HighDefDiscNews

1984 TV special “A Christmas Carol” Blu-ray in November

Justin Sluss — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:26:50 +0000

In an alert to retailers FOX has announced plans to bring the 1984 TV special (version) of Charles Dickens‘ “A Christmas Carol” starring George C. Scott to Blu-ray Disc on November 9th. Tech specs have not been announced but I’m betting you can expect full 1080p and DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio — but then again, that is just my speculation. No word yet on bonus materials either but stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated once a press release is issued. The title is already available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $26.99 price tag.

MacGruber – Blu-ray Disc Review

Danielle Byington — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 01:26:44 +0000

has an average rating of 5.9 on IMDb
1080p in VC-1 on a 50gb disc
DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio
are too short but still very funny
– &
– 2009
– 151 minutes (theatrical) & 155 minutes (UNRATED)
– Universal
–
This uses 19.8GB for the R-Rated version of the movie.
This uses 21.1GB for the UNRATED version of the movie.
This uses 43.3GB total.
Street Date: September 7th, 2010

Overall Verdict – Recommended

Buy it for $26.99 @ Amazon.com

— Review written by: Danielle Byington —

Trailer:

The Movie Itself is Directed & Co-Written by Jorma Taccone, with the additional writing credits of Will Forte & John Solomon. The subject of the film is based on the “SNL” by the same name, and is a spoof of “MacGyver“.

As the title suggests, the film centers on MacGruber (Will Forte), a special operations agent who had previously retired from his line of work after his bride, Casey (Maya Rudolph), was blown up at their wedding by his enemy, Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer). However, a decade after MacGruber‘s retirement, Cunth has risen to not only being a terrorist, but also having an intimidating businessman reputation, which has allowed him to recently get his hands on a nuclear warhead. This event leads to Col. James Faith (Powers Boothe) tracking down the retired MacGruber, and asking him to return to fight against Cunth. The memories of the tragedy Cunth created in MacGruber‘s life come back to haunt him, and pushes him to recover his identity as a special operations agent.

The crew that MacGruber first arranges from past colleagues doesn’t exactly work out, and he is left with surviving associate Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig), and his meager option of Lt. Dixon Piper (Ryan Phillippe). Together, the trio embarks on taking down the evil Cunth, and uses some unlikely techniques to do so.

In closing, considering how the sketches this film was based on were of course short and to the point, the movie’s story is pretty well developed and solid compared to other “SNL” sketch-inspired flicks. Obviously, the writers can get away with a lot more crude humor here in a “Not Rated” feature than a NBC broadcast, and regarding that fact, the comedy does not excessively get into goofy/ridiculous territory too much. Will Forte‘s portrayal of MacGruber in the film has more body to the character’s comedic essence than could previously be displayed in a couple-minutes long sketch, and his dialogue alone, as well as that of the supporting cast, proves to have been nicely harnessed by the writers. Speaking of the supporting cast, it is funny to see Val Kilmer and Powers Boothe playing these roles in “MacGruber” after their past “Tombstone” roles. Overall, the movie is a pretty strong comedy, and does sort of rekindle a bit of a lost flame in the “SNL” movie genre.

Video Quality on this release is in full 1080p using the VC-1 codec on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte dual-layered Blu-ray Disc) in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio. This film was shot digitally, in Hi-Def on a Red One Camera, and its presentation on Blu-ray does render a pretty solid video quality. The general look of this release’s picture possesses a warm to neutral color palette, lending a not-overdone amount of vibrant “pop” to particular aspects of wardrobe and set pieces. This well-balanced contrast within the color palette is also complimented by a solid black level, which makes itself known through out the release’s runtime, as the sharpness is a bit above moderate at times. Detail is often rather distinguishable, sometimes pushing a half star more in quality at times (especially in exterior shots), showing-off finer details of the usual subjects, like strands of hair, beard stubble, and textures of wardrobe. Having been shot digitally, the final visual product here does translate a significant amount of clarity for the most part, and in the end, earns an impressive “4.5 Star Rating” for overall video quality.

Audio Quality on this release is presented in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio. The general presentation of this audio track definitely possesses an epic action flick feel, as this is precisely what the film intends to spoof. With the opening of the film, you’ve got a 1980′s style song, “MacGruber’s Theme“, performed by Cornbread Compton & The Silver Lake Chorus; this song is good example to the impressive audio performance put-out by the soundscape, with balanced and bright channel usage, including moderate bass presence. Aside from this tune, there are also channel-filling songs from Toto, The Black Keys, and Michael Bolton. Regarding the music that accompanies this action flick spoof, as Kristen Wiig‘s character is an aspiring singer, we also get a few goofy songs performed by her, and a highlight of this is a nice bright presentation from the center front channel conveying her vocals.

As this is a parody of “MacGyver“, and other dramatic action movies in general, there are definitely some explosions, which have a well-balanced portrayal within the 5.1 setup, and of course some drama-implying subwoofer usage. Dialogue is crystal clear from the center front channel, and is never overwhelmed by the soundtrack or chaos of on-screen action. Foley of multiple sorts is rather distinguishable, and occasionally is presented from assigned channels respective to its on-screening blocking. Overall, this DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track is pretty robust in presence and frequent usage of the channels, and is well worth a “4.5 Star Rating“.

Bonus materials are presented in High Definition using Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo.

BD-Live is available for viewers using a profile 2.0 Blu-ray Disc Player. This feature can be accessed through the “What’s New” tab on the main menu, and the option to log onto also pops-up when going to the “Deleted Scene“.
“Feature Commentary With Director/Co-Writer Jorma Taccone, Co-Writer/Star Will Forte, and Co-Writer John Solomon“
“Deleted Scene” (0:44) includes just one scene.
“Gag Reel” (8:01) includes some hilarious outtakes; well worth a watch!
“My Scenes“
“D-Box Motion Code” is available on this release for those of you who have the get-up, and this release is surely worthy of the D-Box experience with its copious rumbling action sequences.

Overall, the bonus materials provided are a shallow melting-pot of a little bit of everything. The highlight of the round-up is likely the simple “Gag Reel“, and perhaps the inclusion of D-Box for folks who can enjoy it.

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Bare with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.

The Simpsons: The Thirteenth Season – Blu-ray Disc Review

Justin Sluss — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:39:18 +0000

has an average rating of 9.2 on IMDb
4×3 1080p in AVC on THREE 50gb discs
DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio
are pretty decent this time around!
–
– 2001 – 2002
– 491 minutes
– FOX
–

Overall Verdict – Fans Will Be Pleased

Buy it for $39.99 @ Amazon.com

— Review written by: Justin Sluss —

The Show Itself was created by Matt Groening for FOX‘s television broadcasting network and originally premiered back in December 17, 1989. The show has been on the air now for 22 years (and counting) and continues to be one of the most watched sitcoms on television.

Writing a synopsis for this show or even this season is a bit weird for me as I honestly think about at least 90% of the readers have seen this show at some point in their life, but I’ll try my best here to write a synopsis of some sort. For those of you who have actually never seen the show, let me explain a tad bit. The show revolves around the family, “The Simpsons” comprised of a drunk, dimwitted father “Homer” (voiced by Dan Castellaneta), the wife with large hair “Marge” (voiced by Julie Kavner), the menace of a son “Bart” (voiced by Nancy Cartwright), the smart and outspoken daughter “Lisa” (voiced by Yeardley Smith) and lastly the baby “Maggie“. The family lives in the town of “Springfield” with other crazy characters such as the bartender “Moe” (voiced by Hank Azaria), the richest man in town “Montgomery Burns“, his assistant “Smithers“, the overly religious neighbor “Ned Flanders” (voiced by Harry Shearer), the kids TV show host “Krusty the Clown“, Bart’s best friend “Milhouse” (voiced by Pamela Hayden), the policeman “Chief Wiggum” and even his hilarious son “Ralph Wiggum” to just name off a few familiar characters.

All 22 Episodes of the thirteenth season of the show are included. They are as follows.

Treehouse of Horror XII

Originally Aired: November 6, 2001

The Parent Rap

Originally Aired: November 11, 2001

Homer the Moe

Originally Aired: November 18, 2001

A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love

Originally Aired: December 2, 2001

The Blunder Years

Originally Aired: December 9, 2001

She of Little Faith

Originally Aired: December 16, 2001

Brawl in the Family

Originally Aired: January 6, 2002

Sweets and Sour Marge

Originally Aired: January 20, 2002

Jaws Wired Shut

Originally Aired: January 27, 2002

Half-Descent Proposal

Originally Aired: February 10, 2002

The Bart Wants What it Wants

Originally Aired: February 17, 2002

The Latest Gun in the West

Originally Aired: February 24, 2002

The Old Man and the Key

Originally Aired: March 10, 2002

Tales from the Public Domain

Originally Aired: March 17, 2002

Blame it on Lisa

Originally Aired: March 31, 2002

Weekend at Burnsie’s

Originally Aired: April 7, 2002

Gump Roast

Originally Aired: April 21, 2002

I Am Furious (Yellow)

Originally Aired: April 28, 2002

The Sweetest Apu

Originally Aired: May 5, 2002

Little Girl in the Big Ten

Originally Aired: May 12, 2002

The Frying Game

Originally Aired: May 19, 2002

Poppa’s Got A Brand New Badge

Originally Aired: May 22, 2002

“The Simpsons” in its thirteenth season was just as hilarious as ever and included the guest voices of folks like Ben Stiller, Carmen Electra, Delroy Lindo, George Takei, James Lipton, Jon Lovitz, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Marcia Wallace, Matthew Perry, Richard Gere, Paul Newman, Pierce Brosnan, Reese Witherspoon, Stan Lee, Wolfgang Puck, as well as bands R.E.M. and Phish.

Video Quality on this release is in 1080p using the AVC MPEG-4 codec on THREE BD-50 (50 gigabyte dual-layered Blu-ray Discs) in the (4×3) 1.33:1 aspect ratio.

Now first thing to remember is that this (the thirteenth season) was 7 years or so before this show went Hi-Def and was in letterbox (16×9 widescreen), so you’ll get the black pillar bars on the sides on each of the episodes. Also, the show didn’t contain as much dark outlines and detail in the first 19 seasons of the show, and as a result some of the outlines don’t appear fully solid and inky like they should. There’s also a tiny bit of presence of this being 480i (640×480 interlaced) source material and being upconverted on a more complex fashion and that your Blu-ray Disc Player can do. They did remove about 99% of the remnants of this having interlacing but there is a 1% still visible, especially in some scenes or (freeze frames) pausing the show. That’s just a very minor gripe in all honesty I felt worth getting out of the way. This doesn’t mean I am unhappy with the video presentation on this release, in fact after the disc usage (below) I’ll continue on with my thoughts on it.

DISC USAGE:

Disc 1 uses 38.3GB total. Disc 2 uses 42.1GB total. Disc 3 uses 36.4GB total.

Discs 1 and 3 contain SEVEN episodes each; whereas disc 2 contains EIGHT episodes total. Each episode uses roughly around 4 to 5 gigabytes.

This season does look good in Hi-Def but not anywhere as impressive as the HD episodes from the twentieth season. The close-up shots hold a good amount of sharp black outlines as well as some nice detail in the textures. The color palette is vibrant to say the least and does have that sort of “pop” to it; just not the same “pop” that the show gained more recently in season twenty. There’s no sign of any compression, as they seem to have made good use of the 3-disc set, as mentioned above in the disc usage. All and all this season of the show has a solid HD presentation worthy of a “4 Star Rating” for overall video quality.

Audio Quality on this release is presented in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio. Dialogue is the most important aspect of this 5.1 mix and I’m happy to say it is delivered perfectly throughout primarily the front center channel. The front left & right channels get most of the action in terms of sound effects and such. The music in episodes gets mixed rather well with a bit of rear channel presence. There’s also a bit of LFE (bass) present thanks to the music and sound effects. Overall this lossless 5.1 mix gets the job done and earns a slightly above average “3.5 Star Rating” for audio quality. Don’t expect to be “blown away” by this in terms of sound, as after all, it is just an animated sitcom.

Bonus Materials are presented in Standard Definition video quality with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound.

Disc 1 includes:

Audio Commentary on ALL SEVEN Episodes
“A Token From Matt Groening” (1:52)
Deleted Scenes on Episodes “Treehouse of Horror XII“, “The Parent Rap“, “A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love“, “The Blunder Years“, and “She of Little Faith“. These can be watched with the episode but you must hit the “ENTER” button on your remote when the pair of scissors icon appears in the bottom right-hand corner to see these deleted scenes.
“Animation Showcase” on Episode “The Parent Rap” (7:20) allows you to use the “ANGLE” button on your Blu-ray Disc Player’s remote control to switch between storyboards and animatics as you get to see the final animation in the bottom right-hand corner.
“Raplhisms” (2:40) are hilarious.
“Special Language Feature” on Episode “Treehouse of Horror XII“.

Disc 2 includes:

Audio Commentary on ALL EIGHT Episodes
Deleted Scenes on Episodes “Sweets and Sour Marge“, “Half-Decent Proposal“, “The Bart Wants What it Wants“, “The Lastest Gun in the West“, “The Old Man and the Key“, and “Tales from the Public Domain“. These can be watched with the episode but you must hit the “ENTER” button on your remote when the pair of scissors icon appears in the bottom right-hand corner to see these deleted scenes.
“Animation Showcase” on Episode “Sweets and Sour Marge” (6:24) allows you to use the “ANGLE” button on your Blu-ray Disc Player’s remote control to switch between storyboards and animatics as you get to see the final animation in the bottom right-hand corner.
“The People Ball” (1:14)
“The 13th Crewman” (1:40)
“Blame it on the Monkeys” (1:39)

Disc 3 includes:

Audio Commentary on ALL SEVEN Episodes
Deleted Scenes on Episodes “I Am Furious (Yellow)“, “The Sweetest Apu“, “Little Girl in the Big Ten“, and “The Frying Game“. These can be watched with the episode but you must hit the “ENTER” button on your remote when the pair of scissors icon appears in the bottom right-hand corner to see these deleted scenes.
“The Games” (8:01) takes a look at all the video games that featured “The Simpsons” — namely the arcade game, NES 8-bit games, Genesis and SNES 16-bit games all the way up to those on the more semi-modern consoles like PlayStation.
“The Sweet Life of Ralph” (6:10)
Commercials include:

Burger King “Lines Man“

Burger King “Trick or Treat“

Burger King “Springfield Hamburger“

Burger King “Simpsons Watch“

Sabritas

“Sketch Gallery” (6:13)

Overall, the bonus materials this time around are MUCH more impressive in comparison to the debut of “The Simpsons” on Blu-ray Disc via the Twentieth Season (reviewed HERE). That season was almost totally void of any bonus materials, whereas this has commentary on every episode, deleted scenes (actually implemented into the viewing experience for the episodes that feature them) and much more. One of my favorite little things creator Matt Groening has included here on the Blu-ray is these HD animated menus featuring characters from the show, in particularly those from this season (obviously) playing arcade games which maintains the theme to the packaging and whatnot for this season of the show.

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Bare with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.

Blu-ray Disc Releases for August 31st, 2010

Justin Sluss — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 05:43:44 +0000

The following titles were released today August 31st, 2010 on Blu-ray Disc:

Beatdown (Lionsgate)

The Evil Dead (Anchor Bay/Starz)

Harry Brown (Sony)

House – Season Six (Universal)

Marmaduke (FOX)

NCIS: Los Angeles – The First Season (Paramount)

Red Riding Trilogy (IFC Films/MPI)

Sons of Anarchy: Season Two (FOX)

Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too? (Lionsgate)

The Vampire Diaries: The Complete First Season (Warner)

Hatchet – Blu-ray Disc Review

Justin Sluss — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 03:33:59 +0000

has an average rating of 5.8 on IMDb
1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on a 50gb disc
Dolby TrueHD 5.1
includes DVD ports & new commentary
–
– 2006
– 84 minutes
– Anchor Bay (Starz)
–
This uses 20.7GB for the movie out of 25.7GB total.
Street Date: September 7th, 2010

Overall Verdict – Great Horror & Presentation

Buy it for $20.49 @ Amazon.com

— Review written by: Justin Sluss —

Trailer:

The Movie Itself was written and directed by Adam Green, (now) known for films like “Coffee & Donuts” (from 2000), “Spiral” (from 2007), “Frozen” (from 2010), and the sequel to this film “Hatchet II” set to be released this year.

This film, when released theatrically (in a limited run) in 2007 carried a NC-17 rating and then was cut and changed to get an R rating it seems. The reason for that NC-17 rating was that this (the uncut version) does contain a good amount of gruesome gore, topless female nudity as well as occasional use of foul language and such; which is expected out of most horror, especially slasher films. However, its original NC-17 rating, here on home video (in this case Blu-ray Disc) via a “Director’s Cut” we get an UNRATED cut of the film — totally free of any censorship what-so-ever.

The story revolves around a group of two friends, “Ben” (played by Joel David Moore) and “Marcus” (played by Deon Richmond) who stray away from their friends on vacation at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ben is trying to get over an ex-girlfriend and seeing all the hot girls with nice tits just isn’t doing it for him so he’s convinced his friend Marcus to tag along with him on what he’s told is a cool bayou tour of the nearby swamps. They first try this mysterious gentleman (played by Tony Todd of “Candyman” fame) who tells them he can’t do tours anymore due to some insurance issues. He’s creepy and tells them to mind their way when they are stepping on his sidewalk, so they go on down the street. The two find another voodoo style shop of sorts where they first see a Teeshirt that reads “Victor Crowley Lives, New Orleans Louisiana” which they are soon distracted away from by these two attractive girls taking off their tops, screaming, and making out and such for an older guy “Doug Shapiro” (played by Joel Murray) with a camcorder in his hand. It’s obvious this guy is filming some sort of porno of sorts, or something. After a while of drooling at tits, the two friends are greeted by the owner of the shop, this Asian gentleman pretending to be Louisianian, “Shawn” (played by Parry Shen) that tells the boys that he indeed does these swamp tours they wanted to see, and in fact he’s the only person that does them! 80 bucks later they are off on a short-bus and on their way.

Joining the guys on this tour are the two “flashy” (slutty) girls and the sleazy older guy (Shapiro) as well as an even older couple (played by Richard Riehle and Patrika Darbo) and also this attractive but odd girl in the very back of the bus named “Marybeth” (played by Tamara Feldman). From the cheesy bus transportation the folks on the tour are soon led to a small boat. Off they are on their merry way, that is of course (in a total parody) as they are warned “you’re all gonna die!” by an alligator hunter in a boat; that the tour guide claims drinks his own piss. The tour consists of pretty much this Asian fellow stumbling through his note cards trying to tell local tales, ghost stories and whatnot. He comes across one story in particular that is questioned by the odd girl in the back (Marybeth). The story involves a young dis-formed boy that supposedly lived in a nearby cabin with his father. The story the tour guide gives is pretty vague. On they go on the tour until some complications cause the journey to have a drastic change of plans.

As this is happening, or rather in between it happening, we learn the true story of Victory Crowley and his father (both played by Kane Hodder) from the character Marybeth. The boy was teased for his appearance of which his father tried to shield him against until one night when things went horribly wrong. Some local teenagers one Halloween night were throwing firecrackers at Victor inside the cabin to try to tease him out. The firecrackers caused the front door of the cabin to catch ablaze and poor Victor was left in the house. Soon enough, along comes Victor’s father who tries to make an effort to break down the door and free his son using a HATCHET. He ends up what we are told, killing the young Victor Crowley and leads the rest of his life in regret until he passes away out of heartbreak many years later. This is what sets up the horror element of this film and really also signals a transition over from the comedy that makes up the first bit of the film.

“Hatchet” is like some folks have called it “classic American horror” but it also is a whole new breed of horror with more gore and also more of a comedic foundation of sorts; with obvious influences from 1980′s slasher films like “Friday the 13th” especially. Speaking of “Friday the 13th” and franchises like that with monsters that continue on their rampage. It’s really not much of a spoiler honestly to say that this film sets itself up great for a sequel — set to be released very soon, later this year. Back to this film being the start of horror in a whole new breed, I think that’s true and it really shows in the choice of using the Marilyn Manson song “This is the New Shit” as the opening song during the film’s title sequence of credits. That song was very, very appropriate and sums up this new horror franchise with its loud, in-your-face gruesome approach that I loved the first time I saw it and still love it upon additional viewings. Sure it’s just a slasher film and the plot here isn’t the strongest thing in the world but hey, that’s no different than most of the 80′s slasher films aside from the fact it actually uses comedy in its favor; mainly throughout the first half of the film.

Video Quality on this release is in full 1080p using the AVC MPEG-4 codec on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte dual-layered Blu-ray Disc) in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio. According to IMDb this was shot on on 35mm film using a variety of Arriflex, Moviecam and Panavision cameras/lenses. There’s a bit of film grain present here in this 35mm to Hi-Def transfer, which is great for a slasher horror like this. The DP (Director of Photography) Will Barratt did an excellent job here of capturing just the right shots that Director Adam Green wanted and they are all done complete justice in this transfer to Hi-Def, especially the kills (death scenes). The gore has never looked this gruesome and true horror fans are going to love this for that, the sheer amount of detail that you can see here you never saw in those kickass special effects sequences and such. The black level here is solid, very important in a horror, the color palette is very vibrant early on during the Mardi Gras scenes but it does get a bit more subdued in the darker lighting conditions later in the film. The fleshtones are accurate and we even get some female topless nudity to serve as a good example of REAL (non-latex) flesh. Even in the darker lighting conditions the amount of detail is pretty impressive and shows off the gore perfectly. This earns a solid “4 Star Rating” for overall video quality and is a very, very nice improvement over the previously released DVD from 2007.

Audio Quality on this release is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround. Things start up (in the opening scene before the title sequence) by rather nicely making use of the 5.1 lossless mix with some rear channel presence for the ambient noises in the background like crickets and whatnot in the swamp; especially the gators who serve as our first few scares early on with a large amount of LFE from the sound effect (Foley). The film’s original music done by Andy Garfield here sounds great and is also making great use of the 5.1 lossless mix early on and gets excellent rear channel use, LFE presence and obvious front left & right channel soundstage presence. The dialogue is perfectly delivered here throughout primarily the front center channel and requires no volume adjustments what-so-ever. Speaking of dialogue, the actual cries of “Victor Crowley” later on in the film make great use of the 5.1 arrangement with some nice left to right rear channel pans and such as well as the sound of him approaching, vice versa. One thing that really stood out to me (as mentioned above in my synopsis of the film) was the use of the Marilyn Manson song “This is the New Shit” which I have to admit sounds absolutely amazing here in 5.1 lossless and makes me wish they’d release at least his greatest hits on Blu-ray Audio; but that’s aside from the point, that point being that this has an excellent 5.1 lossless mix. The sound effects sound great, even the recordings of (or supposed to be the sound of) rain and thunder very late in the film are great and are all totally going to leave first-time viewers likely jumping out of their seat a few times. I’d say this mix goes a bit “over-the-top” at times but in a very good way, one worthy of earning it an impressive “4.5 Star Rating” for overall audio quality. Slasher horror like this should go over-the-top and make use of a sound mix like this, especially when it comes to Blu-ray where it can definitely benefit from a lossless mix.

Bonus materials are presented in Standard Definition video quality with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound.

ALL-NEW Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Adam Green and Actor Kane Hodder does contain spoilers involving the film’s sequel (“Hatchet II“). I repeat, SPOILER WARNING, this contains spoilers involving the sequel, do not listen to it until you have seen the sequel.
Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Adam Green, Cinematographer Will Barratt and Actors Tamara Feldman, Joel David Moore and Deon Richmond
“The Making of Hatchet” (39:18) is a pretty lengthy, very in-depth “making of” featurette and features some great interviews with writer/director Adam Green as well as other cast and crew members discussing how the film came to be, filming and whatnot.
“Meeting Victor Crowley” (9:24) focuses on the new horror villain that is “Victor Crowley” (played by Kane Hodder) and how this creature/character was created, the make-up special effects were applied and such. We get great interviews with Kane Hodder, writer/director Adam Green along with the cast members discussing Victor Crowley and their first encounter with him.
“Guts & Gore” (10:58) takes a behind-the-scenes look at all of the film’s make-up special effects and such as well as the gore (kills).
“Anatomy of a Kill” (6:21) is a bit self-explanatory by its title (to a degree). It includes interviews with John Carl Buechler who did the Make-Up SFX on the film, Will Barratt who was the DP (director of photography) on the film and obviously writer/director Adam Green. Lots of discussion of the death scenes (kills) in the film and how they were planned and orchestrated, from a special effects standpoint.
“A Twisted Tale” (8:32) has writer/director Adam Green discussing his (near) lifelong admiration of and friendship with former “Twisted Sister” front-man Dee Snider; also a horror writer (on “Strangeland” from 1998).
“Gag Reel” (3:43) is pretty damn funny and a tad bit gross at times.
Theatrical Trailer (1:48)

Overall, the bonus materials are really just the original 2007 DVD ports in SD (Standard Definition) with the addition of a new audio commentary track (which does contain spoilers regarding the sequel). I suggest you steer clear of that new audio commentary (the one with Adam Green & Kane Hodder) until you have seen the film’s sequel when it hits theaters later this year. The other bonus materials are all worth checking out and sure to leave you entertained, informed and laughing after you’ve finished watching the film.

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Bare with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.

FOX gives “The Sound of Music” Blu-ray a release date

Justin Sluss — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:40:20 +0000

FOX today has officially issued a PRESS RELEASE with a release date for the 1965 classic musical “The Sound of Music” on Blu-ray Disc. The title will street on November 2nd and features a whole new restoration. The tech specs include full 1080p Hi-Def video in the 2.20:1 aspect ratio and DTS-HD 7.1 Master Audio as well as Dolby Digital 4.0 Surround sound. The release will come in both a 3-Disc “combo” set and also in the form of a “Limited Edition Collector’s Set“. Both of these are available PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with the 3-Disc “combo” set carrying a $31.49 price tag and the Limited Edition Collector’s Set carrying a $80.99 price tag. Below you’ll find a list of bonus materials set to be included on the 3-disc set as well as a list of bonus materials set to be EXCLUSIVE to the “Limited Edition Collector’s Set” and a glimpse of it and its contents. Also, after the break, you’ll find a trailer for this 45th Anniversary Edition that FOX had unveiled earlier in the year.

3-Disc “combo” bonus materials:

Blu-ray Disc 1:

Feature Film Remastered in 1080p Hi-Def with 7.1 DTS-HD Sound

Your Favorite Things: An Interactive Celebration — All-New Immersive Viewing Experience with Behind-the-Scenes Images, On-Screen Lyrics, Trivia Track and Location Quiz

Music Machine Sing-Along

Audio Commentaries with Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer and Director Robert Wise

BD-LIVE**: Live Lookup™ Powered by IMDb®

Blu-ray Disc 2:

Musical Stages: Creating The Sound of Music — All-New Interactive “Backlot Tour” with In-Depth Featurettes on the Songs, the Stage Show & Movie, the Film and Sound Restoration and the Real-Life von Trapp Family

A City of Song — Virtual Map of Filming Locations in Salzburg, Austria

Vintage Rodgers & Hammerstein and The Sound of Music Programs

Screen Tests, Rare Treasures, Interviews, Photo Galleries & More!

DVD Disc:

Feature Film In Standard Definition

Newly Remastered Picture and Sound

Optional Sing-Along Track

Music Machine Sing-Along

The Sound of Music Tour – A Living Story

Limited Edition Collector’s Set & bonus materials:

2-Disc Blu-ray with all extras as detailed ~~below~~ above

Standard Definition DVD

45th Anniversary Soundtrack

100-Page “My Favorite Things” scrapbook

Snapshots from Salzburg

Reproduction of the original 1965 Souvenir program

Exclusive “My Favorite Things” Music Box with letter of authenticity

Trailer:

Adam Sandler as “Big Daddy” on Blu-ray in November

Justin Sluss — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:26:13 +0000

Sony has announced plans to bring the 1999 Dennis Dugan directed comedy “Big Daddy” starring Adam Sandler, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jon Stewart to Blu-ray Disc on November 9th. Tech specs include full 1080p Hi-Def video in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio and a lossless 5.1 mix (likely in DTS-HD Master Audio). The title is not yet available yet for pre-order over at Amazon but stay tuned and we will keep you updated. The bonus materials set to be included on the release are listed below.

Two Music Videos:

- Garbage “When I Grow Up”

- Sheryl Crow “Sweet Child O Mine”

HBO First Look: The Making of Big Daddy

Making-of

“Lost in Translation” is coming to Blu-ray in December

Justin Sluss — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 04:31:24 +0000

In an early alert to retailers Universal has announced plans to bring the 2003 film “Lost in Translation” starring Bill Murray & Scarlett Johansson to Blu-ray Disc on December 7th. The film was written & directed by Sofia Coppola, daughter of famed director Francis Ford Coppola. The tech specs haven’t yet been announced but you can likely expect full 1080p Hi-Def and DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound. No info regarding bonus materials yet but stay tuned and we will keep you updated. The title is already available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $18.99 price tag.

“Fantasia” and “Fantasia 2000″ on Blu-ray in November

Justin Sluss — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 20:19:47 +0000

Disney has finally announced plans it seems to bring the films “Fantasia” and “Fantasia 2000” to Blu-ray Disc on November 30th in what’s being dubbed “Fantasia: 2 Movie Collection“. The tech specs for the release include each film getting its own disc with full 1080p Hi-Def video and DTS-HD 7.1 Master Audio sound. The release itself will be a 4-disc “combo” set with the DVD versions of the films also included. The title is already available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $31.99 price tag. Below you’ll find a list of bonus materials set to be included on this release.

Fantasia DVD Bonus Features:

New Audio Commentary with Disney historian Brian Sibley

Disney Family Museum (running time: approx. 5 minutes) – Walt’s daughter Diane Disney-Miller takes viewers on a tour of the new Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, California featuring a very large exhibit on Fantasia and most importantly, the Schultheis notebook with long lost Fantasia production notes found in more recent years in the walls of a convent.

Fantasia Blu-ray Bonus Features:

Everything on the DVD plus:

Disney View – This viewing mode maximizes the Blu-ray viewing experience with a 16 x 9 aspect ratio. Original artwork created by a Disney artist, in a style that complements the beauty of the film.

The Shultheis Notebook: A Disney Treasure (running time: approx. 14 minutes) –An in depth look at the recently discovered Schultheis Notebook. The detailed log was created by Herman Schultheis, an effects man on Fantasia, and intricately breaks down the film from a technical view. Many of the special effects used in Fantasia were a mystery to modern day animators until this notebook was recovered.

Interactive Art Gallery and Screensavers – Viewers can explore the artwork of Fantasia as never before, in HD resolution with unique Blu-ray interactivity and programming.

Audio Commentaries from Fantasia Legacy Collection

- With executive producer Roy E. Disney, conductor James Levine, animation historian John Canemaker, and Scott McQueen, manager of film restoration.

- Audio commentary with interviews and story note recreations by Walt Disney, hosted by John Canemaker.

Fantasia 2000 DVD Bonus Features:

Musicana – Walt’s Inspiration for a Sequel (running time: approx. 10 minutes) – This documentary reveals rarely-seen art created for Musicana, a late 1970’s project intended as a Fantasia sequel with a focus on exploring other cultures via their greatest musical compositions. Viewers are offered a look at the origins of pieces that were started by Walt, such as “The Emperor and the Nightingale” which was then taken over by a very young John Lasseter. Ultimately, Musicana was stopped to begin production on “Mickey’s Christmas Carol,” but the memories of this piece still live on with the animators who conceived it.

Fantasia 2000 Blu-ray Bonus Features:

Everything on the DVD plus:

Dali & Disney: A Date With Destino (running time: 82 minutes) – This feature length documentary explores the collaborative relationship between Walt Disney and Salvador Dali, revealing how and why the Destino short came to fruition under the lead of Roy E. Disney in 2003 so many years after its inception in 1946.

Destino (running time: approx. 7 minutes) – The legacy of Walt Disney and Salvador Dali lives on in this highly anticipated short film.

Disney’s Virtual Vault — BD-Live Feature

Original DVD Bonus Features from Legacy Collection

Audio Commentaries from Fantasia Legacy Collection (total running time: 84 minutes)

With executive producer Roy E. Disney, conductor James Levine, and producer Don Ernst.

Audio commentary with the directors and art directors for each segment.

“Daughters of Darkness” is coming to Blu-ray in December

Justin Sluss — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:44:37 +0000

Blue Underground has announced plans to bring the 1971 Harry Kümel directed horror film “Daughters of Darkness” to Blu-ray Disc on December 21st. Tech specs include full 1080p Hi-Def in the 1.66:1 aspect ratio and DTS-HD Mono sound. The title is not yet available for pre-order over at Amazon but stay tuned and we will keep you updated. Bonus materials set to be included are listed below.

Audio Commentary #1 with Co-Writer/Director Harry Kümel

Audio Commentary #2 with Star John Karlen and Journalist David Del Valle

Locations of Darkness – Interviews with Co-Writer/Director Harry Kümel and Co-Writer/Co-Producer Pierre Drouot

Playing the Victim – Interview with Star Danielle Ouimet

Daughter of Darkness – Interview with Star Andrea Rau

Theatrical Trailer

Radio Spots

CONTEST! Win one of 3 copies of “Hatchet” on Blu-ray

Justin Sluss — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 07:43:27 +0000

We’ve got THREE copies of Adam Green‘s 2006 horror/comedy “Hatchet” in its UNRATED “Director’s Cut” on Blu-ray Disc from Anchor Bay up for grabs in a contest. Since this title doesn’t street until September 7th, that’ll be the day the contest will end. To enter the contest just leave a comment below with a working e-mail address and realize one important thing here though that makes you eligible, you MUST be a U.S. (United States) resident and not at a P.O. Box mailing address. If you qualify, proceed and leave a comment with a working e-mail address so we can contact you if you win.

Also, since just he’s a nice guy and I love his films I will add this bit of promo. Be sure to go out and see the sequel “Hatchet II” in its theatrical run. To sign up for updates on that and when and where it’ll be playing check out the official website HERE. Also, for those of you who have already seen the first film, I have included the trailer for the sequel (in HD) via YouTube embeded below (after the break). Enjoy and good luck in the contest. Also consider following the film’s writer & director himself Adam Green on Twitter for some updates about the theatrical run for the sequel and such.

Trailer for “Hatchet II“:

Best Buy getting “Anchorman” on Blu-ray as an exclusive

Justin Sluss — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 00:52:17 +0000

Best Buy is getting (via DreamWorks) the 2004 Adam McKay directed film “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” starring Will Ferrell on Blu-ray Disc come August 31st as an EXCLUSIVE to the retail chain and their online website (where it carries a $24.99 price tag). We’ve actually received this special 2-disc version dubbed “The Rich Mahogany Edition” for review and we’ll be bringing that to you soon, but in the time being we have a video clip from the bonus materials to share with you to wet your appetite. Enjoy the video embedded below (after the break).

Clip:

The Evil Dead – Blu-ray Disc Review

Justin Sluss — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:44:59 +0000

has an average rating of 7.6 on IMDb
1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on a 50gb disc
Dolby TrueHD 5.1
new commentary & a DVD with extras
–
– 1981
– 85 minutes
– Anchor Bay (Starz)
–
This uses 18.6GB for the movie in 1.33:1 aspect.
This uses 18.7GB for the movie in 1.85:1 aspect.
This uses 38.8GB total.
Street Date: August 31st, 2010

Overall Verdict – A Classic Horror Done Justice

Buy it for $17.49 @ Amazon.com

— Review written by: Justin Sluss —

Trailer:

The Movie Itself was directed by Sam Raimi who is now second best-known for directing the “Spider-Man” live-action trilogy of films as well as films like “Darkman“, “The Quick and the Dead” & “The Gift“. The film itself started from a 8mm short film entitled “Within the Woods” which got Raimi, star Bruce Campbell and Producer Robert Tapert enough financial supporters and such to make a full-length motion picture, originally to be titled “Book of the Dead“. The film was shot in rural Morristown, Tennessee, where the cast and crew shared a nearby a 4-bedroom home as well as near the end even the cabin itself (an iconic part of the film). The story surrounds a guy named “Ash“, short for Ashley, played by Bruce Campbell who goes on a trip with his girlfriend, sister and friends to stay in a cabin in the backwoods of Tennessee. As previously mentioned, joining Ash on the trip are his girlfriend “Linda” (played by Betsy Baker), and his sister “Cheryl” (played by Ellen Sandweiss) as well as his group of friends from Michigan State, “Scott” (played by Richard DeManincor; credited as Hal Delrich), and “Shelly” (played by Theresa Tilly; credited as Sarah York). Aside from “Fake Shemps” (extras) that’s really the entire cast for the film.

The real horror element of the plot comes into play as a result of some things contained in the cabin left by a former researcher of the “Book of the Dead“, an ancient record of burial techniques and such. The professor that formerly resided in the cabin left a reel-to-reel recording of himself discussing his findings as well as reciting some pages from the book that awakens “The Evil Dead” of which comes from “Within the Woods” — and yes, I did just use the film’s titles and the original short film title to explain things. I’ll not go into much more detail about this to not spoil the film for the few folks out there who actually have never seen the film. Let it just be said that this is regarded as one of the best horror films of all-time and rightfully so.

“The Evil Dead” is my personal second favorite film of all-time. The #1 favorite film of all-time (FYI) is also another lower budget horror, “Night of the Living Dead” from 1968 by George A. Romero. Back to this film though, it’s an absolute treat to get to see a film I love this much come to Blu-ray Disc, especially in a HD transfer that was actually supervised by Sam Raimi himself as you’ll hear me discuss more below in the video quality section.

Video Quality on this release is in full 1080p using the AVC MPEG-4 codec on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte dual-layered Blu-ray Disc) and is presented in BOTH the original theatrical 1.33:1 (4×3) aspect ratio as well as the enhanced widescreen 1.85:1 aspect ratio. This is a first of sorts, as the only other film I can recall to feature two different aspect ratios did so using two separate discs, whereas this does it on one disc, and allows you to switch back and forth between the aspect ratios and even keep you “Bookmarks” of specific scenes. This does NOT use seamless branching to do this, it instead actually is using two separate (M2TS) video files on the disc for each aspect ratio. This Hi-Def transfer WAS supervised by Writer/Director Sam Raimi and it shows, as it looks very impressive and is undoubtedly the best that “The Evil Dead” has ever looked. In fact, here’s some great comparison screenshots I did below to start things off before I discuss the video quality in-depth.

DVD vs. Blu-ray Screenshot Comparisons

For a film that was shot on 16mm film this looks excellent, with a large amount of detail, especially in close-ups. The previous DVD version(s) of the film suffered almost from a complete lack of film grain due to heavy DNR (digital noise reduction) use. On this, the debut of “The Evil Dead” on the Blu-ray Disc format, I’m happy to say that it has a great amount of film grain and doesn’t show any signs of DNR use. The black level here is perfectly solid, plus the color palette and tone have been corrected (in comparison to past home video releases, especially the most recent DVD shown above). A few tiny bit of digital editing techniques have been used to remove some things (namely a crew member) from some scenes. I’ll say that yes, this does take a tiny, tiny bit away from the original film presentation but I can understand why director Sam Raimi wanted this done. There are no signs of compression here in either of the aspect ratios’ presentations. There are a few less than pleasing looking scenes though later in the film that last for about 30 seconds or so each but this is to be expected from a film 29 years in age and a film shot on 16mm film with a lower budget. Overall this earns an impressive “4.5 Star Rating” for video quality. It’s not 100% perfect but it’s pretty damn close. I’m glad to see the first film finally get this treatment, now if they’ll just re-do the sequel and get Sam Raimi to approve that transfer I’ll be totally happy.

Audio Quality on this release is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround sound. I will admit, I was a bit disappointed to not see this get a 7.1 mix considering the previous DVD (“The Book of the Dead” replica packaging) release I owned had DTS-ES matrixed 6.1/7.1 which actually got some use. This does get a great lossless mix, don’t get me wrong, but I’d really enjoy it much more if it was 7.1 or at least the original DTS-ES track were also included as an option (as it was actually THX digitally mastered). This track is simply put, an intense “mindfuck” from start to finish that may require some volume adjustment near the end if you wish to keep your hearing and/our sanity intact; even though cranked to reference level it holds no distortion of any sort, just a strong amount of treble in shrieks and screams. Speaking of screams, they get some trippy rear channel pans left to right at times that will leave you a bit spooked. The film’s original music, Foley, sound effects and whatnot get a good use of the 5.1 soundscape with mostly front channel presence but some rear channel presence as well. Dialogue is delivered distinctly through primarily the front center channel, except for some occasions when the voices of the woods get some presence in the other speakers, even rear channels chanting “join us” and such. There’s a decent amount of LFE (bass) here at times, more-so near the end of the film when things really start to get extreme. Overall, the audio presentation is definitely “intense” and is an improvement in the sense that it’s now in a lossless audio codec but I do wish they would have opted for a 7.1 mix. Regardless, the audio presentation is solid, impressive and worthy of a “4.5 Star Rating” overall.

Bonus materials are presented in (480i/p) Standard Definition video in MPEG-2 with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo @192kbps sound.

Disc 1 (A Blu-ray) also includes:

All-New Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Sam Raimi, Producer Robert Tapert and Star Bruce Campbell. This is not scene specific what-so-ever like previous audio commentaries for this and the other “Evil Dead” films, in fact this focuses more on the behind-the-scenes stuff like how the movie came to be and all of the stuff that happened during the making of it up to its 1981 release and even discussion of its success. At the very end you’ll hear them discuss a tiny bit about this new Blu-ray and its restoration, which Sam Raimi did supervise. Lastly, I’ve actually managed to find a Hi-Def clip of this audio commentary for you folks to sample (via YouTube) below. Enjoy!

Disc 2 (A “Limited Edition Bonus” DVD) features:

“One By One We Will Take You: The Untold Saga of THE EVIL DEAD” (53:46) is a great retrospective on the making of the film that features interviews with Producer Robert Tapert, Make-Up Special Effects legend Mike Sullivan, Directors Eli Roth and Edgar Wright. Lots of still photographs from on the set are shown and such. This proves to definitely be worth watching and almost totals in at an hour in runtime; very nice.
“THE EVIL DEAD: Treasures From The Cutting Room Floor” (59:24) consists of outtakes, takes that never made it and ended up on “the cutting room floor” (hence the title) as well as just goofy action around the set. While not as straight-forward (normal) as the previous featurette, it is again one that proves to be definitely worth the watch and also totals in at almost exactly 60 minutes (an hour) in runtime; very nice.
“The Ladies of THE EVIL DEAD Meet Bruce Campbell” (28:55) features a sit-down interview with most of the primary cast hosted by Bruce Campbell (Ash) and includes the ladies Theresa Tilly (Shelly), Ellen Sandweiss (Cheryl), and Besty Baker (Linda). The gals discuss the filming of this with Bruce and such. This proves to be really entertaining and informative for fans of the film.
“Discovering THE EVIL DEAD” (13:06)
“Unconventional” (19:09)
“At The Drive-In” (12:04)
“Reunion Panel” (31:19)
“Book of the Dead: The Other Pages” (1:57)
“Make-Up Test” (1:08) ranges from blood dripping down a white surface to the prosthetics and make-up for the stop-motion animation decomposing bit near the end of the film. This sadly features no audio or narration but is still cool and worth the watch for real fans.
“Still Gallery” is self-explanatory but it does include a variety of both poster art and still photography from on the set (behind-the-scenes).
Theatrical Trailer (1:54) is included.
“TV Spots“, FOUR in total are included and they are as follows:

TV Spot #1

TV Spot #2

TV Spot #3

TV Spot #4

Overall, the bonus materials are really impressive. You get an ALL-NEW audio commentary with Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell and Robert Tapert on the first disc (Blu-ray) as well as a little over 3 and a half hours of Standard Definition bonus materials (some new) on the second disc (DVD). Fans will be left busy with stuff to keep them entertained and informed long after they’ve watched the film in Hi-Def; in either of the aspect ratio choices, which I’ll honestly even consider a bit of a bonus itself. Color me impressed. Although I will say a couple of things I would have considered awesome weren’t included; namely the original short film.

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

1.85:1 aspect ratio Screenshots:

1.33:1 aspect ratio Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Bare with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.

“The Wiz” with Michael Jackson on Blu-ray in November

Justin Sluss — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:27:55 +0000

Universal has officially announced plans to bring the 1978 musical “The Wiz” starring Diana Ross as well as the late Richard Pryor and Michael Jackson to Blu-ray Disc on November 30th. Tech specs include full 1080p Hi-Def video and DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte dual-layered Blu-ray Disc). The bonus materials set to be included here sadly are slim and only includes a featurette titled “Wiz on Down the Road“.

UPDATE: This title is now available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $18.99 price tag.

Below (after the break) you’ll find the trailer to this.

Trailer:

“The Disappearance of Alice Creed” on Blu-ray in November

Justin Sluss — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:43:45 +0000

Anchor Bay (A Starz company) has announced plans to bring the 2009 film “The Disappearance of Alice Creed” written & directed by J Blakeson to Blu-ray Disc on November 23rd. Tech specs include full 1080p Hi-Def video in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio and Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound. The title is available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $24.49 price tag. Bonus materials haven’t been fully detailed yet but are said to include audio commentary tracks featuring director J Blakeson, storyboard featurettes, extended scenes with audio commentary and more. Below (after the break) you’ll find the trailer to this film.

Trailer:

Blu-ray Disc Releases for August 24th, 2010

Justin Sluss — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 05:44:28 +0000

The following titles will be released today August 24th, 2010 on Blu-ray Disc:

$5 A Day (Image Entertainment)

Abandoned (Anchor Bay/Starz)

Ajami (Kino International)

The Back-Up Plan (Sony)

City Island (Anchor Bay/Starz)

Death Note Collection (Warner)

Dorian Gray (E1 Entertainment)

The Long Good Friday (Image Entertainment)

LOST: The Complete Collection (Disney/ABC)

LOST: The Complete Sixth Season (Disney/ABC)

Machine Gun McCain (Blue Underground)

Mona Lisa [1986] (Image Entertainment)

Shogun Assassin (AnimEigo)

The Simpsons: The Thirteenth Season (FOX)

The Square (Sony)

Survival of the Dead (Magnolia Home Entertainment)

Time Bandits (Image Entertainment)

The Universe: Our Solar System (The History Channel/A&E)

Withnail and I (Image Entertainment)

FOX is bringing 2010 film “Predators” to Blu-ray in October

Justin Sluss — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 03:36:19 +0000

FOX has announced plans to bring the 2010 sequel/reboot of sorts “Predators” Produced by Robert Rodriguez, Directed by Nimrod Antal, starring Adrien Brody & Topher Grace to Blu-ray Disc on October 19th. The title is alredy available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $27.99 price tag. Tech specs include full 1080p Hi-Def video and DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio. Below you’ll see a list of bonus materials set to be included and even further after that (after the break) you’ll find the trailer.

Commentary by Producer Robert Rodriguez and Director Nimrod Antal

“Moments of Extraction” Motion Comics – Robert Rodriguez presents exclusive prequel vignettes voiced by the cast of Predators. Witness the secret adventures that turned our world’s most ruthless killers into the ultimate Predator prey.

Noland Intro (part 1)

Isabelle

Cuchillo

Hanzo

Mombasa

Noland Ending (part 2)

Crucified

Evolution of the Species: Predators Reborn

Bloodline

De-Cloaking the Invisible: Alien Terrain

Intelligent Design: The Hunting Camp

Predators as Prey

Yuatja Transformed

Rite of Passage

The Chosen Featurette

Fox Movie Channel presents Making a Scene

Deleted and Extended Scenes

Dead Man’s Parachute

Cuchillo and Isabelle

Team “Orientated” Group

Third Most Wanted

Cuchillo Unleashes

“Why Are You Here?”

“They’re Smarter Than That”

Stans and Isabelle Naked

“They’re Still Coming”

BD-Live Extras

Exclusive Predator Features

Live Lookup – Powered by IMDB

Digital Copy

Trailer:

1954′s “White Christmas” coming to Blu-ray in November

Justin Sluss — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:07:39 +0000

Paramount has plans to bring the 1954 classic film “White Christmas” starring Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye to Blu-ray Disc on November 2nd. Tech specs include full 1080p Hi-Def video with DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound as well as the original mono mix in Dolby Digital. The bonus materials set to be included are listed below and even further below (after the break) you’ll find the original trailer for the film.

Commentary by Rosemary Clooney

Backstage Stories from White Christmas (HD)

Rosemary’s Old Kentucky Home (HD)

Bing Crosby: Christmas Crooner (HD)

Danny Kaye: Joy to the World (HD)

Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (HD)

White Christmas: From Page to Stage (HD)

White Christmas: A Look Back with Rosemary Clooney

Two theatrical trailers (HD)

UPDATE: This title is now available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $20.99 price tag.

Trailer:

Time Bandits – Blu-ray Disc Review

Justin Sluss — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 23:02:45 +0000

has an average rating of 6.9 on IMDb
1080i in AVC MPEG-4 on a 25gb disc
DTS-HD 5.1 MA / Dolby Digital 5.1
has an interview with Terry Gilliam
–
– 1981
– 117 minutes
– Image Entertainment
–
This uses 21.5GB for the movie out of 22.5GB total.
Street Date: August 24th, 2010

Overall Verdict – A Great Film / Decent Disc

Buy it for $12.99 @ Amazon.com

— Review written by: Justin Sluss —

Trailer:

The Movie Itself was co-written and directed by Terry Gilliam, formerly with the comedy troupe “Monty Python” as well as responsible for directing films like “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (from 1975), “Brazil” (from 1985), “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” (from 1988), “The Fisher King” (from 1991), “12 Monkeys” (from 1995), “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” (from 1998), and most recently “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (from 2009).

The film follows a young boy by the name of “Kevin” (played by Craig Warnock) who’s wild imagination with his daydreams turns to reality when at first a knight on horseback comes bursting out of his closest door. Curious to see if this was real, Kevin grabs his trusty camera and lays back in bed to try to catch another visitor. He does manage to get a visitor, in fact plural, visitors in the form of a group of six little men. The group has stolen a time map from “The Supreme Being” which we are lead to believe as god. The supreme being ends up finding the group of “Time Bandits” when they come to Kevin’s room and ends up chasing them through time. The first time period that Kevin and the Time Bandits visit is what we’re lead to believe as late 1700′s France during the post-French Revolution period known as “The Consulate” in which Napoleon gained power of France and such. Napoleon Bonaparte is played here by Ian Holm who is absolutely brilliant in this hilarious but short cameo. Next the Time Bandits make their way to the medieval times where they meet none-other than “Robin Hood” himself played by John Cleese (of “Monty Python” fame). The final trip in time we see is to ancient Greece where Kevin makes the warp through time alone (without his small six friends) and manages to befriend King Agamemnon portrayed by Sean Connery (at this point in his career best known for playing “007″ James Bond).

“Time Bandits” was rated PG by 1981 standards but there’s no way it would get that rating today. The supporting cast includes folks such as Michael Palin (who co-wrote the film with Gilliam), Shelly Duvall, David Warner, Peter Vaughan, Katherine Helmond, and Ralph Richardson as well as the little guys themselves that made up the “Time Bandits” group. I’ll end on saying that this film has a lot of really dark humor aimed at adults even though it was marketed as a children’s film as I mentioned earlier discussing the rating (by today’s standards). I think personally, for me, that’s what makes this one of my favorite of Terry Gilliam‘s films (to-date).

Video Quality on this release is in 1080i using the AVC MPEG-4 codec on a BD-25 (25 gigabyte single layer Blu-ray Disc) in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Let me first start off by saying that I have absolutely NO CLUE why this is in 1080i and not full 1080p. On a more positive note, this is a really nice improvement in comparison to the original 1999 DVD release of the film (from another distributor) that I had previously owned; in terms of video quality. In fact, I’ve done some comparisons via screenshots below to show you. Enjoy!

DVD vs. Blu-ray Screenshot Comparisons

The first thing you’ll notice here is that as a result of it being 1080i, it’s NOT running at 24Hz (24 frames-per-second) as most all theatrical releases on Blu-ray Disc do. It instead runs at 60Hz (30 frames-per-second) like traditional programming such as what television shows use. The fact that this is in 1080i also leads to some obvious interlacing visual issues that you’ll see come up, for example take a look at THIS screenshot (on the spine of the book) and then take a look at THIS screenshot roughly about 5 or 10 frames later. My point is, there’s a large amount of interlacing on the spine of the book in the second screenshot. Another problem here with this is the actual source material which shows many signs of not being properly developed from the 35mm film. One sign of this is commonly associated to brown vertical lines, which you’ll see HERE in this screenshot as well as HERE and HERE. These scenes take place around 13 minutes into the film and don’t really have this problem for long. Another problem arises though around 15 minutes in when a lot of smoke and dim lighting conditions come into play and cause a tiny, tiny bit of block noises (especially with the interlacing factored in). This problem also doesn’t last long, but it’s worth noting. Another last instance I found worth noting was 48 minutes in when I saw more footage that hadn’t been (apparently) properly developed — with the brown vertical lines and such.

Overall though, this as you’ll see in the DVD vs. Blu-ray comparisons is a pretty big improvement, even with it’s flaws and 1080i limitation. I’ll give this a decent “3 Star Rating” for overall video quality. I just wish they’d eventually release this in full 1080p so I don’t have to upconvert it to progressive scan myself with other home theater devices and such.

Audio Quality on this release is presented in both DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio and Dolby Digital 5.1 @640kbps. This (namely the lossless mix) comes as a huge improvement over the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo found on the previous DVD I owned of the film (oddly enough, as mentioned above, released by another distributor). The dialogue is delivered very distinctly for the most part but it can be drowned out a tad bit at times during some action-filled scenes. Volume adjustment may actually be required (or worth considering) at times here. The amount of rear channel presence and LFE is actually pretty impressive with some decent pans and such left to right in the rear channels and at times ALMOST thunderous bass. It’s enough to get the job done, that much is for sure. The mix isn’t really front-heavy but it does mainly consist of the front center channel for dialogue, the left and right front channels for sound effects (Foley) and the original music by Mike Moran. Overall the audio presentation here stands as a huge improvement over the previous DVD release which only featured a (2.0) Stereo mix; plus the fact this in DTS-HD MA, a lossless audio codec. This earns an almost solid “3.5 Star Rating” for overall audio quality. Fans will be pleased, but not “blown away” by this mix.

Bonus materials are presented in Standard Definition (SD) video quality with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound.

Terry Gilliam Interview (18:12 – SD)
Trailer (3:09 – SD)

Overall, the bonus materials are pretty minimal but the interview with co-writer/director Terry Gilliam that runs almost 20 minutes in length is worth watching. Let’s hope someday Gilliam will actually be fully involved with the release of this title to home video and offer up more bonus materials than we get here. That being said, I do understand that this film is 29 years (about to be 30) in age plus it didn’t have the world’s largest budget so those things explain why we don’t find any bonus materials really aside from a new restrospective interview.

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Please bear with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.

A Prophet – Blu-ray Disc Review

Danielle Byington — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:15:55 +0000

has an average rating of 8.1 on IMDb
1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on a 50gb disc
FRENCH & GERMAN DTS-HD 5.1 MA
are in SD & include a commentary track
–
– 2009
– 155 minutes
– Sony
– Region A & B
This uses 41.1GB for the movie out of 46.5GB total.

Overall Verdict – Recommended

Buy it for $29.49 @ Amazon.com

— Review written by: Danielle Byington —

Trailer:

The Movie Itself is Directed and Co-Written by Jacques Audiard, with the additional writing credits of Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri, and Nicolas Peufaillit.

The film centers on Malik (Tahar Rahim), a nineteen-year-old who has just been sentenced to six years in prison for attacking a police officer. As the story begins, we see that Malik is very much alone in society, having no family or friends on the outside to help him financially within prison, and he also can not read. He is, at first, equally alone in his connections inside the prison, and being French of Arab decent does not make things any simpler for him. As there are cliques/gangs on the inside mostly dominated by one’s ethnicity, Malik does not exactly fit in with the Arabs, who call him a Corsican, and he also does not fit in with the Corsicans, as they call him an Arab. However, Malik gets a sort of big-break at random when the leader of the Corsican prison gang, César Luciani (Niels Arestrup) selects him to complete a task.

Having taken notice to the new young inmate’s solitude and his ethnic appearance, Luciani pulls Malik aside amongst his men one day during an outdoor recess and not merely asks of him, but informs him that he is to kill a new Arabic inmate named Reyeb (Hichem Yacoubi); if Malik prefers to back down from the commanded task, the Corsicans will take his life instead. As Malik is utterly alone in his situation with no other choices, he takes a turn of his own human-nature, and completes the job given to him.

Having proven himself, Malik is now under the protection of the Corsican gang, and proceeds to move-up the ladder inch by inch with this obtained trust from Luciani. Though the Corsican gang retains their gibing of Malik for his Arabic heritage, he is now otherwise showered in privileges he would have never seen, as “thanks” from Luciani. However, Malik does not get to simply coast through his sentence in a more favorable fashion, he has to continue to pay respects in the form of appeasing Luciani. This payment of respect involves Milak using his 12-hour prison-leaves to execute outside errands for Luciani‘s outside crime-rings; which proves to involve many other intense tasks. As actions progress in Malik‘s prison/mafia-type life, he also has visions of Reyeb‘s ghost sitting by his side.

In closing, the film is publicized as being reminiscent of “The Godfather“, but do not go into viewing the movie with expectations that are confined to only this. Audiard‘s story creates an attraction and care for the main character, drawing sympathy for his setbacks (i.e. being illiterate, conflicting ethnic heritage), and evolving the emotions towards the protagonist into a nature of “cheering for the underdog” who has made these accomplishments after coming from nothing. Another interesting element of the movie is that, on top of the crime-drama tones, Malik occasionally sees the ghost of the man he murdered to achieve the status in prison that he has now. This is conveyed in an intriguing fashion, as Malik is casually lounging in his cell by the ghost, and even has small talk with him. This film simply presents a well-told story in a unique way, and all in all, is worth a “4.5 Star Rating“.

Video Quality on this release is in full 1080p using the AVC MPEG-4 codec on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte dual-layered Blu-ray Disc) in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The general look of this release’s video quality fluctuates a bit ranging from moderate detail and darkened hues within the color palette, to very distinguishable definition of fine features, and some vibrancy. The majority of the film’s settings consists of the prison interior, and in these scenarios, the picture is mostly conveyed under dimmer lighting conditions, which is where the subdued color palette, as mentioned above, is represented; this look of the picture is similar to the light use of a “crush” filter. Fleshtones are a bit darker than natural, and as the film is generally pretty inky, does relay a solid black level through out. In these scenes, the colors that actually are available, mostly from the wardrobe worn by the inmates, are somewhat muted, whereas, in a few scenes (i.e. Malik working in the sewing room) the lighting is dominated by a stronger presence of over-head fluorescent lighting, bring a vibrant “pop” out of the royal blue hues from the inmate uniforms and the jeans they have to sew. Exterior shots are fairly sparse in the first half of the film, mostly occurring within scenes of the inmates’ outdoor recess period. The color palette of these scenes is equally inky as before mentioned, however, the many neutral tones of the setting of wardrobe do appear more stark.

As the release’s video quality is presented with the above mentioned very inky quality, this does at times make for some enhanced definition within particular shots. For example, medium and close-up shots of the cast in exterior scenes does provide a nice amount of detectable fine details, from facial hair and rugged facial features, to the textures of the wardrobe. Some of these scenes push a higher star rating in their presented definition, but on a larger scale, the video quality within the release retains somewhat subdued details within the darkened look of the picture. Film grain is mild to moderate depending on whether it is an interior (under dimmer lighting conditions in the prison mostly) or exterior shot. Overall, just as mentioned above, the peak of the release’s video quality does reach a higher final verdict at times, but in the end it averages at a “4 Star Rating“.

Audio Quality on this release is presented in the original FRENCH DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track, as well as GERMAN DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio. As the film opens, Malik is already being transitioned into the prison landscape, and mostly the Foley takes the stage, with the left and right front channels as well as the rears conveying the heavy clanking of multiple doors, and the masculine voices of background performers calling out from all around. Also, the acoustics of the setting are nicely translated from within the 5.1 setup as it reflects the spatial confinements of sounds from within the tight prison walls. With the primary setting being the interiors of the prison, these well portrayed small-space acoustics carry-on through out the duration of the release, with lots of subtle but distinct Foley, and a slight reverb in dialogue that is yelled or spoken more loudly. Along with the original music, composed by Alexandre Desplat, as well as a few soundtrack items, all of this is basically the provided audible content on the DTS-HD track, and though it may not have too much to play with, it does exhibit intelligent design within the soundscape, making well-balanced use of the channels, and is definitely worth a “4 Star Rating“.

Bonus materials are presented in Standard Definition, using French Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, with English subtitles (with the exception of the “Theatrical Trailer“, which is presented in HD, using DD 5.1 Surround).

“BD-Live” is included on this Sony release, however, there is no exclusive content relevant to the film available at this point (i.e. interviews, etc.).
“Commentary With Director Jacques Audiard, Actor Tahar Rahim, and Co-Writer Thomas Bidegain“
“Deleted Scenes” (10:34) includes 4 scenes.
“Rehearsal Footage” (8:50) includes 3 readings.
“Screen Tests” (5:00) includes 5 screen tests, all of which involve Tahar Rahim.
“Theatrical Trailer” (2:07)

Overall, the bonus materials are a basic collection of supplements often found on other releases; if you really enjoyed the film, you may find the extra footage (deleted/rehearsal/screen tests scenes) worth a watch.

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Bare with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.

2010 comedy “Grown Ups” coming to Blu-ray in November

Justin Sluss — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:12:06 +0000

Sony has officially announced plans to bring the 2010 Dennis Dugan directed comedy “Grown Ups” starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, and Rob Schneider to Blu-ray Disc on November 9th. The release will come out in both a single disc and a 2-disc “combo” style release with the DVD included. Tech specs include full 1080p Hi-Def video in the in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio and DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound. Bonus materials set to be included (on both versions) are listed below and even further below (after the break) you’ll find the trailer for the film.

movieIQ

Commentary with Director Dennis Dugan

Behind The Back Basket

Gag Reel

Riff-O-Rama

Dennis Dugan: Hands on Director

The Lost Tapes of Norm MacDonald

The Cast of Grown Ups

Busey and the Monkey

UPDATE: Both versions, 2-Disc Combo and Single Disc are now available with PRE-ORDER listings over at Amazon carrying a $27.99 and $24.49 price tag (respectively).

Trailer:

House: Season Six – Blu-ray Disc Review

Brendan Surpless — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 21:44:11 +0000

has an average rating of 9.3 on IMDb
1080p in AVC on FIVE 50gb discs
DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio
are fairly extensive and ALL in Hi-Def!
–
– 2010
– 967 minutes
– Universal
–
Street Date: August 31st, 2010

Overall Verdict – Recommended

Buy it for $44.99 @ Amazon.com

— Review by: Brendan Surpless & Justin Sluss —

The Show Itself is the sixth season of the series. In this season, Greg House (Hugh Laurie) finds himself struggling in a position unfamiliar to him. House, as we remember, has had his license revoked from him. As he attempts to regain this, as well as his life, those surrounding him also seem to have their own set of issues. Staff downsizing, shakeups, moral dilemmas and dealing with House himself are all recurring themes throughout this sixth season.

The full 21 (total) episodes for The Complete Sixth Season are included:

Episode 1 : “Broken“

David Shore, David Foster (II), Garrett Lerner & Russel Friend

Katie Jacobs

9.2

TV.com

Episode 2 : “Epic Fail“

Sara Hess & Liz Friedman

Greg Yaitanes

8.4

TV.com

Episode 3 : “The Tyrant“

Peter Blake (IV)

David Straiton

8.8

TV.com

Episode 4 : “Instant Karma“

Thomas L. Moran

Greg Yaitanes

8.4

TV.com

Episode 5 : “Brave Heart“

Lawrence Kaplow

Matt Shakman

8.5

TV.com

Episode 6 : “Known Unknown“

Doris Egan & Matthew V. Lewis

Greg Yaitanes

8.1

TV.com

Episode 7 : “Teamwork“

Eli Attie

David Straiton

8.0

TV.com

Episode 8 : “Ignorance is Bliss“

David Foster (II)

Lesli Linka Glatter

8.6

TV.com

Episode 9 : “Wilson“

David Foster (II)

Lesli Linka Glatter

8.6

TV.com

Episode 10 : “The Down Low“

Sara Hess & Liz Friedman

Nick Gomez

8.5

TV.com

Episode 11 : “Remorse“

Peter Blake (IV)

Andrew Bernstein

8.1

TV.com

Episode 12 : “Moving the Chains“

Russel Friend & Garrett Lerner

David Straiton

8.6

TV.com

Episode 13 : “5 to 9“

Thomas L. Moran

Andrew Bernstein

8.6

TV.com

Episode 14 : “Private Lives“

Doris Egan

Sanford Bookstaver

9.1

TV.com

Episode 15 : “Black Hole“

Lawrence Kaplow

Greg Yaitanes

8.5

TV.com

Episode 16 : “Lockdown“

Peter Blake (IV), Eli Attle, Garrett Lerner & Russel Friend

Hugh Laurie

8.9

TV.com

Episode 17 : “Knight Fall“

John C. Kelley

Juan J. Campanella

8.9

TV.com

Episode 18 : “Open and Shut“

Sara Hess & Liz Friedman

Greg Yaitanes

8.6

TV.com

Episode 19 : “The Choice“

David Hoselton

Juan J. Campanella

9.1

TV.com

Episode 20 : “Baggage“

Doris Egan & David Foster (II)

David Straiton

9.3

TV.com

Episode 21 : “Help Me“

Garrett Lerner, Russel Friend & Peter Blake (IV)

Greg Yaitanes

9.4

TV.com

In closing, “House: Season Six” is not the absolute best season of the series (I feel that lies in either the third or fourth season) and even though there are a few problems found within (mostly characters and episodes that do little to add any real substance to the overall impact), we still keep coming back for more. Certainly the reason may simply because Laurie nails House on nearly every level, on nearly every aspect. Whatever the reason may be, “House: Season Six” contains more positives than negatives ultimately making this season one worth checking out for fans.

Video Quality on this release is 1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on FIVE BD-50′s (50 gigabyte dual-layered Blu-ray Discs) using the 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Containing a very realistic lifelike transfer, “House” makes its hi-def debut in quite a fine manner. One of the more impressive aspects of this transfer lies in color reproduction. Constantly colors are accurate, bright and clear resulting in an image that just pleases the eye. Whether blacks on the varying suits, whites on the lab coats, etc..All looked great. Detail is also good, more in particular the finite closeups found throughout the season. Fleshtones are spot on, contrast levels (for the most part) are rock solid. No instance of contrast level alteration. Especially when one compares this to another recent Universal release in “Heroes“, the difference is quite clear. All in all this earns a very impressive “4.5 Star Rating” for overall video quality.

Audio Quality on this release is in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio. As expected from a dialogue driven tv show, dialogue is reproduced just fine. No real instance of drop out or muddled dialogue. I will note, speaking on the dialogue, that the mix is overly very front heavy. Most tv mixes are but fret not folks there are instances where the mix does expand…a little. Clearly when we’re actually in the room, hospital happenings do create a solid soundfield. Instances like heart monitors beeping, background dialogue, etc all add into the soundfield. LFE kind of surprised me. I didn’t expect all too much here but the show’s LFE is deep adding in a nice oomph here and there. Nothing that will rock the house but still it all but adds into the mix. Fans of the series will definitely be pleased with the effort put forth by Universal. All in all this earns a “4 Star Rating” for overall audio quality.

Bonus Materials are ALL presented in 1080i High Definition (HD) video quality using Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo @192kbps.

U-Control on this release includes a feature called “A Beginner’s Guide to Diagnostic Medicine ” which is available for all 21 episodes in the season. This is using Bonus View to deliver Picture-In-Picture (PIP) video narrations. This does require the users to be on a “Profile 1.1” capable Blu-ray Disc Player to access this feature.

BD-Live is available for those of you using a “Profile 2.0” capable Blu-ray Disc Player with Internet connectivity. This feature can be accessed through the “What’s New” tab on the main menu, and offers exclusive content and of course the latest trailers. Other features like “Pocket Blu” are included which allow you to use your mobile phone or mobile devices to control playback as well as access bonus materials.
“My Scenes” allows you to bookmarks your favorite scenes, and create your own clips.

Disc 1:

“Before Broken: An Exclusive Original Short” (9:53 – 1080i HD) glances into the Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital, the main locale of season six’s first episode (“Broken“). The short itself is directed by Katie Jacobs and features Hugh Laurie. Katie Jacobs starts this off with an introduction explaining things for a good four minutes and short itself (“Before Broken“) follows.
“A New House for House” (22:40 – 1080i HD) glances into the different directions the sixth season took. It features interviews with Hugh Laurie discussing his character. It’s always fun to hear him talk in his real speaking accent; such a great actor. Executive Producer/Director Katie Jacobs also does some interviews here discussing the season.
“New Faces in a New House” (8:45 – 1080i HD) looks at the new characters that appear in the sixth season as well as their interactions with the main character (“House“). The main episode we see a lot of focus on (where there were new characters) was the season premiere “Broken” which featured a great supporting cast of actors.
“Crazy Cool Episode: Epic Fail” (22:29 – 1080i HD) offers a side-by-side comparison look at the visual effects and storyboards for the episode “Epic Fail“.
Audio Commentary for Episode “Broken“

Disc 3:

Audio Commentary for Episode “Wilson“
Audio Commentary for Episode “5 to 9“

Disc 4:

“A Different POV: Hugh Laurie Directs” (7:22 – 1080i HD) looks into how Laurie prepared to direct the episode “Lockdown“.

Disc 5:

Audio Commentary for Episode “Help Me“

Overall the bonus materials are fairly extensive, you get audio commentary on a total of four episodes, you get a total of five featurettes which have a runtime totaling in at around 72 minutes. The U-Control feature is nice as well even if it is a bit sparse (full of dead-air) at times on some episodes. Fans of the show will be pleased with the supplemental materials here, as said, ALL of which are presented in 1080i Hi-Def video quality.

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Bare with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.

“Moulin Rouge!” and “Romeo + Juliet” on Blu-ray in October

Danielle Byington — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 17:29:32 +0000

According to our friend Bill Hunt over at The Digital Bits, FOX is bringing the Baz Luhrmann (“Australia“, “Strictly Ballroom“) directed films “Moulin Rouge!” (2001) & “Romeo + Juliet” (1996) to Blu-ray Disc on October 19th. The releases are stated to include the following bonus materials:

Moulin Rouge will include an exclusive Spectacular, Spectacular Picture-in-Picture viewing mode with audio commentary (by Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Donald M. McAlpine and Craig Pearce, and featuring behind-the-scenes footage and stills), the A Creative Adventure featurette, an Introduction by Baz Luhrmann, uncut and unreleased footage (including the Father & Son alternate opening and Nicole Kidman’s first vocal test), 6 production featurettes (The Stars, The Writers, The Design, The Dance, The Music and The Cutting Room), The Making of Moulin Rouge documentary, BD-Live: Live Lookup and more.

“Romeo+Juliet will include a new Shaking Up Shakespeare Picture-in-Picture viewing mode with audio commentary (by Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Donald M. McAlpine and Craig Pearce and featuring behind-the-scenes footage and stills), uncut footage, the Romeo+Juliet: The Music featurette, filmmaker and interview galleries, BD-Live: Live Lookup and more.“

The titles will each carry a MSRP of $34.99, and though no tech specs are yet available, it can be assumed that each release will be presented in 1080p, using DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio. Executed appropriately, these releases have the potential to be exciting Hi-Def presentations, as “Romeo + Juliet” yields an interesting soundtrack (involving music by Everclear, Garbage, and The Cardigans), “Moulin Rouge!” consisting of its lyrical-melting-pot influences through out its musical numbers, and both rendering elaborate visual settings. Both titles are available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon now with each carrying a $18.49 price tag.

Magnolia bringing “I’m Still Here” to Blu-ray in November

Justin Sluss — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 14:45:05 +0000

It may not have even had its limited theatrical run yet but according to an early alert to retailers Magnolia Home Entertainment already has plans to bring the 2010 documentary “I’m Still Here” starring Joaquin Phoenix and directed by Casey Affleck to Blu-ray Disc on November 23rd. Tech specs and bonus materials for the release have not yet been detailed but stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated. The title is already available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $20.99 price tag.

Magnolia bringing “The Extra Man” to Blu-ray in November

Justin Sluss — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:55:32 +0000

Magnolia Home Entertainment, in an early alert to retailers, has announced plans to bring the 2010 film “The Extra Man” starring Kevin Kline, John C. Reilly, Katie Holmes, and Paul Dano to Blu-ray Disc on November 16th. Tech specs and bonus materials have not yet been detailed but stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated. The title is already available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $20.99 price tag.

Trailer for “Back to the Future Trilogy” Blu-ray up on YouTube

Justin Sluss — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 20:56:55 +0000

Universal finally posted an official trailer (in up to full 1080p Hi-Def) on YouTube last week for the upcoming (October 26th) release of the “Back to the Future: 25th Anniversary Trilogy” on Blu-ray Disc. The trailer shows what one would assume to be the restored footage from the three films as well as a glimpse at the new bonus materials. Also, just a reminder, this title is available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $49.99 price tag. You’ll find that trailer embedded below (after the break).

Trailer:

Universal adds new feature to “The Office” Season 6 Blu-ray

Justin Sluss — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 20:20:29 +0000

Universal has been kind enough to share some information with us just now about their plans to do an industry FIRST on Blu-ray Disc via BD-Live with their upcoming (September 7th) release of “The Office: Season Six” and here’s more information, straight from them.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment is pleased to announce a landmark, industry first Blu-ray™ feature. Through their Internet-connected Blu-ray™ player using BD-Live™, purchasers will now have an opportunity to watch the latest five episodes from the new season – Season Seven – after they air on their home televisions. As if it couldn’t get any better, season seven episodes will be available in HD, pending individual Internet connection speeds.

Just a reminder, this title is available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $48.99 price tag. Stay tuned for our review of this title very soon!

“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” coming to Blu-ray in November

Justin Sluss — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:58:09 +0000

In an early alert to retailers MGM (distributed by FOX) has announced plans to bring the classic 1968 film “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” to Blu-ray Disc on November 2nd. Tech specs-wise so far all we know is that this will be a “combo” release apparently in BOTH Blu-ray & DVD style packaging options with the Blu-ray Disc and the DVD included in each. Further tech specs and bonus materials have not yet been detailed, but stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated once the studio makes an official press release. The title is already available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $31.49 price tag.

The 1968 film is Directed & Co-Written by Ken Hughes, with the additional screenplay Writing credit of Roald Dahl, and additional script dialogue written by Richard Maibaum. The film is based on the Ian Fleming novel “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car“. The film stars Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, and also including Benny Hill. The film was also Co-Producer, along with Hughes, by Albert R. Broccoli, who also Co-Produced the “James Bond” film series (which was also inspired by Fleming‘s novels). The film is also notorious for its musical soundtrack, with music composed by Irwin Kostal, in cooperation with musical numbers created by Dee Dee Wood and Marc Breaux.

EDITORIAL NOTE: It has been brought to my attention via one of our friends that this film hasn’t been released in its proper aspect ratio on home video but maybe a total of two times. Once on the laserdisc format and then once again on a latter Special Edition DVD release. In fact, the most recent DVD release was actually just a 1.33:1 Pan & Scan effort that I’m sure didn’t leave fans too happy; given it’s now very common to have a widescreen display. This film was shot on 65mm film using a process known as Super Panavision in the 2.20:1 aspect ratio — according to IMDb‘s technical specifications listing. Not only will it look A LOT better in its original aspect ratio, but since it was shot using this (advanced, for its time) cinematic process it should REALLY look even more impressive; if given a proper restoration. We’ll have more on this release as we get info from the studio. In the meantime, let’s hope they did opt for a real restoration since this film is 42 years in age.

UPDATE: Our friend Bill Hunt over at The Digital Bits has posted the following information regarding the release:

Extras will include 5 documentaries and featurettes (Remembering Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with Dick Van Dyke, A Fantasmagorical Motorcar, The Ditchling Tinkerer, Dick Van Dyke Press Interview and The Potts Children), a photo gallery, a vintage advertising gallery with rare trailers and TV spots, rare Sherman Brothers song demos, a Music Machine, a Sing-a-long version of the film, the all new interactive Toot Sweet Symphony melody maker and Chitty Chitty’s Bang Bang Driving Game. The film’s audio has also been remixed in 7.1 DTS-HD.

Lionsgate bringing “2001 Maniacs” to Blu-ray in October

Justin Sluss — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 20:53:30 +0000

File this under just in time for Halloween. As we had previously reported to you (HERE in a post last month) Lionsgate has plans to bring the 2005 Tim Sullivan directed comedy/horror “2001 Maniacs” starring Robert Englund to Blu-ray Disc on October 5th. Tech specs and bonus materials have still not yet been detailed for this release but stay tuned and we try to keep you updated. The real news development here is that title is now available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $17.99 price tag and the cover art (pictured above) has been unveiled.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Blu-ray Disc Review

Danielle Byington — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:36:41 +0000

has an average rating of 6.1 on IMDb
1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on a 50gb disc
DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio
cool + include DVD & Digital Copy
–
– 2010
– 92 minutes
– FOX
–
This uses 27.2GB for the movie out of 31.4GB total.

Overall Verdict – Recommended

Buy it for $28.99 @ Amazon.com

— Review by: Danielle Byington & Justin Sluss —

Trailer:

The Movie Itself is Directed by Thor Freudenthal, with the Screenplay credits of Jackie Filgo, Jeff Filgo, Gabe Sachs, and Jeff Judah; the film is based on the illustrated book by Jeff Kinney of the same title.

The movie centers on Greg (Zachary Gordon), who is also the narrator of this “diary” rooted story. Greg is just starting middle school, and believes that he has the ultimate plan to be the coolest and most popular kid. However, his best friend, Rowley (Robert Capron), may make the task of being cool nearly impossible, as Rowley is, well, definitely not afraid to be himself, arriving to school on the first day in traditional ethnic clothing from the country his family vacationed over the summer. Another challenge in Greg‘s popularity-plan is his older hardcore-drummer-in-a-band brother, Rodrick (Devon Bostick), who never ceases to provide his little brother with inappropriate sibling-torture. As Greg drags Rowley along with his plans to be awesome, it seems that none of them are working; all except Rowley‘s sincerity in being his dorky self, which ironically gains him favoritism amongst his peers, and also gains him some envy from Greg. This all brings Greg to the point of realization that perhaps he is trying to hard to be accepted, and what he thought was not cool (being yourself), is ultimately the answer.

“Diary of a Wimpy Kid“, as a film I hadn’t seen in its theatrical run, it really left me surprised and honestly laughing quite a bit; especially throughout the first half of the film. While the film may be focused towards younger audiences, even adults will find themselves relating to the themes of the film, as it showcases the pro’s and (mostly) con’s of pre-teen/adolescent social life; and perhaps even adults will find more humor in many of the situations of the movie’s content. On the other hand, the delivery of this content is not too serious, keeping a firm hold in standing light and comedic as it presents the awkward and seemingly hopeless times experienced by a 12 year-old. Audiences alike should find the film worth their time and many laughs, as the movie itself earns a solid “4 Star Rating“.

Video Quality on this release is in full 1080p using the AVC MPEG-4 codec on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte dual-layered Blu-ray Disc) in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio. This film was shot on traditional 35mm film, and its transition to High Definition is rather pristine and impressive. There is a great amount of clarity throughout, presenting most all of the fine details effortlessly, such as with the typical subjects like a strand of hair, and textures of wardrobe and props. The color palette is mostly neutral, and also exhibits a nice amount of vibrancy without really being over-the-top. There are many examples of this throughout the film including many exterior shots of Greg and Rowley (playing) and many interior shots from within the school. This saturation adds a nice visual “pop” to the look of the picture, while refraining from bleeding or taking away from the other pristine qualities of the video presentation itself. Fleshtones are balanced and accurate, and all of these elements are additionally set-off by a solid black level. Throughout the film, the action is often intercepted by the animation going back to the journal (diary) the narrator is discussing events to us from. These animated clips also reveal keen textures in the pencil-like illustrations interpreting the action. Overall, this release’s video quality is actually quite impressive, and worth a “4.5 Star Rating“.

Audio Quality on this release is presented in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio. The most important part here in a film like this is dialogue as most of the film revolves around it as well as narration. I’m happy to say that it’s done perfect justice here and has no issues. Primary dialogue is clear and free of any audible issues, from on-screen spoken words, to the narration — no need for any volume adjustments. The key points of the audio’s content come from both the accompanying score and soundtrack. The original music, composed by Theodore Shapiro, provides a bit of variety of musical style, though mostly fills the front channels with casual rear channel presence. However, the songs provided within the soundtrack of the film make for a bit more kick within the 5.1 setup, being the primary source of what decent subwoofer presence exists; a nice example of this is Greg‘s first entrance into middle school. Being a film that centers on the setting of a school, there are several occasions of extras on the set, and the babble amongst peers does make its way through out the front channels, as well as the rears. There is a small number of moments in which this particular bit of the audio reaches an inch further in effort of design, such as the scene where Rodrick has cornered Greg in his bedroom; a shot that mimics a split-screen effect relays the dialogue of each sibling from the left and right channel, respectively. Overall, there are no complaints or overwhelming minuses to be held here, but for the most part, the audio track is worth a solid “4 Star Rating” for audio quality.

Bonus materials are presented in High Definition, using Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, with the exception of the Theatrical Trailer which uses Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround.

A DVD of the film in Standard Definition with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is included in this “combo” pack style release.
Digital Copy of the film in Standard Definition is included on a DVD-ROM in this “combo” pack style release.
An illustrated short book in the style of the original books is included as part of the slip cover to this release. This is a tiny physical type of bonus material.
“Greg’s Deleted Diary Pages” include:

Fregley’s Scavenger Hunt

Chirag’s Trail of Tears

Fregley’s Shuffle

Mom Drops Greg Off at School

Greg and Rowley Jump Over The Wall

Mr. Winsky’s Safety Patrol Assignment

Mom Suggests a Friendship Card

Greg Meets Fregley’s Mom

Greg Has The Cheese Touch

Rowley’s Lost Zoo-Wee Mama Cartoons

Feature Audio Commentary with Director Thor Freudenthal and Writer Gabe Sachs
“Theatrical Trailer” (1:52)

Overall, the bonus materials are pretty straight-forward and include the physical additions of the illustrated short book attach as front of the slip cover, the DVD and Digital Copy (in this “combo” style release). Fans, mostly the family audiences will get enjoyment the most likely out of those physical bonus materials. The deleted “diary pages” (scenes) are worth the watch and the audio commentary is worth listening to for those older fans.

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Please bear with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.

CONTEST! Win one of two copies of “$5 A Day” on DVD

Justin Sluss — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:09:50 +0000

We’re giving away TWO copies of Image Entertainment‘s upcoming home video release of “$5 A Day” on DVD. To enter the contest you MUST be a United States resident with a non-P.O. box mailing address. To enter (if you’re eligable) just leave a comment below with your working e-mail address. The contest will run from today (August 17th, 2010) until next week (August 24th, 2010). Good luck and enjoy a couple of clips from film below (after the break).

Clips:

Criterion Collection announces November Blu-ray releases

Justin Sluss — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 13:45:41 +0000

The Criterion Collection has announced their titles to be released in November on Blu-ray Disc. On November 9th they plan to release the 2009 film “Antichrist” starring Willem Dafoe. On November 16th they have plans for two titles, the 1955 Charles Laughton directed film “The Night of the Hunter” and also the 1936 film “Modern Times” starring the legendary Charlie Chaplin. Then on November 23rd the first box set from Criterion on Blu-ray Disc will debut, “America Lost and Found: The BBS Story” which includes a total of SEVEN films. Those films included in that box set are as follows: “Head” from 1968, “Easy Rider” from 1969, “Five Easy Pieces” from 1970, “Drive, He Said” from 1970, “A Safe Place” from 1971, “The Last Picture Show” from 1971, and “The King of Marvin Gardens” from 1972.

None of these titles are yet available for pre-order over at Amazon but stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated. The tech specs and bonus materials have been announced for all these releases and are listed below (after the break) with the titles in the order of their release.

November 9th:

” ANTICHRIST “

2009 • 108 minutes • Color/Black & White • Surround • 2.35:1 aspect ratio

DIRECTOR APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by director Lars von Trier and supervised by director of photography Anthony Dod Mantle, with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition

Audio commentary by von Trier and professor Murray Smith

Video interviews with von Trier and actors Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg

A collection of video pieces delving into the production of Antichrist, including interviews with von Trier and key members of his filmmaking team as well as behind-the-scenes footage

Chaos Reigns at the Cannes Film Festival 2009, a documentary on the film’s world premiere, plus press interviews with Dafoe and Gainsbourg

Three theatrical trailers

PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Ian Christie

November 16th:

” THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER “

1955 • 93 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • 1.66:1 aspect ratio

SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition

Audio commentary featuring assistant director Terry Sanders, film critic F. X. Feeney, archivist Robert Gitt, and author Preston Neal Jones

Charles Laughton Directs “The Night of the Hunter,” a two-and-a-half-hour archival treasure trove of outtakes from the film

New documentary featuring interviews with producer Paul Gregory, Sanders, Jones, and author Jeffrey Couchman

New video interview with Simon Callow, author of Charles Laughton: A Difficult Actor

Clip from the The Ed Sullivan Show, in which cast members perform live a scene that was deleted from the film

Fifteen-minute episode of the BBC show Moving Pictures about the film

Archival interview with cinematographer Stanley Cortez

Gallery of sketches by author Davis Grubb

New video conversation between Gitt and film critic Leonard Maltin about Charles Laughton Directs “The Night of the Hunter”

Original theatrical trailer

PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by critics Terrence Rafferty and Michael Sragow

” MODERN TIMES “

1936 • 87 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • 1.33:1 aspect ratio

SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition

New audio commentary by Chaplin biographer David Robinson

Two new visual essays, by Chaplin historians John Bengtson and Jeffrey Vance

New program on the film’s visual and sound effects, with experts Craig Barron and Ben Burtt

Interview from 1992 with Modern Times music arranger David Raksin

Chaplin Today: “Modern Times” (2004), a half-hour program with filmmakers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne

Two segments removed from the film

Three theatrical trailers

All at Sea (1933), a home movie by Alistair Cooke featuring Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, and Cooke, plus a new score by Donald Sosin and a new interview with Cooke’s daughter, Susan Cooke Kittredge

The Rink (1916), a Chaplin two-reeler highlighting his skill on wheels

For the First Time (1967), a Cuban documentary short about a projectionist who shows Modern Times to first-time moviegoers

More!

PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Saul Austerlitz and a piece by film scholar Lisa Stein that includes excerpts from Chaplin’s writing about his travels in 1931 and 1932

November 23rd:

” AMERICA LOST AND FOUND: THE BBS STORY “

” HEAD ”

1968 • 85 minutes • Color • Monaural/Surround • 1.78:1 aspect ratio

Special Features

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and uncompressed monaural soundtracks on the Blu-ray edition

Audio commentary featuring Monkees Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, and Peter Tork

New video interview with director Bob Rafelson

New documentary about BBS, featuring critic David Thomson and historian Douglas Brinkley

More!

” EASY RIDER ”

1969 • 96 minutes • Color • Surround • 1.85:1 aspect ratio

Special Features

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition

Audio commentary featuring director Dennis Hopper

Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage, a 1999 documentary featuring behind-the-scenes footage

Footage of Hopper and star Peter Fonda at Cannes in 1969

New video interview with BBS’s Steve Blauner

More!

” FIVE EASY PIECES ”

1970 • 98 minutes • Color • Monaural • 1.85:1 aspect ratio

Special Features

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition

Audio commentary featuring director Bob Rafelson and interior designer Toby Rafelson

Soul Searching in Five Easy Pieces, a 2009 video piece in which Rafelson discusses the film

BBStory, a 2009 documentary

Excerpts from an audio recording of Rafelson at the American Film Institute in 1976

” DRIVE, HE SAID ”

1970 • 90 minutes • Color • Monaural • 1.85:1 aspect ratio

Special Features

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition

A Cautionary Tale of Campus Revolution and Sexual Freedom, a 2009 video piece in which director Jack Nicholson discusses the experience of making this film

Theatrical trailer

More!

” A SAFE PLACE ”

1971 • 92 minutes • Color • Monaural • 1.85:1 aspect ratio

Special Features

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition

Audio commentary featuring director Henry Jaglom

Henry Jaglom Finds “A Safe Place,” a 2009 video piece in which the director discusses the film

Notes on the New York Film Festival, a 1971 video piece featuring an interview conducted by critic Molly Haskell with directors Peter Bogdanovich and Jaglom about their films The Last Picture Show and A Safe Place

Deleted scene and screen tests

Theatrical trailer

” THE LAST PICTURE SHOW ”

1971 • 126 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • 1.85:1 aspect ratio

Special Features

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition

Two audio commentaries, one featuring director Peter Bogdanovich and the other featuring Bogdanovich and actors Cybill Shepherd, Randy Quaid, Cloris Leachman, and Frank Marshall

Picture This, a 1990 documentary by George Hickenlooper

“The Last Picture Show”: A Look Back, an hour-long 1999 documentary

2009 interview with Bogdanovich

Screen tests and location footage

Theatrical trailers and more!

” THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS ”

1972 • 104 minutes • Color • Monaural • 1.85:1 aspect ratio

Special Features

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition

Selected-scene audio commentary featuring director Bob Rafelson

Reflections of a Philosopher King, a 2009 documentary about the making of the film

Afterthoughts, a short 2002 documentary about the film, produced by Rafelson

Theatrical trailer

Blu-ray Disc Releases for August 17th, 2010

Justin Sluss — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 11:47:47 +0000

The following titles were released today August 17th, 2010 on Blu-ray Disc:

Black Orpheus (The Criterion Collection)

Cemetery Junction (Sony)

The City of Your Final Destination (Screen Media)

Dexter: The Fourth Season (Paramount)

Furry Vengeance (Summit Entertainment)

The Good, The Bad, The Weird (MPI Home Video)

Hamlet [1996] (Warner)

The Last Song (Disney)

Nanny McPhee (Universal)

Skellig: The Owl Man (Image Entertainment)

“The Hunting Party” is coming to Blu-ray in November

Justin Sluss — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:18:24 +0000

In an early alert to retailers The Weinstein Company (distributed by Vivendi Entertainment) has announced plans to bring the 2007 film “The Hunting Party” directed by Richard Shepard, starring Richard Gere and Terrence Howard to Blu-ray Disc on November 23rd. Tech specs known so far include full 1080p Hi-Def video in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio with the audio configuration and codec so far unannounced. Bonus materials also have yet to be announced but stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated. The title is already available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with an affordable $13.99 price tag.

