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'Darkman: Collector's Edition' Blu-ray Detailed[teaser]Sam Raimi's first foray into the super hero genre is getting the collector's edition treatment on Blu-ray in February, and you can pre-order it now. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Scream Factory is preparing 'Darkman: Collector's Edition' for Blu-ray on February 18. Liam Neeson and Frances McDormand star in this explosive, action-packed thriller from director Sam Raimi. Dr. Peyton Westlake (Neeson) is on the verge of realizing a major breakthrough in synthetic skin when his laboratory is destroyed by gangsters. Having been burned beyond recognition and forever altered by an experimental medical procedure, Westlake becomes known as Darkman, assuming alternate identities in his quest for revenge and a new life with a former love (McDormand). The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video and a DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements will include: My Name is Durant – interview with Larry Drake; The Face of Revenge – interview with Makeup Designer Tony Gardner; Henchman Tales – Interviews with actors Danny Hicks and Dan Bell; Dark Design – interview with Production Designer Randy Ser and Art Director Philip Dagort; Audio Commentary with director of photography Bill Pope; Vintage “Making of” and interview Featurettes featuring interviews with Sam Raimi, Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand and more; Vintage full-length interviews, not used in the featurettes, with Sam Raimi, Liam Neeson and Frances McDormand; Theatrical Trailer; TV Spots; and Still Galleries – Posters & production stills, Behind the Scenes, Make-up Effects and Storyboards. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $29.93. You can find the latest specs for 'Darkman: Collector's Edition' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under February 18.Posted Mon Jan 6, 2014 at 01:00 PM PST by: -
'The Andy Griffith Show: Season 1' Blu-ray Dated[teaser]All 32 episodes of the classic show's first season are coming to Blu-ray in April. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Paramount is preparing 'The Andy Griffith Show: Season 1' for Blu-ray on April 8. Few television characters have impacted family culture as much as Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith), Barney Fife (Don Knotts), Opie (Ron Howard) and the idyllic American town of Mayberry. As town sheriff and widowed father, Andy teaches his son the meaning of family, friendship, and upstanding citizenship in this all-time classic series, now in remastered HD with slick-as-a-whistle special features. Includes every episode from the first season, beautifully restored in high definition, in original night-of-broadcast form with original sponsor openings and closings. Specs, supplements and a suggested list price have yet to be detailed for the 4-Disc Blu-ray set. You can find the latest specs for 'The Andy Griffith Show: Season 1' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under April 8.Posted Mon Jan 6, 2014 at 12:00 PM PST by: -
'Lone Survivor' Blu-ray Up for Pre-Order![teaser]Peter Berg's war drama is gearing up for Blu-ray later this year, and you can pre-order it now. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Universal is preparing 'Lone Survivor' for Blu-ray in 2014. 'Lone Survivor,' starring Mark Wahlberg, tells the story of four Navy SEALs on an ill-fated covert mission to neutralize a high-level Taliban operative who are ambushed by enemy forces in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan. Based on The New York Times bestseller, this story of heroism, courage and survival directed by Peter Berg ('Friday Night Lights') also stars Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster and Eric Bana. Specs and supplements have yet to be detailed, but suggested list price for the Blu-ray/DVD/UltraViolet combo pack is $34.99. You can find the latest specs for 'Lone Survivor' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under PENDING.Posted Mon Jan 6, 2014 at 10:00 AM PST by: -
Dolby Announces "Dolby Vision" with Partners Sharp, Amazon, VUDU, TCL, & Microsoftby Michael S. Palmer [teaser]Just before the holidays, HDD was one of the first sites to preview Dolby's new high dynamic range imaging technology. And now, Dolby has revealed more details about their exciting tech. [/teaser] Check out the link to see an in-depth overview, but the basics are this: Digital cinema cameras are able to capture vivid images with lifelike contrast ratios and dynamic ranges. However, our current gen displays are currently tied to an old CRT-era specification, limiting overall brightness to "100 Nits" and Blu-ray's reduced color specification, REC 709, which can't accurately reproduce colors like the famous red London double-decker buses. Dolby wants to create a new "container" (think codec) with a wider dynamic range that will allow filmmakers to color grade productions for new and enhanced UHD or HD displays that have a peak luminance upwards of 10,000 Nits. The intended result: more lifelike and more accurate displays, regardless of size, frame rate and resolution. Today at CES 2014, Dolby gave their new tech a name: Dolby Vision. Dolby also announced TV manufacturers, Sharp and TCL, will be demonstrating "prototype televisions at CES that show off the benefits of Dolby Vision on various panel types and screen sizes." So hopefully that's, at least, two of the companies who will be producing these new displays, though there's no official word on when TVs will be available to the general public, nor pricing. The other big tidbit we've learned is Dolby's first "ecosystem" partners -- AKA, who's going to deliver the content? -- will be Amazon Instant Video, VUDU, and Microsoft's XBox Video. At the preview event, Dolby implied their "container" would work with broadcast, streaming / digital download, and optical disc technologies, but they didn't specify as to whether or not it would work with Blu-ray. Though there's still no word on which TV and/or film productions will be produced and color graded in Dolby Vision, we do know the first Dolby Vision content will be delivered via streaming (or digital download) once Dolby Vision compatible displays hit the consumer market. Dolby Vision looks incredible, but my demo was done with uncompressed video. Admittedly, when watching services like Amazon and VUDU on my HD display, the idea of "streaming" concerns me a little, given bandwidth limitations when compared to optical formats like Blu-ray. That said, Dolby said its new container isn't bandwidth heavy compared to current UHD content. And I've already purchased TV shows on Amazon Instant and streamed them because they were commercial free and looked better than the muddled DirecTV broadcast. Also, Xbox Videos can be downloaded to your console. I suppose I was hoping for a Blu-ray announcement of some kind, but there's probably a number of challenges and hurdles to integrating something like this into an existing optical disc format. Many more questions remain. Regardless, Dolby Vision should result in some amazing new displays, perhaps a real reason for the 4K / UHD upgrade. And as long as Dolby and its creative partners can deliver content that shows off their technology (it's really night and day when you're in person), we are definitely in for a few interesting years. I just hope Dolby Vision's not limited to streaming. Downloads, most likely an option, will be a must. And hopefully optical as well. Seriously, I can't wait to see what happens next. If you're attending CES this year, I highly recommend heading over to the Dolby/Sharp/TCL booths to see Dolby Vision in person. Here is the rest of Dolby's official Press Release: ABOUT DOLBY'S NEWEST IMAGING TECHNOLOGY Dolby's new imaging technology helps content creators and TV manufacturers deliver true-to-life brightness, colors, and contrast. It augments the fidelity of Ultra HD and HD video signals for over-the-top online streaming, broadcast, and gaming applications by maintaining and reproducing the dynamic range and color palette of the original content. Why this technology is necessary: Even though most television shows and movies are recorded using camera technology that captures the colors and brightness of real life, much of that richness is lost by the time consumers get to watch. That's because current television and cinema standards are based on the limitations of old technologies and require that the original video content be altered – dramatically reducing the range of colors, brightness, and contrast -- before it can be reproduced for transmission and playback. Dolby's new imaging technology changes that, giving creative teams the freedom to use a fuller range of colors, peak brightness, and local contrast with the confidence that once the content is encoded for transmission with Dolby's new imaging technology, it can be reproduced on televisions with Dolby's new technology. More background on our Dolby Lab Notes blog (Is Your TV Bright Enough?) and (Your TV is Missing Some Colors). What it will deliver to consumers: Dramatically brighter and more vivid images with more accurate, beautiful color and higher contrast to make it easier to discern details that might have previously gone unnoticed. An expanded color palette for movies and broadcasts to include more of the colors the human eye can actually see. Why we believe that it will succeed: Thanks to this new technology, creative teams can use the full range of colors, peak brightness, and local contrast already captured with current camera technologies, with the confidence that films and TV shows encoded and transmitted with Dolby's new imaging technology will be reproduced faithfully on televisions with this new technology. Our new imaging technology is already getting support from all points in the ecosystem, from those who create and distribute entertainment content, to those who manufacture the devices to display it. Filmmakers and other content creators get to unleash their creativity with the broader range of colors and brightness already captured by their cameras, and TV OEMs can offer consumers a dramatically-improved video experience, regardless of screen size or distance.Posted Mon Jan 6, 2014 at 09:00 AM PST by: -
'Dogs' Blu-ray Bound[teaser]The 1976 horror thriller will be unleashed on Blu-ray in March. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Scorpion Releasing is preparing 'Dogs' for Blu-ray on March 11. On the quiet campus of the remotely-located SouthWestern University, something strange is happening. All of the dogs in the area, once loyal, gentle pets, are now banding together in wild packs and hunting down their former masters. Could the strange transformation have anything to do with the secret government experiments being conducted in the school's physics laboratory? More importantly, can the dogs be stopped before it's too late? Specs and a suggested list price for the Blu-ray have not been announced yet, but supplements will include: Featurette with cast and crew interview; Fun facts and trivia featurette; Original trailer; and Liner notes by Lee Gambin. You can find the latest specs for 'Dogs' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under March 11.Posted Mon Jan 6, 2014 at 08:00 AM PST by: -
'Masters of Sex: Season One' Blu-ray Announced[teaser]The first season of Showtime's hit new series is making its way to Blu-ray later this year, and you can pre-order it now. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Sony is preparing 'Masters of Sex: Season One' for Blu-ray in 2014. 'Masters of Sex' is a one-hour drama starring Emmy and BAFTA Award nominee Michael Sheen and acclaimed actress Lizzy Caplan, who will portray the real-life pioneers of the science of human sexuality, William Masters and Virginia Johnson. The series chronicles the unusual lives, romance, and pop culture trajectory of Masters and Johnson. Their research touched off the sexual revolution and took them from a midwestern teaching hospital in St. Louis to the cover of Time magazine and nearly a dozen appearances on Johnny Carson's couch. Specs and supplements have yet to be detailed, but suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $65.99. You can find the latest specs for 'Masters of Sex: Season One' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under PENDING.Posted Mon Jan 6, 2014 at 06:00 AM PST by: -
Weekend Roundtable: 2013 in Movie TitlesAs we start a brand new year, let's play a fun little game where we use only movie titles to describe the year that just passed. Take a look at some of the examples in this week's Roundtable and you'll get the idea.Posted Fri Jan 3, 2014 at 12:00 PM PST by: -
'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' Blu-ray Up for Pre-Order![teaser]Ben Stiller's daydreaming dramedy will seek adventure on Blu-ray later this year. [/teaser]You can pre-order it now. In an early announcement to retailers, 20th Century Fox is preparing 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' for Blu-ray in 2014. Ben Stiller directs and stars in 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,' James Thurber's classic story of a day-dreamer who escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action. When his job along with that of his co-worker (Kristen Wiig) are threatened, Walter takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey that turns into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined. Specs and supplements have yet to be detailed, but suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $39.99. You can find the latest specs for 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under PENDING.Posted Fri Jan 3, 2014 at 10:00 AM PST by: -
'Thor: The Dark World' Blu-ray & Blu-ray 3D Dated![teaser]The legendary Marvel hero will whack Blu-ray with his hammer again in February, and you can pre-order the film now. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Disney is preparing 'Thor: The Dark World' for Blu-ray and 'Blu-ray 3D' on February 25. Marvel's 'Thor: The Dark World' continues the big screen adventures of Thor, the Mighty Avenger, as he battles to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy that predates the universe itself. In the aftermath of Marvel's 'The Avengers,' Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos… but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all. Specs have not been revealed, but supplements will include: All Hail The King - A Marvel One-Shot; A Brothers Journey - Thor & Loki; Exclusive Look - Captain America: The Winter Soldier; Scoring Thor: The Dark World With Bryan Tyler; Deleted & Extended Scenes; Gag Reel; Audio Commentary with Director Alan Taylor, Producer Kevin Feige, Actor Tom Hiddleston (Loki) and Cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau; and more! Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $32.99 and suggested list price for the Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/Digital Copy combo pack is $39.99. You can find the latest specs for 'Thor: The Dark World' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it is indexed under February 25.Posted Fri Jan 3, 2014 at 08:00 AM PST by: -
'Dracula - 3D' Blu-ray Bound[teaser]Dario Argento's bloodsucking thriller will unleash its fangs on Blu-ray in January, and you can pre-order it now. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, MPI is preparing 'Dracula - 3D' for Blu-ray on January 28. Horror maestro Dario Argento ('Suspiria') puts his unique stylistic spin on the classic supernatural tale with 'Dracula - 3D,' a visually sumptuous retelling of the legendary myth. It's been 400 years since Count Dracula's (Thomas Kretschmann) beloved Dolingen De Gratz passed away, leaving the immortal bloodsucker forever abandoned. But when he discovers that local newlywed Mina Harker (Marta Gastini) bears a striking resemblance to Dolingen, his furious yearning is reawakened as he believes Mina to be a reincarnation of his beloved. Luring her husband Jonathan away to his castle with the help of his minion (and Mina's best friend) Lucy (Asia Argento), Dracula embarks on a bloody quest to reunite with his long lost love and live forever with her in hellish immortality. Only the arrival of vampire expert Abraham Van Helsing (Rutger Hauer) can put an end to the fiend's unholy plan. Luridly violent and brimming with passionate eroticism, Dario Argento's 'Dracula - 3D' is an all-out assault on the senses from one of horror cinema's most celebrated auteurs. Spec have not been detailed yet, but supplements will include a behind-the-scenes featurette and trailers. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $29.98. You can find the latest specs for 'Dracula - 3D' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under January 28.Posted Fri Jan 3, 2014 at 06:00 AM PST by:
