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Blockbuster Canada is Closing its Doors[teaser]The remaining 253 Canadian stores will be shut down and the company liquidated. [/teaser] Sure, Blockbuster was a slow moving giant. And yes, we all saw it coming. A company that's unable to adapt to a quickly moving market is bound to go down in flames. Still, hundreds, even thousands of employees are losing their jobs and we at High-Def Digest are of the opinion that this is a bad thing. 253 total stores will be shut down and liquidated, finally ending Blockbuster's presence in Canada. Offers for sale were considered, but a satisfactory agreement was unable to be reached. Aside from the existing problems that were plaguing Blockbuster, Dish Network filed papers that would stop Blockbuster Canada from using the Blockbuster name. Not only is that a big blow for the company, but it negatively impacts potential sales which would, in part, be buying brand recognition. Source: Home Media MagazinePosted Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 07:00 AM PDT by: -
'Doctor Who: Series Six, Part 2' & 'Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]The last six episodes of series six and a complete series six box set of the hit sci-fi show are bound for Blu-ray this November. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, BBC/Warner will be releasing 'Doctor Who: Series Six, Part 2 on the high-definition format on November 8. The 2-disc set will feature 1080i video, a DTS-HD HR 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements include Monster Files featurettes on the Antibodies and the Cybermats. BBC/Warner will also be releasing 'Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series on November 22 which will include Part One, Part Two, and 'Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol.' The 6-disc set will feature 1080i video, a DTS-HD HR 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements include Meanwhile in the Tardis feature – Seven newly filmed scenes telling what happens between the episodes; Doctor Who Confidential featurettes - An inside look at each episode; Monster Files featurettes - Get under the skin and inside the minds of the new Doctor's most challenging opponents; Audio commentaries; and Trailers and Trails. You can find the latest specs for 'Doctor Who: Series Six, Part 2' and 'Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where they're indexed under November.Posted Mon Sep 12, 2011 at 06:00 AM PDT by: -
HDD Deal of the Week: 'The Goonies: 25th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition' Blu-ray $17.49 at Amazon[teaser]HEY YOU GUYS!!! Amazon's Blu-ray deal this week sets sail back to the 1980s in search of the treasure of One-Eyed Willie!![/teaser] Amazon is selling 'The Goonies: 25th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition' for $17.99 (50% off the suggested retail price). 'The Goonies' stars Sean Astin ('The Lord of the Rings' trilogy), Josh Brolin ('Milk,' 'W,' 'No Country for Old Men,' upcoming 'Jonah Hex'), Corey Feldman ('The Lost Boys' franchise), Martha Plimpton ('200 Cigarettes'), Ke Huy-Quan ('Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom') and Joe Pantoliano ('Cats and Dogs' franchise, 'The Matrix'). Overflowing with a treasure chest of premium items that celebrate this cherished film, 'The Goonies 25th Anniversary Collector’s Edition' includes an exciting new board game, collectible storyboard prints, a 1985 souvenir magazine with captivating behind-the-scenes stories about the actual filming in Astoria, Oregon, including the production design that transformed Astoria into the “Goon Docks,” and a reprint of a 2009 article with updates of the entire cast, as well as producer Steven Spielberg and director Richard Donner. Click here if this deal is "good enough" for you! This offer is available from now through September 17.Posted Sun Sep 11, 2011 at 07:55 AM PDT by: -
Bonus View Digest - September 9, 2011This week, like every week, The Bonus View has been the place to be for HD fans. If you're interested in the new 'Star Wars' Blu-rays hitting stores this month you'll want to take a look at the blog to find out what changes you will be in store for. It shouldn't be news to anyone that George Lucas is tweaking more aspects of his beloved movies for the Blu-ray release. [teaser]It wasn't all 'Star Wars' news on the blog this week, it just seems that way as the September 16th release date approaches. Take a look at all the other stuff you may have missed that you'll want to read over and discuss with your fellow Bonus View fans![/teaser] Blu-ray News The biggest news this week was the videos that surfaced that showed the myriad of changes George Lucas has made to the 'Star Wars' films for the Blu-ray release. Josh covers them all, including the creepy blinking Ewoks , and he isn't kind about how he feels. Our Mid-Week Poll this week also had to do with the 'Star Wars' Blu-ray release. We asked if you were going to buy the set or if you were going to hold your ground and wait until the original versions were released. Get in on this always controversial discussion now! Aaron revisited another one of his favorite movies from his collection in Off the Shelf . Take a look back at 'Dr. Horrible' and find 21 things that you may have missed. We also ran a contest where readers had a chance to win a Limited Edition Steelbook edition of 'Scarface.' Theatrical News E's Trailer Park highlighted quite a few movies made especially for kids, including 'Happy Feet 2' and 'The Pirates! Band of Misfits.' Luke watched and reviewed 'The Debt ' starring Helen Mirren, and gave us an update of what we could expect to see in the theaters over the weekend . Don't get your hopes up because hardly any of them were actually screened for critics (never a good thing). Finally, Aaron covered some of the new movie posters, in his column Posterizing, that have been released for upcoming theatrical features including 'Drive,' 'Ghost Rider: The Spirit of Vengeance,' and 'Carnage.' Home Theater News Who hasn't thought that their sound system needed more rumbling bass? Everyone has thought it at some point, and Josh has a perfect solution. Instead of buying more expensive sub woofers, how about adding a relatively inexpensive seat shaker that will have the same effect? Check out this how-to, and add this to your home theater today. TV Recaps We've been steadfast in our coverage of the latest and greatest summer TV shows. Get recaps for 'Burn Notice ,' 'Project Runway ,' 'Haven ,' 'Alphas ,' and 'True Blood .' Special Features Our Weekend Roundtable covered the best TV pilot episodes of all-time. Although ours was only a short list. Take a look at the 50+ comments from readers who shared their own favorites! Finally, in a special article, Josh discussed whether or not 'The Empire Strikes Back' is too good for the original 'Star Wars Trilogy.' What do you think? Let us know. Please join us over on The Bonus View where we're striving to grow a community of people who love high definition entertainment. Plus, you can win free stuff,so, there's no reason you shouldn't check it out!Posted Fri Sep 9, 2011 at 11:40 AM PDT by: -
'The Grateful Dead Movie' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]'The Grateful Dead Movie' will see its first-ever Blu-ray release on November 1. [/teaser] Co-directed by Jerry Garcia, 'The Grateful Dead Movie' was originally released in 1977, and captures performances from five October 1974 shows at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom. In an essay accompanying the Blu-ray, Dennis McNally, Grateful Dead biographer and the former publicist for the band, writes “when the Dead concluded that their epic achievement in sound design, the Wall of Sound, was a fabulous albatross threatening to destroy them, and that a substantial break would follow five mid-October 1974 shows at Winterland, and Who Knew?—maybe these really were The Last Shows—it was the most logical thing in the world for Jerry to hire a film crew and have a movie to make during the hiatus in Dead touring. Like most Dead projects, 'The Grateful Dead Movie' was substantially improvised and required massive amounts of really peculiar synchronicity to work—and somehow came out great in the end.” Disc 1 of 'The Grateful Dead Movie' features the film in its entirety on Blu-ray, transferred from the original 35mm film negative in High Definition and presented in 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio. The performances include Dead classics such as “Truckin’,” “Sugar Magnolia,” and “Casey Jones.” Disc 2 is a DVD containing more than 95 minutes of bonus concert footage, including “Uncle John’s Band,” “Sugaree,” “The Other One‚” “Spanish Jam‚” “Mind Left Body Jam‚” “Scarlet Begonias,” “China Cat Sunflower‚” “I Know You Rider,” “Dark Star,” and “Weather Report Suite.” Also included in the bonus features are the option for visible lyrics, a feature-length commentary with supervising editor Susan Crutcher and film editor John Nutt, the documentary films “A Look Back,” “Making of the Animated Sequence,” and “Making of the DVD,” the television commercial for the Mars Hotel album from 1974, multicamera and multitrack audio demonstrations, and an extensive photo gallery of production notes, photos, film stills and other historical items from the Movie’s production. Additionally, viewers can choose which sound mix they want, including a 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio presentation of the original theatrical audio mix, a DTS 5.1 audio mix, mixed from the master multitrack tapes, or the PCM 2.0 audio mix, all from the master multitrack tapes. The bonus songs were transferred from the 16mm camera-original film negative, with audio from the master multitrack tapes offered in both a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix or Dolby Digital 2.0 audio mix. The legendary Grateful Dead Movie is known for its remarkably intimate look at the band and the Deadhead scene of the time. Now fans can enjoy the film in high definition as never before. Fans who preorder 'The Grateful Dead Movie' directly from Shout! Factory will receive an exclusive bumper sticker with their order, while supplies last. Additionally, it will ship on October 18, two weeks before being available in stores. For more info, visit: www.shoutfactorystore.com/prod.aspx?pfid=5257509. 'The Grateful Dead Movie' is the first in a line of Grateful Dead films slated for release by Shout! Factory in collaboration with Rhino Entertainment. Future releases will include The Closing Of Winterland, Dead Ahead, Truckin’ Up To Buffalo, Ticket To New Year’s, Downhill From Here, View From The Vault, View From The Vault Vol. 2, View From The Vault Vol. 3, View From The Vault Vol. 4 and So Far, a 1987 film that has previously only been available on VHS and laserdisc. You can find the latest specs for 'The Grateful Dead Movie' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under November 1.Posted Fri Sep 9, 2011 at 11:30 AM PDT by: -
