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November 28, 2000

We have a couple of DVD movie reviews for you today.  First is Titan A.E. from 20th Century Fox, starring the voice talents of Matt Damon, Drew Barrymore, and Bill Pullman.  This is an eye-popping animated science fiction movie that tells about the survival of humanity after an alien species destroys our planet Earth.  The animation is stunningly beautiful and is definitely worth a look.  The sound effects are equally awesome and the soundtrack literally rocks.  All this is encoded in DTS Digital Surround sound.

 

Second, we have The Bounty from MGM (a 1984 re-make of Mutiny on the Bounty), starring Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson.  If you're looking for a good drama, action, or sea-going adventure, don't miss the boat on this one.  

 

Oh, and guessed what just surfaced?  We were able to confirm that the upcoming release of DreamWork's What Lies Beneath for January 30 will include a DTS 5.1 Digital Surround soundtrack (see our November 21 update for a complete list of DVD features).  Yeah, the play on words was intended.  Ha, ha.  

 

November 27, 2000

We hope all of our fellow American readers enjoyed a great Thanksgiving holiday.

 

We have a number of new title announcements on our Upcoming Releases page: Air Bud: World Pup (12/12), Reindeer Games: Exclusive Director's Cut (12/12), Love's Labour's Lost (12/19), Time Code (12/26, delayed from 10/10), Bossa Nova (12/26), Pete's Dragon (1/16/01, delayed from 12/5), Bait (1/23/01), Buddy (2/6/01), Bless The Child (2/13/01), Lady and the Tramp 2: Scamp's Adventure (2/20/01), The Evening Star (2/27/01), Alfie (2/27/01), Ordinary People (2/27/01), and Terms of Endearment (2/27/01).

 

A news article today mentions that the Gladiator DVD is the fastest-selling DVD title of all time.  In its first week of release (remember, it came out last Tuesday, November 21), it sold through to consumers more than 1.8 million copies.  Wow!  That's really gladiatorial awesome, considering that the best selling title to date, The Matrix, has just passed the three million copies milestone and the holiday shopping season is just getting underway.

 
November 21, 2000

We finished our mutation and completed our X-Men DVD review.  This is a cool action-packed movie based on the comic book of the same name.  No, you don't have to know anything about the comic book to appreciate this movie.  Just come as you are, whether you're a human or a mutant.  If you're an action fan, you'll be pleased and will sure to enjoy the eye-popping visual special effects.

 

Next, we reviewed the 1967 classic Doctor Dolittle.  This is good, clean, wholesome entertainment for the entire family.  This movie won the Academy Awards^® for Best Special Effects and Best Song, not to mention nine other nominations including Best Picture.  Keep this title in mind this holiday season if you're looking for a movie that the entire family can enjoy.

 

In DVD movie news, DreamWorks will be releasing 
the mega-blockbuster What Lies Beneath as a 
special edition DVD on January 30.  This title will feature anamorphic widescreen in 2.35:1 aspect 
ratio, DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, director's audio
commentary, an "HBO First Look" featurette, still 
gallery, production notes, cast and crew bios, and 
a theatrical trailer.

 

We also added a number of other titles to our 
Upcoming Releases page: Creature Comforts  
(a short film from the director of Chicken Run, 11/28), Fort Apache, The Bronx (12/19), Juice (1/16/01), Death Wish (1/16/01), The Warriors (1/16/01), An Affair of Love (foreign, 1/23/01), The Five Senses (foreign, 1/23/01), Necessary Roughness (1/30/01), The Longest Yard (1/30/01), North Dallas Forty (1/30/01), Red Letters (1/30/01), and A Better Way To Die (2/6/01).

 

Finally, we would like to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving.  We would like to thank you for the support, input, and feedback you've given to us.  (For those of you outside of the United States, we celebrate Thanksgiving on November 23 this year.)

 

November 19, 2000

November 15, 2000

If you haven't bought a DVD player yet, be sure to read our newly revised DVD Player Buying Guide.  In addition to bringing it up to date, we added a lot of useful information, making it more comprehensive.  If you know of someone who is in the market for a DVD player this holiday shopping season, do them a favor and tell them about this site.  (Thanks!)

 

We've got some more upcoming DVD titles for you on our Upcoming Releases page: Kiss Me Guido (1/9/01), Oliver Stone Box Sets (either a 10-movie set or a 6-movie set) (1/16/01), Cutaway (1/23/01), and Jackie Chan Gift set (with Gorgeous, Who Am I, and Miracles) (1/30/01).  The 10-movie Oliver Stone set includes the following titles: Any Given Sunday: SE Director's Cut (a new 2-disc edition), JFK: SE Director's Cut, Heaven and Earth, Natural Born Killers, Talk Radio, Born on the Fourth of July, Wall Street, Nixon, U-Turn, and The Doors: Special Edition.  Right now, it is not clear which of the 10 titles, the 6-movie set will have.

