Site created 12/15/97.		page updated: 6/27/01 My Two Cents (Archived Posts 5/14/01 - 4/13/01) Back to Previous Archives Back to Current Posts (LATE UPDATE - 5/14/01 - 2:30 PM PDT) We've just posted our in-depth DVD reviews of 2 recent films. Todd's taken a look at Columbia TriStar's forthcoming, 2-disc Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Collector's Edition (street date May 29th), and Brian's got his thoughts on Miramax's recent Bounce: 2-Disc Set (now available). Bounce is worth a look if you're in the mood for an above average romantic drama/comedy, and you should DEFINITELY be planning to get yourself a copy of CE3K when it streets later this month. It's not to be missed. We'll have several more DVD reviews for you tomorrow, so stay tuned... (EARLY UPDATE - 5/14/01 - Noon PDT) Okay... we've got something special for you this morning - a sneak peek at the cover art and disc specs for MGM's upcoming Hannibal: Special Edition and The Silence of the Lambs: Special Edition. Both titles are tentatively expected in August (street date TBD), and the official announcement should be made in the next few weeks. Here's a look at the cover artwork... The Hannibal: Special Edition will be a 2-disc set, with the film in anamorphic widescreen video, Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 audio, an audio commentary by director Ridley Scott and a trailer for the original Silence of the Lambs on Disc One. Disc Two will include 35 minutes of deleted scenes, 5 "making of" featurettes covering various aspects of the production, a multi-angle breakdown of the "Fish Market" scene in the film, a multi-angle featurette on the art of storyboarding with Ridley Scott interview footage, a multi-angle exploration of the film's opening title design, a gallery of trailers, TV spots, production stills and unused poster artwork and lots more. The Silence of the Lambs: Special Edition will also include a new anamorphic widescreen transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, along with more than 20 minutes worth of newly discovered deleted scenes, a new, hour-long documentary on the film featuring interviews with Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, the original 1991 featurette, trailers and more. I think it goes without saying that these should fall under the category of "must-have" DVDs. We'll be back with a few new DVD reviews, including Close Encounters of the Third Kind, this afternoon. Stay tuned... 5/13/01 I wanted to jump in here with a bit of sad news this morning. We've just learned that Douglas Adams has passed away (see also this report on Yahoo). As many of you probably know, Adams was the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - certainly the most remarkable book ever to come out of the great publishing corporations of Ursa Minor, likely the only literary trilogy ever written in FIVE parts and, in all probability, the funniest thing I'll ever have pleasure to read. If you've never read the Guide, get your hands on a copy without delay. Adams will be sorely missed. And without him, the Earth is now officially COMPLETELY HARMLESS. 5/10/01 We've got word this morning that DTS is unveiling a brand new audio compression scheme that will allow for 5.1 channel sound encoding for DVD-Video releases at a rate of 96 kHz/24 bits. Because of the amount of data required, 96/24 audio on DVD-Video has previously been limited to only 2.0 recordings. From DTS's press release: "Now DTS exclusively can deliver 5.1 channels in 96/24 along with full-motion video, for feature film soundtracks and music programs on DVD-Video. This exclusive technology can also be used on DVD-Audio discs where a DTS 96/24 track can be placed in the video zone, so that people without DVD-Audio players can enjoy multichannel 96/24 quality using their DVD-Video players." Here at the Bits, we say: "Bring it on!" We're big fans of DTS and we're dying to see (and hear) a demonstration of this new 96/24 technology on an actually movie title. Give us a call DTS! Be sure to visit the DTS website for more information. In other news, we've got spec lists for Fox's upcoming Die Hard Trilogy DVDs. Here's what to expect: Die Hard: 5-Star Edition (2 discs) - commentary by director John McTiernan and production designer Jackson DeGovia, scene specific commentary by special effects supervisor Richard Edlund, subtitle commentary by various cast and crew, editing suite and sound mixing studio demo, featurette, still gallery, interactive magazine articles, full length screenplay, DVD-ROM game demos, newscasts, deleted sequences, gag reel, 3 trailers, 7 TV spots Die Hard 2: Special Edition (2 discs) - director's commentary, HBO special, featurette, 4 deleted scenes, interview with Renny Harlin, 3 broken-down visual effects, 3 side-by-side comparisons, 4 trailers, 2 TV spots, 2 stunt vignettes Die Hard 3: Special Edition (2 discs) - director's commentary, CBS special: A Night to Die For/McClane, HBO special, featurette, alternate ending, 3 special effects vignettes, Bruce Willis interview, 7 special effects and stunt studies, storyboard sequences, 2 trailers, 10 TV spots Also today, we've got word on more cool Columbia TriStar DVDs that are on the way. The studio is finally re-releasing Fly Away Home as a special edition (with anamorphic widescreen video) on August 7th. Their Saving Silverman will be available in 2 versions - R and PG-13 - on July 17th. The studio will release Ed Harris' Pollack on July 24th. And finally, Hanover Street (starring Harrison Ford) is expected on July 31st. Here's a look at the cover artwork for Die Hard and some of the Columbia titles: And finally, this morning, a shameless personal request. Here's Todd... Hey guys. I know this isn't DVD related, but I have a favor to ask. I collect non-sport trading cards, although I'm pretty much a creator whore. Which means I'm only looking for specific art from specific artists. I've pretty much bottomed out looking for the following cards, and I was wondering if any of you out there who read the site might have a box of cards that could possibly have some of these singles in there that you'd be willing to part with. If so, please let me know and we'll work out a deal. The cards I'm looking for are: The entire 45-card set of Art Adams/Marvel cards put out in 1989 from Comic Images, Witchblade (1996 set) card #28 (Art Adams art), Great Eastern Convention 1994 promo card, Cards Illustrated/Legends Christmas Promo card 1994, Wildstorm Archives 2: #119, #121, #123 and #124, Wildstorm's expandable superhero collectible card game: Evo (Limited/Unlimited), Fairchild (Limited/Unlimited), Lynch (Limited/Unlimited), Lucius (Legends), Blackhammer (Legends), Blackhammer (Conflicts), Threshold (Legends)... and my personal holy grail: Wildstorm Set 1 autograph card A4: J. Scott Campbell (Fairchild art) If you're looking for money, cards, whatever in exchange, let me know and I'll see what I can do. I have a box full of singles that I will never need and a pretty good selection of complete sets, so I have plenty to bargain with. Thanks for your time, Doogan (todddoogan@thedigitalbits.com) See? Shameless. Stay tuned... ;-) (LATE UPDATE - 5/9/01 - 6 PM PDT) Okay... we've just posted 5 new DVD reviews for your reading pleasure, all by yours truly. I've taken a look at MGM's new Antitrust: Special Edition (street date: May 15th) and Warner's Superman II (now available), as well as a trio of IMAX films on the way to DVD from Warner: The Dream is Alive, Blue Planet and T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous (street date for all: June 12th). Some of these titles are worth a look... and some are stinkers (you'll have to read the reviews to see which is which). Also today, we've updated the CEA DVD Player Sales chart to include the 340,700 players shipped to Region 1 retailers in the last week of April. All charts have been updated accordingly. Finally, there are several new studio announcements to report today. Columbia TriStar has announced a number of new DVD titles, including The Body (actually a cool little flick - street date July 3rd), The Great Muppet Caper and Querelle (both July 10th), as well as Saving Silverman and Once Upon a Time in China III (both July 17th). Buena Vista's Recess: School's Out is due on August 7th. And Universal has The Family Man and The Caveman's Valentine coming on July 17th. Stay tuned... (EARLY UPDATE - 5/9/01 - Noon PDT) Hey all! Sorry for the lack of an update yesterday. I picked up a pair of new eyeglasses yesterday morning, and I spent the whole rest of the day trying to avoid bumping into walls. The new glasses are the same light prescription, but they're narrower, which means that they change my depth perception dramatically. Until my eyes and brain get used to it, I'm a little off-balance here. Which is probably more than you all wanted to know about my eyes, but there it is! ;-) I just wanted to quickly chime in here with word that we're working on several new DVD reviews that we'll post this afternoon - just so you know that we're not MIA. In the meantime, we'd like to announce that we're holding a different kind of contest. We're looking for all you talented graphic designers out there to design The Digital Bits a new logo! We want something that will work on black AND white backgrounds, that's stylish and sleek, scalable to various sizes, and that will fit into about the same space on our page as our current logo graphic above (roughly 470x125). We also want the design to be something that will look great embroidered on hats, T-shirts, jackets and that sort of thing. You can try more stylish variations on our existing logo, or something totally new and original. But they should all relate somehow to the theme of DVD and digital media. The winner will receive a fun prize (TBA) and will receive credit on this site for his/her work (along with an e-mail address or weblink - hey, promotion is great). We'll also send the winner a hat/jacket when and if we get them made. We haven't ironed out all the contest details yet, and we'll really kick this thing off when we do. But we wanted to give those of you who may be interested a heads-up on it so you can start brainstorming. You can start submitting designs to logo@thedigitalbits.com any time. Be sure to use the word LOGO in the subject line. Now then... we'll be back this afternoon. In the meantime, you may remember my comments from Monday about the HTF meet this weekend here in Los Angeles. You can read Home Theater Forum chief editor and guru Ron Epstein's report on the meet by clicking here. Stay tuned... 5/7/01 Hi everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend. I've had the great fun of spending some time with a group of West Coast members of The Home Theater Forum over the last few days, along with HTF's own Ron Epstein, who made the journey in from New Jersey. Friday was spent at the studios, starting with Paramount in the morning, where we attended presentations on film restoration and DVD, and were given a tour of the studio's vast film vault on the lot. The "tank" on the lot was also filled with water while we were there (a rare thing), as scenes from the film Orange County were being shot in it. Friday afternoon, we headed over to 20th Century Fox, where we got to see highlights from some great upcoming DVDs (including the Die Hard series) and watched a special DVD screening of Big Trouble in Little China. The producer of the disc, David Prior, even stopped by to say hello. Dinner on the lot followed, which included lots of fun DVD shop talk. HTF members also spent time at the offices of Widescreen Review and DTS over the course of the weekend. And yesterday, David Tolsky (the forum member who organized the weekend) hosted a day of DVD screenings at his house here in L.A., which included lunch, prize give-aways and some fun Q.A. about DVD with myself and Charles de Lauzirika (the producer of Gladiator and the upcoming Hannibal and Legend DVDs among other things). I also brought a few "early" discs to give the forum members a little sneak peek at some fun upcoming titles. As we learned over the course of the weekend, there are a lot of great titles in the works. Paramount is prepping new DVD transfers of The Duellists, 1492 and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (among other titles). And they're going to announce their Forrest Gump DVD in the next couple of weeks. Fox also has some great titles on the way, starting with their Die Hard discs. I also learned that director Robert Wise recently recorded an audio commentary for an upcoming DVD edition of The Day the Earth Stood Still. Very cool... We'd like to thank Ron, Dave Tolsky and his family, Martin Blythe and everyone at Paramount, and Peter Staddon and the DVD crew over at Fox, for putting on a great weekend. A good time was definitely had by all. Now then... I'm off to an afternoon of car repairs. I was driving on the freeway this weekend when a rock hit my windshield, starting a crack that seems to spread a little more every time I look at it. Doh!!!! Stay tuned... 5/4/01 It's a little later than expected, but we've just posted our latest special feature article, which features an interview about Stanley Kubrick and the upcoming DVD re-release - Leon Vitali talks Kubrick on DVD. Leon was a long-time associate of the director, and served as the technical consultant (for the Kubrick estate) on the newly remastered high-def transfers of these films. We tried to get right to the bottom of the DVD quality, aspect ratio and anamorphic issues. And while we're sure no answer will satisfy some out there, Leon definitely speaks from a position of authority with regard to the DVD transfers and Kubrick's wishes. Also this morning, we thought you'd get a kick out of seeing the cover art for MGM's upcoming Killer Klowns from Outer Space: SE, Dressed to Kill: SE and Invaders from Mars (all due 8/28), as well as yet another version of Platoon (this time an SE, street date 6/5). So here they are... And finally, we've got 3 new DVD reviews for you as well... Todd's look at Barrel Entertainment's Schramm (note that the cover art and review is not for the kiddies - this is Grade Z slash stuff), Dan Kelly's take on Fox's 9 to 5 and Brian Ford Sullivan's review of USA Films' Still Breathing. Enjoy! Stay tuned... (LATE UPDATE - 5/3/01 - 2:30 PM PDT) Okay... we've just posted 3 new DVD reviews for you to check out this afternoon. We've got Todd's take on Fox's terrific new 2-disc Big Trouble in Little China: Special Edition (street date 5/22) and Criterion's The Scarlet Empress (also 5/22), as well as Greg Suarez's thoughts on Columbia TriStar's recent My Life. And we'll have more reviews tomorrow. The Vitali interview is still coming, but the phone has been ringing off the hook here at the Bits this afternoon, so it's taking a little longer to get it finished. Look for it sometime this evening (if you can break yourself away from the final episode of Survivor long enough to check it out...). ;-) Stay tuned... (EARLY UPDATE - 5/3/01 - 11 AM PDT) Well... we knew it was coming - Pioneer said so. And now we have details on their new 2-disc Akira: Special Edition. Expected to street on July 24th, the set will be THX-certified and will include featurettes on the making of the film, the soundtrack, the restoration and more. 75,000 copies of the disc will be packaged in a limited edition collector's tin. Once they're gone, the special edition will still be available but only in regular DVD packaging. A single-disc regular edition will also be produced. You can read more about the set over at ICv2.com. Meanwhile, here's a look at the tin... Also this morning, CNN's got a good update on the MPAA vs. 2600 case regarding the later's publication of the DeCSS DVD decryption code. Both sides in the case argued their positions in an appeal yesterday. But we're not yet done! Todd and I have been pushing MGM on this title for so long we probably sound like broken records. Todd, in particular, has worked hard to get this to happen. But at last, Killer Klowns from Outer Space is on the way to DVD! Yes... the greatest alien clown invasion movie ever made is finally coming on August 28th... and as a special edition no less. For the measly price of $14.95, you'll get anamorphic widescreen video, 2 deleted scenes, a storyboard gallery, a photo gallery, the original theatrical trailer, a "making-of" documentary, director's commentary by the infamous Chiodo Brothers, behind-the-scenes material on composing the film's score, a visual effects commentary, and a "director's reflection on the film". ROCK ON!!!! Now when this comes out... do Todd and I a favor and pick up a copy. We've sold MGM hard on this and if it doesn't do well, especally at this great price, we're gonna look like a couple of serious yahoos. But to say we're excited about this is would be a massive understatement. Sweet! ;-) Back with that interview and reviews this afternoon... (LATE UPDATE - 5/2/01 - 3:30 PM PDT) We've got more details this afternoon on upcoming DVDs from Buena Vista. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will officially street on October 9th, and will feature "the industry's first truly immersive DVD experience" according to the press release (whatever that means - do you suppose one of the dwarfs will jump off the screen, grab your remote and guide you though the disc?). The 2-disc set will reportedly feature "bonus features, behind-the-scenes programs, production features, audio commentaries and more". SRP will be a surprising $29.99. There's no mention of the "Platinum Edition" moniker. Also coming on October 23rd will be the 60th Anniversary Gold Edition of Dumbo. Extras will include bonus programs, a new recording of the song Baby Mine by Michael Crawford (to promote Michael Crawford: The Disney Album) and a sneak peek at the direct-to-video Dumbo II (gasp!). SRP will also be $29.99. And Disney also plans a 4-volume first set of "Walt Disney Treasures" on December 4th. These will include Mickey Mouse in Living Color (which is said to feature a number of classic animated shorts), Disneyland USA (which will showcase a large collection of early feaurettes on the Disneyland park), Silly Symphonies (which will present a collection of Walt's seminal early animated shorts) and Davy Crockett (which will feature all 5 of the famous TV episodes). Film critic Leonard Maltin provides introductions for the volumes, which will each be packaged in collectible tins (that includes a special lithograph). SRP for each will be $32.99. And among the other DVDs Buena Vista is working on, look for their recent, made-for-TV version of South Pacific (starring Glenn Close and Harry Connick, Jr.) on August 28th. Now then... on Monday I had the pleasure of attending a special roundtable discussion with Jan Harlan, the producer/director of the wonderful documentary Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (which will be available exclusively in the upcoming Kubrick DVD boxed set). Also on hand was technical consultant for the Kubrick estate, Leon Vitali. Both gentlemen were long-time associates of Stanley Kubrick, having worked with the director for more than 30 years (since Barry Lyndon), and various members of the press were given the chance to ask them questions about the documentary. Harlan revealed that his goal with the piece was to both chronicle the life of the acclaimed filmmaker, and to say good-bye to a friend. He worked very hard to give viewers an in-depth look at the man, but also to be respectful of his wishes as well. In short, he wanted to make something that Kubrick himself would have been proud of. Said Harlan, "If I meet him on the other side of the fence, I don't want to get a big bollocking, you know?" Now, I've seen the documentary and it's absolutely wonderful (you can read my comments on it by clicking here). But for me, the real value of the press event lay in the little things we learned about Kubrick - not Kubrick the director, but Kubrick the man. The conversation quickly spread to other areas of his life, beyond what's covered in the documentary. Both Leon and Jan remembered their friend fondly, recalling not only what it was like to work with him on various projects, but also what he was like in daily life. Kubrick, we learned, was an absolute sports nut, with a great love of American football (which he used to have taped and sent to him for viewing at his home in England). He also loved watching tennis and soccer, and often knew the names of all the various players, like any good fan. He loved animals and had numerous cats and dogs on his estate (the documentary actually tells a funny story about the highly-detailed, 15-page set of instructions Kubrick wrote to his family on how to take care of his cats while he was away). Kubrick was a devoted family man, but he never stopped working on potential film projects (even in the years in which he seemed to publicly disappear after Full Metal Jacket and before Eyes Wide Shut). Quite contrary to his reputation as a recluse, he often drove into the village near his home to shop and do business. Especially amusing was Leon and Jan's account of how Kubrick simply couldn't pass a stationary store without going in and buying lots of things. He absolutely loved collecting fountain pens and inks and papers and notebooks, and apparently left behind a lifetime supply when he died. And, again in contradiction with the reputation he gained in later years, Kubrick was constantly in contact with his peers in the film industry, by phone and fax - people like Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott. He kept very much abreast of what was happening in film, screening everything he could get his hands on. Harlan even remembered a amusing anecdote in which Kubrick, while researching his film adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining, called the author at 2 in the morning and asked only one question - "Do you believe in God?" King apparently said "Yes...," and that was all Kubrick wanted to know (exactly why he wanted to know that, Harlan couldn't say). I enjoyed the day's personal insights every bit as much as I liked the documentary itself. I just had to share some of it with you here. As for Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures, Harlan (along with his editor on the project, Melanie Viner Cuneo) has managed to give us a wonderful insider's look at the life of arguably the greatest filmmaker of the modern cinema. If you're a Kubrick fan, it really does (at least in my mind) justify the price of the new DVD collection. Now if we could just get Warner to give fans who purchased the first DVD set a rebate on the new one... We'll be back tomorrow with an in-depth interview with Kubrick associate and technical consultant Leon Vitali, to talk in more detail about the effort to finally bring the director's films to DVD in the quality they deserve to be seen in. We'll also have a number of new disc reviews. Stay tuned... (EARLY UPDATE - 5/2/01 - 11:30 AM PDT) We thought you'd enjoy a little 20th Century Fox DVD update this morning, so that's what we've got for you in today's update of The Rumor Mill. There's word in there on Die Hard, our favorite nuclear family (animated, of course), and even the original caped crusader coming to DVD. Don't miss it! Also this morning, we've spoken with Warner and they're looking into the Superman DVD packaging error. More on that when we hear anything. Back with more this afternoon... (LATE UPDATE - 5/1/01 - 11:30 PM PDT) So... if you're an L.A.-area Superman fan, and you tried to go to Dave's Video this evening for the Richard Donner/Tom Mankiewicz DVD signing... I hope you managed to get your autographs. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the event at the last minute. But I spoke with Dave's Video co-owner Linda Lukas, as well as friends who attended, and it seems that turnout was well beyond what anyone imagined. Linda informed me that the first fan showed up at 9 AM to get in line for the event... which didn't start until 7 PM! The line eventually ran through the entire store, out the door, well down the block and WAAAAYYYY around the corner - many hundreds of fans were there in all. One friend who was there got in line at 5 PM and managed to get his discs signed by 8 PM... and the line STILL ran down the block. As I write this, Richard and Tom may still be there, signing away. FYI, I'm told that DVD producer Jonathan Gaines was also on hand, as well Aaron Smolinski (who played baby Clark Kent way back when). As they say, a good time was had by all... except maybe Richard and Tom, who will no doubt be nursing sore fingers for days to come. Still, for my money, it's just somehow very gratifying to see such an amazing demonstration of the enduring appeal of Superman. Hope you all got your copies today... ;-) If you DID get your copy of the Superman DVD today, we hope you haven't had any problems with it. A significant number of Bits readers have e-mailed us to report that when they got their copies home and tried to play them... they got an error message indicating that the disc wasn't Region 1 compatible. And a closer look at the disc itself revealed (in tiny print along the center ring) that the disc was Region 3 - an apparent packaging error! Most of the readers in question claimed to have purchased the problem discs at Best Buy, but we have no idea if the problem is limited to them or is more widespread. Also, the problem appears in copies of the disc packaged singly AND in the boxed set. Hopefully, this isn't going to be a huge fiasco. In the meantime, if you did get an R3 disc (and you live in R1), we suggest that you return the disc to the store and try to exchange it. Also this evening, we've announced the winners of the second Trivia Contest - you'll find that above. We've got more great contests on the way very soon, so stay tuned. And finally, word's come in that the anti-DeCSS suit filed by the studios against 2600 is heating up again. Click here for the latest on that story via Yahoo. Back tomorrow! (EARLY UPDATE - 5/1/01 - Noon PDT) Okay... this is just the first post of the day - we'll be back later this afternoon with more. But we wanted to let you all know that our Review search engine is now fully functional, and all reviews have been updated to make search results more useful. We should have the News search engine finished in a couple of days. Criterion has announced the DVD release of Sullivan's Travels, The Lady Eve, Withnail and I, How to Get Ahead in Advertising (street date for all is July 10th). We've announced the winners of the X-Files Trivia Contest - you'll find that above, along with links to some of the possible answers. We intentionally wrote the questions so as to allow for a number of acceptable answers. We wanted to make the contest more accessible and, judging by the number of entries (more than 2,000), we succeeded. So rest assured that we allowed a very wide latitude when checking answers. And don't forget that the second Trivia Contest ends later this evening, so get your entries in quick. We'll be back with more soon... 4/30/01 We've updated the CEA DVD Player Sales page to include the 98,502 players shipped to Region 1 retailers in the week ending April 20th. All charts have been updated accordingly. Also today, there's word of more great upcoming titles on DVD. Buena Vista has set July 3rd as the street date for their Dracula 2000. Chocolat will follow on August 7th. Image is taking over the license to release Fox's Behind the Planet of the Apes disc, and when the new version streets on July 17th, it will include more material than the disc that was in the Apes boxed set. July 10th is the date Paramount's set for Wayne's World 1 & 2 and Down to Earth. The Gift will street on July 17th and Hatari, Paint Your Wagon and The Shootist will follow on July 24th. Also on July 10th, Rhino will debut 2 volumes of Battle of the Planets animated episodes. Finally, Universal will release Family Man on July 17th and August 12th will see the release of Warner's Full Eclipse. And don't forget that our first Trivia Contest runs out today - get your entries in. The other one is over tomorrow, so be sure to enter that one quick if you want to as well. Stay tuned... 4/27/01 We've got word on another DVD signing event at Dave's Video - The Laser Place in May. But first, a recap. The first event will be a signing with director Richard Donner and creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz on May 1st, to celebrate the DVD release of Superman. The event will run from 7-8 PM PDT. The pair will sign 2 items, and one of them must be a copy of the Superman DVD purchased at Dave's at the time of the event. The second event will feature a signing with director John Carpenter to celebrate the release of Big Trouble in Little China on DVD. The same rules for the signing apply and the event will be held on Sunday, May 27th (the times are still TBD, but look for it to be an afternoon event). In both cases, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to a charity of the guests' choosing. Should be a lot of fun and you can be that we'll be there. Dave's Video - The Laser Place is located at 12144 Ventura Blvd. in Studio City, CA. And in other news today, we've got a look at some of the upcoming Disney DVDs for later this year, which include more "Gold Collection" animated titles as well as live-action children's fare. You'll find that in The Rumor Mill. Stay tuned... 4/26/01 Today, we want to get right to the good stuff for you. We've got a big update in The Rumor Mill this morning. Think of it as an "upcoming DVD round-up", with a quick look at a number of great titles you'll be spinning in your players by Christmas, if all goes well. We think you'll enjoy it... ;-) The big news today is that Buena Vista has officially announce the DVD release of the Oscar-nominated Chocolat on August 7th. The DVD will SRP for $29.99, and will include a "making of" featurette, audio commentary with director Lasse Hallström and the producers, a feature on the film's costumes, deleted scenes and lots more. This is a really great film and it's one that we're definitely looking forward to seeing on our favorite format. And one quick note - we've confirmed with Warner that their new 2001 DVD will have restored the "missing line" from HAL that was apparent on the earlier MGM and Warner editions. Also, the new DVD will NOT include the Arthur C. Clarke interview footage that was on the earlier editions, reportedly to allow for a higher video bit rate on the film. And finally, Warner has a 2001: A Space Odyssey Limited Collector's Edition slated for June 12, but note that it's the same DVD that will be available separately (and as part of the new Kubrick Collection). It's simply a special collector's boxed edition, which will include the film's soundtrack, a collectible film frame and a special booklet. Stay tuned... 4/25/01 We've just gotten the latest details on Columbia TriStar's new Snatch DVD. The special edition will street on July 3rd as a 2-disc set (SRP $27.95) and will include anamorphic widescreen and full frame presentations of the UK version of the film. Audio will be in Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0. Extras will include a director and producer commentary track, a feature called Stealing Stones, the Making Snatch featurette, storyboard comparisons, deleted scenes, a "video" photo gallery, TV spots, trailers and more. Also today, New Line revealed that it plans to release a 2-disc DVD boxed set containing their previouslly-released Pecker, along with the new-to-DVD Hairspray, which will feature a new John Waters director's commentary. Hairspray will ONLY be available in this set (which streets on May 22nd), BUT the set's SRP is only $24.98 (a pretty great price given that you're getting 2 films). And finally, this afternoon, we've just updated the Upcoming DVD Artwork section to add some 20 new covers. Included are Pearl Jam: Touring Band 2000, The Indian in the Cupboard, Toostie (B&W only), the Hairspray/Pecker 2-pack, Before Night Falls, Written on the Wind (Criterion), The Last Dragon, The Karate Kid, Part 2, The Karate Kid, Part 3, State and Main, The Pledge, Dude, Where's My Car?, Snatch, T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous (IMAX), The Wedding Planner, Sugar & Spice, The Goonies, The Witches, Gremlins (revised art) and Scooby Doo's Scariest Tales. Stay tuned... (LATE UPDATE - 4/24/01 - 11 AM PDT) We just wanted to chime in here with a quick update this morning to let you all know that there's been a fairly major upcoming title announcement. It's also one of the earliest DVD announcements I think I've ever seen - the title doesn't street until November! The title is Universal's DVD release of Ron Howard's live-action How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and it will hit stores on November 30th. The disc will reportedly be backed by "one of the most aggressive marketing and promotional campaigns in Universal Studios Home Video history". The collector's edition will be available for $26.98 SRP and a deluxe "limited edition" DVD gift set will also be available ($39.98 SRP), which includes the collector's edition disc and an interactive playset. The disc will include a Spotlight on Location featurette on the making of the film (with cast and crew interviews and behind-the-scenes footage), Descriptive Video Service (DVS for the visually impaired), sing-alongs and read-alongs, deleted scenes, the Faith Hill music video, featurettes on Whoville, the Grinch make-up application and special effects, outtakes and DVD-ROM features (including Kazoo 3D - a computer generated picture program allowing consumers to integrate a personal photo together with the Grinch, the Grinch screen mate, games, a screen saver, a Grinch-themed browser, recipes, "Who" photographs, production notes, cast and crew bios and Grinch facts). The art below is unofficial, but we're using it in our Upcoming DVD Art section until the real deal is released. Stay tuned... (EARLY UPDATE - 4/24/01 - 12:01 AM PDT) We've just launched a second Trivia Contest, which gives you a chance to win copies of MGM's Rocky Collection, the Rocky: Special Edition and Fox's Men of Honor, along with DVD Marquees and 3D DVD Signs from ShowOff Displays! There will be 5 winners in all, and the contest is nice and easy. And you've only got until May 1st to enter, so get your entries in quick. Also this morning, we've updated the CEA DVD Player Sales chart to reflect the 101,595 players shipped to retailers here in the States for the 2nd week of April. The running total is now 16,449,858 players to date and, at this pace, industry experts expect the format to DOUBLE in size by the end of year. So by Christmas, some 30+ million people could be spinning copies of The Godfather and Star Wars: Episode I. And we remember just a few years ago when we all looked at 1 million as a lofty goal... ;-) Stay tuned... (LATE UPDATE - 4/23/01 - Noon PDT) We've just posted an upcoming DVD update in The Rumor Mill, featuring a number of great titles including Chocolat, Sugar and Spice and more. There's also word on an accelerated Star Trek: TOS release slate from Paramount. In other news around the Net today, there's some good stories about the upcoming WGA and SAG strikes, and the various issues at the heart of those groups' disagreements with the Hollywood studios. DVD definitely plays a role. Try this story by ABC News, this one by Yahoo and this one by AP. Given that we may be stuck with reruns and so-called "reality" TV all summer as a result of these looming strikes, DVD watching might see a big increase. There's also an article at Yahoo about Pioneer's $1 million Akira restoration, the fruits of which are slated to debut on DVD in the next few months. The film is also now showing in theaters in New York, and is going to be shown digitally in selected theaters (via DLP) across the country in the coming weeks (count me in!). In the meantime, take a look at this artwork, will you? If that doesn't set your pulse racing, nothing will. For those of you who have never seen an anime before, I can't think of a better film to get you hooked on it... As the tagline reads, "The End of the World was only the Beginning..." SWEET! Stay tuned... (EARLY UPDATE - 4/23/01 - 1 AM PDT) Yes... it's Monday again, DVD fans, and we hope you've got a steaming cup of coffee on hand and an easy work schedule ahead. We also hope you all had a great and relaxing weekend. At least we hope someone did, 'cause we spent most of our weekend installing new search capability here at the Bits. Hey... it was about time we joined the 21st Century, right? We pride ourselves on giving you your DVD news straight up, without all those unnecessary bells and whistles. But enough of you have asked for a search feature that we figured it was time to give you one. So, here's how it works. The News Search box here on the Home Page (located underneath the button bar on the top left part of the page) will allow you to search through our news archives, including old My Two Cents daily columns and Rumor Mill posts all the way back to the very earliest days of the Bits. And if you click on over to our Review Page, you'll find a second search option - Review Search. As you might guess, that will allow you to search our extensive reviews archive, featuring DVDs, laserdiscs, hardware and home-theater products. You can search by title, studio and even by a particular reviewer. Just type in the keyword(s) and off you go. There are a few things to take note of. You can use multiple keywords, and the searches are case insensitive. If you search the reviews now, you may notice that many of the listings come back with the generic heading Disc Reviews - we're updating all the reviews with more detailed title headings (example: DVD Review - Ben-Hur) to make searching easier. Just give us a couple of days to get them all re-uploaded. Also, we'll be making all of our archived interviews, special feature stories and even the upcoming cover art searchable via the News Search in the next few days. So that's that. We'll be back with more later this afternoon, so stay tuned... (LATE UPDATE - 4/20/01 - 6 PM PDT) Okay... we hope everyone has a great weekend! And to help kick things off right, here's a couple of new DVD reviews to enjoy - my thoughts on Image's terrific new The Lost World: Restored Special Edition (the 1925 classic) and Greg's comments on Fox's recent Bedazzled: Special Edition (the 2000 remake). See you Monday and keep spinnin' those discs! (EARLY UPDATE - 4/20/01 - 12:15 PM PDT) There's a lot of interesting DVD news to cover today. First of all, Warner Home Video has announced the DVD release of Sean Penn's The Pledge, starring Jack Nicholson and Benicio Del Toro, on June 19th. The disc will feature Dolby Digital 5.1 audio and 16x9 widescreen format video, along with cast & crew bios and a trailer. SRP will be $24.98. Also that same day, look for Disappearing Acts (via Warner for HBO). Proof of Life was also announced officially today for June 19th. Also coming from Warner on July 3rd is the IMAX film T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous. On August 7th, look for Mishima. And on August 21st, there will be a special "Kids Halloween" promotion that will involve repromotes of Beetlejuice and The Little Vampire, along with a re-packaged Gremlins DVD (no new content) and new DVDs of Anjelica Huston's The Witches, Scooby Doo's Spookiest Tales and the long-awaited The Goonies. Goonies will carry an SRP of $24.98, and will include audio commentary by director Richard Donner, The Making of the Goonies documentary, Cyndi Lauper's music video, deleted scenes and the film's theatrical trailer. The HBO film Full Eclipse will also be released on August 21st. Here's a look at the DVD box art for The Pledge and The Goonies... Now then... in other Warner news, a group of friends and I had the pleasure of attending a special studio screening of the new documentary, Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures, which was directed by Jan Harlan and is narrated by actor Tom Cruise. The documentary runs some 140 minutes, and will be included in the new Stanley Kubrick Collection DVD boxed set, when it's released on June 12th. And I must say... it's simply excellent. After watching this piece, I actually found myself also ready to accept the fact that the new DVDs, even though they'll include newly re-mastered picture and sound, are going to have very little in the way of extras on them. This documentary covers almost everything you'd ever want to know, about both Kubrick the man and his individual films, in great detail. Featuring a tremendous amount of new interview footage with those who loved him, admired him and collaborated with him, you get an inside look at his youth in New York City and his early influences. It talks about the making of his early documentary films, including Day of the Fight. And then the documentary looks at each of his films in tremendous detail, from his first feature-length film, Fear and Desire (which Kubrick hated so much he later pulled from release) to his final film, Eyes Wide Shut. It even covers films he wanted to make but never did, including Napoleon and The Aryan Papers. It even deals with A.I., which Kubrick for years was developing as a pet project and later asked Steven Spielberg to direct (Kubrick felt the project was closer to Spielberg's sensibilities). Best of all, through personal home movies, photos and extensive interviews with his family and friends, you get an amazing picture of a man who, in his later years, became known publicly as a recluse and even a loon. After 1987's Full Metal Jacket, Kubrick retreated from public life for a decade before taking charge of his last film. But what you get to see is a surprising look at a loving and dedicated family man, in addition to an ever-active, ever-creative intellect, who surrounded himself with family and friends in his later years. Featuring new interviews with Malcolm McDowell, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, Woody Allen, Paul Mazursky, Matthew Modine, Jack Nicholson, Sydney Pollack, Tom Cruise, Keir Dullea, Shelley Duvall, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Doug Trumbull, Sir Peter Ustinov, Nicole Kidman and countless other individuals close to him (including his family), Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures is a remarkable portrait of one of the cinema's greatest directors. And if you're a fan of his work, it's simply indispensable. I must say, I was feeling a little dubious about this new boxed set. But I'm really looking forward to it now. And if the remastered video and audio proves as good as we hope, I'm going to be very happy with it (all consideration of the awful, first Kubrick collection aside). One last note on the new Kubrick DVDs. Todd and I have been speaking with Leon Vitali, a long-time collaborator and close friend of Kubrick, and the technical advisor on this new DVD set. A lot of people have wondered why the films that are going to be presented on DVD in 1.66:1 aspect ratio aren't also getting anamorphic enhancement (1.66:1 films CAN be so enhanced), and we asked him about this. Apparently, the only films of his that Kubrick ever intended to be seen in a widescreen aspect ratio were Spartacus and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Both of these films will be in anamorphic widescreen on the new releases (Spartacus on the new Criterion DVD that streets on 4/24 and 2001 in the new boxed set). Kubrick intended ALL the rest of his films to be seen either full frame or open-matte, in their originally intended aspect ratio. While Kubrick wanted films like The Shining and Full Metal Jacket to be seen that way in theaters, he knew that exhibitors wanted to show them in matted widescreen. And, knowing that he couldn't really control that, he allowed it. But it was always his intent that you see the full filmed image as he composed it in-camera. So, by his own decision, all of his films but the two mentioned above are being presented in their originally intended aspect ratios. And while the 1.66:1 films COULD certainly be enhanced for widescreen displays (to recreate their theatrical presentation), doing so would compromise Kubrick's original vision for their presentation on home video. For this reason, they are not being so enhanced. We just wanted to mention this, because among some 16x9 devotees, there is some controversy over this issue. No one has been as aggressive as we have in promoting anamorphic enhancement of widescreen films, and many 1.66 films have benefitted from anamorphic enhancement on DVD. But if Kubrick didn't want it done for his 1.66 films, we at The Digital Bits feel that this is the right decision... just FYI. Look for a more detailed interview with Leon Vitali to be posted later this month here at the Bits. Now then... we've got a few reviews to come this afternoon, so stay tuned... 4/19/01 Word's come in from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment that their Cleopatra: 5-Star DVD will be slightly revised and reissued. Apparently, the "Exit music" for the film was accidently left off of the second disc (which contains the second half of the film). Fox is going to re-author and re-press the 3-disc set, and will make the corrected version available to those who have already purchased the disc via Fox's Customer Service Department. Future new pressings of the title will also be corrected. We'll post more here on how to get the corrected discs when they're available (no sooner than a few weeks at least). In other news today, we've confirmed that the 1978, Ralph Bakshi animated version of The Lord of the Rings is on its way to DVD later this year, no doubt in anticipation of New Line's new live-action version. No other details are available at the moment, except that some supplements may be included. In other news, there's an online petition to get the documentary back on the Dogma: SE disc (which was just officially announced today by Columbia TriStar for June 26th). Our info is that there's just about zero chance of getting Buena Vista to relent on this. But hey... you never know. Speaking of Columbia TriStar, look for The Karate Kid and The Karate Kid, Part II to hit DVD on June 12th, along with Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon. Also, The Mask of Zorro will be reissued as a special edition in June (Columbia says 6/15, but as that's not a Tuesday, I suspect it should be 6/12). The disc will include director's commentary, the exclusive documentary Unmasking Zorro, deleted scenes, costume designs, marketing materials, the Marc Anthony music video and more. And Jet Li's Meltdown is also on the way on June 19th. We've also heard that Fly Away Home is finally being revised to include anamorphic widescreen as well - look for that later this year. Also today, the official Alex Ross website has a look at some of what the artist is working on for Buena Vista's upcoming Unbreakable DVD. Some cool sketches over there... Stay tuned... 4/18/01 Today's update is going to be brief, but we've got a tentative look at MGM's August DVD slate (as posted to HTF, and originally reported by DVD Drive-In.com), which reportedly includes Killer Klowns, Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. You'll find that in The Rumor Mill today. Stay tuned... (LATE UPDATE - 4/17/01 - 2 PM PDT) Just a quick update... we've added another review this afternoon. This time, it's my 2 cents on a new DVD release of the Vincent Ward, SciFi/Adventure classic, The Navigator: A Time-Travel Adventure. In a nutshell, the film's great but the DVD's something of a Digital Video Disappointment. Stay tuned... (EARLY UPDATE - 4/17/01 - 10 AM PDT) We've got some more new reviews for you today, and we're kicking things off with my look at Warner's new Allosaurus: A Walking with Dinosaurs Special and Brad's take on Columbia TriStar's Avalon. Also this morning, we've updated the CEA DVD Player Sales numbers for the first week of April - some 90,556 players were shipped by manufacturers to retailers. All charts have been updated accordingly. Speaking of CEA, the trade organization is also reporting that manufacturer-to-dealer sales of all video products are up 2% this year, to some 13.6 million units during the 1st quarter of 2001. DVD players are up 193% from this time last year alone. And an increasing percentage of video products are fully-digital, as opposed to analog devices like VHS videotape players. Sales of digital products represent fully one-third of all devices shipped, as opposed to 20% in the 1st quarter of 2000 - good news for those banking on the "digital revolution". We've got a sneak peek at more upcoming Criterion Collection titles slated for DVD this year. You'll find that in today's Rumor Mill update. You'll also find word there on Lawrence of Arabia, Hannibal, Silence of the Lambs and additional info on the final street date for Columbia TriStar's oft-delayed Dogma: SE. Don't miss it. And finally this morning, we've got word that Columbia TriStar's DVD version of Snatch is slated to hit store shelves on July 3rd. The Wedding Planner and The Body are also slated to street the same day. Stay tuned... (LATE UPDATE - 4/16/01 - 2:15 PM PDT) We're pleased this afternoon to bring you a trio of new reviews from Todd and Dan. All are Columbia TriStar titles - Todd's got a look at their Anatomy: Special Edition and Dan's given The 6th Day and Girlfight a spin. We think you'll find them all worth a look. Anatomy, in particular, is an interesting disc. It's a German horror film done American-style, and much of the DVD extras are in German as well (with English subs). Fascinating. Also today, there's a couple of very interesting articles over at The New York Times Online. The first discusses how DVD sales are starting to impact the video rental business. The article features a great quote from our favorite DVD patriot, Warren Lieberfarb, who says of the rental business, "Blockbuster is an endangered species." The other deals with studio branding of DVDs, and describes New Line's new Infinifilm DVD brand (similar, but more elaborate, to their current Platinum Series), the first title of which will be Thirteen Days (street date 7/10 - Blow will be another Infinifilm release later this year). Here's a quote from the article: "The DVD's that New Line will sell under the Infinifilm brand will offer "breadth of content," Mr. Lasorsa said: features in addition to those consumers have come to expect from DVD's, like the film's preview trailers, scenes that were deleted from the theatrical release and audio commentary. Releases from Infinifilm will provide supplemental material that can be accessed through "pop-up" navigation menus that appear as the disc is playing - unless the viewer chooses to switch off that feature." You'll need to register to access the articles, but it's free to do so. Once you do, you'll find them both in the business section. Don't miss 'em. Note that there's also a special Infinifilm website which we recommend visiting. It explains exactly what the brand is: "a groundbreaking DVD brand designed for the moviegoer who wants the ultimate entertainment experience. Explore. Escape. Interact. Take your movie-watching experience to a whole new level. Go beyond the movie and discover the fascinating facts and intriguing stories surrounding your favorite films!" There's even a cool demo on how it works. Basically, you'll get special pop-ups during the movie (if you select the option), which allow you access to all kinds of related content. For example, which you're watching Thirteen Days, and you get to the scene depicting Kennedy's address to the nation about the Cuban Missile Crisis, you might get a link to hear of see the real Kennedy speech. When you're done, you can then jump right back into the film where you left off. It sounds a lot like Warner's "Follow the White Rabbit" option, just more elaborate - should be very cool. Here's the artwork for Thirteen Days (reflecting the new brand name) and the official Infinifilm logo. Note that the Upcoming DVD Artwork section has been updated to add the new art. Back with more tomorrow... stay tuned! (EARLY UPDATE - 4/16/01 - 11:30 AM PDT) There's an interesting story up over at fellow IGN affiliate The Force.net on the upcoming Star Wars: Episode I DVD. Apparently, Lucas producer Rick MacCallum answered a few questions (sort of) about it at the German Jedicon this weekend. Says Rick of the DVD, "...when you see it, you will see that there are things in there that took almost as long as the movie - and it will all become clearer to you why it took so long." Anyway, the story is definitely worth a look. And speaking of The Force.net, our local FOX affiliate here in L.A. ran a brief story last night on the site, mentioning it as a good place to get "your daily dose of Star Wars." They promoted it during The Simpsons, and at other times during the evening. And when they showed a quick shot of the website, we were surprised to see a banner for The Digital Bits right up there at the top, big as life (it was there as part of the IGN affiliate rotation). So congrats to everyone over at The Force... and thanks for the nice (if inadvertent) exposure for us as well! We'll be back in a couple of hours with some reviews, so stay tuned... (LATE UPDATE - 4/13/01 - 5 PM PDT) We just wanted to jump in again this afternoon, with word on some new DVD announcements. New Line has announced that State & Main will arrive on DVD on June 19th. Thirteen Days will follow in July 10th. June 19th will also see the arrival of Warner's Proof of Life. Acorn Media is releasing 2 volumes of SciFi's Lexx on DVD on May 29th. Anchor Bay is debuting The Day the Earth Caught Fire on June 12th. Buena Vista is releasing The Essex Boys and Hard Core Logo on June 12th as well, with Malena following on July 10th and City of Fire, Double Take and Mimic 2 rounding things out on July 17th. June 26th will see Obsession from Columbia TriStar, and June 19th is the day Criterion's decided upon for My Man Godfrey, Billy Liar and Cries and Whispers. MGM's All Revved Up is expected on June 12th. And Paramount's bowing Deep Core on June 26th. Before we go, here's a look at the DVD cover art for New Line's State and Main and Sony Music's Pearl Jam: Touring Band 2000 (street date May 1st). Enjoy! And one last note - Todd's discovered an Easter egg hidden in the menus of the Rocky: SE, so we've updated the review accordingly. Just FYI. Have a great weekend! (EARLY UPDATE - 4/13/01 - NOON PDT) A quick update - here's a look at the DVD cover artwork for Buena Vista's O Brother, Where Art Thou? (street date June 12th) and Unbreakable: Vista Series (June 19th), as well as a sneak peek at one of the menu screens for Fox's upcoming The X-Files: The Complete Third Season DVD set (May 8th). The Upcoming DVD Artwork section has been updated to add the new art. O Brother will feature anamorphic widescreen video, Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, a second soundtrack featuring DTS 5.1 audio, a Painting with Pixels effects demonstration, a production featurette, a comparison between the script, storyboard and final scene for the "Flood" and "The Klan" sequences, the theatrical trailer and the Foggy Bottom Boys' music video for I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow. SRP is $29.99. Unbreakable will be a 2-disc release, and will feature anamorphic widescreen video, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 audio on Disc One (the disc will be THX-certified). Disc Two will include fully-produced additional scenes not seen in theaters (with introduction by director M. Night Shyamalan), a behind-the-scenes featurette (with Bruce Willis), the Comic Books and Superheroes featurette (with Samuel L. Jackson), a multi-angle presentation of the "Train Station" sequence, an excerpt from an early film by the director, 2 collectible Alex Ross illustrations in every DVD package and more. SRP is also $29.99. These should definitely be a couple of great DVD releases. VCI Entertainment has just announced that a 2-disc Lone Ranger: Special Edition is going to street on April 24th. It's a feature version of the classic TV series, starring Clayton Moore, Jay Silverheels, Lyle Bettger, Bonita Granville, Perry Lopez and Robert J. Wilke. It was directed by Stuart Heisler. Here are some details on the film from VCI's press release: "This Technicolor theatrical feature film produced by Jack Wrather and released by Warner Bros. illustrates the typical 1950's western in which good triumphs over evil. It is up to the heroes to foil an Indian war before blood is shed across the plains. Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore) and his faithful companion Tonto (Jay Silverheels) will have to confront evil rancher, Reece Kilgore (Lyle Bettger) who is instigating the Indian war. There is plenty of action and no overt killing, thus ideal for family entertainment. Bonita Granville, who co-produced the film with her husband, Jack Wrather, portrays the supporting leading lady. Approx. 88 Minutes, Color, 1956, Not Rated, Action/Western." The 2-disc DVD set will SRP for $24.99, and will include Dolby Digital mono audio, widescreen and "flat screen" (we're not sure if the widescreen will be anamorphic or not), a new interview with Dawn Moore (Clayton Moore's daughter) by Leonard Maltin, a new interview with Michael Ansara (Angry Horse in the movie), a photo gallery, the original theatrical trailer, cast & crew bios and more. Also today, we've updated the AFI Top 100 DVD listing to reflect the fact that Tootsie and Snow White have been officially announced (or acknowledged, in the case of Snow White), and that King Kong is now undergoing restoration for DVD release. Just FYI. And speaking of the AFI list, The Digital Bits was recently mentioned in an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune regarding which films on the list are available on DVD, and which ones are on the way. Thanks to Strib writer Randy Salas for the kind mention. We're working on a couple of things that MAY be ready for later. But if not, to those who celebrate Easter, have a great holiday! And to everyone else... you folks enjoy the weekend too! Stay tuned... More Archived Posts Back to Current Posts
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