Today, the soundtrack CD to the 1960’s classic television show ‘My Favorite Martian’ was released by La La Land Records. This CD was Produced by 2 Live Fools co-host David C. Fein, and has almost 80 minutes of classic music by the late George Greeley.
It’s real! There is an official Apple iCar! I’ve seen it, we’ve all seen it since March 2006. His name is MAC iCAR, and he has the unique distinction of being the only ‘real world’ trademark in the Disney/Pixar motion picture, Cars.
It’s MAC iCAR, the unsung Apple trademarked hero of the film!
20 years ago the first officially Lucasfilm sanctioned ‘Star Wars’ convention was held in Los Angeles. The convention was amazing, and to this day stands as the one greatest Star Wars fan event ever.
Many filmmakers in Hollywood today were fans at the convention, and I recently uncovered a rare videotaped introduction for George Lucas by none other than Darth Vader. (Yes, with actual lines recorded specifically for this event by James Earl Jones, not an impersonator…)
There’s so much more to tell about this event, and in the near future I hope to share more about it with everyone.
Until then, enjoy this little taste… Before the Menace… Before the Clones… Before the Revenge…
The nightmare continues… and I don’t mean that John Carpenter’s masterpiece “Halloween” has been remade by Rob Zombie; the remake joins the ranks of films lost to the internet before theatrical release.
The new Rob Zombie film that opens this weekend has been leaked in DVD quality to the internet. Stereo sound, and all of the gore you’d expect. This isn’t good news.
When you have a film as expected as this one, this leak could be disastrous to the film’s release. Especially the opening weekend. Given the fact that this is a work print, it could also be destructive to the DVD release if the key deleted scenes are included in the work cut. From reports, this cut is a widely commented July cut of the film that didn’t test as well as the studio would have liked, and therefore there were many edits and the ending was supposedly reshot.
More and more films are showing up on the internet in the highest quality, and these leaks are leaving a major wake in their path. “Highlander: The Source,” “Hostel: Part II”, “Sicko” are just a few that have suffered.
Given the huge investment made by the studios, you can expect that the whole studio system will begin to lock up and lock down all outside production. Folks, with film industry strikes on the horizon, leaks of films on the net, and an overall eight-hundred-pound-gorilla mentality, you can expect to see the studio system of internal production departments increase in the near future with Fort Knox security being employed. Just wait and see…
Paramount recently announced the most expensive single season of a show ever placed on home video. Star Trek: The Original Series: Season 1: Remastered, exclusively on HD-DVD for $218.
Joining Universal Pictures, Paramount and Dreamworks Animation have chosen a side in the High Definition disc war; HD-DVD. Privacy of sales figures have always been a major focus for all of the studios. This is one of the biggest reasons that the studios are high on the DVD format. Distribution is direct from the studio, and all records stay within the company.
While the Dreamworks SKG films are not exclusive to either format, it was reported today at Yahoo News that the studios have definitively chosen HD-DVD over Blu-ray.
Sony, the most major player in the Blu-ray camp; and receives royalty payments for every Blu-ray disc sold, in essence receives the sales statistics for all Blu-ray releases. This is incredibly powerful information when you want to negotiate a deal with another studio for anything from sequel rights, co-production deals, and could easily be used to sway talent by sharing ‘true’ figures as a lure to Sony.
Knowledge is power in Hollywood, and with accurate figures going to Sony, they are ideally poised to be ‘The Godfather’ of the industry, making offers that the other studios couldn’t refuse.
Whenever its reported that Blu-ray is leading the HD disc competition, I return back to the blackmail aspects of the battle. Remember, this is the beginning of a next stage in movie sales; with looming strikes over disc royalties, information such as these verifiable figures could easily set a negative precedent.
While most figures are generic, and would be reported as ‘Paramount pressed 5000 discs today’ and not by title, the fact that Blu-ray plants are being carefully monitored by Sony at the moment due to the many problems they have been having with their first generation discs, it’s clear that this title monitoring could easily, and are likely occurring.
While I personally feel that Blu-ray has the better technical format, I expect HD-DVD to win in the long run for political reasons. Stay tuned for further updates…
It is every Producer’s biggest nightmare. Your film is released in full quality, stereo mix, etc. on the internet almost a year before it is supposed to be released. Late last year this EXACT event happened. Anyone who truly wanted to see the film, obtained a copy, and did. While the Producers claimed that the film wasn’t finished, reports are that every aspect of the film was polished, and overall, it was an enjoyable film. However, when no theatrical release date was set, the question of what was going to happen with the film came up. It’s reported by the Adrian Paul Newswire blog that the film is now destined for it’s premiere as a television movie for the SciFi Channel on September 15th at 9 PM followed by an encore showing at 1AM.
This is a shame, and something to seriously appreciate when you’re making a picture. Often events such as these happen when someone involved ‘burns’ someone else. As a fellow Producer, I truly hope that they catch the individual who leaked the film. As for the picture itself? I recommend that you take the time on September 15th to see it!
This one’s a sweet one! Listen to the Fools give the lowdown and secret to getting a month to month contract with AT&T for the iPhone. Also, as the HD DVD wars escalate, Dave and Marc cut through the hype and tell all about what is happening now! They also reveal the best way to go if you want an HD-DVD player, but don’t know what to do. The Fools pay homage to two great filmmakers you should know about, and touch upon the current trend of censorship in our lives.
Have the Blockbuster Online guys hacked Netflix???
Last night I went to log in to Netflix to watch a streaming episode of Masters of Horror only to find their website down with a promise of restoration by 8PM. I came back at 8, and it said 11PM, I came back at 11, it said 2AM. This morning I returned to the site, at 8AM, and it wait ‘be back up at 9AM… 9 AM said 11AM, and now it simply reads “temporarily unavailable.
It’s reported that Netflix shares are now at an all time low, and that the company recently reduced the price of all of their plans by roughly $1. What they didn’t expect was the site to go down.
The Boston Herald reports that Netflix claims that they will be back online by 4PM but doesn’t state the reason for the outtage.
You can be sure that some hacker at Blockbuster is getting a huge bonus today. Amazing when you consider the power of a intelligent nerd in a closet… Hail nerds!
A little late out of the gate, let’s just say this podcast has developed a fine bouquet. The Fools will give you a little secret on opening weekend marketing hype and why the studios do what they do to open bad movies in a big way. One such an example is the great lengths Fox went to just to open the new Fantastic Four flick and piss off the U.S. Government at the same time. Also, the Fools will break down the break down of the reality show The Lot. Don’t miss one of the funniest filmmaking stories ever from the set of Knocked Up.
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