DVD Tagged Articles at Cinematical

OK, so just before we start, I want you to know that I'm going to try very hard not to make any jokes about the French in this post (even though a certain line of dialog from The Last of The Mohicans keeps running in my head). But, back to the news at hand: Variety is reporting that more than 2,000 French movie theaters will be turning off their lights between 6 and 7PM in protest of a new anti-piracy law, and since Wednesday is new release day in France, exhibitors thought that would be the most opportune time to make their point.

So what is their point exactly? Well, it turns out that French movie distributors are starting to feel the pains of rising services like VOD competing with first-run movie theaters for business. Originally, movie theaters were granted a six-month window of exclusivity before a flick could move on to other distribution channels, but under their new anti-piracy law, the home entertainment market will now only have to wait 4 months before a film becomes available for the DVD and VOD market. French cinema owners claim that this law is, "degrading of theater owners' economic conditions." (Even though, according to statistics, the box-office is up 3.4% from last year).

After the jump; French movie theaters aren't the only ones suffering...

The 20th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray and DVD of Say Anything came out yesterday, and to mark the occasion, numerous men with lots of free time dressed up in trench coats and hoisted boomboxes above their heads and marched throughout New York City serenading people with the strains of Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes," and a cover version of the same song by The Lloyd Dobler Effect. Check them out in the gallery below.

Damn, that movie came out 20 years ago? That makes me feel incredibly old. The first time I saw that movie will be forever burned into my brain since it was my first and only date with the captain of the women's volleyball team in high school. However, the movie on Blu-ray looks better than it ever did back in theaters, circa 1989, and hopefully it'll inspire legions of Lloyd Dobler fans for years to come that will fare better than I did.

The Blu-ray version of the movie is a 1080p high-definition upgrade of the original DVD release from 2002, along with a newly remastered 5.1 audio mix. In addition to the upgraded image and sound, this includes all the features from the previous version (commentary from Cameron Crowe, John Cusack, Ione Skye, deleted scenes, and more), along with three new featurettes. The best of the bunch is "An Iconic Film Revisited: Say Anything... 20 Years Later" featuring new interviews with Crowe, Cusack, Skye, John Mahoney, and Nancy Wilson.

You wouldn't know it to look at them, but those red vending machines full of DVDs -- you know, the ones sitting outside McDonalds -- may be the biggest threat to the big box video stores since Netflix.

Redbox has announced that they'll be renting their half billionth DVD this week, just five years after they debuted with 12 kiosks in Denver, Colorado. Now boasting over 15,000 locations in 48 states, the convenience and low prices -- Redbox charges a flat $1 per day fee per disc -- have made them a major player in the video rental industry.

And the studios that produce the DVDs are split on whether or not that's a good thing.

Back in October 2008, Redbox, which is jointly owned by Coinstar and a subsidiary of McDonalds, filed a lawsuit against Universal Studios, alleging that the entertainment giant was abusing copyright and engaging in anti-competitive behavior. Universal had tried to force Redbox, who buy their discs from wholesalers, to sign the same sort of revenue-sharing deal that the big studios have with Blockbuster and Netflix. The deal would have limited Redbox's ability to resell used discs, decreased the number of DVDs available for rent, and taken a cut of their profits, to boot. Redbox understandably said no.

When Redbox declined to sign, Universal threatened to cut off the wholesalers who sell to Redbox, and to place a 45-day wait on the availability of new titles. This is, simply put, illegal. It's a violation of antitrust laws. So Redbox sued.

There's nothing quite like the phrase 'straight to DVD' to kill a film's chance of a little dignity, is there? The first thing that usually crosses my mind is, "It must be pretty bad if they aren't even willing to put it up on the big screen" -- which might be a tad unfair of me, but no one ever said gut reactions were fair. Hopefully this time I'll be proven wrong, because in a conversation with MTV Steve Niles (co-creator of the original graphic novel, 30 Days of Night) confirmed that a sequel to the 2007 vampire flick was already in the works, and that it would most likely be going direct to DVD.

According to Niles, a script has already been submitted, and he is hard at work on the project with Ben Ketai (director of the 30 Days webisodes). The sequel will be based on the comic book follow-up Dark Days, and the story centers on "the character of Stella Olemaun [who] heads to Los Angeles after surviving the vampire attack in Barrow, Alaska. She intentionally attracts the attention of the local vampire population in order to avenge the death of her husband, Eben, during the Barrow incident."

After the jump find out how Sam Raimi got involved and the possibility of a 30 Days franchise...

In the pantheon of mega-derided '80s films, few films can touch the inescapable reek of Howard the Duck. I know plenty of folks who dig Ishtar, Cobra, and Leonard Part 6 -- but remarkably few movie geeks have stood up and spoken out for Willard Huyck's Howard the Duck, which just recently arrived as a Special Edition DVD from Universal.

I'll spare you the plot machinations -- because frankly a movie this stupid deserves to be seen BY YOU at least once -- but I've always been amazed at the disparity between the source material and the cinematic adaptation. I've also been sickened by the girl on duck seduction scene, assaulted by the horrific Thomas Dolby music, and beaten into drooling submission by the flick's endlessly wretched puns.

But as a piece of mid-'80s big-budget mega-floppage? I find Howard the Duck more fascinating -- and more worthy of mockery -- than Hudson Hawk, Over the Top, and Toys put together. So imagine my ironic jubilation when I saw a new Howard the Duck DVD sitting on the video shelves, as if it were actually a real-live movie that people would want to own...

Dust off your fangs and your body glitter, the Twilight DVD is on its way. But the bigger news (courtesy of MTV) is that Summit is trying something a little different and offering the teen romance on VOD the same day the two-disc edition will hit shelves. So that means if you can't make it to one of those midnight release parties being held across the US, you can still be first on your block to fall in love with the pigment-challenged Edward Cullen all over again.

If you do decide to drag your poor parents out in the middle of the night line up for a copy, here's what you're going to get: the two disc set will have plenty of extras for lovers of all things Edward and Bella. Disc one provides the usual goodies like extended scenes and audio commentary from director Catherine Hardwicke and stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. Disc two, however, is for the truly devout and has a seven-part documentary about bringing the novel to the screen, along with deleted scenes and a comic-con feature.

Studios have been trying for some time to close the gap between theatrical and home video releases. Back in 2006, Steven Soderbergh tried something similar with the release of his murder mystery, Bubble, but unfortunately for him it didn't quite work out as planned. But for fans of the Twilight series, collecting is a big pastime (no matter how creepy it gets) -- so even if they tune in rather than line up at their local Hot Topic, I'm pretty sure most fans will be buying a copy of the DVD either way.

Now I'll leave it to the fans out there: will you be first in line for Twilight, or will you be swooning from the comfort of your own home?

I was on my way home from seeing the nasty new Last House on the Left movie when I got a call from a friend, to whom I quickly explained that I was on my way to get a shiny new Pinocchio DVD. She paused for a second and said "From rape-revenge horror to old-school Disney sweetness? You're a strange one, Scott." And then she told me how gorgeous I am and hung up weeping.

But yes, it's true: If it's not a nasty-ass horror flick you're showing me, my second choice would be something like Toy Story 2, Flushed Away, or The Iron Giant. Call me childish if you like, but I don't know many children who could use the word "parsimonious" in a sentence. And, um, I just did. No, I don't exactly clap like a toddler as the animated features fly by, but I simply love this medium and (more pertinently) I adore most of the Disney Classics. To me they're some of the sweetest, "funnest," and most accessible form of classic cinema there is, and I'll live to be 143 before I apologize for admiring the artistry that goes into this stuff.

Anyway (as if the art of animation needs a defense from me), it's Walt Disney's second feature film, 1940's Pinocchio, that is now getting the full-bore deluxe two-disc 70th Anniversary DVD (and Blu-Ray) treatment. Couldn't come at a better time, too, because my Disney shelf (pictured below) was rrrrrreally missing this title. I'll spare you the plot synopsis (puppet becomes boy, gets into mischief, learns valuable lessons, becomes whale food, etc.) and the endless peals of laudatory adulation directed toward the old-school Disney filmmakers, and just focus on the DVD itself...

I'll keep this short and sweet, because I've already lauded the living snot out of this movie on FEARnet, Twitter, Facebook, a few social network sites that don't even exist yet, and (of course) all the heck over Cinematical. Granted, most who've seen the film Let the Right One In would probably agree that it deserves the little extra press boost, but all I know is I love-love-loved the film, and since I work here, I can write what I want, consarnit.

Anyway, as you already know by now (if you can read) the film is about vampires. But not like The Lost Boys or Lestat or the Twilight tickle-me-emos, more like a normal-Johann kid who befriends a new neighbor, only to discover that she's quite the bloodthirsty little vampiress. But as us critic-types like to say: It works on, like, more than one level, man. It's got ... depth! Plus it's gorgeous to look at (oooh, Blu-Ray!), easy on the ears, peppered with great little horror touches, surprisingly moving, and supremely satisfying in the closing moments.

Also included on the platter: Four deleted scenes, a solid (but way too brief) 7-minute making-of featurette, and a poster / photo gallery. No commentary, unfortunately, but in some cases (most, actually) I suppose it's best to simply let the film speak for itself. Maybe in a couple of years?

Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Kevin Smith has finally broken out of the Jay and Silent Bob circle and made a romantic comedy that didn't crumble like Jersey Girl. It's cuter than Clerks 2, but thrives on brief, scene-stealing moments from high-school reunion cameos and Jason Mewes. Rent it on DVD or Blu-ray.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Most of our beloved teen fare comes when music is mixed with turmoil-filled romance and adventure, and Infinite Playlist is no exception. In fact, it hits a lot of different themes all in one -- the gross-out factor from flicks like American Pie, the quirky music loving of Empire Records, ex meddling like Some Kind of Wonderful, and a rather refreshing attitude towards sexuality. Buy it on DVD or Blu-ray.

The Secret Life of Bees
A film that joins Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah, Sophie Okonedo, and Alicia Keys, Kim Voynar said Bees is "a sweet, mostly charming coming-of-age tale that, while it doesn't particularly break any new ground with regards to the filmmaking, does an able enough job of adapting a bestselling book of the 'women's bookclub' variety for the screen." Rent it, if you like that sort of thing, on DVD or Blu-ray.

Also out: Space Buddies and Private Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous

Zack and Miri Make a Movie
Zack and Miri Make a Wholesome Film About Furthering the Population
Zack and Miri Make a Naughty Movie

None of those have the same ring as Zack and Miri Make a Porno, do they? Since the film has come, lathered the world in posters and buzz, and faded away, you'd think the title brou-ha-ha would be over now. Not so fast. Since Kevin Smith's latest is about to hit DVD shelves on February 3, a new controversy is brewing.

Canoe reports that Wal-Mart is getting all nervous-like abut the title. Smith says that they want him to remove the word from the cover of the DVD, and he has complied with the request. (Hey, times are rough, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.) But as he so rightly worries: What happens when one of the unsuspecting few buy it and then get the rude awakening of a movie alllll about sex and porn? As Smith told Erik last year: "By calling it Zack and Miri Make a Porno, you're drawing a line in the sand that kinda says, anyone who's remotely interested in a movie like that with that title, come on in. If you're offended by the word porno, stay the f*ck away. This ain't for you."

I do hope that some unsuspecting people buy it, see it, and get ticked off. It's ridiculous to say that the film is okay for the shelves, but only if the title is changed -- who cares if it misleads people? I'd think that they'd rather have the random few brassed off about the title, than customers buy it thinking it's a wholesome romance and then getting a rude awakening. Can you imagine if they made it all the way to Mewes' final scene?