Well, the cat is out of the bag. Yours truly and my good friends and partners Michael Matessino and Daren Dochterman have recorded an exclusive commentary for our film Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition.
As of today, it’s posted and available exclusively from startrek.com.
Click here to go directly to the page to read about the project, and get your commentary today!
Enjoy! If you have any questions, feel free to post them here.
Sometimes I see studios offering props from films on ebay. Usually they are small pieces that don’t mean much, but are nice to have. The point of the sale is another form of marketing, and rarely are they selling the item for the money.
You also have to appreciate that just about every prop, especially if it’s a key item, has anywhere from 3 to 10 identical copies, so you never truly know if it’s real, or actually used. Worth it? Usually not.
This week, there’s something different on ebay:
Yes, for a mere $24,000 (the current bid), this Transformer… err… car… can be yours!
To me, ‘Bumblebee’ was my favorite Transformer in the movie. While I wouldn’t mind owning the updated Camero in the film, there is no denying that this is a very cool car to own.
I was checking out the new list of the revised 100 greatest films at the AFI’s site and found something interesting. Â The way they display the movies is in a flash animation that shows the movies DVD cover, which I find incredibly crass, but that’s another story. Â So in the case of Star Wars, you’ll see the 2006 Photoshopped “art” and in the case of Raiders of the Lost Ark you’ll see the pan-and-scan cover for “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark”.Â
Number 65 on the list is The African Queen, a film that has not been released on DVD yet.  I’m including a picture of what they have displayed on their page.
It’s the end of the war! BluRay wins! Hands down! Uhh… That’s what I’ve been reading. I don’t agree. If Walmart said they will no longer carry HD-DVD… well, that would be the nail in the coffin, but Blockbuster just made a poor business decision, and people declare the end of the war. This simply is a business decision.
Why did Blockbuster go BluRay? More than any other reason, I’d have to go with Disney’s films. Blockbuster stores have many sections, and right next to new releases would be family when it comes to most rentals. When you consider the studios exclusive to BluRay, Disney, Sony, Fox, etc. While HD-DVD has Universal exclusively, you have to go where the content is.
While Warner is working on a dual disc format that features both versions on one disc, they have been unsuccessful in convincing me that I need to purchase their dual HD/standard DVD discs. I always felt that the secret to winning this battle would be to release dual discs so while someone is buying a new movie, they are receiving a HD-DVD and DVD version at the same time so that by the time they have a player, they already own the movies. Warner Bros. has jumped onto this concept, and released dual version discs, but for $10 more making their HD-DVD releases COST MORE than their BluRay version. What is the use in this?! Now it’s cheaper for HD-DVD buyers to buy the standard DVD of a film instead of the HD-DVD version. This is not acceptable, and is hurting the HD-DVD market. Blockbuster also knows this, and would never want to invest in a disc that is dual format for additional money when they can get the lessor expensive BluRay discs. Thank you Warner for your dedication to the market, yet poor business decision to raise prices above market acceptability.
As for the studios, Fox is willing to do what it takes to move their products. They discount their discs, and continue with unusually high quality releases. When you consider that the successful movies of the summer, Spider-man 3, and Pirates of the Caribbean 3 will be coming to BluRay exclusively you can again understand Blockbuster’s choice.
Am I happy about the choice? No, but given the fact that there is a war going on at the moment, we have to hold steady until the market decides. At least Xbox 360 owners who have purchased the HD-DVD player attachment know that they didn’t have to make the huge investment into one side or another, and if BluRay does win out, you can bet the Microsoft will quickly release a BluRay attachment for the 360 as well. With the Playstation 3, you have no other choices but BluRay, and Blockbuster knows that as well. Every PS3 game renter is a potential BluRay disc renter, whereas they don’t know for sure who has HD-DVD.
After comparing both formats, my enjoyment in presentation says firmly with HD-DVD while my appreciation of which technology is superior falls on BluRay.
The saddest part of this whole war is that to most people, standard DVD is crisp and clean enough, and they really don’t need a HD disc format at all.
Before DVD, low quality, fuzzy, and full-screen VHS ruled the world. People are just not ready to repurchase their collections over again in HD.
BluRay 1, HD-DVD 0 this round. Let’s see what’s in store next. Cheers!
“The bug of ‘Bug’ is that it has no bugs, and Lions Gate knew it.”
To some extent or another, we all realize that movie trailers can be misleading, and in recent years, pretty much give away an entire film. However, with William Friedkin’s “Bug” from Lions Gate (the king studio of most things horror nowadays), different boundries were crossed — the lowest of lows — complete deception in advertising.
We fools are game for just about anything Imax ever since watching the Imax film “Flyers” at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC 25 years ago in the first Imax theater in the world. There was nothing like having to turn my head back and forth, as a little tyke, to see everything in a breathtaking experience that was the closest thing to flying like a superhero I could imagine at the time. Since then, Imax films are a big business, bringing the company hundreds of millions of dollars per year as the novelty of the format has a clear, loyal audience (Warners’ “300″ set an attendance record at Imax theaters in its opening weekend in March.) So, without further adieu and if you haven’t heard by now, director Christopher Nolan has made an inventive decision to film four sequences of “The Dark Knight” with Imax cameras. The next installment of Warner Bros. Pictures’ Batman franchise, scheduled for a July 18, 2008, day-and-date theatrical release with Imax theaters. Will mixing up the formats be annoying or friggin’ cool?
To kick off the summer right and in the vein of lazy, voyeuristic moments we all cherish, the Fools bring you some more hand-picked virals that we feel are worthy of your precious, short attention span.
First official JOHN RAMBO (Rambo 4) teaser trailer - Rambo is Back! WARNING! GRAPHIC VIOLENCE!
A Fair(y) Use Tale - A must watch for anyone in any creative arts medium. If you don’t get it, send us an email.
We fools love a great deal… and I’ve had this set since it first came out, and I paid close to $200 for it. This new release features the thin cases instead of the full size cases that my box had. It takes up very little space on your shelf, and has over 1750 minutes of great British humour!
Here’s every episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, and the special “Monty Python Live!†2 disc set in one box for 50% off it’s normal price at A&E for this week only.
UPDATE: This deal has expired, however the price has only risen to $49.95 which is still an amazing deal. Follow the link above if you are still interested.
So, if you consider the price plus shipping for $.99, you get both films for $13.86 delivered (tax not calculated), then subtract the full price of the ticket (at least in California and New York) you get both movies for $3.36 delivered, and already have your ticket for Ocean’s Thirteen. (If you split $3.36 in half, you arrive at $1.68 each).
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