Since the end of the year is typically a pretty quiet DVD News time, I thought I'd do a special Year End Issue of the DVD Talk Newsletter and merge it this week with my Our Week in DVDs & Movies Column.
Before we get to the year-end wrap up, I want to thank all the people who help make DVD Talk one of the best DVD sites. Thanks to all our Administrators and Moderators in the DVD Talk Forum (you know them best as: Blade, RandyC, Todd B, X, Justin S, Dead, Namja, heimerSWT, Justin S, stevevt, Mao, Jonanthan.e, benedict, sfsdfd, pilot and Blake).
Also a special thanks to our columnists Glenn Erickson (DVD Savant) and G. Noel Gross (Cineschlock-O-Rama), and our reviewers Aaron Beierle , Brian R. Boisvert, Jason Bovberg, Phillip Duncan, Chris Hughes, Gil Jawetz, Matt Langdon, Holly Ordway John Wallis, Adam Tyner, Earl Cressey and Loren Halek. A Super Huge Thanks to Adam Tyner, the author of our new and improved DVD Talk Review Database!!!
Most importantly, I want to thank you, our DVD Talk Members, who really help make DVD Talk what it is.
| Movies That Didn't Make The Top 10 List But You Should Check Out |
I always hate making my annual Top 10 DVD List. There are so many reasons to both add and remove DVDs from a top 10 list, I am almost never satisfied with the end result. This year is no different, as there were some notable movies and DVDs which didn't make the list, but are very worthy of mentioning.
Odds are in 2001 you may have missed Wonder Boys. Actually it's a movie that Paramount admitted it messed up marketing the first time around and actually gave it a very rare second theatrical release. If, like me, you missed it both times in the theater, then you should definitely check it out on DVD. Wonder Boys is one of those unique movies that gets better and better after repeated viewings (like Rushmore). Unlike Curtis Hansen's L.A. Confidential, Wonder Boys isn't riddled with extras and its lack of special features and abundance of missed opportunities kept Wonder Boys off my top 10 list, but it is a movie to seek out. Although the DVD is light on special features, one of the most interesting special features is a section where Curtis Hansen talks about the relationship between the music and what happens in the film. Curtis Hansen is such a good director that I would have liked to have seen even more of him making this film.
Another movie that I saw for the first time on DVD was O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Like Wonder Boys , O Brother, Where Art Thou? is one of those films which gets better with repeated viewings. In addition to the movie, I really enjoyed the behind the scenes look at how the Coen Brothers digitally colorized the film to give O Brother, Where Art Thou? its unique look. What kept this amazing movie off the top 10 list? It's one of those DVDs that should have had more. A longer, more extensive making of would have made this a stellar DVD, instead of just leaving you wanting more.
Another film that I loved on DVD is Zhang Yi-Mou's The Road Home, one of the most profoundly beautiful love stories I've seen in recent years. I had the good fortune to see it at the Sundance Film Festival, and I don't think there was a dry eye in the house after this movie. I am a big fan of Zhang Yi-Mou who also directed Raise The Red Lantern, Story of Qiu Ju, Not One Less and To Live, and I think he will ultimately be considered one of the 'great directors of our time'. The Road Home is simply amazing, and a film I can't recommend highly enough.
Memento was another film I was lucky to catch at the Sundance Film Festival, and another film that bears repeated viewings. Memento is an extremely well done movie, with a brilliantly crafted narrative structure, but the DVD is the land of missed opportunities. I still scratch my head at the fact that Columbia Tri-Star neglected to include the ability to restructure the film chronologically (something they did for director Christopher Nolan's earlier film, Following) or why they didn't include a special feature that helped you 'decode' some of the mysteries of the film (which was done masterfully for The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable). Sure, a Christopher Nolan commentary may have 'spoiled' some of the mystery and ruined some of the mystique, but Memento, like O Brother, Where Art Thou?, flirts with greatness, but falls shy for such fixable reasons.
I can't say that 2001 had the best ratio of 'great' films to 'not so great films'; I found myself watching a lot of very bad movies. Maybe that's why I was so bowled over by Girlfight, a very 'real' and honest film that simply worked from beginning to end. Michelle Rodriguez gives one of the most solid acting performances I've seen this year (legions beyond what she does in 3AM or The Fast And The Furious). If you're looking for a good solid Drama and you missed Girlfight, be sure to back track and pick this one up!
2001 saw the release of a lot of great television on DVD including: The Simpsons, The Sopranos 2, Sex and the City 2, The X-Files 4 (and more). But one of the TV Shows on DVD which could easily be missed (but shouldn't) was Ultraviolet , an ultra hip vampire mini-series from the BBC, which lived somewhere between Buffy and The X-Files. The Ultraviolet DVD didn't break any ground, but it was a prime example of how DVD can provide an opportunity to see something you may never would have had the chance to see on TV!
I'm sure The Matrix Revisited was supposed to kick off the hype for the next installment of The Matrix trilogy, but with Matrix: Reloaded pushed back by a year, The Matrix Revisited ended up being kind of an oddly timed release. This is unfortunate because it was probably missed by a lot of people who would really enjoy it. I've been a big fan of The Matrix since I first saw it in the theaters, and I found The Matrix Revisited to be an extremely entertaining and enlightening look into the making of the film. So many 'making of' documentaries are quickly assembled between a film's theatrical release and the DVD release, but The Matrix Revisited had some great perspective on The Matrix, something only a little time and distance could have provided.
| DVD-Audio: What The Heck Happened? |
One of the things that really perplexes me is how poorly DVD-Audio did in 2001. In January of 2001 I had the opportunity to listen to the first wave of DVD-Audio titles at CES. The fidelity was simply amazing. After seeing all the DVD-Player manufacturers' plans to support DVD-A, I thought for sure by the end of 2001 we'd be seeing a strong showing. But in 2001 the studios didn't throw their full support behind DVD-A. I found myself spending hours on end trying to even get DVD-A's to review, only to find they weren't really being included in many studios PR plans. Luckily, prolific DVD Talk Reviewer Aaron Beierle got his hands on a number of titles and covered 48 DVD Audio Releases. But as a example of the state of affairs in DVD-A, only one got DVD Talk's highest rating.
The problem with DVD-A is the studios' myopic fear over the copying of their materials, so DVD-A requires customers to use multi-channel outputs rather than the standard digital output. This is more hassle than many customers will deal with and it helped keep DVD-A from really taking off, which is an absolute shame! If you love music, and you've never heard an 'album' mixed for 5.1, you're really missing out - it's something really amazing. With the current state of DVD-A, I think the near future of music is going to be well done DVD's like Jonatha Brooke's Steady Pull which have sharp, full and clear Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS mixes of music playable by most any player. With studios bitching about losing tons of money in 2001 due to internet swapping, they've really missed the boat and should wake up to the now over 25 million DVD Player owners in the US, many of which would gladly pay the $12-$18 for a fantastic 5.1 DVD.
| Two More Minutes on My Soap Box |
I promised that I wouldn't turn my year-end wrap-up into one long soap box speech, but there are a couple of issues raised in 2001 that I do feel need to be addressed. In 2000 DVD Talk helped educate Buena Vista about the importance of original language tracks on DVDs; as a result, they listened to us and changed their plans for Princess Mononoke, but seemed to have absolute amnesia in 2001 with many of their Asian Cinema releases having only a dubbed audio track including City on Fire and Legend of Drunken Master. To make matters worse, Buena Vista unleashed their lawyers on online stores selling legitimate imported DVDs which included the original language track, strong arming them into removing them from their sites. I'm perplexed and disappointed at Buena Vista, who will hopefully learn from the theatrical release of Iron Monkey in 2001 that people will pay good money for Asian Cinema and watch it in its original language. My wish for 2002 with Buena Vista is that they give it another go with Iron Monkey DVD and include the original track. Also, PLEASE RELEASE the Hayao Miyazaki films you own... He's a master of film making and his films should be seen!
The last issue I want to thump about here on my soapbox is Blockbuster and Hollywood Videos asinine move to not stock enough widescreen releases of key movies (like Willy Wonka Widescreen, Cats and Dogs Widescreen and even Jurassic Park 3). Since day one I've always believed that DVD watchers should have a choice, and support people's right to their opinion in the Full Frame v. Widescreen discussion. But since Blockbuster and Hollywood Video are near monolithic monopolies when it comes to rentals, I think it's their responsibility to ensure their customers get a choice. It's not like we're talking about a multi-million dollar investment here, just a few extra copies here and there. In 2002 we will continue to support DVD Fan choice and will continue to work with our Online DVD Rental partners to make sure that they are able to offer the choice when the big guys refuse to!
OK I'm off my box :)
| Best Theatrical Film of 2001 |
Getting back to some of the best of 2001... DVD Talk started doing some Theatrical Reviews and in 2002 we hope to do more. This provided us with a great opportunity to catch some truly exceptional films.
I'm sure some of you may have expected to see Lord of The Rings as our Best Film pick. Well, it isn't and I want to address that. I did enjoy Lord of The Rings, but in all truth it wasn't my favorite. I enjoyed the dazzling effects, and Ian McKellen was amazing. But, the film felt long, Elijah Wood wasn't strong enough to carry such a huge picture, and even though it is a trilogy, I felt they could have done more to enhance the significance of the end of the movie, maybe not giving us closure, but at least complete the character arc of Frodo. Give us something other than just a 'To Be Continued.....'
Of all the films I saw in 2001, my absolute favorite was Amelie. This is one of those films that reminded me why I love movies. It is so amazingly well crafted, with so much depth that it really makes some of the major studio 'oscar contenders' pale in comparison. Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (City of Lost Children, Alien Resurrection), Amelie is a profoundly beautiful film which focuses on the world we rarely stop to enjoy. Audrey Tautou, who plays Amelie, is magical on the screen; her on-screen presence reminded me a lot of a shy, smart Audrey Hepburn - talk about a classic. Amelie is a movie about being in love with life, and after all the dark stuff that has happened in our world this year, I am happy to pick a movie that reminds you how amazing and beautiful the world really is as my #1 Theatrical Film of 2001!
Any way you slice it, 2001 was an amazing year for DVD. Studios unlocked their vaults and let some of the great films out on DVD. Lucasfilm bowed to customer pressure and did a bang-up job on the first of what we hope is many Star Wars DVDs, Warner Bros. was a champ when it came to Citizen Kane, Disney hit it out of the park with Snow White, Dreamworks showed how a studio can deliver a high quality DVD time and time again, and Fox proved time and time again that they love DVD as much as we do.
With an abundance of DVD Players under $90 this holiday season, 2002 will see a whole new population of DVD Fans. Both video stores and retail stores will continue to shift their stock from VHS to DVD, and with major players like Walmart and Target throwing their support to DVD sales, we might not see that often rumored rental pricing.
In 2001 the dot com shakeup really separated the wheat from the chaff in terms of e-tailers and the shakeup does sense it means the end of the 'almost free' DVDs and the '$10 off $10' coupons, but we all knew that couldn't last. The good news is the etailers which have survived will continue in 2002 to thrive, and thriving means offering increasing value to their customers. Whether it's a high level of customer service, superior product availability, or great deals, in 2002 I'm betting you'll see online etailers working hard to earn your business. Part of this I'm sure will mean even more convergence between online stores and offline stores which means you'll be able to order online and pick it up down the street, or order online and return it to the offline store.
I'm very excited about DVD in 2002. In the almost 3 years of running DVD Talk, I don't think there's a more exciting time than where we are now. With over 25 million DVD Player owners out there, DVD has become a huge industry and that means a greater marketplace for good movies to find their way onto DVD. This holiday season, the DVDs that sold best were the Special Editions, so be sure that the studios will be working hard in 2002 to supersize their DVDs with more and more extra features. Thanks for being with us in 2001 and we hope you have a Happy and Healthy New Year.
Best Regards,
Geoffrey Kleinman
