The Rage In The Kage Vol. 1
Written by: Kage Alan

          I’ve been thinking about writing some of my thoughts down now for awhile, but just haven’t had the time or the inclination once my reviews are sent off. Sure, reviewing DVDs seems like a cake job, right? Just watch the film, put your 2 cents worth in and hope you made the slightest bit of sense. That’s what I thought it was going to be like and then those lovely little "Special Editions" started to arrive. Take "Wilde" for example. The film is 2 hours long, then there’s 90 minutes of documentaries and a commentary, which means watching the film again. We’re now up to 5 ½ hours and that doesn’t even include time spent writing the review and then looking for those pesky misspellings and other bits of editing that I somehow seem to miss. Still, would I give it up? Um, no. I just like to have things to complain about. I’m like my mother that way.

So, now I get to point out all the things that I’ve found annoying lately. Ready for some fun??? <evil grin> Warner Bros. anybody? Oh, it’s almost too easy. When Warner announced last year that it was going to release "Cats And Dogs" in Pan and Scan only, DVD purists and fans united, signed a petition, sent it in and Warner had a change of heart. It wasn’t that Warner suddenly developed a heart of gold. No no no. They decided to have a little fun at the consumer’s expense. The day the disc was due out, only Pan and Scan versions appeared on the shelves of local stores like Best Buy, Media Play, Sun Coast and Circuit City. There was nothing in their computers to even indicate that a Widescreen copy was going to be released and no memo from Warner stating that there would be a 2 week delay in sending out the disc. It’s actually even rare today to find more than a handful of Widescreen copies of "Cats And Dogs" mixed in with a huge number of the dreaded Pan and Scans.

My other beef with Warner stemmed from their lack of putting television shows out in full seasons. "The Best Of Friends" Vol. 1-4 were what we got and I remember watching Part 1 of the wedding in England episode only to discover that Part 2 was nowhere to be found, so I did what any sensible collector would do. I gave the first two volumes to my parents and bought the first full 6 seasons from England. Now, I understand that the studio needs to find out if there’s enough interest to make an investment worthwhile, but everybody who shelled out money and bought the first 4 volumes is going to find themselves shelling out more money for the seasons (Warner is releasing Friends Season One). Furthermore, what are they going to do with the Best Of Volumes? Use them to set your cups down on is my preference.

And don’t EVEN get me started on their release of Babylon 5. Okay, you got me started on it. I won’t lie to you, it stunk…BAD. Tell me if this makes sense to you. If you wanted to gage the potential for selling a season of a show and making it worth the investment, would you:

1. Release a 90 minute prequel along with a poorly looking and sounding 90 minute premier with no extras

Or

2. Release a 90 minute prequel and cleaned up 90 minute premier and add a few extras to demonstrate that you have confidence in your product, believe in it and want to hint to fans some of what they can expect that will make them WANT to buy a full season of the show?

That was a really long sentence, but you get the idea. Well, fans and Warner lucked out because their lousy release sold enough copies to spur them on to release a full season. I’m actually glad that it did because I’ll be one of the first people to buy the season when it comes out, but I worry that it sent Warner a message that consumers are willing to settle with crappy half-hearted editions. We’re not.

Now, it wouldn’t be fair to say that Warner Bros. doesn’t release some very good films and decent editions of those films because they do. When we’re happy, we’re happy and we look to keep on being happy…which might just explain my collection of discs. Maybe my boyfriend is right when he says I’m looking for happiness in all the wrong places. Oh, what does he know anyway? So, when we’re happy and then suddenly find ourselves unhappy because we spent money and got screwed, it tends to be the more memorable experience that we carry with us.

My closing thoughts? Warner Bros., better discs, less screwing.

Which, oddly enough, reminds me about Artisan. Next time…

Kage holds degrees in Creative Writing, as well as Film & Video. He has been featured in a Life Journey Tele-Course, published poems in several national anthologies, been a contributor to The Third Coast Magazine and written several novels. kage@modamag.com This site is about: movies, copyright, beautiful, beauty, style, moda, glam, glamour, links, news, scoop, film, music, reviews, dvd, moda, style, the, review, movie, daily, photos, films, interview, interviews, lord, of, rings, ring, trailer, with, star, free, story, article, feature, column, reporters, acting, actors, design, cover, models, mamie, van, doren, celebrity, celebrities, production, producer, actor, actress, fame, mini, website, press, journalism, design, web, shrek, brotherhood, release, official, new, comments, 2002, spoilers, music, we, review, staff, pop, books, cosmetics, culture, and, much, more.