“Wild,” “Slevin” top DVD charts
September 28, 2006
From Reuters: “The lack of strong DVD releases kept both the animal cartoon “The Wild” and the gangster thriller “Lucky Number Slevin” in the top spots on the national DVD sales and rental charts, respectively, for the week ending September 24. The teen-gymnast saga “Stick It” debuted at No. 2 on VideoScan’s First Alert sales chart and No. 6 on trade publication Home Media Retailing’s video rental chart.”
Sony’s Phil Harrison on 1080p, Blu-ray
September 28, 2006
From DailyTech: “On the ever-present question regarding price, Harrison was asked what effect the Blu-ray drive has on the cost of PlayStation 3. Harrison explains that the decision to include Blu-ray was solely for the sake of game developers, and not for playing movies. So in that regard, the machine’s ability to play Blu-ray movies should be thought of as free. Citing launch title Resistance requiring 20GB of disc space, games several years from now could be utilizing the full 50GB capacity of the medium.”
Gadget review: Samsung’s Blu-ray player
September 28, 2006
From Digit: “Superb video and audio quality at a steep price…that’s my immediate take on the Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray player. Of course, a mix of factors is likely to drive the price down in the not too distant future.”
X-Men III: The Last Stand
September 28, 2006
DVD Review takes a look at X-MEN III: “20th Century Fox Home Entertainment presents “X-Men III: The Last Stand” in an anamorphic widescreen 2.40:1 aspect ratio. I’m not sure what to make of this transfer. At times, the image quality is perfect, with lush greens, bright blues and deep reds bursting from the screen. But every now and again (mainly during the chaotic action scenes) everything seems to fall apart. There are some extremely noticeable pixelation issues and digital artifacts that turn all the images into mush. I’m quite surprised that a film of this magnitude has been given such a shoddy presentation. One can only hope that the screener copy I have here isn’t representative of the final product.”
The Terminator Trilogy Hits High-Def: Three Studios, Two Disc Formats, One Reviewer
September 28, 2006
From High-Def Digest: “It could only happen in Hollywood. With the release on September 26 of ‘Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines’ on HD DVD, all three Terminator movies will now be available on high-def — unfortunately, you’ll need both an HD DVD player and a Blu-ray player to see them all.”
New technology could nip DVD format war in the bud
September 28, 2006
From Computerworld: “The format war around next-generation DVDs may be over before it has begun, thanks to a breakthrough from a British media technology company. London-based New Medium Enterprises (NME) said today that it had solved a technical production problem that makes it possible to produce a cheap multiple-layer DVD containing one film in competing formats.”
How ‘Seven Samurai’ was saved
September 28, 2006
From CNN: “To begin the process, Criterion located an early negative and an early positive and determined the positive was the closest to the original. So the company made a new negative, using “Wetgate processing,” a chemical system that fills in flaws in the original material.”
Warner Announces The Lake House On All Three DVD Formats
September 28, 2006
On September 26, Warner Home Video takes the next step in the high definition revolution when it releases The Lake House, a poignant, time-travel romance starring Keanu Reeves (Constantine, A Scanner Darkly) and Sandra Bullock (Crash, Miss Congeniality 2), on all three formats simultaneously day and date: SD DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc.
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From Sony: An Evening With Kevin Smith 2
September 28, 2006
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment presents An Evening With Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder on a 2-disc DVD set November 28th.
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From Sony: Monster House for October 24, 2006
September 28, 2006
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release the visually stunning, critically acclaimed audience favorite Monster House on DVD, Blu-ray Disc® and PSP™ just in time for the Halloween season on October 24, 2006.
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From WB: Warner Passes “50 Titles” Benchmark in High Definition
September 28, 2006
With the release of seven new high definition titles on October 10, Warner Home Video continues to be the leader in high definition media. Making their debut on HD DVD are Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory two uniquely different versions of the story about a boy who discovers a magical world after finding the winning golden ticket in a bar of chocolate.
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From Sony: THE PREMIERE FRANK CAPRA COLLECTION
September 28, 2006
Commemorate one of the most celebrated legends in Hollywood history when Sony Pictures Home Entertainment debuts THE PREMIERE FRANK CAPRA COLLECTION on DVD December 5, a 6-disc collectible box set featuring five of Frank Capra’s best films.
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Retailers stocking limited amounts of HD DVD and Blu-ray titles
September 28, 2006
From EngadgetHD: “HD DVD and Blu-ray are now here and there is no one denying that but retailers are wondering what the heck to do with ‘em. Do they market the discs with the players, on an end-cap by themselves or in the normal DVD section? Retailers aren’t that concerned where they put ‘em to tell you the truth as the make up such a small part of the overall inventory of media with a total percentage of around the 5% mark according to one wholesaler and not a lot of people are asking for new discs. Best Buy is starting to opt for product placement with the normal DVDs, as that’s where consumers go to find movies, not in the video department. “
1,650 DirecTV Channels In HD Next Year?
September 27, 2006
From AICN: “The big news since the last Cellar? DirecTV announced at an investor’s conference earlier this month that it would by the end of next year have the capacity to offer 150 national HD channels and 1,500 local channels in HD. Right now it only offers seven HD channels.”
Rumor: Microsoft to Cut Premium Bundle in Anticipation for HD DVD Player
September 26, 2006
From Gizmodo: “Digitimes, the premier news source in usual bullshit rumors, has a new one today that actually seems a legitimate, kind of. They are reporting that there will be a $100 price cut on the Xbox 360 Premium bundle, bringing the price down to $300 so that they can later bundle the HD DVD player with the Xbox 360 for $400 and still have a solid competitive price on the PS3.”
HD DVD, Blu-ray and DVD all-in-one disc draws closer
September 26, 2006
From EngadgetHD: “The end of the HD DVD / Blu-ray format war has been declared again, but from a most unlikely source. Recently Warner patented an all-in-one disc to contain a movie in both competing formats plus DVD, and now New Medium Enterprises has followed that up by claiming it’s patented a technology capable of actually manufacturing it.”
New DVD’s: ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘Dracula’
September 26, 2006
From NYTimes.com: “Universal Pictures released “Dracula” in February 1931 and followed up with “Frankenstein” that November. Though both tales had been filmed as silents, these early sound productions permanently etched the title creatures into American cultural life and established the horror movie as an enduringly pertinent genre.”
Fast and the Furious 3: Tokyo Drift HD DVD combo reviewed
September 26, 2006
From Engadget HD: “The third installment of the Fast & the Furious movie franchise is finally on store shelves in HD DVD format so we can stop posting about it right? Not quite, as it’s the first 30GB/9GB HD DVD/DVD combo disc, and includes HDi features at level we haven’t seen before. The reviewer at High Def Digest has nothing but praise for the 1080p VC-1 transfer, with all the fast moving cars, CGI and loud colors it manages to keep up without any issues.”
From New Line: A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET INFINIFILM
September 25, 2006
One, two, Freddy’s coming for you! As one of the most frightening horror film slashers of all time, Freddy Krueger established his legacy in eight feature films, a television show and an innumerable body count. Now, the film that started it all, A Nightmare on Elm Street, is available in an all-new, special edition infinifilm™ DVD, available on September 26, 2006, from New Line Home Entertainment.
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TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE Ultimate 2-disc DVD
September 25, 2006
From AICN: “So if you’re one of the many proud Americans and/or world citizens who consider THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE one of your favorite movies, even if you already have the ‘Pioneer Special Edition’ or the ‘Maybe With This Cover Stupid People Will Think It’s the Remake Edition,’ and ESPECIALLY if you don’t have a refrigerator - then I would recommend this one.”
Black Hawk Down on Blu-ray 50GB
September 25, 2006
From Digital Bits: “We’ve got a little bit more high-def format information for you this afternoon. Sony has just officially announced the Blu-ray Disc release of Layer Cake and Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down (144-minute version) on 11/14 (SRP $28.95 each). For the record, both titles will be released on the new 50GB dual-layered BD-ROM configuration. Both titles will feature 1080p video and uncompressed PCM 5.1 audio.”
New This Week on DVD…
September 25, 2006
Let’s start the week out right by showcasing the fresh DVD releases. Click on over to see our staff picks for this week.
(now, where’s my coffee?)…
Sorry about last week, kinda on vacation, site problems (too much traffic), not much DVD news. Oh screw it, we officially know we suck.
Jackass 2 Rules the BO
September 24, 2006
From Deadline Hollywood: “Again, moviegoers sought mindless entertainment as Johnny Knoxville’s stupid stunt pic Jackass Number Two delivered a knockout punch at the box office for No. 1. The flick took in a bruising $11.9 million Friday and $10 million Saturday at 3,059 theaters Friday for what was a huge $29.2 million opening weekend. Hit-starved Paramount brass will be thrilled, although the idea for turning the MTV series into a movie pre-dates current management of the studio.”
LOTR Coming to High-Def?
September 24, 2006
Over at AICN, here’s an interesting chat with Peter Jackson:
QUINT: Could your lawsuit against New Line be a problem?
PETER JACKSON: No. It’s a seperate thing. I mean, I can’t discuss the law suit, but it is just about rather dull audit issues, not people or projects. New Line called us about a Lord of the Rings box set a few weeks ago. A high definition one, so we are still talking.
Wal-Mart bullying Hollywood over iTS movie downloads?
September 24, 2006
From TUAW: “Today’s edition of ‘yes they did/no they didn’t’ is brought to you by Wal-Mart, the New York Post and Reuters. As we knew, Wal-Mart is the largest DVD retailer (at least in America), with 40% of the market. Obviously, a player with that large of a stake in the game might not be too happy when a music download service with as much momentum as the iTunes Store announces movie downloads, and the New York Post printed a piece confirming just as much. According to the Post, Wal-Mart returned “cases and cases” of DVDs to Disney after suffering a panic attack over word of the iTS. Never one to stop at throwing product back in just one client’s face, Wal-Mart then went on to throw a temper tantrum at the Hollywood studios, “overtly threatened to retaliate” by ordering fewer movies if they shook hands with the iTS. One has to wonder what happens when Wal-Mart doesn’t get ice cream for desert.”