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Dish Puts in a Bid on Blockbuster[teaser]Billionaire and shareholder activist Carl Icahn put in a bid as well. [/teaser] Today’s the day – Blockbuster is up on the auction block and we should find out pretty soon who is going to end up with the company. A few new potential buyers have been revealed, including billionaire Carl Icahn and satellite television provider Dish Network. The folks at DISH have a lot to gain from a Blockbuster purchase. Specifically, Blockbuster has existing contracts with movie studios, strong relationships and a recognizable brand name. Acquiring Blockbuster could also help DISH come up with a way to compete with Netflix. Icahn is a bit of a different story. As one of the richest men in the world, he can easily pick up the rental company. He has a bit of history with Blockbuster too – he was a director of the company until 2010. Source: Home Media MagazinePosted Mon Apr 4, 2011 at 10:40 AM PDT by: -
'I Am Number Four' Blu-ray Announced[teaser]The young adult sci-fi action-thriller will make Blu-ray number one next month! [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Disney/Buena Vista says 'I Am Number Four' is coming to Blu-ray on May 24. The film stars Alex Pettyfer as an extraordinary teen masking his true identity and passing as a typical high school student to elude a deadly enemy seeking to destroy him. Three like him have already been killed ... he is Number Four. Timothy Olyphant and Dianna Agron co-star. Specs have yet to be revealed, but the Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack will include the following supplements: Bloopers, Becoming Number 6, and six Blu-ray exclusive deleted scenes with introductions by D.J. Caruso. Suggested list price for the combo pack is $44.99. A 'single disc edition' will also be available for $39.99. You can find the latest specs for 'I Am Number Four' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it is indexed under May 24.Posted Mon Apr 4, 2011 at 10:00 AM PDT by: -
'Square Grouper' Blu-ray Axed[teaser]Apparently you can't fit a Square Grouper on a round Blu-ray. The documentary on Miami's marijuana smuggling scene originally set for Blu-ray release in April has now been pulled from the release schedule. [/teaser] As previously reported, Magnolia planned to release the documentary 'Square Grouper' on Blu-ray on April 19, but now the title has been canceled without any reason provided. From Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman, the filmmakers behind the globally popular 'Cocaine Cowboys' series and “The U,” part of ESPN’s recent “30 for 30” series, 'Square Grouper' is a vivid portrait of South Florida’s pot smuggling culture of the 1970s. Named after the bales of marijuana that were often caught in the warm Florida coastal waters by unsuspecting fishermen, 'Square Grouper' focuses on three incredible stories from the era: the infamous Black Tuna Gang, a group of savvy smugglers led by Robert Platshorn, the longest serving marijuana prisoner in US History; the Ethiopian Zion Coptic church, whose members (including children) all smoked marijuana from morning till night and ran a massive pot dealing operation out of Miami Beach’s exclusive Star Island; and Everglades City, a tiny fishing village 80 miles west of Miami with a brazen history of smuggling everything from endangered animals, to rum, to weed. You can find the latest specs for 'Square Grouper' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it has been moved indefinitely to PENDING.Posted Mon Apr 4, 2011 at 08:00 AM PDT by: -
'Dragon Ball Z: Kai: Part 5' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]The fifth chapter in the anime series is slated for Blu-ray this June. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, FUNimation is working on 'Dragon Ball Z: Kai: Part 5' for a high-definition release on June 7. The epic showdown between Goku and Frieza reaches its climax as planet Namek crumbles beneath their feet! In the aftermath of battle, neither fighter is anywhere to be found, but Earth’s few remaining heroes have much bigger problems. A mysterious and powerful stranger known only as Trunks arrives from the future with a warning: the Androids are coming, they take no prisoners, and even Goku – wherever he may be – is no match for their kind! Supplements have yet to be revealed, but the two disc set will feature 1080p video and Dolby TrueHD 5.1 tracks (English and Japanese). Suggested list price for the 2-disc Blu-ray set is $34.98. You can find the latest specs for 'Dragon Ball Z: Kai: Part 5' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under June 7.Posted Mon Apr 4, 2011 at 06:00 AM PDT by: -
'Gnomeo & Juliet' Announced and Detailed for Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D[teaser]The hilarious animated twist on William Shakespeare's timeless romance is planned for high-definition in May! [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Disney/Buena Vista will be bringing the family film 'Gnomeo & Juliet' to Blu-ray on May 24. 'Gnomeo & Juliet - 3D' will also be available on the same date. 'Gnomeo & Juliet' is brought to life by the extraordinary voices of Golden Globe nominee James McAvoy ('The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe') as Gnomeo; Emily Blunt ('The Devil Wears Prada') as Juliet; Academy Award winner Michael Caine ('Inception') as Lord Redbrick; Jason Statham ('The Trasnsporter' franchise) as Tybalt; Ashley Jensen (TV’s "Ugly Betty") as Nanette; Patrick Stewart ('X-Men' franchise) as William Shakespeare; Ozzy Osbourne (TV’s "The Osbournes") as Fawn and Maggie Smith ('Harry Potter' franchise) as Lady Blueberry. The Blu-rays will feature 1080p video, DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 soundtracks, and supplements will include: Elton Builds A Garden, Frog Talk with Ashley Jensen, and Crocodile Rock music video. Blu-ray exclusives include: 2 alternate endings with filmmaker introductions, 6 Deleted and 2 alternate scenes with filmmaker introductions, and The Fawn Of Darkness. You can find the latest specs for 'Gnomeo & Juliet' and 'Gnomeo & Juliet - 3D' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where they're indexed under May 24.Posted Mon Apr 4, 2011 at 05:30 AM PDT by: -
Save $5 on 'Tron Legacy (4 & 5-Disc Combo Packs)' Blu-ray[teaser]The Grid offers up $5 savings on two Blu-ray editions of Disney's sci-fi thrill-ride! [/teaser] Here's another coupon offer to save $5 on the must-own 'Tron Legacy - 3D/Tron 2D - Combo Pack' or the 'Tron Legacy - 3D (4-Disc Combo Pack)' Blu-ray releasing this week! As an added bonus, those who purchase either set and enter the magic code (on April 5, 2011 only) will receive double reward points! Click this link to access to the page where you can print out your coupon valid at participating retail stores. The coupon is valid on April 5 for six days only, so be sure not to miss this offer!Posted Sun Apr 3, 2011 at 02:25 PM PDT by: -
HDD Deal of the Week: 'America Lost and Found: The BBS Story' Blu-ray $66.99 at Amazon[teaser]Amazon serves up the set of seven films presented by the Criterion Collection for nearly fifty percent off in this week's exclusive deal! [/teaser] Amazon is currently offering 'America Lost and Found: The BBS Story' for $46.99 (46% off suggested list price). The deluxe box set includes: 'Head,' 'Easy Rider,' 'Five Easy Pieces,' 'Drive He Said,' 'A Safe Place,' 'The Last Picture Show,' and 'The King of Marvin Gardens.' Click here to own these great classic films in the absolute best presentations available!Posted Sun Apr 3, 2011 at 02:00 PM PDT by: -
HD Advisor CentennialA Brief Announcement from the Advisor: When I started this HD Advisor column back in early 2009, I had no idea how long it would run. Honestly, I assumed that interest would eventually taper off as we covered most of the commonly asked questions. I'm glad to have been mistaken. Here we are, two years and 100 Q&A sessions (plus a few special reports in between) later. It's been a pretty terrific run. However, although questions keep coming in, it strikes me that 100 is a pretty good stopping point… for now. After this article, the Advisor will be taking a sabbatical. This is not the end of HD Advisor. The feature will return at some point. I just need a little break to catch up on other work. I haven't yet determined how long that will take. Hopefully, not too long. In the meantime, feel free to continue sending your home theater questions to [email protected]. I will continue to monitor the mailbox and save up the questions for the Advisor's inevitable return. Now, on to the latest questions… Answers by Joshua Zyber A/V Receivers and 3D Passthrough Q: I have a 55" 3D Samsung TV and an Onkyo HT-S6100 7.1 home theatre system. I use a Sony PS3 for Blu-ray playback. Since the PS3 has been updated to 3D movie support, will the Onkyo HT-S6100 allow for 3D playback to pass through to the TV? A: In order for an A/V receiver (or any other device) to pass a 3D Blu-ray video signal, it must specifically have HDMI 1.4 inputs and outputs. This is a new feature that only started appearing in receivers last year. Receivers with this type of connection are almost always marketed as being capable of 3D passthough. Look for that bullet point in the owner's manual or on the box when shopping. Unfortunately, receivers with the older HDMI 1.3 standard (such as your Onkyo HT-S6100) will not pass the 3D signal, and cannot be upgraded to do so. 3D Video and Audio Connections Q: I have an excellent Yamaha HTR-6180 receiver, which is of course not capable of 3D passthrough. I bought a Toshiba BDX-3000 3D Blu-ray player that only has one HDMI output. I don't yet own a 3D TV. I have heard that it is possible to send the HDMI signal to a TV directly and also to a receiver at the same time. I assume to do so I will need an HDMI splitter box, not a switch box. Is there any such a thing in the market yet? I want the opportunity to watch a 3D movie with a Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD MA soundtrack in the future. A: You are correct that, if your receiver can't pass the 3D video signal, you will ideally want to route the video from your Blu-ray player directly to your TV while separately routing the audio directly to the receiver. The easiest way to accomplish this is with a 3D Blu-ray player that has been designed with two HDMI outputs for this purpose. Some Panasonic models have this feature, as does the OPPO BDP-93 player. Other brands may as well. If your Blu-ray player only has one HDMI output, you could try connecting it to an HDMI splitter device, but it will specifically need to be an HDMI 1.4 unit rated for 3D support. It should be a powered model; don't waste your time with any passive HDMI splitters. I haven't tested one of these myself, but a search for "HDMI Splitter" at Monoprice.com pulls in several models that claim 3D support. (Be advised that my own experience with other HDMI splitters was that they are very finicky devices.) All of the item descriptions at Monoprice state that these splitters are intended to divide a 3D video signal to multiple displays. They don't explicitly mention your intended use: to route video separately to a 3D display while audio goes to an HDMI 1.3 receiver. My fear is that the HDMI output on the Blu-ray player will expect to receive a 3D confirmation handshake from both other ends of the chain. When your receiver doesn't confirm 3D, the Blu-ray player may refuse to transmit anything. However, I don't have direct experience with these splitters to know if that's really an issue. In any case, I recommend purchasing from a retailer (like Monoprice) that has a flexible return policy in case the product doesn't work out. Subtitle Fonts and Appearance Q:This may seem nitpicky, but I find it quite distracting how the quality of subtitles seem to be subpar, and almost look pixelated. Is there any reasoning for this? Why can't the Blu-ray/DVD authoring companies use higher resolution subtitles that don't appear to have that "blown up" and "pixelated" appearance on screen? A: I think you'll find that most of the "pixelated" subtitles you're seeing are found on DVD, not Blu-ray. The DVD format stores subtitles as low-resolution bitmap images that often look jagged or blocky on screen, especially if the studio tries to author them to display in an italics font (which is common). Many studios also use a harsh yellow color for the font, which is pretty hard on the eyes as well. Blu-ray subtitles are instead authored in what is known as Presentation Graphics Stream (PGS) format, and should generally have a smoother, higher-resolution appearance without that pixelated, blocky look. However, decisions about what the font should look like are totally at the discretion of the studios. Many times, the fonts used on Blu-ray are larger and take up more screen space than those used on theatrical prints. Sony and Warner Bros. use a particularly large and unattractive font on Blu-ray that obscures a lot of the movie picture. The reasoning for this stems back to a mindset fostered in the early days of home video, when most viewers watched movies from low-resolution sources on small (30" or less) TV screens. Larger subtitles were easier to read at home. Theatrical prints didn't need large fonts, because the projected image on a theater screen was really big anyway. Of course, today's viewers (especially Blu-ray viewers) frequently watch their movies on large, high-resolution screens, and don't need huge fonts to be able to read the text. Nevertheless, big corporate studios are slow to change policies like this unless there's been a major public outcry about the issue – and in this case, there hasn't been. Perhaps the worst example I've seen of subtitles that harm the presentation of a movie occur on the Blu-ray editions of the Russian films 'Night Watch' and 'Day Watch'. Director Timur Bekmambetov explicitly designed English subtitles for the international theatrical releases of these movies that were presented in a comic book style that moved around and interacted with the imagery on screen. The Blu-ray editions do away with this, and instead present the subtitle translation in a generic white font. The director's intended effect is completely lost. Rubbing salt in the wound, the 'Night Watch' Blu-ray includes a featurette (carried over from DVD) that discusses how those missing interactive subtitles were designed and created. Madonna Movies on Blu-ray Q: I was wondering if you had any info why not one Madonna movie has been released on Blu-ray? I know that some of her movies were not great, but as a fan, I think they would sell better than some of the stuff that is released on Blu-ray. 'Dick Tracy', 'A League of Their Own', 'Evita', 'Desperately Seeking Susan', and 'Truth or Dare' were all big money makers. I just don't get it, and don't get me started on releasing past concerts… A: It's funny, but I could have sworn that 'A League of Their Own' had been released on Blu-ray. However, I just checked and it seems that I was mistaken. Looking through her limited filmography as an actress, I can only find 'Die Another Day' currently available on Blu-ray. I don't believe that there's any coordinated conspiracy out there to keep Madonna off of Blu-ray (except maybe for 'Swept Away' – it's in everyone's best interest that that one get buried and never see the light of day again). What this mostly comes down to is that these movies are distributed by separate, unrelated studios: 'Dick Tracy' and 'Evita' are handled by Disney, 'A League of Their Own' is Sony, and 'Desperately Seeking Susan' is MGM. 