[LTCJ]

A Pre-Oscars Perk Gets Erased

Plastic surgeons on strike?

[Revolting cat!]

Minor bummer! All the Hong Kong DVD's we've been buying will now be made from handheld camera shots inside a movie theater.

[DonQ]

This ban on sending Oscar voters free copies (VHS or DVD) of movies is intended to prevent some unauthorized copying, since these free copies were deluxe quality and made months, or even years, before the usual video store copies would be available.

Since they won't have at-home versions of the films to watch, potential Oscar voters are supposed to see these movies in theatres, like regular folk. But, of course, this won't work out in reality. Some of the Oscar voters are too busy, too far flung, maybe too frail, to go to a theatre that's showing a contender film ... certainly they cannot go to ALL the movies. And a great many independent, foreign, or financially unsuccessful films cannot arrange to have theatrical showings for the Oscar voters; so they'll be completely neglected.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Why not issue the copies, but with some kind of security imprint that alows viewving, but makes it unmarketable.

One could even get creative, and let the sound nominations be issued with excellent sound, but degraded video. Cinematography could be reviews with mono AM-quality sound.

Acting can be evaluated with degraded qulaity, or a grey stripe running through the frame.

And if they don't like it, they can go to the movies, including the special screenings offered by the studios.

[CaptRon]

I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight.