Digital Joe #36

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It´s quite rare that any single studio or retailer gets praise. Normally we media types like to stick it to "the man" for whatever reason. I´ve done it myself in this very space. But we´re going to actually praise some folks today. Don´t get used to it: positive commentary isn´t as much fun to write (or read) than negative.

First off, hats off to Sony Pictures, the studio behind this week´s release of "Casino Royale." Harkening back to the days of simpler (and cheaper) releases, the latest James Bond movie has been released in only three flavors: the Blu-Ray edition; 2-disc fullscreen; and 2-disc widescreen. That´s it. None of the single disc fullscreen, single disc widescreen, Blu-Ray and 2-disc Harder-Than-All-Hell-To-Find-Edition. Why is this so welcome?

Well, after the flap last year with various other 2-disc releases ("United 93," "Munich," "Jarhead") disappearing off store shelves in a matter of hours, leaving collector´s and movie fans out in the cold, everyone is going to be able to get the double disc edition of "Casino Royale." No scrambling through rack after rack of copies to find the Uber-Special-Get-It-While-You-Can Edition. You don´t have to run from one store to another and then to another, only to find no one has any copies left (let alone didn´t get any copies). No online orders are being cancelled because the supplier didn´t get stock.

Nope, everyone gets the same thing with a different aspect ratio. Same extras, same packaging. Same everything. That is one way to level the playing field. (Are you dopes over at Universal paying attention?) The other way, if Sony wanted to go this route, would have been to have the standard single disc "Casino Royale" as widescreen or fullscreen with a special 2-disc Produced- In-Plentiful-Numbers-Edition right next to it. No shortchanging the disc production, no causing mass DVD fanboy panic. How many threads in movie message boards will there be about the lack of "Casino Royale" discs on the shelf? None, I´d venture. It allows everyone to get what they want AND makes Sony´s bottom line healthy. After all, if you can´t find what you want, you can´t buy it, now can you?

The second kudos I want to send out is to Circuit City. Yes, the store with the infamous Impossible to Find Anything DVD section. The store that has one register open at 6:00 on New Release Tuesday. Wait, those are gripes, not kudos. Anyway, kudos to the red shirts for figuring out how to run an exclusive DVD promotion correctly.

Their promotion, a commemorative metal poker chip/coin bearing the 007 and "Casino Royale" logo, wasn´t kept on the sales floor or packed with each individual DVD like other bonus discs, lithographs, figures, busts or whatever other store exclusive you can think of.

A sign on the display and on every DVD told the consumer they could find the coin at the register.

Yes, at the register. As in, an employee rang up "Casino Royale" and put the coin´s package in the bag at the same time. The consumer doesn´t have to do a bloody thing to get it. No hunting through displays on the sales floor. No asking if there are any left. None of that pure bullshit.

Obviously, I was amazed at this. When I noticed the signage for the coin, I laughed to myself. What kind of store creates extra work for their employees like this? And what employee is actually going to understand what they have to do? To the credit of my cashier, I didn´t have to say a word. Scanned "Casino Royale" and threw the exclusive in the bag at the same time.

That´s what I call customer service.

Now if only Sony, masters of Blu-Ray, and the minds behind HD-DVD could hammer out some kind of deal to create one high definition format everything would be coming up roses in movie-land.

A boy can hope, can´t he?

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