Year: 2006 (Page 152 of 228)

HD-DVDs hitting stores

April 18, 2006 / John Paulsen

Universal released “Serenity” on HD-DVD today; it represents the studio’s first title in the new high-def format. The studio will release “Apollo 13” and “Doom” next week.

Warner Home Video released three HD-DVD titles as well, with “Million Dollar Baby,” “The Phantom of the Opera” and “The Last Samurai” hitting shelves today. Warner plans to release a dozen more titles in May. The first titles in the format have a MSRP of $29-$35.

But before you rush out and buy one of the $500 HD-DVD players, be warned that there is a format battle brewing, and it’s not unlike the Beta/VHS war in the ’80s. Blu-ray is HD-DVD’s main competitor and it’s unclear which format will win out. Sony and Pioneer have backed Blu-ray, and once the Playstation 3 hits shelves, the format will get a big boost. The two formats are identical in picture quality, but Blu-ray boasts 67% more capacity and that may put the format over the top. If you remember, Beta actually had a better picture quality, but was limited to two hours of recording time. VHS tapes were capable of recording up to 6 hours, and the picture quality was “good enough” for consumers, allowing the format to ultimately win out.

One thing hindering Blu-ray’s progress is the lack of available players and the initial cost of those players once they are available. Toshiba has a HD-DVD player for $499 but the first Blu-ray player from Samsung will cost $1000. It is doubtful that the PS3, which will double as a Blu-ray player, will have a price tag this high. LG and Samsung each plan to release a player that will play both formats.

These HD discs will be an improvement over current DVDs, but with the uncertainty in the marketplace, I’m going to stick with my trusty progressive-scan DVD player for now.

Movie DVDs, Movies, News

It ain’t Wonder Woman, but it’s just as good

April 18, 2006 / Jason Zingale

With the chances of Lindsay Lohan landing the title role in Joss Whedon’s big-screen adaptation of “Wonder Woman” rapidly dwindling with each passing day, fans of the redheaded (no wait, blonde-haired, oh wait, it’s red again) actress will be pleased to hear that Fox is currently in negotiations to bring the popular anime series “Sailor Moon” to theaters very soon, with Lohan starring as the main character and Jennifer Garner as the film’s villain. And get this, nerd extraordinaire Whedon is also rumored to direct the picture.

This may actually be a better opportunity for Lohan in the long run. As the sailor-suit wearing, pigtail-donning schoolgirl with special powers, Lohan can get her superhero groove on without saying goodbye to her teeny bopper fan club. Plus, just imagine the number of drooling adult males who will pile into theaters just to see the young actress in that get-up. Count me in!

Action Movies, Actresses, Gossip

DVD shuffle: 04/18/06

April 18, 2006 / Jason Zingale

Not a whole lot going on in DVD Land this week, with only one major release (“Hostel“) hitting store shelves. Other titles making their way into stores include special editions of “Moonstruck” and “Event Horizon,” as well as the award-nominated “Mrs. Henderson Presents” and the indie transgender flick “Breakfast on Pluto.” Next week looks to fair much better, with five major releases, five reissues, a handful of straight-to-DVD features and even some nice collections.

Movie DVDs, Movies

“Stories” finally coming to DVD? Amazing!

April 18, 2006 / Will Harris

Perhaps it’s just because I was an uber-geek in high school and spent more time at home watching TV than I did, say, having an actual life, but I never missed an episode of Steven Spielberg’s “Amazing Stories.”

It was Spielberg’s version of the anthology shows he grew up with, like “The Twilight Zone” and “The Outer Limits,” and although he mostly just lent his name to the series and served as executive producers, the star power he accumulated for the various episodes is undeniable. Check out the names who appear in the first season alone: Amy Irving, Drew Barrymore, Bronson Pinchot, Kevin Costner, Keifer Sutherland, Anthony LaPaglia, Gregory Hines, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Mark Hamill, Charlie Sheen, Andrew McCarthy, Forest Whitaker, Sam Waterson, John Lithgow, Harvey Keitel…oh, it goes on and on and on.

Season 1 of the show will be released on DVD by Universal on July 18th. Here’s hoping it’s sufficiently successful as to result in Season 2 coming out as well, as that’s when Tim Burton’s classic “Family Dog” episode appeared, as well as “Go to the Head of the Class,” starring Christopher Lloyd. (The pair were packaged together in a VHS episode some years ago.)

TV, TV DVDs

Brilliant But Cancelled

April 18, 2006 / Will Harris

The late, great cable network Trio created a concept called “Brilliant But Cancelled,” where they spotlighted shows that started strong, had great potential, but were quickly sent into oblivion by their respective networks because the ratings weren’t anything to write home about. Some of the shows given the spotlight were “Deadline,” by “Law & Order” producer Dick Wolf, “Johnny Staccato,” starring John Cassavettes as a jazz pianist who’s also a private detective, and “Parenthood,” based on the movie of the same name, but with Ed Begley, Jr., taking over the Steve Martin role.

Well, unfortunately, Trio is pretty much dead as a network, having been dropped by virtually every cable and satellite system, but it still exists on the ‘net, and it’s inspired a series of full-series DVD releases of one of its “Brilliant But Cancelled”-spotlighted shows: “EZ Streets,” starring Ken Olin, Jason Gedrick, and Joe “Joey Pants” Pantoliano.

Makes you wonder what shows will receive this treatment, belatedly giving them the respect they deserve.

I’ve got a few suggestions…