Heres what happened: MGM wanted to sell widescreen versions of their movies on DVD. Now the footage they had from the video tapes was shot in full screen, so what does a “thrifty” company like MGM do? Get the master copies and use that to make the widescreen DVDs? Hell no. They just chopped the tops and bottoms off of the full screen and made it look like its widescreen. Clever huh?

Well this money-saving move bit them right in the ass, because now there is a class-action lawsuit against MGM for just that reason. On the aptly name site (mgmdvdsettlement.com), there is a long list of offending DVDs. If you own one or several of the movies on that list, you can sign up for the suit by sending a form into the court by March 11th.

The problem? Its only an exchange program. So to get a free DVD from a list of 350 that MGM will supply, you have to send in your movie first with the paperwork. Theres the rub. I don’t want to send in my DVD. What if they lose it, or the always reliable Post Office screws up? Then I’m really screwed. Why can’t they just send a voucher for one free DVD no matter how many you have on the list? I would be happy to call it even then.

…I guess I’ll look over the list anyway.