Site created 12/15/97. v	page updated: 2/21/05 My Two Cents (Archived Posts 2/9/05 - 1/19/05) Back to Previous Archives Back to Current Posts 2/9/05 Here's a bit of news that falls into the "Isn't it a shame?" category (read: sarcastic tone). According to this story at Wired (Disposable DVDs at Crossroads), Disney has stopped selling its EZ-D self-destructing, disposable DVD discs. Funny... we though this technology had never even gotten out of the driveway, much less all the way to the crossroads. Do check the story out - it's an amusing read. In DVD release news today, Warner's announced a whole mess of new catalog titles. First up, the studio will deliver a slate of World War II films on 5/3, including Blood Alley, Battle of the Bulge, The Sea Chase and The Big Red One: Special Edition. And coming on 5/24 is Burt Lancaster in the Vietnam War story Go Tell the Spartans. The Big Red One will be a 2-disc set ($26.99), including the film in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. Extras will include deleted scenes, audio commentary, a number of behind-the-scenes featurettes, a photo gallery and an original TV spot. We should point out that this will also be the 163-minute "reconstructed" version that premiered at Cannes last year (created by filmmaker Richard Schickel using Sam Fuller's shooting script). It's some 40 minutes longer than the original theatrical (and previous DVD) release. Warner will also release the TV western Purgatory on DVD on 5/17. Additional catalog titles on the way from Warner include Forced Vengeance, Harper Valley P.T.A., Head Office, Heaven Help Us, Kansas City Bomber, Over the Top, St. Ives, Viva Knievel and Year of the Dragon, all on 5/31. A number of HBO titles are on the way for 5/31 as well, including The Late Shift, Mom and Dad Save the World, The Pentagon Wars, Second Civil War, Traveling Man and Weapons of Mass Distraction. Note that HBO's Cathouse has been re-slated for release on 6/14. In other DVD news, Paramount will debut Suspect Zero on 4/12. Also, New Line will bow The Assassination of Richard Nixon on 4/26. We've got a bit of new information in The Rumor Mill today on street dates for Fox's Sideways and Warner's Racing Stripes. You might find a little Kill Bill info in there as well... Finally today, Star Wars.com has revealed that online script-to-screen access is now available (at their dvd.starwars.com site) to those of you who have The Empire Strikes Back DVD, a DVD-ROM drive and Internet access. Forthcoming is similar access for Return of the Jedi, as well as "depth" commentaries featuring trivia about the films. These are already available for Episodes I & II if you have those DVDs. I'm not a big fan of online material, so hopefully this will all be part of future HD-DVD or Blu-ray Disc releases of the films. But for those of you who ARE into online DVD content... there you go. We'll be back tomorrow and Friday with more new DVD reviews, so stay tuned... 2/8/05 More big release news today: Warner Bros has unveiled The Complete James Dean Collection for release on 5/31 (SRP $68.92). The box set will include the 2-disc East of Eden: Special Edition (available for the first time on DVD), a new 2-disc Rebel Without a Cause: Special Edition and the previously released 2-disc Giant: Special Edition. You'll also get the Forever Young: James Dean documentary. The set will feature audio commentaries, deleted scenes, "behind-the-scenes" featurettes, screen test footage and much more. All three special editions will also be available separately for SRP $26.99 each, and Forever Young will sell for $19.97 outside the box. You can click here for more on this via Yahoo. We'll have more details as they become available. Also, Warner apparently revealed to the USA Today yesterday that it plans to release a Controversial Classics Collection on DVD on 5/10. The set will include I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932), Fury (1936), Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), Blackboard Jungle (1955), A Face in the Crowd (1957), Advise and Consent (1962) and The Americanization of Emily (1964). Each of these films dealt with "controversial" topics like race, homosexuality, violence, etc. On disc, each title is expected to include bonus materials specifically addressing the film's impact and legacy. We're waiting to hear more on this from the studio officially. We do have a bit more information today on the extras you can expect on Columbia TriStar's House of Flying Daggers (due on 4/19). Look for audio commentary with Ziyi Zhang and Zhang Yimou, a "making of" featurette, a visual effects featurette, storyboard comparisons and a music video (SLP $28.95). In other news, Universal has announced the DVD release of more catalog titles for 5/31. Look for Bedtime for Bonzo, The Milagro Beanfield War, The Four Seasons, Dad, The Front Page and House Calls (all SRP $12.98 each). The Milagro Beanfield War will be anamorphic widescreen and will include the Robert Redford: Memories of Milagro documentary. No word yet on extras for the other titles (if any). Finally today, we have a bit of information in The Rumor Mill about another upcoming Universal catalog title that fans have been waiting a long time for, as well as a couple other exciting, forthcoming titles on DVD. Don't miss it. Stay tuned... 2/7/05 Afternoon, folks. Hope you all had a great weekend. The Superbowl was okay, I suppose. I imagine you Patriots fans are pretty pleased right now. Been a helluva time for New England sports fans recently. And I'm sure you Eagles fans are feeling pretty down at the moment. Hang in there though - you'll be back. As a fan of a football team that's been to the big game four times with no victory, I feel your pain. How many of you out there are like my wife, who watches the Superbowl just for the ads? Gotta say, as cat owners, that spot with the white cat and the spaghetti sauce had us laughing pretty hard at our house. As for the rest of the day's über-hype... I have to confess, I was watching the game last year but sadly blinked at the wrong time and totally missed Janet's wardrobe malfunction (not that there was any problem reliving the moment for a week thereafter). That said, perhaps the best thing about THIS Superbowl broadcast: It was completely free of Paul McCartney's nipples. Can you imagine? Ugh. Hey Jude indeed. The big DVD news today is that Columbia TriStar has officially announced the DVD release of House of Flying Daggers for 4/19 (just a couple of weeks later than we'd expected). Also set to street on 4/19 are A Love Song for Bobby Long and a 2-disc XXX: Uncensored, Unrated, Director's Cut. Not surprisingly, you'll also be able to buy a 2-pack of House of Flying Daggers and the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Special Edition. We have no information yet on extras. Disney has announced the DVD release of the 2-disc Pocahontas: 10th Anniversary Edition for 5/3 ($29.99). The DVD will include 2 versions of the film - the original theatrical version and an extended version featuring the new song If I Never Knew You (performed by Mel Gibson) seamlessly integrated into the film. Video will be anamorphic widescreen (1.66:1) with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. Extras will include deleted scenes, the Follow Your Heart set-top game, the Build a Drum and Create a Dreamcatcher art projects, sing-along songs, a multi-language reel, The Making of Pocahontas documentary and more. In other news today, Milestone has announced that it's going to soon release a newly re-discovered 1922 Rudolph Valantino film on DVD. Beyond the Rocks, which starred Valentino and Gloria Swanson, was thought lost for over 80 years but was recently found by the Nederlanders Filmmuseum in a collection of films left to them by a collector. The DVD will include wire audio recordings of Swanson discussing Valentino, the film's continuity script, a stills gallery, a featurette on the re-discovery and restoration of the film and more. Criterion continues to crank out amazing titles, and they've just announced several more for March and April. On 3/29, look for Andrzej Wajda: Three War Films (catalog #282), which includes A Generation (#283), Kanal (#284) and Ashes and Diamonds (#285). Also coming on 4/26 are Pietro Germi's Divorce Italian Style (# 286) and Orson Welles' F for Fake (#288). Mary Tyler Moore fans will probably have mixed feelings about this - Fox is releasing The Mary Tyler Moore Show: The Best of Season 1 on 3/22 (SRP $9.98). As many of you know, the show's complete first season has already been released on DVD, but sales at the time were weak. The good news is that if sales of this (and The Bob Newhart Show: The Complete First Season) are strong enough, maybe the studio will finally get around to releasing later seasons of Mary as well. By the way, Fox also has King of the Hill: The Complete Fourth Season on the way for 5/3, with In Living Color: The Complete Third Season following on 5/10. Someone e-mailed me last week wanting to know more about Universal's Shaka Zulu: The Last Great Warrior DVD (due on 5/3, SRP $27.98). It'll be a single-disc edition with the film in full frame and Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio. There's no information available as to extras, if any. We've kicked off a FOUR new Contests today, giving you the chance to win copies of Fox's Alien Vs. Predator, Predator 2: Collector's Edition and Wonderfalls: The Complete Viewer Collection, Warner's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: The Complete First Season, The Jamie Foxx Show: The Complete First Season and The Wayans Brothers: The Complete First Season, and New Line's The Notebook: Platinum Series including a copy of The Notebook paperback SIGNED by author Nicholas Sparks! Entries will be accepted until Noon PST on Sunday, February 13th. Click on the links to enter and good luck! We've also got a quick SACD review for you today. George Bennett from our MusicTAP site has turned in a look at The Indigo Girls' All That We Let In. Enjoy. Here's a first peek at cover artwork for Columbia TriStar's House of Flying Daggers and XXX: Uncensored, Unrated, Director's Cut, Fox's Sideways (TBA) and Kinsey (5/17), Disney's Pocahontas: 10th Anniversary Edition and Criterion's F for Fake... Back tomorrow with more. Stay tuned... (LATE UPDATE - 2/4/05 - 3 PM PST) We're back as promised with FIVE new DVD reviews for you today. I've just posted my latest Spin Sheet which includes reviews of MGM's Hoosiers: Collector's Edition, 20th Century Fox's Star Wars: Clone Wars - Volume One and Flight of the Phoenix (2004), Paramount's Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow: Special Collector's Edition, and Empire Pictures' The Twilight Samurai. Hoosiers and Flight of the Phoenix street on 3/1, while Clone Wars streets on 3/22. Sky Captain and Twilight Samurai are now available. My quick take on each: Hoosiers and Twilight Samurai are excellent (but the Twilight DVD should be avoided at all costs). You Star Wars fans are gonna love Clone Wars. 'Nuff said. Flight of the Phoenix is passable entertainment but I recommend checking out the 1965 original instead (which starred Jimmy Stewart). Sky Captain... well, I had high hopes, but frankly I had trouble keeping my eyes open through it. Some of you are probably not going to like my Sky Captain review, but what can I say? I call it like I see it. It turns out that pretty visuals are NOT enough to keep me entertained. Anyway, enjoy the reviews. Finally today, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of two actors you might be fond of... Ossie Davis and John Vernon. Among Davis's many roles were parts in TV's Roots: The Next Generation, several Spike Lee films including School Daze, Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever, and a recent off-beat turn opposite Bruce Campbell in Bubba Ho-Tep. Vernon is best known for his role as Dean Wormer in National Lampoon's Animal House, and also appeared in Topaz, Dirty Harry, The Outlaw Josey Wales and I'm Gonna Git You Sucka among other films. Both will be greatly missed. Okay, that's all she wrote. Have a great weekend, enjoy the Superbowl (watch out for nipple slips!) and we'll see you back here on Monday. Peace out. (EARLY UPDATE - 2/4/05 - 12:30 PM PST) Afternoon, Bits-ers! First, let me thank you guys for all your kind comments about the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise. Seems like a LOT of you are as unhappy about it as I am. My in-box has just been absolutely flooded with e-mails from people who have been enjoying the show lately. Be sure to let UPN and Paramount know how you feel about their 86-ing of the show (click here for contact address and phone numbers) and who knows? Maybe someone there will listen. Call 'em, write 'em, fax 'em (remember to be polite) and you never know. Speaking of which, don't forget that there's new episodes of both Enterprise and Battlestar Galactica on tonight, so be sure to check 'em out (get your TiVos going if you have plans to be out). I think you'll be glad you did. Okay... we've got some news for you on New Line's Blade Trinity. This is Rumor Mill worthy, so all the usual disclaimers apply. But our industry sources are telling us to look for the DVD to be released on 4/26. We'll post more on this title as it comes in. Also, HBO will release The Life and Death of Peter Sellers on 5/10 (SRP $26.98). Look for the disc to include audio commentary with actor Geoffrey Rush and director Stephen Hopkins, audio commentary with screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeeley, 8 deleted scenes and the Making the Life and Death of Peter Sellers featurette. We've got some hot new cover art for you today. Here's that look at Universal's Dune: Extended Edition (5/10) we promised you yesterday, along with The Life and Death of Peter Sellers and Paramount's Chappelle's Show: Season 2 Uncensored (due on 5/24). How hot does Dune look, huh? By the way, Universal is going to be releasing a Legend single-disc edition on 5/10 as well (just a simplified version of the previously released ultimate edition). We'll be back in a little while with no less than FIVE new DVD reviews to close out the week, so be sure to check back later this afternoon for that. Stay tuned... 2/3/05 Morning, folks. Well, there's not a lot of DVD news today, which is fine. After the blistering pace we've been keeping with artwork, articles (etc.) this last week, we need a bit of a breather so we can post some more new DVD reviews. Watch for a few to get posted tomorrow. Some good titles, so don't miss it. There are a couple of BIG things today, however. Universal is releasing a pair of great catalog titles on 5/10... a 12 Monkeys: Special Edition and a Dune: Extended Edition. Plus, there's Shaka Zulu: The Last Great Warrior due on 5/3. The Dune: Extended Edition will be released in a metal snap case (SRP $27.98). 2 versions of the film will be included... a 137-minute theatrical version, and the 177-minute extended edition. BOTH will be available in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen (which would mark the first time the extended edition was available in widescreen). The theatrical edition will feature both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 audio, while the extended edition will be Dolby Digital 5.1 only. Extras will include never before seen "behind-the-scenes" footage, documentaries on the special effects, visual design and costumes, deleted scenes, original photographs and artwork from the set (newly resurrected from personal collections) and more. NICE. We are SO pumped for this title here at The Bits. We've been waiting a LONG time for it. The 12 Monkeys: Special Edition (SRP $14.98) will feature the film presented in digitally-remastered anamorphic widescreen video, with audio in Dolby Digital 5.1. Extras will include basically the same stuff we got on the previous DVD release, including audio commentary with director Terry Gilliam and producer Charles Roven, The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of 12 Monkeys documentary, the theatrical trailer, 12 Monkeys Archives and production notes. In other release news, Buena Vista is releasing a Beaches: Special Edition on 4/26 (SRP $19.99). We also have two new animated titles announced from Warner Bros. for 5/10... The Perils of Penelope Pitstop: The Complete Series and Dastardly & Muttley in their Flying Machines: The Complete Series. Each is a 3-disc set (SRP $34.98 each) and will include audio commentaries on some of the episodes, featurettes, retrospectives and more. Okay... that's it for the DVD news today. As some of you can probably guess, the thing that's gotten me all worked up this morning is that UPN officially announced the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise yesterday (click here, here and here). 10 more new episodes will air on the network with the series finale tentatively set for broadcast on 5/13 (right, of course, in the middle of the media furor over the release of the final Star Wars movie to theaters on 5/19 - which do you think will get more coverage?). I heard the news early yesterday and received hundreds of e-mails from angry Bits readers (who also happen to be fans of the show) overnight. Look... I know not everyone is a Star Trek fan, and there were plenty of people who didn't warm to Enterprise. But come on! Look at the crap on TV these days. The same old doctor, lawyer and cop shows, crappy sitcoms and the most offensive batch of reality programming in years. The Biggest Loser?! Jesus. Mark my words, the cancelation of Enterprise bodes poorly for other TV science fiction. Sci-Fi costs more than regular programming by its very nature, and with its audience becoming ever more fractured (bickering over which is better - Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek or Stargate), do you really think broadcast and cable networks are going to continue to foot the bill with small and declining ratings? The real shame of it is that the show, creatively, has never been better. Don't believe me? Bite the bullet and watch the rest of the season. If you tune in for the last 10 episodes, I think you'll be disappointed that there aren't any more coming. Star Trek, as a franchise, probably DOES need to take a good 10-year break. But there's just no reason Enterprise shouldn't finish out its full TV run. No reason that is, other than that UPN doesn't know what the hell to do with it. They've never promoted the show, which doesn't seem to fit with their goal of going after young urban or young female audiences... or whoever the hell they're trying to program for these days (I don't think the network even really knows). As you can imagine, fans of Enterprise aren't taking this lying down. MSNBC is running a poll about the cancellation that's overwhelmingly in favor of the show continuing. SaveEnterprise.com and The Enterprise Project are organizing letter writing and boycott campaigns. There's talk of fan-sponsored advertisements in magazines and newspapers, and a rally outside the Paramount lot. Plus, there's always the DVD release of the show's first season on 5/3. We have Bits readers among the show's production staff, and we've learned that the DVDs may even include cast and crew audio commentaries in addition to deleted scenes and outtakes - pretty much everything we've been asking for from the studio for the discs. Anyway, if you're a fan of TV Sci-Fi, we encourage you to go to the above websites and participate in some way. Who knows? Maybe the show can still be saved for another year. If not, we can at least send a strong message to the powers that be. Bastards. We'll leave you today with some more new cover art. Here's a look at the new 12 Monkeys: Special Edition, along with The Perils of Penelope Pitstop: The Complete Series and Dastardly & Muttley in their Flying Machines: The Complete Series. Enjoy. Stay tuned... (LATE UPDATE - 2/2/05 - 2:30 PM PST) We're back as promised this afternoon with something very special. Our own Adam Jahnke had the rare opportunity to chat with Hollywood special effects legend Ray Harryhausen last week, and we're pleased today to share their complete discussion with you. We've also posted Adam's in-depth review of the new Ray Harryhausen: The Early Years Collection DVD, which is now available in stores. Enjoy!. Stay tuned... (EARLY UPDATE - 2/2/05 - 11:30 AM PST) This is just a quick post for this morning. We'll be back with more later. But I wanted to check in early today with word that 20th Century Fox has officially announced the DVD release of Kinsey for 5/17 (SRP $27.98). The DVD will include both anamorphic widescreen and full frame video on opposite sides of the same disc. Extras will include audio commentary with writer/director Bill Condon, a Searchlight "Sizzle" trailer, an Inside Look preview and the teaser trailer for Kingdom of Heaven. A Kinsey: Special Edition will also be available on 5/17 (SRP $34.98) that will include the disc we've just described, along with a second disc including The Kinsey Report: Sex on Film featurette, 20 deleted scenes and an alternate ending (with optional commentary by Bill Condon), a gag reel, the Sex Ed at the Kinsey Institute featurette, an "interactive sex questionnaire, the film's theatrical trailer and a trailer for What the Bleep?. Good news on the Ghost in the Shell 2 subtitle front. DreamWorks is offering an exchange program on the DVD through the company that produced it for them, Go Fish (visit their website here). The originally released version had English captions but not proper subtitles. New editions are being produced that will also have actual English subs. They'll arrive in stores soon. You'll recognize them by looking for "V4" on the spine. For those who have already purchased the original edition, you can exchange it by going to the web site we just provided. Click on "The DVD" button on the left, then on the words "Questions About Your DVD?". A pop-up form will appear - fill it out and you'll receive a mailing envelope to send your original DVD in (just the disc - not the packaging) for exchange. This offer is good for consumers in both the U.S. and Canada. A quick correction from yesterday: We mistakenly switched the street dates for Closer and Spanglish. Spanglish streets on 4/5 (not 3/29 as we reported), while Closer streets on 3/29 (and not 4/5). We've corrected the post from yesterday. Thanks to the sharp-eyed reader who spotted the error. Finally, a quick review for you: MusicTAP's George Bennett has given Telarc's Dave Brubeck: Private Brubeck Remembers a look on SACD. Enjoy! Back later with more. Stay tuned... 2/1/05 Can you believe it's February already? Seems like it was just Christmas. We've got some big release news today. 20th Century Fox has just announced the super-fast DVD release of Elektra for 4/5 (SRP $29.95). The disc will be available in both anamorphic widescreen and full frame editions, each with both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround sound. Extras will include 3 deleted scenes, 6 featurettes (The Making of Elektra, Comic-Con Presentation, Inside the Editing Room: Only a Warrior, I Died Once, The Way and Don't Force It), the film's teaser and theatrical trailers, a soundtrack spot and Inside Look previews of Fantastic Four and Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Also announced by Fox is Fat Albert for 3/22 (SRP $29.98). Available with full frame and anamorphic widescreen video on opposite sides of the same disc, extras will include audio commentary by Joel Zwick and Jon Davis, 2 extended scenes, the Fat Albert: Behind the Band featurette, the theatrical trailer and previews of other titles. Columbia TriStar has announced the DVD release of Spanglish for 4/5 and Closer for 3/29. Spanglish (SLP $28.95) will include audio commentary by director James L. Brooks commentary, deleted scenes and The Making of Spanglish featurette. Closer (SLP $28.95) will be a Superbit DVD with both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround sound. Extras will include Damien Rice's The Blower's Daughter music video and previews. Columbia TriStar has also announced Bad Education, The Woodsman, The Flower of My Secret, Twin Sitters, Sasquatch Hunters, All in the Family: The Complete Fourth Season (3 discs) and The Jeffersons: The Complete Third Season (3 discs), all for 4/12. Paramount has OFFICIALLY confirmed the DVD release of Star Trek: Enterprise - Season One for 5/3. Extras will include anamorphic widescreen video, Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, deleted scenes, 7 behind-the-scenes featurettes, 9 minutes of outtakes, Enterprise Secrets interview clips and more. Warner has announced the release of Ocean's Twelve for 4/12 (SRP $27.95), in anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. There's no word yet on extras. Also look for PBS's Strange Days on Planet Earth on 4/26. New Line will release the intriguing Birth on 4/19 (SRP $27.95). Look for anamorphic widescreen video, Dolby Digital 5.1 audio and trailers. HBO has announced Entourage: The Complete First Season for 5/10. Look for 8 half-hour episodes on 2 discs (SRP $39.98), plus interviews with cast & crew and audio commentaries with creator Doug Ellin and producer Larry Charles. I believe we promised you another update of the Upcoming DVD Cover Art section. So today, you get one featuring more than 230 new cover scans! Thanks to our own Russell Hammond for that. We've also updated The Rumor Mill with information on the expected street dates for a few more upcoming (as yet unannounced) titles. Don't miss it. One more cool thing: Our old friend Robert Meyer Burnett checked in today, to give Bits readers a little sneak peek at the upcoming Free Enterprise: Divimax Extended "Five Year Mission" Edition from Anchor Bay (tentatively due in late May). As you may know, in addition to his work as a DVD producer, Robert directed Free Enterprise. The new 2-disc set will feature a 5-minute longer version of the film (which includes the excised "Shatner" speech, originally turned into the "secret" 14th track on the soundtrack CD), plus 2 brand new audio commentaries (one with Robert and producer Mark A. Altman, and a second with Robert and stars William Shatner, Eric McCormack and Rafer Weigel). Here's a screen shot from the new edition... Says Robert: "As you can see, the original Logan's Run dream sequence has been augmented with new CGI shots depicting the Domed City from the original film. In the finished sequence, bubble cars will zip through the clear tubes, just like in the seminal, seventies sci-fi classic. The new CG shots were completed by Shant Jordon, an effects artist who's worked on everything from Babylon 5 to The Day After Tomorrow. He also completed the effects for Kevin Rubio's masterful Star Wars parody film Troops." Thanks for the preview, Robert! Before we close for the day, here's a look at the cover art for Spanglish, Closer, Ocean's Twelve, Birth, Star Trek: Enterprise - Season One and MGM's Spaceballs: Collector's Edition (due 5/3)... Stay tuned! 1/31/05 Morning, everyone! We trust that you all had a nice weekend. And for those of you who may have been involved in the Iraqi election (we know we have a number of readers in the region), we hope things worked out well and safely for you. Democracy's a tough business sometimes, but it's worth it. Okay, a LOT of you have been e-mailing us over the weekend all worried about this MGM DVD lawsuit (which we first mentioned last Thursday). It seems that many of you have been frantically checking your widescreen MGM DVDs, and a lot of you seem to be worried that the studio has short-changed you. What it all boils down to, is that many people don't understand how some films (specifically 1.85:1 widescreen films photographed using the 35mm "spherical" process) get transferred for home video (for widescreen and full frame presentation). So we've posted our two cents on the issue to set your minds at ease. The bottom line is this: You haven't gotten the shaft, folks. In any case, according to Video Business, MGM has agreed to a settlement in the case over the accuracy of the aspect ratio labeling on their DVDs. But rest assured, there isn't anything wrong with the discs themselves. Speaking of MGM, the studio has made a number of interesting DVD announcements. First up, as we reported in The Rumor Mill last week, the studio will release its 2-disc Spaceballs: Collector's Edition on 5/3 (SRP 29.98). The DVD will include the film in anamorphic widescreen video (1.85:1), with audio in BOTH Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 - no kidding. Extras will include feature-length audio commentary with Mel Brooks, "film flubs," the 30-minute Spaceballs: The Documentary, 3 featurettes (John Candy: Comic Spirit, In Conversation: Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan and Storyboards to Film), "Spacequotes", galleries of behind-the-scenes stills, costume photos and production artwork, and the film's exhibitor and theatrical trailers. Look for MGM's 4-disc Steve McQueen Collection gift set on 5/17 (SRP $49.96), featuring The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven: Special Edition, Junior Bonner and The Thomas Crown Affair. MGM has number of classic westerns due on 5/17 as well, including Hour of the Gun, Escort West, The Hunting Party, Invitation to a Gunfighter, More Dead Than Alive, Sam Whisky and Scalphunters (SRP $14.95 each). Also announced for 5/17 by MGM are a pair of Bob Hope films, The Princess and the Pirate and I'll Take Sweden, and a pair of Abbot and Costello films, The Noose Hangs High and Dance with Me, Henry (SRP $14.95 each). Around the site today, we've posted FOUR new Contests, giving each of you the chance to take home copies of Warner's animated Sealab 2021: Season Two and The Brak Show, Volume 1, HBO's Oz: The Complete Fourth Season, Rhino's Lidsville: The Complete Series and Universal's Balto III: Wings of Change on DVD. Entries will be accepted until Noon PST on Sunday, February 6th. Click on the links to get started and good luck! Finally today, a quick word of warning. There are probably a lot of you out there who, like us, absolutely loved The Twilight Samurai when it appeared in theaters last year. Unfortunately, we're sad to say that the DVD release from Empire Pictures (now is stores) is TERRIBLE. The video is non-anamorphic widescreen and it looks like it was mastered off a VHS tape. Plus, the audio is only included in 2.0 stereo. What an absolute disappointment for a film that was very well reviewed critically. Hopefully, Empire will get its s__t together and re-release this film on DVD in high-quality anamorphic widescreen (with 5.1 sound) at some point in the future. Until then, avoid the disc at all costs. We've got some great stuff coming for you this week. Tomorrow we expect to have another Upcoming DVD Cover Art update with LOTS more new scans. Wednesday or Thursday we expect to post a new interview our own Adam Jahnke just conducted with a true Hollywood legend. Plus, we've got a number of new DVD reviews on the way, along with all the latest DVD announcements. So stay tuned! 1/28/05 We've got some good news for you fans of classic Errol Flynn movies - Warner's just announced the 6-disc Errol Flynn: The Signature Collection box set for release on 4/19 (SRP $52.98). The set will include Captain Blood, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, The Sea Hawk, They Died with their Boots On and Dodge City, all available for the first time on DVD, plus a bonus disc containing the all-new, feature length documentary, The Adventures of Errol Flynn. The films will be available separately (SRP $19.97 each), but the documentary will only be available in the box set. Each of the films will include extras, among them original newsreels, trailers, classic Looney Tunes shorts and Leonard Maltin's Warner Night at the Movies. Coming from Warner on 4/5 is The West Wing: The Complete Fourth Season (SRP $59.98). Other titles on the way from the studio include the John Wayne films The Sea Chase, Tall in the Saddle and The Train Robbers (all 5/3), the animated The Golden Blaze (5/10), and Purgatory, The Desperate Trail, Conagher, Last Stand at Saber River and the BBC's Fortunes of War and Monarch of the Glen: The Complete Series 3 (all for 5/17). After we reviewed the 2-disc special edition, a lot of you asked for this... so here it is: my review of Columbia TriStar's Spider-Man 2: Superbit edition. Just FYI, we've got more reviews coming next week, including several upcoming titles. By the way, we're going to be doing more research over the weekend on this MGM DVD lawsuit, but frankly, based on our initial investigation (and talks with people trust within the industry), the whole argument seems completely silly. It basically seems like a couple of guys, who don't fully understand the way 1.85:1 widescreen films are transferred to DVD for 16x9 and 4x3 presentation, think they've stumbled onto some big conspiracy by MGM to defraud their customers. Faced with the suit, it seems that MGM has agreed to a settlement. But the issue isn't that MGM is incorrectly releasing their films on DVD - it seems to be that they've "inaccurately" labeled their DVDs with regard to the aspect ratio information. As I said, we'll have more on Monday. Around the Net today, Star Wars.com has posted a little bit more information on their forthcoming Clone Wars DVD (street date 3/22). And for those of you dying for anything Episode III related, the site has posted the complete opening crawl text for the film. You'll find that here. The first word? War! George's crew sure does know how to get the fanboys stirred up, don't they? Also today, our friends over at TVShowsonDVD.com have a few more pics of the packaging for Paramount's forthcoming Star Trek: Enterprise DVDs. Speaking of which, what would Friday be without my usual plug? Don't forget... new Star Trek: Enterprise & Battlestar Galactica episodes tonight. We'll leave you this week with some more new upcoming DVD cover art to feast your eyes on. Here's a look at Warner's Captain Blood, The Seahawk and The West Wing: The Complete Fourth Season, Anchor Bay's The Pirate Movie (3/22), Columbia TriStar's School Daze: Special Edition (2/1) and Good Times' The Double McGuffin (2/22). Wow... I haven't seen The Pirate Movie and The Double McGuffin in years. What a hoot! Have a great weekend and we'll see you Monday! 