 

We're busy hatching and wrestling up a couple of DVD movie reviews for you.  We'll give you a hint... both are from DreamWorks and are released next week.  So far, they look and sound really good!

 

November 14, 2000

Well, we just posted a couple of new DVD movie reviews.  Both of which deserves your attention.  First is Anna and the King, which is a re-make of the 1956 classic, The King and I.  The production of this film is one of a true sweeping epic.  The locations, the sets, and the costumes are spectacular!  Particularly notable is the 7.5-acre set that replicates the King's palace.  It is surely one of the largest sets ever built for a motion picture.  We recommend this title to fans of this classic true story as well as those uninitiated.

 

Next, we have DreamWorks' direct-to-DVD and home video release of Joseph: King of Dreams.  This film is loosely based on the story of Joseph from the book of Genesis, and is brought to you by the filmmakers of The Prince of Egypt.  The animation is high quality, reminiscent of animated theatrical releases.  DreamWorks certainly raised the bar for direct-to-DVD and home video releases.  We're glad that there is a studio out there that takes pride in such releases.  It's more than we can say for some recent direct-to-DVD and home video releases from another major animation studio.  A-hem.  Way to go DreamWorks!  We'd also like to note that The Prince of Egypt is re-released on November 7 with a DTS soundtrack.

 

Now onto some new DVD title announcements.  We just added the following DVD-Video titles to our Upcoming Releases page: Way of the Gun (1/2/01), Mr. Accident (1/23/01), Glory: SE (re-released as a 2-disc Special Edition, 1/30/01), Solomon & Gaenor (foreign film, 1/30/01), If Lucy Fell (1/30/01), Baby Boom (2/6/01), The Emerald Forest (2/6/01), Death Warrant (2/6/01), and Double Impact (2/6/01).

 

In celebration of today's release of The Perfect Storm DVD, Warner Bros. is offering a donation of five cents to the American Red Cross for every promotional e-mail referral of this title's release, for a total contribution goal of $50,000.  Click here to tell your friends about the The Perfect Storm DVD and help the cause at the same time.

 

On the retailing front, there's also some interesting news.  It seems that this holiday season will be a great time to buy a DVD player.  According to this news article, electronics retailers are stumbling over each other to give you a great deal on a DVD player.  In fact, expect the prices for budget models to start as low as $79 to $89 after the Thanksgiving holiday.  Wow, it's hard to believe how fast prices have fallen on the low end of the market.  It's not just the retailers offering great deals, JVC has announced three "gift-with-purchase" DVD promotions.  The first promotion applies to any JVC DVD player model: buy any JVC DVD player and the Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me DVD (either together or separately), and choose two free DVD titles from a selection of ten titles. You pay $3 shipping and handling for each free title.  The other two offers only apply if you purchase their new DVD-Audio player, the JVC XV-D723GD.  For details, read the full press release, check out the JVC web site, or call JVC at (800) 774-1191.

 

That's it for today, we hope you're having a good week.  

 

November 9, 2000

First, we have some DVD hardware news: Sharp Electronics announced a new portable DVD player today, the Sharp DV-L80U.  It is the world's first portable DVD player with an 8-inch widescreen LCD display and comes in a sleek silver case, weighing only 2 pounds and 13 ounces with the battery.  Sharp claims that the rechargeable battery lasts about 3 1/2 hours (that's pretty good considering the size of the screen).  There is a built-in Dolby Digital and Dolby Pro-Logic decoder, and outputs a DTS bitstream via optical audio output (for an outboard decoder).  It is compatible with DVD-RW formatted titles and CDs.  While the large 8-inch 16:9 aspect ratio color LCD screen is a world's first for portable DVD players (current flagship portable DVD players feature 7-inch screens), the suggested retail price is equally large at $1,599.99.  This model is available now (just in time for the holidays).  Just think,  Santa will have something to watch his DVDs during his flight around the world this Christmas Eve.  After all, Rudolph is driving. Click on the picture above to see a larger image (and use the "back" button to return to this page).  For more information, read the full press release.

 

Next, in DVD movie news, we added the following titles to our Upcoming Releases page: Small Time Crooks (12/19), A Walk in the Clouds (1/9/01), Prelude To A Kiss (1/9/01), The Untouchables (1987) (1/16/01), Cecil B. Demented (1/23/01), Blue Sky (2/6/01), Navy Seals (2/6/01), and Mermaids (2/6/01).  Finally, No Way Back has been delayed a week, the new release date is November 28.
  

November 8, 2000

All right folks, hang in there.  Florida will complete its ballot recount soon enough.  In the mean time, you've got us and "time for DVD". (just trying to take the edge off)

 

Today, we have a review of the Love & Basketball DVD for you.  It's a nice sports-themed romantic drama.  If you're into sports, romance, or drama, this movie is definitely worth viewing.  We enjoyed it.  As a New Line Platinum Series™ DVD, it is jam-packed with bonus features.  New Line seems to be producing great DVDs as part of their Platinum Series™.  We continue to be impressed--keep up the great work New Line!

 

Now onto some upcoming DVD releases news.  We recently confirmed that Fox Home Video will be re-releasing Thin Red Line, The Last of the Mohicans, and X-Files: Fight The Future on January 23 with anamorphic widescreen transfers and both Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound formats.  Cool huh?  Both Dolby Digital and DTS on the same disk--that's in similar fashion to what DreamWorks did with its recent American Beauty release.  Also on January 23, a Special Edition of Dogma will be released.  And finally a rumor surfaced regarding a Die Hard trilogy box set for some time first quarter next year.  Check out these and other upcoming DVD titles on our  Upcoming Releases page.

 

November 7, 2000

Oh yes, today is Election Day.  Contrary to what your "friends" 
may have told you, everyone votes today (whether you're Republican, Democrat, or Independent).  So be sure to head 
to the polls today fellow Americans.  

 

Speaking of freedom, we have a review of the Running Free

DVD for you today.  Actually, Running Free is a heart-warming coming-of-age story about a colt in search of his lost mother and his quest for freedom to run free with nature.  This movie is uniquely told from the colt's perspective and features excellent performances from live animal actors.  The entire family and animal lovers are sure to enjoy this movie.  The Running Free DVD comes out next Tuesday, November 14.

 

Next, we have some interesting DVD news for you.  Although the X-Men DVD is slated for release on November 21.  Director Bryan Singer told the New York Post in this news article that Fox Home Entertainment has already committed to doing another version of the X-Men DVD.  The movie in this new version will be longer as it features two new scenes and the DVD will feature a number of new bonus material including at least a dozen outtakes.  Something to think about in case you were considering the purchase of the X-Men DVD version that streets in two weeks.  There's no word as to when the longer X-Men version will be released, but our guess is that it won't be this year and more likely late first quarter next year or second quarter.  We'll keep you posted as soon as we hear anything.

Editor's Postscript: Subsequent to this posting, we've heard from other sources that the longer DVD version of the X-Men DVD won't be coming anytime soon.  We suspect that it's not a good marketing practice to spread news that there will be a longer (and perhaps better) version of a DVD when you're trying to sell the current version that is just being released.  Oh well.

 

An interesting point that the article makes is that the studios and the directors are fighting less over what scenes have to be cut for the theatrical version, for whatever reason (e.g., run-time, MPAA rating).  The directors are now more willing to compromise, knowing that they can have it their way in the DVD release (i.e., as a "Director's Cut" DVD version).  That's pretty cool for us DVD fans.  

   

November 3, 2000

We've got another DVD movie review for you horror movie fans: Final Destination.  As a New Line Platinum Series™ DVD, it is jam-packed with extra material, including deleted scenes of an alternate ending.  If gory, heart-pounding, supernatural thriller is your thing, be sure to check out this title.

 

November 2, 2000

As promised, we have the Mission: Impossible 2 DVD movie review ready for you.  We think you're really going to like this one as much as we do.  Wow.  Tom Cruise did most of his own stunts!  That's just amazing.  And almost as amazing is the amount of extras that Paramount has packed into this M:I-2 DVD.  Be sure to check out our review of this awesome DVD, which comes out Tuesday, November 7.  Be quick about reading our review though, the review will self destruct in five seconds.  

 

Let's see, we've added some new DVD movie titles to our Upcoming Releases page: Jet Li's The Legend (1993) (12/12), Annie (1982) (12/12), Shanghai Triad (1995) (12/12), Crime and Punishment in Suburbia (1/2/01), Once Upon A Time In China 1 (1/9/01), and And Justice for All (1/16/01).

  

 

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Your comments and suggestions are always welcomed.  Please e-mail us at:

          Editor@TimeForDVD.com
 

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Read our Archives: December 2000, October 2000, 
                                      August - September 2000, 
                                      February - July 2000