Thanks Gord, all your work is much appreciated, especially the unfortunate task of having to pester the studios. Do most of them take criticism very well?
I'll hold off on getting American Gothic for a bit. Not expecting any improvements on the release, but I'd at least like to hear what Universal has to say about it before any cash is given to them.
It depends on how it's done. Calling a studio names while yelling and screaming only hurts your position. I try to use positive reinforcement; when they do something right then I praise them, and if they do something wrong I try to find a way to fix the problem. Sometimes I do this in my DVD reviews, and sometimes I'll talk to them directly (if I have access to the right people). The good news is that a lot of people know of the site, so they've usually heard of me before I approach them.
I had a rather embarrassing moment when I met a rep from a studio I've complained about in my reviews countless times. The person mentioned they had read some of my reviews, and there was an awkward silence on my part until I finally said, "Oh....you've read the reviews....huh?" The person said my negative reviews have helped prompt them to try to improve their DVD releases, so I took the opportunity to hand over names of excellent TV-DVD producers (people who have created some of the top TV-DVD releases). The best part - a few months later I got a call from some of those people saying they were contacted by the studio and asked to submit proposals for upcoming releases. Sometimes bitching pays off, but you have to be careful how you say it.
I have a 300 disc multi-DVD player that flips the DVDs and plays the other side as well. Since most of my collection actually lives inside the player, I love double-sided discs. If (and this is a BIG if) double-sided discs were properly made (didn't skip or freeze up in certain spots), I would want ALL my discs to be double-sided. To be fair though, I have never had any problems at all with any double-sided discs except for the ones released by Universal. I wish Universal would find a properly made double-sided disc from another company, and either learn how to make the discs right, or hire the other company's pressing plant. Anyway, there definitely IS a problem with alot of Universal's double-sided discs, and they need to address the problem, or expect to lose ALOT of customers. I, for one, am no longer buying any Universal double-sided discs until I read somewhere that the problem has been addressed and fixed.