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'One Day' Blu-ray Detailed[teaser]The 2011 romance coming to Blu-ray in November has now been fully detailed. [/teaser] As previously reported, Universal Studios says 'One Day' will have a Blu-ray release on November 29. The film spans twenty years following the lives and relationship of two people (stars Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess) on the same day each year and is based on the 2009 David Nicholls' novel. The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements will include: Audio Commentary with Director Lone Scherfig; Em and Dex Through the Years; Anne Hatheway: Bringing Emma to Life; The Look of One Day: Making a 20-Year Love Story, Creating Emma with Anne and Dexter's Transformation; and Deleted Scenes. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $34.98. You can find the latest specs for 'One Day' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under November 29.Posted Mon Oct 3, 2011 at 06:00 AM PDT by: -
HDD Deal of the Week: 'Being Human: Seasons 1-3' 55 Percent Off at Amazon[teaser]All three seasons of the supernatural BBC series are over 50 percent off this week at Amazon! [/teaser] Amazon is selling 'Being Human: Season One' for $17.99 as well as 'Being Human: Season Two' and 'Being Human: Season Three' for $26.99 each (55% off the suggested retail price). The TV series about a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost stars Russell Tovey, Lenora Crichlow, Aidan Turner, Jason Watkins, and Dylan Brown. Click here to order any or all three seasons for this great price! This offer is available from now through October 8.Posted Sun Oct 2, 2011 at 08:40 AM PDT by: -
Bonus View Digest - September 30, 2011[teaser]This has been one of our busiest weeks at The Bonus View. With the new TV shows premiering these last few weeks we've been hard at work trying to recap as many new series for you as possible. That's not all we've been up to though. We've covered a variety of different subjects this week. Take a look.[/teaser] Home Theater News This week E let us in on the way he has found to store his growing Blu-ray collection. Running out of shelf space, then you may want to read how he has consolidated his collection. Feeling like streaming a movie at home this weekend? Check out what's new on Netflix and Vudu. Theatrical News Along with the Weekend Box Office report Luke Hickman also saw 'Moneyball' which he raved about in his review. Baseball statistics not your thing? Then check out Luke's other review for the new Joseph Gordon-Levitt film '50/50.' Even though Josh is home from the Toronto Film Festival, we've still posted a few more of his reviews. Check out his review for 'Jeff Lives at Home' starring Jason Segel, directed by the Duplass Brothers. Another review from the festival that you may want to read is 'I Am a Good Person/I Am a Bad Person.' E takes on the latest trailers in this week's edition of the Trailer Park, while Aaron takes a look at the new movie posters being hung on cinema walls everywhere in this week's Posterizing. Video Game News Dick gives us a list of brand new video game releases we should be excited for. While Wayne recounts his initial impressions of the big video game release of the past couple weeks, 'Gears of War 3.' TV Recaps This week has been extremely busy on the TV front. In order to give you the best, most thorough coverage of all the new premieres and returning shows, I'm going to point you toward the TV-centric Bonus View posts we have up. Please check out Part 1 and Part 2. Special Features This week on One From the Vault Wayne watched ' Marathon Man,' see what he thought about this 70s thriller. Our Weekend Roundtable gave us an opportunity to talk about shows that started of rocky, but became very good in later seasons. The Mid-Week Poll asked which new TV comedies you'd be watching this fall. Right now 'New Girl' is in the lead, but just barely. Thanks for joining us once again on The Bonus View. Have a great weekend.Posted Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 01:30 PM PDT by: -
Bonus View Digest - TV Coverage Part 2[teaser]Wondering what you should be watching on TV? Well, with the new fall season directly upon us we've been covering almost every new pilot and returning show that we possibly can.[/teaser] Since we discussed our TV coverage on The Bonus View at the beginning of the week, we've posted a lot more recaps for you. Josh covered the pilot episode of 'Pan Am,' admitting that he was surprised that it "wasn't awful." Another huge premiere for the week was the big-budget sci-fi show from Steven Spielberg called 'Terra Nova.' Yes it has dinosaurs, but is it worth your time? You may be surprised to find out what Josh thought about it. Even though we only recapped 'New Girl,' Aaron spent all of last week brushing up on every sitcom that premiered. Check out his Sitcom Scorecard to see how each of the new TV comedies faired, and which ones should be canceled straightaway (We're looking at you, 'Whitney' and '2 Broke Girls'). As more comedies premiere in the coming weeks, Aaron will add them to the scorecard so everyone can get a good overview of the new shows on this fall. This week wasn't all about new shows. A bunch of returning shows were recapped too. We have new recaps for 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia,' 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' 'Project Runway,' 'Alphas,' 'Wilfred,' and 'Haven.' Finally, this week's Mid-Week Poll was TV related. We asked what new comedies are you planning on watching. 'New Girl' has taken an early lead. What new shows are you interested in? We'll continue to roll out the in-depth TV coverage as more and more TV favorites premiere. In the coming weeks we have shows like 'Dexter' and 'The Walking Dead' to look forward to. Please join us while we discuss some of your favorite shows with likeminded people.Posted Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 01:10 PM PDT by: -
HDD's Exclusive Interview with Paramount's VP of Preservation & Restoration Ron Smithby Luke Hickman With the 50th Anniversary Edition of 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' now available on Blu-ray, Paramount's Vice President of Preservation & Restoration Ron Smith talked to High-Def Digest about the his job and the studio's process of bringing older films to high-def. [teaser]Smith explains what goes into the process, how faulty transfers may arise, how integral the filmmakers are in the process, and the status of 'Indiana Jones.' Enjoy![/teaser] HDD – Luke Hickman: Hi, Ron! Thanks for taking time out of your busy day for High-Def Digest. How are you today? Ron Smith: I'm well. … It's my pleasure. HDD: If you don't mind, we'll just jump right into this. What is the process Paramount goes through in choosing which titles get transferred? Ron Smith: I'm actually celebrating my 19th anniversary here, so I've worked on most of these [titles] before, so I know which ones need the most help and are in the most dire shape. There's that, plus you've got to figure popularity has something to do with it. You have to - especially in restoration – try to recoup some of the cost that we spend. I know that eventually all of these things pay off because there's nothing better than protecting your assets, but this is show business and we are in the business of making money. You try to take your most popular [films] and make sure that everything is as good as can be on it. We didn't make a high definition master of 'The Godfather' until we did the restoration. It just wasn't worth spending the money. As much as people tried to fight with me about it, I just didn't believe in it. I suppose they could have made me do it, but I suggested we didn't do it – let's put it that way. And I was the same way with 'The Ten Commandments.' I said, “Until we can do this correctly and really make the film as good as it can be using the latest tools, then it's not worth doing.” HDD: Good! And we thank you for that. (laughs) Ron Smith: (laughs) Hey, somebody's got to do it. I may not be the most popular person, but I do have to sleep at night and look at myself in the mirror every morning. HDD: Can you talk about how much money goes into the restoration process from A to Z? Ron Smith: Not really. The costs have actually come down because the more you do the more you can promise people, which is a lot better than a one-off project. [The cost] comes down because we get better at it. … As part of the process, you get more efficient at what you're doing. There's not as much guess work. Once you do a couple, especially in the same place or with the same people, you develop a certain shorthand and they know what you want to see. It's not a struggle anymore. I've been very fortunate to work with really really talented people on both picture and sound that just know what I want and how to get there. It's that initial sort of struggle having the same vision that takes a lot of time. But once you've established that, you can really provide some efficiencies, which translates to it costs less. HDD: Some of the early Paramount titles to make it to Blu-ray feature standard audio. Is there any plan to go back and redo it with loseless? Would it even be worth it? Ron Smith: I don't think it makes that much of a difference. I haven't thought of that. … I've been in the DVD business from pretty much the start until Blu-ray. After that I went into the catalog remastering – I've always been into that since I started here – particularly into the restoration. I didn't really think of that, so when somebody mentioned the lossless [for 'African Queen'], I thought, 'Oh, yeah. I guess they could have done that.' I suppose I could have pushed for that, but I didn't even think to ask the Blu-ray people about that. Honestly, it's mono. I mean, really? You wouldn't believe what we start with – a 60-year-old picture. It's a miracle that you can get it to sound smooth and not distracted. I was actually talking with the guy who did 'African Queen' … and he was like, “Yeah, you just don't want it to get in the way. You just want to enjoy the film and not be distracted by nasty audio – but to get it to that point using an optical 60-year-old track negative is a real effort.” I'm a little more a fan of the loseless with all the 5.1s we spend so much time on. HDD: What happened to the Sapphire Series? 'Braveheart,' 'Gladiator,' 'American Beauty' and 'Forrest Gump' were all really good. Ron Smith: That would be a Paramount Home Entertainment question. That's a marketing issue. 'Braveheart' I know a little bit about because we spent a little time on that. We actually scanned the negative and brought the original director of photography, John Toll, to supervise that. We went back to the original tracks to do an original 5.1. That was really a work of – uh – let's say it took a lot of time (laughs). John was actually in Hawaii shooting 'Tropic Thunder,' so when he came back he said, “Let me take a look at it.” We went through it pretty well and spent a few days making it look as good as we possibly can. He's just wonderful to work with. I've been really fortunate to work with some great filmmakers and some great artists who do the color correction and sound mixing. These are the best people in the world. HDD: From beginning to end, how long does the whole process take? Ron Smith: The hard part is really mapping out what you're going to do and how you're going to do it, making sure that once you put up a negative you've got all your protections in place – photochemical and otherwise. The inspection and clean, all that kind of stuff, it takes we figure about six to eight months on a project like this. Something like 'Ten Commandments' or Godfather' is twice as long [running time-wise], so you've got to figure it's going to take twice as long – not that they give us twice as long to work on it, but again that's neither here nor there. I'll take whatever time they give me to make it work and I'm happy to get it. That doesn't mean I give it to them when they're ready – they pretty much get it when I'm ready to give it to them. “You didn't give me any time, so now I'm cutting into yours!” HDD: (laughs) It's great to have that power, isn't it? Ron Smith: (laughs) Well, yeah! HDD: Do you usually include a lot of the filmmakers in the process? Ron Smith: Whenever we can, yeah. People make the time for this. I can't tell you how great it is to work with the original talent. We did 'Three Days of the Condor' a couple of years ago – we actually went over to screen 'The Godfather' and they invited people in the AFC. The guy who shot 'Three Days of the Condor' was there and I said, “Hey, I redoing this movie, do you want to stop in?” And he was like, “Yeah, sure! I'd love to. Give me a call.” They really do make themselves available. I have to tell you, they have such fascinating stories about the film and they have a perspective and knowledge that I could never have, the colorist could never have. This is where commentaries came from. We would sit in rooms with these people. Once they started talking, their stories were fascinating. It's like, “Damn. I wish I had recorded that.” Well, there you go! That's how it started. HDD: Personally, how do you feel about the backlash that buyers have? Let's use 'Gladiator' as the example. There were a lot of complaints about the transfer of 'Gladiator.' Ron Smith: You never like that. We certainly don't like backlash. It's funny because Blu-ray started like HD DVD started and we always want to remaster everything, to start new and start fresh. But studios have their own agenda – they're trying to get as many titles out for a launch of a format. To remaster the best films in your library and say you're going to launch with 25 titles - which is what I think we did – that takes a long time. You're talking about making new film, re-scanning it and re-color correcting it, bringing in talent. We have relationships with the people who made these films and we want to bring them in, but you cannot make a schedule around the people who made the top 25 movies in our library. … It's all about their availability and once you pick up the phone, [you can't] just blow it off. You do the best you can. A lot of people went back and tried quick fixes to their masters, thinking that was the thing to do at the time, and – it's not like they're wrong – but being a new format, one of the problems was the compression at the time. It was sort of primitive. It developed as it went along. It was the same problem with standard def DVD. The first couple years, compression was a really big problem. They encouraged you to limit your grain and if you didn't do it, they would - I hate to say that. The same tools that are in a telecine room, a mastering room, are also in a compression and authoring facility, so if they got something that was a little, what they considered, too grainy, they would just run it through their grain management system. So it's not what everybody thinks it is. There's are so many different layers and different approaches and reason for why things were done a certain way. HDD: I asked the High-Def Digest staff, “Are there any questions you want me to ask Ron Smith?” The most common one was “When is 'Indiana Jones' going Blu? Ron Smith: (laughs) HDD: I'm sure you get that question more often than any other. Ron Smith: Well, we've actually been working on 'Raiders,' but we're working more on the negative to make theatrical prints for a digital cinema presentation. We are still working on the audio and any discussion of Blu-ray or not Blu-ray includes the other two films – all three films, I guess. Just because we're working on the picture 'Raiders,' it doesn't really mean anything – but we are working on it and we're thrilled about how it's turning out. The Blu-ray will happen whenever the Blu-ray happens, and that's up to Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Lucas and all the people at Paramount that know when the best time is, how to package it and all that stuff. Thankfully, I don't have to deal with that part of it. HDD: You talk about working on these theatrical prints. Is there a re-release in the works for theaters? Ron Smith: No. We're trying to make it available for repertoire and preservation. You know, it is its 30 year anniversary, so we had a screening at the Academy a couple months ago. It's very cool. It's a great movie that totally deserves our attention. HDD: Are there any other titles that you're working on that you can talk about now? Ron Smith: I'm told no, although I'm not sure why. 'Wings' – our entire department is working on that right now. … There's a lot of things that relate to that. When the times comes to discuss that, you'll get a lot of information, but it's a fascinating story of how this all came together and I think you will all be blow away by the presentation. It's astounding. HDD: Our time is up and I thank you for taking time to speak with us today. Ron Smith: It's my pleasure. Thanks for your interest and keep up the good work.Posted Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 12:15 PM PDT by: -
Save $5 on 'Beauty and the Beast - 3D' and 'The Lion King - 3D' Blu-rays[teaser]Disney has a pair of coupons floating around for the upcoming 3D combo packs of the animated classics! [/teaser] Disney Movie Rewards has just launched coupons to save $5 on 'Beauty and the Beast - 3D' and 'The Lion King - 3D' ($8 in Canada) coming to Blu-ray this month. Click this link to access the page where you can print out the coupons. The offer is available in the U.S. and Canada and expires on October 11.Posted Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 11:15 AM PDT by: -
'Bridesmaids' Blu-ray Sales Sky High[teaser]The best comedy of 2011 is now one of the best-selling Blu-rays of the year! [/teaser] According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 'Bridesmaids' Blu-ray is in high demand, and copies in that format are being purchased at an accelerated rate, capturing approximately 30% of overall sales. This is extremely notable seeing as it's an R-rated comedy that skews heavily female – which bucks the trend historically of “typical” big Blu-ray sellers. 'Bridesmaids' was only the third summer film to debut at No. 1 on the national home video sales charts its first week in stores, after the comic-book based 'X-Men: First Class' and 'Thor.' The film grossed almost $170 million in U.S. theaters before it took the number 1 spot on both the Nielsen overall sales chart and Nielsen’s Blu-ray Disc sales chart for the week ending Sept. 25. First week sales generated $35 million in consumer spending its first seven days in stores across both physical and digital configurations. Universal Studios Home Entertainment president Craig Kornblau says, "The film’s “particularly astonishing performance on Blu-ray, and its overwhelming appeal among consumers, not only signifies a true coming of age for the format, but also effectively propels further the excitement around home entertainment category as the industry closes out a solid third quarter and heads into what is expected to be a markedly robust holiday shopping season." Hailed as “brazenly hysterical” by People Magazine and “the best comedy of 2011” (Back Stage), 'Bridesmaids' is the riotously funny and warmly outrageous comedy that has become the most talked about movie of the year. Critically acclaimed by fans and media alike, the “certified fresh” film (Rotten Tomatoes.com) received “two thumbs up! ®” from Ebert Presents. Surpassing 'Sex and the City' as the number one R-rated female comedy of all time, 'Bridesmaids' starring “Saturday Night Live” standouts Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph, is produced by comedy mastermind Judd Apatow ('Knocked Up,' 'The 40-Year Old Virgin') and marks his most successful film ever. Wiig and Rudolph are joined by an all-star comedy cast including Rose Byrne ('Get Him to the Greek,' “Damages”), Melissa McCarthy (“Mike and Molly,” “Samantha Who?”), Wendi McLendon-Covey (“Rules of Engagement,” “Reno 911”), Ellie Kemper (“The Office,” 'Somewhere'), Jon Hamm (“Mad Men,” 'Sucker Punch'), and Chris O’Dowd (“The IT Crowd,” 'Pirate Radio'). Directed by Paul Feig (“Nurse Jackie," “Arrested Development”) and written by The Groundlings comedy veterans Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, 'Bridesmaids' is the must-own comedic phenomenon that fans will want to watch again and again! If you haven't read our review yet, check it out!Posted Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 10:30 AM PDT by: -
'The Simpsons: The Complete Fourteenth Season' Blu-ray Announced[teaser]The 2002-2003 season with the planet's favorite animated family is coming to Blu-ray in December! [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, 20th Century Fox will be bringing 'The Simpsons: The Complete Fourteenth Season' to Blu-ray on December 6. The 3-disc set will present all 22 episodes with 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, and supplements will include: A Haunting Invite From Matt Groening; Audio commentaries on every episode with Executive Producers Al Jean & Mike Scully and assorted writers, actors, and directors; It's Only Rock 'N' Roll featurette; The 300th Episode featurette; In The Beginning featurette; The Halloween Classics featurette; Foolish Earthlings featurette; Deleted scenes with commentary; Multi-angle animation showcase; Original sketches. Blu-ray exclusives include bonus Treehouse of Horror episodes. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray set is $59.99. You can find the latest specs for 'The Simpsons: The Complete Fourteenth Season' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under December 6.Posted Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 10:00 AM PDT by: -
Sony is Passing Cost of 3D Glasses to Theaters[teaser]And guess who they'll be passing it on to? Spoiler: it's you![/teaser] One day, and it might not be too far off, we're going to look back at all our posts about how horrible a $2 upcharge for 3D movies is and laugh. Not because the extra charge will totally be worth it or because we'll all be super rich, but because that's only the start. The common misconception is that the extra cash you spend on a 3D movie ticket goes to the glasses, but that isn't the case. That extra money is to help theaters make back the money from the projectors they spent a bundle on. The glasses are paid for by Sony. At least for now. Starting in 2012, the company is going to stop paying for the glasses and making theaters foot the bill. That means that somewhere between $5 million and $10 million per blockbuster movie will be spread out among theaters. And of course, that likely means that the cost will be passed on further to those buying the tickets in the first place. Source:Posted Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 09:00 AM PDT by: -
'Sid and Nancy' Blu-ray Best Buy Exclusive[teaser]Someone, please explain this zero publicity tactic to us. Another catalog Blu-ray has been spotted on store shelves only at Best Buy. [/teaser] Again, without any publicity whatsoever, it seems MGM has released 'Sid and Nancy' on Blu-ray at Best Buy earlier this week. The film is a biopic of Sid Vicious (played by Gary Oldman) from the Sex Pistols and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen (Chloe Webb). The Blu-ray has 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and can be yours for $14.99. You can find the latest specs for 'Sid and Nancy' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under September 27.Posted Fri Sep 30, 2011 at 08:00 AM PDT by:
