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Archive for the ‘DVD – Movies & TV’ Category
Saturday, December 3rd, 2011
It’s no secret that the big movie studios are unhappy with Netflix, Blockbuster, and Redbox. When you can rent a DVD for $1, why go to Walmart and buy the same movie for $15? In this economy, the answer is a no-brainer.
However, these services have also begun to cut into studios’ bottom lines. Recently, we have seen the introduction of 28-day rental windows to combat this problem. But now the rental services are changing their prices as well to better reflect the value of new movies–and Netflix’s recent pricing changes from late summer was only the beginning.
Blockbuster recently introduced a new program called Blockbuster Movie Combo, a new in-store subscription program. The program allows consumers to rent one DVD, Blu-Ray, or video game at a time in the store with the option to order another by mail each month. There are no due dates, and the charge is $7.49 for the first month and $14.99 per month afterwards.
Blockbuster Express and Redbox have also raised prices. Redbox has increased the price of a DVD rental to $1.20 (up from $1) and Blockbuster Express has made new releases $3 for the first night. (Blockbuster is not as affected by new-release delay windows as Netflix and Redbox, so it is often the only place to rent a new DVD on release day.)
Subsequently, the value of new DVDs has changed. The combination of windows and higher prices for new movies means that consumers will no longer make that $1 rental vs. $15 sale no-brainer decision on the release date. While these changes are definitely not consumer-friendly, they do help ensure that studios will continue to find a reason to produce movies on physical media. If it’s not cost-effective to produce DVDs, we will only see more bare-bones discs and fewer releases in years to come.
Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011
The staff at Timeless DVD wishes you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving! When you wake up from your tryptophan coma, here are our suggestions for five great Thanksgiving movies and TV shows to enjoy.
 1. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987)
Arguably the best Thanksgiving movie of all time. Steve Martin plays an upper-middle-class ad exec desperately trying to get from a business meeting in New York to his family in Chicago by Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, a pre-Thanksgiving snowstorm happens to be blanketing the Midwest, making travel a nightmare. This misfortune is compounded by Del Griffith (John Candy), a shower-curtain-ring salesman who decides to accompany Martin back to Chicago–a decision that leads to a series of misadventures involving the aforementioned planes, trains, and automobiles (plus a bus, pickup truck, and more). If you’re feeling stressed by your life and busy from your job, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles will help you focus on the things that are really important in life.
 2. Pieces of April (2003)
Before she was Mrs. Cruise, Katie Holmes starred in this indie flick about a quirky twentysomething who decides to host her family’s Thanksgiving in her small, dingy New York apartment. While April runs into one problem after another (including a nonfunctioning oven), her suburban family drives to the city, all the while questioning why they are headed toward a dinner that will be awkward and uncomfortable. In addition to Holmes, Patricia Clarkson stars as April’s mother, who is dealing with a cancer diagnosis (Clarkson arguably steals the show). Oliver Platt, Sean Hayes, and Derek Luke round out the cast. Over the past few years, Pieces of April has landed on many folks’ “favorite” lists. Interesting note:Â The film was shot in 16 days on digital video for $300,000.
 3. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)
Definitely catch this one in addition to your yearly Charlie Brown Christmas viewing! Charlie Brown gets roped into preparing a Thanksgiving dinner for his friends (through no fault of his own, natch). When the task becomes completely overwhelming, Snoopy and Woodstock are enlisted to help–and succeed in serving a meal comprised of toast, popcorn, and jellybeans at an outdoor picnic table. When complaints fill the air, it’s up to Linus to provide a lesson about the true meaning of Thanksgiving. As a bonus, the DVD also includes the Peanuts’ educational The Mayflower Voyages special, which was part of a series that cast the gang as participants in American history. (For another cartoon about the Pilgrims, try 1968′s The Mouse on the Mayflower, used only.)
 4. The Ice Storm (1997)
Ready for a Thanksgiving movie that lacks any cozy story of family togetherness? Then The Ice Storm is for you. Featuring an all-star cast, including Elijah Wood (before he was Frodo), Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and Katie Holmes (yep, she’s in this one too), this story of suburban Connecticut in 1973 is like a train wreck: you can’t take your eyes off it. The story centers around two upper-middle-class families during Thanksgiving weekend and their interactions with each other, from adolescent issues to adultery…and finally, to a tragedy. The Ice Storm may not be a “gather the family around the TV” movie for Thanksgiving night, but if you think your family is dysfunctional, this is the antidote.
