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Beyond the Blu: September 2011I've got posters on my wall, action figures on my shelves, framed autographs, and memorabilia from the films themselves. A true fan never stops collecting, even when the item in question is only tangentially related to the thing they love. Hell, I have a Katy Sagal CD in my collection - I have 'Futurama' to thank for that one. [teaser]For people out there like me, here's a list of some cool, interesting, or just plain weird stuff that you can pick up to go along with your September Blu-ray purchases.[/teaser] There's plenty of film recommendations this month and a bit of costumery to boot. by Dick Ward Trigun Badlands Rumble Even people that don't care for 'Trigun,' and those that shun anime in particular, have to admit that Vash the Stampede has a unique, classic cool look. There are a few things that make Vash Vash, but the hardest to replicate are those crazy yellow tinted bent up glasses of his. Lucky for cosplayers and fans of awesome eyewear, you can pick a pair up on Amazon for about $40. Airplane! A comedy classic! It's also a movie that dares to ask the question "Do you like movies about gladiators?" Well if you do, there's a great one coming out this month on Blu-ray. That's right, none other than 'Ben-Hur.' I mean, you should own 'Ben-Hur' anyway, but it's even more for the creepy connection with 'Airplane!' Terry Pratchett’s Going Postal If you're a fan of the 'Going Postal' miniseries that was created for British television then you're wrong. You obviously watched it incorrectly somehow. That, or you never actually read the book. If you haven't, buy it and read it now. Unlike the TV movie, it's actually witty and funny and interesting. You know what, just go buy any Pratchett book. Then read it, love it, and go buy more. Thor Chris Hemsworth - better known as "that dude who played Kirk's dad" - made a pretty good Thor, maybe the best ever. There aren't a lot of competitors in the category, but you can't call "Kirk's dad" the best without considering Vincent D'Onofrio, who rocked out the part of Thor in the late 80s flick 'Adventures in Babysitting.' Scarface The obvious pickup for 'Scarface' fans is the poster that plasters the wall of every dorm room in the world, right next to the John Belushi "College" poster and something of the New York skyline. I know a lot of people who love 'Scarface,' but the ones I know with that poster tend to be either wannabe thugs or, worse - bros. If you're a bro who loves 'Scarface' and you're already going to get really annoying about it with posters and shirts, why not just go all the way and get a 'Scarface' style beer pong table. Breakfast at Tiffany's Halloween is coming up and it's time to find a costume. You don't want to be a slutty nurse or a slutty maid or a slutty ladybug or whatever else costume makers can throw a short skirt and low cut top on. A sexy costume is fine as long as it's got some class. Try Audrey Hepburn's outfit from 'Breakfast and Tiffany's'. It's not too hard to put together - hair up, black dress, heels, gloves and a cigarette holder. It may not be perfect, but honestly, how many people at your Halloween party are going to get the reference? The Rocky Horror Picture Show A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, God said "let there be lips," and there were. And they were good. In sixth grade I caught my first glimpse of a movie that would soon turn into an obsession. 'Rocky Horror' is that kind of movie - the kind you watch over and over again. Truly obsessed fans will also dip into the spiritual sequel 'Shock Treatment.' It's actually pretty decent if you're into campy musicals and it features Little Nell as the incredibly sexy Nurse Ansalong. And remember, the sun never sets on those who ride into it.Posted Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 10:15 AM PDT by: -
'Phantom of the Opera' Blu-ray Fully Detailed[teaser]The 1925 silent classic starring Lon Chaney that's coming to Blu-ray this November has now been fully detailed. [/teaser] “If I am the Phantom, it is because man's hatred has made me so... If I shall be saved, it will be because your love redeems me.” He was the “Man of a Thousand Faces.” Generations of filmgoers the world over have been thrilled by his portrayals that showcased – and more often than not, empathized with – the shadows of human nature. And now the makeup artistry of a true cinematic pioneer can be seen in high definition! On November 1st, Image Entertainment releases the Lon Chaney classic 'Phantom of the Opera' for the first time on Blu-ray™! The Blu-ray™ features 3 versions of the film – assembled together for the first time in a single release -- including a brand-new high definition digital transfer from the 35mm negative, plus Gaylord Carter's famous theatre organ score, released for the first time as recorded in stereo! Produced by renowned silent film authority and preservationist David Shepard, the Phantom of the Opera Blu-ray™ includes the following versions: * Brand-new HD digital transfer of the 24fps version of 1929 reissue (Academy Aspect Ratio; 16x9 pillar-boxed) from the 35mm negative, with tinted sequences including the Bal Masque sequence in two-strip Technicolor. Featuring a brand new music score by Alloy Orchestra, plus Gaylord Carter’s famous theatre organ score, released for the first time in stereo; * Brand-new HD transfer of 20fps version of 1929 reissue with tinting, Technicolor and hand-coloring. Symphonic score composed by Gabriel Thibaudeau, performed by I Musici de Montreal, conducted by Yuri Turovsky with Claudine Cote, soprano presented in stereo, along with a new full-length audio essay by Dr. Jon Mirsalis; * Standard definition presentation of the original 1925 release from a 16mm tinted source copy. Accompanied by a new piano score by Dr. Frederick Hodges. Chaney stars as Erik, the “Phantom” who lives deep within the twisting catacombs and dungeons beneath the 19th century Paris Opera House. The singers all speak of a ghost who walks the halls, yet no one has ever seen him. But when Erik falls in love with the beautiful aspiring singer Christine, rumor becomes reality when he kidnaps her and holds her hostage in his lair. Hoping, praying that she might see beyond the mask and the disfigurement hiding under it... As in all his films, Chaney designed the now signature makeup for the Phantom, employing techniques – like pining his nose with wires – that not only expressed the outward physical pain of the characters, but inflicted great personal discomfort on the actor bringing them to life. The Phantom of the Opera is an allegory of desire, featuring Chaney’s tour-de-force performance. Love and hate; violence and obsession; shame and honor: all are combined to create one of the greatest characters in cinematic history...and a must-have Blu-ray™! The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, an uncompressed mono soundtrack, and supplements will include: Phantom of the Opera Trailer, Gabriel Thibaudeau Interview, Photo Gallery, Phantom Script, and Phantom Souvenir Program Reproduction. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $39.98. You can find the latest specs for 'Phantom of the Opera' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under November 1.Posted Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 10:00 AM PDT by: -
'The Apartment (1960)' Dated for Blu-ray[teaser]The Best Picture Oscar-winner is available on Blu-ray this week! [/teaser] In a rather late (or silent) announcement to retailers, it appears MGM/UA will be bringing 'The Apartment (1960)' to Blu-ray on September 13. That's tomorrow! Billy Wilder's romantic comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine also claimed four more Academy Awards and Best Writing/Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen and Best Director. Specs and supplements have yet to be revealed, but suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $19.99. You can find the latest specs for 'The Apartment (1960)' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under September 13.Posted Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 08:00 AM PDT by: -
Blockbuster Canada is Closing its Doors[teaser]The remaining 253 Canadian stores will be shut down and the company liquidated. [/teaser] Sure, Blockbuster was a slow moving giant. And yes, we all saw it coming. A company that's unable to adapt to a quickly moving market is bound to go down in flames. Still, hundreds, even thousands of employees are losing their jobs and we at High-Def Digest are of the opinion that this is a bad thing. 253 total stores will be shut down and liquidated, finally ending Blockbuster's presence in Canada. Offers for sale were considered, but a satisfactory agreement was unable to be reached. Aside from the existing problems that were plaguing Blockbuster, Dish Network filed papers that would stop Blockbuster Canada from using the Blockbuster name. Not only is that a big blow for the company, but it negatively impacts potential sales which would, in part, be buying brand recognition. Source: Home Media MagazinePosted Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 07:00 AM PDT by: -
'Doctor Who: Series Six, Part 2' & 'Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]The last six episodes of series six and a complete series six box set of the hit sci-fi show are bound for Blu-ray this November. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, BBC/Warner will be releasing 'Doctor Who: Series Six, Part 2 on the high-definition format on November 8. The 2-disc set will feature 1080i video, a DTS-HD HR 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements include Monster Files featurettes on the Antibodies and the Cybermats. BBC/Warner will also be releasing 'Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series on November 22 which will include Part One, Part Two, and 'Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol.' The 6-disc set will feature 1080i video, a DTS-HD HR 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements include Meanwhile in the Tardis feature – Seven newly filmed scenes telling what happens between the episodes; Doctor Who Confidential featurettes - An inside look at each episode; Monster Files featurettes - Get under the skin and inside the minds of the new Doctor's most challenging opponents; Audio commentaries; and Trailers and Trails. You can find the latest specs for 'Doctor Who: Series Six, Part 2' and 'Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where they're indexed under November.Posted Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 06:00 AM PDT by: -
HDD Deal of the Week: 'The Goonies: 25th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition' Blu-ray $17.49 at Amazon[teaser]HEY YOU GUYS!!! Amazon's Blu-ray deal this week sets sail back to the 1980s in search of the treasure of One-Eyed Willie!![/teaser] Amazon is selling 'The Goonies: 25th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition' for $17.99 (50% off the suggested retail price). 'The Goonies' stars Sean Astin ('The Lord of the Rings' trilogy), Josh Brolin ('Milk,' 'W,' 'No Country for Old Men,' upcoming 'Jonah Hex'), Corey Feldman ('The Lost Boys' franchise), Martha Plimpton ('200 Cigarettes'), Ke Huy-Quan ('Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom') and Joe Pantoliano ('Cats and Dogs' franchise, 'The Matrix'). Overflowing with a treasure chest of premium items that celebrate this cherished film, 'The Goonies 25th Anniversary Collector’s Edition' includes an exciting new board game, collectible storyboard prints, a 1985 souvenir magazine with captivating behind-the-scenes stories about the actual filming in Astoria, Oregon, including the production design that transformed Astoria into the “Goon Docks,” and a reprint of a 2009 article with updates of the entire cast, as well as producer Steven Spielberg and director Richard Donner. Click here if this deal is "good enough" for you! This offer is available from now through September 17.Posted Sun Sep 11, 2011 at 07:55 AM PDT by: -
Bonus View Digest - September 9, 2011This week, like every week, The Bonus View has been the place to be for HD fans. If you're interested in the new 'Star Wars' Blu-rays hitting stores this month you'll want to take a look at the blog to find out what changes you will be in store for. It shouldn't be news to anyone that George Lucas is tweaking more aspects of his beloved movies for the Blu-ray release. [teaser]It wasn't all 'Star Wars' news on the blog this week, it just seems that way as the September 16th release date approaches. Take a look at all the other stuff you may have missed that you'll want to read over and discuss with your fellow Bonus View fans![/teaser] Blu-ray News The biggest news this week was the videos that surfaced that showed the myriad of changes George Lucas has made to the 'Star Wars' films for the Blu-ray release. Josh covers them all, including the creepy blinking Ewoks , and he isn't kind about how he feels. Our Mid-Week Poll this week also had to do with the 'Star Wars' Blu-ray release. We asked if you were going to buy the set or if you were going to hold your ground and wait until the original versions were released. Get in on this always controversial discussion now! Aaron revisited another one of his favorite movies from his collection in Off the Shelf . Take a look back at 'Dr. Horrible' and find 21 things that you may have missed. We also ran a contest where readers had a chance to win a Limited Edition Steelbook edition of 'Scarface.' Theatrical News E's Trailer Park highlighted quite a few movies made especially for kids, including 'Happy Feet 2' and 'The Pirates! Band of Misfits.' Luke watched and reviewed 'The Debt ' starring Helen Mirren, and gave us an update of what we could expect to see in the theaters over the weekend . Don't get your hopes up because hardly any of them were actually screened for critics (never a good thing). Finally, Aaron covered some of the new movie posters, in his column Posterizing, that have been released for upcoming theatrical features including 'Drive,' 'Ghost Rider: The Spirit of Vengeance,' and 'Carnage.' Home Theater News Who hasn't thought that their sound system needed more rumbling bass? Everyone has thought it at some point, and Josh has a perfect solution. Instead of buying more expensive sub woofers, how about adding a relatively inexpensive seat shaker that will have the same effect? Check out this how-to, and add this to your home theater today. TV Recaps We've been steadfast in our coverage of the latest and greatest summer TV shows. Get recaps for 'Burn Notice ,' 'Project Runway ,' 'Haven ,' 'Alphas ,' and 'True Blood .' Special Features Our Weekend Roundtable covered the best TV pilot episodes of all-time. Although ours was only a short list. Take a look at the 50+ comments from readers who shared their own favorites! Finally, in a special article, Josh discussed whether or not 'The Empire Strikes Back' is too good for the original 'Star Wars Trilogy.' What do you think? Let us know. Please join us over on The Bonus View where we're striving to grow a community of people who love high definition entertainment. Plus, you can win free stuff,so, there's no reason you shouldn't check it out!Posted Fri Sep 9, 2011 at 11:40 AM PDT by: -
'The Grateful Dead Movie' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]'The Grateful Dead Movie' will see its first-ever Blu-ray release on November 1. [/teaser] Co-directed by Jerry Garcia, 'The Grateful Dead Movie' was originally released in 1977, and captures performances from five October 1974 shows at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom. In an essay accompanying the Blu-ray, Dennis McNally, Grateful Dead biographer and the former publicist for the band, writes “when the Dead concluded that their epic achievement in sound design, the Wall of Sound, was a fabulous albatross threatening to destroy them, and that a substantial break would follow five mid-October 1974 shows at Winterland, and Who Knew?—maybe these really were The Last Shows—it was the most logical thing in the world for Jerry to hire a film crew and have a movie to make during the hiatus in Dead touring. Like most Dead projects, 'The Grateful Dead Movie' was substantially improvised and required massive amounts of really peculiar synchronicity to work—and somehow came out great in the end.” Disc 1 of 'The Grateful Dead Movie' features the film in its entirety on Blu-ray, transferred from the original 35mm film negative in High Definition and presented in 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio. The performances include Dead classics such as “Truckin’,” “Sugar Magnolia,” and “Casey Jones.” Disc 2 is a DVD containing more than 95 minutes of bonus concert footage, including “Uncle John’s Band,” “Sugaree,” “The Other One‚” “Spanish Jam‚” “Mind Left Body Jam‚” “Scarlet Begonias,” “China Cat Sunflower‚” “I Know You Rider,” “Dark Star,” and “Weather Report Suite.” Also included in the bonus features are the option for visible lyrics, a feature-length commentary with supervising editor Susan Crutcher and film editor John Nutt, the documentary films “A Look Back,” “Making of the Animated Sequence,” and “Making of the DVD,” the television commercial for the Mars Hotel album from 1974, multicamera and multitrack audio demonstrations, and an extensive photo gallery of production notes, photos, film stills and other historical items from the Movie’s production. Additionally, viewers can choose which sound mix they want, including a 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio presentation of the original theatrical audio mix, a DTS 5.1 audio mix, mixed from the master multitrack tapes, or the PCM 2.0 audio mix, all from the master multitrack tapes. The bonus songs were transferred from the 16mm camera-original film negative, with audio from the master multitrack tapes offered in both a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix or Dolby Digital 2.0 audio mix. The legendary Grateful Dead Movie is known for its remarkably intimate look at the band and the Deadhead scene of the time. Now fans can enjoy the film in high definition as never before. Fans who preorder 'The Grateful Dead Movie' directly from Shout! Factory will receive an exclusive bumper sticker with their order, while supplies last. Additionally, it will ship on October 18, two weeks before being available in stores. For more info, visit: www.shoutfactorystore.com/prod.aspx?pfid=5257509. 'The Grateful Dead Movie' is the first in a line of Grateful Dead films slated for release by Shout! Factory in collaboration with Rhino Entertainment. Future releases will include The Closing Of Winterland, Dead Ahead, Truckin’ Up To Buffalo, Ticket To New Year’s, Downhill From Here, View From The Vault, View From The Vault Vol. 2, View From The Vault Vol. 3, View From The Vault Vol. 4 and So Far, a 1987 film that has previously only been available on VHS and laserdisc. You can find the latest specs for 'The Grateful Dead Movie' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under November 1.Posted Fri Sep 9, 2011 at 11:30 AM PDT by: -
'Fright Night - 3D' Blu-ray Preorder Live and $5 Coupon[teaser]Get your order in now for the Blu-ray 3D of the horror remake and save $5 at Amazon! [/teaser] Amazon has already listed 'Fright Night - 3D' for Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy for pre-order and is offering a $5 off coupon for the upcoming release. Anton Yelchin stars as a teenager who suspects that his new neighbor (Colin Farrell) is a vampire. Specs, supplements, and a release date have yet to be revealed, but you can visit this page to clip the coupon located just beneath the pricing and put in a preorder with the discount. And don't forget with Amazon's price guarantee if the price should fall between the time the preorder is placed and the release date, orders will receive the lowest price as well as the coupon discount!Posted Fri Sep 9, 2011 at 11:29 AM PDT by: -
'Tora! Tora! Tora!' Blu-ray Detailed[teaser]The classic war film being prepped for high-definition this December to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor has now been detailed. [/teaser] As previously reported, 20th Century Fox will release 'Tora! Tora! Tora!' in a Blu-ray digibook on December 6. Directed by Richard Fleischer ('Soylent Green') with Japanese sequences helmed by Kinji Fukasaku and Toshio Masuda–and starring Martin Balsam ('Psycho'), Joseph Cotten ('Citizen Kane') and Jason Robards ('All the President’s Men'), 'Tora! Tora! Tora!' is best remembered for utilizing footage from the actual attack on Pearl Harbor. This new edition will feature the extended Japanese cut of the film containing 10 minutes of previously unreleased footage. The 'Tora! Tora! Tora!' Blu-ray book includes the extended “Japanese Cut” containing 10 minutes of previously unreleased footage and rare photos from the Fox Archives – a collector’s dream. The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, a 4.0 soundtrack, and there doesn't appear to be any supplements besides the digibook packaging. You can find the latest specs for 'Tora! Tora! Tora!' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under December 6.Posted Fri Sep 9, 2011 at 10:00 AM PDT by:
