Audio Video News

<I>Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton, Richard Roxburgh, John Polson, Brendon Gleeson, Rade Serbedzija, Ving Rhames. Directed by John Woo. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby 2.0 (French). 123 minutes. 2000. Paramount Home Video 33487. PG-13. $29.99.</I>

The film industry is going to hate this. A Santa Monica technology company has announced a digital video compression scheme that supposedly can increase the data density of ordinary DVDs by three to ten times.

Last week <A HREF="http://www.jvc.com">JVC</A> announced that the final touches have been applied and the D'Ahlia 61" D-ILA hologram HDTV rear projection television (official model number AV-61S902) has begun shipping to several retailers nationwide and will soon be available to consumers at a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $13k.

<I>Jimmy Cliff, Janet Bartley, Earl Bradshaw, Ras Daniel Hartman. Directed by Perry Henzell. Aspect ratio: 1.66:1. Dolby Digital 2.0 (mono). 103 minutes. 1973. The Criterion Collection 83. R. $35.99.</I>

There won't be any end to the blitz of new movies and television shows, thanks to an agreement reached late July 3 between members of the <A HREF="http://www.sag.org">Screen Actors Guild</A> (SAG), the <A HREF="http://www.aftra.org">American Federation of Television and Radio Artists</A> (AFTRA), and Hollywood film studios. Actors agreed to keep working beyond the expiration date of their old contract on June 30; discussions were said to be "amicable" and "low-key."

Movie tickets worth approximately $3.89 <I>billion</I> were sold in the United States during the first six months of 2001. That number is a 10% increase over the same period in the previous year, according to a report from Exhibitor Relations Company, which tracks business trends for the theater industry.