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Today a few more titles were announced, including some BD re-releases previously pulled out during the HD-DVD war. Paramount had stopped shipping them when they sided with HD-DVD but now they are back. Bellow are all known Paramount releases:

May 20th:

• Aeon Flux
• Babel
• Bee Movie
• Black Snake Moan
• Blades of Glory
• Coming to America
• Disturbia
• Dreamgirls
• Face Off: Special Collector’s Edition
• Four Brothers
• The Italian Job
• Next
• Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
• Sleepy Hollow
• Trading Places
• The Untouchables: Special Collector’s Edition
• The Warriors: Ultimate Director’s Cut
• U2: Rattle and Hum
• We Were Soldiers
• World Trade Center

June 3rd:

• Cloverfield
• There Will be Blood

June 24th:

• The Spiderwick Chronicles

Popularity: 3% [?]

According to a research done by ABI Research, the Blu-ray format market is going through a slow period at the moment. These sad news are mainly due to two reasons: the declining U.S. economy and lack of Blu-ray players with the newest BD technology.

Currently, there are very few stand-alone Blu-ray players available with the latest interactivity technology as Web-enabled BD Live and picture-in-picture functionality (BonusView), which makes many consumers wait for more options with complete features.“BD player prices remain high, and supplies are limited,” says ABI Research principal analyst Steve Wilson. ”This is good for the market because most current players do not support all the functions that studios place on the discs. Lacking support for – or upgradability to – BD Live! or Bonus View (picture in picture), consumers cannot utilize all the available options. Manufacturers would rather sell more fully-featured models.” This will happen in about 12 to 18 months, when the market has more Blu-ray supply.

ABI states, in my opinion correctly so, that Blu-ray is at this point too dependent on Sony’s Playstation3. Approximately 85% of the BD players in the field are Playstations and they estimate this lead to continue until 2013, when stand alone Blu-ray players will be in more homes than DVD player and PS3s. The slower economy is definitely not helping particularly with players costing more than $300. To ABI less than $200 seems to be the price point players need to reach in order to win over standard definition (DVD) players.

At this moment there is not much we can do besides sit and wait the wave pass…

Popularity: 2% [?]

The Golden Compass film is based on a trilogy novel by Philip Pullman and is directed by Chris Weitz. The leading act is the smart and intelligent looking Dakota Blue Richards who plays 12 year old Lyra, an orphan. In the movie are also Nicole Kidman, Eva green, and Daniel Craig who also do a good job. There has been a lot of talk on whether Philip Pullman’s books promote child atheism or an anti-Catholic sentiment and it seems like the movie was tone down quite a bit. This movie was merely an introductory adventure, meant to immerse viewers in Pullman’s richly complicated fantasy universe. Unfortunately the film was so condensed that it became incoherent to people who did not read the book, which is the great majority.

The story concerns Lyra, an orphan living in a fantastical parallel universe in which a dogmatic theocracy called the Magisterium threatens to dominate the world. When Lyra’s friend is kidnapped, she travels to the far North in an attempt to rescue him and rejoin her uncle.

Even though the blu-ray version has more features than the DVD, we feel it lacked on special features. With such a rich fantasy universe behind it the studio could have done a much better job bringing more information about the story since the movie itself left too much out! Disc one of this two-disc BD set has two main bonus items: a regular audio commentary with director Chris Weitz and a “visually enhanced commentary.” The “enhanced” version puts little picture inserts into the proceedings, picture-in-picture, to spice up presentation and provide more visual information about the filmmaking. Things on disc one conclude with twenty scene selections.

Disc two contains the bulk of the extras, divided into two main sections. A succession of documentaries makes up the first section. These start with “The Novel: Author Philip Pullman and the Consequences of Curiosity,” nineteen minutes with the writer and other filmmakers. Next is “The Adaptation of Writer-Director Chris Weitz,” sixteen minutes on the getting the script right, followed by “Finding Lyra Belacqua: Introducing Dakota Blue Richards,” fifteen minutes on the casting of the young star. Not all content is in HD!

