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HDD Deal of the Day: 'The Ultimate Matrix Collection' Blu-ray $25.49 at Amazon[teaser]Today's Gold Box special on Blu-ray enters the Matrix! [/teaser] Amazon is selling 'The Ultimate Matrix Collection' for just $25.49 (61% off suggested list price). The set includes 'The Matrix,' 'The Matrix Reloaded,' 'The Matrix Revolutions,' and 'The Animatrix.' Click here to take advantage of this exceptional, today-only offer!Posted Tue Nov 29, 2011 at 09:02 AM PST by: -
Audioengine Upgrades A5 Bookshelf Speakers to A5+[teaser]The company's flagship bookshelf speakers get an upgrade, adding more connections and features. [/teaser] Audioengine has spruced up their A5 bookshelf speakers by adding a bit more connectivity and some cool features like a remote for volume adjustment without having to walk all the way over to your speakers. Let's face it, whether you're partying, relaxing or romancing you don't want to have to take away from it just to adjust the sound. The Audioengine 5+ comes equipped with a 5" Kevlar woofers and a 0.75" silk dome tweeters, driven by a Class A/B monolithic amp. It's an active speaker, though you'll only have to plug the left one into an outlet. You'll also find plenty of connectors on the Audioengine 5+ including stereo RCA ins and outs and a 3.5mm headphone jack input. It also boasts a USB port so you can charge your MP3 player or Smartphone while listening to it. You can pick up the Audioengine 5+ now at a price of $399. The Audioengine 5 is still available at $299. Source: eCousticsPosted Tue Nov 29, 2011 at 09:00 AM PST by: -
'Top Gear: The Complete Season 17' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]The complete seventeenth season of the long-running BBC series will be racing to high-definition in February. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Warner Brothers/BBC has just revealed 'Top Gear: The Complete Season 17' for a Blu-ray release on February 28. The set includes episodes 1 through 6, the Middle East Special, USA Road Trip, and Middle East Road Trip. Specs and yet to be revealed, but supplements include: outtakes, extended and deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes featurette, and a studio tour. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $29.99. You can find the latest specs for 'Top Gear: The Complete 17' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under February 28.Posted Tue Nov 29, 2011 at 08:00 AM PST by: -
Black Friday Sales Reach an All Time Record[teaser]Electronics are up across the board, with Blu-ray players and Blu-ray discs accounting for a good chunk of business. [/teaser] Black Friday is always a big shopping day, but this year's post-Thanksgiving sale day was particularly good to the electronics industry if estimates are any indicator. According to the National Polling Data Group (NPD) over 226 million shoppers converged on stores, up significantly from the 212 million last year. The estimate for money spent by these consumers exceeds $52 billion. Of those that braved the lines and the cold, 40 percent bought electronics items - up from 37 percent last year. Those items include Blu-ray players and Blu-ray/DVD movies which were in the top three for home entertainment purchases. Cyber Monday looks like it was good for the industry too, with 123 million Americans making purchases. Last year's number was just 107 million. Source: Home Media MagazinePosted Tue Nov 29, 2011 at 07:00 AM PST by: -
'Beavis & Butt-Head: Volume 4' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]All twelve episodes of the brand-new season of Mike Judge's iconic animated series are coming to high-definition in February. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Paramount Home Entertainment and MTV have revealed 'Beavis & Butt-Head: Volume 4' will be released on Blu-ray on February 14. Beavis and Butt-Head, America's favorite culture critics, are back. They now have more than just music videos to make fun of: Reality TV, the Internet, and Ultimate Fighting will all be crossing their TV screen! Brought back by creator Mike Judge, Beavis and Butt-Head are dumber than ever! Specs and supplements have yet to be revealed, but suggested list price is $26.98. You can find the latest specs for 'Beavis & Butt-Head: Volume 4' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under February 14.Posted Tue Nov 29, 2011 at 06:00 AM PST by: -
HDD Study Hall: George Clooneyby Luke Hickman Actors who begin in television don't always make it big in film, but George Clooney has proven that if one has real talent and star power, the transition isn't impossible. If Clooney is the best example of this scenario, then, at the other end of the spectrum, rest David Caruso. Being the son of Nick Clooney and the nephew of Rosemary Clooney, George's involvement in the entertainment industry was almost guaranteed. He began with bit parts on television before landing a regular role on the sitcom 'E/R' which ran for one season between 1984 and 1985. Over the next ten years he would land reoccurring roles on 'The Facts of Life,' 'Roseanne,' and the series that would launch him into the big leagues, oddly enough, also titled 'ER.' Throughout his five full seasons as Dr. Doug Ross on 'ER,' he would simultaneously make the successful jump to the big screen. One truly impressive aspect of George Clooney's career is that he's not only become an Oscar-winning actor, but also an Oscar-nominated writer and director. In 2006, Clooney won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 'Syriana', as well as nominations for co-writing and directing 'Good Night, and Good Luck.' He earned Best Lead Actor nominations in 2008 for 'Michael Clayton' and in 2010 for 'Up in the Air.' Having given two solid performances this year in 'The Ides of March,' which he also co-wrote and directed, and in Alexander Payne's 'The Descendants,' it's almost guaranteed that he will receive at least one more nomination this year. [teaser]In this edition of the HDD Study Hall, we're going to look back at five of George Clooney's very best performances. Instead of sticking solely to roles that earned him critical praise, we'll also take a peek at the fan favorites.[/teaser] 'Three Kings' Prior to 'Three Kings,' I'd liked Clooney from his roles in 'ER,' 'From Dusk Til Dawn' and 'Out of Sight,' but I hadn't fallen in love with his acting abilities yet. 'Three Kings' was the film that made me a full-on George Clooney fan. Prior to leaving the U.S. for two years in late '99, knowing that I wouldn't get to see new movies for quite some time, I watched 'Three Kings' in theaters three times because I loved it so much. Written and directed by David O. Russell, 'Three Kings' is a wild and unique film – both on camera and off. This is the film where Clooney allegedly punched Russell in the face between takes. It begins as a comedy showing the lazy shenanigans of U.S. troops during the cease-fire after Desert Storm, turns into an intense drama, and ends as an action movie with a major moral at its core. In 'Three Kings, Clooney plays a disgruntled military leader who goes AWOL with three other military misfits (Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube and Spike Jonze) in an attempt to steal a load of Iraqi gold before being shipped home. Along the way, Wahlberg is taken by Iraqi soldiers and the other three meet-up with and fight along side a group of Iraqi civilians trying to obtain their freedom while trying to rescue Wahlberg. 'Three Kings' is well balanced. Some of the content is extremely heavy, so it's balanced with action and humor. In the end, it even has the balls to get very emotional. It's not common for a Hollywood film to slug you in the gut with a bold moral, but 'Three Kings' does it – and it does with entertaining grace. 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' There are two things that frequently come to mind when I think of 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' - the first, Dapper Dan pomade. Honestly, is there any other brand? The reccurring joke of Clooney's character searching for Dapper Dan is a classic Coen Brothers joke. The second is a line repeatedly uttered by Clooney when he and his company are backed into a corner. “Damn! We're in a tight spot!” Over 11 years after its release, I still quote this line whenever I'm parking my compact car between two big trucks. 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' is the Coen Brothers' "adaptation" of Homer's 'The Odyssey.' George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson play three escaped convicts on a trek to dig up a buried bank heist treasure on their way home. Of course, Homer's obstacles stand in their way – like a “cyclops,” tempting sirens, et cetera. Like almost all Coen Brothers movies, you either get the humor and love them or you don't. Personally, I find them hilarious, intelligent, and witty. Homer's 'The Odyssey' isn't exactly the best-paced and most entertaining story, but the Coen's took a classic piece of literature and turned it into an enjoyable film. The musical plot interwoven with the treasure-hunting journey is unexpected, the music itself being creative and original. 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' earned cinematography and adapted screenplay Oscar nominations, but proved to be a winner by taking home the Best Soundtrack award at the Grammys. 'Ocean's Eleven' Where most filmmakers wouldn't consider remaking a classic film, let alone one by the Rat Pack, Steven Soderbergh did - and it turned out to be even better than the original. It's a shame the two sequels were almost pure garbage. Even though 'Ocean's Twelve' and 'Thirteen' tarnished the franchise's name, they didn't damage it enough to the point of making 'Eleven' a miserable experience (unlike the 'Pirates' series). Much like his character in 'Three Kings,' in 'Ocean's Eleven' Clooney plays a ringleader who assembles a team for a heist. Their target – three major casinos on the Vegas strip. Although he says it has nothing do with revenge, his crew believes that he's targeting the owner (Andy Garcia) of these three casinos for stealing away his ex (Julia Roberts). What makes 'Ocean's Eleven' better than the original is it's genius script and original characters. Brad Pitt makes for a great sidekick – especially when he's eating in almost every scene. Casey Affleck and Scott Caan play two obnoxious Mormon brother constantly trying to annoy one another. Don Cheadle is the pack's explosives expert and Bernie Mac is the cherry on top. Combined with all of the other solid actors in leading, supporting and cameo roles, 'Ocean's Eleven' is jam-packed with great performances. What really works in 'Ocean's Eleven' is how the plan is never revealed to the audience prior to the heist. The first time you watch it, you're so entertained by the film that you never realize that the plan hasn't been detailed for you. As the heist comes about, you're just as clueless as to what's going on as is Garcia's character. 'Ocean's Eleven' is one of those rare films that you wish you could go back and watch again for the first time. 'Burn After Reading' Coming off the success of four-time Oscar winner 'No Country for Old Men,' most audiences expected so much more from the Coen Brothers' follow-up. But in reality, 'Burn After Reading' is exactly what it was advertised as – a wacky, unpredictable Coen Brothers comedy. 'Burn After Reading' is the ensemble story of several different people whose lives become intertwined in the most odd of ways. It's a farce about a handful of bad people, all idiots, who get make assumptions, act upon them and get what they deserve in the end – nothing good. John Malkovich plays the man who starts the ball rolling, an ex-CIA agent who decides to write his memoirs after being “let go.” A disc holding his memoirs mistakenly ends up in the hands of two gym workers (Francis McDormand and Brad Pitt) who believe the stories are government secrets and try selling it to the highest bidder. What Malkovich doesn't know is that his wife (Tilda Swinton) has been cheating on him with a dim-witted State Department Marshall (Clooney). When all the stories become connected, things get quirky and crazy. While Pitt receives a lot of praise for his role as a physically fit dummy, Clooney also deserves the same amount of love for his role. He plays a creepy, dirty, sexual deviant unlike anyone else – something we've never really seen him do before. The picturesque last look on his face is priceless, reminiscent of the films of the '40s and '50s. 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Most movie actors aren't capable of properly lending their voices to animation. See: 'Rio.' Better yet, don't see 'Rio.' It's awful. Just take my word on it. Not only is the movie itself flavorless, but the majority of the “stars” who lend the voices to the main characters are dreadful. No other actor could have phoned-in a more boring voice-over than Jesse Eisenberg as the lead blue macaw, Blu. If 'Rio' is a perfect example of how casting movie actors doesn't work, then 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' is brilliant example of how it can. George Clooney voices the titular character, Mr. Fox, in this Wes Anderson stop motion family flick. When Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep) became pregnant, she made Mr. Fox promise to stop stealing hens from the local farmers' coups. Several fox-years later, he's back at it and the three ruthless farmers will stop at nothing to kill Mr. Fox and his family. Based on the book by Roald Dahl, 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' is not only entertaining for children, but for adults as well. It's full of the elements that keep kids entertained: mild peril, kid characters who need to learn lessons, silly action, et cetera. The elements that will entertain the adults are the Wes Anderson-isms: the playful directing, the witty dialog, the use of music and moving pictures, and so on. Perhaps the most entertaining of the elements that compose 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' is that fact the Anderson wrote a kids' screenplay full of swearing and profanity, but changed every foul word to “cuss” in order to not have an R-rated family flick. “Don't cussing point at me!” “If you're gonna cuss with somebody, you're not gonna cuss with me, you little cuss!” And my personal favorite, “What a cluster cuss.”Posted Mon Nov 28, 2011 at 01:00 PM PST by: -
High-Def Digest-Digest : November 28, 2011by Dick Ward [teaser]It's been a big month so far in the world of everything high def. It's also been a big month for High-Def Digest as we've expanded our scope to include videogame coverage. There's a crazy amount of news coming out and it's nigh impossible to keep on top of it. That's why the High-Def Digest-Digest exists - to keep you up to date on must-read stories and the things you may have missed.[/teaser] Blu-ray News High-Def Digest Holiday Gift Guide 2011: The Best Blu-rays of the Year If you've somehow missed our holiday gift guides, it's about time you got around to them. Start here, with the best Blu-rays of 2011. 'Lady and the Tramp: Diamond Edition' Blu-ray Announced and Detailed Disney Blu-ray releases are always exciting, and this one is no different. 'Lady and the Tramp' comes out February 7th so you'll be able to enjoy some Valentine's Day viewing followed by a peek at special features like "Inside Walt's Story Meetings." 