disc's packaging claimed that the disc featured widescreen video that's "enhanced for widescreen TVs". I eagerly picked up the title, hoping to replace my non-anamorphic MGM disc, and at a great price. Sadly, while the Warner disc DOES include a full frame version as well as the widescreen, the widescreen is still the same non-anamoprhic transfer as on the MGM disc. Oh, those darned package mislabeling woes... One last Warner note today - the studio's upcoming Gormenghast DVD (street date 7/3) will be a 2-disc set. It's one of the titles they're releasing from the BBC catalog. Also today, our friends over at Anchor Bay Entertainment have informed us that they've just published a HUGE list of the titles they have in the works for DVD release throughout the end of this year and into 2002 as well. All the information is tentative, but if you're a fan of their DVD work, it's well worth a look. Titles listed include lots of Dario Argento, Def Con 4, Django, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Mephisto, The Stepford Wives: Silver Anniversary Edition, Timerider (cool!), The Beastmaster, more Werner Herzog classics, Halloween 4, The Jazz Singer (1980), more Moonlighting episodes, Plenty, Francis, SpaceCamp, The Stunt Man, Crimes of Passion, Dr. Who and the Daleks, The Evil Dead: Limited Edition (sweet!), Highlander: Limited Edition, Re-Animator, Return of the Killer Tomatoes, lots of Wim Wenders films and MUCH more. Very, very cool... Now then... we've been working for a while now on some cool stories that we hope to post this week, along with more reviews. So stay tuned... (EARLY UPDATE - 4/2/01 - 12:01 AM PDT) Okay... anyone seen the April Fool's joke over at Star Wars.com? Gee... I almost feel like I've been transported back to 1979. I just wonder how many people will fail to get the green color joke, because they were born too late to remember a time when ALL computer screens looked that way. Someone over there at the Ranch has got WAY too much time on their hands. And to think... Lucasfilm wanted us to believe that they were too busy working on Episode II to release DVDs. Riiiiiiiiiight. Speaking of DVD (or should I say Betamax?), click on "Ask the Alliance Technicians" for a laugh. Sheesh... Meanwhile, Buena Vista has announced O Brother, Where Art Thou? for 6/12, with Book of Pooh and Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin following on 7/17. Paramount has set Save the Last Dance for 6/19. Star Trek: The Original Series, Volumes 25 & 26 will street the same day (just 14 more volumes to go...). And 6/26 will see You Can Count on Me. Fox's Cast Away is due on 6/12, as predicted, and Dude, Where's My Car? will follow on 6/26. And finally, Warner has added Gormenghast to it's July slate (7/3), along with Citizen Cohn (7/10). Back with more soon... 3/29/01 We've got a bunch of stuff for you today. First up are a trio of new DVD reviews - Greg Suarez has taken a look at Universal's Meet the Parents, and Dan Kelly's got looks at DreamWorks' What Lies Beneath and Columbia TriStar's Broken Hearts Club. There's more new Upcoming DVD Artwork today too - several new Criterion covers including Hidden Fortress, L'Avventura, Diary of a Chambermaid, All That Heaven Allows, Big Deal on Madonna Street, Cries & Whispers, Billy Liar and My Man Godfrey. We've also posted newly revised (and much cooler looking) cover art for Disney's The Emperor's New Groove: The Ultimate Groove. Today's Rumor Mill update features information on The Final Countdown, which is much desired on DVD by fans. And we've posted the new Trivia Contest as well, wherein you can win copies of Meet the Parents and Ben-Hur on DVD. And one lucky winner's copies will be signed by Robert DeNiro, Ben Stiller and Charlton Heston! Be sure to get your entries in! Stay tuned... (LATE UPDATE - 3/28/01 - 5 PM PST) We've just completed a big update of the Upcoming DVD Cover Art section, to add some 20 new scans. Included in the update are The Stanley Kubrick Collection Boxed Set, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, A Clockwork Orange, Lolita, Full Metal Jacket, Dr. Strangelove, Eyes Wide Shut, Barry Lyndon, Mexican Fantasy, Circus, Pay it Forward, Antitrust, Hangman, Dungeons & Dragons: Platinum Series, Sex and the City: The Complete Second Season, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The House of Mirth, Shadow of the Vampire, The Muppets Take Manhattan, Cast Away, Cheech and Chong's Nice Dreams, Cheech and Chong's Things are Tough All Over and Cops and Robbersons. Enjoy! Stay tuned... (EARLY UPDATE - 3/28/01 - 2 PM PST) Okay... we've got new street date for upcoming Buena Vista titles in today's Rumor Mill update, including word on O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Unbreakable and Dracula 2000. We've also updated our authorized mirror copy of Jim Taylor's Official DVD FAQ to the latest version (March 16th). And we thought you'd be interested in a first look at the cover art for Columbia TriStar's upcoming 2-disc Close Encounters of the Third Kind DVD (street date May 29th), as well as "revised" DVD cover artwork for Warner's new Stanley Kubrick Collection (street date June 12th). Notice the "Remastered" band on the cover of the 2001: A Space Odyssey disc (on the right below - we've included the original on the left for comparison). This will appear on almost all the new discs in the set. We'll be back with more soon, so stay tuned... 3/27/01 We've gotten word that another SciFi Channel TV series is on its way to DVD, along with a pair of big titles from Fox. Check that out in today's Rumor Mill update. We're spending our day today working on some things that we hope to post soon, so we're just gonna leave you with a couple of other news bits today. Columbia TriStar has issued a statement regarding the DVD release of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on June 5th - look for that here via Yahoo. We've got the DVD cover art in our Upcoming DVD Artwork section, but look for it to change slightly to reflect the film's Academy Award wins. Also from Yahoo today is news of Blockbuster's D.O.A. video-on-demand system. The company's 20-year deal with Enron to deliver movies electronically via broadband was dissolved today. It seems Hollywood isn't as keen on video-on-demand as it is on VHS and DVD sales and rentals. Could this (at least in part) be a case of the studios striking back in retaliation for Blockbuster's hardball revenue-sharing negotiations? Interesting in any case... Finally today, many of you may know that I'm a fan of Wim Wender's Wings of Desire, which is coming to DVD later this year from MGM. In fact, it turns out that the director is currently preparing DVD versions of most (if not all) of his films, including Paris, Texas and Until the End of the World. News of this can be found at the director's ultra-cool, official website (be sure to visit the "latest news" link at the bottom of the home page). The site will take a little time to load, but it's very cool and is well worth the wait if you're a fan. Thanks to Bits reader David D. for pointing it out to us. Stay tuned... 3/26/01 So... is it just me, or does it seem like the Oscars went a lot faster this year? I know it's only an illusion, but I was surprised at the pace the Academy Awards kept throughout the broadcast last night. And I wonder how much Gladiator's phenomenal DVD success had to do with its winning the Best Picture statuette. Not that it isn't an awesome film, completely deserving of the award. But the fact that it's an awesome DVD (the best-selling of all time) and that so many Academy members no doubt have had it for months couldn't have hurt the voting process. Fascinating. For a full list of the winners and losers, be sure to visit the official Oscar website. This morning, we've updated The Rumor Mill will several more upcoming DVD titles, including a few Criterion announcements. And we've also updated the CEA DVD Player Sales chart to include sales numbers from the 3rd week of March. Finally this morning, we've got a look at the DVD cover artwork for Columbia TriStar's The Muppets Take Manhattan (6/5) and Universal's Shadow of the Vampire (5/29). Enjoy! Stay tuned... 3/23/01 Wow... the dust hasn't even settled from the Bitsys yet, and we're getting tons of great feedback and e-mail on the awards. Thanks for all your kind words. Todd and I are very glad you've enjoyed the Bitsys - it's definitely been a big success this year. It's a lot of work, but there's no denying that we love what we do. And having such great readers makes it all worthwhile. So thank you for all your support. You can definitely look forward to a 3rd Annual Bitsy Awards next year. Although, given all the amazing discs that are on the way in 2K1... it's gonna be even tougher to pick the best. Speaking of the Bitsys, we did make a tiny little error... one of omission. When we looked over the awards after a day's breather, we realized that we completely omitted a category we had planned to include: BEST DVD - ANIME! We've rectified the situation this afternoon, so look on page 2 of the awards for our pick in that category. Also, we wanted to let you all know that Universal has just announced Shadow of the Vampire for DVD release on May 29th. The disc will contain anamorphic widescreen video, English and French Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, a behind-the-scenes featurette, audio commentary by director E. Elias Merhige, interviews with Willem Dafoe, E. Elias Merhige and producer Nicolas Cage, a gallery of production photographs, HSX (Hollywood Stock Exchange) virtual producers, the theatrical trailer, production notes and cast and filmmaker biographies. SRP will be $24.98. Now then... we've got some very cool stuff coming for you next week. So enjoy the Oscars on Sunday night and we'll see you back here on Monday! 3/22/01 All right... I figured we'd get a jump on Thursday early with some new Rumor Mill information. We've been able to confirm a whole mess of great titles that are officially in production for DVD over at Miramax, including a pair of Quentin Tarantino faves. Don't miss it. And of course, if you haven't checked out The Bitsys yet... what are you waiting for? ;-) Stay tuned...! 3/21/01 The Bitsys are here! It took a lot of work, but we've just posted The 2nd Annual Bitsy Awards here at The Digital Bits! We've taken a look at the best the DVD format had to offer in 2000, and we've got our picks for discs you shouldn't miss. We've also added lots of new categories this year, to make the Bitsys better than ever. We're sure you'll enjoy them. So off you go and we'll see you tomorrow! 3/20/01 Gearing up for the Bitsys has taken up a lot of our time over the last couple of days, but we've just posted several new DVD reviews for you, including DreamWorks' Almost Famous, Fox's The Ice Storm and Buena Vista's Clerks: Uncensored. We've also got 4 more entries in our look at The American Films of Alfred Hitchcock on DVD, among them Warner's Strangers on a Train, Anchor Bay's Rebecca and Universal's Marnie and The Man Who Knew Too Much. We're also currently working on reviews of Lawrence of Arabia and Cleopatra, so watch for those this week. You're definitely gonna want to add both titles to your DVD collection, I'll say that much right now. Well... tomorrow is the big day. We've gone over the all the DVDs that came out in 2000 and we've picked the ones we think are worthy of recognition as the best of the year. So check back tomorrow for The 2nd Annual Bitsy Awards! We'll be taking your Bitsy picks for Reader's Favorite DVD of 2000 until Midnight tonight, so get 'em in fast. Now then... Todd's got an interesting note for you. So here's Doogan: You know, since we're always bitching about how most DVD-ROM stuff is a waste, I figured it might be nice to point out a potential future ROM option that we hope Artisan actually takes advantage of when it comes time to put the film out on DVD. Wayne Wang (who gave us Joy Luck Club, Blue in the Face and Anywhere But Here) was personally involved in the creation of the website for his new film, Center of the World, and it's pretty cool. Here's Wang's own comments from the site's manifesto: "The main focus of the website was to create a theme that would parallel that of the film - to meet a stripper, participate in the fantasy she projects and to become involved with her personally. The hardest part of creating the site was meeting the last goal, which would involve an interactive element. This type of artificial intelligence is relatively new and primitive. The added challenge was to create this interaction within a sexual context. We used a scene originally written for the film that I ended not using to set this up. It was a monologue about a stripper not knowing whether she was in conscious control of herself while dancing for a client. The idea behind the interaction is to do or say the right things so that the stripper would lose control and become more involved with you. Visually, imagining the website was a very different process. The images could be manipulated by the computer and the streaming provided an inherent surreal/dreamy feeling that required an approach more akin to silent cinema. Working with Alicia Klass, a porn actress, was a unique experience. She was so direct and visceral with her sexuality that we had to find a way to manipulate the images to create more mystery." Handling the production of the site is the company Hi-Res and they did a great job. What we get is a virtual lap dance performed by porn actress (and possibly future Mrs. Bruce Willis if you believe what you read in The Globe) Alisha Klass. After Ms. Klass is done, we can follow her into her dressing room, watch her change and then have a "chat" with her. By using an engine, we get to read her diary entries until she realizes you're reading her thoughts. She then asks for prompts and everything you write is responded to in a personal sort of way. When the whole thing's over... you'll know next to nothing about the film. And yet, I want to see it now. Like the film trailers of yesteryear, this site is like a valid extension of the film and both compliment each other nicely. With Wang having scripted and "filmed" the entire website, it's got that much more style and pedigree. We think the site is pretty cool. Yes... there is a small level of nudity (obviously, you're in a strip club), so no kiddies allowed. But this is Artisan, after all, so don't expect porn content either. It's a unique and stylish approach to a film website and it's definitely worth a look (here's the link again). Happy surfing. Okay... it's Bill again. Have a great night and we'll see you tomorrow for the Bitsys! (LATE UPDATE - 3/19/01 - 5 PM PST) All right... remember that lackluster Frank Herbert's Dune DVD we reviewed recently? Well... the subject has become an official issue. We just wanted to know why the disc was so lame. Little did we know what we were getting into. With that, we give you The Dune Debate. Sources close to the disc's production have given us their take and the miniseries' producers have responded at length. Make of it all what you will. But, if you're smart, you'll spend your $24.98 on a better DVD than this one. I swear... if I never hear the word "dune" again, it'll be too soon. Back with more later... (EARLY UPDATE - 3/19/01 - 10 AM PST) Welcome back to the work week, campers! First up today, an announcement. The 2nd Annual Bitsy Awards will be posted on Wednesday here at The Digital Bits. You can continue to send us your picks for Reader's Favorite DVD of 2000 until Tuesday night. We'll tell you which DVDs impressed us the most last year... and which were stinkers too. There'll be lots of fun, so be sure to join us for all the DVD, pre-Oscar whoo-ha! And be sure to check out The 1st Annual Bitsys from last year to see what it's all about. Now then... we've got a bunch of stuff coming for you today. First of all, we've got a mess of reviews, including DreamWorks' Almost Famous and a mess of Hitchcock films. We've also heard back from the producers of Frank Herbert's Dune as to their side of the whole lackluster Artisan DVD situation. Watch for that this afternoon. In the meantime, we've updated the CEA DVD Player Sales numbers for the second week of March. Some 114,243 players were shipped in the week ending March 9th. We've also updated the rest of our DVD stat listings (above) - be sure to check 'em out. And then there's this... we've updated The Rumor Mill with a possible street date for Star Wars: Episode I on DVD (according to Ain't it Cool at least). We've also got word on The Sopranos: The Complete Second Season. Don't miss it. Stay tuned... More Archived Posts Back to Current Posts
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