Wouldn't it be nice if some of these DVD sites knew film? (1 Viewer)

[SteveGon]

Review mistakes don't bother me. It happens. The Digital Bits was one of the first sites I went to after I got into dvd and I think it's one of the best. Same goes for DVDFile.
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My top ten movies that need to be on dvd:
1. Akira Kurosawa's Dreams 2. Freaks 3. Men With Guns 4. The Ninth Configuration 5. The Reflecting Skin 6. Santa Sangre 7. Treasure of the Sierra Madre 8. Voyager 9. White Heat 10. Wings of Desire

 

[Randall Dorr]

If I could only go to one DVD site for the rest of my life, it would be DVDFile. They usually get news and their reviews out before any of the other sites, and they stay on top of any relevant information.
However, they do make a number of factual mistakes. Case in point: The review of the Godfather Collection states the films as having been released in 1971, 1975 and 1992. Even if you're not a fan of the Godfathers, they're such cinematic landmarks, anyone who knows anything about film should be able to tell you when they came out. I sent an email pointing out this error, but I didn't get a response and the review wasn't corrected.

 

[Brian Lawrence]

"Wouldn't it be nice if some of these DVD sites knew film?"
Well I really don't care how much a reviewer likes or dislikes a certain movie, but the area in which I often find some reviewers to be rather ignorant is in the way certain films should look. The biggest offender in this regard is WIDESCREEN REVIEW, I'm talking about reviewers whom expect everything to look and sound like STARSHIP TROOPERS, I'm talking about reviewers who seem to refuse to give any mono soundtrack a rating better than a C-, regardless of how well preserved or restored it may be. Reviewers who can look at a stunning transfer of and old low budget Lucio Fulci or Mario Bava film and give it a poor ranking because it has some filmgrain or scratches or does not have the same "sharp crisp look that pops of the screen" as their X-Men dvd they watched the night before

[Edited last by Brian Lawrence on October 19, 2001 at 10:54 PM]

 

[Jim Bivins]

Brian, I could not agree more! I think that is the key argument here. Widescreen review is one of the culprits that urks me the most! They can't seem to see the art of the film, just the technology of DVD...it becomes a matter of how much is this title going to max my expensive system.
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[soop.spoon]

waitasec... members cannot provide links to other DVD sites that might be of interest? Why not? I don't get it...

 

[Chris Beveridge]

Rain,

I have to say though, and I'm not naming names, but what does kind of irritate me a little is sites that post email addresses, invite feedback, and then don't respond to inquiries made by email.

I go out of my way to make sure people don't send me email. On a daily average, I get about 100 emails to the site regarding various things. And I doubt we're anywhere near the range of sites like DVD File and Digital Bits or the others listed.
I personally try to correct errors as I get told about them (I provide a separate email address for those, and they get flagged as first to be read). But I also make it a point to mention that replies aren't guaranteed for anything. With some of the email I get, the questions they're asking are what's written right on the front page. There's only so much time in the day....
If I have a choice of answering the same question for the 1000th time or taking a few more minutes to play with my daughter, I'll take the second option. The first one can be found out easily. I'm sure I'm not the only one who deals with it that way.

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Chris Beveridge
Webmaster, www.animeondvd.com
Animation and stories for those who like to think outside of the Disney box

 

[Andrew 'Ange Hamm' Hamm]

[RANT]
This is all just sympomatic of the "DVD = toy" mentality that dominates every aspect of the medium.
We get golly-gee-neato animated menus that haven't been tested on Toshiba DVD players. We get shucks-ain't-that-clever Easter Eggs hidden every which place and every which way. We get forced trailers. We get 5.1 surround remixes of films that were in mono. We get new "Special editions" that have one or two more features than the previous edition. We get director-modified cuts of films correcting "mistakes" from 20 years ago and invalidating the historicity of the document. Oh, yeah, and somewhere on the disc there's a film.
[PRETENTIOSNESS]
Ignorance of art is the enemy of society. You can quote me on that if you give a damn about what it means.
[/PRETENTIOSNESS]
Ah for the simple joys of laserdisc...
[/RANT]
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Andrew Hamm's new album Link Removed is available now!
[Edited last by Andrew 'Ange Hamm' Hamm on October 20, 2001 at 09:11 AM]

 

[David Lambert]

Also, no links to other sites is allowed! Thank you.

Why not, Robert?
Everyone else -
I agree that DVDFile is the best out there, despite the occaisional error. Lighten up, guys. NICELY send him a correction and he usually listens. I'm surprised he hasn't chimed in here yet, but I'm sure he will.
As for The Digital Bits, I agree that the site isn't updated as often as I like, and that server problems have plagued them mercilessly. However, I don't feel like I've paid too much money to Bill Hunt...do you? If you don't like it, don't surf there. Just like I stopped surfing to AICN because of their uber-spamming.
There are a vast number of sites that are probably underrated and under-known, and which I apparently cannot post links to at this time.

BUT: Along with HTF, these two sites remain the creme-de-la-creme (sic?) of the DVD sites on the web. Let's not turn them into the issue-of-the-day. There's more important things to worry about, right guys?
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DAVE/Memphis

MORE TV ON DVD, PLEASE!

 

[GlennH]

I think all the sites do a good job, and since they're free, why should I complain? One will do a better job covering one thing while another does better at something else.
I may look at thebigpicturedvd.com one day and say to myself, "Hmm, Jeff hasn't added much new of interest here for a while," but then the next day he is the first to post a bunch of screen caps for DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, which I'm really interested in. Same thing at the other sites like DVDFile, the bits, DVD Review, digitallyOBSESSED, etc. They all complement each other. As to opinions on certain films, well everybody has them and I don't feel offended one way or the other.
Regarding errors - I think it's a good idea for a site to have a specific e-mail link where readers can easily notify them of erroneous information on their site. Errors happen and it's the sign of a good website who will quickly correct them when notified. The owners should place a priority on reading that e-mail.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

quote: quote: Also, no links to other sites is allowed! Thank you.[/quote]
Why not, Robert?[/quote]
Robert's not around, but I'm sure he was referring to the person who made no comment except to say that you could read reviews at his site. Talk about the topic at hand (within reason) but don't just come in here tooting your own horn. That's tacky.
-Steve
[Edited last by Steve Tannehill on October 20, 2001 at 10:37 AM]

 

[Dharmesh C]

When you have thousands of pages, mistakes are bound to appear, it's our job to e-mail the site and let them know of their mistake.
DVDFILE do a top job, very professional and quality web design.
The Digital Bits have slowed down totally, I wonder why???
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British film-making blows away Hollywood.
Why? Verisimilitude!
Superman CINEMA
http://www.deceptions.net/superman

 

[Robert Crawford]

We don't look fondly upon people coming over here and advertising other websites or information on other websites with simple links. This includes product or software reviews.
We make it policy here not to go on other websites and advertise HTF.

Crawdaddy
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Peter Staddon: "I didn't say you can put 'Monkeybone' back!"

 

[Scott Weinberg]

If you go to a site like DVD File or Digital Bits looking for film-intensive reviews, you're already on the wrong trail. There are dozens of solid sites out there that analyze movies. The guys who write for DVD sites are not necessarily 'film critics', nor should they be.
With very few exceptions, I have always enjoyed the 'movie opinions' of the DVDFile staff. But what I'm most interested in from these writers is Audio and Picture quality, special features and things like that.
Maybe I just don't like to criticize, because I'm a movie reviewer myself, but I think the DVD reviewers do a pretty solid job when it comes to writing about "the movie itself".
Cinematic knowledge aside, the best critics are remembered for their opinions and not their facts.
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Scott Weinberg
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http://www.ofcs.org