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A pawn to the industry
If you’ve been keeping track of the whole HD format war business, you probably haven’t failed to notice that the Blu-ray studios - Sony, Fox (including MGM), Disney and Lions Gate - announced a crap-load of titles for their format of choice at this year’s CES. The HD DVD camp - Universal, Bandai, The Weinstein Company and the neutral Warner and Paramount - pledged to release another 300 titles before the end of the year, but so far haven’t given much of an inkling as to what we can expect (beyond the obvious: Harry Potter, The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings and a bunch of day-and-date titles). Making matters doubly worse has been Universal’s almost complete silence on all things software. Many people suggested that Universal were getting cold feet and might possibly be gearing up to go format-neutral. I can confirm that Universal has no plans to support Blu-ray - otherwise, the war might as well be over. However, I can’t exactly say I’m impressed by the fact that Universal don’t seem to be releasing any more HD DVDs until April.
In the meantime, the boys in Blu are cranking out discs like there’s no tomorrow (which, for them, there probably isn’t if their format tanks). In addition to juggernauts like Casino Royale and Cars now having official release dates, numerous catalogue titles from the various studios (barring Sony, who own very little worth purchasing) are looking increasingly appealing. Their agenda, it seems, is to bully people into buying into the format through sheer weight of numbers… and it seems to be working. Originally, when I bought an HD DVD player, I was determined to hunker down and remain on one side until it either won or was decimated by the competition. Unfortunately, this doesn’t appear to be happening any time soon. A glance at eProductWars will show you that the two formats are essentially on equal footing. They trade blows, and every few days the balance tips in favour of one or the other, and, as such, it’s looking increasingly unlikely that either format will be going anywhere in the near future. We’re simply going to have to accept that both will co-exist for some time to come. And, as much as I don’t want to give Sony a penny, I am, when all said and done, a film fan, and I’m no longer content to, as Lyris puts it, cut off my nose to spite my face.
In a couple of months’ time (when I will hopefully have some form of income to support my plans), I intend to pick up a 20 GB Playstation 3 from the US. It pains me to say it, but this is a far more cost-effective solution than waiting for a stand-alone combo player that properly supports both formats to become available, and in any event I can console myself (pun unintended, I assure you) with the knowledge that Sony loses nearly $250 every time they sell a PS3 - money that they hope to regain via game sales, which they certainly won’t be getting from me. For betraying my principles, I will have access to a much wider array of titles: around 15 available and announced Blu-ray exclusives appeal to me, including one of my favourite films, Hannibal, and two of the best films in recent years, Casino Royale and The Descent. Naturally, for titles available on both formats, I will continue to buy the HD DVD versions. However, I’m well on the road to becoming format neutral. Expect me to be putting the image quality of some Blu-ray titles under the microscope in the not too distant future.
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The year’s most prestigious popularity contest
Put on your best frock: the nominations for the 2007 Academy Awards are in. As usual, I’ve seen virtually none of the films in the list, including none of those in the Best Picture, Acting, and Directing categories. Of the ones that I have seen, I don’t think there can be any doubt that Cars deserves the Animated Feature Film award, while the nomination of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan for - wait for it - Writing (Adapted Screenplay) only serves to make me wonder if the people who put these lists together actually understand the concept of writing (for those who don’t know, Borat, although based on a general outline, is largely comprised of improvised, unscripted encounters with real people). Meanwhile, the fact that Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest can now claim four nominations to its name simply serves to highlight something I pointed out last year: not all Oscars are created equal, but it seems absolutely ridiculous that this dumb and overlong popcorn flick can actually claim to have received more nominations than something like, say, Gangs of New York (2002), whose nominations were in categories that actually matter, like Best Picture and Best Director.
Of the films listed, the one that has racked up the largest number of nominations is Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, with an impressive six categories to its name. I’ve not seen the film yet, but I really want to - the stills I’ve seen look absolutely amazing. Warner owns the rights in the US, so I’m going to wait patiently in the hope that it sees an HD DVD release before the year is out.
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La Rue Mulholland?
I’ve cancelled my pre-order for the upcoming French HD DVD release of Mulholland Dr. Why? Well, DVDFr and DVDRama are both stating that the release will come with French subtitles only, which strongly suggests that they will be forced when English audio is selected. With the one Studio Canal title I own, users are asked to select a ‘base’ language the first time they insert the disc, which determines which options are available to them. Selecting English restricts you to a choice of English audio with or without subtitles, locking out all the other language options, so it stands to reason that Studio Canal could, if they want, force French subtitles to “on” when playing Mulholland Dr. in English.
I don’t want to go without one of my favourite films in high definition, though, and it looks like I won’t have to: a post at the AV Science Forum suggests that Mulholland Dr., along with Brotherhood of the Wolf, The Deer Hunter and Ran, will be coming to HD DVD in the UK in March, courtesy of Optimum. Presumably this will coincide with the standard definition Special Edition being released on March 12th - although, given Optimum and Studio Canal’s HD track record so far, I don’t expect that we can count on any of the extras being ported over.
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Patchcraft
In a rather unexpected move, Blizzard has released a surprise patch for the nearly five-year-old Warcraft III. Version 1.21, which can be downloaded either from Blizzard’s web site or by simply connecting the game to Battle.net, includes native support for Intel-based Macs, and, for the rest of us, two brand-new maps, some minor tweaks to existing ones, and some bug fixes.
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The iguana with the tongue of VHS noise
My copies of The Mephisto Waltz and The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire arrived from Xploited Cinema this morning. The Mephisto Waltz is actually the Spanish release of the film, rather than the French version I’d assumed it to be, but it makes no difference, given that the disc itself features English audio, menus and subtitles, in addition to a variety of other languages. A quick glance at the transfer suggests that it’s pretty good: like many of Fox’s recent releases, it’s soft and a little noise reduced, but actually fairly attractive overall, and, needless to say, a massive improvement on my VHS dupe.
The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire, meanwhile, is a big disappointment, partly because the image quality is very poor (it’s in widescreen, but I suspect that the source is a VHS tape), but mainly because it’s a very weak giallo. This is actually the first Riccardo Freda film that I’ve seen, and I gather that his standard is usually somewhat better than this; the fact that he signed the film under the pseudonym of “Willy Pareto” suggests that he didn’t regard it particularly highly either. Even through the grime and haze of the poor transfer, it’s fairly easy to see that the visuals aren’t all that hot, while the plot itself, not to mention the characters, fail to be even remotely engaging. It lacks a strong protagonist, while the killer’s identity is a non-event and his/her motive non-existent, and the somewhat unusual Dublin location is never really exploited to its full potential. This is definitely close to the bottom of the barrel, as far as I’m concerned, although you might get a kick or two out of lines like “Well now, me fleet-footed filly, are we going to have it off in the bushes or on the bike?”
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RIP Hall of Fame!
The DVD Transfer Hall of Fame is no more! Well, actually, it still exists, but it’s no longer hosted on my site or maintained by me. Lyris has taken over the running of this little lesson for incompetent DVD encoders, and, in doing so, has removed some titles and added some new ones. Take a look at the Hall of Fame in its new home and see what’s what. Oh, and a companion Hall of Shame (you can probably guess what this means) will also be opening some time soon.
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DVD review: A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin
All in all, Media Blasters have put together an excellent DVD, and one which more than makes up for their previous release of the film. It would, of course, be wrong to say that the disc is perfect: the bonus features are incomplete, the image quality variable and a brief snippet of footage still missing. The first problem could easily have been solved by simply including all of the extras from the previous Media Blasters release (I suppose this gives us a reason to hang on to both versions). The other two were probably unavoidable. It’s looking increasingly likely that the extended shot of Strindberg kneeling before Bolkan and then standing simply cannot be sourced from any known print, while the variable image quality is down to the condition of the available materials. Tim Lucas believes Studio Canal to be in control of the original negative, but it seems that they are unwilling to surrender it to a third party, and, in any event, there’s no telling what state it is in, or how complete. It is entirely possible that this new composite DVD contains material no longer present in the original negative, and, as such, I think we should be thankful that we now have, on DVD, a cut of the film considerably more complete than any other version commercially available.
Described by the DVD producer himself as “the most vocal critic” of Media Blasters’ previous substandard release of A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin, I’ve been rewarded for his moaning with a sneak peek of the remastered edition due out in March…
Review at DVD Times.
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Lord of the double-dips
Source: HD-Insider
The first details regarding the upcoming high definition releases of The Lord of the Rings trilogy have begun to trickle out. Annoyingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, the initial releases will be the theatrical versions rather than the longer (and, in most cases, superior) extended editions. New Line, who, like their parent company, Warner, seem to be committed to supporting both formats equally, will be releasing both HD DVD and Blu-ray versions, although it remains unconfirmed whether these will be separate releases or a dual-sided Total HD disc. Both will be encoded with VC1 and will be the first titles to feature Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio.
Nothing has been confirmed about the extras, apart from the news that, due to “bandwidth constraints”, there will be no In-Movie Experience features. This strikes me as somewhat suspect. If they had said “disc space constraints” then I would have found it more plausible, but what exactly is it about The Lord of the Rings that sucks up so much bandwidth as to prevent an IME stream from being included? Smells suspiciously like double-dip territory to me. Actually, for people who bought both the theatrical and extended editions on DVD and plan to do the same for the high definition versions, this is going to be a quadruple dip. For myself, I’ll wait until the extended editions come out in high definition (unless of course I can get the theatrical cuts for review): Peter Jackson’s interpretation of the book is flawed enough without the massive chunks of essential material missing from the theatrical versions.
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More Italian delights for 2007
It looks as if 2007 is going to be a truly great year for Lucio Fulci fans. In March, Media Blasters will be delivering the almost definitive version of A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin, and Severin Films will be unleashing his long-lost first giallo, One on Top of the Other (a.k.a. Perversion Story), in February. Before either of these are released, however, we have another Fulci treat to look forward to: the French distributor Neo Publishing are, on January 22nd, releasing his period drama Beatrice Cenci, considered by the maestro himself to be his best film. This film has never before been released on DVD, and it’s one that I’ve wanted to see ever since I read about it in Stephen Thrower’s book Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci. As with most Neo Publishing releases, I’m not expecting it to be English-friendly, but, provided it has French subtitles (which I’m guessing will be the case), I can probably muddle through it. I’ve placed my pre-order with Amazon.fr.
Also doing their bit to keep up the Roman side, Dark Sky Films, the company responsible for last year’s Ultimate Edition of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, are releasing DVDs of both Mario Bava’s highly-regarded Kill Baby Kill and Riccardo Freda’s little-seen horror film Tragic Ceremony (known to some by the amusingly convoluted title of Estratto Dagli Archivi Segreti della Polizia di una Capitale Europea). It’s the latter, starring the talented Camille Keaton (of What Have You Done to Solange? and I Spit on Your Grave fame), that interests me the most, and I’m going to try to get my hands on a review copy, although I’ll probably also pick up Kill Baby Kill, due out on March 27th. Click here for more details on Tragic Ceremony, and here for Kill Baby Kill.
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A lizard in a pristine new skin
(See my previous posts on this release: 1, 2, 3, 4)
My sample copy of the new US release of A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin arrived this morning, direct from Media Blasters (thanks, Richard). As “the most vocal critic” (thanks again, Richard!) of the label’s previous, substandard release of the film, I’m sure you all want to know what I think of their second attempt at this title. The short version: it’s excellent - pre-order your copy immediately. The long version: read on.
First, a little history lesson. Media Blasters first released A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin on DVD back in February 2005 after a lengthy period of delay during which they had tried and failed to get their hands on an uncut film element. Rather than hold the title back indefinitely, they chose to release a compromised edition, putting out a two-disc set containing two versions of the film. The first was a film-sourced, widescreen presentation of the cut US release from American International Pictures, known in some circles as Schizoid. In addition to removing a handful of key dialogue scenes, it also omitted the now-notorious “eviscerated dogs” sequence, as well as making substantial trims to the film’s violence, nudity and sex scenes. The second was a fullscreen presentation of the Italian theatrical release, standards converted from a PAL VHS tape and presented in Italian with English subtitles. This version was substantially more complete than the AIP version, but the quality was, unsurprisingly, poor, and it too was missing some brief material (which, ironically enough, was present and correct in the AIP version). Fan reaction to this release was rather mixed. Some praised Media Blasters’ efforts to do the best they had with the limited materials available to them; others (myself included), were suspicious that corners had been cut and lambasted the DVD makers, finding it hard to believe the claim that these were the best materials available.
The position of the latter was somewhat vindicated in July 2006 when the Italian label Federal Video put out a new DVD, featuring (broadly speaking) the Italian cut of the film, in film-sourced widescreen throughout. Evidently an actual print source of the Italian version had materialised, albeit one in something of a state of disrepair, and this, in conjunction with the same AIP print used by Media Blasters, was used to fashion a new version of the film. As good as this release was, however, it was plagued by a few problems. In particular, it featured the same two cuts by the Italian censor that also affected the second disc of Media Blasters’ release, while the film’s second dream sequence, which features the murder of Julia Durer (Anita Strindberg), was botched, featuring a combination of the American version, which was slightly cut and included a “ripple” effect of the entire image in order to obscure some full frontal nudity, and the Italian version, which was unrippled. A couple of dodgy splices also resulted in some abrupt audio cuts, and even a scene in which the same piece of footage appeared twice. More fundamentally, however, this version was presented in Italian only - a major problem, and not only for non-Italian speakers, given that this London-based film, which features the actual speaking voices of co-stars Stanley Baker and Leo Genn, not to mention excellent post-dubbing all round, plays much better in English than it does in Italian. This version did, however, contain a brief dialogue scene between Jean Sorel, Silvia Monti and Ely Galleani not seen in either of the versions provided in Media Blasters’ release.
Media Blasters’ new “remastered” version, due for release on March 13th, is the third release of the film in as many years, and I am happy to report that they have well and truly done their homework with this version. Mindful of past criticisms, they have put together yet another new version of the film, using the same elements uncovered for the Federal Video release. However, they have been careful to avoid Federal’s pitfalls, resulting in a version that contains almost every snippet of footage known to exist. There is nothing on this DVD that has not been present in a previous release in some form, but this is certainly the first time that all of this material has been assembled into a single cut, and, in the case of the second dream sequence, this is the first DVD to present it completely unrippled and in widecreen. Unfortunately, there are still a few seconds missing here: a comparison between this release and Disc 2 of the previous Media Blasters release reveals that, in the earlier VHS-sourced version, the shot of Anita Strindberg kneeling at Florinda Bolkan’s feet lasts several seconds longer, continuing to follow her as she slowly stands up, running her hands up the inside of Bolkan’s coat as she does so. (On the VHS version, this shot lasts 22 seconds; in every other release, it runs for a mere 8 seconds.) This piece of footage is mentioned by Professor Paolo Albiero in his discussion of the film’s censorship (see below) as being removed at the demands of the Italian censor, so the question is perhaps not why it isn’t present in this release (or on Federal Video’s DVD) but rather how it ended up on the Italian VHS in the first place. Either way, I believe Media Blasters when they state that they went to great lengths to make this DVD as complete as possible, so I suspect that, in this particular case, the shot in question is simply not obtainable. The whole film can be watched in English or in Italian with English subtitles (although three dialogue scenes for which English audio either never existed or was not obtainable are presented in subtitled Italian on the English track).
As far as image quality goes, Tim Lucas noted that this new disc had a rather oversaturated look, and it is true that the colours are more punchy, but only in relation to the Italian DVD: a comparison between this new release and Media Blasters’ previous disc reveals identical colours. As I stated in my comparison between the first two releases, the Italian release has more naturalistic colours and also looks slightly sharper. This remains true, and the rather distracting blue-tinting problem that occurs during the middle of the film is still present (the Italian release, in comparison, has a rather desaturated but far more natural look during these scenes). Federal Video’s handling of the portions sourced from the AIP print, therefore, remains superior to that of Media Blasters. On the flipside, though, the material culled from the battered Italian print is treated far better by Media Blasters, who have eschewed the heavy noise reduction techniques employed by Federal. This means that the material has a harsher look with more noticeable print damage, but it is vastly preferable to the smudged look seen on Federal Video’s DVD. On the whole, therefore, I would say that the relative strengths and weaknesses of the 2006 and 2007 releases cancel each other out, and I can’t say that I prefer one over the other.
As with the previous Media Blasters release, English audio comes in both 2.0 monaural (incorrectly labelled as stereo in the previous release but here correctly identified as mono) and 5.1 surround variants. The latter showcases some rather impressive sound design, combining stereo stems of Ennio Morricone’s music score with 5.1 sound effects. However, it is not a faithful representation of Lucio Fulci’s intentions: the foley track is comprised entirely of newly-sourced, “modern” effects, which feel out of place in comparison to the more strained vocal track, and at times drown out the score and dialogue. As such, the mono version is definitely the way to go, although curiosity-seekers may also wish to give the Italian track a look. Bear in mind, though, that the English version is vastly superior in every way.
A few brief notes on the extras are also in order. These are taken almost entirely from the Federal Video release and presented, for the first time, with English subtitles. These include the original Italian opening credits, and two interviews with Fulci expert Paolo Albiero, in which he discusses the film itself and its censorship, for a total running time of 36 minutes. Both of these interviews are highly enlightening, although it’s a shame Media Blasters opted not to port over Kit Gavin’s documentary, Shedding the Skin, from their 2004 release. A Fulci trailer reel is also included, showcasing a variety of the director’s films, from Lizard to Zombie to Murder Rock.
All in all, Media Blasters have put together an excellent DVD, and one which more than makes up for their previous release of the film. It would, of course, be wrong to say that the disc is perfect: the bonus features are incomplete, the image quality variable and a brief snippet of footage still missing. The first problem could easily have been solved by simply including all of the extras from the previous Media Blasters release (I suppose this gives us a reason to hang on to both versions). The other two were probably unavoidable. It’s looking increasingly likely that the extended shot of Strindberg kneeling before Bolkan and then standing simply cannot be sourced from any known print, while the variable image quality is down to the condition of the available materials. Tim Lucas believes Studio Canal to be in control of the original negative, but it seems that they are unwilling to surrender it to a third party, and, in any event, there’s no telling what state it is in, or how complete. It is entirely possible that this new composite DVD contains material no longer present in the original negative, and, as such, I think we should be thankful that we now have, on DVD, a cut of the film considerably more complete than any other version commercially available.
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MPAA in the doghouse
Source: Variety
After 85 years of clandestine operation, the American film censorship body, the MPAA, is finally being forced to become more accountable. The reason for this, it would seem, is a little documentary by filmmaker Kirby Dick, entitled This Film is Not Yet Rated. Released on DVD on January 23rd (I’ve got my copy pre-ordered), it is a shocking exposé into the goings-on behind closed doors at the notoriously secretive organisation, revealing many interesting factoids that the MPAA would rather remained secret, including its anti-gay bias, hostility towards independent filmmakers, lack of accountability of its examiners, and seemingly arbitrary classification process.
The result? The MPAA have been dragged kicking and screaming into the public’s eye, and are now being forced to grow up a bit. From now on, the organisation will publish detailed criteria for each classification, filmmakers will be allowed to cite precedents set by previous classification decisions during the appeals process, more will be done to ensure that indie directors are given a voice, and more effort will be made to educate and train examiners before they are allowed to make ratings decisions. Obviously, given the MPAA’s long history of opression, inequity and abuse of power, it’s unrealistic to expect the situation to improve overnight, but it just goes to show that a guy with a camera can force an organisation that prides itself on unaccountability to fess up and sort out their act. Now I just need to see the film for myself…
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Crusading against monthly fees
Blizzard Entertainment’s latest game, The Burning Crusade (an expansion set for World of Warcraft), goes on sale today, and it will be their first game that I will not buy.
Back when World of Warcraft was first announced, for a long time I told myself I wouldn’t buy it. I had never been into massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), and the prospect of having to pay Blizzard a monthly fee for the privilege of playing it struck me as outrageous. Against my better judgement, however, I picked up a copy of the game when it was released in late 2004 (paying a rather hefty sum for the Collector’s Edition, as it happens), and took out a subscription. Despite my best efforts to like the game, I found it to be a tedious waste of time, with a clunky interface, dull-as-dishwater combat and servers so unstable that staying connected long enough to make waiting in line to connect worthwhile was virtually impossible. I created several characters, but got completely sick of every single one of them before even reaching the level 15 mark (the maximum level being 60), and eventually cancelled my subscription, making me $15 better off per month.
The advance word on The Burning Crusade has not given me cause to reconsider. The rundown of new features suggests that it caters almost exclusively to high-end players who have already whittled away hundred of hours playing the game, and nothing suggests that anything has been done to make the quests less boring or the combat less mind-numbing. I’m still somewhat bitter that Blizzard decided to take a successful real-time strategy franchise, which included one of my favourite games of all time, and transport it into a completely different medium: why, after all, should Warcraft fans have to pay through the nose for a game whose genre may not even interest them just so they can see where the story goes next? I would appeal to Blizzard to hurry up and make a new game, but I know they’re raking in so much money from World of Warcraft that they could devote their entire business to keeping it afloat from now until the end of time.
I’m sorry, but, if I want to play an online RPG, I’ll play Guild Wars, which is so much better than World of Warcraft it’s ridiculous (and it doesn’t have monthly fees either). Guild Wars, as it happens, was created by former Blizzard employees, one of whom was the original lead programmer of World of Warcraft, which makes me wonder whether that game would have turned out better had they not decided to leave and set up shop elsewhere.
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Waltzing iguanas
It’s been a while since I picked up a new giallo on DVD - Lucio Fulci’s Murder Rock, in July, seems to have been the last one. Giallo DVD releases have certainly slowed of late, although there are still dozens, if not hundreds, of titles that have yet to see the light of day on the shiny disc format. Recently, however, a German company called New Entertainment World released a DVD of Riccardo Freda’s The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire, a giallo I’ve wanted to see ever since I first heard its delightfully ridiculous name. Released under the title of Die Bestie mit dem Feurigen Atem (“the beast with the fiery breath”), its image quality is, by the sound of it, not particularly good, but I’ve been starved for good spaghetti slashers lately, and I’m pretty sure I own worse discs (the initial German release of Death Carries a Cane, for example).
As I was placing my order at Xploited Cinema, I happened to glance down at the “Customers who bought this product also purchased…” section, and my lid nearly flipped when I saw that a DVD had been released of The Mephisto Waltz. This is a rather derivative 70s horror movie designed to cash in on the success of the likes of Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, but it has a special place in my heart because, back when I caught it on TV on late night in the early 1990s, it was one of the first “proper” horror films I ever saw. My memories of it are so fond that, last year, I bought a VHS dupe of the film on eBay. I never thought 20th Century Fox would ever release this on DVD, but it appears that, in France, they have done just that, under the title of Satan Mon Amour (which probably explains why I wasn’t aware of its existence until now). Of course, I added it to the order.
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Nocturnal wanderings
I can’t remember precisely when I first enthused about the impending release of Nocturna, a delightfully twisted-looking nightmarish animated feature from Spain, but I have a feeling it was pretty close to when I first launched this site in 2001. Anyway, it’s been put back and put back, but it seems that it might finally be coming out. A new trailer has surfaced on YouTube, boasting a release date of Summer 2007. Judging by the colour scheme and line style, it’s taken on something of a Les Triplettes de Belleville influence since the last publicly available footage was released, but it still seems to have enough of its own flavour. In any event, it’s great to see more traditionally animated features in the pipeline, and I for one hope this gets a theatrical release here instead of going straight to DVD (or, more likely for me, HD DVD, given that Filmax is an HD DVD partner).
You can find more information (and pictures) at the official web site.
Update, January 15, 2007 02:12 PM: There’s another trailer here. You can also see artwork from directors Victor Maldonato and Adrian García’s next project, Monsieur Collieu, here, and a trailer, here.
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Tim Lucas on the new Lizard
I’m expecting my own sample copy to arrive at some point very soon, at which point I’ll offer my own opinions, but it would seem that the redoubtable Tim Lucas has beaten everyone to it, posting his impressions of Media Blasters’ new integral release of Lucio Fulci’s A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin on his Video WatchBlog.
Shriek Show is hoping to make good for their earlier release by issuing a new and improved single-disc remaster of Fulci’s classic psycho-thriller that, they hope, will provide the best of all possible Lucertoli for the film’s admirers. Having been given a first look at the new disc, I can attest that this new version is — like the Federal presentation — a unique cut of the film that was likely never shown in any theater anywhere in the world. It runs a full minute longer than Federal’s earlier composite and is certainly the most complete version of the film likely to surface on DVD.
Visit Lucas’ site for a full rundown of his findings: it certainly seems like this release is as complete as humanly possible, although a handful of his references to footage missing from various versions is inaccurate (for example, the Federal Video DVD was missing some Sapphic canoodling during the opening dream sequence, not the footage of Florinda Bolkan writhing around as referred to by Lucas), so there is still room for doubt in a couple of instances. In any event, you can expect a full rundown of what is and (hopefully not) isn’t on the new DVD when my copy arrives, as well as a full-blown review at DVD Times. Preliminary observations, however, would suggest that Media Blasters have come up with a winner.
Stay tuned!
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The butterfly effect: another porn studio defects to HD DVD
Source: AV Science Forum
Sony would do well to remember the VHS vs. Betamax war, in which the system on which porn was available was the winner. Of course, things are different now, with all manner of filthy images a mere mouse click away, but I still think they’re underestimating just what an impact smut can have on sales. With any luck, this is just the beginning, and the boys in Blu will be leaking partners like a sieve by the end of the year.
Update, January 12, 2007 01:54 PM: And another. To paraphrase on poster, the ripple has just become a tidal wave.
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Mother of god, it’s the Mother of Tears!
Source: Dark Dreams
It’s only a few seconds, and it doesn’t appear to have been colour timed yet, but the first honest-to-god footage of Dario Argento’s upcoming The Third Mother has materialised online in a Cinecittà promo video hyping up this year’s major Italian movie releases (fast forward to around the 2-minute mark).
At this stage, it’s a little hard to form any definite opinions on the film, and the poor image quality and (I assume) lack of finished colour timing mean that this is unlikely to be respective of the final product, but this has got me quite psyched.
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Another reason to be mad at Sony
They’re on quite a roll recently, aren’t they? This is Lyris’ new TV… well, actually, it’s his second new TV - the first one to arrive was even worse. I know that not everyone’s as tech-savvy as us, but I would imagine that most people would be able to tell from looking at the above picture that something is seriously wrong with this display. And apparently it’s an epidemic. Add this to the exploding batteries, digital cameras failing, the European delay of the Playstation 3, and Blu-ray, one really has to wonder what the executives at Sony Towers are thinking. Time to fire some drones, methinks.
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So many pages!
I’ve split my monthly archives into multiple pages (20 entries per page), using Alden Bates’ Paged Archives Plugin, in order to speed up browsing a bit for viewers with slow connections. Enjoy!
Update, January 23, 2007 10:08 AM: Comments disabled due to spam.
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Archive
Monthly Post Index
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