'Truth or Dare' was last released on DVD by Live Entertainment, which was later swallowed up by Lionsgate. By whatever obscure reasoning that each of these studios uses to decide which catalog titles get released on Blu-ray and which don't, these specific titles have all thus far fallen through the cracks. I imagine that at least 'League' and 'Dick Tracy' will find their ways to Blu-ray eventually, probably sooner rather than later. The concert videos are likely a more complicated matter, unfortunately. The red tape legal nightmare of sorting out music rights has kept many highly-desired concert programs from being distributed on new media. Homework Assignment: You Be the Advisor You didn't think I'd leave you without a Homework assignment, did you? If you can help to answer the following question, please post your response in our forum thread linked at the end of this article. Your advice and opinions matter too! Scratches on LCD Screen Q: My dad was flying his remote controlled helicopter in the living room (terrible idea, right?) and crashed it into the TV. Now he's got a series of light but visible scratches all down his nice new LCD. Do you know of a safe way to get rid of these? Honestly, I think I'm more bothered about it than my parents are. Thank you for all your support these past two years. Know that the Advisor has not given up on you. Although the column will go on hiatus after today, it will return in the future to answer more of your home theater questions. Joshua Zyber's opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of this site, its owners or employees.Posted Fri Apr 1, 2011 at 11:00 AM PDT by: -
'Superman: The Motion Picture Anthology' Announced and Detailed for Blu-ray![teaser]It's a bird… It's a plane… No, it's a mega 8-disc Blu-ray set coming faster than a speeding bullet this June! [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Warner Brothers is readying 'Superman: The Motion Picture Anthology' for Blu-ray on June 7. This massive collection features 'Superman: The Movie,' 'Superman: The Movie - Extended Edition,' 'Superman II,' 'Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut,' 'Superman III,' 'Superman IV: The Quest for Peace,' and 'Superman Returns' -- all in 1080p video and with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtracks (except for 'Superman IV' which has DTS-HD Master Audio Stereo). As for supplements, 'Superman: The Movie' includes: Commentary by Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler (Original Theatrical Version); The Making of Superman: The Movie [1978 TV special]; Superman and the Mole-Men [1951 feature]; Warner Bros. Cartoons; and trailers. 'Superman: The Movie - Extended Edition' includes: Commentary by Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz (Extended Version); Taking Flight: The Development of Superman; Making Superman: Filming the Legend; The Magic Behind the Cape; Screen Tests; A Selection of Restored Scenes; Additional Music Cues; and Music Only Track. 'Superman II' includes: Commentary by Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler (Original Theatrical Version); The Making of Superman II (1980 TV special); Deleted Scene; First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series; Fleischer Studios' Superman; and Theatrical Trailer. 'Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut' includes: Commentary by Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz (Donner Cut); Introduction by Richard Donner; Superman II: Restoring the Vision; Deleted Scenes; and Famous Studios' Superman. 'Superman III' includes: Commentary by Iilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler; The Making of Superman III (1983 TV Special); Deleted Scenes; and Theatrical Trailer. 'Superman IV' includes: Commentary by Mark Rosenthal; Superman 50th Anniversary Special (1988 TV Special); Deleted Scenes; and Theatrical Trailer. 'Superman Returns' includes: Requiem for Krypton: Making Superman Returns Multipart Documentary; Resurrecting Jor-El; Deleted Scenes including the never-before-seen original opening to Superman Returns; Bryan Singer's Journals – Video production journals; and Trailers. The eighth bonus disc includes: Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman (Hi-Def); You Will Believe: The Cinematic Saga of Superman; The Science of Superman (Hi-Def); The Mythology of Superman; The Heart of a Hero: A Tribute to Christopher Reeve; and The Adventures of Superpup (1958 TV pilot). Suggested list price for this 8-disc set is $129.95. You can find the latest specs for 'Superman: The Motion Picture Anthology' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under June 7.Posted Fri Apr 1, 2011 at 10:00 AM PDT by: -
'Boondock Saints' Blu-ray Double Dip Announced[teaser]Troy Duffy's vengeful crime thriller is getting a double dip in June. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, 20th Century Fox says 'Boondock Saints: Truth & Justice Edition' starring Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, Billy Connolly, and Willem Dafoe will be released on Blu-ray on June 14. Experience the raw power and heart-pounding thrills of 'The Boondock Saints' like never before with this must-own Truth & Justice Edition. An all-new bonus feature takes you deeper into their gritty action-packed world than you ever thought possible. The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and audio commentaries with the Duff-Meister and Billy Connolly, deleted scenes, outtakes, trailer, and the brand-new Boondock Saints: The Film and the Phenomenon. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $29.99. You can find the latest specs for 'Boondock Saints: Truth & Justice Edition' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under June 14.Posted Fri Apr 1, 2011 at 08:00 AM PDT by:
