Myer, Myer Price on Fire
Sorry for the suckier than usual heading, I probably shouldn't have watched Dawson's Creek before writing this up as the intellegence has been sucked out of my brain (shut up Cass!)
After yesterdays posting about the Myer discount DVDs....it turns out some not all Myer stores have reduced the prices to $29.95 on the following 8 DVDs
Backdraft, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Executive Decision, Good Will Hunting,  Jackie Brown, Liar Liar, Soldier & The Negotiator.
Of course seeing as they are catalogue advertises as such, you'd have no problem getting them at this price....

QED - Our New Line of Audio Cables and what not
In addition to the terrific QED QUDOS speaker cables we sell here at DVDown Under, we also now offer an great range of other excellent QED products (Video leads, Audio Interconnects, and more)

From now until the end of September we are offering FREE DVD Case Covers to anyone who orders any of the QED products AND Shipping is also FREE for the QED products

Please drop by our QED page for our range and prices

For a good look at the QED range there are lots of pictures on the Official QED web site

CTS and Universal DVD Slicks
All 12 of the September DVD slicks arrived today woo hoo (Mercury Rising, Hideaway, Out of Sight and more)
The release date for ALL these DVDs has been pushed back a week From the 6th of September due to a hold up with Shakespeare in Love and Cruel Intentions....If the problems aren't resolved before this date then the release date will be bumped back ANOTHER 2 weeks (in addition to the current 1 week delay)...and god know's what has happened to T2... the release date for that one is anyone's guess

Mossimo DVD Player Part 2
Here's a scan of the article that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald (thanks again Richard)

DVD 2000 pic

DVD 2000 sighting by Jon
I just saw the write up on the new MOSSIMO dvd player. I too have seen this in Chinatown Sydney for $670. From what they told me those specs are correct, it has all those goodies for that price. It is actually made in China and it looks pretty classy gold/brass looking with woodgrain finishes on the edges?  (thanks for the info Jon)

MOSSIMO DVD 2000
96 kHz/24 bit Audio D/A converter
Built on Dolby Digital 5.1 Decoder
DTS digital out
NTSC and PAL playback (multi-regioned)
Composite / S-Video / Component RGB output (YPrPb)
and all the other standard DVD goodies

Anyone out there know ANYTHING about this player?

OFFC Site Update
The Aussie Film/Video Censors home page has been updated and you can now search for film and their ratings, etc.... it's still not as good as the UK's BBFC page which tells you how much was cut from a film to get a rating, but it's half way there...

2 Rumours Down, 1 Rumour to Go
Mike D tells me he was able to CONFIRM the price increase for Warner DVDs.  This comes into effect in October resulting in Warner DVDs retailing for $34.95 (5 bucks more), taking them in line with the likes of Roadshow and Columbia ...so this only leaves the DREAMWORKS Rumour...hmmmm

PS I hired out South Park's Vol 2 DVD last night and found No Real improvement in picture quality over my Region 1 Volume 1 DVD... As much as I want to support the region 4 market I have to say go region 1 for these DVDs, they'll cost you almost HALF as much for essentially the same thing......and if you think our $40 price tag is bad enough,  the EXACT same DVDs are costing the Brits 20UK Pounds(which equates to about $AUD50).......

CIC (paramount OZ) will be handling DVD for the entire Asia pacific region (which incorporates New Zealand as well asAsia)...DVDs will be pressed in Australia, and it looks as though they will be authored here to (fingers crossed)..This would be a major plus for DVD in Australia..seeing as Buena Vista, CTS, MGM, Warner and FOX DVDs are all authored outside of OZ, with only Roadshow, Magna Pacific and Force relying on our "in house" companies to do the job.

In talking to CIC today I just had to ask them When Star Trek would come to region 4 DVD (i was afraid you'd ask me that question...I just knew you would ask me that question!!!! came the tongue in check reply)  It would appear that We should see some Star Trek DVDs within the first few months of the Paramount DVD launch.....of course everything is very tentative and not set in stone, so this may change.....

FINALLY, All the Major Studios are on Board with DVD in Region 4..woo hoo

PS DVD Bits are conducting a poll on roadshow's DVDs..please drop by and have you say as to whether you beleive things have improved from them"

Coming Soon from Buena Vista / CTS / MGM / Universal and Warner
Please Click on the Studio names below for the latest releases and the DVDetails for such upcoming DVDs as Ghostbusters / Mask Of Zorro / Patch Adams / Hitch's PSYCHO, and many more

Buena Vista( 6th Sept 1999)

MGM / Warner (6trh Sept 1999)

Columbia Tristar (11th Oct 1999)

Universal (11th Oct 1999)

VERY JUICY RUMOURS
Now i repeat...at this stage, the following rumours are RUMOURS....I have been told these things from out and about, and these remarks are not from official sources within the repective companies (am chasing this all up with them though)
Rumour #1 (now confirmed)Warner are going to increase the price of there Region 4 DVDs from $29.95 to $34.95...I was told (unofficially remember) that some DVD players will drop in price (um, Toshibas) to try and pick up sales, and DVD Movies will increase a little to compensate this.
Rumour #2 CIC look to Lose Dreamworks to.....Columbia Tristar....(unofficial remember)..Saving Private Ryan was due for release in October/November on DVD but won't be out til January now because of this.....hmmmm....
Rumour #3 (now confirmed) Paramount DVDs will be coming by the end of the year (unofficial remember)

PS FOX's There's something About Mary is coming out a few days late, now slated for the 27th October, AND FOX Aust received the DVDs of Titanic the other day...(lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil :-)))))))))

anyway...for a first look at the DVD slick for FOX's region 4 Titanic, please CLICK HERE

PS i got my region 1 copy of South Park Ep 1 on DVD yesterday andthe quality was not as good as i had expected....if anyone has seen the region 2/3/4/5/6 version OR has had the chance to compare the region 1 to the PAL verison i'd love to know if the PAL version is actually better (as there might be something in the big price difference afterall :-)

When in the player's Menu, select Option 3 for (crap can't remember what it's called..but JUST PRESS 3)...then select option 6 for LANG SET......then Select 2 for SUBTITLES....the Default Language will be currently selected.....press the DOWN Arrow until DISPLAY "ON" is selected....press the right arrow and this becomes OFF...then down arrow again to ASS. SUBTIT (great choice of wording wouldn't you say) and press the right arrow to also turn it OFF... there are some other Subtitle language settings a little further back in the Menu, that i had previously turned OFF...which didn't make a difference to auto subtitles..but the above steps definitely keep then TURNED OFF, until you manually turn them on!!!!........much better now

Mad Mel's returning for more!!!!!
While not on the subject of DVD....Mel Gibson has approved the script for MAD MAX 4, to be directed again by George Miller, for Universal Studios....the good thing is that if the USA wish to re-dub the movie with American voices like they did for the original, Mel can at least put on an American accent and re-loop is own lines :-)

PS i saw the article in Australian Hi-FI that DVD Bits mentioned regarding Toshiba's (2109) and Warners 3 Movie Deal for a mere $799   .....it's about time some package deals were arranged for Region 4...and at that price, and being a toshy, how could you pass it up!!

Blair Witch passes $100 million!!!
I guess they should be calling this The Little Witch That Could..ARTISAN'S The Blair Witch Project has now grossed $107,279,782 at the USA Box Office.......

FOX Title Delays
All bar one of the October 27th titles have been pushed back to 2nd December...no reason given as the news was only announced today...There's Something About Mary is the only title to keep its original release date, but this is because FOX want ot release it Date and Day with the VHS Sell Thru........

No FOX DVDs to be Date and Day with their VHS Rental.....EVER!!!
At present, FOX's policy with releasing DVDs in OZ is that they will NOT be released Date and Day with the VHS rentals...The reason is the Price...FOX don't want to sell DVDs at the same high price as VHS rental, so the earliest we are likely to ever see a new FOX DVD release is with the VHS Sell-thru, which is being tested out with the October release of There's Something About Mary....

PS. If you are  NOT wanting to get ripped off with trading your DVDs over the internet.....i strongly suggest to stay clear of a fellow named Anthony Cook (email address anteater11@bigpond.com) the prick hasn't paid me for the DVD I sent him in June and funnily enough he hasn't responded to any of my emails (which are definitely getting thru)...he posted a bit on DVD/LD Swap Meet ....(i know I shoulda sent it COD, you live and learn i guess)

The Horse Whisper Aspect Ratio on DVD
Anyone who saw Robert Redford's terrifc tale at the Cinemas may remember that it was presented with 2 apect ratios....The first 1/2 hour of the film is shot with a screen ratio of 1.85 to 1, (meant for the city sequences) and as soon as the story moves to the country, it becomes 2.35:1.....When the movie started playing at the cinema i saw the curtains pull waaaay back to indicate it was 2.35:1....The Dolby Digital City trailer came on, and not long after, The Horse Whisper Started in 1.85:1!!!!!!!  WHAT no masking are they crazy???? I kept thinking that they'd forgotten to close part to the curtains, but i thought..no no i'll wait, they'll realise what they'd done.....So I sat there thoroughly enjoying this long tale and suddenly the picture opened up to width of the cinema....very odd i though..so it wasn't a mistake afterall......simply artist choice...... As a result of this, i was noly too anxious to rent this DVD from my local shop to see how it would be presented.........and when i saw what BV did i somewhat disappointed with their choice in framing........
If you're familiar with windowboxing, you'll know what to expect for the first 1/2 hour of this region 2 & 4 DVD........ for the 1.85:1 sequences have been composed WITHIN a 2.35:1 image, so there are Black Bars to the top and bottom AND to the sides (in the same way that Roadshow present their interviews and featurettes on DVD)........as the story moves to the country the side bars appropriately disappear to reveal the FULL 2.35:1 image....While i thought the idea of presenting it this way seemed somewhat stupid, i see why it happened...... This film was shot entirely in panavision 2.35:1, with the initial seqences most likely being side masked to 1.85:1, so technically this would produce an anamorpic 2.35:1 image on the 35mm negative (just with black bars left and right)...and this has resulted in the transfer for DVD being stuck at 2.35:1 throughout, rather than blowing up the 1.85:1 masked portion of the print to create a non-windowboxed image, and then leaving the sequences presented in 2.35:1as is....Blowing up the image would have resulted in a lower resolution, but i don't think it would have effected it too much had it been done very early on in the telecine process (or most likely prior to this)....plus the focus on this DVD is not that great (i think Mr Redford did a Barbra Steisand and used a soft focus lens to hide all those wrinkles:-)

TITANIC/FOX POLLS
Thanks to everyone who voted in these Polls.....was very pleased with the response.....I'll be sending the polls to a fellow involved with the Region 4 FOX DVDs tomorrow.....

LATEST POLL
While on the subject of DVD :-) I thought i'd be interesting to find out how long can you wait for the release of a Region 4 DVD....Seeing as The Matrix is coming out soon on Region 1, I was wonder if anyone can wait for the Region 4 Version, which will be identical (see last Friday's Editorial on that)  please click the link above for the newest Poll

HAPPY 100th Birthday ALFRED HITCHCOCK

And you thought the Alien Legacy DVD Boxset was Cool....HAH!
In a few weeks I will able to Die happy......New Line Cinema are again to set a new standard for DVDs ....On the 21st September The nightmare on Elm Street Box set will be released in the USA.... even before i actually bought a DVD player nearly two years ago now, the first thing that flashed thru my mind with DVD was....hmmmm nightmare on elm street.... if there was ever a series that i wanted most desperately on DVD, this was it........and my god have new line cinema done it justice......before i get too much drool on my keynoard, let me at least tell you to drop by The Digital Bits to suss out what will be included in this set.......I have to say I hate Bill for posting this cool info, and I don't think i'll be able to sleep at night until i get my hands on all 8 discs because of it :-)) .....and to top it off, there is now the offical nightmare on elm street web site...could this day get any better????...YEP, read the news below!!!!

Roadshow's MATRIX features
Thought the soon to be released Warner Region 1 DVD of the Matrix had a truck load of features??
I received confirmation today that Roadshow have Definitely secured the rights to release THEIR REGION 4 DVD Version of the Matrix with the EXACT SAME FEATURES as those found on the USA version (I guess being a joint venture with Warner has it's advantages)....Other Regions to release this DVD will apparently have a lot LESS features (I can see Roadshow and many of our on-line DVD stores doing VERY well out of  this DVD because of this)....woo hoo...but one question remains....can you wait for the region 4 release of this DVD?????

AUSTIN POWERS Commentary Track
It turns out that the commentary track on the upcoming Roadshow re-release is one ONE TRACK not Two.  The confusion arose over the fact that Jay Roach is in the Left channel, and Mike is in the right channel (2 separate audio Channels, NOT different DVD audio tracks).....what will be interesting, is whether  the commentary track has had a few other segments ADDED to it, so as to releate to the European version with the extra cameos, (and the correct pussy.....cat line)

Welcome DVD Tasmania
Matt and Steven of DVD Tasmania (the newest Australian DVD Web site), are truly offering us DVD Down Under (sorry :-), They look to have the makings for a great site (and you gotta love the spinny disc things on their Nav bar..very groovy indeed)

PS the Region 4 Titanic aspect ratio is in fact 2:30:1 NOT 2.60:1....it was a boo-boo on the original slick

Skimming thru yesterday's Australian, I came across an article in the Computer section about a company called ADIMEX, who are distributing a few DVD authoring kits for home/professional use made by ASTARTE....ADIMEX have 3 kits available, which you could say represent Professional / Prosumer & consumer versions...the consumer version called DVDLight sells for under $1000, whereas the big boys version, DVDDirector Pro, is a little higher at around $21,000.....DVDlight is pretty much feature-less with you only being able to encode a DVD with video and Audio, much like on video tape. (no trick play features availble)....for the goodies like DVD Menus, subtitles, multi-language tracks and chapters, you need to go to at least DVDDirector (the mid priced version at around $11,000)......but of course to actually produce a DVD, you need a DVD Burner, and according to the Australian article, that'll set you back around $8,000........As with MPEG-1 decoders when they first came out and sold for exceptionally high prices, these DVD kits should  drop in price in no time..besides these particular DVD authoring kits, are only compatible with MACs...still, it's a start

Everyones going to the movies
Or so it would seem....if you've been taking notice of the latest movies to our screens, but particularly those of the USA, it seems they're all raking in the dough...Blair Witch Project which was made for around $40,000 (not $100,00 as i reported earlier) has made over 80 million dollars in the USA, which i beleive makes it the most profitable film ever (percentage wise).......
Here's the latest figures for the USA releases

POS / TITLE / This weeks takings  /  figures in parentheses total box office takings to date

1. The Sixth Sense, Buena Vista, $26,681,262, (New);
2. The Blair Witch Project, Artisan, $24,347,345, ($80,049,728);
3. Runaway Bride, Paramount,$20,772,654, ($73,820,993);
4. The Thomas Crown Affair, MGM/UA, $14,600,719,(New);
5. Deep Blue Sea, Warner Bros., $11,204,559, ($45,511,440);
6. Mystery Men, Universal, $10,017,865, (New);
7. Inspector Gadget, Buena Vista, $9,173,995, ($64,779,601);
8. The Haunting, DreamWorks, $6,439,877,($77,340,946);
9. The Iron Giant, Warner Bros., $5,732,614, (New);
10.American Pie, Universal, $4,146,445, ($85,508,040).

PS Saw Eyes Wide Shut today at the u-beaut Gold Class cinemas in Brissy today.......(it was cheaper to go to Gold Class with some vouchers from the paper, than the entrance fee for the EKKA this year)....Interesting Film, which didn't seem like 2 1/2 hours.....and the big Orgy sequence everyone is talking about???......it certainly warranted the R18+ Rating.....lotsa pelvic thrusts abound.....

Warner/Buena Vista DVD Shuffle
A few changes have been made to the upcoming Warner/BV DVDs...nothing too serious...but BV are going DVD Date and Day with the VHS Rental on A Bug's Life, AND Warner are going DVD Date and Day Rental with Message in a Bottle...the other changes can be found thru the Studio Releases Page

MONSTER CABLE Price Update
Well we finally got hold of the new price list for Monster Cable, seeing as it carried a Wholesales Tax of 32%.......now down to 22%...
Please drop by the Monster Cable Page for the lastest numbers.

New Links
Found a few links of Interest today.... sweeet.com is a fabulous site dedicated to South Park..they have some hilarious 2D and 3D piccys of South Park Taking off other Movies....my fav has to be "Fatrix".
The other link, which I came across on Sweeet.com is the Scream Trilogy Site.....A must have bookmark for any Scream/Horror Fan

Have you got the Wrong URL Bookmarked??
We have received a few reports of people not being able to get to the DVD Station.....As this site uses Frames you will NOT get the Navigation bar  (to your Left) which is where the DVD Station links are now located if you are bookmarked to the following URL

http://www.ozemail.com.au/~dvdownunder/main.htm

PLEASE CHANGE IT TO

http://www.ozemail.com.au/~dvdownunder/

As for TITANIC being released in the awefully wide aspect ratio of 2:60:1...I'm still chasing up on that ...but the source who gave me this info is generally pretty reliable on these things.....will find out shortly

Video Now Special Offers
Our Region 1 Sponsor Video-Now (who now accept Mastercard) have on offer 2 excellent DVD specials
Heat which carries a RRP of $US19.98 is on offer for a very low $13.89 &
There's somthing about Mary (special Ed'n) normally retailing for a way too high $US34.95 is going for only $US18.79
and as per normal....buy TWO or MORE DVDs from these guys and shipping is FREE

BWP is expected to be released to Theatres here in OZ late in the Year thru Dendy.......can't wait!!!!!...I'm sure the Region 1 DVD will be released before this though..

Visit The Witch

13th October
Lock, Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels / Hard Rain / Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing /
Bean 3 - terrible Tales / Bean 4 - Merry Mishaps / A Life Less Ordinary

10th November
Plunkett & Macleane

1st December
Notting HIll / Elizabeth

Switched Audio tracks on MGM theatrical releases
Over the past few months I've seen a half dozen MGM films at the cinema, and I've been very disappointed that every single one of them has NOT been screened in Digital Sound (though they are released with a DTS soundtrack)....Unfortunately they have only been played in Plain 'Ol Stereo Sound at the U-Beaut Megaplexes in Brisbane which claim to have Multi-format Digital sound in ALL 16 cinemas, and to make matters worse, every sinlge one of them has had the audio tracks switched over so Left sounds come out the right channel and right sounds come out the left channel....I've bitched and moaned to the BCC cinemas about the problems and seeing as the problem is still there, I'm thinking it may encoded incorrectly...god knows why.....so i'm just wondering if anyone else has noticed this problem..as it's really giving me the shits :-(

Clear DVD Cases Back in Stock
We have some more of the Clear DVD Cases (as used by Region 4 CTS), but in limited Quantiy, so please email us before ordering

PS DVD File has started some DTS Vs DD DVD reviews if you're interes.....of course you are, what am I thinking :-)