Home Media Magazine - February 24, 2008 - (Page 18) COMMENTARY www.homemediamagazine.com THE BUZZ BY ERIK GRUENWEDEL, SENIOR EDITOR Searching for a Serial Killer R eportedly there are about 50 documented serial killers on the loose in the United States, according to the FBI. I was just looking for one. And he wasn’t even real. My girlfriend, who abhors gratuitous violence in films, surprisingly asked me about “Dexter,” the critically acclaimed Showtime cable series with Michael C. Hall (“Six Feet Under”) as an eccentric police blood pathologist who moonlights by slicing and dicing the dregs of Miami. She’d heard it was good and wondered if I had the first season on DVD at the office. It’s been out since August from Paramount but I couldn’t find a copy. And since I don’t get Showtime, recording it was not an option. I know CBS is airing edited episodes of “Dexter.” But that’s like watching soft-core porn or pouring water on my Wheaties. But watching buffered video about a serial killer (no WATCHING BUFFERED VIDEO ABOUT A SERIAL KILLER (NO MATTER HOW CHARMING) ON A PC matter how charming) on a PC window didn’t appeal to my girlfriend or me. A previous attempt with an WINDOW DIDN’T APPEAL TO MY GIRLFRIEND OR ME. A PREVIOUS ATTEMPT WITH AN EPISODE episode of “The Closer” had mixed results. Unless a video file can be viewed on a TV screen, OF “THE CLOSER” HAD MIXED RESULTS. So I asked around the office with little luck. John Latchem, our TV DVD guy and movie reviewer, said he might have a copy. Getting it from him or anyone else in the office is often problematic. Some of my colleagues covet DVDs as much as little girls do Barbie. DVDs at the office are like currency. Asking for a disc is akin to asking his or her salary. You don’t go there. I considered electronic distribution. It’s supposed to be the future of home entertainment. I write about it weekly. Sure enough, I found “Dexter” episodes that could be downloaded for $1.99. forget it. Size does matter I found out when trying to watch video on my daughter’s iPod. Video isn’t music. More than 844 million digital music songs were sold in 2007, up 43% from 588 million in 2006. Apple Inc.’s iTunes Music Store reportedly became the third largest music retailer in the United States. Unless “Dexter” could be successfully converted to an audio experience, I was destined to go retail Then there it was. The season one boxed set on my desk, courtesy of Latch. I guess he can’t review everything. Erik Gruenwedel’s e-mail address is egruenwedel@questex.com READERS’ FORUM I The following is in response to coverage of the high-def format war: T H EY SA ID IT Blu-ray a footnote? I’m currently reading The Fourth Turning (by William Strauss and Neil Howe) about the cycles of generations in America, and it just occurred to me that the generation that drove the adoption of the CD, VHS and Betamax, Laserdisc and DVD, and built Blockbuster, Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video, is not the same generation as the Millennial generation going through young-adulthood now. My point is that this generation has a different approach to information and entertainment than the previous generation(s), and I suspect that the need to own or control physical media (DVD/Blu-ray/HD DVD) may be considerably different. This is clearly the “download” generation, and the future may be in video-on-demand. If so, this entire fixation on the Blu-ray/HD DVD format war may be simply a footnote to history. Peter Bock West Linn, Ore. I The following letters are in response to Thomas K. Arnold’s editorial “HD DVD Backers Should Call It a Day” (HM, Jan. 27-Feb. 2, 2008), in which he said Toshiba and Microsoft threatened the home media industry as a whole by continuing to support HD DVD: Blu needs to broaden its appeal Thank you for your recent editorial in which you ask Toshiba and Microsoft to cease their efforts in marketing HD DVD, for the good of the industry. I agree with most of what you have said, but there is more to the tale. If, as you say, it is true that the “future of Hollywood is in the grasp of two computer companies,” it is a willing captivity on the part of the Hollywood studios. The studios have fostered and encouraged this format war, and continue to do so. Two studios, Universal and Paramount, continue to support HD DVD (ed: Universal has since said it will support Blu-ray). It is clear that both of them together, and probably just one of them, could end the war immediately by just supporting Bluray. If these studios are in Toshiba’s “grasp,” it is apparently a willing embrace from which those studios benefit somehow. Published accounts suggest that Universal no longer has a contract with Toshiba, and that Paramount can exercise an escape clause. So, why don’t they? What additional benefits are they looking for and from whom? There are many other things that the Blu-ray studios can do. For example, it is clear that the demographic of Blu-ray (and HD DVD) owners is skewed toward the video game consumer. As a result, the studios are picking the low-hanging fruit and shipping titles in the sci-fi/fantasy/horror genres. I am not criticizing these consumers or their taste, but the consumer base is much larger. Except for Warner, few studios have made much of an effort at excellent editions of classic films. Your magazine carried articles about two classics that have just been released in special editions: El Cid and The Last Emperor. Special-edition DVDs, but no Blu-ray in sight. How sad that epics of this stature are not in high-definition! I am not arguing that these titles would sell a lot of Blu-ray Discs, but these and similar titles would begin to broaden the demographic beyond its current narrow appeal. The studios need to go beyond the cherry-picking that they are doing and more thoughtfully consider their catalogs and market to other kinds of consumers. But the history of the industry says that they won’t. Robert Smith Palo Alto, Calif. “I DON’T REALLY PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT ME.” Paris Hilton, on poor reviews of The Hottie & The Nottie “THE PROLONGED PERIOD OF COMPETITION BETWEEN TWO FORMATS HAS PREVENTED CLEAR COMMUNICATION TO THE CONSUMER REGARDING THE RICHNESS OF THE HIGH-DEF EXPERIENCE VERSUS STANDARD-DEFINITION.” Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix We Want to Hear From You! Please send letters to: Editor, Home Media Magazine 201 East Sandpointe Ave., Suite 500 Santa Ana, CA 92707 E-mail: HomeMediaMagazine@questex.com Fax: 714.338.6712 Include name, business address (city and state) and telephone number. Letters are subject to editing. Blu-ray’s not ready You hit the important points. CE manufactures won, consumers lost. I won’t reward that. Blu-ray is just not ready for mass market. Some day when Blu-ray players have the same features as HD DVD players have now (HD audio decoding/Ethernet/price), and studios actually use those features, I will buy Blu-ray. Until that time, HD optical formats have lost my once-a-week movie-buying habit. Small change in the big picture, but I doubt I am alone in my thinking. Neil Fulton Minot, N.D. Join Us Online: www.homemediamagazine.com Visit our Web site to participate in discussion boards and weekly polls on the latest industry issues. 18 Home Media Magazine February 24–March 1, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.homemediamagazine.com
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