And the winner is.....

...Sony's Blu-ray next generation DVD format? Quite possibly.

I reported earlier here that the two developers of what would likely become the next generation home video format, Sony/Blu-ray and Toshiba/HD-DVD, were in talks about unifying the format for the benefit of everyone involved. Well, if you're paying attention at all, you already know that mega-sized companies have mega-sized egos and that my post about it was appropriately named, "I'll believe it when I see it." Needless to say...

Anyway, it appears that this will be left to work itself out in the marketplace. The funny thing is, it appears that the race may be over before it even began.

Several film studios that had, at one point, sworn allegience solely to HD-DVD have now backed both HD-DVD and Blu-ray. That puts just about every major film studio lining up with Blu-ray, but leaves HD-DVD some big holes in their line-up; namely Fox, MGM and Disney.

Add to that the fact that the Sony PlayStation 3 is likely to come out well before XBox 360 (which may or may not have any ability to play a next-generation DVD format at all) and that tilts the scales in favor of Sony's Blu-ray format.

After the BetaMax vs. VHS fiasco, it looks as though Sony may finally win a format war. Ever the cynic though, I'm still hedging my bets.

More reading about the subject:
HTF
Home Media Retailing
Several at Business Week



Films Recently Watched:

Spanglish (2004) dir. by James L. Brooks
I was surprised by this. Better than expected. Spanglish tells the story of a mother and daughter who immigrate from Mexico to the United States. The mother gets a job as a maid to the Clasky's, a rich white family in California. Worlds collide, but it's a sweet story. Fine performances, especially by newcomer, Sarah Steele in the role of the Clasky's daughter, Bernice. Adam Sandler restrains himself in his role and is believable as the sympathetic father. Surprisingly, it's Téa Leoni, if anybody, who goes a little over the top as the insecure, narcissistic mother.

Unforgiven (1992) dir. by Clint Eastwood