Home Media Magazine - February 24, 2008 - (Page 9) www.homemediamagazine.com NEWS ‘The Last Emperor’ Retailer Movies Unlimited Makes Ultimate Entrance on DVD Celebrates 30 Years in Biz By Chris Tribbey PRODUCT Image Entertainment has been seeking the rights for The Last Emperor for years. Criterion Collection president Peter Becker has wanted it for a lot longer. “We first wanted to work on The Last Emperor from the beginning [of Criterion],” Becker said at a reception and screening of the 1987 best picture Oscar winner at the American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theater in Hollywood Feb. 19. “Finally when Image was able to acquire the rights, we pretty much went right to work. It’s a film of such magnitude and scope it required a release of such scope and depth.” The special edition, four-disc set streets Feb. 26 and includes a new high-definition master of the theatrical version, a new high-def digital transfer of the nearly four-hour TV version, a commentary, a film following the director’s work, featurettes, stills, interviews, a trailer and a production booklet. “It’s so wonderful to finally have this film,” said Richard Buchalter, SVP of sales for Image. “We got on the horn immediately with Peter and found that it was his favorite film. [It was] a match made in heaven.” By John Latchem etailer Movies Unlimited marks its 30th anniversary with the 2008 Movies Unlimited DVD Catalog. “I’ve seen many formats come and go, and many trends introduced and fade in the video industry,” said Jerry Frebowitz, Movies Unlimited president. “The one thing that has remained consistent is Movies Unlimited and our deluxe catalog. We’re proud of this and proud that we have many movie fans still with us since our early years.” In 1975, Frebowitz, a collector of Super 8mm movies, founded Brenda’s Movie House in the back of a variety store he owned in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. In 1978, Frebowitz changed the name and opened the first Movies Unlimited location on Castor Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia as a supplement to his mail-order business. The Castor Avenue store was the nation’s oldest video store when the company closed it in 2005 to focus on its popular mail-order service, and reported record sales in 2007. Movies Unlimited now operates R (L-R, front): Kim Hendrickson, The Criterion Collection; actresses Joan Chen and Vivian Wu; and Peter Becker, Criterion; (L-R, back): Garrett Lee, Image Entertainment; producer Jeremy Thomas; and Steven DeMille, Image, attended the reception for and screening of The Last Emperor. Representatives from Criterion and Image joined The Last Emperor producer Jeremy Thomas and stars Joan Chen and Vivian Wu for a Q&A session following the screening. “[Criterion does] the best editions available,” said Thomas, whose film swept the nine Oscar categories for which it was nominated. He said he considers the new DVD set to be one of the finest additions to his collection of thousands. “Fortunately, or unfortunately, it is the most successful film I ever made,” he said. Thomas worked with director Ber- nardo Bertolucci, composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and screenwriter Mark Peploe on the audio commentary. “It’s moving, doing the commentary,” Thomas said. “You’re transported back. It was a long time ago, and this made it so vivid. It’s amazing what we accomplished back in those days without CG.” Getting the special features together for the DVD release was actually easy, Becker and Thomas agreed. “A lot of my films don’t have a ton of stuff, but for this one we had plenty to work with,” Thomas said. out of a 22,000-square-foot warehouse with more than 400,000 movies, including rare titles from the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s. “I’ve always thought that variety was important to a business, and I think the selection available in the Movies Unlimited DVD Catalog reflects that,” Frebowitz said. “The catalog is like visiting your favorite movie theater, and being able to choose almost any movie for your viewing pleasure.” The 800-page catalog offers an extensive guide to DVDs, with synopses, rare artwork, sections singling out star performers and directors, and sections on the biggest video hits from each year in the company’s history. The catalog sells for $9.95 plus shipping and handling, and is available at www.moviesunlimited.com or by calling 800/4-MOVIES. The company has supplemented its catalog with its Web site, showcasing daily new-release information, special sales and its collector’s webzine, Movie Buzz. Movies Unlimited also publishes a separate DVD catalog for Turner Classic Movies, promoted through the cable channel’s programming. MERCHANDISING From Format To Gang War By John Latchem etailers last week sent some mixed signals about the impending end of HD DVD. A Wal-Mart in Long Beach, Calif., yanked its display-model HD DVD player from shelves. The store also was doing some redecorating, showing off some nifty new-release displays. But as a result, the high-def shelf was completely empty except for new titles. A clerk at the Best Buy in Costa Mesa, Calif., seemed unaware of HD DVD’s fate and said customer purchases were split 50-50 between HD DVD and Blu-ray. As for new titles, Best Buy celebrated the release of American Gangster (available in twoand three-DVD sets and an HD DVD/DVD combo) with a sale of gangster catalog titles for $4.99 each. Meanwhile, retail exclusives for BCI’s new HeMan and the Masters of the Universe Vol. 1 DVD are liable to drive collectors nuts. They had to pick from Target’s disc with the first episodes edited as a movie or Best Buy’s slip-case with room for the remaining volumes when released. R Best Buy American Gangster Universal; SRP $29.98, $34.98, $39.98 HD Target $16.99 $22.99 deluxe set $29.99 HD DVD Wal-Mart $16.99 $26.96 deluxe set $29.96 HD DVD Circuit City $13.99 $24.99 deluxe set $29.99 HD DVD Amazon.com $15.99 $24.99 deluxe set $26.95 HD DVD $15.99 $24.99 deluxe set $29.99 HD DVD Michael Clayton Warner SRP $28.98, $35.99 BD $16.99 $29.99 Blu-ray $16.99 $29.99 Blu-ray $16.97 $29.96 Blu-ray $16.99 $29.99 Blu-ray $16.99 $24.95 Blu-ray Margot at the Wedding Paramount SRP $29.99 New Line SRP $28.98 $19.99 $19.99 $19.96 $19.99 $19.99 $19.99 Rendition $19.99 $19.99 $19.96 $5 off In the Valley of Elah $17.99 February 24–March 1, 2008 Home Media Magazine 9 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.moviesunlimited.com http://Amazon.com
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