Originally Posted by PhantomStranger (Post 12160310)

The studios love the business model streaming provides because it cuts out the retailer as middleman.

Originally Posted by Alan Smithee (Post 12160673)

"Digital" is the new version of this:

...

;)

Originally Posted by Mr. Salty (Post 12160702)

With streaming there's still a retailer as middleman. Apple, Amazon, Vudu, Netflix or whoever.

Originally Posted by Solid Snake (Post 12159403)

Sounds like you're bitching cuz of your white people problems. Assuming you're a gringo. If not... Let us call them first world problems.

Originally Posted by Matthew Chmiel (Post 12160735)

Yes and no.

Studios provide the content, the services at that point act as the distributor. The money made from streaming rentals and sales ends up going mostly to the studio, with some studios making upwards of 70%. The middle man of the companies that replicate the discs, create packaging, distribute the discs to retailers, and so on and so on is entirely eliminated within the streaming model.

A movie that sells at $20 on iTunes makes a studio far more than a Blu-ray selling at $20.

Originally Posted by caligulathegod (Post 12160610)

The hidden outtake reel from Boogie Nights IS on the Blu-ray.

Originally Posted by Matthew Chmiel (Post 12160735)

Studios provide the content, the services at that point act as the distributor. The money made from streaming rentals and sales ends up going mostly to the studio, with some studios making upwards of 70%. The middle man of the companies that replicate the discs, create packaging, distribute the discs to retailers, and so on and so on is entirely eliminated within the streaming model.

Originally Posted by trespoochies (Post 12160911)

And how many are buying new movies for $20 online only? I have no idea, but that idea seems stupid.

Originally Posted by Alan Smithee (Post 12160484)

But likely some studio people would lose their jobs if that happened, so they should be doing their best to keep making physical media attractive. Of course every time I watch a rented movie on Vudu, I'm reminded why I will never switch to buying movies that way.

Originally Posted by Alan Smithee (Post 12161722)

Sometimes it's the principle of the thing though- crappy packaging just makes me think the studio is saying "We don't care about these anymore." If they WANT to get people to stop buying media then they're doing the right thing there, but if they want it to survive then they should be more conscious of the collector mentality. Why do you think LPs are coming back? People like the cover art! (I don't buy current music on LP BTW, but I get why some people do and it makes more sense than buying MP3s.)

Originally Posted by rocket1312 (Post 12161887)

I don't think people are buying LPs because of the cover art. That might be part of it, but it's hardly the only (or biggest) reason.

Originally Posted by Solid Snake (Post 12161942)

No way would there ever be a region free business culture for a disc format. No way. That's just stupid for them to do.

As a fan of film... I wish they were all region free.

Originally Posted by Solid Snake (Post 12161942)

No way would there ever be a region free business culture for a disc format. No way. That's just stupid for them to do.

Originally Posted by kefrank (Post 12161955)

HD DVD, which had the backing of multiple major studios for a time, was region free. However, I believe that was one of the sticking points for the studios that were Blu-ray only and thus, one of the many contributing factors to the death of the format, so your point stands.

Originally Posted by morriscroy (Post 12161947)

In theory and also in practice, dvd is effectively "region free" due to the poorly implemented encryption system of CSS.

For bluray, in practice it is effectively "region free" if one knows what to do.

Originally Posted by kefrank (Post 12161955)

HD DVD, which had the backing of multiple major studios for a time, was region free. However, I believe that was one of the sticking points for the studios that were Blu-ray only and thus, one of the many contributing factors to the death of the format, so your point stands.

Originally Posted by morriscroy (Post 12161975)

(This may be a moot point now).

At times I wonder, whether Microsoft's support of hd-dvd wasn't much more than an easy way of "muddying up" the hd optical disc market.

Originally Posted by Dan (Post 12161936)

Dear Blu-ray,

You need to spend money putting out catalog releases that I care about,


Love,
Dan

Originally Posted by davidlynchfan (Post 12162039)

What catalog releases would you care about?, just curious.

Originally Posted by Alan Smithee (Post 12161722)

Sometimes it's the principle of the thing though- crappy packaging just makes me think the studio is saying "We don't care about these anymore." If they WANT to get people to stop buying media then they're doing the right thing there, but if they want it to survive then they should be more conscious of the collector mentality. Why do you think LPs are coming back? People like the cover art! (I don't buy current music on LP BTW, but I get why some people do and it makes more sense than buying MP3s.)

Originally Posted by morriscroy (Post 12161929)

If I just wanted the cover art, wouldn't it be easier to just buy a poster of it and hang it up on the wall?

These days, one can probably google up a high resolution picture of an album's cover art.

Originally Posted by morriscroy (Post 12161975)

(This may be a moot point now).

At times I wonder, whether Microsoft's support of hd-dvd wasn't much more than an easy way of "muddying up" the hd optical disc market.

Originally Posted by Dan (Post 12162066)

I'm personally interested in more films from the late 90's and early/mid 2000's. Stuff that definitely doesn't have a big following, but a basic Blu-ray with excellent PQ/AQ and no features is all I want these days. I get that there's not enough demand, so it's a losing battle, to be sure.

In terms of North American discs (not imports), I'd like:

The Straight Story
Lost Highway (the import I have is terrible, although the best option to date)
Mulholland Drive (import is nice, but a US/CAN release would be an instant buy)
Spider (one of my favourite Cronenberg flicks)
Spartan (David Mamet!)
Breach (my HD DVD is great and all, but this would be an instant purchase)
Ghost in the Shell, SAC (full TV series. Crazy expensive in Japan)

I'm sure there's more that I've simply forgotten about. If I browse my DVD collection, I'm sure I could find a bunch more.

Originally Posted by Hokeyboy (Post 12162265)

I don't understand the "packaging" mentality, but that's me. All my discs are in binders -- CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays, video games, the works. All packaging gets tossed immediately. I began adhering to a no-clutter aesthetic years ago and it's done wonders for my piece of mind. :up:

Originally Posted by Supermallet (Post 12161587)

Says the guy who watches movies on VHS and laserdisc. Give me a fucking break. VUDU looks 1,000 times better than those any day of the week. Now, if it's between watching a film I already own on Blu-ray versus Netflix, obviously I'm going with BD. But if it's a movie I'm only going to watch once, and it's on Netflix, then Netflix is fine. As for the complaints in the OP, I agree with them to a point. I think bitching about eco cases or labels is pretty silly. How long do you hold a case in your hands or look at the top of the disc? Less than a minute, I would imagine. As someone who lives in an apartment, giant boxes for media are the bane of my existence. I do agree that we should be getting all the special features ported over. That stuff is just inexcusable.

Originally Posted by PatD (Post 12159213)

Dear Blu Ray,

I love your picture quality. Your sharp, detailed images are hard to beat (until the next format-that-will-eventually-require-me-to-upgrade comes along).

That being said, in building my collection of you and replacing my once proud DVD collection that was ravaged years ago, I've been underwhelmed oftentimes by you. I mean, when I collected The Twilight Zone Complete Series sets on DVD, they came in large tome-like sets with artwork that was appropriate to the content. I was proud to display them in my collection! But, my Blu ray versions of you, while they have some nice extras the DVD didn't, the whole series completely "meh" on my shelf. Sometimes large is nice. Ditto for the Superman Movie Collection.

And when rebuilding my catalog movie collection--GOD! Why can't you carry ALL the special features from the DVD sets? Does it really cost that much? Couldn't you just up the price? (You'll accuse me that I'd complain about your price. But, money is no object when it comes to fine home video!) What about the easter eggs? They were a fun little treat to so many DVDs, but rarely you don't even bother! The secret deleted scene from Bedazzled DVD carried over to the Blu ray version? Nuh uh. The gag reel from Magnolia or Boogie Nights? No dice. (In fairness, you did carry over the easter eggs to the Star Trek Movie sets so: thanks!)

And the menu selection! Oftentimes, you just don't even try to make if fun to access material with animated menus! And as far as your outward appearance goes: unless it's a special occasion like Criterion, you don't feel the need to spruce yourself up with a booklet!

I don't hate you Blu ray, your picture quality is great and I wouldn't trade you for all the streaming in the world. Sometimes you'll surprise me with something wonderful like the upcoming Halloween Collection or including Terror in the Aisles with the 30th Anniversary Edition of Halloween II. But, collecting you has been such a drag sometimes. I just wish you'd try harder and help me rekindle my love of collecting movies…

Your pal,

PatD

Originally Posted by PhantomStranger (Post 12162322)

I think they wanted to back a different horse in the war for their Xbox against the PS3. They had to rush the Xbox360 to market if they had any hope of beating Sony coming off the PS2 and their backing of HD DVD was a consequence of that choice.

Originally Posted by Dan (Post 12162003)

I don't think their intentions were quite so sinister. The format had its consumer-focused benefits (region free, standard features of players, etc.), but in the end none of that mattered after Warner jumped ship.

Originally Posted by story (Post 12159780)

Dear Blu-ray,

Your occasional slow load times and sometimes inability to resume playback seem to be a distinct step backward in technological advancement and I find it frustrating.

Later,
story

Originally Posted by Nick Danger (Post 12159959)

I don't like animated menus. I would love it if all Blu Rays had a plain text menu that loaded instantly, and responded instantly to my selection. The disks I've watched lately are slower than VHS clunk-a-vision.

Originally Posted by Ranger (Post 12159969)

Is there a blu-ray player that always skips the menu and previews and goes straight to the movie? Would love that.

Originally Posted by Hokeyboy (Post 12162265)

I don't understand the "packaging" mentality, but that's me. All my discs are in binders -- CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays, video games, the works. All packaging gets tossed immediately. I began adhering to a no-clutter aesthetic years ago and it's done wonders for my piece of mind. :up:

And yes, I would like a cookie...