'Fright Night - 3D' Blu-ray Preorder Live and $5 Coupon[teaser]Get your order in now for the Blu-ray 3D of the horror remake and save $5 at Amazon! [/teaser] Amazon has already listed 'Fright Night - 3D' for Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy for pre-order and is offering a $5 off coupon for the upcoming release. Anton Yelchin stars as a teenager who suspects that his new neighbor (Colin Farrell) is a vampire. Specs, supplements, and a release date have yet to be revealed, but you can visit this page to clip the coupon located just beneath the pricing and put in a preorder with the discount. And don't forget with Amazon's price guarantee if the price should fall between the time the preorder is placed and the release date, orders will receive the lowest price as well as the coupon discount!Posted Fri Sep 9, 2011 at 11:29 AM PDT by: -
Integra Bows a Pair of THX Certified Network Receivers[teaser]Both 9.2 channel receivers are THX Ultra 2 Plus certified. [/teaser] The DTR-80.3 and DTR-70.3 receivers from Integra are fairly similar in their feature sets. The 80.3 pumps out 145 watts per channel while the 70.3 only offers 135, and each uses a different power supply but aside from that they're not terribly different. You'll find Audyssey DSX, Dolby ProLogic IIz and DTS Neo: X technology that upscales your sound up to 11.1 channels. They also give you the ability to stream from online sources like Spotify, Pandora, Sirius and more. You can also play a variety of files stored on your home computer. Integra's new receivers are no slouch in the video department either. They pack HQV-Vida video processors and Marvell Qdeo 4K upscaling. You'll get enhancement of not only traditional content, but cleaned up streaming content as well. Both receivers will be available soon with the 70.3 coming in at $2,000 while the 80.3 runs $2,800. Source: eCousticsPosted Fri Sep 9, 2011 at 10:30 AM PDT by: -
'Tora! Tora! Tora!' Blu-ray Detailed[teaser]The classic war film being prepped for high-definition this December to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor has now been detailed. [/teaser] As previously reported, 20th Century Fox will release 'Tora! Tora! Tora!' in a Blu-ray digibook on December 6. Directed by Richard Fleischer ('Soylent Green') with Japanese sequences helmed by Kinji Fukasaku and Toshio Masuda–and starring Martin Balsam ('Psycho'), Joseph Cotten ('Citizen Kane') and Jason Robards ('All the President’s Men'), 'Tora! Tora! Tora!' is best remembered for utilizing footage from the actual attack on Pearl Harbor. This new edition will feature the extended Japanese cut of the film containing 10 minutes of previously unreleased footage. The 'Tora! Tora! Tora!' Blu-ray book includes the extended “Japanese Cut” containing 10 minutes of previously unreleased footage and rare photos from the Fox Archives – a collector’s dream. The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, a 4.0 soundtrack, and there doesn't appear to be any supplements besides the digibook packaging. You can find the latest specs for 'Tora! Tora! Tora!' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under December 6.Posted Fri Sep 9, 2011 at 10:00 AM PDT by: -
'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' Blu-ray Announced[teaser]The third and final chapter in Michael Bay's "explosion, gratuitous butt-shot, explosion, explosion, explosion..." trilogy is only getting a barebones Blu-ray release this month. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Paramount has revealed 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' for a Blu-ray release on September 30. Shia LaBeouf returns as Sam Witwicky to aid the Autobots who learn of a Cybertronian spacecraft hidden on the Moon, and race against the Decepticons to reach it and to learn its secrets. The Blu-ray will include 1080p video, a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 soundtrack, and there won't be any supplements on this release. However, apparently a deluxe Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray edition is planned for the coming months that will contain "loads of bonus features" for fans of the film. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is still undetermined at this time. You can find the latest specs for 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it is indexed under September 30.Posted Fri Sep 9, 2011 at 09:09 AM PDT by: -
Sony Announces Consumer 4K 3D Projector[teaser]Of course, just because it's made for consumers doesn't mean it's gonna be cheap.[/teaser] We've been waiting for a lot of tech to trickle down to the consumer, mass market level for a while now. Virtual reality never quite worked, 3D is still up in the air when it comes to a standard and OLED is still years away if it's coming at all. 4K, on the other hand, is well on the way. Sony's first 4K entry to the consumer market is the VPL-VW1000ES SXRD projector. It utilizes a 0.74 inch SXRD panel that cuts pixel size nearly in half. It's 3D capable and uses an infrared system to sync up glasses with 3D content. One of the coolest features of the new 4K projector is the ability to upscale content. Sure, upscaling from HD to 4K is a natural transition, but Sony says the VPL-VW1000ES is capable of bringing things all the way from SD to 4K with a marked improvement in video quality. The downside is that if you want to go 4K, you're going to have to spend a rumored $30,000 when this thing comes out in 2012. Start saving! Source: eCousticsPosted Fri Sep 9, 2011 at 09:00 AM PDT by:
