Recent content by Charlie Essmeier

Holding out for HD isn't exactly new. I've been holding out since 1996, when I first heard that the successor to laserdisc would NOT be a high definition format, but would be just more of the same - NTSC. I did break down and buy a DVD player in 2002, but most of the handful of DVDs I own...

The one and only time I have ever attempted to purchase something at Best Buy, I presented a signed, valid Visa card for payment, and declined to show ID when asked. I was told that this was "required", even though Visa specifically prohibits their merchants from requiring ID as a condition of...

DVD trends that continue to tick me off: 1. Forced trailers 2. Forced menus. If I want a menu, I'll press the "menu" button. I'm only going to watch the extras once; why do I have to navigate around them every time I insert the disc? I want the movie to start automatically unless I press the...

It would indeed be sad not to find out if Anakin becomes Darth Vader. Charlie

Much to my surprise, my local Wal-Mart, located in rural Utah, has piles of fullscreen versions and very few widescreen versions in stock. There's lots of empty space where the widescreen versions used to be. The tide is turning, albeit very slowly. Charlie PS I didn't buy either, BTW...

I'm one who didn't care for any of the changes, including changing the title of the first film in the series. Lucas is still free to do as he wishes, and as a potential customer, I am free to ignore them. Ultimately, like everyone else who doesn't care for the changes, I can only vote with my...

I hate menus, period. I particularly hate having them forced upon me every time I insert the disc, when all I want to do is watch the film. I want to press "play" and watch the movie. If I want to see a menu, I'll press the "menu" button. Menus should be as simple and unobtrusive as possible...

My response to the question of how many DVDs I own? "I don't know." Charlie

I've never been too worked up about DVD. By the time DVD hit the shelves in 1997, it was already known that HDTV would be here in 1998, which would pretty much render DVD not good enough. It did, and it has, as anyone who watches Alias in HD when broadcast but has to watch it in 480i on DVD...

As far as I know, it's 1.33:1. I think that's how I saw it in an art house back in the 1970's. It wouldn't be chopped; it would be open matte, but given that animation costs a bundle, it would be pointless to draw at 1.33:1 while planning to crop to 1.85:1 in the theaters. There's just no...

When I saw Anything Else in the theater, there was a handmade sign placed on the door of the theater that stated that the sound would be mono. I thought it odd that they'd posted a sign for that on the door, but it was, indeed, mono. Charlie

Video Essentials. Charlie

I'm lost regarding this Apu thing. Did someone make three films about the guy who works at the Kwik-E-Mart? ;) Charlie

As far as I know, the last U.S. laserdisc releases were Martin Scorcese's [i] Bringing Out the Dead{/I] and [i] Sleepy Hollow{/I]. Charlie