BEFORE NIGHT FALLS (New Line Home Entertainment), released theatrically last year, earned a Best Actor nomination for Javier Bardem’s portrayal of real-life exiled gay Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas. Johnny Depp and Olivier Martinez costar under Julian Schnabel’s direction. Aspect ratio is widescreen; sound formats are English Dolby Digital 5.1, English 2.0 Stereo Surround and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, with English, Spanish and French subtitles. Extras include a feature-length audio commentary with director Schnabel, actor Bardem, co-screenwriter Lazaro Gomez-Carriles, composer Carter Burwell and co-director of photography Xavier Perez Grobet, a making-of short, a 1983 interview with the real Arenas, a short on Schnabel’s artwork, cast and crew filmographies, the theatrical trailer and DVD-ROM content. MPAA rating is R (strong sexual content, some language and brief violence).

Musician and computer programmer Travis Hill of Utah has created a software program called Songbird that allows music copyright holders a new way to monitor the use of their material on Napster.

The AV industry is buzzing about Dolby’s new Pro Logic II technology which makes legacy content (from CDs, MP3s, VHS etc…) sound like 5.1-channel sources. Pro Logic II is a new matrix decoder developed by Jim Fosgate and licensed by Dolby. It offers stereo, full-bandwidth surrounds, and superior sound quality compared to original Pro Logic decoding.

NHT (Now Hear This) will soon ship its new Super Audio™ line of high end/high value speakers. Originally labeled the Mega Series when first announced at the CEDIA Expo 2000, the new Super Audio models build upon the value of their predecessors by offering sonic improvements and a new look while staying consistent to the NHT sound.

Touring in support of their Platinum album White Pony, Maverick Recording artist Deftones are hitting the road this summer for an eight-week U.S. tour co-headlining with Godsmack. The tour kicks off in mid-July up in the Pacific Northwest, and will have Deftones playing some forty-two dates at outdoor amphitheatres across America before they wrap up just after Labor Day. Dubbed one of the hardest-touring bands in the music business, Deftones have already logged some 150 dates since last summer’s release of the album.