Danger, Will Robinson! How do you make a bad TV series worse? Make it into a movie. Or a computer game. Or both! That's the concept behind <I>Lost in Space</I>, a new DVD from <A HREF="http://www.newline.com/">New Line Home Cinema</A>.
Television viewers could soon find themselves in a "walled garden" of digital flora if the predictions of a new report are correct. The report, called <I>Digital Television: How to Survive and Make Money</I>, was generated by technology-analysis firm <A HREF="http://www.ovum.com">Ovum</A>. It outlines the changes taking place in the broadcast industry as a result of the digitization of the medium and the Internet.
M<I>ark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, Don Cheadle, John C. Reilly, William H. Macy, Heather Graham, Nicole Parker, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Directed by P.T. Anderson. Aspect ratio: 2:35:1 (letterbox). Dolby Digital 5.1. 155 minutes. 1998. New Line Platinum Series N4650. Rated R. $24.99.</I>
Plasma display panels (PDPs) are arguably the most revolutionary new video-monitor technology to come along in the last few years. First-generation models are exciting, but they're known to have limitations. However, a recent announcement from <A HREF="http://www.fujitsu.co.jp/index-e.html">Fujitsu Limited</A> should move the plasma approach closer to many living rooms next year.
Satellite broadcasting will be first out of the chute with HDTV. While local broadcasters scramble to comply with FCC mandates to be HD-ready by 1999, satellite services are almost there. On August 25, U.S. Satellite Broadcasting (USSB) announced that it will lease transponder space from DirecTV at the 95°W fixed location so it can begin transmitting HDTV previews. DirecTV will also beam HD programming from the same satellite.
New music revitalizes old movie: the Kronos Quartet has just completed an intense eight-day recording session at Lucasfilm's Skywalker Ranch studio in Marin County, north of San Francisco. The Quartet laid down a Philip Glass score for a reissue of <I>Dracula</I>, the 1931 horror flick starring Béla Lugosi. The effort is part of a <A HREF="http://www.mca.com/home/">Universal Home Video</A> project that will bring classic early horror films to a new audience.
Last week, <A HREF="http://www.image-entertainment.com">Image Entertainment</A> announced the acquisition of Ken Crane's LaserDisc/DVD Internet-based direct-to-consumer business, a division of <A HREF="http://www.kencranes.com">Ken Crane's Home Entertainment</A> of Hawthorne, CA. Long a favorite among laserdisc aficionados, and more recently DVD fans, the business was purchased for approximately $6.5 million in a combination of cash, stock, and the assumption of certain liabilities, subject to adjustment.
I<I>an Holm, Maury Chaykin, Peter Donaldson, Bruce Greenwood, David Hemblin, Brooke Johnson, Arsinée Khanjian, Tom McCamus, Stephanie Morgenstern, Earl Pastko, Sarah Polley, Gabrielle Rose, Alberta Watson. Directed by Atom Egoyan. Aspect ratio: 2:35:1 (letterbox). Dolby Digital 5.1. 116 minutes. 1998. New Line Platinum Series N4654. R. $24.99.</I>
Interactive TV will reach 10 million viewers by 2002, but a new report from <A HREF="http://www.forrester.com">Forrester Research, Inc.</A> concludes that television providers and interactivity vendors have completely misunderstood the promise of the new medium. For interactive television to succeed, programmers must embrace lazy interactivity---an approach designed for TV viewers of short attention spans.