I’m heading off to Myrtle Beach for a long Labor Day weekend. It’s the second beach trip of the summer for me, but I like to think that it’s well deserved. Obviously, there won’t be any updates until Tuesday…but there are some good things coming soon.
I watched Hot Fuzz last night and was very entertained, and I’m working on a “Budget Home Theater Buyer’s Guide” for September.
Hope I don’t get eaten by any sharks!
If you’ve seen any Will Ferrell movie, you will know exactly what to expect. As much as I enjoy his take on comedy, he rarely varies his character…which ranges from silly-and-childish to stupid-and-childish. Such is the tale with Blades of Glory, although there are some good comedic moments from the other cast members.
Jon Heder (of Napoleon Dynamite fame) acts as the rival skater to Ferrell’s character. I thought his casting was a wise choice, as Heder’s form of comedy is sarcastically silly and much more subdued. The frequent exchanges between the two are some of the highlights of the movie.
The basic premise is this – the two rival skaters get involved in a fight that gets them kicked out of competition for life. A loophole in the rulebook states that they are only barred from singles competition, but not pairs. Ferrell and Heder’s characters team up as the first male pairs team and do battle with a brother/sister combo (Will Arnett and Amy Poehler) in the World Games. Throw in some sexual humor and a love interest, and that’s basically the movie.
The video and audio work well in the movie, and while neither one will be used to show off your home theater, they do their job. The picture is clean and the dialog is clear.
I typically won’t review the extras, as I rarely watch them, but comedies are a different case. There are plenty of extras on this disc and many of them are as funny or funnier than some of the scenes in the movie. The Gag Reel is present, albeit rather short for a movie where the cast goofed off so much.
The real highlights are the Alternate Takes that show just how great Ferrell can pull off the ad-lib performance. Many of his takes border on absolute stupidity, but you already know that if you’re a fan.
Recommendation - It’s worth viewing if you enjoyed Anchorman and Talladega Nights. Fans of “stupid” humor will be rolling on the floor.
In the tradition of my last post, Best Buy has some good deals on cheap DVDs this week. Some of the more exciting titles:
Reservoir Dogs
House of 1000 Corpses (Rob Zombie movie that was so creepy, I liked it)
Dirty Dancing (the girls like this one)
The Punisher
American Psycho
Van Wilder
Crash
Saw
Saw II
The Devil’s Rejects (sequel to the Rob Zombie movie above, also good)
Lord of War
Terminator 2 and Total Recall – Double Pack
They are also available online. Some good stuff to pick up for not so much money.
Okay, so the title was a little misleading, as I can’t say that I’ve completely written off buying DVDs just yet. However, I have set some stipulations that I may not have cared about in the past.
In the world of Netflix, Blockbuster Online and $4 rentals – cheap is king. I’m currently paying $18 a month to Blockbuster for 3 online rentals at a time, plus 5 in-store rentals, plus 2 other coupons that can be used for a movie or game. Considering that I sometimes go through 3 “mailing cycles” in a month, we’re talking about 15+ movies a month for that $18…or about $1.20/rental.
Now let’s compare that to the cost of buying a brand new movie. First, how many movies in your collection can you honestly say that you’ve watched multiple times? I know that probably half of my movies have been watched once and haven’t seen a DVD player since. The others have been seen 3-4 times at most. There are very few that I have even bothered watching the special features on. It’s kind of sad, really.
Assuming you bought the movie on the week it was released, you probably paid $15 or more. I personally would have to watch the movie 12 times just to get the same value out of it that I do from renting. With the quick turnarounds these days (and the in-store rentals), I can hardly justify buying anymore. Sure, it’s nice to have it on the shelf if you get spontaneous, but that rarely happens for me nowadays.
Secondly, the HD formats are already out and a new player will be on the horizon for many folks in the next 2-3 years. While upconverted DVDs don’t look bad, it’s hard to justify putting too much money into a format you may not be using in a few years. I have no doubt that DVD will be around for many years to come, but most geeks and home theater enthusiasts will have replaced their equipment long before it dies.
Like I mentioned, I don’t want to sound like I have completely written off buying DVDs, just that there are conditions now. If it’s a movie that I’m dying to see, but can’t find it to rent, I’ll drop the $15 – after all, it’s still cheaper than going to the theater. If I know that I’ll want to see the special features, or watch the movie multiple times, I’ll also buy. Finally – if I can find the movie for $5 in one of the bargain bins or pre-viewed movies at a rental store, I’ll sometimes buy.
This isn’t to say that my habits won’t change when one of the HD formats emerges, but I am happy with renting for now.
This site will be kicked off in the coming days – as I plan to review movies, provide home theater tips and offer opinions on recent announcements. I encourage anyone reading to include their comments on each post.
Please note that many of the posts here will be purely my opinion, and should be taken as such. I have been a heavy home theater enthusiast for several years, so I feel qualified enough to speak to many of the ideas and issues in the HT world.
If anyone has any suggestions, criticism or comments, let me know. I would like to keep this site updated with as much pertinent information as possible.
My Take on the Hi-Def Media Wars – 8/28/07
August 28, 2007This could almost be a weekly article, as often as the HD-DVD (HD) vs. Blu-Ray (BD) front seems to change. Recent developments in studio support have thrown another wrench into the machine.
Last week, Paramount/Dreamworks announced their departure from exclusive BD support and moved to full HD support. This is a significant move, simply because of the titles it brings the HD-DVD format. This summer’s biggest blockbuster, “Transformers”, will now only be available in a hi-def format as an HD-DVD disc.
The current studio support is basically split 50/50 right now:
HD-DVD:
Universal
NBC Studios
Paramount
Dreamworks
Weinstein Company
Blu-Ray:
Sony
Columbia
MGM
Walt Disney
Pixar
20th Century Fox
Lionsgate
Three studios technically support BOTH formats:
Warner Brothers
New Line
HBO
However, it should be noted that high profile Warner Brothers titles (The Matrix Trilogy, Batman Begins, etc.) have only been released on HD-DVD.
So what does this mean as a consumer? I would suggest to anyone interested in one of the hi-def formats to look through the list of titles available and see which format has more of the movies you want to see. Once you’ve made a preference, take a look at the players and see if you can justify the price.
The cheapest HD-DVD players right now are the $179 Xbox 360 addon (for those that already own a 360) or the Toshiba HD-A2, which can be found online for ~$220 with 8 free HD-DVDs (3 instant, 5 mail-in). If you consider the fact that the movies are worth $20 each, the player itself comes out to about $60.
The cheapest Blu-Ray player right now is the Sony BDP-S300 at ~$450 or the Playstation 3 at $480. Both are available with 3 movies, plus 5 free movies via mail-in offer. Again, considering these movies are worth $20 each, it brings the cost of the players to $290 and $320 respectively. If you are also in the market for a new gaming system, the PS3 becomes a good deal for an all-around device.
The HD-DVD players have also been heralded as excellent DVD upconverting players (take standard DVDs and present them in a hi-def resolution). While the picture quality is not up to par with the HD formats, many folks have claimed it was much better than their standard DVD players.
I also believe that HD-DVD will be the first to drop below $200 and become a mainstream item. In the end, it won’t be the videophiles that pick the format, it will be Joe Six Pack at the local Walmart.
For these reasons, I would wholeheartedly recommend a HD-DVD player if you are in the market for a hi-def format right now. Even if the format happens to fall to Blu-Ray in a few years, you will have gotten excellent use out of it in the meantime and it will still work great as a DVD player. With the offer that Amazon currently has running, it’s hard to beat the HD-A2 and 8 movies for $220.
All that said, the DVD format is (and will be) very much alive. While they don’t have the clarity or fidelity of the new formats, they are still respective in the quality and feature department. After all, the move from DVD to HD will not be as significant as the move from VHS (analog) to DVD (digital)…especially with the features. Many folks will hold out on the next generation simply because, “why would I buy a $25 disc when I can buy this $15 disc?” Until more of the U.S. adopts HDTVs, people can’t see the difference anyway.
Honestly, I like the HD formats…and I’m strongly leaning toward supporting one before the year ends. My dilemma is much like the one I mentioned above – I watch movies on an enhanced definition (848×480) projector and would need to upgrade to a fully functional 720p device to benefit. Obviously, this adds another cost into the equation that I’m not prepared to pay right now.
With news dropping left and right from both sides, it’s still a very volatile market right now. The right studios switching sides at the right time could be enough to put one format over the edge. The same goes for the “neutral” studios of Warner and New Line – either of these turning format-exclusive would be a strong statement.
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