March 8
+ Friends - The Complete Ninth Season
+ Columbo - The Complete Second Season
+ Ladder 49
March 15
+ Hogan's Heroes - The Complete First Season
+ The Incredibles (Full Screen 2-Disc Collector's Edition)
+ Red Dwarf - Series 5 and 6
March 22
+ Finding Neverland
+ Star Wars - Clone Wars, Vol. 1 (Animated)
+ Bridget Jones - The Edge of Reason
Later releases:
+ The West Wing - The Complete Fourth Season (April 5)
+ Ocean's Twelve (April 12)
+ Magnum, P.I. - The Complete Second Season (April 12)
+ Meet The Fockers (April 19)
+ House of Flying Daggers (April 19)
The Macrovision Corporation claims that its new technology will eliminate most PC-based piracy of movies. The California-based company says the system, known as RipGuard DVD, does not require any additional hardware or software on a PC, but any attempt to rip a DVD will simply cause the ripper to crash. The company would only say its RipGuard DVD uses the Universal Disk Format for DVDs to prevent the file being ripped to a PC's hard disk before it can be copied to a blank disk. PC Pro says it is by no means the first attempt to prevent widespread copying of DVDs. To prevent piracy DVD, contents have to be protected from three possible points of attack: the DVD video decoders, recordable storage devices and analogue devices such as TVs or VCRs, the journal says.
Read the info posted on the Macrovision web site if you would like to know more.
Aussie stars Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman have reportedly had a falling out over comments Crowe made recently. Crowe, never one to keep his opinion to himself, criticized actors that he felt used their celebrity simply to make money. He named George Clooney, Robert DeNiro and Harrison Ford as examples of actors who do commericials, which he feels violates the social contract an actor shares with their audience. Kidman, though not named by Crowe, reportedly took offense to the remarks having just signed a lucrative deal with Chanel.
Eucalyptus, the movie they were both working on in Australia, was cancelled just before filming was due to start. Although officially the film was canned because 'the screenplay is not where it needed to be', sources claim Crowe was unhappy that Kidman had more screen time than him. The film tells the tale of Ellen and a story-telling stranger - played by Kidman and Crowe - they fall in love but he must name every variety of eucalyptus tree on her father's estate to win her hand in marriage.
The Aviator cleaned up at the British Academy Film Awards, taking four prizes including best film. Director Martin Scorsese and star Leonardo DiCaprio went home empty-handed, Cate Blanchett won a best supporting actress award and the film picked up honors for production design and best hair and makeup. The U.K. awards, known as BAFTAs, have become a highly anticipated pre-Oscars event ever since they were moved in 2000 from April to February.
A variety of gamer sites are reporting that Microsoft has cut a deal with Alex Garland, writer of "28 Days Later" and "The Beach" to work on a movie adaptation of the popular Halo franchise. Microsoft has yet to comment on the matter, except to say that Halo is a hotly sought-after property. Halo 2 has sold over 6 million copies worldwide since its release, bringing the sales total for both Halo games to almost 13 million units.
Film adaptations of video games have been inconsistent at the box office. For every success like Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" there are many failures like Final Fantasy, Super Mario Bros, Double Dragon, etc.
Whattorent.com is a website that attempts to aid users in coming up with ideas of movies to rent. The site has a questionnaire that helps judge how adventurous you are, whether you seek the familiar or the challenging in pop-culture experiences ranging from restaurants to fashion. The site then tries to match you with an appropriate movie. You can also answer a question about your mood on that particular day.
I ran an informal test and I felt the site really worked for me. I input my preferences and the choices it came back with were pretty accurate. It recommended several films that I have seen already but really enjoyed like Clockwork Orange, Requiem for a Dream, 8 1/2, Trainspotting, Talk to Her, City of God and Being John Malkovich. It recommeded some that I have not seen but have intended to, such as Pi and Satyricon and a couple that I might never watch such as Eyes Wide Shut and Virgin Suicides.
Though they involve a bit more work, you might also want to check out a couple of sites that base their recommendations off your own rating of films. Have a look at eitherFilmAffinity.com or MovieLens.org.
The search is on for a younger actor to star as Agent 007 in the next James Bond film, "Casino Royale," which will be based on Ian Fleming's very first novel about the British spy with a license to kill. MGM and the producers behind the Bond franchise said no decision has been made about casting. The most recent Bond, Pierce Brosnan, suggested that his Irish compatriate Colin Farrell would be ideal for the role, but Farrell has said he is not interested. Other actors who have been rumoured as possible replacements include Ewan McGregor, Hugh Jackman, Jude Law, Eric Bana and Clive Owen.