The UBS Evening Movie News 07.17.08

Posted by George H. Sirois on 07.17.2008

The “Taking Dick Vermeil’s Advice” Edition…




Welcome everyone to the latest edition of The UBS Evening Movie News. I'm George H. Sirois, and hopefully by the time you read this, I will be in a much better frame of mind than I've been in the past seven days. If you haven't read the latest Scene Anatomy 101, I'll just say here that last week, my colleagues at my day job and I lost a very good friend that we worked with for a little over two years.

I'd rather not re-iterate everything that I said in my SA 101 column, so just take a look over there for more information about him and what he meant to us. Instead, this week's Mad Prophet of the Airwaves rant will be focusing on something that I heard this past weekend on one of my DVDs that makes sense to bring up in a situation like this. But first, I got movie news to report…


TOP STORY

Data from DVD and Blu-ray Disc sales and rentals shows the home video business is holding up well despite the down economy, the high price of gas and any consumer shift toward the Internet.

Consumer spending on DVDs and Blu-ray in the first six months of the year, purchases and rentals combined, was up 1.6% from spending in first-half 2007, according to Home Media Magazine's market research department. The first-half 2008 tally: $10.77 billion, compared with $10.6 billion a year ago.

Spending on disc purchases rose 1.1%, from $6.8 billion to $6.87 billion. Rental spending rose 2.6% from $3.8 billion in the first six months of last year to $3.9 billion, according to Home Media Magazine market research calculations.

Unit sales were up a healthy 1.1% as well, with consumers buying an estimated 412.3 million discs in the first six months of the year, up from 407.9 million discs in first-half 2007, according to studio reports.

Home entertainment industry analyst Tom Adams isn't surprised about the continued health of the packaged media business, despite Wall Street's negative perceptions.

"Most analysts are techno-geeks with plenty of money and not much time, while most Americans are not technically savvy, and they have plenty of time but not much money," said Adams, president of Adams Media Research. "The fact is, despite what many on Wall Street seem to think, there is very little digital downloading going on. We're talking about $118 million in 2007 spending, and about $254 million this year -- so against a $24 billion packaged media market it's really not making much of a dent at this point."

Blu-ray sales alone should amount to at least three times what digital downloading is expected to bring in this year. In the first six months of the year, consumers spent $194 million on Blu-ray purchases, according to studio estimates -- a gain of nearly 350% from the $43 million that came from HD disc sales in the first six months of 2007, when growth was stymied by a format war between Blu-ray and rival HD DVD.

Unit sales of Blu-ray Discs in first-half 2008 were up 340% from the first six months of 2007, according to Nielsen VideoScan data. Nielsen numbers are based on point-of-sale data from most big retail chains with the notable exception of Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. Factoring in Blu-ray Disc sales at those two retail chains, studio estimates peg the number of Blu-ray Discs sold in the first six months of this year at 7.4 million units.

Adams said he expects the packaged media business to be more resilient than other businesses during the tough economic times the country is facing. He notes that in the early 1990s, the last time the country faced a recession, the video-rental business held its own. Today, the home entertainment business relies mostly on sales rather than rentals, he said, "so the question is will the $15 movie be as recession-proof as the $3 rental was in the last serious recession -- and why wouldn't it be? When you're cutting back on luxury items like trips to Hawaii and Europe, and lots of other stuff that has to get cut because of the high price of gas, buying a $15 movie to watch over and over again and add to your collection seems to be a great alternative to more expensive ways to entertain."

The year's top-selling DVD was 20th Century Fox's "Alvin and the Chipmunks," which sold about 5.3 million units, according to Home Media Magazine market research estimates. Disney's "Enchanted" was second, with an estimated 4.8 million units, followed by Warner's "I Am Legend" at No. 3 (4.2 million units), Paramount's "Bee Movie" at No. 4 (3.9 million units) and Disney's "National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets" at No. 5 (3.8 million units). These figures do not include sales to rental dealers, which can boost total unit sales significantly; all in, "Alvin" has sold more than 7 million DVDs.

The top five renters: Lionsgate's "3:10 to Yuma" at No. 1, followed by "I Am Legend" at No. 2, Paramount's "No Country for Old Men" at No. 3, Universal Studios' "American Gangster" at No. 4 and Lionsgate's "Good Luck Chuck" at No. 5.

"I Am Legend" is the top-selling high-definition disc release of the year, with unit sales of 305,000. Next comes "National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets," with unit sales of nearly 145,000, followed by "No Country for Old Men" (137,000 units), No. 3; Warner's Blu-ray Disc release of "300" (133,100), No. 4; and "3:10 to Yuma" (115,000), No. 5.

I'm shocked at this report, but then I'm also not shocked at all, and I'll explain why on both counts.

First of all, I never understood people already declaring standard DVD to be dead technology just because of the rise of Blu-Ray. Yes, the higher definition discs prompted the lowering of prices on a lot of discs and double/triple/4-pack discs were released by different studios. But you know what happened after they did that? People bought them! Who could resist getting Psycho II, III and IV in one package for 10 bucks?! Well… I couldn't.

And besides, even if you upgrade your player to a Blu-Ray, it's not like every disc you've bought before is suddenly obsolete. You can play your regular discs in your Blu-Ray player too, so you don't have to spend an extra fifteen bucks to get the best looking copy of Carrot Top's Chairman of the Board. You can just pick up the standard copy out of the $2.99 bin at Wal-Mart.

Speaking of Blu-Ray, they're reporting the 640% rise in sales like it's such a big deal. Do you know what this rise in sales means? It simply means that customers were smart enough to wait until there was an undisputed winner of the HD-DVD / Blu-Ray war. Plus, now that there is a winner, studios that wanted to wait as well are now churning out Blu-Ray titles of their current catalog like it's nobody's business.

But after all of this, you know what shocks me? Alvin and the Chipmunks being the top-selling DVD of the year. Really, America? Although I'm sure many customers who bought it probably did the same thing I did; they enjoyed the hell out of the first half and then tuned out during the second half when the quality took a hard nose-dive.

Credit: The Hollywood Reporter


SYBIL THE SOOTHSAYER

UPCOMING FILMS

The Dark Knight: Batman (Christian Bale) and James Gordon (Gary Oldman) join forces with Gotham's new District Attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), to take on a psychotic bank robber known as The Joker (Heath Ledger).

I already got my ticket for the midnight IMAX screening. So to my co-workers, I'm going to be a zombie in the morning. Let's all accept that and move on…


Mamma Mia!: The story of a bride-to-be trying to find her real father told using hit songs by the popular '70s group ABBA.

It's the "Meryl Streep's a Whore" movie! I can understand the counter-programming involved here so the women have something to see while the men go to see The Dark Knight. The problem with this theory is that women will have plenty of eye candy with Christian Bale and Aaron Eckhart and they'll be just as curious to see Heath Ledger's final role. Sorry Meryl & Co., but you're just gonna have to live with a distant second place on this one.

Credit: TheMovieBox.net


DVD NEWS

Phantasm fans are going to be delighted to hear that Anchor Bay Home Entertainment has secured the rights for Don Coscarelli's Phantasm IV: Oblivion for DVD and is working on a DVD release of the film in August.

According to DVDReview.com, "the original cast returns as Mike (A. Michael Baldwin), along with Jody (Bill Thornbury) and Reggie (Reggie Bannister), undertake a surreal journey through the dimensions of time and space to understand the terrifying birthright of the Tall Man, as well as the origins of the infamous and lethal Sphere! Witness the Tall Man's final assault with his dark army – the future of the human race hanging in the balance!"

This DVD release will have the uncut version of the film, reinstating scenes that were deleted prior to its original North American theatrical release. Plus, there are extras like a new commentary track by Coscarelli, Reggie Bannister and Angus Scrimm, and a retrospective featurette. (Whether the featurette will be about just this film or the whole franchise, we don't know.)

Phantasm IV: Oblivion will be on the shelves August 26, selling for only $14.98.

Credit: DVDReview.com


MOVIE TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Quantum of Solace

I don't think I've been more thrilled to hear the words, "We have people everywhere."




JIM WEBBING AND HIS IT'S-THE-HONEST-TRUTH-DEPARTMENT

Comic Book Movies Prove Educational: A big shake-up could be in the works at Warner Bros. for its DC Comics film properties.

In the course of the past couple of weeks, Warner Bros. Pictures Group president Jeff Robinov and Warner Bros. Pictures president Kevin McCormick have been meeting with DC Comics executives as well some of DC's top talents, like Jim Lee, to discuss a new direction for film adaptations.

Up until now, the comic properties had been undergoing a hodge-podge development process. With the recent success of Marvel Studios' "Iron Man" and "The Incredible Hulk" and that company's plan to develop its many characters linked strategically together, Warners has been forced to take a close second look at its sister company.

With "The Dark Knight" near its release date, a new agenda is being set, one that not only sees the DC characters emerge with a higher priority but also one that would see them developed with an overarching goal in mind.

Although plans are in motion, any firm deals or announcements are weeks away.

Warners declined comment on the discussions, only stating: "While we are not going to go into the specifics of the meetings, we're constantly looking at how best to exploit the DC Comics characters and properties. DC is an incredibly valuable asset to Warner Bros. and plays an important role across the entire studio by providing development and franchise opportunities for all media, including films, television, home entertainment, animation, consumer products, video games and digital platforms."


Holy crap, Warner Bros is actually PAYING ATTENTION to the current wave of success that Marvel's having with their most recent comic adaptations! As a fan of the genre, I'm incredibly happy about this news and I hope that this leads to the scrapping and re-building of the Justice League concept that's been sitting with the studio almost as long as the Jon Peters-Kevin Smith-Tim Burton-Nicolas Cage-McG-Brett Ratner-Bryan Singer Superman project.

Just look at the DC titles and think of what potential could be reached if they had gotten their heads out of their asses and just concentrated on the characters. It looks like those heads are verrrrry close to being dislodged, so the non-comic fans should prepare themselves for another new wave of films to be unleashed onto summer schedules for years to come.

Credit: The Hollywood Reporter


You gotta love it when a studio meets up with us in the 21st century: Universal Pictures has made all film assets available through EPK.TV, a web-based delivery system providing digital media promotional materials to the press, web casters and media outlets. 
 
The web site, WWW.EPK.TV, provides a central resource for all press outlets to review and immediately download broadcast quality video in editable file formats, CD press kit materials and audio WAV files.  The site provides a secure means of delivering materials to an unlimited number of media outlets for short-form promotional materials: EPKs, trailers, clips, soundbites, junket interviews, premieres, promos, etc. 
 
The site uniquely benefits entertainment producers that can view materials from any computer and create their stories with an online EDL tool.  Technical editors and webmasters can immediately retrieve high quality media files that universally ingest into media editing systems. 
 
EPK.TV includes both SD (Standard Definition) and HD (High Definition) video files in formats compatible for editing.  SD files available in MPEG-2 and DV25 QuickTime.  HD files available in DVCPRO-100. 
 
Downloads require registering at the site's home page and take only a few minutes to process.




I know it's not much to report since there have been web sites dedicated to specific films ever since the Internet really caught on in the mid 90s. But it's a very nice-sized step forward in terms of technology and film coming together. I'm hoping this takes off enough so that other studios follow their lead.

Credit: Special Ops Media


Dave Should Have Met a Better Marketing Department: Critics have trashed Murphy's comedies over the past decade, a period in which he's replaced the biting humor of his 1980s standup routines and early, acclaimed films such as "48 Hrs." and "Beverly Hills Cop" with broad antics, bathroom gags and fat suits.

"Meet Dave" tanked at the box office in its opening weekend, and Murphy went through a rough patch in 2002 when he starred in "I Spy," "Showtime" and his most notorious bomb, "The Adventures of Pluto Nash." But most of his recent movies have enjoyed box-office success, or at least have done decent business.

And we're not talking about the "Shrek" movies, a proven franchise in which Murphy plays a supporting part as the voice of Donkey. We're talking about the ones in which he's the star the movies in which he usually plays multiple roles, showing off his versatility.
"Norbit," for example, earned him three Razzie Awards this year for best actor, supporting actor and supporting actress and it received just 9 percent positive reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes Web site. But it opened at No. 1 with $34.2 million when it came out in February 2007, on its way to earning $95.6 million.

"Meet Dave," a sci-fi comedy in which Murphy plays a human-sized spaceship and the tiny captain controlling the craft from inside the head, didn't fare nearly so well as "Norbit." It had slightly better reviews 21 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, but only opened at No. 7 with $5.3 million.

Still, there's a comfort level for viewers when they go to a Murphy movie, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office tracking company Media By Numbers. "He's been around forever. I was watching `Trading Places' the other day that came out in 1983. That was a great movie. That was a different kind of movie (from the ones he's made lately)," he said.

"The Eddie Murphy brand, coupled with an outlandish story line, offer an escape to people who aren't looking for a serious-minded movie. Regardless of critical reviews or even if word-of-mouth is not strong, there's always an audience."


I have to agree with the sentiment that there is always an audience for movies that have, as they say, "the Eddie Murphy brand." Personally, I don't think Meet Dave bombed because of Norbit or any of the other movies that he had done prior to it. It didn't do well because the marketing for it was piss poor.

The poster made the movie look like a copy of "Herman's Head," and the trailer didn't even bother to mention the origin of the tiny men inside Dave's body. In fact, the trailer and poster of this film was almost an exact replica of how The Adventures of Pluto Nash was marketed. Both of them just put Eddie's face on the poster and thought that his face alone would bring people into the theaters. Never mind that people actually like to know what the movie is ABOUT before they decide on what to see.

For all we know, Meet Dave may not be so bad. It's kinda like when I watched The Adventures of Pluto Nash on HBO. Sure, I wouldn't want to own it, but it got much harsher reviews than it deserved. I've seen much worse films that got barely a fraction of the bile Pluto Nash got. I have a sneaking suspicion that when Meet Dave finds its way to HBO, it will get the same reaction from unsuspecting viewers.

Or it could just flat out suck; in which case, never mind.

Credit: Yahoo.com


FILM MUSIC NEWS

Download This Week's Issue at:
www.filmmusicweekly.com.


VOX POPULI

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: July 11 – 13, 2008

1. Hellboy II: The Golden Army: $35,885,000
Total: $35,885,000
2. Hancock: $33,000,000
Total: $165,034,000
3. Journey to the Center of the Earth: $20,580,000
Total: $20,580,000
4. WALL•E: $18,509,000
Total: $162,772,000
5. Wanted: $11,586,000
Total: $112,045,000
6. Get Smart: $7,105,000
Total: $111,468,000
7. Meet Dave: $5,300,000
Total: $5,300,000
8. Kung Fu Panda: $4,300,000
Total: $202,043,000
9. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl: $2,357,000
Total: $11,047,000
10. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: $2,250,000
Total: $310,477,000

Credit: BoxOfficeGuru.com

Click here to take part in the latest discussions in the Past/Current Movies Thread at the 411Movies/TV Forum.


THE INTERACTIVE BABE PHOTO NEWS BRIEF
WITH ANDY CRITCHELL

Continuing on the theme of breakups which I started last week, I present to you, the UBS reader, the lovely Megan Fox. Last week the news broke that Megan had split up with her long time fiancé Brian Austin Green. Men all over the country rejoiced because her engagement was the only thing holding her back from dating everyone who thinks she is hot, right? RIGHT!

BAG then said in an interview that they were still together, prompting accusations of denial and general douche-baggery. Now just because David Silver was a huge wiener on 90210, it doesn't mean that BAG is one as well, although all that ink isn't helping there tough guy.

Also, on Tuesday news broke that Michael Bay asked her gain some weight for her role in Transformers 2 as she was getting too skinny. Let's give Bay the Oscar right now because this man is a hero. If Fox went the way of too many starlets (most notably Lindsay Lohan) and got thin as a rail and lost her curves, well that would be a tragedy.

Anyway, all of this was just my thinly veiled excuse to post pictures of Megan Fox and can you really blame me??

Keep in mind, we have a comments section so let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions for girls to post in the future!!


AND NOW, A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR

JOIN THE 411 MYSPACE COMMUNITY HERE!

CHECK OUT MY INTERVIEW WITH HIDDEN HIGHLIGHTS' OWN JAMES "JT" THOMLISON HERE!
We miss you, JT! Come back soon!

THERE'S ALSO MY INTERVIEW OF ANDY CRITCHELL HERE!

AND THERE'S ALSO DAN OWEN'S INTERVIEW OF ME HERE!

AND MY INTERVIEW WITH RECORDING ARTIST STAN BUSH HERE!

SHOP AT THE 411MANIA MALL HERE!



LISTEN TO THE POLITICAL UNIVERSE ON BLOG TALK RADIO HERE!

CHECK OUT AARON BRAUNSTEIN'S SHOW "WISEGUYS, BLACK GUYS AND RABBIS" MONDAY – THURSDAY 6PM – 7PM HERE!

JOIN THE REVOLUTION! WILL HELM FOR LATE NIGHT IN '09!


And check out these other areas of 411Mania while you're at it…

The 411 Wrestling Zone
The 411 Music Zone
The 411 Politics Zone
The 411 Games Zone
The 411 Sports Zone


MAD PROPHET OF THE AIRWAVES

This weekend brought me very little sleep, due to the sudden loss of my good friend Lee Abramowitz. I've found myself taking his passing almost as hard as when I lost my cousin Matthew over three years ago, since I was able to cope with my belief that Matt had lived the definition of an "abridged life." This basically meant that he had lived life with all the boring parts cut out, and for his nearly 25 years on this planet, he had to put up with more challenges and accomplished more than what others would have taken several lifetimes and a few reincarnations to handle.

Matt was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 2 and was given a very grim prognosis by his doctors. Not only did he survive the treatments, but he went on to become an altar boy, an Eagle Scout, a volunteer firefighter and an EMT Rescue Worker for Middletown, NJ. He even worked on the Jersey shore to keep the peace during 9/11. A few months before he died, he got engaged, and having someone to love was his missing piece. Everything that he wanted to do, he did, and he did it all before reaching his mid-20s.

With Lee, I don't have that feeling to help me cope. Obviously, I had known him a lot less than others – having only worked with him for two years and change – but I know that he was healthy, kept active and never let anything get him down. If you were upset about something, he would be quick with a comment to get you laughing again, and that kind of person and the personality he had are worth their weight in gold and should always be appreciated while you have them in your life.

Since I needed something comforting to watch while I was home this weekend, I put in one of my all-time favorite Christmas presents: the DVD box set for "America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions." This is the big 40-disc set that my wife got me this past year, and I never get tired of watching any of the episodes. (I even got around to watching the one on the 2000 Ravens, which I put off forever for obvious reasons.)

While watching one of my personal favorite episodes – the one on the 1999 Rams – I took to heart a little something that coach Dick Vermeil said after they beat the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV. Here's what he said:

"The basic principles that it takes to win will never change, whether it's 1980, 1990, the year 2000, 2010 when you're raising your own kids. You surround yourself with good people, you work hard and be unselfish, you care and don't be embarrassed to say ‘I love you and I appreciate it.' Because, guys, if you say it, someone else will say it back to you…"

Those words really got to me, and considering what had happened, I felt the urge to say what I felt to everyone that I knew. And I don't care if I've already told some of these people; I just wanted to say it again.

The overly cynical readers may want to just hit the back button now because there's going to be a little bit of a cleansing lovefest going on here…


To all you readers who make a point to read and comment on what I have to say about movies and the industry in both Scene Anatomy 101 and The UBS Evening Movie News, you're all awesome. Whether you are sending me a correction, asking a follow-up question, or just putting in your own opinions about whether a specific scene or movie sucked, everything that is sent is always appreciated and always welcome. And the more, the better.

To all my colleagues here at 411Mania, thank you all for everything you do to make me forever proud to be affiliated with this site. The work that everyone does is beyond measure and I couldn't be happier with the acquaintances and the friendships I've made here since 2004. I love all you guys.

To everyone I work with or have worked with at Hadassah, thank you for helping to make this the best job I've ever had. Everyone here does their job to the best of their ability and, especially in the case of the floor I work on, there is a true family element here and I love and appreciate all of you as if you were my own family.

To my friends and family members, and to the newer family members I have gained this past November, I love you all and thank you for all of your support and encouragement through the years. We've had a lot of laughs in the past, and I intend to keep them coming.

And to my wife Cheryl, thank you for choosing to be my better half. I love you always.


There. That feels better. And I couldn't recommend it enough for all of you to do the same to your friends and families. I know it's a cliché to say that we should always appreciate the ones around you while they're here, but that doesn't make it any less true. You shouldn't have to go through something like this to let people know what you mean to them, you know?




And that's a wrap for Chapter 69 of The UBS Evening News. I'm George H. Sirois, and I'll see you next week, most likely in higher spirits.