Date Night – Blu-ray Disc Review

Justin Sluss — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:09:27 +0000

has an average rating of 6.6 on IMDb
1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on a 50gb disc
DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio
pretty decent with an “Extended Cut”
–
– 2010
– 88 minutes & 101 minutes (extended cut)
– FOX
–
This uses 45.8GB total.

Overall Verdict – Recommended

Buy it for $28.99 @ Amazon.com

— Review written by: Justin Sluss —

Trailer:

The Movie Itself is directed by Shawn Levy known for directing the 2006 remake of “The Pink Panther” as well as “Night at the Museum” and its 2009 sequel.

“Date Night” is a comedy that centers around a couple, “The Fosters“, who think they are going on their usual “date night” (hence the title) when they get involved in a complex case of mistaken identity. “Phil Foster” (played by Steve Carell) and his wife “Claire Foster” (played by Tina Fey) have kids and both work so it’s always an escape for them to find the time each week to go on a date. In the course of the film we get to see what their average “date night” is like and then what their horribly messed up “date night” is like. Usually the couple would go to a smaller restaurant and spend most of their time making fun of the couples around them but not on this date night. The Fosters end up going to a really expensive restaurant as the result of Phil lying to his wife and pretending to have a reservation. Once he has to fess up they realize they don’t have a reservation, nor chance in eating at the restaurant, he decides to make a really ballsy move and pretends to be the couple that they are calling out the name for. The hostess seats the Fosters in the table that was supposed to be occupied by another couple and they go about their evening and routine. Things get a bit on the side of conflict for the couple at the end of their meal when two men show up and ask them if they are the couple that was supposed to be seated at that table. They are escorted out of the restaurant by the two thug-like guys (played by Jimmi Simpson and rapper-turned-actor Common). They then are told that they need to turn over the USB thumbdrive, which they are absolutely clueless about.

Also worth noting, this has Mark Wahlberg, Taraji P. Henson, Kristen Wiig, Mark Ruffalo, James Franco, Mila Kunis and William Fichtner in the supporting cast.

“Date Night” actually turned out to leave me laughing more than I expected, as well as my “date” (fiancée) who laughed her share too. Carell and Fey are both hilarious (as usual) plus make a pretty good on-screen comedy duo. If you enjoy the two on their own, you’ll very likely enjoy this — how much you’ll like it though, I can’t really say. This doesn’t feel anything like an episode of either “The Office“, “30 Rock” or even a really really lengthy “Saturday Night Live” sketch. “Date Night” just feels like something of its own, somewhat unique style. It’s at times a bit more startling than it is funny, much like a modern approach to something from “The Twilight Zone” but with comedic roots.

Video Quality on this release is in full 1080p using the AVC MPEG-4 codec on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte dual-layered Blu-ray Disc) in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio. According to IMDb this was shot digitally in Hi-Def using the Panavision Genesis HD camera. This has a pretty solid black level, a tad bit of digital noise at times and a fairly good amount of detail. The color palette is pretty vibrant here, especially in the scenes halfway through the film in Times Square. Fleshtones are accurate here as well. The lighting conditions can make the quality a bit less pleasing at times and that’s common for the Genesis camera. The fact this has two different encodes of the film to accommodate the theatrical and extended cuts does mean that this does have some compression issues but none that you’ll see visually and find worth complaining about. In fairness though to that statement, I did only watch the “extended cut” as well as use it for screenshots, I just compared the file sizes and such of the two files that contain the two versions when I was analyzing the disc on a computer. This type of thing is usually not an issue as most studios opt to instead use seamless branching and not actually put two different (separate) encodes on the same disc. I can’t say that FOX was right to make this choice, but luckily the amount of bonus materials wasn’t enough to cause any visual compression issues. The video presentation here is pleasant for the most part and one of the better looking Genesis shot films to come to Blu-ray Disc. “Date Night” earns itself a solid “4 Star Rating” for overall video quality.

Audio Quality on this release is presented in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio. First and foremost, this is really just a comedy and dialogue is what’s the most important and what makes up the majority of the film’s audio. Dialogue is presented distinctly here throughout primarily the front center channel with a bit of presence at times in the left and right front channel speakers. Surprisingly the film has a bit of “oomph” at times in its Foley (sound effects) and such as well as with the Soundtrack and original music. The 5.1 mix has a decent amount of rear channel action and use of the LFE (bass) via the subwoofer. It’s nothing that will leave you blown away but it does certainly get the job more than done. This earns a solid “4 Star Rating” for overall audio quality. “Date Night“, to be just a comedy with a bit of action thrown in, does have a pretty good audio presentation.

Bonus materials are presented in both Hi-Def (HD) and Standard Definition (SD) video quality with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound — unless otherwise noted below.

BD-Live Live Lookup is powered by IMDb and gives you real-time information about the film’s cast, crew, the music, etc. This does require the user to be on a “Profile 2.0” capable Blu-ray Disc Player with an Internet connection.
Digital Copy of the film in Standard Definition is included on a DVD-ROM in this “combo” pack style release.
Audio Commentary by Director Shawn Levy (only on the Theatrical Version)
Deleted Scenes (5:47 – SD)
Alternate Scenes (1:48 – SD) appears apparently mislabeled as “Alt City” here in the menu.
Extended Scenes (10:25 – SD) a total four, to be exact.
Directing 301 Featurette (21:48 – HD) actually has mention of shooting the film using the Genesis HD camera.
Disaster Dates Featurette (4:43 – SD)
Directing Off-Camera Featurette (3:46 – SD)
Steve Carell and Tina Fey Camera Tests (3:10 – SD)
Gag Reel (5:49 – SD)
Public Service Announcement (2:02 – SD), or PDAs rather, a total of three.
Theatrical Trailer (2:25 – HD)

Overall, the bonus materials are pretty decent, they have a runtime of almost an hour total and you have the audio commentary as well as IMDb movie look-up feature and a Digital Copy of the film. If you enjoyed the film you’ll be somewhat pleased with the package of supplemental materials found here. Plus, the “Extended Cut” is a nice addition as well which has pretty good amount of new material not found in the theatrical cut.

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Please bear with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.

BREAKING NEWS! “Star Wars” coming to Blu-ray in 2011

Justin Sluss — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 16:23:39 +0000

The folks over at Newsarama.com who are in attendance at the “Star Wars Celebration V” just tweeted the following which I’ll be quoting below and let speak for itself. The tweet itself can be found HERE and we’ll have more on this hopefully later today.

STAR WARS on Blu-Ray with NEW Deleted Scenes coming in 2011!

@Newsarama went on to tweet this as well.

The lost scene on the Star Wars Blu-Ray was AWESOME. You guys are gonna LOVE this thing.

UPDATES: I’m getting word from readers and other sources that this information came straight from the mouth of none-other than George Lucas himself. In fact, we now have 100% confirmation that this is OFFICIAL and you can read for yourself on StarWars.com in their post which I’ve quoted down further below. This release will include all six of the live-action films. The deleted scene that will be included has been detailed by our friend Brendan over at TheBlurayBlog — check it out. Also a few more things. Our friend Dan Bradley (of TheHDRoom) has brought it my attention that these will be the “Special Edition” versions of the first three episodes (films) with the newer special visual effects. George Lucas actually explained this choice HERE over at The New York Times.

Wow, here’s even more coolness to spread along, below you’ll find a picture with George Lucas and stars Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill standing onstage behind a giant screen with both the “Star Wars” and Blu-ray Disc logos. That alone should make most every geek alive happy.

Official Word From StarWars.com:

The Star Wars saga will at long last be released in a high-definition home video format as all six movies come to Blu-Ray in Box Set in Fall 2011, as announced by George Lucas this morning at Celebration V. The fan convention’s Main Event, thousands of Star Wars fans braved the muggy heat of an Orlando morning to queue for a one-time only stage session between George Lucas and The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart. Stewart asked Lucas questions submitted from the fan community, and one of the most frequently asked questions submitted online prior to the Main Event was about the saga’s release on Blu-Ray.
“I wish I could say it was coming out this year,” said Lucas, “but it will come out next year.”

The set will feature all six live-action Star Wars feature films, with the highest picture and audio quality, along with extensive special features.

Star Wars fans were treated to a glimpse of bonus material, in the form of a long-lost deleted scene from Return of the Jedi. The scene has long been talked about online — a sequence that depicts Luke Skywalker assembling his new, green-bladed lightsaber prior to infiltrating Jabba the Hutt’s palace. After completing the Jedi weapon, Luke stashes it in R2-D2′s dome. What makes the Jedi deleted clip so remarkable is that it made it all the way to postproduction before it was cut, so it is a rare example of a cut scene with completed visual effects and music.

Actor Mark Hamill came out to describe the scene, remarking that once again his original introduction in a Star Wars film was cut out (his Anchorhead introduction was, of course, cut from A New Hope). Luke’s intro is purposely played as ominous, with his face cowled in shadows and his intentions unclear.”I had the black cloak, the glove, and I thought, wow, this time around I get to be the antagonist. Little did I know I was predicting the path of the prequels,” said Hamill, noting the similarities to Luke in this scene and Anakin Skywalker’s appearance.

Keep checking StarWars.com for more updates from Celebration V as the weekend continues.

Vivendi bringing “Robin-B-Hood” to Blu-ray in November

Justin Sluss — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 15:37:17 +0000

In an early alert to retailers Dragon Dynasty (distributed by Vivendi & The Weinstein Company) has announced plans to bring the 2006 Chinese martial arts film “Robin-B-Hood” starring Jackie Chan to Blu-ray Disc on November 9th. The tech specs and bonus materials have not yet been announced but stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated. The title is already available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with an affordable $13.99 price tag.

“Toy Story 3″ for sure coming to Blu-ray in November

Justin Sluss — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 15:51:30 +0000

Word is now that it’s official that Disney does indeed plan to bring the 2010 Pixar film “Toy Story 3” to Blu-ray Disc on November 2nd as it had been previously rumored. We now know that the release will get two different treatments, first the standard 2-Disc Set and then the 2 Disc + DVD + Digital Copy “combo” style. Tech specs haven’t yet been officially announced yet but stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated when we get a press release; expected later today or Monday. Both versions are available for PRE-ORDER already over at Amazon with the 2-Disc version (found HERE) carrying a $24.99 price tag and the 2-Disc “combo” version (found HERE) carrying a $28.99 price tag. The bonus materials set to be included (according to Amazon) are listed below.

DVD bonus materials:

Teaser (HD) Cars 2 early sneak peak

Day And Night theatrical short

Bonus: The Gang’s All Here, Toys! Epilogue

Buzz Lightyear Mission Logs: The Science Of Adventure (conj with NASA)

Paths To Pixar: Editorial

Studio Stories: Where’s Gordon, Cereal Bar, Clean Start

A Toy’s Eye View: Creating A Whole New Land

Alex Syntek

BD bonus materials (same as above, plus):

Cine-explore by director Lee Unkrich and producer Darla Anderson

Beyond The Toybox – Commentary track

Beginnings with Michael Arndt

Bonnie’s Playtime – A story roundtable

Roundin’ Up A Western Opening

Goodbye Andy

The Accidental Toymakers Of Pixar

Life Of A Short

Making of Day And Night

Ken’s dating tips, Lotso commercials

“Dancing With The Stars” at Pixar

Trailers and more

Game: Toy Story Trivia Dash

Alex Syntek music video

One the worst films ever “Troll 2″ on Blu-ray in October

Justin Sluss — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 23:08:32 +0000

Wow, after yesterday’s Mad Max announcement I didn’t think the PR at MGM (distributed by FOX) could quite possibily top themselves, anytime soon, let alone the very next day; well they HAVE!

In an early alert to retailers MGM has announced (late) plans to bring the 1990 film “Troll 2” to Blu-ray Disc on October 5th. Why does this top yesterday’s announcement you ask? Because, well, this film has a reputation of being one of THE WORST FILMS EVER MADE and sports a rockin’ 2.0 (out of 10) rating over at IMDb, where it also ranks in the “Bottom 100” at #63. The film even has been the focus of a recent documentary “Best Worst Movie” from 2009.

I’m not going to argue this choice to bring this out right now, in fact I’m going to support it as the film came out in October of 1990, exactly now 20 years ago, so it being released to Blu-ray is only fitting on that anniversary — no matter how bad the film actually is, it has a “cult following” — and don’t argue with me on what defines a cult following! Regardless, no tech specs or info yet regarding bonus matrials on this release but the title is already available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with an affordable $13.99 price tag. Amazon also mentions that it’s 2 discs so I’m assuming that it’s a “combo” style release with the DVD included but stay tuned for specific details once we get a press release or such. Until then, if you’ve never seen it or haven’t in a while, be sure to watch the ENTIRE film for FREE over at Hulu. I’ve even been kind enough to embed it below (after the break). Enjoy!

FULL MOVIE:

See angry Mel Gibson as “Mad Max” on Blu-ray in October

Justin Sluss — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 01:37:35 +0000

Now let’s first say that it helps if you’ve heard the numerous telephone recordings of actor Mel Gibson and his girlfriend that hit the tabloid and Internet circa the past month. Also let me say that I’m usually one to never quite understand the methods behind the folks that work in the marketing for home video, especially this studio (or rather the studio that handles this studio’s titles). OK, now this just comes as hilarious and there’s likely not many ways that it wasn’t done intentionally by the studio’s marketing folks after this recent bad publicity mishap that Gibson had in his melt-down of rage, anger in those recorded phone calls. It comes to us from our friends over at The Digital Bits that MGM (distributed by FOX) has announced plans to bring the 1979 film “Mad Max” starring (none-other than) Mel Gibson in the lead role to Blu-ray Disc on October 5th. Aside from this being a “combo” style release with both the Blu-ray + DVD, the tech specs and bonus materials have not been announced for this title but we do have the tiny bit of cover art which you’ll find above. The title is not yet available for pre-order over at Amazon yet but stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated on this release.

On one last note regarding this marketing decision to release this title this year, you’d think they would have held on to this release for a few more years considering there’s a new “Mad Max” film in the works set for 2012 which has been delayed (according to IMDb). That film is being directed by the very same guy George Miller who directed this film and is ALSO being produced by Icon Productions, which happens to be Mel Gibson‘s production company. I’m guessing they know this film is being delayed possibly because of Gibson’s own personal problems that have been made public to the world thanks to his girlfriend. This is just downright weird to have to report that this is coming and not think in some way that it’s a joke from the folks in marketing at the studio (obviously aimed toward Gibson) and ready to profit off the situation; if possible.

UPDATE: This title is now available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $17.49 price tag.

“The Bridge on the River Kwai” on Blu-ray in November

Justin Sluss — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 23:43:31 +0000

Our friend Bill Hunt had hinted at it late last month or earlier this month but we now get an early alert to retailers confirming that Sony does indeed plan to bring the 1957 Academy Award-winning David Lean directed film “The Bridge on the River Kwai” to Blu-ray Disc later this year; on November 2nd to be exact. The tech specs have not yet been announced but stay tuned and we will keep you updated. The title is already available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $31.49 price tag. Speaking of Amazon, they are listing the following below set to be included on this release in terms of bonus materials.

35 page book with stories and photos from the production

Replications of the original lobby cards

Bonus DVD version of the movie

William Holden and Alec Guinness on The Steve Allen Show

Newly Discovered archival audio of William Holden Narrating The Bridge on the River Kwai Premiere

Crossing the Bridge: Picture-in-Graphics track and more

Heroes: Season 4 – Blu-ray Disc Review

Brendan Surpless — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 21:50:03 +0000

has an average rating of 7.5 on IMDb
1080p in VC-1 on FOUR 50gb discs
DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio
fairly extensive with “U-Control“
–
– 2009 – 2010
– 812 minutes
– Universal
–

Overall Verdict – Fans Will Be Pleased

Buy it for $71.99 @ Amazon.com

— Review by: Brendan Surpless & Danielle Byington —

The Show Itself is the fourth and final season of the series. This season, entitled “Redemption“, finds out main characters mourning fallen friends and, naturally, facing new enemies all at the same time. A majority of the same folk are back including Claire, Peter, Sylar, Mohinder, Hiro, Ando and Nathan to name a few. This series essentially deals with everyone trying to move on with more of a sense of normalcy all while attempting to deal with their powers. This final closing to the series does suffer from a few cliches, but is still worth a watch for completists.

The full 25 (total) episodes for The Complete Third Season are included:

Episode 1 : “(Volume 5/Redemption) Orientation“

Tim Kring

David Straiton

8.5

TV.com

Episode 2 : “Jump, Push, Fall“

Kay Foster & Adam Armus

Ed Bianchi

8.5

TV.com

Episode 3 : “Ink“

Aron Eli Coleite

Roxann Dawson

8.6

TV.com

Episode 4 : “Acceptance“

Bryan Fuller

Christopher Misiano

8.2

TV.com

Episode 5 : “Hysterical Blindness“

Joe Pokaski

S.J. Clarkson

8.7

TV.com

Episode 6 : “Tabula Rosa“

Rob Fresco

Jim Chory

8.7

TV.com

Episode 7 : “Strange Attractors“

Juan Carlos Coto

Tucker Gates

8.5

TV.com

Episode 8 : “Once Upon A Time In Texas“

Aron Eli Coleite & Aury Wallington

Nate Goodman

8.7

TV.com

Episode 9 : “Shadowboxing“

Misha Green & Joe Pokaski

Jim Chory

9.0

TV.com

Episode 10 : “Brother’s Keeper“

Rob Fresco & Mark Verheiden

Bryan Spicer

8.9

TV.com

Episode 11 : “Thanksgiving“

Adam Armus & Kay Foster

Seith Mann

8.5

TV.com

Episode 12 : “The Fifth Stage“

Tim Kring

Kevin Dowling

8.3

TV.com

Episode 13 : “Upon This Rock“

Juan Carlos Coto

Ron Underwood

8.2

TV.com

Episode 14 : “Let It Bleed“

Jim Martin (III)

Jeannot Szwarc

8.3

TV.com

Episode 15 : “Close To You“

Rob Fresco

Roxann Dawson

8.4

TV.com

Episode 16 : “Pass/Fall“

Oliver Grigsby

Michael Nankin

8.0

TV.com

Episode 17 : “The Art of Deception“

Mark Verheiden & Misha Green

SJ Carlson

8.3

TV.com

Episode 18 : “The Wall“

Kay Foster

Adam Armus

8.6

TV.com

Episode 19 : “Brave New World“

Tim Kring

Adam Kane

8.4

TV.com

In closing, “Heroes: Season Four” certainly is the weakest of the series, as the show tends to suffer from the common downfalls. Poor dialogue, laughable sequences, wooden characters and simply out of the world plots. This truly saddens me too especially when one considers that the first two seasons were quite good. Akin to that of many series that have intertwined plots (“Prison Break“), “Heroes” will more ultimately be known as a show that could have been something very special instead of something that is definitely watchable, just nothing one we care to remember.

Video Quality on this release is 1080p in VC-1 on FOUR BD-50′s (50 gigabyte dual-layered Blu-ray Discs) using the 1.78:1 aspect ratio.

Disc Usage:

Disc 1 uses 39.0GB total. Disc 2 uses 44.0GB total. Disc 3 uses 43.5GB total. Disc 4 uses 46.3GB total.

The majority of the show’s video quality is solid and should please the fans; however, it does tend to fluctuate scene to scene with each character’s thread of the story, making for an immense number of settings with different lighting sources, CG effects, and so forth. Also, according to the technical specs on IMDb, the use of three different cameras is listed (Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL, Panavision Panaflex GII, and Arriflex 435), though this is a vague listing, as this only reflects all seasons, and technical information is not listed per episode. Upon contacting Charlie Lieberman, cinematographer on some of the episodes for this season, he was kind enough to take the time to fill us in, thus we can inform you (the readers) with a bit more detail regarding the equipment used:

“We use Panavision 35mm cameras with the Primo series of prime and zoom lenses. If we need slo-motion we use the Arri 435. The film is transfered to HiDef for the entire post production work flow. We shoot mostly Fuji 500T film stock [Kodak was used for the first two seasons]. I’m a great fan of Blu-Ray and HiDef. It really shows the effort we make in the details of the sets and the lighting.“

Now with that said, I will note that a majority of the seasons video is just fine; however, video purists may find similar faults that were present in the other seasons. Yes, “Heroes” has never had video quality of say “Lost“, but still the overall quality (even though it does waver here and there) maintains a level of quality that the creators were aiming for. All in all this earns a “4 Star Rating” for overall video quality.

Audio Quality on this release is in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio. Dialogue is well reproduced with no instance of drop out. Do note that there are a few instances where you may have to fluctuate volume levels due to some of the characters speaking with a softer tone. LFE output ranges from quite impressive, to almost too loud. I’m talking that similar sequences in one episode sound normal, but another sound plainly too loud. Same goes for dynamic output. Episodes may sound fine, otherwise sound weak and uneven. Almost like a different mix was used. Clearly different effects need to be added throughout the season, but why the need for some to be so loud and others flat? Now due to all of this, the show tends to be almost insufferable at times to watch. For us to have to constantly play with the volume is plainly unacceptable. It’s almost as if the series creators simply stopped caring. This is a shame as the other seasons sounded just fine. All in all this earns a rather mixed “3 Star Rating” for overall audio quality.

Bonus Materials are all presented in Standard Definition, 1080i, and High Definition (these will all be noted with each supplement), using Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo.

U-Control on this release includes “Picture-In-Picture” using “Bonus View” for a total of FOUR episodes. We also get “Heroes Connection-Bios“, which was available on the previous seasons of the show on Blu-ray.

BD-Live is available for those of you using a profile 2.0 Blu-ray Disc Player. This feature can be accessed through the “What’s New” tab on the main menu, and offers exclusive content, specifically including a sneak peak at “Heroes: Season 4“, and of course the latest trailers.
“Hero Connections – Network” (HD) shows viewers a spiderweb-like map of the characters depicting their relations to one another, as well as a current season three description of each.
“D-Box Motion Code” will surely rock your socks with the copious amount of roaring action scenes in this scenes.
“My Scenes” allows you to bookmarks your favorite scenes, and create your own clips.
Deleted / Extended Scenes (SD): These are found on all FOUR discs and total up to roughly around 45min.

Disc 1:

Deconstructing Skylar (HD): This runs roughly 21min in length and features a roundtable chat with creator Tim Kring, executive producer Adam Armus and actor Zachary Quinto. The three discuss Quinto’s Skylar character speaking on topics like his overall impact.

Disc 2:

Behind The Big Top (HD): This runs 10min in length and looks into the carnival of the character Samuel.
Heroes: Revolution (HD): This runs close to 11min and looks into the varying media impacts “Heroes” has had on the world.

Disc 3:

Milo Speaks (HD): This runs 5min in length and features actor Milo Ventimigilia discussing his character Milo.
Sullivan Brothers Design (HD): A rather brief look into some of the concept art for said topic in a gallery slideshow presentation.

Disc 4:

Message From Tim Kring: This runs roughly 4min in length and essentially serves as a farewell from creator Kring as he had recently learned that the series had not been picked up for a fifth year.
Genetics of a Scene (HD): This runs roughly 42 minutes and gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the show this season.

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Bare with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.

Warner is bringing “Jonah Hex” to Blu-ray in October

Justin Sluss — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 14:35:03 +0000

According to an early alert to retailers it seems that Warner plans to bring the 2010 live-action adaption of “Jonah Hex” to Blu-ray Disc on October 12th. The film was directed by Jimmy Hayward, stars Josh Brolin, Megan Fox, and John Malkovich. Aside from this being a “combo” and including the Blu-ray, DVD & Digital Copy of the film. The title is already available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $24.49 price tag.

UPDATE: Tech specs include full 1080p Hi-Def video and DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound. Bonus materials are set to include the following listed below which are said to be exclusive to the Blu-ray version (except for the additional scenes).

The Western Tales of Jonah Hex: A Picture-In-Picture Exploration with the Stars and Director

The Inside Story of Jonah Hex: With the Creators of the DC Comics series and more

Additional Scenes

1978′s “Magic” with Anthony Hopkins on Blu-ray in October

Justin Sluss — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 23:34:30 +0000

MPI Home Video / Dark Sky Films in an early alert to retailers has announced plans to bring the 1978 film “Magic” to Blu-ray Disc on October 12th. The film was directed by Richard Attenborough, was based on William Goldman‘s novel of the same title as well as starred Anthony Hopkins, Ann-Margret, and the late Burgess Meredith. No information yet regarding tech specs, bonus materials but stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated.

UPDATE: This title is now available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $17.49 price tag.

Anchor Bay announces four horror titles for November

Justin Sluss — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 20:23:55 +0000

In an early alert to retailers Anchor Bay (A Starz company) has announced their plans for a wave of catalog horror titles for Blu-ray Disc release on November 16th. The titles tech specs and bonus materials have not been announced yet but they are available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with each carrying an affordable $12.49 price tag. The titles being released are as follows listed below (click on their titles for a pre-order link). Worth noting, not that I’m biased, but the last title there was directed by G. Cameron Romero, the son of famed horror director George A. Romero.

“The Girl Who Played with Fire” on Blu-ray in October

Justin Sluss — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:44:58 +0000

This news comes as a rather quick and as a pleasant surprise just in time for Halloween; even though it’s not a horror film. Music Box Films has already announced (in an early alert to retailers) plans to bring the 2009 film “The Girl Who Played with Fire” to Blu-ray Disc on October 26th. The film is the sequel to “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” which just recently (last month) was released on Blu-ray Disc; see our review of it HERE. The tech specs haven’t yet officially been announced but you can likely expect the same that the previous film received, full 1080p Hi-Def video and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. No word yet on bonus materials either but stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated. The title is already available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $34.95 price tag.

New Line bringing “Rush Hour” to Blu-ray in December

Justin Sluss — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:15:50 +0000

New Line (distributed by Warner) has announced plans to bring the 1998 Brett Ratner directed film “Rush Hour” starring Jackie Chan & Chris Tucker to Blu-ray Disc on December 7th. Tech specs include full 1080p Hi-Def video and DTS-HD 7.1 Master Audio sound. The bonus materials set to be included on the release are listed below.

Commentary by director Brett Ratner

Additional scenes

Featurette gallery: A Piece of the Action: Behind the Scenes of Rush Hour

Brett Ratner’s short film: What Ever Happened to Mason Reese?

Music videos:

– “How Deep Is Your Love?”, Dru Hill

– “Nuttin’ but Love”, Heavy D & the Boyz

Isolated score with commentary by composer Lalo Schifrin

Theatrical trailer

UPDATE: This title is now available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $17.49 price tag.

Blu-ray Disc Releases for August 10th, 2010

Justin Sluss — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 06:16:00 +0000

The following titles were released today August 10th, 2010 on Blu-ray Disc:

Crumb (The Criterion Collection)

Date Night (FOX)

Death at a Funeral [2010] (Sony)

The Diplomat (Vivendi Entertainment)

An Empress and the Warriors (Dragon Dynasty/Vivendi)

Helen [2009] (E1 Entertainment)

In the Shadow of the Moon (Image Entertainment)

Invisible Target [2007] (Dragon Dynasty/Vivendi)

The Joneses [2009] (FOX)

The Killing Room (Vivendi Entertainment)

The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk (Dragon Dynasty/Vivendi)

Multiple Sarcasms (Image Entertainment)

National Lampoon’s European Vacation (Warner)

National Lampoon’s Vacation (Warner)

Tai Chi Master (Dragon Dynasty/Vivendi)

What’s Up, Doc? (Warner)

“Deadwood: The Complete Series” on Blu-ray in November

Justin Sluss — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 06:04:06 +0000

As stated in HBO‘s monthly (August) newsletter, “Deadwood: The Complete Series” is coming to Blu-ray Disc on November 23rd. The series includes three seasons, with twelve episodes per season. Tech specs include full 1080p High Definition video and DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio. As stated in the newsletter, this release will carry a MSRP $209.98 price tag but it is not yet available for pre-order over at Amazon, stay tuned.

UPDATE: This title is now available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $146.99 price tag. Also, a PRESS RELEASE was just issued by HBO that gives some details regarding the release and most importantly the bonus materials set to be included. This is listed below.

Boxed in beautiful collectible casing, the 13-disc ultimate BD set is presented in HD 1080p Full HD video and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, all for the suggested retail price of $209.98. The collection includes all 36 episodes of the series, plus a robust bonus disc packed with content that features an exclusive conversation with series creator David Milch on the conclusion of the series.

Deadwood: The Complete Series on Blu-ray includes all bonus content from previous season releases plus a bonus disc that contains over 4 hours of must-see content. Highlights include:

“The Meaning of Endings” – creator David Milch’s discussion on what would have happened had the Deadwood series continued

“The Real Deadwood: Out of the Ashes” – a behind-the-scenes historical featurette on the wildest town in the West

“Q&A with Cast and Creative Team (Courtesy of the Paley Center for Media)” – a panel discussion filmed at The Paley Center for Media with creator David Milch, executive producer Gregg Fienberg, and actors John Hawkes, Anna Gunn, Paula Malcomson, Powers Booth, Robin Weigert, Molly Parker, Timothy Olyphant and Ian McShane

“Deadwood 360 Tour” – a tour of the detailed and realistic sets and town streets created for Deadwood

“Al Swearengen Audition Reel (as performed by Titus Welliver)” – watch Titus Welliver’s (“Silas Adams”) mock audition for the role of “Al Swearengen”

DC Showcase “Superman/Shazam!” Blu-ray in November

Justin Sluss — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 05:38:32 +0000

Warner plans to bring the DC Universe Animated Original Short “Superman/Shazam! The Return of Black Adam” to Blu-ray Disc on November 9th. Also promoted within this release are the DC Showcase Animated Shorts, which you may have noticed in the supplements of past 2010 DC Universe releases. Included are three extended versions of these animated shorts, including 10-12 minute long films “The Spectre“, “Jonah Hex“, and “Green Arrow“. The release itself will also feature over two and half hours of supplements, including the following listed below.

Four animation shorts (est. 62 min)

Commentaries by renowned writers Steve Niles, Joe Lansdale, Greg Weisman and Michael Jelenic

Four additional bonus TV series episodes handpicked by Bruce Timm

Digital copy online of the shorts

Tech specs have yet to be announced, but will most likely consist of (based on past DC Universe releases) 1080p High Definition, and Dolby TrueHD 5.1 or Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround.

UPDATE: This title is now available for PRE-ORDER over at Amazon with a $20.99 price tag.