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-Newsletter est. 4/15/97-
-Website est. 12/15/97-
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Looking for stories that used to be listed above? Use the button bar or these links to access the following sections: Reviews (DVD, laserdisc and hardware reviews), FAQ & Archives (old feature stories and interviews, and Jim Taylor's Official DVD FAQ) and Upcoming DVD Art (at look at upcoming cover artwork). Finally, My Two Cents - Archives contains all past daily editorial posts dating back to 12/97. |
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| CONTESTS |
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| DVD
FORMAT STATS |
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 TOTAL
U.S. PLAYER SALES (11/21/03 - CEA): 62,686,044* |
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| TOTAL
CANADIAN PLAYER SALES (11/21/03): 6,268,604* |
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| *Sales
to dealers since 3/97. Divx included. DVD-ROM & game systems not
included. As of May 2002, does include DVD/VCR
combination players. |
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| TOTAL
DVD TITLES (12/10/03 - DVD Release Report): 29,300* |
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| *Net
total of R1 DVD-Video discs released/announced. Discontinued &
adult not included. |
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| TOP
10 SELLING DISCS (11/22/03 - VideoScan): |
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| TOP
10 RENTAL DISCS (11/23/03 - VSDA VidTrac): |
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| NUMBER
OF AFI TOP 100 FILMS ON DVD (11/17/03): 92
(8)* |
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| (
) *Number of additional films announced or believed in development
for DVD release. |
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| Our new DVD book is IN STOCK at Amazon - now available at bookstores everywhere! | |||
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| MY
TWO CENTS - 12/24/03 - by Digital Bits editor Bill Hunt |
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Happy holidays, everyone! (LATE UPDATE - 12/23/03 - 2 PM PST) Before we sign off for the Christmas holiday, we've got another new Classic Coming Attractions column from our own Barrie Maxwell. In this edition, Barrie looks at great holiday films over the years, runs down the latest classic DVD release news and reviews some 11 new classic releases on DVD, including Phantom of the Opera (1925), Last of the Red Hot Lovers, The Out-of-Towners, Ship of Fools, Crime of Passion, The Looking Glass War, The Honeymooners: "Classic 39" Episodes, Plaza Suite, Star Spangled Girl, He Walked by Night and Odds Against Tomorrow. Also today, we've got another new Bits Power Buy for you. Pioneer Elite's new 50" Pro-1110HD plasma display is garnering reviews as the very best of the HDTV bunch, and it's going to be in extremely high demand. It features individual color control, blacker blacks, a virtually silent fan, and HDMI inputs. Also, as many of you know, Pioneer is releasing the most highly anticipated new DVD player of the year, the DV-59AVi. This player features 14 Bit Video DACs, iLink (1394 Firewire) for DVD-Audio and SACD as well as an HDMI interface that will connect with any DVI-D input using a DVI-HDMI cable. The result? The very finest picture quality and sound reproduction available today. The Pro-1110HD is one of the very first plasmas with the new HDMI input, so together they're the perfect match. We've arranged a special Power Buy discount on the Pioneer Pro-1110HD, with the new DV-59AVi DVD player, just for you loyal Bits readers, in conjunction with DocDVD's Discount Prescription program and authorized dealers across the country. If you're interested, please click here to learn more. And just so you know, the Power Buy on the Sharp XV-Z12000U DLP Front Projector will end on New Year's Eve, December 31st, so if you want to take advantage of it, now's the time. That's all for now! We'll see you back here on Monday, December 29th! From all of us at The Digital Bits, a happy and safe holiday to you and yours! (EARLY UPDATE - 12/23/03 - 10 AM PST) Yes... you read that right. Three of the cast of TV's Seinfeld have declined to participate in the production of the DVD release of the series, because they're not being offered a share in sales of the discs. Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Michael Richards were offered recording fees only, and so have jointly decided to boycott the production. The DVD is being produced by Castle Rock for distribution by Columbia TriStar, however due to complicated ownership of the show, Time Warner, Columbia TriStar Television, Castle Rock, Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David will all take profits from the DVD release. Frankly, we can't blame these three for feeling a little put off. Complicated ownership or not, the sales of old TV shows on DVD is arguably the fastest growing segment of the market right now. A lot of other people are going to make money on this... why shouldn't all of the featured cast share in that? Reportedly, Jerry Seinfeld is hoping to talk with them next year, to convince them to participate. You can bet, however, they'll be a little skeptical given that Jerry's already got a nice piece of the pie lined up. Here's a link to more on this at CNN and the New York Times (requires registration). Seinfeld: The Complete First Season is being tentatively planned for release in December of 2004. There's no word on how this boycott will affect that schedule, but we'd certainly hope that Castle Rock doesn't decided to just push ahead without these three. Remember that Norwegian kid who cracked DVD's CSS encryption scheme a few years ago? Well, DVD Jon (alias Jon Johansen) has finally been cleared of wrong-doing by an appeals court in Oslo. The MPAA and DVD Copy Control Association (DVDCCA) had filed a lawsuit against him in 2000, but they lost. They then appealed, but now the appeal has been rejected as well. You can read more on this at Video Store. Here's something to give you a good laugh this morning: there's a great story on a rather disappointing Hanukkah gift over at The Onion. I think many of you DVD fanatics out there will be able to relate. Hats off to our own Brad Pilcher for spotting this. ;-) Back with more later. Stay tuned! 12/22/03 Morning, everyone! I'll bet you all had a great weekend. Probably a lot of last minute shopping for the holiday season, movie going and the like. Sarah and I have family in town, so that's always nice. We hope your holiday is a happy one! We've just gotten word that 20th Century Fox is planning to release a Raquel Welch Collection DVD Box Set on 3/9. Titles include Bandolero, Myra Breckinridge, Mother, Jugs and Speed, One Million Years B.C. and the previously released Fathom. Each will also be available separately (SRP $14.98). Myra Breckinridge will include Raquel Welch audio commentary among other extras, while One Million Years B.C. will include a 5-minute restoration comparison. All the new titles will be in anamorphic widescreen video, with Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo and mono audio. Here's the cover art for One Million Years B.C.. Not bad for your father's caveman movie...  Also coming from Fox in March will be The Commitments: Collector's Edition on 3/16. Look for the film in anamorphic widescreen (1.85), audio in Dolby Digital 5.1, commentary by director Alan Parker, the 22-minute The Making of The Commitments featurette, the 45-minute The Commitments: Looking Back documentary, a "making of" featurette, the Dublin Soul: The Working Class & Changing Face of Dublin featurette, the Treat Her Right music video (with introduction by Alan Parker and Robert Arkins), 2 original songs by cast members: Before the Next Tear Drop Falls (Andrew Strong) and Taking on the World (Robert Arkins), 6 TV spots, 4 radio spots, the theatrical trailer, and a still gallery. In case you're interested, set for 3/30 from Fox is Hangman's Curse. Universal is now showing slightly different cover artwork for their Schindler's List DVD (3/9). Be advised that the studio is now reporting these extras: the Voices From the List and The Shoah Foundation Story with Steven Spielberg featurettes, cast and filmmakers bios and something called About Oskar Schindler (a featurette or text essay). There may also be trailers and the like. The art on the left is the standard, widescreen edition. The art in the middle is the gift set.    And yes, Universal has also announced The Rundown for release on 3/23, available in both anamorphic widescreen and full frame versions. Audio is Dolby Digital 5.1. Extras will include commentary by director Peter Berg and The Rock, another commentary by producers Kevin Misher and Marc Abraham, several featurettes (Rumble in the Jungle, The Amazon, Hawaii Style, Appetite for Destruction, The Rundown Uncensored, Running Down the Town and Walken's World), deleted scenes, DVD-ROM features and cast and filmmakers bios. SRP is $26.98. While we're showing you cover art, we thought you might like a look at MGM's forthcoming Stargate SG-1: Season Six and Spacecamp (both 3/2).   Finally today, we have a new Contest for you that gives you a chance to win copies of Warner's National Geographic: Beyond the Movie - The Return of the King on DVD. That runs until Saturday, so get your entries in fast Tolkein fans! Don't forget, our brand new DVD book, The Digital Bits: Insider's Guide to DVD, is now available at your local book stores and at Amazon.com. It's been getting great reviews, so if you're looking for that perfect stocking stuffer for your favorite DVD fanatic, look no further. ;-)  We'll be back tomorrow with a new column from our own Barrie Maxwell. See you then! Bill Hunt, Editor The Digital Bits billhunt@thedigitalbits.com |
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