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'Titanic: Blood and Steel' Announced and Detailed for Blu-ray[teaser]We all know how it ended... but how did it begin? The epic miniseries about the construction of the Titanic arrives on Blu-ray this December. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Lionsgate says 'Titanic: Blood and Steel' is coming to Blu-ray on December 4. A hundred years after the fateful maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic comes the thrilling adventure 'Titanic: Blood & Steel.' The 12-part television mini-series chronicles the story behind the construction of the "unsinkable" ship and stars Kevin Zegers (TV's "Gossip Girl"), Alessandra Mastronardi ('To Rome With Love'), Derek Jacobi ('The Kings Speech'), Neve Campbell (The 'Scream' Franchise), and with Chris Noth (TV's "The Good Wife"), 'Titanic: Blood & Steel' is directed by Ciarán Donnelly (Showtime's "The Tudors"). The 3-Disc Blu-ray set will feature 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements will include "The Visual Effects of Titanic: Blood & Steel" and "Making of Titanic: Blood & Steel." Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $29.97. You can find the latest specs for 'Titanic: Blood and Steel' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under December 4.Posted Mon Sep 24, 2012 at 10:00 AM PDT by: -
Vizio's 58-Inch 21:9 TV Comes to Costco and Sam's Club[teaser]The Cinemawide is finally coming to stores, which means customers finally get to look at it! [/teaser] Buying a TV sight unseen is a little scary anyway, but when it's as different as the Vizio Cinemawide, it's an even bigger leap. The 58-inch set with a 21:9 aspect ratio is definitely not for everyone, and even for those with a desire for the resolution, it's something that needs to be seen first. Thankfully, Vizio is finally putting their 58-inch Cinemawide set into stores. If you live near a Costco or a Sam's Club you can go check out the Cinemawide now. Of course, one of the big questions is the content that will be shown on the screen. Stores like this tend not to be the best at keeping their TVs looking nice, so we're hoping not to see a stretched out 16:9 image. Source: EngadgetPosted Mon Sep 24, 2012 at 09:00 AM PDT by: -
'Barricade' Dated for Blu-ray[teaser]Lock your doors when the direct-to-video horror hits Blu-ray this week. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, WWE Films will release 'Barricade' on Blu-ray on September 25. After the death of his wife, a father (Eric McCormack, TV's "Will and Grace") takes his two small children to a secluded cabin in the mountains to escape and seek solace. However, when a freak winter storm cuts off all communications to the outside world, horrific events begin to occur. Specs and supplements have yet to be revealed, but suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $29.95. You can find the latest specs for 'Barricade' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under September 25.Posted Mon Sep 24, 2012 at 08:00 AM PDT by: -
'Painted Skin: The Resurrection' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]The Chinese supernatural fantasy will possess Blu-ray this November. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Well Go USA has revealed 'Painted Skin: The Resurrection' for Blu-ray on November 13. According to the demon lore, it takes hundreds of years to attain human form. Even then, lacking a human heart, a demon cannot experience the true pains and passions of existence. However, there is a legend that if a pure human heart is freely offered to a demon, it can become a mortal and experience true life. Xiaowei, a fox spirit, has been imprisoned for centuries under a frozen lake for violating the laws of the demon world. Her sheer will to survive attracted the bird spirit Que’r, who broke through the ice and revived her. Xiaowei saw two choices: experience true death or become truly human. She regains her strength – and youth – by consuming the heart of a stranger, transforming herself into a beautiful seductress. Unknown to her, the stranger is the Prince of Tian Lang Kingdom… The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements include a making-of featurette and trailer. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $29.98. You can find the latest specs for 'Painted Skin: The Resurrection' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under November 13.Posted Mon Sep 24, 2012 at 06:00 AM PDT by: -
HDD Deal of the Week: 'X-Men: The Complete Collection' Blu-ray $44.99 at Amazon[teaser]Save big this week on five mutant-filled films on Blu-ray at Amazon![/teaser] Amazon is selling 'X-Men: The Complete Collection' for $44.99 (65% off the suggested retail price). This set includes 'X-Men,' 'X-Men United,' 'X-Men: The Last Stand,' 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine,' and 'X-Men First Class.' Click here to take advantage of this deal before it's too late! This offer is available from now through September 30.Posted Sun Sep 23, 2012 at 09:31 AM PDT by: -
HDD Spotlight Bargain: 'Bond 50' Blu-ray $149.99 at Amazon![teaser]The massive James Bond box set arriving next week is now fifty percent off at Amazon!![/teaser] The online retailer is now selling 'Bond 50' on Blu-ray for only $149.99 (50% off suggested retail price). This collection includes all 22 James Bond feature films from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace and more than 130 hours of bonus features including never-before-seen content from the Bond archives, and more. This box set also includes an open slot for forthcoming James Bond film 'Skyfall.' Click here to order yours while the deal is HOT!Posted Sat Sep 22, 2012 at 08:09 AM PDT by: -
Bonus View Digest - September 21, 2012[teaser]Forget about everything else that usually gets written in these opening paragraphs. There's only one thing I need to say: Today is your last day to enter for a chance to win the 'Indiana Jones Complete Adventures' set on Blu-ray. For free! What are you waiting for? Enter now![/teaser] Blu-ray News In case you didn't catch onto the urgency in the first paragraph, let me restate: Today is the very, very last day that you can put an entry in to win the 'Indiana Jones' Blu-ray collection. It's now or never. This is one of the biggest contests we've ever done here on the blog and we really want you to have a chance at winning. So do it. This week's newest Blu-rays were covered in Josh's Blu-ray Highlights post. Along with 'Indiana Jones' finally being released on Blu-ray this week saw the releases of anticipated day-and-date titles like 'The Cabin in the Woods,' and 'Modern Family: The Complete Third Season.' 'Bond 50' Admit it, you're a little sad that the 'Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection' has been postponed until next month. Until then we're covering another great collection of movies on The Bonus View, which is set to come out very soon. This week we've been running a few 'Bond 50'-related posts that you should definitely come and check out. Make sure to come and discuss the best and worst the 'Bond' franchise has to offer in our 'Bond 50' polls we've been running this week. Favorite Bond Girls Favorite Bond Villains Worst Bond Movies Favorite Bond Movies Theatrical News Luke saw a couple of this week's new releases (sadly 'Dredd 3D' wasn't screened for critics in his market). Instead Luke attended screenings of 'Trouble with the Curve' and 'The House at the End of the Street.' Check out his reviews to see if they're worth your time or not. Do you hate going to your local cinema because people in the audience are rude or won't put away their cell phones? Hopefully they implement the cinema ninja project that has gone over well in a London movie theater. TV Recaps Josh is still watching 'The Mob Doctor' and has started in on the new season of 'Glee.' Want to know how they're going? Check out his recaps of each episode. Special Features This week's Weekend Roundtable focused on TV shows or movies from our childhood that we've revisited and now we realize that they may not be as great as we thought they were. Have you had an encounter with the "suck fairy"? Let us know. That's it for this week. We've got a lot of stuff coming up in the next few weeks as a few big releases finally hit the format. Who knows, maybe even more giveaways. So stay tuned and have a great weekend.Posted Fri Sep 21, 2012 at 10:40 AM PDT by: -
High-Def Digest Tackles Football Moviesby Aaron Peck [teaser]We're only a couple weeks into the football season. In order to celebrate the return of the gridiron and possibly take our minds off of the atrocious replacement NFL officials, here's a rundown of some great (and not so great) football movies.[/teaser] Football is a spirited game of crashing bodies, underdog stories, and devastating concussions. In other words, it's one of the most cinematic sports out there. The action scenes of football players smashing into one another, flying end over end, and stretching for that winning touchdowns, almost write themselves. There's little wonder there are so many quality football movies out there. Lets tackle the best of the bunch, broken down into cleverly titles sub-categories... Hey, Are Those Tears On Your Facemask? 'The Blind Side' If you enjoyed Sandra Bullock's most over-the-top performance ever (yes, I'm counting the 'Miss Congeniality' movies), this is probably what you should be watching before the big game. Let's face it, the real reason you picked 'The Blind Side' is you wanted to watch a football-themed movie and this was the only way your wife was going to put up with that nonsense. 'We Are Marshall' The Marshall University football team is killed in a plane crash. I mean, how can you not get choked up about that storyline without knowing anything else about the movie? Let's forget for a second that McG directed this. What makes 'We Are Marshall' an entertaining movie is that it's a sports movie that doesn't end with winning the big game or attaining an unattainable championship. Here we see how football can bring together a community. 'Rudy' Is there a more iconic football film out there? Even people who know absolutely nothing about football remember the final scene in 'Rudy' where Sean Astin is hoisted upon his teammate's shoulders as the crowd chants his name. Everyone loves a long-shot underdog story and 'Rudy' is the premiere film in that category. 'Brian's Song' (1971) Get any of the roughest, toughest football fans out there. Round them up, and put them in a room. Make them watch 'Brian's Song' together. I guarantee when you open up the door they'll stream out of there blubbering like babies. It's about football and about overcoming discrimination. It's hard to remember that this was a made-for-TV movie. Every football-viewing man cave out there should be required to frame a picture of Billy Dee Williams clasping James Caan's hand in the hospital. It's an iconic scene which gets me all choked up just thinking about it. 'Remember the Titans' It's a little bit of everything. Some 'Blind Side,' a dash of 'Rudy,' a helping of 'Brian's Song' and a great Denzel-y performance from the one and only Denzel Washington. Washington almost single-handedly crushes racism in this movie. Football Funnies The gridiron isn't all emotional and sentimental. It's got a comic side too. Granted, not many of the football-related comedies are what you'd call "good," but they're out there so we have a duty to remind you about them. 'Leatherheads' At times I thought it was supposed to be 'O Brother, Where Art Thou' on the field and other times I wasn't sure what it was supposed to be. Sure, George Clooney is always fun to watch, but as the old-timey football story devolves into a love story featuring Renee Zellweger, it becomes a bit hdifficult to stay awake, much less excited. 'The Game Plan' I have a few words for The Rock. "You'll do just about anything as long as they let you use your eyebrow trick every 10 minutes, won't you? It doesn't matter if your gargantuan frame is crammed into a tutu as you prance around on stage making adolescents laugh. You're simply game for anything a terrible Disney comedy can throw at you." This makes me realize that I want a football-centric movie starring The Rock as the meanest, nastiest linebacker to ever play the game. Isn't that a great idea for a movie. Maybe whenever we get a Ray Lewis biopic The Rock can take up the role. 'The Replacements' This storyline strikes close to home since the beginning of the 2012 NFL season started out with replacement referees while the real referees are on strike. In 'The Replacement' the players get replaced by scabs, one of which is Keanu Reeves doing his best Keanu Reeves impression. 'Waterboy' Remember when Adam Sandler made somewhat funny movies? I'm not saying that 'Waterboy' is one of the best comedies out there (I've addressed this one before), but at least it had some memorable lines. Sandler movies nowadays consist of 90 minutes of eye torture. Fourth Quarter, Time to Get Serious 'Any Given Sunday' Oliver Stone's star-studded football drama is a divisive movie. People can be divided into two groups: the group that likes to watch Al Pacino spit on football players as he yells at them, and the group that doesn't like to watch Al Pacino spit on football players as he yells at them. Personally, I'm in the first group. Stone's film tries to compact every single football team storyline into one hyper-realistic football-themed movie. It's great. 'The Express' Early football and civil rights struggles go together perfectly as can be seen in 'The Express' starring Rob Brown as fabled football player Ernie Davis who was on his way to football stardom after a great season at Syracuse, only to be derailed by leukemia. 'Invincible' The quintessential underdog story. Vince Papale (Mark Wahlberg) was the unlikeliest of heroes, which is exactly how we like our heroes in sports stories. When Vince hears about open tryouts for the Philadelphia Eagles he actually tries out even though he's a 30-year-old substitute teacher. The rest is some riveting football drama. Fantasy Football This is how I got interested in the NFL in the first place. I'd followed it when I was a kid, but it wasn't until I joined a fantasy football league with some fellow High-Def Digest readers that I got interested in pro football again. That's why, if you're looking for a great fantasy football Blu-ray then you need to get this: 'The League' They're about to air season four of this hilariously raunchy FX comedy. It focuses on a group of mean-spirited man-babies who will do anything to win their fantasy football league and own bragging rights until the next season. It's not a movie, but it's a great show for football fans. What are some of your favorite, or not-so-favorite football movies? Keep in mind this isn't a top ten list or anything. We've just amassed a list of movies you may want to check out as the football season finds its footing. Let us know your suggestions by clicking on the link to the forum below.Posted Fri Sep 21, 2012 at 10:35 AM PDT by: -
HDD Cool Stuff: 'Men in Black Trilogy Limited Edition Giftset with Worm Figurine' Blu-ray Announced[teaser]All three films in the hit franchise will be packaged together in a collector's boxed set this November! [/teaser] In any early announcement to retailers, Sony has revealed 'Men in Black Trilogy Limited Edition Giftset with Worm Figurine' will be released on November 30. The release will include 'Men in Black,' 'Men in Black II,' and 'Men in Black III' as well as a collectible worm alien drinking coffee figurine. The discs are expected to be the same as the individual counterpart releases. Suggested retail price for this box set is $95.99. You can find the latest specs for 'Men in Black Trilogy Limited Edition Giftset with Worm Figurine' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under November 30.Posted Fri Sep 21, 2012 at 10:00 AM PDT by: -
'Wake in Fright' Found and Restored[teaser]After 40 years, Ted Kotcheff's long lost Australian thriller has been found and painstakingly restored for a theatrical re-release. [/teaser] “iWake In Fright' is a deeply – and I mean deeply – unsettling and disturbing movie. I saw it when it premiered at Cannes in 1971, and it left me speechless. Visually, dramatically, atmospherically and psychologically, its beautifully calibrated and it gets under your skin one encounter at a time, right along with the protagonist played by Gary Bond. I’m excited that Wake In Fright has been preserved and restored and that it is finally getting the exposure it deserves.”–Martin Scorsese, 2012 “Powerful, Genuinely Shocking & Rather Amazing!”-Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times “The Best & Most Terrifying Film About Australia In Existence.”-Nick Cave Alongside 'Mad Max' and 'Walkabout,' 'Wake In Fright' is widely acknowledged as one of the seminal films in the development of modern Australian cinema. Combining the backwoods horror of 'Deliverance' and the gritty nihilism of 'Straw Dogs,' the film tells the story of a British schoolteacher's (Gary Bond) descent into personal demoralization at the hands of drunken, deranged derelicts (including a very inebriated "doctor" played by Donald Pleasence), while stranded in a small town in outback Australia. The film made its world premiere at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival where it was nominated for a Palme D'Or and its US distribution rights were sold. Retitled 'Outback' and hurried into a few theaters across the country, the film barely played for more than a week before it was yanked from circulation due to poor attendance and lack of advertising. 'Wake In Fright' vanished into obscurity, barely reviewed by American critics and never appearing on domestic VHS or DVD. For over three decades the film materials were thought to be lost until the film's persistent cinematographer unearthed the original negative elements in Philadelphia in canisters marked for destruction just one week away from its impending incineration. The materials were painstakingly restored frame-by-frame at Sydney's At Lab Deluxe with the support of the National Film And Sound Archive of Australia. The new restoration was invited back to Cannes by guest curator Martin Scorsese, where it held the honor of being one of two films to ever screen twice at the festival (the other being Antonioni's L'Avventura). Virtually unseen in the US and renowned in its home country after years of neglect for its daring criticism, 'Wake In Fright' is ripe for rediscovery, and returns after 40 years to reclaim its title as one of the most awe-inspiring, brutal and stunning films of all time. 'Wake in Fright' is the story of John Grant (Gary Bond), a bonded teacher who arrives in the rough Australian outback mining town of Bundanyabba, planning to stay overnight before catching the plane to Sydney. But, as his one night stretches to five, he plunges headlong toward his own destruction. When the alcohol-induced mist lifts, the educated John Grant is no more. Instead there is a self-loathing man in a desolate wasteland, dirty, red-eyed, sitting against a tree and looking at a rifle with one bullet left. Theatrical Release Date: New York, October 5, 2012 at Film Forum; Los Angeles, October 19, 2012 Landmark NuArt Theatre; Nationally Oct/Nov 2012.Posted Fri Sep 21, 2012 at 08:00 AM PDT by:
