Remember in the 1980s when VHS and Betamax duked it out? Apparently the manufacturers of the future of home video have not learned from past mistakes (or, more specifically, they don’t much care that consumers will by and large stand on the sidelines while they duke it out), and we’re doomed to repeat the Format War for the future of DVD. (Read more…)

I sometimes wonder how it is that certain movie directors earn enough cachet in Hollywood to become name brands. Sure, I can understand the idea of a “name brand” being applied to the likes of Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese or a dozen others — although it should be noted that Spielberg is more of a “brand” (because of his mainstream appeal) whereas Scorsese is more of a guy who is thought of as a famous and respected director rather than a “brand.” (Read more…)

Well, it’s official. “Live Free or Die Hard” has been rated PG-13. There was a time when I could not fathom a “Die Hard” movie without an R rating, but given today’s climate, this PG-13 was inevitable. The first three “Die Hards” were released when studios actually put out R-rated action flicks. Now studios believe there is no such thing as an R-rated blockbuster (and everything in summer is positioned as a possible blockbuster), because you are denying too much of the all-important under-17 demographic. Now every would-be blockbuster is trimmed down to PG-13, even when they were born to be rated R. (Read more…)

Is everyone so wrapped up in their personal crusades that they can’t see anything from the standpoint of basic logic? (Read more…)