Before discussing what arrives on DVD this week, I want to write a few words about the status of the format war. Contrary to what some people are claiming, it is not over. Admittedly, Toshiba's decision to abandon HD-DVD has left the format on life ...
Now that the WGA strike is over, I feel remiss that I haven't even hummed a few bars of the "Hallelujah" chorus. The fact is, though, that the writers could have stayed on strike for another six months and it wouldn't have bothered me. In fact, I ...
Three topics dominated the mailbag this week: site redesign, advertising versus donations, and HD-DVD. I'm also amassing a nice collection of hate mail, some of which I plan to share in the near future. The irregular "hate mail" features of this ...
Jumper isn't the worst movie being released this weekend but it's not the best, either. That won't prevent it from taking the crown as Box Office Champion. This is the kind of movies that will attract teenage boys like flies to manure. The fact ...
When it comes to genre films, a certain amount of formula isn't a bad thing. Such is the case with the romantic comedy, where plot has always taken a back seat to two more important characteristics: chemistry and character likeability. For a ...
Every war, regardless of its nature, is comprised of a series of battles. Yesterday, HD-DVD lost two big ones. Early in the day, Netflix announced that it would no longer support HD-DVD. To salt the wound, Best Buy indicated later in the day that ...
Just about everyone I know adores Juno. They don't all think it should win Best Picture, but they agree it's one of the most enjoyable movie experiences out there. All except one. He believes it's overrated and the more accolades it gets, the more ...
Has the writer's strike actually ended, or are those just rumors flying around Hollywood? Tentative agreements are such fragile things; let's get an actual settlement before rejoicing, if that's what we're supposed to do. Actually, I was hoping the...
Why, people are asking, did I see a movie starring Paris Hilton? The answer to that one is easy: I enjoyed her performance so much in her previous starring role that I was hoping for something of a similar nature. The Hottie & the Nottie won't be ...
Thus far, most of the talk about high-def has related to the format war. It's well known that the studios are investing a lot of hope on the success of the Blu-Ray and/or HD-DVD market. Standard DVD sales are lagging badly, primarily because nearly...
There's not much on the format war front this week except for an observation. As I prepared this column, I noted the placement of Blu-Ray titles versus HD-DVD titles relative to each other on Amazon's Top 50 list. Blu Ray discs are consistently ...
The following applies specifically to the MPAA and the computer game industry, but it wouldn't take much imagination to extend it to the RIAA as well...If we're going to face reality, which is something the MPAA religiously fails to do, it's ...
This is a new regular (or semi-regular) feature for ReelThoughts that's intended to provide some weekend content as well as more interaction with readers. The idea behind "Short Clips" is for me to reply and react (in general) terms to e-mails from ...
According to sources, the box office this January is up 18% over last January. No doubt, this makes the Suits in Hollywood very happy. Unfortunately, I suspect they may not be divining the right message from the increased dollar amounts. Their ...
What do Charlotte Ross and Billie Piper have in common (aside from both being attractive blond actresses)? Both have shown their butts on TV. But oh how different the reactions have been...Piper, the teen pop starlet-turned-Dr. Who companion-turned...
If it's a Wednesday (my normal weekday blog entry day off), this ReelThoughts must have something to do with site processes or something of minimal general interest to movie-lovers. I don't like to "waste" my regular valuable columns for this less ...
When it comes to DVD releases, this is yet another week when high-profile TV series trump high-profile movies, but that's not to say there aren't a lot of new theatrical titles available. In fact, this is the first week of the new year in which ...