Hollywood Studios’ Fight With RealDVD Is Counter Productive

Last week, I listened to a speech at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, presented by Yaron Brook, President and Executive Director of the Ayn Rand Institute.  I was enthralled by Brook’s eloquent and forceful defense of the free market.  In this time of rampant government meddling in the economy, it was refreshing to be reminded of how the free market rewards those who work with its forces rather than against them.  If only the Hollywood studios had been in that audience and heard the message. 

For months now, the major studios have been waging all-out war against technology companies that are developing devices that offer consumers the ability to watch their DVDs on their own computers and televisions under circumstances that give them maximum flexibility.  Heaven only knows how much the studios have paid in fees in order to have their legal surrogates wage a war of words and briefs against relatively small companies like RealNetworks and Kaleidescape that are trying to fill this market niche.  RealNetworks has been hit particularly hard by the aggressive court action lodged against it by the studios.  (more…)

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Tags: copying, digital copy, DVD, hollywood, lawsuits
Posted Nov 12th 2009 at 2:34 pm in Entertainment, Law | 26208633 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bbarr/2009/11/12/hollywood-studios-fight-with-realdvd-is-counter-productive/Hollywood+Studios%E2%80%99+Fight+With+RealDVD+Is+Counter+Productive2009-11-12+22%3A34%3A35Bob+Barr

‘Sesame Street’: Habitat for Political Correctness

Having received some criticism for my last post about “Sesame Street,” I would like to briefly respond to some of the questions and assertions in the comment section. 

What’s so bad about saying “we share common humanity despite ethnic/religious/linguistic differences?” 

A main tenet of the multiculturalism and Enviro-Statism inculcated by Modern Liberal educators and as practiced on “Sesame Street” — exemplified in “We All Sing the Same Song,” is the diminishment of the unique greatness of American culture. 

Political Correctness and its Critical Theory are shamefully deployed against American culture to create a false front of “equality” to less free, less successful, and deviant cultures around the globe. 

That is neither a healthy, nor appropriate form of values inculcation upon young American children, nor is it a responsible expenditure of American tax dollars.  (more…)

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Tags: children, DVD, environmentalism, pbs, Sesame Street
Posted Nov 9th 2009 at 8:28 am in Culture, Featured Story, Politics, Television | 260138173 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abaldwin/2009/11/09/sesame-street-habitat-for-political-correctness/%27Sesame+Street%27%3A+Habitat+for+Political+Correctness2009-11-09+16%3A28%3A01Adam+Baldwin

To Boost Plummeting Sales Initial DVD Releases Might Become Purchase-Only

The Los Angeles Times:

“For those who like renting movies, Hollywood may soon have a message: Prepare to wait.

“In an effort to push consumers toward buying more movies, some major film studios are considering a new policy that would block DVDs from being offered for rental until several weeks after going on sale.

“Under the plan, new DVD releases would be available on a purchase-only basis for a few weeks, after which time companies such as Blockbuster Inc. and Netflix Inc. would be allowed to rent the DVDs to their customers. The move comes as the studios are grappling with sharply declining DVD revenue, which has long propped up the movie business.

“Reed Hastings, chief executive of DVD-by-mail company Netflix, revealed that he had discussed delayed-rental proposals with several of his biggest suppliers. People close to the situation at several studios confirmed that such plans were under consideration and probably would take effect next year. (more…)

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Tags: DVD, DVD sales, hollywood, home video, Netflix
Posted Oct 24th 2009 at 2:02 pm in Entertainment, News | 25223873 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bighollywood/2009/10/24/to-boost-plummeting-sales-initial-dvd-releases-might-be-purchase-only/To+Boost+Plummeting+Sales+Initial+DVD+Releases+Might+Become+Purchase-Only2009-10-24+21%3A02%3A46Big+Hollywood

Maybe DVD Sales Collapsed Because Movies Suck

Everyone seems to have an opinion as to why DVD sales have cratered since hitting their peak in 2006, but no one’s looking at the obvious answer. Plunging sales have been blamed on piracy, competing technologies such as video games and low-priced rental outlets like Redbox … everything but the quality of the actual films.

First and foremost, I’m a movie lover. Nothing competes for my attention in this regard, including dollar rentals and the like. But I’m just not buying anywhere near the number of new releases I did just ten years ago. Obviously, this is anecdotal evidence, so make your own comparisons:

1998  – I purchased 15 of the top 20 money makers…

1999 — 18 of the top 20.

2000 — 16 of the top 20.

2001 — 14 of the top 20. (more…)

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Tags: box office, Box Office Mojo, DVD, DVD sales, Home Video Market
Posted Oct 13th 2009 at 2:31 pm in Entertainment, News | 245754201 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/10/13/maybe-dvd-sales-collapsed-because-movies-suck/Maybe+DVD+Sales+Collapsed+Because+Movies+Suck2009-10-13+21%3A31%3A34John+Nolte

The Shattered Glass of Celebrity

The Hollywood star system: Rest in Peace.

Nowadays, when I trawl through Blockbuster aisles, I find films with major stars that never saw the dark light of a theater. I’ve never even heard of some films. And I wonder about the parallel between society and film. History may be defined as the intersection of amazing events with amazing people. Will Mallory make the climb up the cliffs of Navarone? People created history by their choices, hesitations, fears, desires, whimsy, obsessions and visions.  Will the Colonel give in to Saito’s brutality? Great films, anchored by magnetic personalities, cast wide nets across our consciousness. Will Lawrence survive the Devil’s Anvil?

“Epic,”film producer Frank McCarthy (”Patton”) once told me, “is defined as a man who changes himself, his community and his world.”  In short, all the great character arcs in a movie script have driven the creation of events and epics which, in turn, are pushpins in World History. A noted script consultant, Chris Vogler,  distilled and explained the work of Joseph Campbell, an expert on tribal storytelling and myth. Vogler explains the hero’s journey through the Ordinary World, the Call to Adventure, the Refusal of the Call, Mentor, Threshold, Tests by Allies and Enemies, Approach, Ordeal, Reward and The Road Back. (more…)

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Tags: "JCVD", blockbuster, blogs, Blue Ray, celebrity
Posted Aug 24th 2009 at 5:03 am in Art, Celebrity News, Film | 19372641 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mmandaville/2009/08/24/the-shattered-glass-of-celebrity/The+Shattered+Glass+of+Celebrity2009-08-24+12%3A03%3A54Michael+Mandaville

MacFarlane’s ‘Cavalcade’ of Comic Misfires

Critics harp on Seth MacFarlane’s use of comic cutaways on his popular animated show “Family Guy,” calling the technique lazy and uninspired. You know the technique – family patriarch Peter Griffin makes an aside, and suddenly it’s blown into a flashback of comic exaggeration.

Now, “Family Guy” fans can sample an entire hour of disconnected snippets with “Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy,” out this month on DVD.

Not a smart move. (more…)

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Tags: "American Dad", Dick Cheney, DVD, Family Guy, Roadrunner
Posted May 22nd 2009 at 9:22 am in Reviews | 139594No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cftoto/2009/05/22/macfarlanes-cavalcade-of-comic-misfires/MacFarlane%27s+%27Cavalcade%27+of+Comic+Misfires2009-05-22+16%3A22%3A35Christian+Toto

ABC’s ‘V’: Obama Parable?

–

“The world’s in bad shape, Father. Who wouldn’t welcome a savior right now?”

Aliens arrive offering “hope” and telling us not to be afraid of “change.”

To grab power they set out to manipulate the media and create a culture of devotion around themselves.

But they are not who they appear to be.

In fact, they’re out to destroy our way of life.

Hmmm??? (more…)

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Tags: "Path to 9/11", abc, DVD, hopenchange, mini series
Posted May 21st 2009 at 12:30 pm in Entertainment, Politics | 1403987 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/05/21/v-the-obama-parable/ABC%27s+%27V%27%3A+Obama+Parable%3F2009-05-21+19%3A30%3A47John+Nolte

How Hollywood’s Missing the Boat on 21st Century Technology

Ask any corporate chieftain about the current economy and – unless they sell burgers for a dollar, canned goods, or alcohol – they’ll tell you about the tough conditions their companies face.  But within this economic crucible, the target is still moving:  Entertainment and consumer tech companies are facing an entirely different set of challenges, as consumers have changed their entertainment habits. 

As has been widely reported, the Hollywood studios have been hit particularly hard.  DVD sales are down 6% over the past year, and Disney and Sony have already cut hundreds of jobs in 2009. 

To be sure, some of this is a natural result of Hollywood’s insistence on churning out tedious, recycled narratives with the hopes that increased vulgarity and special effects will cover for their lack of creativity.  But aside from the obvious criticisms that I, as a conservative, might lodge against the movie industry — Hollywood is also plagued by a refusal to embrace the emerging demands of the marketplace. 

One emerging demand is the need for wholesome entertainment.  Quality films like “The Incredibles” and even the now-classic “Forrest Gump” consistently out-perform R-rated films, yet Hollywood continues to ignore consumer demands and produce more and more “Rotten Tomato” films.  (more…)

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Tags: anti-piracy, DVD, DVD revenue, hollywood, piracy
Posted Apr 24th 2009 at 4:57 am in Entertainment, Featured Story, News | 1131702 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/kblackwell/2009/04/24/how-hollywoods-missing-the-boat-on-21st-century-technology-kenneth-blackwell/How+Hollywood%27s+Missing+the+Boat+on+21st+Century+Technology2009-04-24+11%3A57%3A00Ken+Blackwell

Saudi King 1, America 0

Mr. President, the last line from French playwright Eugene Ionesco’s play “Rhinoceros” is, “I will not capitulate!” Have you perchance read either the original French or English translation?  Did you think that traveling abroad and promising the Europeans the equivalent of personal free sex in the guise of your most sacrilegious “mea maxima culpa,” would result in more than a lot of sticky fingers and “ooo- la la’s”  to satisfy  your cultish yearnings? Has anyone ever said to you, “Everyone likes to have their ass kissed, but the only thing you usually get in return are more requests?”

–

How about that bit of groveling before the Saudi King? “No, no, no, he wasn’t bowing!” said the loyal press contingent! ….no… “The president was reaching for something on the floor.” Oh hell, just spit it out!  It was a DVD of that sci-fi horror classic, “It! Sharia From Beyond Space,” wasn’t it! It fell out of the hole that Karl Rove neatly tore in your jacket. How else do you explain that bow?  You gawk, like a newborn camel, mysteriously fumbling about, and then we must listen to an American president kill, through disremembering, the memory of shed blood, leadership, proper pride, and financial philanthropy what have been the hallmark of American exceptionalism. These things were evident at least for as long as you were a… what?  A Com…..Community Organizer?  Is that what you once were?  (more…)

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Tags: America derisive and dismissive, Charles Krauthammer, criticize America, DVD, europe
Posted Apr 6th 2009 at 10:22 am in Featured Story, Politics | 98382131 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dschultz/2009/04/06/dwight-schultz-post/Saudi+King+1%2C+America+02009-04-06+17%3A22%3A45Dwight+Schultz

Your Best Form of Entertainment Technology

Hollywood used to proclaim that “Movies are still your best form of entertainment.” 

That it felt it necessary to do so was in reaction to its declining share of the entertainment market against the little box, television, where you could see things for free and in the comfort of one’s own home. 

Hollywood assumed an adversarial stance against television right from the beginning, doing everything from encouraging stars under its control to stay off TV to changing the aspect ratio of movies so that they no longer matched the dimensions of the television screens.  Yet think of how different things might have been, for television and for the Hollywood studio system, had the moguls of the 1950s decided that television represented not a threat, but a new outlet, a new source of profits in which everyone would have a chance to wet their beaks.  (more…)

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Tags: DVD, DVR, Lew Wasserman, MCA, RealNetworks
Posted Mar 20th 2009 at 5:22 pm in Politics | 8561012 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/proff/2009/03/20/your-best-form-of-entertainment-technology/Your+Best+Form+of+Entertainment+Technology2009-03-21+00%3A22%3A22Peter+Roff

DVD Drives Down NASCAR’s Memory Lane

NASCAR has become so much more than just an adrenalized racing sport. It’s a cultural touchstone, what the right rallies around whenever the next Michael Moore movie or Al Franken tome arrives on the scene.

It’s ours. So it’s fascinating to watch a too brief but still intriguing documentary about NASCAR’s roots.

“NASCAR: The Ride of Their Lives,” now available on DVD, tells the history of NASCAR from its earliest days on the sandy beaches of Daytona to its current place as the king of spectator sports.

Fueled by rebellion, sand and moonshine, NASCAR began modestly but quickly grabbed hold of the southern culture. And it only spread from there. (more…)

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Tags: Dale Earnhardt, Daytona, DVD, NASCAR
Posted Mar 9th 2009 at 5:11 am in Reviews | 7559419 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cftoto/2009/03/09/dvd-drives-down-nascars-memory-lane/DVD+Drives+Down+NASCAR%27s+Memory+Lane2009-03-09+13%3A11%3A52Christian+Toto