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'Confessions of a Shopaholic' Fun Facts![teaser]As previously reported, Disney has set a late-June Blu-ray arrival for the romantic comedy 'Confessions of a Shopaholic,' and now we've got some fun facts about the film. [/teaser] Fun 'Shopaholic' Facts: The film shot inside of some of the most exclusive stores and boutiques in New York, including Barneys New York flagship store on Madison Avenue, Henri Bendel on Fifth Avenue, Scoop and Catherine Malandrino in the Meat Packing District, Alessi (upscale housewares) in Soho, and Kleinfeld (elaborate bridal shop) in Chelsea. The film also shot inside some of the most historic buildings in the city, including legendary British architect Lord Norman Foster's Hearst Tower (the only film to ever be allowed to shoot there) on 57th Street and 8th Avenue; 45 Rockefeller Center (the building that features the statue of Atlas holding up the world at its entrance); the Grand Salon inside of the 1931 Jumeirah Essex House hotel on Central Park South; inside and out of St. James Church (1884) on Madison Avenue between 71st and 72nd Streets; inside of the Beaux Arts and Art Nouveau styled Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank Building (1908-12) on Chambers Street in the Wall Street district; utilizing the exterior of St. Anthony of Padua on Sullivan Street at the intersection of Greenwich Village, Tribeca and Soho, founded in 1866. The production spent two all-nighters dressing the beautiful atrium of Henri Bendel with a Midsummer Night's Dream themed design, as well as the aviator-themed window displays. They also created window displays for the Hearst Tower with faux stores by Valentino, Anna Sui, Catherine Malandrino and Alberto Ferretti. Excited New Yorkers thought that actual stores had opened on the ground level of the Tower and were sorely disappointed to discover that they were only for the movie. Across the street from St. James Church, windows were re-dressed in actual Yves St. Laurent, Asprey and Sonia Rykiel stores for the film's climax. In the film, costume designer Patricia Field selected clothing and accessories to adorn Isla Fisher's Becky Bloomwood, including Balenciaga, Marc Jacobs, Christian Louboutin, Alexander McQueen, Zac Posen, Miu Miu, Salvatore Ferragamo, Prada, Christian Dior, Todd Oldham, Gucci and Matthew Williamson, among others. To create a lavish display in Henri Bendel's six-story atrium, as well as window decorations, production designer Kristi Zea and supervising art director Paul Kelly had to bring in a full complement of their department to pull an all-nighter with military precision, as they only had enough time between the store closing its doors to the public and reopening them again in the morning to pull off the impossible. Mission was accomplished, with legions of New Yorkers admiring the results before the cameras began rolling later that day. Filming in New York City gave the filmmakers access to the pool of local actors perhaps better known for their work in the theatre than on film, including Christine Ebersole (Tony Award winner as Best Actress in a Musical for "Grey Gardens"), LaChanze (Tony Award winner as Best Actress in a Musical for "The Color Purple") and Kaitlin Hopkins (star of the upcoming touring company of "Dirty Dancing: The Musical"). Ed Helms of "The Office" is seen only on videotape in the movie as self-help money management guru Garrett E. Barton. A bank loan officer is portrayed by Jonathan Tisch, Loews Hotel Chairman and CEO; and in a publishing reception scene filmed in Chicago, another banker is played by Andy Serwer, managing editor of Fortune Magazine. Robert Stanton, who plays ruthless debt collector Derek Smeath, drew upon the only other job he ever had besides actor: a skip tracer for a student loan company, finding people who had defaulted on their debts. Stanton admits that he wasn't good at harassing people, since he would always burst out in laughter instead. Sophie Kinsella was on the "Confessions of a Shopaholic" set nearly every day as associate producer, consulting and watching her beloved creation of Rebecca Bloomwood come to life. Not so coincidentally considering the massive international sales of the "Shopaholic" novels, Kinsella was often approached by excited fans on New York, Connecticut and Miami locations as if she were more of a movie star than an author. Disney will debut the Blu-ray as a two-disc set on June 23, day-and-date with the standard DVD. Tech specs will see a BD-50 dual-layer presentation with 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 video (2.40:1) and a English DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 Surround track. A second disc will come with a Digital Copy of the film, compatible with PCs and iTunes. Information on the supplements has also been revealed, and the disc will include bloopers, deleted scenes, and "Stuck with Each Other" music video by Shontelle featuring Akon. The Blu-ray also features the following exclusives: "Accessory" music video by Jordan Taylor, "Takes Time to Love" music video by Trey Songz, Behind the Fashion featurette, Temple of Shopping featurette, The Green Scarf featurette, New York Fashion Central featurette, Sample Sale Madness featurette, and Window Shopping featurette. Suggested list price has been set at $39.99. You'll find the latest specs for 'Confessions of a Shopaholic' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under June 23.Posted Fri Jun 19, 2009 at 08:00 AM PDT by: -
HDD Spotlight Bargain: 'Tales of the Black Freighter' Blu-ray $5 at WBShop[teaser]WBShop has a sweet deal for Watchmen fans.[/teaser] WBShop is offering the 'Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter' Blu-ray for only $5 for those who pre-order 'Watchmen' before the end of the month. Simply go to the Watchmen Site at WBShop to order the titles and use the code WATCH3 to apply the discount at checkout. This great deal expires on June 30.Posted Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 12:30 PM PDT by: -
