April 18, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Fox News is taking advantage of Pope Benedict XVI’s April visit to the U.S. by releasing the DVD profile Mission to America, which chronicles the man, his mission and the role he desires for the Roman Catholic Church in the 21st century. 

Hosted by Chris Wallace and aired on the news channel April 13, the documentary shows how the man born as Joseph Ratzinger grew up in small villages in Germany’s Bavaria as Hitler came to power. Ratzinger became a priest, college professor and top advisor to Pope John Paul II before becoming Pope himself to face the challenges of dwindling numbers of Catholics in Europe, priest scandals and shortages in the U.S. and the spread of radical Islam in the world. 

Mission to America will be available through manufacturing-on-demand via Amazon.com on May 13, priced at $19.95.

April 2, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

With American Gangster having just been released on DVD by Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Paramount Home Entertainment should find plenty of interest in the release of the second season of  the BET series American Gangster (street June 3, prebook April 22; three-disc set $36.99), which explores similar material in documentary form, narrated by Ving Rhames. The second volume looks at crime figures including the Philly Black Mafia, the D.C. Snipers and Frank Lucas, the subject of the American Gangster feature film.

March 19, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Mill Creek Entertainment is distributing mixed martial arts titles from ProElite in boxed sets under the names Rumble on the Rock, ICON Sport and Cage Rage.

The first set was released March 18, Rumble on the Rock “Superstar Collection” ($14.98). It's a five-event, two-disc set featuring MMA stars such as Anderson Silva and BJ Penn.

So, says Douglas DeLuca, executive chairman and co-founder of ProElite: “This is an excellent opportunity to leverage our existing library that features three of our premier MMA brands. Through the years, the biggest names in the sport have fought in these shows, which, in many cases, will now be available on DVD for the first time.”

March 13, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

One of my sisters won't stop watching illegal downloads, but I can give credit to another one of my sisters for watching the legal kind. I asked my youngest sister, who has two young kids and a new baby, if she's bought any good DVDs for kids lately. She said she hasn't bought a DVD for a while, but she did recently download some kids' TV shows - Sesame Street, Disney and PBS stuff - from iTunes. That's good for the download business, I guess, but what does it mean for the DVD business, and for TV?

March 4, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (4)

My mother-in-law and her 80-year-old boyfriend watched an illegal copy of No Country for Old Men before the Oscars. They said their friends bought it on the subway. What do I do now, report 80-year-olds to the police for receiving stolen property? My sister in another state got a copy too, from someone who was selling DVDs for $5 in her workplace. The movie doesn’t come out on DVD legitimately until March 11. When my sister saw The Simpsons on an illegal copy before its official DVD release, I told her she was harming the industry. She said she thought it was OK because the guy got it through a download from another country. Downloads have become extremely popular – just not the kind the industry makes money on. What should be done about this?