DVD Sales Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Fox is trying to sell more DVDs by adding Pop Up Video.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that the company is hoping to boost sales by "putting a new spin on interactivity, including harnessing the power of social networking" with a little system called "FoxPop." Not so much a "new spin," FoxPop is a downloadable computer program (works with Mac, PC, and iPhone) that will recognize the sounds of a film, immediately sync up, and give movie viewers a "constant barrage of facts, photos, games, and trivia questions related to the movie they are watching." In other words -- Pop Up Video on a separate screen you're welcome to ignore.

Fox's example of how it will work: "when a T. rex appears on the screen, for example, the user's iPhone would vibrate and ask how many bones that particular dino has. It will also tell what percentage answered the query correctly" while completely distracting them from the fun of the dino hunt. Social networking comes into play with the ability to make comments on the film with Facebook and Twitter that your friends will be able to see when they want to watch a movie. I see the last bits of our attention spans flying away into the ether of history...

I had a plan to be speedy this morning -- get my work done and then catch up on other things I need to do. Just as I settle into my chair and plan to begin writing, my friend sends me an IM: "BN.com has a big DVD sale on." Well, so much for a productive morning. Within moments, I realized that this wouldn't be a quick 2-minute search. They've got thousands of titles marked 40% off or more. I've spent the last half hour scouring the site and the selection is pretty darned impressive.

You can score newer films like the largely ignored but completely worth it Imagine Me & You for less than $7. You can get rare, old '80s movies for less than $5 -- heck, even Thrashin' is on there, that cheesy Josh Brolin flick, for super-cheap. You can get foreign flicks like Eat Drink Man Woman for under $7, which is a big pisser for me since I just bought it used for $15. New and old dramas, musicals, and you can even get From Justin to Kelly for less than $5! But, if you get that, you will be beaten by your shipment when it's delivered. Guy Maddin, classic action, documentaries, you name it! My wallet is screaming in pain.

To navigate the ginormous sale -- get to the 40% off sale page here. Click on your sale category. Then, make sure to click on the text that says: "See all 40% Off or More Action and Adventure in Bestselling order" to get the whole list for that genre. Happy Shopping!

I must have missed the memo about this officially being Whiny Mega-Retailers Month. A little over a week ago, we told you how uber-rich Wal-Mart was bitching about the new iTunes movie store, and how only Disney titles are offered there at the moment, perhaps because Wal-Mart (the big bully on the movie distrib playground, apparently) sent a letter to studios this summer warning -- that's right, warning -- studios that it is not going to just idly stand by and watch studios focus on downloads while DVD sales are heading south. Wal-Mart, as the leading seller of DVDs (which are Hollywood's biggest source of revenue), apparently has the muscle to dictate studios' business to them.

Not to be outdone, Greff Steinhafel, President of Wal-Mart's rival company, Target, has sent his own letter to major studios, whining about how movie download prices are below DVD prices, according to a Wall Street Journal story published yesterday. The letter reportedly said that Target would "reconsider its investment" in the DVD business if pricing isn't made more equitable ("equitable" here presumably meaning "lining our coffers with more cash and increasing the value of my own stock options so I can afford that private school tuition and new yacht").

As our sister site Engadget reported yesterday, Target and Wal-Mart both need to relax a bit on the whole movie download issue. The quality of movie downloads isn't even close to the quality of DVDs and won't be for a long time, and the prices aren't exactly bargain-basement -- it's simply just another channel for customers to choose from. Instead of whining about how movie downloads are going to sound the death-knell of DVD sales, major retailers like Wal-Mart and Target need to focus on finding ways to incent customers to buy DVDs instead (better features, better quality, special offers, exclusive content), while simultaneously finding ways to partner with studios and move into the digital download space themselves.

The market is ultimately going to dictate the future of movie downloads; if customers want it and will pay for it, and the product is good enough to support it, it's going to happen, and either DVDs will compete and hold their own market share, or they'll eventually go the way of the eight-tracks, cassette tapes, and VHS. Threatening the studios that if they don't give in, Target and Wal-Mart are going to take their balls and go home, isn't going to benefit studios or the retailers in the long run. When the game changes, guys, you don't pout and stop playing. You learn the new rules -- or better yet, make your own rules and own the game. Nobody likes a whiner.

Film Threat's Doug Brunell put an interesting piece up this weekend about feeling irked when he saw a woman at the store he was shopping at toss a copy of Sweet Home Alabama onto her shopping cart. Brunell wasn't upset because he hates the movie (he hasn't seen it) or because he harbors some secret loathing toward Reese Witherspoon, but because he mourns that DVDs have become casual purchases to be tossed in the cart on impulse, rather than a decision to lovingly mull over, checking out the cool special features, transfer and sound.

Now, I am, admittedly, not a huge DVD purchaser at this stage in my life. For one thing, I have a houseful of young children, and no matter where we store our DVDs, I inevitably find them on the floor (ever stepped on a stray DVD at 2AM and impaled your foot on a wedge of The Land Before Time? Not fun.) or being used as ninja throwing stars in some game the kids have concocted. I am not a responsible owner of DVDs, and our house is not a safe harbor for them, so we simply don't invest much of our hard-earned money on them. I know, however, that many of you folks out there are avid DVD collectors who probably spend a fair amount of time carefully considering your purchases. Even if I was passionate about DVDs, I don't know that I'd get worked up over someone else's casual purchase, anymore than I get upset over someone in front of me in the checkout line purchasing a Danielle Steel novel just because I'm a lit geek, but then again, I do stay up nights obsessing over the box office returns for indie films, so who am I to judge?

What about you? Is it troublesome to you that some people toss DVDs into their shopping cart without really considering the purchase? Does it detract from the allure of DVD ownership, if another person considers DVDs as more disposable entertainment than art? And while we're on the subject: What's the last DVD you bought -- and why did you buy it?

Just the other day Karina reported on the Landmark Business Panel at SXSW, where Landmark honcho Todd Wagner waxed eloquent on his company's big plans to shake up the world of movie distribution by looking at what customers want and giving it to them. Now GreenCine (whose Daily GreenCine blog we frequently link to here on Cine, because they have some good stuff to read there), which has made a name for itself by focusing primarily on the niche indie market with Rent-by-Mail and Video-on-Demand, is diving headfirst into the murky space of DVD sales of mainstream films. In a press release, GreenCine proudly proclaims this move the "first time in history that a vendor has offered all three services from the same location".

Now, I have to admit, my initial reaction to this announcement was lukewarm. Not because I don't like GreenCine - I do (full disclosure - I subscribe to GreenCine and regularly check out DVDs from them). GreenCine has built its solid rep in the world of indie and foreign films, and I can find titles there I can't find anywhere else (even if they still don't offer Forgiveness, one of my favorite films from last year's Seattle International Film Festival, and if they don't add it soon I may be forced to just order the damn thing from South-freaking-Africa myself and suck up the $30 in shipping costs).

 

We don't really cover DVD sales around here (we much prefer to talk about the box office, and all those monkeys, hobbits, and wardrobes), but this week's numbers are worth noting. Though there's nothing particularly interesting or surprising about most of the movies in the top 10 - The 40 Year Old Virgin is still doing well, as is John Singleton's Four Brothers, and a couple of new releases also made strong showings. At the top of the heap, however, is a sequel that never appeared in theaters: yes, that's right, American Pie: Band Camp outsold all other DVD titles in its debut week. Despite the fact that the only returning main cast member is Eugene Levy and all the other actors are people you've never heard of, the movie moved over a million units in just a few days. So, if studios needed a sign that the direct-to-video market is thriving, I guess this is it.

Ok, who bought it? Fess up, and give us some details. Is it cheap and awful? Incredibly brilliant comedy? Boring and sad?