 5. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
You might not automatically pair Woody Allen with Thanksgiving, but Hannah and Her Sisters is indeed centered around the holiday–and is one of Woody’s most popular movies. Mia Farrow plays Hannah, who is the stable mother figure to her emotional sister Lee (Barbara Hershey) and neurotic sister Holly (Dianne Wiest). When Hannah’s husband falls in love with Lee, all heck breaks loose among the siblings. Naturally, Allen himself, as well as New York City, figure prominently in the film, which is assisted by beautiful direction and cinematography. Hannah is both funny and moving, and a perfect flick to share with family. And the Thanksgiving connection? All the drama takes place during three consecutive Thanksgivings.
Oddly enough, Sigourney Weaver and Katie Holmes each appear in two of these movies! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, and we’ll see you back here next week.
Sunday, October 16th, 2011
It’s hard to believe that the DVD format will soon celebrate its 15th birthday. DVD has become so embedded in our culture that it’s difficult to remember a time when we relied solely on videotape. DVD even predates widespread consumer use of the Internet!
But DVD itself had a difficult birth. Few people know that DVD is actually the result of an old-school, VHS-v-Betamax-style format war. In the mid-1990s, every electronics company was working on a “video-on-CD” project. Toshiba, Matsushita, and Hitachi (supported by Warner Brothers) created the super density (SD) digital video CD, while Sony and Philips (supported by IBM, Apple, Microsoft, and HP) developed the MultiMedia CD. Both formats used MPEG-2 compression, as well as a five-inch CD-size disc. The differences were in the actual physical layering of the disc and other specific technologies.
Eventually, a group was convened by IBM to find a compromise. In August 1995, the DVD was born from the physical layering of the SD digital video CD and the modulation technologies of the MultiMedia CD. The DVD was officially born in 1997.
 But unfortunately, DVD wasn’t yet ready for prime time. Movie studios were wary of the copyright-infringement implications of the new technology. This led to the development of content scrambling system (CSS) protection, DVD regional encoding, and DVD player parental controls. In addition, studios were hesitant to commit to yet another video format. But eventually, all the major studios began releasing their movies on DVD, with Paramount, Fox, and Disney being the most reticent. The first DVD player, the Sony DVP-S7000, cost about $1,000, and prices began falling quickly.
And yet, the biggest drawback for DVDs was that they could not record. Consumers wanted to use DVDs for personal recording, just like they did with VHS tapes. Around 2000, the first recordable DVDs began to appear. But just like the beginning of DVD, a format war loomed. Pioneer, Apple, and Compaq developed the DVD-R disc, Philips and HP pushed the DVD+R variation, and Matsushita and Hitachi advocated the DVD-RAM disc. However, since the three variations shared many similarities, most manufacturers solved the problem by making their units compatible with most or all of the three types. Like regular DVD players, recorders started out expensive: Pioneer’s first DVD recorder was priced at $17,000! Luckily, DVD burners experienced the fastest price drop in history.
Even though DVD is inarguably in its twilight years, it is still an incredibly useful and prevalent format, both in the U.S. and worldwide.
Thursday, October 13th, 2011
If you’re old enough, you might have fond memories of browsing in your local video store. Maybe you even remember when stores carried VHS tapes rather than DVDs! (A very long time ago!)
I remember discovering an entire section called “Musicals” in a small Quakertown, PA video store. (The name escapes me…it was near Woolworth’s. Anyone?) Quakertown had a Blockbuster and West Coast Video too, but they didn’t have a Musicals section. At this store, I discovered everything from Kismet to Fame…movies I had never seen on TV. (Kismet is still one of those rarely-seen flicks, but the “Not Since Ninevah” number is fabulous, and it has the same stars as Kiss Me, Kate.)
 Video stores began soon after the VCR was invented. These stores rented out pre-recorded Hollywood movies so consumers could watch their favorite films at home at their convenience–as opposed to waiting for a movie to come on TV or back to theatres. For 15-20 years, video stores were the only game in town, and while Blockbuster was the main big name, most towns also had independent video stores that were operated by true film-loving aficionados.
Then came Netflix. And Comcast On Demand. And YouTube, Hulu, the iTunes Store, and every other download option. And slowly but surely, the video stores began to dry up. Is there really any reason to pay for a hard copy these days?
If you read this blog regularly, you already know the many reasons we believe physical media is still important. Luckily, independent video stores are not completely gone either. These stores provide amazing customer service, hard-to-find flicks, and an obsessive dedication to movies. They are a niche market, to be sure, but these store owners are dedicated to providing film fans with alternate choices from the pablum served up weekly at the multiplex. Moreover, Netflix’s recent subscriber loss suggests that consumers may be moving away from mail services in favor of kiosk and store rentals. So video stores aren’t dead yet!
Saturday, October 15 will serve as the inaugural celebration of Video Store Day! Video Store Day is intended to promote all the small, independent video stores that are hanging in there: stores staffed by real people who can provide personal service and recommendations. Video Store Day was started and planned by a group of real video store owners who spread their message via video industry periodicals and various entertainment groups. They plan to hold this international event on the third Saturday of October every year.
So on Saturday, take a trip to your local video store! Chat with the owner and search out a new, obscure movie on the racks that you’ve never heard of. Celebrate the rich history of home video, and give your vote of confidence to a local business owner!
For more information, visit www.videostoreday.com.
Sunday, October 2nd, 2011
It’s no secret that DVD is on the wane, at least for Hollywood and film releases. But is the delivery of movies and television over the Internet the only way to turn around the 40% decline in home entertainment revenue?
 According to the Los Angeles Times in a recent article, that is exactly what movie studios believe. Over the next few years, there will likely be an explosion of options in streaming video, including everything from web-connected TVs to movie-sharing tools on Facebook, as the studios try desperately to reverse their declining fortunes. As the LA Times puts it, streaming may cause the biggest shift in home entertainment since the launch of DVD in the late 1990s (over a decade ago!).
But while streaming movies is undoubtedly growing, revenue hasn’t even begun to compensate for the drop in DVD sales. Most analysts believe the main reason is that while many movies are available on DVD, far fewer are available for streaming. And customers simply aren’t used to paying for streaming; witness the recent outcry over the Netflix price hikes. Studios are delusional if they think that streaming a new movie will someday earn the same dollar amount as a DVD or Blu-Ray purchase.
Finally, when you compare the ease of DVD to streaming, there is an important contrast as well. DVD was adopted quickly because it was simple: purchase a DVD and play it in your DVD player. DVD was essentially a videotape in a CD shell–an easy concept for consumers to understand and buy. But streaming a movie can be incredibly complex, because there are simply too many confusing options, not to mention the question of how to get the movie from your computer to your den’s 40″ TV. And even if you get the movie downloaded, you’re usually limited to playing it on a single device, which is far less convenient than a disc that can be taken from the living room, to the computer, to the DVD player in the minivan.
The article also addresses the 28-day new release rental delay, as well as the new premium video-on-demand system, both of which we wrote about in a 2010 blog post. In short, some studios may begin imposing longer wait times for DVD rentals and streaming options for new movies, in an effort recoup slowing theater and DVD sales. (Disney, Paramount, and Sony still allow rentals the same day a film is released, and Sony also recently began making some new movies available for streaming purchase two weeks before the DVD release.)
Ultimately, the Hollywood studios want customers to begin using a cloud service, where you can access any movie or show you own from any digital device you have. It’s a great idea, but you are still limited by your Internet connectivity to access movies that you own. Personally, I vastly prefer having my favorite movies only dependent upon my DVD player.
At Timeless DVD, our main thoughts on this situation revolve around how the growth of streaming and the wane of DVD will impact home video transfer. It’s fine to download a movie that a million other people want to download as well. But what is the best and most convenient way to access the digital transfers of your home video tapes? For the foreseeable future, DVD will probably still be the best option for family home movies–but we’re keeping our eye on it.