Disney Details Specs and Box Art for 'Hannah Montana: The Movie' on Blu-ray[teaser]Disney/Buena Vista will bring the hit family comedy 'Hannah Montana: The Movie' to Blu-ray in August.[/teaser] The Miley Cyrus film will be available in high-definition on August 18. The 3-disc set will feature 1080p video, a lossless/uncompressed soundtrack, and supplements set to include a 'Find Your Way Back Home' featurette, 'Production 101: Jackson Style' featurette, bloopers, and deleted scenes with director commentary. Exclusive to the Blu-ray is 'The HoeDown ThrowDown Home Experience'--everyone in the movie had to learn to do it, and now you can too. Famed choreographer Jamal Sims and some of our cast members will show us all step by step how to do the dance everyone is talking about, 'The Hannah Montana Store'--an interactive experience that allows viewers to create a wish list of items displayed in the film and move desired items onto the internet via BD-Live capabilities. Through "Hannah's Country Store" viewers will be able to click on the products in the movie, obtain information about the product, and purchase the merchandise, seven music videos, and BD Radio Disney (Fans can stream live Radio Disney audio through their home entertainment system, complete with artist and song information and lyrics! Users can also quickly link to site offering their favorite songs for purchase), as well as a DVD copy of the film. Finally, we also have a preview of the cover art for the release: Suggested list price has been set at $44.99. You can find the latest specs for 'Hannah Montana: The Movie' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under August 18.Posted Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 10:10 AM PDT by: -
'Ninja Turtles' Blu-ray Box Delayed[teaser]As reported back in April, Warner/New Line had scheduled the'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Collector's Edition Box Set' for August 4, but it will now arrive a week later on August 11. [/teaser] The four-disc bundle will contain all three live-action New Line entries in the series, including 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,' 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze' and 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time.' The collection will also throw in the latest all-CGI adventure 'TMNT' (which the studio previously-released on Blu-ray in 2007). Tech specs will see each film receive a BD-25 single-layer presentation, with 1080p video. Audio specs have yet to be announced. Warner still hasn't outlined the complete bonus features on each disc, however, the box itself will come with various Ninja Turtle collectibles, including a comic book, autographed sketch by creator Peter Laird, a "Radical" beanie hat and eight TMNT character cards. Suggested list price for the set is $84.99. You can find the latest specs for 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Collector's Edition Box Set' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it is now indexed under August 11.Posted Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 08:00 AM PDT by: -
'National Geographic Ultimate High Definition Collection' on Blu-ray[teaser] National Geographic and Warner are releasing the documentary set 'National Geographic Ultimate High Definition Collection' on Blu-ray this September.[/teaser] The 6-disc set will be available on September 29 and include: 'Atmospheres: Earth, Air & Water,' 'Relentless Enemies,' 'Kingdom of the Blue Whale,' 'Rhino Rescue,' 'Extreme,' 'Journey to the Edge of the Universe.' Specs include 1080p video, Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. There is no word on extras as of yet (if any) but we’ll make sure to keep you posted. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is still TBA. You can find the latest specs for 'National Geographic Ultimate High Definition Collection’ linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under September 29.Posted Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 06:00 AM PDT by: -
HDD Spotlight Bargain: 'Band of Brothers' Blu-ray $30 at Barnes & Noble (UPDATED)[teaser]Barnes & Noble online has an excellent deal on the 'Band of Brothers' Blu-ray.[/teaser] It appears Barnes and Noble has ended this offer. The online retailer is now selling the groundbreaking miniseries for $30 ($27 for members). But that's not all -- apparently if you buy 2, you get one for free! Time to stock up for the holidays! Click here to be linked to the offer. If it isn't already a part of your Blu-ray library, don't miss the opportunity to pick up this reference quality set for a terrific price.Posted Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 11:30 AM PDT by: -
'Camille' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]E1 Entertainment will be bringing 'Camille' to high-definition this fall. [/teaser] The 2007 comedy starring James Franco, Sienna Miller, and David Carradine will be released on September 15. Specs, supplements, and suggested list price haven't been announced yet. You can find the latest specs for 'Camille' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under September 15.Posted Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 10:00 AM PDT by: -
'Requiem for a Dream' and 'Crank 2' Headed for Blu-ray[teaser]In an interesting combination of titles, Lionsgate has announced 'Requiem for a Dream' and 'Crank 2: High Voltage' for Blu-ray on September 8. [/teaser] Both discs will feature 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 video and an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack. For supplements, 'Requiem for a Dream' will include audio commentaries with the director and the director of photography, a "Making of" documentary, deleted scenes, and cast interviews. 'Crank 2: High Voltage' will have audio commentary with the writers/directors, a "making of" featurette, bloopers, and a digital copy. Exclusive to the Blu-ray will be a gag reel, wrap party footage, Lionsgate Live, and MoLog. Suggested list price for 'Requiem' is $29.99 while pricing for 'Crank 2' has not yet be announced. You can find the latest specs for 'Requiem for a Dream' & 'Crank 2: High Voltage' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where they're indexed under September 8th.Posted Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 08:00 AM PDT by: -
Knock knock: 'The Last House on the Left' Opens Its Doors for Blu-ray[teaser]Universal will release 'The Last House on the Left' on Blu-ray this August.[/teaser] The 2009 remake of the Wes Craven horror flick will throw a high-def housewarming party on August 18. The Blu-ray is set to feature 1080p video, lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack. Supplements will include Deleted scenes, A Look Inside (featurette), BD-Live, and My Scenes. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray has been set at $39.99. You can find the latest specs for 'The Last House on the Left' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under August 18.Posted Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 06:00 AM PDT by: -
HDD Spotlight Bargain: 'King Kong' Blu-ray $14.99 at Amazon[teaser]Amazon has an excellent deal on the 'King Kong' Blu-ray.[/teaser] The online retailer is now selling Peter Jackson's blockbuster remake for $14.99. Click here to be linked to the offer. Don't miss the opportunity to pick up this reference quality disc for a terrific price.Posted Tue Jun 16, 2009 at 12:30 PM PDT by:
