New on Disc: 'River's Edge' and more …

River’s Edge

Street 1/13
Kino Lorber, Drama, $19.95 DVD, $29.95 Blu-ray, ‘R.’
Stars Keanu Reeves, Crispin Glover, Ione Skye, Dennis Hopper.
1987. Even by the seen-it-all standards of the past quarter-century, this Generation X creep-out that should have done more for director Tim Hunter’s career than it did remains unsettling.
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The Fortune (Blu-ray)

Available via ScreenArchives.com
Twilight Time, Comedy, $29.95 Blu-ray, ‘PG.’
Stars Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson, Stockard Channing.
1975. A huge flop in its day, The Fortune is mildly amusing all the way, with a great Jack Nicholson performance. Set in the 1920s, it’s a farce about the Mann Act and the onetime ramifications of taking even an adult woman over the state line for sex.
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American Experience: Cold War Roadshow

PBS, Documentary, $24.99 DVD, NR.
2014. Boasting footage from presumably the only time Nikita Khrushchev and Eddie Fisher found themselves in the same room, this chronicle of the “career-best” story for a lot of the journalists who covered it looks back at the time the Soviet Premier visited the U.S. in 1959.
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3D Eclipsed by 4K

One overwhelming trend at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, at least for the home entertainment industry, was the shift to 4K, a resolution standard that promises roughly four times what HD can offer.

And yet, just a few years ago, the number three — as in 3D —was everywhere on the show floor. This year 3D was hard to find in the TV-heavy Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, while 4K (or its other moniker, Ultra-HD) was plastered on all the big booths, from LG to Sony.

In a very interesting panel put on by our colleagues at , and moderated by its editor, Daniel Frankel, representatives from Comcast Cable, Samsung Electronics Smart TV Services, Qualcomm, MLB Advanced Media and Arris pondered the shift to 4K. Notably, they addressed the squelched 3D push, as well as format ghosts, such as (from the not so distant past) HD DVD. They said 4K stood a better chance of adoption, if only because the hardware will be everywhere at a consumer-friendly price. Pretty soon, every new TV will be 4K whether consumers desire it or not. And then, they said, the content will come, pushed by OTT (over the top) services such as Netflix.

The transition is inevitable, but is it truly a step forward? Can the human eye really see the difference of the higher resolution, especially on small screens such as cell phones? Panelists noted that the difference in visual quality isn’t just the higher resolution, but the more vivid color and sound quality. Also, 4K allows for a more complex graphics presentation. One panelist noted that, as with HD versus standard-definition, "It's one of those things that once you see it, you can never go back."

That may well be, but I reminisced on the show floor by trying to find good old 3D, especially without those pesky glasses, which I think proved to be the format’s downfall. And — low and behold — I finally saw a presentation, from Stream TV Networks that presented glasses-free 3D that didn’t make me sick and looked pretty good from different angles. They can even upconvert classics such as It’s a Wonderful Life. It’s just too bad that 3D technology, which finally seems to be overcoming those glasses, is a day late and a digit short.

4K Synergy Offers Refreshing Change

During a Digital Hollywood panel on which I participated, about the future prospects of OTT, the moderator asked each us how this year’s Consumer Electronics Show was different from past years’ events.

I was up first, but my prognosis easily rattled off my tongue: If you look at this year’s spotlight attraction, 4K Ultra-HD, there’s more cohesion and unity, and a greater focus on the whole consumer experience, than there’s been in years.

And that explains why studio executives are so optimistic about the future of home entertainment, despite DEG numbers that show disc sales fell 11% in 2014 and the continued dominance of subscription streaming in the electronic distribution sector of the business.

Everything seems to be coming together for 4K, and one reason is that consumer electronics companies are working not just on one aspect of the new technology but on the whole enchilada. It’s not just about a better picture, it’s about partnerships with content providers — a concerted outreach to make 4K available on all devices, from the most elaborate home-theater TVs to tablets and smartphones — and an all-out effort to make the 4K viewing experience quick and easy, despite the much-bigger size of the files and greater bandwidth requirements.

Everyone’s working together on home entertainment’s “Next Big Thing” — and I honestly feel we’ve learned a lot from past mistakes, from the bruising format war that dirtied the launch of high-definition discs to the disaster that was 3D. The year, not so long ago, when 3D was the show floor rage, all I remember is a plethora of incompatible formats — including those horrid Toshiba TVs with frames that reminded me of dog scratch collars — and mass confusion about eyewear. And then there was that nasty little problem about consumers maybe not wanting to watch everything in 3D, which no one seemed to have taken into account.

With 4K, it’s full speed ahead — and the alluring consumer promise to finally be able to replicate the movie-theater experience in their own home appears to be resonating. I was up in Arcata a week ago, renting an apartment for my oldest son, Justin, who attends Humboldt State University, and ran into a retired ranch hand who now works behind the counter at the Days Inn (yes, I’m living the life).

We got to talking, and when he found out I was in the entertainment business he just had to tell me how excited he was to get a 4K TV. “My friend has one, and it’s like a whole new world,” he said. “It’s a completely different viewing experience — much more so than Blu-ray over DVD.”
That’s not Mike Dunn or one of our other industry thought leaders talking. That’s Rich the ranch hand, your everyday, average Joe.

This year’s CES, much more so than past shows, was truly an invigorating, enriching experience. I left the show Thursday morning with the feeling that our business is back on track, and that we’ve not only developed a great new product that consumers genuinely will want, but we’re also bringing it to market in the right way.

It’s all about the consumer experience, you see. And if we keep that notion at the top of our minds and let everything we do be guided by it, I honestly believe we are destined to succeed.

Deals Not 'Left Behind'

As the magnitude of new releases begin to pick up after the holiday season, the first retail exclusive of 2015 comes in the form of the latest Nicolas Cage Thriller, eOne's Left Behind.

The only special promotion for the title, however, came at Target, which offered a special Blu-ray/DVD combo pack with bonus features. The wide release is just a Blu-ray-only edition.

Otherwise, retailers are still burning off surplus inventory after the holidays.

Best Buy had a buy-one-get-one-free deal on $9.99 fitness titles.

Walmart offered preorders for the Jan. 27 release of Downton Abbey: Season 5 on DVD ($29.96) and Blu-ray ($34.96), with immediate access to the first episode on Vudu.com.

A Post-Holiday Retail 'Equalizer'

Coming off the holidays, the big retail chains were more focused on clearing inventory than pushing a relatively small slate of new releases spearheaded by Sony Pictures’ The Equalizer.

Best Buy offered $5.99 movies on DVD and Blu-ray and $9.99 TV seasons on DVD and Blu-ray.

Target offered $5 DVDs and a buy-3-get-1-free deal.

Walmart introduced the Vudu Spark,  its own HDMI dongle that plugs into a TV’s HDMI port to allow viewers to use their HDTV to view Vudu content. The $24.96 device includes $20 in Vudu purchases.

New Releases Buried by Holiday Rush

Unsurprisingly, studios avoided releasing any major new releases Dec. 23 to avoid them getting swallowed by a last-minute Christmas shopping rush. The new titles amounted to a few films that barely dented the box office and a few boxed sets of cable TV shows.

Instead, the big chains offered huge savings on catalog title and recent hits. Target had a buy-3-get-1-free deal on $5 DVDs, and had assortments of $9.50 and $14.99 discs.

Target also offered a free $5 gift card with a disc preorder of Game of Thrones: Season Four, Big Hero 6 or The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 at Target.com/pre-order.

Best Buy touted TV seasons for $14.99 or $199 each.

Walmart was apparently the only place to get a DVD copy of Warner's new release The Good Lie, with Reese Witherspoon, available elsewhere just as a Blu-ray/DVD combo.

In other sellthrough news, Paramount Home Media Distribution is lauding the first-week sales of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as the top disc debut in terms of box office to disc sales ratio among 2014 films grossing more than $100 million, although the studio hasn't released unit data or comparative numbers.

New on Disc: 'Only Angels Have Wings' and more …

Only Angels Have Wings (Blu-ray)

Available via TCM Shop
TCM/Sony, Drama, $29.99 Blu-ray, NR.
Stars Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth, Richard Barthelmess.
1939. This restored key Howard Hawks movie is such a 4K looker that you can see details of the rain dripping from Cary Grant’s hat. His character leads a group of pilots whose job it is to deliver mail to a town in a valley through brutal storms and fog that only periodically clears.
Extras: An unexpected extra is a roughly 15-minute featurette with sound designer Ben Burtt and visual effects maestro Craig Barron, both fans of the movie. You get a sense here of how the sound (excellent for its day) works with the miniature work to make rain-swept plane crashes look more convincing than they otherwise might.
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Appointment With Danger (Blu-ray)

Street 12/23
Olive, Drama, $29.95 Blu-ray, NR.
Stars Alan Ladd, Phyllis Calvert, Jack Webb, Paul Stewart, Harry Morgan, Jan Sterling.
1951. Much underrated (or at least under-seen) purely on the “fun” level, Danger joins a new slew of other past Olive releases previously available only on DVD and on two Blu-ray boxed sets. In Olive fashion, no one has given these prints much of a fresh wax job, and the final product is mostly a product of how good the printing material was in the first place.
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Forever Changes

It’s been quite a year, but one without any really big, transformational changes.

Netflix and streaming are still the way most people “rent” movies. Blu-ray Disc and DVD remain home entertainment’s cash cow. Electronic sellthrough, despite its fancy new “Digital HD” name, remains a small part of the overall business. And UltraViolet, in the minds of most people, still refers to those rays from the sun you want to avoid.

What’s in store for 2015? To echo those immortal words from the Beach Boys, God only knows.

The No. 1 goal among the content providers — the studios — is the same as it’s always been: to maximize profits from movies after they finish their run on the big screen. Streaming, much like its predecessor, physical movie rental, doesn’t really accomplish that, particularly under the subscription model — which is why Netflix, the king of the streamers, has so many old and little-known movies the studios don’t really care about.

The studios, of course, would like nothing more than to give up the hassles of manufacturing and distributing physical product — and, of course, dealing with returns — but the fact remains that selling discs to consumers continues to generate the most money, by far. EST promises incredible margins, but if we take off the rose-colored glasses I think we will realize that EST sales will never approach the magnitude of Blu-ray Disc, much less DVD. When DVD first came out consumers bought and collected movies and TV shows because they had never been able to do so before, at least not in an affordable, easy-to-store way; by the time Blu-ray Disc came around we collectively realized we don’t necessarily need to own every movie ever made, no matter how good the quality or how small the package. And buying a download just doesn’t have the same appeal as buying a physical product, particularly among the impulse shopper.

Which leaves us with streaming, of the subscription kind pioneered, and dominated, by Netflix. The studios, in their quest to sell movies to consumers, would like very much to put the streaming genie back into the proverbial bottle, but we all know that’s not going to happen.
This is not to say, however, that subscription streaming, and Netflix, will remain the dominant way consumers consume entertainment indefinitely. Just as MySpace was done in by Facebook, someone, somewhere, is going to eventually come up with an even more convenient way to bring entertainment into the home — and whether that someone is the studios or a savvy third-party player like Netflix is anyone’s guess.

If Amazon does, in fact, introduced a free video service, supported by advertising, as the New York Post reported last month, Netflix could be in store for serious challenge — or not. One reason home video took off in the first place is that we wanted to enjoy our favorite movies and TV shows without those incessant commercials. We didn’t mind paying for commercial-free programming then, and I don’t see that changing.

The only really big change I see in the not-too-distant future is the emergence of 4K Ultra-HD, which at last promises to bring a true theatrical movie-watching experience to the home. But, again, we don’t know how fast or how slow it will happen — or whether it will be a boom, like DVD, or a bust, like 3D (although I personally believe we may be on to something big, really big).

Changes, forever changes. That’s just how this business rolls.

Controversy a Roadblock to Release

The damaging cyber attack against Sony Pictures, which most speculate North Korean hackers launched as punishment for production of the film The Interview, may have put the comedy in the can permanently. Originally scheduled for theatrical release Christmas day, The Interview, about reporters attempting to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, may never officially see the light of day, even on home video. Sony pulled the theatrical launch after threats to movie theaters, and the home video release is up in the air.

While the situation is unprecedented, it will not be the first big studio title to never get an official release in the U.S. home entertainment market. Home entertainment fans have long clamored to see Disney’s Song of the South, based on the Uncle Remus stories and featuring the Academy Award-winning song “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah,” but it has never been released officially on home video in its entirety in the United States. The 1946 musical’s subject matter, which has not aged well in these enlightened times and which many find racist, has kept that film off cassette and disc (at least officially). Certain other countries and pirates have released the title, but U.S. fans may only see it in snippets on other home entertainment releases, such as the Brer Rabbit animated segments, which are the basis for Disneyland’s Splash Mountain attraction.

Other content with touchy subject matter, racist or otherwise, from the early days of film and cartoons is also stuck in the vault and has not been released on home video.

While The Interview is quite different from Song of the South, controversy haunts both. A terrible controversy such as the one facing Sony seems to be a very damaging wound that could kill a film’s video release. Studios are backers of the First Amendment — to a point. Studios are corporations, with responsibilities to stockholders, business partners and their own employees, whose private emails and other information have leaked for everyone to see. The legal heat may prove too searing for a studio that could be blamed for basically any attack associated with the film, cyber or otherwise.

Still, that doesn’t mean viewers will never see The Interview. Like Song of the South, The Interview will likely be bootlegged. Already, pirated scenes are leaking out on the Web, and, likely, hackers will beat Sony’s attackers at their own game and disseminate a copy online. But, officially, a home entertainment release may have hit a permanent roadblock, meaning Sony will take another hit and so will free speech.

Retailers Show 'Turtle' Power

The big retailers celebrated the Dec. 16 disc release of Paramount’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by trying to prove which one had the most “Turtle Power.”

Target offered a wide array of exclusives. First, it offered the Blu-ray combo pack (not the 3D edition) in four different character slipcovers, one for each of the Turtles. These special editions also included 30 minutes of exclusive bonus content. In addition, Target offered a free pizza and soda at the Target Café with purchase of the movie (copies of which were on display at the Café).

Not to be outdone, Walmart offered a gift set of the 2D Blu-ray with four Turtles figurines, and also the DVD edition with a Vudu.com digital copy.

Best Buy’s BD combo pack in a steelbook case seemed rather tame by comparison.

The 2D Blu-ray combo packs at all the stores came with free ninja masks.

Walmart offered the DVD of Fox’s The Maze Runner with the DVD of Chronicle.

Target offered a $5 discount with purchase of The Maze Runner on disc and any book in the series.

Among other exclusives, Best Buy had Anchor Bay’s Black Sails: The Complete First Season on DVD and Blu-ray early, well before the Jan. 6 wide release.

Target offered a 10% discount on all movies and TV shows on disc through its Carthwheel coupon app.

Walmart had exclusive availability of the DVD of the first season of “Survivor’s Remorse.”