Check out the movie trailer here or purchase it from Amazon here!

Specs

• 2-Disc Set BD

Video

• 1080p/VC-1

Aspect Ratio(s)

• 16×9 widescreen - 2.35:1

Audio

• English DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 7.1 Surround
• English DTS 2.0 Stereo (Supplements only)
• English SDH
• Spanish Subtitles

Supplements

• Theatrical Trailers
• Disc One:
  • Feature film
  • Visually enhanced commentary by director Chris Weitz
• Disc Two:
  • Documentaries:
  • “The Novel”
  • “The Adaptation”
  • “Finding Lyra Belacqua”
  • “Daemons”
  • “The Alethiometer”
  • “Production Design”
  • “Costumes”
  • “Oxford”
  • “Armoured Bears”
  • “Music”
  • “The Launch”
  • Poster gallery
  • Theatrical and teaser trailers
  • Galleries
  • Slipcover
  • Insert of collectible memorabilia

Popularity: 12% [?]

As one of the dead HD-DVD’s supporters, Paramount threw in the towel right after Toshiba, saying it would release its movies in blu-ray. The thing was, they never detailed when or which titles until today. A press release came out with more info on releases and dates. On the press release, they mention Bee Movie, a Special Collector’s Edition of Face Off and Next starting May 20th, Cloverfield and There Will be Blood on June 3rd, and The Spiderwick Chronicles on June 24th. Specs on the titles were not revealed yet.

“Paramount Home Entertainment continues to focus on the consumer and to explore avenues that allow fans to get more out of their home entertainment experience,” said Kelley Avery, President of Worldwide Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures. “We will have a strong slate of titles for Blu-ray release throughout the year worldwide and are enthusiastic about expanding the format’s offerings for a broad consumer audience while delivering an experience that goes beyond what viewers love about DVD.”

Unfortunately, no news on Transformers coming to blu-ray which quite a few people are anxiously expecting…. but as soon as we hear more we’ll post it! So far only for HD-DVD

Read the full story

Popularity: 8% [?]

Being one the official sponsors of the Beijing Olympics, taking place in August, Panasonic will start a nation wide tour entitled “Get Your Family Ready for the First HD Olympics” to promote its Blu-ray players and Viera HDTV line. The tour will have a fleet of trucks that will visit several retailers across the U.S. They will be giving out limited edition Panasonic Olympic Games pins, having small competitions with Panasonic prizes, bringing Olympic medalists to sign autographs to consumers, and of course showing off their products . They have more information on their website about the tour including tour dates and cities, promotion, sweepstakes, etc. .

It looks like it will be a fun thing to go to with the family and to top it off win some prizes! I could definitely use a new blu-ray player in my room! Panasonic seems to be excited as well:“The world’s athletes are getting ready to come together and compete at the Olympic Games this summer, and Panasonic is helping families get ready to come together and watch them,” said Christine Amirian, VP of consumer marketing group at Panasonic Consumer Electronics. “We are proud to be helping deliver the first ever Olympic Games to be shot and broadcast entirely in [high-def] to consumers in the United States and around the world.”

This will be the first Olympics entirely broadcasted in HD but Panasonic’s eighth time sponsoring the Games.

Popularity: 4% [?]

No Country for Old Men tells the story of a drug deal gone bad and the ensuing cat-and-mouse drama, as three men crisscross each other’s paths in the desert landscape of 1980 West Texas.

Popularity: 2% [?]

A lot of people have been wondering whether or not purchasing a blu-ray player is a good investment; specially now ,with a shaky economy a blu-ray player becomes a luxury item instead of a necessity. To surpass this hurdle studios and retailers will have to play very smart. It is obvious that that aren’t on the same page when it comes to pricing of players and movies. You can find prices all over the place, with little pattern. Different companies are using very different strategies…According to an article on videobusiness.com in which Don Rood, director of business development at wholesaler VPD, commented: “I don’t think studios have found the right price that works best yet on Blu-ray,” said Mr. Rood, “But I don’t think they will until the demand is there for the format. More consumers will need to adopt before studios can see what really is working. We just don’t want to see a race to the bottom.” You can see his point by comparing releases from different studios:

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment marked Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story at $43.95, $14 more than its standard two-disc special edition, while 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment listed Juno at $39.98, just $5 more than its high-end standard DVD. On standard DVD, new release pricing is more predictable—generally $28.99 to $29.99 for single-disc configurations and roughly $5 more for special editions.

Completely different strategy from Warner Home Video which tagged I Am Legend at $35.99, just $1 more than the special edition DVD, and Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment’s Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds 3D Concert, is $34.99 on standard DVD and $35.99 on Blu-ray. Lionsgate’s third season of Weeds is $39.98 standard, $39.97 Blu-ray; and its first season of Mad Men is $49.98 standard, $49.99 Blu-ray.

Does it make sense? Maybe…for them!

On the current economic situation, is it worth it to spend your valued, hard-worked dollars on entertainment?? This is definitely a personal decision which depends on which individual’s monetary situation. For me the answer is: Yes but, when asked, I guarantee that every person will have a different position. Well, we know that opinion is like an ass. Every one has their own…

What I am sure of is that the Blu-ray format will eventually conquer the market and one day DVD players will join other past players in museums.

Popularity: 2% [?]

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Yes, the Blu-ray doesn’t come until June but you can preorder it here!

Popularity: 6% [?]

Warner has announced the specs on the upcoming blu-ray 10,000 B.C. This is a relatively new movie that was just recently on theaters but Warner has already set its release date on blu-ray for June 24th, 2008. The blu-ray version will include two exclusive extras: “A Wild and Wooly Ride” and “Inspiring an Epic”. From director Roland Emmerich, who worked on “Independence Day,” “The Day After Tomorrow”, comes a sweeping odyssey into a mythical age of prophesies and gods, when spirits rule the land and mighty mammoths shake the earth.

Synopsis

In a remote mountain tribe, the young hunter D’Leh (Steven Strait) has found his heart’s passion – the beautiful Evolet (Camilla Belle). But when a band of mysterious warlords raid his village and kidnap Evolet, D’Leh leads a small group of hunters to pursue the warlords to the end of the world to save her. As they venture into unknown lands for the first time, the group discovers there are civilizations beyond their own and that mankind’s reach is far greater than they ever knew. At each encounter the group is joined by other tribes who have been attacked by the slave raiders, turning D’Leh’s once-small band into an army. Driven by destiny, the unlikely warriors must battle prehistoric predators while braving the harshest elements. At their heroic journey’s end, they uncover a lost civilization and learn their ultimate fate lies in an empire beyond imagination, where great pyramids reach into the skies……

Watch the trailer here!

With several historical inaccuracies such as: Eighteen foot long sabre tooth tigers and mastodons did not exist in Mesopotamia and northeast Africa at the time depicted; Horses did not become domesticated by man until about 4000 years after the setting of this movie; And Chilli Peppers did not leave the Americas until Portuguese sailors brought them to Europe on the 17th century. But all this is fine as the real objective of the movie is not relate facts but entertain its viewers. That, the movie certainly does!

Specs

Video Resolution/Codec

• 1080p/VC-1

Audio Formats

• English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround
• French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround

Subtitles/Captions

• English SDH
• French Subtitles
• Spanish Subtitles

Supplements

• Deleted Scenes
• Theatrical Trailer

Exclusive HD Content

• Featurettes

Popularity: 18% [?]

In a parallel universe, young Lyra Belacqua journeys to the far North to save her best friend and other kidnapped children from terrible experiments by a mysterious organization.

Get “The Golden Compass” here.

Popularity: 3% [?]