I don’t want to rewrite this article about the fight over Wizard of Oz trademarks, so you really should visit the link, but here’s a short version: The book The Wizard of Oz is in public domain, since it was published in 1899. The 1939 movie is not; it’s owned by Warner Bros., along with [...]

I’m not a huge fan of heist movies — I blush to admit that I still haven’t seen the Ocean’s 11 remake or its sequels — but the cast of this one was so interesting that I had to check it out. Ben Stiller stars as the head concierge of a very fancy apartment building. [...]

Warner Archive is offering 20% off everything through February 21 for Presidents’ Day. (Does not include pre-orders, does include MGM, Sony, and HBO, does include free shipping.) At checkout, enter code PREZDAY. Expires 2/21/12. What, is that MGM mention a surprise? WarnerArchive.com now offers the MGM Limited Edition Collection, similar made-on-demand discs from the MGM/Fox [...]

Sometimes I’m much too concerned with the business of entertainment, but we live in such changing times that it’s hard not to wonder how decisions are made to release certain projects. For example, Shout! Factory has announced that they will putting out the second season of Fantasy Island on May 8. It contains 25 episodes [...]

I’m experimenting this year, putting up this list of movies I watched this past month that I didn’t talk about elsewhere. I find it fun to share my short thoughts on these; hopefully readers will too. Movies Arise, My Love (1940) — I’ve liked Ray Milland since I saw The Major and the Minor; this [...]

I gotta admire the publicity people working this weekend — the game isn’t even over, and I’m already getting email about the geek movies promoted in the ads so far. (Ok, maybe they scheduled their email ahead of time, but I prefer to think they were waiting by the keyboard.) Here’s the biggest comic-fan release [...]

Karen Healey has started a wonderful series of essays about great teen movies and their messages. So far she’s covered Bring It On, But I’m a Cheerleader, Saved! — and all those essays are linked from the latest entry, covering one of the all-time classics of the genre, Clueless. Her points are insightful and tackle [...]

Oh, is the Super Bowl this weekend? Marvel wants you to know that they’re going to run an ad during the game, this Sunday on NBC, and here’s a teaser for the advertisement. Personally, I don’t need to see advertising for the film, since I already know I’m going to go see it this summer.

When the UltraViolet program was first announced, one of its goals was to give studios a way to sell digital versions of movies direct to customers, without having to use iTunes. The aim of the program is “digital portability”, which they believe will convince customers to buy instead of rent. Not at these prices, it [...]

I was recording Downton Abbey last night, so when I woke up this morning, the TV was still tuned to PBS. That’s how I stumbled across this genius sketch on Sesame Street. Someone behind Sesame Street must be a Glee fan, because I was impressed by how much they got right: Rachel, Kurt, Mercedes, Artie, [...]

The Muppets will be available on DVD and Blu-ray on March 20, and there are four options to choose from. The Muppets The deluxe pack is a three-disk Blu-ray that comes with DVD version, a digital copy on disc, and a card with a code to download all the songs from the movie’s soundtrack ($49.99 [...]

This teaser features Matthew Broderick once again playing Ferris Bueller, more than 25 years later. According to Laughing Squid, this is promo for a Super Bowl ad, product unknown. As my friend David put it, “I love how we have gotten to the point of having commercials for commercials.”

You may not have heard of The Big Year, which came and went quickly in theaters last fall. Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, and Jack Black star as birdwatchers who find a special event changes their lives in more ways than one in this DVD out Tuesday, January 31. The Big Year A “big year” is [...]

Jane Fonda’s first movie, Tall Story, is an otherwise inconsequential college romance running a brief 90 minutes. In this debut, her voice is glorious and her face luminous, especially in the frequent closeups, with a big pouffy flip hairdo. Fonda first sweeps into view on a madcap bicycle, running over two professors, and revealing that [...]

Early this week, since I’m going to be out some this weekend traveling to the Charlotte MiniCon on Sunday. For that reason — the trip meaning less time to write — I’m glad it was a light week, although one full of promise. On the video side, another gem from the Warner Archive, available on [...]

Tristan Louis has created an insightful chart. He took the top 100 movie hits for 2011 (via gross income) and examined which are available for streaming and where. He compares Neflix, iTunes, Amazon, and Vudu (which I know very little about). The conclusions are indicative, I think, of studio strategy for their films. (There are [...]

I finally got a chance to see The Artist this afternoon, after waiting weeks for it to come to town, and I quite enjoyed it. The plot is fundamentally A Star Is Born (established star declines while discovery’s career takes off) meets Singin’ in the Rain (talking movies cause radical changes in Hollywood), with a [...]

According to the NY Times, Lions Gate Entertainment, the movie studio best-known for the disgusting Saw horror franchise, will be buying Summit Entertainment, responsible for the Twilight films. Wikipedia calls Lions Gate “the most commercially successful independent film and television distribution company in North America.” Their slate has included American Psycho, Dogma, Fahrenheit 9/11, the [...]

What’s Your Number? (Blu-ray) I’ve wanted to see What’s Your Number? from the time I saw the first trailer for it. I’ve liked Anna Faris ever since The House Bunny, and of course, I’m a big Chris Evans fan, given how many comic book films he’s been in (Captain America, Fantastic Four, The Losers, Scott [...]

Bob the Complete Series Via TV Shows on DVD comes the news that Bob Newhart’s TV show about being a comic book artist, Bob, is coming to DVD on April 3. List price for Bob the Complete Series is $39.98 for 33 episodes, but I’ve already preordered it with Amazon’s 30% discount. In the show, [...]