Not that it matters to 99.9% of you, but I have chosen my High Def format and… I went HD-DVD. I ordered my Toshiba HD-A35 and will be getting it next week.

So why did I finally decide on HD-DVD over Blu-ray?  (In no particular order)

1. Cost – HD-DVD is bringing their prices down much faster than Blu-ray.
2. Promotion – I got 10 free movies in addition to the excellent price.
3. Installed User Base – No matter how Sony tries to spin it, the people with HD-DVD players are purchasing more movies per player than Blu-ray.
4. Quality – Again, it’s a matter of spin, but the only MAJOR advantage Blu-ray has over HD-DVD is storage capacity, and when you get up to these numbers, does a person really need THAT many special features?  Otherwise they’re very close to being negligible.

Now that I’ve picked a side… expect a surge in Blu-ray sales.

I have come to the conclusion that if an older television series I like comes out on DVD, I am waiting until all the seasons are out and wait see what happens. The “Complete Series” box sets trick is quickly annoying me.

Let’s take Buffy, The Vampire Slayer as an example. Going through Amazon, seasons 1 – 7 will run $218.93, but if you waited for them to do the complete box set, you can have the entire series for $164.99. Amitadely I started buying the seasons while the show was still airing, but I still wasn’t too happy when the box set came out. You would have thought this taught me a lesson, but oh no.

There have been other instances, but the latest, and the one that taught me my lesson was The Addams Family. Buying sets 1 – 3 separately comes to $59.97, but if I had known there would be a complete series set coming, I wouldn’t have picked them up as they were released. Actually, that’s the burn, I had the first two, and then as the third came out, the set was announced.

So, my lesson has been learned, unless it is something I am trying to catch up on, such as 30 Rock, then I can wait it out and see if the box set is coming out, and hopefully save myself a couple of dollars… or… you know… I could just stop buying DVDs, but… that would make sense…

I have never been big on the whole concept of strikes. Maybe it’s because every one I have ever encountered, I didn’t fully grasp. The Writer’s Guild of America strike though I can relate to, and I have to say I would gladly stand with them.

As of this morning, screenwriters for TV and movies are on the picket line. It is all over money, but understandably so.

As it currently stands, the average writer makes $.04 on the sale of a DVD, they are asking for an increase to $.08. The shocking portion though isn’t the DVDs, it’s legal digital downloads. As it currently stands, writers are paid no royalties on the sale of downloads.

Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero.

The studios are refusing to budge on downloads, or they are asking for a “no residual” window that would kill the highest portion of download sales, leaving the writers with next to nothing.

I have always felt that writer’s get the shaft, and it’s about time they stood up to the studios. A writer in a good year, an exceptional year, will make around $200,000. Yes, that is most than more Americans, but when you compare it to what directors, actors, producers, studio heads and so on earn, it’s a pittance.

Hollywood has always seemed to not grasp, nor appreciate, how important to the process writers are. If it wasn’t for their concepts, their words, all of these all-star directors and actors would do a lot of standing around. All you have to do is look at any film’s poster to grasp the problem. Why does the director’s name go with the title? Take Transformers for instance. Why does it say “A Michael Bay film”? And I’m not picking on just Mr. Bay, this happens all the time, and it has always irked me.

But, I digress. It’s been 20 years since the writers went out on strike, and at that time it lasted for 5-months. In most cases you won’t notice it happening for a while, but as of tonight, all the nightly talk shows will be in repeats. Prime time shows are filmed months in advance, so those will be okay in to early next year, and film studios stockpiled scripts in anticipation.

This could be a long one as both sides are very set in their demands, and, like I said, I side with the writers. If the studio makes money from their work, then they deserve a cut. To think otherwise is just insane on the part of executives.

I got a chance to take a quick look around NBC’s new “private beta” site today, Hulu.com. This site has been causing quite the stir as it seems this is why NBC pulled their shows from iTunes, and if the current content is any indication, Fox won’t be far behind.

There are two types of videos on the site: Full length TV shows & movies and highlight clips.

I’m not sure what the strategy is here. There is an enormous amount of older shows on the site, most with thriving DVD sales, so you have to wonder why NBC would want to undercut their own sales. I can either buy season 1 of Arrested Development, or I can just go on Hulu and watch it.

Huh?

That’s not to mention there are some full length movies on there as well. Not that I really want to sit in front of my computer for two hours just to watch a movie, but the option is there.

I’m sure NBC has something up there sleeve with this, but what it is, I’m not quite sure yet. It’ll be great if you miss a recent episode though, or your DVR gets too full (as mine tends to do).

So, that post about Even More HD-DVD Temptation? Seems quantities were limited.

I thought about it all night, was going to order the HD-A20 today, and… deal was over for the Toshiba players. You could still get it on the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player, but I don’t want to go that route. So it appears I will be waiting for another similar offer to come along.

Oddly enough, the Sony Playstation 3, 60GB model deal is still on as of this writing.  Hmmmm.

The HD-DVD/Blu-ray war just got a bit more interesting over the Amazon way.

Right now, if you buy a Toshiba HD-A2, HD-A20 (pictured to the left), or an HD-XA2, not only do you get the free five mail-away movies they’ve been offering (which the choices are fairly lackluster, I will admit), Amazon will give you three movies instantly for free, and their selection is pretty nice.

But, where is the format war in all this you ask?

They have a similar deal running if you purchase a Sony Playstation 3, 60GB model. Get three movies instantly for free, and then you can mail in for five more.

Oh no, this doesn’t make this decision any harder at all!

The free instant movies last until September 23rd, the mail-aways are good until October 31st.

I know by now I have to be boring some of you, but please indulge me.

The following started off as a comment to Roy on this post, and I decided to expand upon it.

As much as I love Japan, it is an anomaly when it comes to technology. I can remember on my first trip over there in 2000 thinking to myself “Laser Disc was actually this popular here?!?” I loved my LD player, and I picked up a ton of discs, heck, it was the only place I could pick up Song of the South. They also embraced the mini-disc, which was never more than a whimper over here.

Honestly, I just want the war settled. I have an HD TV, I *want* HD content to watch on it, and I *know* the second I pick a format, whichever one it may be, the other one will win. Now that I have an Xbox 360, the temptation to go HD-DVD is far greater, I won’t lie.

The sad thing is, I remember the Betamax/VHS war, true, I was young, but I remember it. Beta WAS the superior format, but VHS won for whatever odd reason. Between the two new formats, I have heard very, VERY convincing arguments for one being better than the other, but from film aficionados/buffs, I tend to hear more favorable things towards HD-DVD.

The price point, as silly as it may be, will end up playing a major factor in the war, and HD-DVD is winning that side hands-down right now. The Toshiba player I am looking at is currently $238 on Amazon, the cheapest Blu-ray is $456. When Christmas rolls around, and it’s time to add an HD player to your new HD TV, people are going to look at that and go “Wow… well, I dropped a ton on the TV, I’ll go for the bargain player” without giving two thoughts which one may have the crisper blacks.

Sony has made some very critical strategical errors:
1) Pricing
2) The name is nonsensical (HD-DVD is pretty straight forward, what the hell is a “Blu-ray”? I’m speaking from a Joe Consumer point of view mind you)
3) Where porn goes, so goes the format

#3 is what ended up winning the Beta/VHS war, and now, the porn industry has chosen HD-DVD because it’s cheaper to produce. Initially they wanted Blu-ray, but Sony said “No thanks” as they didn’t want their name associated with it.

In short, the war isn’t over, I’m still not sure of my “side”, I know which way I’m leaning, but I’m taking my time to ponder it for a little while longer.

This helpful article lists Sony’s other failures:

Betamax
Memory Stick
Universal Media Disc (UMD)
Mini-Disc
Professional Disk for Data
HiFD
Super Audio CD

I truly feel that Sony’s biggest enemy is themselves. They end up with a successful product like say the Walkman or the Playstation, and they lose their damned minds again.  Blu-ray IS a solid product, but, the cheapest way for me to get into a format I am uncertain of is an overpriced gaming console?  Gee… thanks Sony.

And then articles like this one appear today where the executive vice president and chief technology officer for Paramount, Alan Bell, makes very valid points is to why HD-DVD is a more stable format than Blu-ray.  And as you can see from the above list, there are reason to be weary of Sony saying they have the new solution.

*sigh*

Can’t someone just settle this?  Is it really too much to ask?  I just want to make the leap to HD dammit!

Oh, this is too funny. Me thinks someone has heard from his corporate overlords and was told he was being an idiot.

Yesterday I mentioned how Michael Bay was all up in arms over Paramount going to HD-DVD only? He was proclaiming “…No Transformers 2 for me!” and how he was unahppy with the switch over.

Well, funny how things change:

Last night at dinner I was having dinner with three Blu-Ray owners, they were pissed about no Transformers Blu-Ray and I drank the kool aid hook line and sinker. So at 1:30 in the morning I posted – nothing good ever comes out of early am posts mind you – I over reacted. I heard where Paramount is coming from and the future of HD and players that will be close to the $200 mark which is the magic number. I like what I heard.

As a director, I’m all about people seeing films in the best quality possible, and I saw and heard firsthand people upset about a corporate decision.

So today I saw 300 on HD-DVD, it rocks!

So I think I might be back on to do Transformers 2!

Michael Bay

Oh, this is too funny. Me thinks someone has heard from his corporate overlords and was told he was being an idiot.

The only thing about this that saddens me is it brings him back to ruin another Transformers movie.

As some of you may have heard yesterday, Paramount and DreamWorks SKG have announced they will no longer be supporting Blu-Ray. While I wasn’t sure if this would push me one way or the other, when I heard via Roy that Michael Bay is upset by this, and may not direct Transformers 2 because of it… I immediately started shopping for an HD-DVD player.

I am down to either Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD Player or the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player. I am leaning towards the stand alone player because I don’t like one device being dependent on another.

Any one have any thoughts?

Well, I certainly didn’t expect to do two DVD posts in a row, but this is too exciting to me not to.

Twin Peaks has gotten more VHS/Laser Disc/DVD releases than I can count, and every version has been missing the USA version of the pilot episode and, instead, had the European version.

Why is this a problem?

Well, in Europe, the pilot was an encapsulated movie. It revealed “Bob” as the killer of Laura Palmer, but Bob was not from the Black Lodge and hadn’t taken over Leland Palmer. (if you consider any of this spoiler… I don’t care, it’s 17 years old)

So all these releases were awkward to say the least. You’d watch the pilot, get an answer, then watch a series that totally ignored the “answers” you’d gotten.

Well, then the problem became that as fans clamored for a proper release, it seemed that no one entity owned the rights to every aspect of the series. For some odd reason some people owned some of the footage and others owned other portions of it. It was all very odd.

Somehow all the rights have been sorted out, David Lynch has returned to work on this new DVD set, and a good portion of the cast has come back to talk about it. No price has been announced yet, but I could really care less, because I’ll be getting it no matter what. October 30th is the release date, but Amazon hasn’t added it for ordering yet, but as soon as they do I will put it on my Upcoming TV DVDs page.

Here’s the entire press release with features, be warned, it’s lengthy.

TWIN PEAKS(TM) THE DEFINITIVE GOLD BOX EDITION

Loaded with All-New Exclusive Special Features and Beloved Vintage Materials,
All 29 Newly Remastered Episodes, Plus Two Versions of the Original Pilot,
This 10-Disc Collection Debuts October 30, 2007

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – The highly-anticipated Definitive Gold Box Edition of the series that became one of television’s most acclaimed events finally arrives – with all 29 episodes plus both the original and European versions of the pilot – on October 30, 2007 from CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment. Considered both technically and artistically revolutionary when it debuted, TWIN PEAKS(TM) garnered 18 Emmy(R) nominations over the course of its two-season run with its cast of memorable characters, stunning cinematography and intriguing plot. Co-creators David Lynch and Mark Frost and a large number of the cast and crew have returned to participate in this extraordinary new collection.

“Finally the pilot is together with the series. The picture looks clean with good color correction. The sound is really good,” said David Lynch. “I think this is a great definitive Twin Peaks Gold Set – the Gold represents the highest quality. A lot of work has gone in to this, and in my opinion it has really paid off.”

“Working closely with David Lynch, I believe we’ve put together the ultimate Twin Peaks DVD box set with the most unique, interesting and comprehensive collection of content possible that will more than excite the ardent fan and engage new ones,” commented Ken Ross, Executive Vice President and General Manager, CBS Home Entertainment. “And we drank some damn good cups of coffee along the way.’”

This 10-disc set includes “Greetings from Twin Peaks” collectable postcards and a plethora of special features, including hours of newly-minted bonus content, featuring exclusive cast and crew interviews and rare footage never before released on DVD, produced by award-winning DVD producer Charles de Lauzirika (”Alien Quadrilogy,” “Spider-Man 2: Special Edition,” “Blade Runner: The Final Cut.”)

“Secrets from Another Place: Creating Twin Peaks” is a collection of four new documentaries exploring the origins, production and impact of the show. The cast and crew, including co-creator Mark Frost, composer Angelo Badalamenti, singer Julee Cruise, actors Kyle MacLachlan, Joan Chen, Piper Laurie, Ray Wise, Sheryl Lee, Kenneth Welsh, Maedchen Amick, Miguel Ferrer and many others share their memories of creating the show in this in-depth piece covering the sensational and tumultuous evolution of TWIN PEAKS in four parts: “Northwest Passage: Creating the Pilot,” “Freshly Squeezed: Creating Season One,” “Where We’re From: Creating the Music” and “Into the Night: Creating Season Two.” Co-creator and four-time Academy Award(R) nominee David Lynch, Kyle MacLachlan and Maedchen Amick take an amusing look back at the series in “A Slice of Lynch,” an all-new get-together of friends over piping hot coffee and sweet cherry pie. “Return to Twin Peaks” follows a group of devoted fans to the 2006 Twin Peaks Festival, where the show’s faithful have been regularly gathering for costume contests, celebrity sightings, trivia games and other wildness in the woods outside of Seattle. And an Interactive Map allows viewers to revisit the show’s unforgettable locations as they appear today…and how to find them in real life.

Thought to have been lost forever, a selection of deleted scenes has been unearthed for this collection and approved by David Lynch, offering viewers additional clues and background on some of their favorite characters and locations in the series.

The collection showcases the phenomenon that was TWIN PEAKS with such archival nuggets as the “Saturday Night Live” opening monologue and “Twin Peaks” sketch featuring Kyle MacLachlan, the “Falling” music video featuring Julee Cruise, the Richard Beymer behind-the-scenes photo gallery, original network promo spots and many more rare gems!

Newly remastered from the original negative and personally approved by David Lynch, the episodes have never looked better. Moreover, viewers will have the option of enjoying the episodes in either new 5.1 Surround Sound or the original 2.0 network television audio.

DVD

TWIN PEAKS The Definitive Gold Box Edition is a 10-disc collection presented in full screen with English 5.1 Stereo Surround and English 2.0 Stereo. The DVD is Not Rated in the U.S. and rated 14A in Canada. The total running time is 25 hours, 1 minute. The DVD disc breakdown is as follows:

Disc One:

I love the 1982 movie Blade Runner. I mean… I LOVE IT. It’s one of the first films I can remember making me sit up and take notice of the power of a well scripted, beautifully shot film. I was 10 when I saw it, and I just remember sitting in the old Kennedy theater in downtown Kirksville and thinking, “Wow… this… I want to do this… I want to create worlds.”

So, flash forward 25 years, and I’m not exactly creating worlds, but I get to talk about Blade Runner again, so all is good!

This poor movie has had more treatments done to it than I can count. In 1982 alone there were two versions: The USA Theatrical Cut, and the International Theatrical Cut.

Then, in 1992, it got a Director’s Cut that removed Harrison Ford’s narration through out the film. It seems Director Ridley Scott and Harrison never thrilled to the narration, feeling it dumbed down the movie too much. I loved it. It gave the movie a 1940’s Film Noir-esque feel that played so well, and you could see Humphrey Bogart easily stepping in to the roll of Rick Deckard.

With the 25th anniversary this year, Ridley Scott decided to revisit the film and give it what he is calling “The Final Cut”. As with all DVD releases nowadays, it will come in many flavors (descriptions from Amazon).

Blade Runner – The Final Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Disc One:
RIDLEY SCOTT’S ALL-NEW “FINAL CUT” VERSION OF THE FILM
Restored and remastered with added & extended scenes, added lines, new and cleaner special effects and all new 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio. Also includes:

-Commentary by Ridley Scott
-Commentary by executive producer/co-screenwriter Hampton Fancher and co-screenwriter David Peoples; producer Michael Deely and production executive Katherine Haber
-Commentary by visual futurist Syd Mead; production designer Lawrence G. Paull, art director David L. Snyder and special photographic effects supervisors Douglas Trumbull, Richard Yuricich and David Dryer

Disc Two:
DOCUMENTARY DANGEROUS DAYS: MAKING BLADE RUNNER
A feature-length authoritative documentary revealing all the elements that shaped this hugely influential cinema landmark. Cast, crew, critics and colleagues give a behind-the-scenes, in-depth look at the film — from its literary roots and inception through casting, production, visuals and special effects to its controversial legacy and place in Hollywood history.”

Blade Runner (Four-Disc Collector’s Edition)
Standard-definition Four-Disc Collector’s Edition widescreen DVD. From Warner: “The Four-Disc Collector’s Edition includes everything from the 2-Disc Special Edition plus three additional versions of the film, as well as an ‘Enhancement Archive’ bonus disc of enhanced content that includes 90 minutes of deleted footage and rare or never-before-seen items in featurettes and galleries that cover the film’s amazing history, production teams, special effects, impact on society, promotional trailers, TV spots, and much more.

Disc Three
1982 THEATRICAL VERSION
This is the version that introduced U.S. movie-going audiences to a revolutionary film with a new and excitingly provocative vision of the near-future. It contains Deckard/Harrison Ford’s character narration and has Deckard and Rachel’s (Sean Young) “happy ending” escape scene.

1982 INTERNATIONAL VERSION
Also used on U.S. home video, laserdisc and cable releases up to 1992. This version is not rated, and contains some extended action scenes in contrast to the Theatrical Version.

1992 DIRECTOR’S CUT
The Director’s Cut omits Deckard’s voiceover narration and removes the “happy ending” finale. It adds the famously-controversial “unicorn” sequence, a vision that Deckard has which suggests that he, too, may be a replicant.

Disc Four
BONUS DISC – “Enhancement Archive”: 90 minutes of deleted footage and rare or never-before-seen items in featurettes and galleries that cover the film’s amazing history, production teams, special effects, impact on society, promotional trailers, TV spots, and much more.

-Featurette The Electric Dreamer: Remembering Philip K. Dick
-Featurette Sacrificial Sheep: The Novel vs. The Film
-Philip K. Dick: The Blade Runner Interviews (Audio)
-Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Cover Gallery (Images)
-The Art of Blade Runner (Image Galleries)
-Featurette Signs of the Times: Graphic Design
-Featurette Fashion Forward: Wardrobe & Styling
-Screen Tests: Rachel & Pris
-Featurette The Light That Burns: Remembering Jordan Cronenweth
-Unit Photography Gallery
-Deleted & Alternate Scenes
-1982 Promotional Featurettes
-Trailers & TV Spots
-Featurette Promoting Dystopia: Rendering the Poster Art
-Marketing & Merchandise Gallery (Images)
-Featurette Deck-A-Rep: The True Nature of Rick Deckard
-Featurette Nexus Generation: Fans & Filmmakers”

Blade Runner (Five-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition)

Standard-definition five-disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition widescreen DVD. From Warner: “The 5-disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition includes everything from the previously described 4-Disc Edition, plus the ultra-rare, near-legendary WORKPRINT version of the film, newly remastered. The Ultimate Collector’s Edition will be presented in a unique 5-disc digi-package with handle which is a stylish version of Rick Deckard’s own briefcase, in addition each briefcase will be individually numbered and in limited supply. Included is a lenticular motion film clip from the original feature, miniature origami unicorn figurine, miniature replica spinner car, collector’s photographs as well as a signed personal letter from Sir Ridley Scott.

Disc Five
WORKPRINT VERSION
This rare version of the film is considered by some to be the most radically different of all the Blade Runner cuts. It includes an altered opening scene, no Deckard narration until the final scenes, no “unicorn” sequence, no Deckard/Rachel “happy ending,” altered lines between Batty (Rutger Hauer) and his creator Tyrell (Joe Turkell), alternate music and much more.

Also includes:

-Commentary by Paul M. Sammon, author of Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner
-Featurette All Our Variant Futures: From Workprint to Final Cut”

Here are the contents of the case:

Blade Runner (Five-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition) [Blu-ray] – No Briefcase

Blade Runner (Five-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition) [HD DVD] – With Briefcase

Blade Runner (Five-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition) [HD DVD] – No Briefcase

For now, I have ordered the Five-Disc standard def set, as I still refuse to pick a winner in the High Def format war.

Even if you don’t want to spring for the five-disc set (which, in standard def, is a bargain at a sub-$60 price on Amazon), treat yourself to the two-disc set. With retouched special-effects, at least one reshot chase scene (they brought in Joanna Cassidy to reshoot Zhora’s death due to a continuity mistake in her boots and you could see the wires to her blood squibs!), this is a heck of a treatment for a very deserving film.

I had no clue Dinner For Five was getting a complete DVD set until last night! Best.Birthday.Present.To.Myself.EVER!

If you aren’t familiar with this series, it aired for four seasons on IFC. The premise was simple: Jon Favreau would invite four people from various parts of the entertainment industry to have dinner, and it was filmed. While this sounds odd, it was the most brilliant “talk show” ever.

Everyone has had those dinner conversations where topics just naturally flow one in to the other , you open, you discuss things you might not in any other setting, this just happened to be caught by cameras. Never once did Iget the feeling anyone was overly aware of the cameras, they were just five people having amazing conversations about the things they loved, and sharing anecdotes you would never hear on late night talk shows. (Sarah Silverman and Rod Steiger discussing smoking pot comes to mind.)

If you look through the episode guide, you’ll see that some of the invited guests are people you would never imagine being in the same room together, but food is such a common bonding element, they would all seem like old friends by the end of the episode. The only time you could tell things didn’t go as planned was the numerous appearances of Faizon Love, a close friend of Favreau’s. He was hilarious, and I always enjoyed him, but you could also tell it was an “Oh crap, someone can’t make it… call Faizon!” moment.

Amazon is selling it for $41.99, and it contains 49 episodes. Seriously, I know this sounds like a very odd show, and it was, but if you love movies, if you love dinner with good friends, there is no DVD set more deserving of your money.