The Digital Bits 7th Annual "Bitsy" Awards Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

[url=http://www.hometheaterforum.com/images/bitsy.jpg] [/url]

(Click on the above image to access the awards pages)

Is it that time of year already?!

Our good friends over at The Digital Bits have
put their heads together to once again come up with
a list of what they feel are the most deserving of the
"Bitsy" Award.

Please head on over, browse through the lists of the
year's BEST and WORST, and then discuss your thoughts
on them here amongst fellow HTF members!

 

[Bill Hunt]

Thanks as always, Ron, to you and everyone here at the HTF!

Hope you guys all enjoy The Bitsys (and that you feel as though we've done justice to the many fine DVDs that deserved recognition in 2005)! It was certainly a great year for classic films on disc, particularly those in Warner's catalog. We'd love to hear what you think. Best!

 

[Justin W]

great work as always.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

I would have added to the Worst Trends in DVD:

-Multiple releases of the same title (Foolscreen, Unrated, etc) instead of using the format's full capability to put as many versions on a single disc as possible, and even then sometimes not getting the choice of the theatrical version- several titles have been issued "Unrated" with the theatrical cut only available in Foolsreen.

-Shipping discs to stores in cardboard slipcovers OUTSIDE the shrinkwrap- most stores will ruin them by sticking price tags right on them, plus getting banged around on the shelves making them worthless to serious collectors. Also the elimination of inserts on many titles while keeping the empty area for them in the keepcase.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

Hi Ron,
Thanks for all the hard work & a great forum!
Especially, the new HD forum.

And the winners are...

 

[Bill Hunt]

Yeah, that's a good one, but I'm afraid we haven't even seen the worst of it yet. Regular DVD's going to still be around for a long while, not matter what the HD formats do. So you're going to see LOTS more efforts to milk the cow.

 

[Patrick McCart]

I'm glad to see the Oklahoma! SE get the WORST VIDEO award.

Although, it's still kind of annoying to keep seeing the Star Wars repackaging hit polls. I mean, no one is going to put a DVD with a new cover (like the '76 King Kong's re-packaging) as a new release. Still, that has to be at least the most POINTLESS re-issue. Seriously, dock $10 from the price so you don't get the bonus disc? I know some people are cheap enough, but stores still carry both boxes!

I'm not interested in the films for DVD, but I agree that the Lebowski and Office Space "Special Edition" discs look pretty worthless.

 

[Vincent_P]

One quibble-

Cronenberg's THE FLY had been available on DVD in widescreen for years prior to the release of the special edition. In fact, the S.E. used the same transfer.

Vincent

 

[Bill Hunt]

Well... that was tough. We had a helluva time coming up with worst audio candidates. It's a nitpick, admittedly.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

While I would have liked to have seen more special features on the new Office Space disc, I was pretty happy to get an anamorphic release of it for under $10.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

And as long as I'm nitpicking, I don't think Downfall belonged in the "Standard Edition" category (great disc that it is). It includes a commentary track plus about 80 minutes of features.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Bill,

I enjoyed the awards, as always, but there are two discs not mentioned that weren't covered on the Bits last year, so you guys might have missed them. I just want to bring them to your attention (God knows y'all have brought enough good discs to my attention over the years!):

Tae Guk Gi: This Korean film about the Korean War, from the director of Shiri, could have been in the running for best disc overall, best foreign film, and best special feature (for the doc that included interviews with real vets of the war). Easily the top overall disc I reviewed in '05.

Iron Maiden: The Early Years: A competitor for best non-live music DVD, although it does include two concerts in its 5+ hours(!) of material. It's amazing the stuff they dug up for this disc.

 

[Sam Posten]

Great feature Bill, but Sin City shooulda gotten the audience vote =)