'Straw Dogs (2011)' Blu-ray Dated and Detailed The remake of Pekinpah's thriller starring James Mardsen and Kate Bosworth will be hitting shelves December 20th, just in time for a last minute Christmas gift. You'll get director commentary and a few other features at a list price of $35.99. Digital Playground Brings Porn to Blu-ray 3D 'Jailhouse Heat,' the first 3D Blu-ray from Digital Playground, is available now and includes trailers and a behind-the-scenes featurette. It's a comedy apparently, but we're guessing no one's going to buy it for the jokes. Gear and Industry News 'Arrested Development' is Coming Back in 2013 - Exclusive to Netflix Boy did Netflix win out on this one. The cult comedy 'Arrested Development' will have 10 new episodes in 2013, all of which are going straight to Netflix. Should be interesting to see what this does for Netflix and for the streaming industry. Class Action Lawsuit Against Walmart and Netflix Could Get You a Gift Card The amount hasn't been disclosed yet, but you can get a Walmart gift card if you subscribed to Netflix during a certain time period. You can also get cash if you're willing to put in the effort. Vizio's Passive 3D TVs are Available Now It will certainly be interesting to see how Vizio's passive tech does on the market. The sets are out just in time for the holidays and the amount sold will be telling in regards to the future of 3D. Boxee Live TV OTA Dongle Priced at $49, Coming in January If you've cut cable in favor of streaming and over-the-air programming, the Boxee Live TV dongle will let you combine the two. There's no DVR support yet, but not having to leave the Boxee Box to watch TV is a nice feature to have. Game News Xbox 360 Update December 6th Includes Cloud Save Storage No longer will you have to transfer all your saves to a USB stick when you head to a friend's house or worry about losing everything when you get a new Xbox. 1,600 Cheaters Banned from 'Modern Warfare 3' On the plus side, cheaters and hackers are gone. On the downside, now you'll have to accept that you lost because your opponent was better. PS3 Users Get a Free Copy of 'Saint's Row 2' with 'Saint's Row: The Third' If you're on the PS3 and you pick up 'Saint's Row: The Third' you can get yourself a copy of 'Saint's Row 2' absolutely free. You have until February 13th to redeem your code. The Simpsons Arcade Game May Finally Come to Consoles Why on earth was this never released on a home console before? Well because licensing is complicated. Still, it looks like 'The Simpsons Arcade Game' is finally on the way and that has us all very excited.Posted Mon Nov 28, 2011 at 12:10 PM PST by: -
'The Doors 'Mr. Mojo Risin' - The Story of L.A. Woman' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]Celebrate "The Year of The Doors" with a 40th anniversary Blu-ray coming in January. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Eagle Rock is prepping 'The Doors 'Mr. Mojo Risin' - The Story of L.A. Woman' for a Blu-ray release on January 24. "Mr. Mojo Risin': The Story of L.A. Woman" is told through new interviews with Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore as well as Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman, original manager Bill Siddons, engineer/co-producer Bruce Botnick and others. The high-definition video also features live and studio performances as well as rare archival photos. This fascinating documentary contains rare footage of The Doors in the studio and on stage. The documentary was made with the full involvement, approval and cooperation of The Doors. L.A. Woman marked The Doors' swan song, as Morrison would pass away a few months after its release. At the time, Rolling Stone's Robert Meltzer called it "The Doors' greatest album...A landmark worthy of dancing in the streets (5/27/71)." The first band to release eight consecutive platinum albums, The Doors were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007. Specs and supplements have yet to be revealed, but a full track listing can be viewed here. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $19.98. You can find the latest specs for 'The Doors 'Mr. Mojo Risin' - The Story of L.A. Woman' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under January 24.Posted Mon Nov 28, 2011 at 11:45 AM PST by: -
Energy Power Bar and Power Bar Elite Soundbars Pack Wireless Subs up to 10 Inches[teaser]The 30 inch version gets you an 8 inch sub while the 40 inch version packs a 10 inch subwoofer. [/teaser] Energy's new Power Bar and Power Bar Elite are different from most soundbars in that they utilize a true two-way speaker design. They utilize a .78 inch tweeter and two 3 inch bass drivers to provide sound and boast a 3D Surround mode to simulate a 5.1 home theater system. The Power Bar Elite measures in at 40 inches long, offers a 40Hz to 20kHz frequency response and a 10 inch side-firing subwoofer. The Power Bar - not elite - only goes down to 50Hz and comes with an 8 inch sub. The Power Bar is available on Amazon for $399 while the Power Bar Elite comes in at $599. Source: eCousticsPosted Mon Nov 28, 2011 at 11:00 AM PST by: -
'Killer Nun' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]Giulio Berruti's cult nunsploitation classic will be saying a prayer on Blu-ray in April. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Blue Underground will bring 'Killer Nun' to Blu-ray on April 24. Legendary Swedish sex bomb Anita Ekberg ('La Dolce Vita') stars as Sister Gertrude, a cruel nun who discovers depraved pleasure in a frenzy of drug addiction, sexual degradation and sadistic murder. Joe Dallesandro ('Andy Warhols Frankenstein'), Lou Castel ('A Bullet for the General'), Alida Valli ('Suspiria') and the luscious Paola Morra ('Behind Convent Walls') co-star in this notorious Nunsploitation sickie based on actual events that took place in a Central European country not many years ago! Specs and supplements have yet to be revealed, and suggested list price for the Blu-ray will likely be $34.98. You can find the latest specs for 'Killer Nun' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under April 24.Posted Mon Nov 28, 2011 at 10:00 AM PST by:
