Academy Screener Update

This will be boring to many, but in the spirit of All Politics is Local, I will keep you abreast of this year’s wrinkle in the Academy Screener controversy. To avoid DVD piracy by members of the Motion Picture Academy (You?–ed. Everybody’s got his price? How much for a hot copy of Benji Off the Leash?), each of us will be given DVD players this year from a company called Cinea. These machines are capable of playing special encrypted DVDs which many, although not all, of the studios will be sending us. Besides supposedly putting an end to member piracy (of which there was very little, I am sure), this also means no more lending discs to friends and family – a well known Southern California sport – unless you want to lend the entire DVD player along with them (it was hard enough getting the discs back!).