Saturday, September 24th, 2011
The movie studios’ push of 3D as “the next big thing” hasn’t quite panned out the way they thought it would. First, there isn’t enough good, well-done content: for every awesome Avatar, there’s about five Clash of the Titans. Movies used to be trumpeted “in 3D!!!”; now a prominent “also in 2D” appears on movie ads and posters as well. Theatrical audiences are tired of paying higher prices, as well as wearing dopey glasses for an entire 2 1/2-hour length film. Add to that competing format confusion, a struggling economy, and even health warnings, and you might have a recipe for disaster.
 But Hollywood isn’t giving up yet. A week ago, Disney released its megahit The Lion King in 3D. The Lion King is a great movie–I remember when it first came out, and just being blown away by the opening “Circle of Life” sequence. But would anyone be interested in seeing a 17-year-old traditionally-animated movie in 3D? Even one that made $312 million during its original 1994 run?
Apparently, people were. The Lion King in 3D debuted with $8.8 million on its first day in release, and made $30.2 million total over its first weekend. (In fact, its weekend total was higher than what the other three newly-released movies made…combined.) Given this success, Disney obviously has high hopes for the movie’s debut on Blu-Ray 3D in October.
So can we expect to see more classic, high-profile movies in 3D as well? The Lion King is unique in that Disney was able to convert it for very low cost. For most movies, 3D conversion is an expensive, lengthy process, and studios would likely need a bigger promise of return for their investment. Plus, The Lion King made $1.5 billion in home video sales for Disney over the past 17 years; few other films can say the same. But it does show that when 3D is done right–for a great movie–audiences will come.
Wednesday, September 21st, 2011
Oh, Netflix. What headaches thou hast wrought.
I have been a member of Netflix since 2004. It’s been a great service, enabling me to plow through many TV shows and movies I wouldn’t have been able to afford to buy. My parents have likewise benefitted from their large library of British television titles (since for some unknown reason, BBC America hardly ever actually airs British TV anymore). The service was easy to use and the website was clean and simple, and the business became a classic example of how to give the public exactly what they wanted.
In August 2011, Netflix decided to split its DVD and streaming services into separate subscription plans. No biggie–this didn’t really affect me, since I never watched the streaming anyway, and you still could subscribe to both if you wanted. And since I’m on one of the higher “DVD-out” plans, my subscription price actually went down (unlike many other subscribers). So I was still cool with Netflix, although many subscribers who used both services (rightly) felt blindsided.
 But then things got worse. On September 18, Netflix announced that they were spinning off their DVD rental service into a new company called Qwikster. Holy cow…let’s just start with that name. The first thing I thought of was Nestle Quik (naturally, as a child of the ’80s). But the suffix also evokes unhelpful memories of the now-dead Napster and Friendster. The CEO claims that the name is supposed to emphasize quick delivery. But you could call quick delivery of any product “Qwikster”–and moreover, I would argue that this name shouldn’t be used in combination with the USPS at all.
More importantly, Netflix’s decision splits DVD and streaming into two separate companies. Customers must now subscribe to both–separately–and maintain two separate queues. No interaction whatsoever between the two. So basically, Netflix believes that their DVD and streaming customers are two separate groups of people, with no overlap–because otherwise, how would this make sense? Maybe their market research does bear this out…who knows. But it sure does make life much more difficult for the people who did rent DVDs and stream movies.
Plus, by choosing to use its well-known name “Netflix” for its streaming service, and a crappy new name for its DVD rentals, Netflix is obviously banking on streaming over physical media. Is streaming content likely the wave of the future? Absolutely. We are moving away from physical media and into cloud-based solutions. For popular content, there is no arguing this point.
However, streaming and downloading 100% of our entertainment content is not here yet. First, the broadband infrastructure in the United States is nowhere near the level it’s at in most of the world. As more businesses, such as Netflix, push streaming options, bandwidth usage is going to grow and grow–and eventually, someone is going to have to pay for it. In that light, Netflix’s August pricing decision to raise prices for customers who prefer streaming does make sense. But as we saw with the public outcry from that change, consumers might not be so apt to stream movies and TV if doing so costs as much as a DVD.
And there’s nothing wrong with still preferring DVDs and other physical media over ephemeral options. I personally prefer the assured quality of a disc over the network-dependent, stop-and-start nature of streaming. And I like having a disc physically present in my home to watch whenever I want. I don’t want to rely on a server “somewhere out there” to watch a favorite movie. Doing this makes me entirely dependent on that server, rather than my own equipment. And when you compare Blu-Ray to a streaming movie? There is just no comparison in terms of quality. Maybe someday there will be, when and if broadband infrastructure gets up to snuff. But not yet.
The bottom line is, Netflix is consigning its DVD rental customers–who deserve better–to a “lesser”, separate service, with a terrible name, which is clearly designed to be disposed of as soon as possible. Netflix’s decision probably makes sense to their CFO and shareholders. But from a PR and customer service standpoint, why would you want to annoy your customers even more–only a month after a huge price increase? It’s this decision that baffles me as a business owner. It seems as if Netflix believes they have a monopoly on both DVD and streaming, so they can do whatever they want–and that’s classic corporate arrogance and greed. Maximize profits at the expense of the consumer–even loyal customers like me.
Sunday, September 18th, 2011
It’s no secret that the United States Postal Service (born 1775) is in trouble. The USPS–which has been self-funded since 1971–has announced that it will likely go bankrupt this year. The two main problems: a federal mandate to pre-fund retirement benefits for its 70,000+ employees, and the general slowdown in regular mail service. Most of us now correspond via e-mail or pay bills online, and UPS and FedEx currently provide 85% of express mail and package delivery in the U.S. On September 6, the USPS proposed discontinuing Saturday service and laying off over 200,000 employees to help deal with the budget shortfall.
 One bright spot in the past few years for the USPS has been Netflix. Netflix is the postal service’s largest single customer, bringing in over $500 million annually. But Netflix is having issues of its own: the much-publicized recent price changes resulted in a significant subscriber loss, as well as more subscribers ordering streaming videos than renting hard-copy DVDs. And if the USPS cuts its hours or Saturday delivery, that could have a major impact on Netflix’s existing DVD customers.
While Netflix is seeing more customers ordering streaming content, another reason for the DVD rental and subscriber decline might be that some users are turning to kiosks or video stores for their movies. Some analysts believe that Netflix’s price increase, as well as clear focus on streaming (which doesn’t suit everyone), could be driving some disc fans toward local solutions. Kiosks, such as Redbox and Blockbuster Express, aren’t affected by the USPS, either in terms of shipping time or potential delivery changes.
It doesn’t help that the movie industry is not fond of rental services. DVD rentals bring in far less revenue than DVD purchases–and there aren’t even enough of those these days. Hopefully DVD rentals do not disappear altogether; they do provide an important “try before you buy” option for consumers (and many customers DO purchase movies after they’ve rented them first). And without rentals, many small, indie, or art-house movies would never be seen at all.
The bottom line is that DVD and Blu-Ray disc rentals are not growing for Netflix. There is a set and significant group of customers that order discs, but the growth is largely in streaming content. Netflix knows this. So as long as the company realizes that the tradeoff will likely include ceding disc customers to local services, it can continue to grow as a company by focusing on streaming–whether the USPS goes bankrupt or not.
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
What is MOD? “Manufacturing on Demand”, a.k.a. “MOD,” is the new way that studios are releasing many DVDs. If a movie is available as MOD on Amazon, you place an order for it, and THEN the studio creates the disc and the packaging. It’s a similar process to the book industry’s popular “print on demand” program.
 As an example, let’s look at 1987′s Made In Heaven, a longtime favorite flick of Timeless DVD’s owner. This movie finally became available on DVD in summer 2010–via MOD. The Amazon page for Made in Heaven says this: “DVD-R Note: This product is manufactured on demand when ordered from Amazon.com.” The accompanying informational link informs us that MOD:
. . . enables Amazon.com to offer music and video content that might not otherwise be available. Each disc comes fully packaged, with artwork, in a standard jewel case for audio and an Amaray case for video. . . . All products are manufactured from original source materials. . . . By eliminating inventory, waste, and inefficiencies in the distribution system, on-demand manufacturing provides the added benefit of helping preserve the environment.
That’s all well and good and it summarizes the MOD idea very well. But Made in Heaven‘s customer comments are full of complaints. “Even though it was packaged as brand new, the DVD-R version of this film was unwatchable, it jumped and skipped and was overall of very poor quality,” wrote one reviewer. Another says: “When did studios decide to go the cheap route and sell bootleg DVD-R’s of their own films to die hard film fans?!?!?!” Many complained that Amazon had a lot of nerve selling a DVD-R for $24 (a sentiment with which I agree 100%). But while some complaints about MOD are legitimate, there is a certain perspective that needs to be considered when analyzing the benefits and drawbacks.
First, like it or not, MOD is here to stay. The golden age of DVD is over, at least where commercial films are concerned. The major movie studios’ home video divisions have all suffered serious cutbacks over the past few years, and professionally-released DVDs cost money to produce, whether they include extra features or not. It costs money to encode DVDs, design DVDs, and manufacture DVDs. And distribution avenues are another growing headache: Circuit City’s vanished, Tower Records is gone, and Virgin has evaporated. The remaining stores have cut back on their stock, mainly because demand has significantly decreased (with the rise of Netflix, On-Demand, and the internet), but also because now they have to make room for Blu-Ray discs too.
Just take a look at your local Best Buy; where once the DVDs were front and center, they have now been shunted over to the side of the store, the same place the CDs were relegated to years ago. And while Blu-Ray is still growing, it’s likely that we are actually moving from physical product to digital download. There are still many great films and TV shows that have NEVER been released on DVD, even though DVD has been the most successful home video format for the past 15 years. Even a classic flick like The African Queen didn’t get a DVD release until 2010!
Therefore, there are many movies–such as Made in Heaven–that we should be glad were even released at all. Luckily–despite what some Amazon reviewers say–many of the MOD discs I have looked at have been perfectly fine in terms of quality. Some are better than others but many actually look better than some “professionally-released” DVDs I own. (Take a look at the quality on My Blue Heaven and Daddy’s Little Dividend, for example, for some absolutely terrible “professional” DVD releases.) If MOD is the only way we can see these flicks and own them so we can watch them anytime, then MOD is simply a necessary evil.
Saturday, November 20th, 2010
The World Wide Web and DVD might seem to have nothing to do with each other…except when you consider the fact that both technologies became very popular around the same time: the late 1990s. And in fact, the Internet had a lot to do with why the DVD format became the fastest-adopted technology ever.
Before the Internet, it was hard to get your opinion out there, unless you printed your own ‘zine or newsletter. But by the late 1990s–right around the time DVDs were first released–it was becoming easier and easier to start your own website. (This webmaster used Adobe PageMill to create her first website in 1998!) And several early adopters of DVD did just that, starting such sites as the DVD Resource Page, the Digital Bits, the DVD Journal, and DVDFile.
These websites offered far more than just movie reviews. They reviewed DVD releases in depth, offering information about picture quality, special features, and overall value, thus providing a valuable resource that kept customers informed and the studios honest. These websites were updated multiple times each day, so the information never got stale.
Thanks to these sites, studios were forced to re-release DVDs that were criticized for noisy conversions or lackluster extras. For better or for worse, the high standards set by these websites contributed to some movies not being released for many years (including such titles as King Kong and The African Queen). They also managed to take down stupid consumer-unfriendly technologies such as Circuit City’s DIVX.
As a result, the format was strengthened and became consumer-proof. After a year or two, the general public understood that DVDs were, frankly, awesome. There was no argument not to switch from VHS, no well-known drawbacks that people kept hearing about. DVDs offered pristine video quality, widescreen viewing (often for the first time for many movies), a user-friendly menu structure, and a virtually indestructible CD-like disc with no moving parts to break. It was a logical purchase for just about everyone–especially as DVD and player prices dropped further and further down.
So did the web affect DVD? You bet, and we have these vanguard websites to thank for its success. Some of the aforementioned websites are still in operation today, and we encourage you to visit them for DVD and Blu-Ray news.
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/
http://www.dvdfile.com/
http://www.dvdtalk.com/
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