By Peter M. Bracke

Paramount live chat transcript with HTF

The Home Theater Forum held another of their great live chats on Wednesday with Paramount spokesman, and the full transcript is no available. There were many questions asked on a wide variety of titles, though it looks like some of my favorites may still be a ways off. So check out the transcript to get a glimpse at some of what Paramount has in store for DVD...

Columbia sets two new November titles

Adding a couple of new titles to their ever-growing library of DVD releases, Columbia has set a 11/21 date for the classic His Girl Friday and the little-seen Russell Crowe thriller No Way Back (you know an actor is hot when they start releasing ever one of his little-seen films no matter how bad.) The former is presented in its original full frame aspect ratio with English and Spanish mono tracks, along with an audio commentary with film critic Todd McCarty, a still gallery with vintage advertising materials, and four featurettes: "Cary Grant: making Headlines," "The Inside Scoop: Rosalind Russell," "Reporter's Notebook: Howard Hawks," and "The Funny Pages." No Way Back includes anamorphic widescreen and full frame versions and English, French and Spanish 2.0 surround tracks. Retail for each is $24.95.

Fall music madness

A trio of new music title announcements just came in, and it is cool to see more and more of the DVD format's interactive capabilities being exploited by these music releases. On 10/10 from BMG come two rather different live concert discs, N'Sync: Live At Madison Square Garden, which is a rather straightforward presentation in full frame and 5.1, and the more progressive Underworld Live: Everything Everything. The latter features extra songs, a "program your own gig" feature, multi angles and audio tracks, outtakes, interactive games and other cool interactive video and DVD-ROM features. Retail for both is $24.95.

Finally, this one is a bit last minute, but next week on 9/12 sees the arrival of Supernatural Live: An Evening With Carlos Santana & Friends. The $24.95 disc includes the full-length concert, three previously unrecorded titles by Santana and 55 minutes exclusive to the DVD, including the original video clips of "Smooth," "Maria Maria," "Put Your Lights On" and "Corazon Espinado," behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage, interviews, a photo gallery, a featurette on the album, song lyrics and a discography. The disc is full frame, and with Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 tracks. Looks like a winner!

'Clerks' revived?

While the series may not have lasted very long on the air, Kevin Smith fans undoubtedly would love to get a second look at Clerks: The Animated Series. The View Askew web site has some direct postings on the plans for the show on DVD from Mr. Smith himself, and it looks like a early 2001 release is the hoped-for release date. There may even be some supplemental material, so check out the postings at the View Askew web site for more info.

September 7: Fox's next DTS titles; Leon and Spinal Tap recalls?; Warner does Dolby Digital EX

More Fox DTS titles on the way

With Fox officially throwing their hat into the DTS ring with the arrival of Titan A.E. in November, there has been much discussion, debate and high hopes for what catalog titles, if any, Fox would decide to release with DTS soundtracks. While I'm sure I can speak for many when I say that it would be nice to see DTS (and anamorphic) reissues of such action extravaganzas as True Lies, Strange Days or The X-Files, we've received word from DTS to expect only two Fox catalog titles this year, the rather intriguing choices of Courage Under Fire, which will also include an audio commentary with Director Edward Zwick, and a two-disc special edition of Romper Stomper. If any of you are unfamiliar with the latter, it is an acclaimed and often brutal examination Nazi youth, and stars a pre-mega stardom Russell Crowe. Perhaps this is an opportunity to cash in on his post-Gladiator success? At any rate, no street dates for these are yet known, other than to expect them in 2000. Also, a Die Hard Dolby Digital and DTS special edition (the first movie only, alas) is still on tap for early 2001, and will include a new anamorphic transfer and supplemental materials produced by David Prior of Fight Club fame. Watch for more details on these titles in the coming months...

By the way, we've received numerous emails wondering when oh when X-Men will be announced for DVD, and according to Fox PR as of this week, a release date hasn't even been decided upon, but most likely don't expect it in November, but probably December. Guess the wait will just have to continue for a while longer. Hey, patience is a virtue, right?

News on Spinal Tap and Leon recalls

A couple of updates on two titles that have encounter a few production problems recently. Just in the nick of time, MGM will be fixing a problem that appeared on preview copies of This Is Spinal Tap sent out to reviewers like us, namely that a print was used that didn't contain the subtitles that appear in various parts of the film (such as "Nigel Tufnel, Lead Guitar"). Since these are supposed to be "burned in" on the print (i.e., non-removable subtitles), it does disrupt the film, and MGM has issued an official announcement that consumer copies will fix this problem, and the disc is still on track for its 9/12 street date.

Another disc coming under fire recently is Columbia's new issue of Leon. Apparently, the surrounds are very weak compared to the front channels, and some retailers have already started issuing recall notices. Unfortunately, Columbia still hasn't replied to our inquires about just what the status of this disc is, but we'll certainly post any news when it comes in. So hang on to those results just in case...

Warner does EX

Buried a bit in the press release yesterday for Warner's upcoming special edition of The Perfect Storm is the significant news that it will be the studios first Dolby Digital Surround EX-encoded title. While the penetration of EX decoders is still most likely small, this is a significant step for this "upgrade" to 5.1, and should provide a nice sonic experience for those equipped to decode it. Note that EX soundtracks still work perfectly with 5.1 decoders, so no need to worry about compatibility problems with your existing equipment.

September 6: Perfect Storm specs arrive; Frequency details; Criterion goes DTS; 'Big Momma' in November

"You're headin' for the mouth of the monster!!!"

Ah, here it is, the full specs for Warner's The Perfect Storm DVD, one of the summer's biggest hits and sure to make quite the DVD extravaganza. Perhaps to avoid clashing with the 11/7 bow of Paramount's Mission Impossible 2, the date has been bumped a week to 11/14 after Columbia's announcement a couple week's back. Check out the press release for the full details, and watch for The Wolfgang Petersen Collection as well, which features The Perfect Storm DVD as well as Das Boot, In The Line Of Fire and Air Force One.

There's a Big Momma in da house

Looks like the next of the big summer releases has got a date for the DVD release as well, with Fox announcing to the trades and retailers a 11/28 bow for the surprise $100 million+ grosser Big Momma's House. Full details are not yet available, other than that it features a 1.85;1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, English 5.1 and English 2.0 and French 2.0 mixes, and will retail for $26.95 (thankfully lower than Fox's usual $34.95 day & date price tag.) Watch for more details soon.

Final specs for 'Frequency'

Already announced for a 10/31 street date, New Line has issued the full specs for Frequency, and it looks like another Platinum Series winner. The disc features an anamorphic widescreen transfer and English 5.1 and 2.0 surround mixes, along with audio commentaries with Director Gregory Hoblit and a second with Actors Dennis Quaid and John Caviezel, an isolated score in 5.1 with composer Michael Kamen's commentary, "The Science Behind Frequency" featurette, a science fact and trivia subtitle track running the entirety of the film, DVD-ROM features including the script, the full web site, a game demo and a Lord Of The Rings screensaver, and finally the theatrical trailer. Retail is $24.95.

Criterion issues their first DTS title

With more and more studios at least experimenting with DTS and adding a few titles to their roster, it was only a matter of time before Criterion dipped their toes in the water as well. The upcoming (and uncensored) Gimme Shelter disc will be Criterion's first DTS-encoded title, including a DTS 5.1 track and Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo mixes. The disc will also include some deleted scenes and outtakes of The Rolling Stones, which should be a real collectible for fans of the band. Street date is pending, and retail is $39.95.

September 1 through 5: New Oliver Stone news; Any Given Sunday woes?; Warner's first DVD-18; more Jurassic art

No major release news today, so here's lots of new and interesting tidbits on a variety of releases...

New Top Pick contest

A day late due to the holiday, time once again for this week's Top Pick contest. The choice is, perhaps predictably, Columbia's excellent new 2-disc Limited Edition of Men In Black. Chock full of features, I'm sure there are a few of you out there who would want a copy! Just click to enter and win, and good luck to all.

And congrats goes out to last week's winners, Kraig Floyd from Terre Haute, Indiana, who won a copy of Paramount's Braveheart, and the two winners of our Romeo Must Die contest, Peter Gross from Ft. Wayne, Indiana and Daniel Hughes from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Congrats to all!

More Oliver Stone news

Certainly, Oliver Stone fans have a lot to look forward to this holiday season, given all the planned Stone DVDs due out from the various studios. If you are one of the many newcomers to DVD (we've been getting lots of email from new readers, just another sign that DVD is going more and more mainstream I guess), an box set of many Oliver Stone releases is expected this fall from Warner, along with many other releases of his work from other studios.

Now, one Stone title from Artisan that many have asked about for eons has finally been announced. Previously available only in a movie-only version on DVD, The Doors will get the deluxe special edition treatment on 12/5, featuring what looks like all of the features from the acclaimed laserdisc box set. Extras include 43 minutes of deleted footage, an audio commentary by Stone, "The Road of Excess" documentary featuring more behind-the-scenes and original concert footage and interviews with the cast and crew, and finally production notes, cast bios and teasers and trailers. While the transfer is 2.35:1 widescreen, no details yet on whether it is anamorphic. Retail $34.95.

As for more Stone, aside from the already announced Talk Radio and Born On The Fourth Of July special editions due from Universal, Fox will be announcing the Wall Street DVD "very soon," and in a bit more frustrating news, we've learned that Warner will be issuing a new 2-disc set of Any Given Sunday before Christmas. In addition to the same cut featured on the current DVD released this past Friday, this new set will include an audio commentary and other goodies. Personally, I really hate when studios do this, because I don't think it is fair to announce a movie-only edition without alerting a consumers that a special edition in the works. Unfortunately, Warner still has no plans to announce the title for another 2 or 3 weeks, but it is coming. If you haven't bought the current version of Any Given Sunday (which will not be discontinued) but were planning to, you might want to hold off until the announcement of the new special edition, as well as the full Stone box set (which will also include a new, even longer cut of JFK and plenty of other surprises.)

More Any Given Sunday woes?

Speaking of Any Given Sunday, we've received a fair number of emails from readers complaining of problems playing the new disc. While consumers having difficulties with a disc or a player is nothing new, all of the emails we've gotten are regarding glitches on the same player, the Pioneer CDL-700. The reported problem in all cases is that the disc simply will not play. We're contacting Warner to see if they are aware of it, and of course we'll post anything if it comes in. In the meantime, if you own the CDL-700 and were thinking of picking up a copy of the disc, you may want to hold off and rent it first to make sure it will play in your player...

Warner goes DVD-18

In our last bit of Warner news for today, given all the excitement surrounding the planned May 2001 release of Superman on DVD, many expected that to be Warner's first DVD-18 (double-sided, dual-layer disc) release. But, late last week we received a copy of the oft-postponed A Star Is Born, and it turns out to be a DVD-18 as well. Given the films length (nearly three hours) and the supplements, I guess Warner just couldn't fit it all on a single dual-layer disc. So along with Artisan, it looks like Warner is the next major studio to go the DVD-18 route, instead of a two-disc set. Watch for a full review of the disc this week...

Welcome to Jurassic Art

With the first-ever DVD release of Jurassic Park and The Lost World nearing (hard to believe they are almost here, isn't it?), Universal has released a few more details on the Limited Edition set. The box includes the soundtrack CDs to both films and some more goodies including senitypes and lobby cards. They've put a picture up on their press site as you can see to your right, which illustrates all the cool stuff that will be included in the set. So if you were thinking about buying it, at least now you have some kind of visual indicator of what is actually in the thing. Click on the image to your right for a blow-up , and it looks like rather nice, don't you think? The set is due along with all the other versions on 10/10.