1/27/05 We've got a couple of interesting things for you today. First of all, Sony (Columbia TriStar) has pulled the already announced DVD release of Christmas with the Kranks. The title had been slated to arrive on disc on 3/8, but according to the studio, it's now been delayed until further notice. Our industry sources are telling us that the title is being tentatively delayed until November, when it'll be holiday timely again. We'll update you as soon as we have any new information. Also today, The New York Times has published a short story on Hollywood's latest version of DVD... the mini-DVD. These are 3-inch versions of the regular DVD format, designed for greater portability. The idea is that kids can tote these things around as hand-held devices - like iPods or Gameboys - and watch their movies on the go. A number of studios are going to be releasing titles on mini-DVD, including Warner. Given that the display screens on these devices are much smaller, the digital video files will presumably be much more highly compressed - image quality will not be as good as regular DVDs. Recordable mini-DVD-Rs can also hold pictures and music files that these portable players will also be able to make use of. It's certainly an interesting idea, but I doubt it will make much of an impact ultimately. Gotta give the kids what they want, I guess. We'll see if they do, in fact, want it. The other big DVD thing today is this MGM DVD Class Action Settlement. If we understand this correctly, someone has sued MGM (and invited other consumers to get in on the action) arguing that the studio's widescreen DVD releases are basically just full frame transfers with the top of the image blacked out (the specific wording is that the image "width" of MGM's 1.85 and 1.66 DVDs is the same). MGM isn't admitting any truth to this - but they have agreed to a settlement on the issue with regard to the accuracy of the aspect ratio labeling on their DVD packaging. Frankly, based on our initial research, we suspect this whole thing is pretty bogus. We'll look into it. On the satellite radio front, according to Fox News, there's reason to believe that rivals Sirius and XM might be in talks to join forces in a merger that would result in utter domination of the satellite radio market. Fascinating. Around the site today, we've updated many of the DVD format stats we track, although we're still waiting for final sales data for December from CEA. And over at our MusicTAP site, Matt's posted a good rant on the dearth of high-resolution music releases from the big record labels on DVD-Audio, SACD and now DualDisc format. The record industry claims to be deathly afraid of file-sharing, music downloading and declining record sales... and yet they're making only a token effort to give consumers a BETTER product to buy! On the video front, we've gone from VHS and Laserdisc to DVD and now we're already talking about high-definition video formats like HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc! And yet on the audio end of things, the music industry is content to sit on their laurels with the existing CD format, cry wolf a lot and sue as many downloaders as possible. What's up with that? If the industry would just commit to a single high-resolution music format, and start embracing it wholeheartedly, you'd have a whole different consumer landscape! Can you imagine the entire Beatles or U2 catalogs debuting in SACD? I'm so there. What the hell is the industry waiting for? Doh! Back tomorrow. Stay tuned... (LATE UPDATE - 1/26/04 - 1:30 PM PST) We promised you some Rumor Mill goodness this morning, and here it is... a look at upcoming MGM titles! There's some great titles in there, so you definitely don't want to miss it. Oh, by the way... YES, I'm aware that there's a Spider-Man 2: Superbit Edition already available. It was a brain fart and the review has been updated. ;-) In other news today, Anchor Bay will be releasing Doogie Howser, M.D.: Season One on 3/22. AnimEigo will release Incident at Blood Pass on 3/8, staring Mifune Toshiro and Shintaro Katsu. They also have Samurai Assassin on the way as well for 2/8. Awesome new, but it's killing me that Todd and I can't figure out what the hell is going on with Zatoichi's Pilgrimage. Does ANYONE know who has the U.S. DVD release rights to that? Columbia TriStar will release Bonanza Town, The Desperadoes (1943), Good Day for a Hanging, Jubal, Lust for Gold, Texas, The Texican, The Violent Men, The Professionals: Special Edition, a Silverado Giftset (which includes 2 discs, the film in Superbit, a scrapbook and a deck of playing cards), Dragon's World: A Fantasy Made Real, Suburban Madness and Berenstain Bears: Bears Take a Car Trip, all for 4/5. Finally, New Line has announced Primer for 4/5. Stay tuned... (EARLY UPDATE - 1/26/04 - 12:01 AM PST) Well... sorry for our absence yesterday. A couple of things came up behind-the-scenes here at the old Bits that we had to take care of. Nothing major or life altering, but inconvenient and they ate up most of our day yesterday. What can you do, you know? While we were away, the Oscar nominations were announced here in Hollywood. Best Picture nominees this year include Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, Marc Forster's Finding Neverland, Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby, Taylor Hackford's Ray and Alexander Payne's Sideways. If I had to guess, I think Scorsese will win Best Director, and Million Dollar Baby will take best film, but I'd love to see Sideways sneak in there somehow. Religious conservatives are ready to lynch the Hollywood elite today over the fact that Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ wasn't nominated in any of the top categories (although it is up for Best Cinematography, Makeup and Score), while liberal coffee klatches on BOTH coasts are endlessly second-guessing the fact that Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 got no noms at all. For my part though, I'm just happy that Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke were given a nod for their charming screenplay for Before Sunset. I'm so hoping they win. Now then... it seems to me that we've been promising you a review of Columbia TriStar's Spider-Man 2: Special Edition for a while now. Not only do we have that one for you today, via my latest Spin Sheet, we've got a look at Paramount's recent Top Gun: Special Collector's Edition as well. Both DVDs feature some pretty outstanding extras and both are now available. Miss 'em at our own peril. One last note this morning: We've been talking up how great Star Trek: Enterprise has gotten these last couple of seasons, but while many of you have e-mailed to say that you took our advice, tuned in and were surprised to find yourself enjoying Trek again... we're sure there are some of you out there who haven't come around yet. Well... feast on this: pictures of a familiar set currently being created for an upcoming 2-part Mirror Universe episode. If that doesn't light a fire in your Vulcan blood, nothing will. What I wouldn't give to sit in that chair for a few seconds. Enterprise simply MUST be allowed to return for a fifth season. Visit the folks at Save Enterprise to find out how you can help make it happen. I swear, if Enterprise doesn't get renewed for another season, I'm gonna personally storm the Bronson gate up at the Paramount lot. I'm sure I can find a few Klingon to join me. Sharpen up yer bat'telhs guys, and get ready just in case. Kaplah! We've got some interesting Rumor Mill stuff coming this afternoon, so stay tuned... 1/24/05 I'm afraid we have some very sad news to report today. Longtime Tonight Show host Johnny Carson passed away on Sunday (click here for a report via CNN). He was 79. Carson turned his Tonight Show hosting job over to Jay Leno in 1992, when his final episode was watched by nearly 50 million people. It's hard for me to imagine that some of you are just too young to really remember a time when Ed McMahon's boomy "Heeeere's Johnny!" was a familiar sound to millions of Americans. Though he's been off the air for more than a decade now, for those of us who grew up with Johnny, and welcomed him into our living rooms each night, it's hard to imagine that he's gone. It was just a couple of days ago that I was reading a story about how Carson, even in retirement, has been a secret joke writer for David Letterman. Carson was a true broadcasting legend... and he'll be dearly missed. On to site business: We're pleased today to bring you another massive update of our much-loved Upcoming DVD Cover Art section. Thanks to the tireless work of our own Russell Hammond, we've added more than 300 new cover scans to the section! All are organized by street date, and most of the titles can be pre-ordered now at Amazon.com. All you have to do is click on the cover art to visit the Amazon page for that title. Keep in mind that buying DVDs through our links helps to support our work here at The Digital Bits - we certainly appreciate it. We've got some DVD release news for you this morning: Amazon.com is now reporting a street date of 5/24 for Columbia TriStar's long-delayed News Radio: The Complete First & Second Seasons. We have yet to get official confirmation from the studio, so take that for what it's worth. Speaking of Columbia TriStar, the studio has officially announced the DVD release of Tezuka Osamu's Astro Boy: The Complete Series for 3/29 (SLP $49.95). The 5-disc set will include all 50 episodes of the series, 25 of which were never aired here in the States. Video is full frame, with Dolby Digital audio in English (2.0 Stereo), Portuguese and Spanish. Buena Vista has officially announced that National Treasure will street on 5/3 (SRP $29.99). They've also got NBC's Scrubs: The Complete First Season due on 5/17 (SRP $49.99) - look for the set to include 24 episodes, never-before-seen "dream sequences," a retrospective documentary and more on 4 discs. Other titles newly announced by Buena Vista include Felicity: Season Four and The I Inside (for 3/8), The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin, The Barefoot Executive, Lt. Robin Crusoe U.S.N., Million Dollar Duck and Runaway Daughters (for 4/5), and Heidi, In Search of the Castaways, Summer Magic and That Darn Cat! (for 5/3). Showtime has announced Queer as Folk: The Complete Fourth Season for release on 4/5 (SRP $109.98). Warner will release The Waltons: The Complete Second Season on 4/26 (SRP $39.98), Ed, Edd 'n Eddy: Season 1, Vol. 1 on 5/10 (SRP $14.97), and the BBC's Benny Hill: The Lost Years on 5/3 (SRP $19.98). Finally, Universal has pushed the street date for Kojak: Season One to 3/22 (from 3/8). Just FYI. Around the site today, we've updated many of the DVD software stats we track (above). As you may have noticed, it's been a while since we've updated the CEA DVD Player Sales numbers. We're still waiting on final data for the month of December (and the end of the year for 2004). Rest assured that we'll post it as soon as it comes in. We've also kicked off 5 new Contests today, giving each of you the chance to win copies of Warner's Kung Fu: The Complete Second Season, the BBC's Men Behaving Badly: Seasons 1 & 2, HBO's Lewis Black: Black on Broadway, MGM's When Will I Be Loved, Paramount's Mean Creek, Fox's First Daughter, and Universal's October Sky: Special Edition. The contests will run until Noon PST on Sunday, January 31st. Click on the links to get started, and good luck! We've even got a couple new music reviews for you this morning. Our MusicTAP crew's checked in with a look at Eric Clapton's 461 Ocean Boulevard and Elton John's Peachtree Road on SACD, as well as Foghat: The Millennium Tour on DVD. Let's leave you with a little new cover art this morning. Here's a look at Columbia TriStar's Astro Boy: The Complete Series, Buena Vista's Scrubs: The Complete First Season and Fox's Incident at Loch Ness (due 3/1)... We'll be back later this afternoon with that review of Spider-Man 2 we promised you on Friday. Stay tuned... (LATE UPDATE - 1/21/05 - 1:30 PM PST) We've got a couple of quick things for you today before we sign off for the week. First, The Bits has moved servers in the last couple of days. So if you have any trouble accessing the site, you'll know why. Our thedigitalbits.com web address should be working fine, but digitalbits.com may be down for a little while. Just so you know. Next up, Universal has confirmed via press release that complete seasons of its classic Leave it to Beaver TV series are expected to begin arriving on DVD later this year. We'll post more details as they come in. The big thing we have for you this afternoon can be found in The Rumor Mill. It's a roundup of rumors related to new Batman and Alien Vs. Predator special edition DVDs that are on the way, along with some other titles that are getting the 2-disc treatment from Warner in the coming months. It's definitely worth checking out, so don't miss it. Finally, don't forget to tune in for all new episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise and Battlestar Galactica tonight on UPN and SciFi. Gotta keep TV science fiction alive amid all this reality drek. I'll spare you the usual speech. ;-) Okay, that's it for today. Have a great weekend and we'll see you back here on Monday with a long-awaited review of the Spider-Man 2 DVD. See you then! (EARLY UPDATE - 1/21/05 - 12:01 AM PST) How about some more new DVD reviews? I've posted another Spin Sheet this morning, featuring my thoughts on Paramount's Love Me If You Dare and Universal's Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries. Both titles are now available in stores. I'll check back in this afternoon with some last DVD news to close out the week. Stay tuned... 1/20/05 We're back this afternoon with another edition of Adam Jahnke's The Bottom Shelf. Specifically, Adam brings you the second half of his look back at 2004, in which he runs down his personal favorite (and least favorite) films from last year. Whether you agree with him or not, it's definitely an interesting piece and well worth a read. Also today, Michel Marriott has just written a good technology piece in The New York Times. It addresses the coming HD-DVD/Blu-ray Disc format war, but looks in particular at the DivX video compression format that's available right now (and is already capable of delivering HD content). Keep in mind that this DivX is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT than Circuit City's long-defunct pay-per-view variation of DVD, although that name similarity alone is probably enough to kill it with home theater enthusiasts. Someone with a marketing degree should have warned DivXNetworks that, for early adopters, naming a video compression format DivX is like calling a new soft drink Lemony Urine. It's just not gonna attract a whole lot of enthusiasm with our audience. Anyway, this story is also well worth checking out. You'll need to register with the online site to read the whole thing, but doing so is completely free. We'll return tomorrow with more DVD reviews, so stay tuned... (LATE UPDATE - 1/19/05 - 1:30 PM PST) Okay... we've just posted Barrie Maxwell's latest Classic Coming Attractions column. In this edition, Barrie looks back at the best classic releases of 2004, and runs down the latest classic DVD release announcements from the studios. He also reviews 6 classic titles on DVD, including Fox's Leave Her to Heaven and A Letter to Three Wives, Questar's 5 Film Noir Killer Classics (including Detour, Scarlet Street, The Stranger, Killer Bait and D.O.A.), VCI's Susan Hayward Double Feature (including Smash-Up and Tulsa), Paramount's Carrie (1952) and Columbia's Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. Carrie streeted yesterday, while Leave Her to Heaven, and A Letter to Three Wives will arrive in stores on 2/22. All the other titles are now available. A bit of DVD announcement news... Disney has finally OFFICIALLY announced The Incredibles for 3/15 (SRP $29.99). As we expected, the 2-disc set will be THX-certified and will be available in separate full frame and anamorphic widescreen versions. Both will include Dolby Digital 5.1 EX audio. Extras on the DVD will include audio commentary with director Brad Bird and producer John Walker, a second commentary with key animators, the all-new Jack-Jack Attack animated short, the Boundin' animated short, the Who is Bud Luckey? featurette, The Making of The Incredibles documentary, More Making of The Incredibles featurettes, the all-new Mr. Incredible and Pals "lost" cartoon (featuring audio commentary with Mr. Incredible and Frozone), character interviews, Vowellet: An Essay by Sarah Vowell, bloopers and outtakes, deleted scenes and an alternate opening, "top secret files" on all the superhero characters and a gallery of theatrical trailers and TV spots for the film. Universal has announced the release of The A-Team: Season Two, Knight Rider: Season Two and Magnum P.I.: The Complete Second Season for 4/12. Also, Warner has announced that The Flintstones: The Complete Third Season will arrive on 3/22 (SRP $44.98). The 4-disc set will include 2 featurettes (Bedrock Collectibles and First Families of The Stone Age). One last note - I wrote in my review of AVP: Alien Vs. Predator yesterday that a scene involving Predators fighting aliens on the top of an ancient temple wasn't included in the film. That was my mistake - it is. I've corrected the review accordingly. Thanks to those of you who spotted the error! Back tomorrow. Stay tuned... (EARLY UPDATE - 1/19/05 - 12:01 AM PST) Morning, everyone. We'll be back later this afternoon with a brand new Classic Coming Attractions column from Barrie Maxwell, featuring new DVD reviews and all the latest classic release news. First up though, we've got some interesting new information for you on potential street dates for a few major upcoming DVD releases. You'll find that in The Rumor Mill today. Also this morning, I wanted to talk about a couple things of importance to you Farscape fans. As you know, Lions Gate yesterday released Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars as a 2-disc set. The set is generally very good in terms of quality, and it features some nice extras, including a behind-the-scenes documentary. Unfortunately, the Lions Gate release has altered the mini-series' original SciFi presentation, by editing Parts One and Two into a single film (we don't know if the U.K. release does this). Also, the U.K. version of the DVD will feature a couple of exclusive extras NOT included on the U.S. release... namely deleted scenes and new interviews with the cast and crew. As a U.S. fan, I'm a little pissed about that, but I suppose there's not much that can be done about it except hope we get the rest at a later date. There IS some other good Farscape DVD news to report today, however. As some of you may know, ADV Films is going back and re-issuing the complete series on DVD in new Starburst Edition 2-disc sets. I'll admit, I'm not usually cool with the idea of double-dipping like this. Like many of you, I've already purchased the complete series on DVD at significant cost. That said, I am absolutely blown away by the sheer value you get on these Starburst Editions. The first season of Farscape was originally released by ADV on 11 single-disc DVDs (retailing for $24.98 each). With these new Starburst Editions, the entire first season will be re-released on just 3 double-disc DVDs (each disc is dual-sided/dual-layered, or DVD-18). These new editions also SRP for $24.98, but you can get them for $18.73 each at Amazon, and as little as $15.99 each at Best Buy. Virtually all of the extras that were included on the original discs have carried over to the new sets (save for the DVD-ROM screensavers, which I could care less about anyway). But the cool thing is that there's significant new bonus material that's been added as well (including some of the previously U.K. exclusive material). In addition to the set-top extras from the original discs, you now get new documentary featurettes, make-up test footage, new interviews, several new audio commentary tracks, Farscape "facts" and behind-the-scenes trivia for each episode by Paul Simpson (author of Farscape: The Illustrated Companion) and more. Better still, if you passed on the previous DVDs for their lack of subtitles or captions, you'll be glad to know that each of the episodes on these new editions features English captions for the hearing impaired (the episodes are also closed captioned). These are the same extended versions of the episodes that were on the previous DVDs, with Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 audio. The episodes are in their original full frame format (although episodes from the fourth season will be included in their original anamorphic widescreen format). The first two Starburst Editions are now available, and the third (which completes the first season) streets on 3/15. So you'll soon be able to get the entire first season of the show, with all the original extras (and a lot of new material as well), for as little as $50 plus tax. If you purchased the original 11 first season DVDs individually, you likely paid as much as $300 (although ADV later released the whole first season as a box set for about $150). What's all this mean to you? Well... it sucks for all you guys who paid $300 originally, but if you've been wanting Farscape on DVD and you've been holding out... now is definitely the time to check the show out on disc. These Starbust Editions pack a helluva lot of value for your money. A HELLUVA lot. Okay, back later. Be sure to check out the three new DVD reviews I posted late yesterday afternoon if you haven't already done so. Stay tuned... More Archived Posts Back to Current Posts
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