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Win 'Star Wars: The Complete Saga' on Blu-ray From High-Def Digest. Deadline to enter is Monday the 19th. Winner Announced Tuesday the 20th!It's easily the biggest Blu-ray release of the year, if not the biggest release in the history of the format. It's loaded to the gills with special features, behind the scenes documentaries, and plenty of surprises. It also represents quite a financial investment. We're talking of course about 'Star Wars: The Complete Saga,' and boy have we got some exciting news for you! [teaser]We're awarding one free copy of 'Star Wars: The Complete Saga' to a very lucky High-Def Digest Forum member![/teaser] Here's how you can enter to win: Visit the High-Def Digest Forums from the link provided at the bottom of this announcement. If you're a newcomer, be sure you set up an HDD forum account, we're always excited to see new members in the community! Entering is simple. The forum thread linked below asks you to answer just one simple question: "When did you first see any of the 'Star Wars' movies? Tell us the story and what made that initial visit to the 'Star Wars' universe so memorable for you!" We want to know how the movie made you feel the very first time you sat down and watched Luke, Han, Obi-Wan and the rest of the gang take on Darth Vader and the Emperor. Who did you see it with? Did you sleep on the sidewalk to get tickets on opening day? Were you dressed as Chewbacca? Share your experience in a forum post and you're entered to win! Simple as that. Of course, no High-Def Digest employees or their family members are eligible. This is for our readers and forum members only. This contest will run from September 12 through September 19th. The winner will be picked at random, and his or her name will be announced on Tuesday, September 20, 2011! So, what are you waiting for? Enter to win one of the biggest Blu-ray releases since the format was introduced! We can't wait to read your stories!Posted Fri Sep 16, 2011 at 12:00 PM PDT by: -
'The Lady Vanishes' and 'Design for Living' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]Criterion will bring Alfred Hitchcock and Ernst Lubitsch classics to Blu-ray in December. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Criterion has revealed the 1935 comedic mystery 'The Lady Vanishes' for Blu-ray on December 6. In Alfred Hitchcock’s most quick-witted and devilish comic thriller, the beautiful Margaret Lockwood, traveling across Europe by train, meets a charming spinster (Dame May Whitty), who them seems to disappear into thin air. The younger woman turns investigator and finds herself drawn into a complex web of mystery and high adventure. Also starring Michael Redgrave, 'The Lady Vanishes' remains one of the great filmmaker’s purest delights. The Blu-ray will feature a 1080p transfer and supplements will include: Audio commentary by film historian Bruce Eder; Crook’s Tour, a 1941 feature-length adventure film starring Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne as Charters and Caldicott, their beloved characters from The Lady Vanishes; Excerpts from François Truffaut’s legendary 1962 audio interview with director Alfred Hitchcock; Mystery Train, a video essay about Hitchcock and The Lady Vanishes by Hitchcock scholar Leonard Leff; Stills gallery of behind-the-scenes photos and promotional art; and a booklet featuring essays by critic Geoffrey O’Brien and Hitchcock scholar Charles Barr. Criterion will also be bringing 'Design for Living' to Blu-ray on the same date. Gary Cooper, Fredric March, and Miriam Hopkins play a trio of Americans in Paris who enter into a very adult “gentleman’s” agreement, in this continental pre-Code comedy freely adapted by Ben Hecht from a play by Noël Coward, and directed by Ernst Lubitsch. A risqué relationship comedy and a witty take on creative pursuits, it concerns a commercial artist (Hopkins) unable—or unwilling—to choose between the equally dashing painter (Cooper) and playwright (March) she meets on a train en route to the City of Light. 'Design for Living' is Lubitsch at his most adroit, an entertainment at once debonair and racy, featuring three stars at the height of their allure. The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, an uncompressed monaural soundtrack, and supplements will include: "The Clerk," starring Charles Laughton—director Ernst Lubitsch's segment of the 1932 film If I Had a Million, which he made just before Design for Living; Selected-scene commentary by film professor William Paul; Play of the Week: A Choice of Coward, a 1964 British television production of the play Design for Living, introduced on camera by playwright Noël Coward; New interview with film scholar and screenwriter Joseph McBride on Lubitsch and Ben Hecht's screen adaptation of the Coward play; and a booklet featuring an essay by film critic Kim Morgan. Suggested list price for each Blu-ray is $39.95. You can find the latest specs for 'The Lady Vanishes' and 'Design for Living' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where they're indexed under December 6.Posted Fri Sep 16, 2011 at 10:40 AM PDT by: -
'Blue Velvet: 25th Anniversary Edition' Blu-ray Detailed[teaser]David Lynch's 1986 thriller slated for Blu-ray in November will come loaded with almost an hour's worth of lost footage and more! [/teaser] From the mind of David Lynch ('Mulholland Drive,' “Twin Peaks”) comes a visionary story so startling, so provocative, so mysterious that it will open your eyes to a world you have never seen before. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment celebrates the anniversary of a groundbreaking American cinema classic when the 'Blue Velvet: 25th Anniversary Edition' makes its curtain call on Blu-ray on November 8 . For the first time ever, fans will see over 50 minutes of deleted scenes from the film, thought to have been lost for the past 25 years, with a transfer and color correction supervised by Lynch himself. Beneath the surface of small-town serenity lies a dark domain where innocents dare not tread and unpredictability is the norm. It is the haunting realm of 'Blue Velvet.' In this “shocking, deeply disturbing, startling mixture of the heartfelt and the horrific” (Newsweek), clean-cut Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan, “Twin Peaks”) realizes his Mayberry-like hometown is not-so-normal when he discovers a human ear in a field. His investigation catapults him into an alluring, erotic murder mystery involving a disturbed nightclub singer (Isabella Rossellini, 'Death Becomes Her') and a drug-addicted sadist (Dennis Hopper, 'Speed'). Soon, Jeffrey is led deeper into their depraved existence past the point of no return. Nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Directing (Lynch) and a Golden Globe® for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Hopper), 'Blue Velvet' features brilliant supporting performances from Laura Dern ('Wild at Heart'), Dean Stockwell (“Quantum Leap”), Hope Lange ('Peyton Place') and David Lynch mainstay Jack Nance ('Eraserhead'). Fans of Lynch’s filmmaking may also enjoy his solo debut as a musical artist, Crazy Clown Time, which is due out November 8 from Sunday Best Recordings / PIAS in America. Lynch produced and wrote the album’s 14 original songs, which spotlight him on guitar and vocals. Critics are already buzzing about the collection of dark and quirky pop, which is available on CD and LP as well as digitally. The Blu-ray/DVD combo pack will include 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements will include over 50 minutes of never-before-seen lost footage and a few outtakes. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $24.99. You can find the latest specs for 'Blue Velvet: 25th Anniversary Edition' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under November 8.Posted Fri Sep 16, 2011 at 10:00 AM PDT by: -
'Branded to Kill' and 'Tokyo Drifter' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]Two films from Japanese filmmaker Seijun Suzuki are getting the Criterion Blu-ray treatment this December. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Criterion is preparing the 1967 crime comedy 'Branded to Kill' for Blu-ray on December 13. When Japanese New Wave bad boy Seijun Suzuki delivered this brutal, hilarious, and visually inspired masterpiece to the executives at his studio, he was promptly fired. Branded to Kill tells the ecstatically bent story of a yakuza assassin (chipmunk-cheeked superstar Joe Shishido) with a fetish for sniffing boiled rice who botches a job and ends up a target himself. This is Suzuki at his most extreme—the flabbergasting pinnacle of his sixties pop-art aesthetic. The Blu-ray will feature a 1080p transfer, uncompressed monaural soundtrack, and supplements will include: Video piece featuring new interviews with director Seijun Suzuki and assistant director Masami Kuzuu; Interview With Suzuki From 1997; New interview with actor Joe Shishido; Original theatrical trailer; and a booklet featuring an essay by critic and historian Tony Rayns, author of Branded to Thrill: The Delirious Cinema of Suzuki Seijun, and a statement by the film's art director, Sukezo Kawahara. The director's 'Tokyo Drifter' will also be available on Blu-ray on the same date. In this jazzy gangster film, reformed killer Phoenix Tetsu’s attempt to go straight is squashed when his former cohorts call him back to Tokyo to help battle a rival gang. This onslaught of stylized violence and trippy colors got director Seijun Suzuki in trouble with Nikkatsu studio heads, who were put off by his anything-goes, in-your-face aesthetic, equal parts Russ Meyer, Samuel Fuller, and Nagisa Oshima. 'Tokyo Drifter' is a delirious highlight of the brilliantly excessive Japanese cinema of the sixties. The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, an uncompressed monaural soundtrack, and supplements will include: Video piece featuring new interviews with director Seijun Suzuki and assistant director Masami Kuzuu; Interview with Suzuki from 1997; Original theatrical trailer; and a booklet featuring an essay by film critic Howard Hampton. Suggested list price for each Blu-ray is $39.95. You can find the latest specs for 'Branded to Kill' and 'Tokyo Drifter' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where they're indexed under December 13.Posted Fri Sep 16, 2011 at 08:00 AM PDT by: -
Netflix Says They'll be Losing Customers With New Pricing Change[teaser]Despite the loss of 1 million customers, the company still contends this was the right choice. [/teaser] When the folks at Netflix announced there would be a pricing change for their services, they were still convinced of the popularity of their offerings. They said not to expect a large drop in customers, but it's looking like they were wrong. Netflix had originally expected to keep 25 million subscribers, with 22 million of those streaming and 15 million getting DVDs. The company just released a revision that changes that pretty significantly though. They now expect a full million customers less. Most of that decline comes from, as you might expect, those that take the DVD only route. In both projections Netflix expects 12 million customers to keep both streaming and DVD plans, but the prediction for DVD only drops from 15 million to 14.2 million. Streaming customers are expected to drop, but only by 200,000. Source: EngadgetPosted Fri Sep 16, 2011 at 07:00 AM PDT by: -
Save $5 on 'Dumbo' Blu-ray[teaser]Don't miss this coupon to save $5 on the floppy-eared Disney classic available next week! [/teaser] Disney has just launched another coupon offer this time to save $5 on 'Dumbo' Blu-ray available on September 20! Simply visit this page to print out your coupon from the Disney Movie Rewards website. This coupon is valid in the United States and Canada only and the offer expires September 25.Posted Fri Sep 16, 2011 at 06:00 AM PDT by: -
'Super 8' Blu-ray Date, Details, and Box Art Revealed[teaser]One of the best reviewed films of the year is coming to Blu-ray in November! [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Paramount has revealed 'Super 8' for a Blu-ray release on November 22. From writer/director J.J. Abrams and producer Steven Spielberg comes the sci-fi throwback set during the summer of 1979 that follows a group of kids who notice strange happenings around their town after they witness a train crash. The Blu-ray will include 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 soundtrack, and supplements will include: Commentary by writer/director J.J. Abrams, producer Bryan Burk and cinematographer Larry Fong; The Dream Behind Super 8; and The Visitor Lives. Blu-ray exclusives include; The Search for New Faces; Meet Joel Courtney; Rediscovering Steel Town; Scoring Super 8; Do You Believe in Magic?; The 8mm Revolution; Deconstructing the Train Crash; and Deleted Scenes. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $39.99. You can find the latest specs for 'Super 8' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under November 22.Posted Thu Sep 15, 2011 at 03:45 PM PDT by: -
Have You Entered to Win 'Star Wars: The Complete Saga' on Blu-ray From High-Def Digest?It's easily the biggest Blu-ray release of the year, if not the biggest release in the history of the format. It's loaded to the gills with special features, behind the scenes documentaries, and plenty of surprises. It also represents quite a financial investment. We're talking of course about 'Star Wars: The Complete Saga,' and boy have we got some exciting news for you! [teaser]We're awarding one free copy of 'Star Wars: The Complete Saga' to a very lucky High-Def Digest Forum member![/teaser] Here's how you can enter to win: Visit the High-Def Digest Forums from the link provided at the bottom of this announcement. If you're a newcomer, be sure you set up an HDD forum account, we're always excited to see new members in the community! Entering is simple. The forum thread linked below asks you to answer just one simple question: "When did you first see any of the 'Star Wars' movies? Tell us the story and what made that initial visit to the 'Star Wars' universe so memorable for you!" We want to know how the movie made you feel the very first time you sat down and watched Luke, Han, Obi-Wan and the rest of the gang take on Darth Vader and the Emperor. Who did you see it with? Did you sleep on the sidewalk to get tickets on opening day? Were you dressed as Chewbacca? Share your experience in a forum post and you're entered to win! Simple as that. Of course, no High-Def Digest employees or their family members are eligible. This is for our readers and forum members only. This contest will run from September 12 through September 19th. The winner will be picked at random, and his or her name will be announced on Tuesday, September 20, 2011! So, what are you waiting for? Enter to win one of the biggest Blu-ray releases since the format was introduced! We can't wait to read your stories!Posted Thu Sep 15, 2011 at 01:00 PM PDT by: -
'Beginners' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]The acclaimed dramedy from Mike Mills makes its Blu-ray debut in November. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Universal Studios says 'Beginners' will have a Blu-ray release on November 15. The film stars Ewan McGregor as a man who finds a new lease on life after his gay father (Christopher Plummer) passes away. The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and no supplements have been revealed. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $34.98. You can find the latest specs for 'Beginners' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under November 15.Posted Thu Sep 15, 2011 at 12:00 PM PDT by: -
'Attack the Block' Blu-ray Dated and Detailed[teaser]The British sci-fi/comedy from Joe Cornish will invade Blu-ray in October. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Sony has slated 'Attack the Block' for Blu-ray on October 25. The film about an alien invasion and a street gang of Londonites who band together to save their apartment complex stars John Boyega and Nick Frost ('Shaun of the Dead'). The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements include: "Junior" commentary with writer/director Joe Cornish and actors John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Simon Howard, and Leeon Jones; "Senior" commentary with Cornish and actors Jodie Whittaker, Luke Treadaway, and Nick Frost; "Executive Producer" commentary with Cornish and executive producer Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz); Behind the Block; Creature Feature; Meet the Gang; Unfilmed Action; and That's a Rap (an actual featurette, not me just ending the sentence). Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is still undetermined at this time. You can find the latest specs for 'Attack the Block' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under October 25.Posted Thu Sep 15, 2011 at 10:00 AM PDT by: