Back to the grind... just in time for a vacation week.

Thanks to all for their kind notes and words.

I missed the Hellboy Dos party at LAFF, so we're going to see the film tonght and in anticipation, watched Hellboy on Sony Blu-ray last night.

Wow.

The thing that really hit home was how much more ambitious Del Toro is with his comic book movie than either of this summer's comic book movies have been... more along the lines of what everyone expects from Christopher Noland and The Dark Knight than the by-the-book Marvel movies. Like Hancock, it is imperfect, but the depth of emotion reached for... the effort to do more than effects and COOOOOL is profoundly different.

Speaking of Blu-ray, I attended an event for Disney's fall release of its first classic fairy tale in Blu-ray, Sleeping Beauty, which included a BD-Live feature... as, to my surprise, did Sony's Blu-ray of Men In Black. It turns out that BD-Live is part of the Blu-ray product and is, apparently, owned by Sony... or not… I really can’t tell and so far, no one has been able to answer the question.

One of the big features in the Sleeping Beauty demo, for instance, is the ability to attach video to the disc, by way of BD-Live… but where is the video being hosted and who is paying for it? I mean, I think that when I chat on AIM, I am using an AOL owned computer to “host” the conversation. They make money on that by using the AIM platform to sell ads, etc.

So, I guess the technology is Sony’s, but the community host – offering not only video, but instant messaging, interactive games, and other perks – in the case of the Disney titles is Disney… right?

Sony has put out a few discs with the technology already, but the limited market for Blu-ray means that most of the user-to-user interactivity is a non-starter. It seems that Disney could create a breakthrough for Blu-ray with their product going to the format and expanding the community of people actually participating… for instance, with the DVD syncing up between multiple players in multiple homes or cities so kids can interact as they watch “together.” IM during a movie is a horror… unless you are watching for the 20th time, as so many kids do these days.

But the bigger picture speaks to my theories about the industry as a whole, as each studio will – I think – use the foundation of all the delivery systems to build out their own individual bases of delivery. So if you are on The Disney Network, it will mean you pay, say $40 a month for ABC without commercials, a couple Disney cable/satellite networks, maybe some ESPN pay-per-views, Disney BD-Live community including a language-monitored instant messaging system, and Disney Premiere network on satellite or cable or over the web offering a few premium early-access films and/or TV shows from the company. This might compete with Paramount Network, which offers up all the Nick channels and the other cable nets, CBS special access, previews, a specialized instant messaging channel, etc. And Sony… and whoever owns MGM… and Fox… and Warners…

Anyway… time to work on a Hancock review. Up, up, and away.