the elevator pitch

Like a lot of people, I went out and bought a Blu-Ray player expecting to start collection of visually stunning pictures and unbelievable colors; a bonus was the fact that Blu-Ray discs carry tons more information enabling movie makers to take full advantage of the new medium. For Watchmen director Zack Snyder, the Blu-Ray version of his comic book translation always seemed like the intention. Watchmen in Blu-Ray does not disappoint, especially considering the fact that the feature film release was cut by 24 minutes. This week signifies the release of Watchmen on Blu-Ray and in my mind, a change in format for the type of content released with the medium.

Watchmen is an epic. With intertwining story lines and multi-layered characters, putting the story to the screen was always going to be an impossible task. There is literally too much story to show in one sitting. Snyder always knew this was never going to be a Lord of the Rings type trilogy so he and the producers made the concsious decision to leave out a lot of the story for the feature film. Enter the Blu-Ray version and the problem is now solved.

The Watchmen Blu-Ray contains the footage removed from the feature film so hard core fans of the franchise can get the full onscreen experience. Along with the “Director’s Cut,” of the film, Snyder himself provides some of the most interesting content with the “Maximum Movie Mode.” This innovative feature splits the screen in half with Snyder appearing in the middle. He then proceeds to speak about the thoughts and process behind certain scenes. This takes “Director Commentary,” to a brand new level, something I’m hoping all Blu-Rays move to. Along with the Max Movie Mode, the Watchmen Blu-Ray offers a supplementary disc containing 3 featurettes speaking about everything from the fan frenzy behind The Watchmen, to some of the physics behind Dr. Manhattan.

Overall, if you own a Blu-Ray player, The Watchmen Blu-Ray is a MUST. Even if you’re not a Watchmen fan, just seeing what this new format can do in terms of offering content is amazing. The one flaw that fans might find with the package is that it does not contain “Tales of the Black Freighter,” or “Under the Hood.” These stories were released on DVD and Blu-Ray while the Watchmen was still in theaters. Even more startling news is that a Five-Disc set of the Watchmen Blu-Ray will be released in December of this year that will include them. Although it might seem like a slight slap in the face to buy the current 3-disc version, it does contain a coupon for the later version so you won’t have to pay full price.

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Political strategist, consultant and author Warren Kinsella, described as Canada’s “James Carville” or its “Prince of Darkness” (depending on which side of the political spectrum one leans), holds no punches when it comes to suggesting how to deal with rogue political journalists.

In his book, “Kicking Ass in Canadian Politics”, Kinsella lists dozens of tips for surviving encounters with “unethical, unscrupulous, unprincipled political journalists.”

Here are a few tips that may come in handy, not only for political consultants but for all communications practitioners:

Leave no charge unanswered. Kinsella writes that this rule applies to the words of both political journalists and political opponents – especially given the power of the Internet, which affords your opponent the ability to disseminate his or her verbal attack across the web within minutes. Kinsella’s point? Attack back with everything you’ve got. “In politics it’s fatal to simply shrug off a criticism that may initially seem minuscule or ridiculous, or wait too long to reply.”

Nothing is off the record. Here’s something most anybody in media relations should understand. It’s worth a refresher, as Kinsella points out. “If a political staffer says something to a journalist that is ‘off the record,’ they are generally right to assume that the journalist will not print or broadcast their identity somewhere,” Kinsella notes. “The staffer is wrong to assume the journalist will not tell a few dozen friends the identity of his or her source later that night at Hooters.” Need we say more?

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