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Panasonic Will Record 2014 Olympics Ceremony in 4K[teaser]The electronics company is supplying state-of-the-art AV equipment for the 2014 Winter Olympics and will be shooting the opening ceremony in Ultra HD. [/teaser] Panasonic has announced the delivery of a variety of audio visual components to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, including screens, projectors, and cameras. The equipment is being provided to numerous competition venues and Olympic related facilities throughout the games. Gear includes large LED displays, VIERA TVs, P2HD Cameras, and professional audio systems. The company is also offering the largest supply of security cameras in Olympics' history. Finally, Panasonic will also be recording the Opening Ceremony in 4K in cooperation with the IOC and OBS for its own production materials. The 2014 Winter Olympics kicks off on February 7 and ends on February 23. Source: PanasonicPosted Mon Jan 27, 2014 at 11:15 AM PST by: -
'The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]The fantasy adventure based on G. P. Taylor's novel "Mariah Mundi" will hit Blu-ray in a few weeks. The Blu-ray is also available for pre-order now. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Image Entertainment is prepping 'The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box' for a Blu-ray release on February 11. Ancient mysteries. Powerful evil. And a fearless hero's quest through a fantastical realm of steam-powered wonders and sinister magic. Seventeen-year-old Mariah Mundi's (Barnard) life is turned upside down when his parents vanish and his younger brother is kidnapped. Following a trail of clues to the darkly majestic Prince Regent Hotel, Mariah discovers a hidden realm of child-stealing monsters, deadly secrets and a long-lost artifact that grants limitless wealth, but also devastating supernatural power. With the fate of his world, and his family at stake, Mariah will risk everything to unravel the curse of the Midas Box. Specs and supplements have yet to be revealed, but suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $29.97. You can find the latest specs for 'The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under February 11.Posted Mon Jan 27, 2014 at 10:00 AM PST by: -
HDD Gear Deal Spotlight: Home Theater Discounts[teaser]In preparation for the Super Bowl, Amazon is offering significant discounts on select home theater gear, including 77 percent off of a JBL speaker system today only! [/teaser] As part of its Super Bowl promotions, Amazon is running sales on several home theater and audio products, taking as much as 77 percent off their retail prices. Here are some of the items currently up for grabs, including a JBL speaker system which is today's Deal of the Day. JBL CS6100BG 6-Piece Home Theater System - Deal of the Day price of $280 (77 percent off its retail price of $1199). Panasonic SC-BTT190 Energy Star 5.1 Speaker System - Currently $170 (43 percent off its retail price of $300). Onkyo HT-S3500 5.1-Channel Home Theater System - Currently $250 (37 percent off its retail price of $399). Panasonic SC-HTB550 2.1-Channel Audio System - Currently $250 (38 percent off its retail price of $400). Yamaha YAS-101BL Front Surround System - Currently $200 (33 percent off its retail price of $300). Onkyo TX-SR313 5.1- Channel Home Theater A/V Receiver - Currently $199 (33 percent off its retail price of $300). As always, these deals will only last for a limited time while supplies last. Make sure to stay tuned to High-Def Digest for more deals and special promotions!Posted Mon Jan 27, 2014 at 09:00 AM PST by: -
'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' Dated and Detailed for Blu-ray[teaser]The second chapter in 'The Hunger Games' saga will ignite Blu-ray in March. Order your copy now! [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Lionsgate is working on 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' for a Blu-ray release on March 7. Academy Award® winning Best Actress Jennifer Lawrence (2012’s 'Silver Linings Playbook') headlines the all-star cast in this action-adventure which became the #1 movie of 2013 and the 12th highest-grossing film of all time at the domestic box office. The first film with a female lead to top the annual box office since 1973, the film has grossed nearly $420 million at the North American box office and over $850 million worldwide to date. Based on the best-selling second novel of Suzanne Collins’ award-winning trilogy, with a screenplay by Simon Beaufoy and Michael DeBruyn and directed by Francis Lawrence ('I Am Legend'), 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' begins as, against all odds, Katniss and her fellow tribute Peeta have returned home after surviving The Hunger Games. Winning means they must turn around, leaving their loved ones behind and embark on a “Victory Tour” through the districts. Along the way, Katniss senses a rebellion simmering – one that she and Peeta may have sparked. At the end of the Victory Tour, President Snow announces a deadly 75th Hunger Games that could change Panem forever. Hailed as “a monumental achievement” (The Playlist), 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' features a critically-acclaimed cast including Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson ('The Kids Are All Righ't), Liam Hemsworth ('The Expendables 2'), Academy Award® nominee Woody Harrelson ('The People vs Larry Flynt,' 1996), Emmy® nominee Elizabeth Banks (TV’s “30 Rock”), Lenny Kravitz ('Precious'), Academy Award® nominee Stanley Tucci ('The Lovely Bones,' 2009) and Golden Globe® winner Donald Sutherland ('Path to War'), reprising their original roles from 'The Hunger Games.' The impressive line-up is joined by Academy Award® winner Philip Seymour Hoffman ('Capote,' 2005), Jeffrey Wright (Codeblack Films’ 'The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete'), Jena Malone ('Into The Wild'), Amanda Plummer ('Pulp Fiction') and Sam Claflin ('Snow White and the Huntsman'). The Blu-ray/DVD/Ultraviolet combo will feature 1080p video, a lossless 7.1 soundtrack, and supplements include Audio Commentary with Director Francis Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson; Deleted Scenes; Sneak Peek of Divergent; and a Blu-ray exclusive “Surviving the Game: Making Catching Fire” – 9-part feature-length documentary. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $39.99. You can find the latest specs for 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under March 7.Posted Mon Jan 27, 2014 at 08:00 AM PST by: -
HDD Deal of the Week: 'Ken Burns' The National Parks: America's Best Idea' $50.99 at Amazon[teaser]This week's special at Amazon is Ken Burns' entire monumental documentary series on the country's National Parks for just over $50! [/teaser] The online retailer is now selling 'Ken Burns' The National Parks: America's Best Idea' for $50.99 (61% off suggested retail price). The 12-hour, six part PBS documentary is spread across six Blu-ray discs and features 1080p video, a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements include: The Making of National Parks; Capturing the Parks: A Behind-the-scenes Look; Musical Journeys Through the National Parks; Outtakes: An Interview with Nevada Barr & "The Boss;" The National Parks: This is America; and Contemporary Stories from America's National Parks (Five Short Films). The Gold Box offer can be viewed here and this offer is available from now through February 2.Posted Mon Jan 27, 2014 at 07:40 AM PST by: -
Blu-ray Highlights: Week of January 26th, 2014January winds down with a new slate of Blu-ray releases that span the age ranges from a kids' flick to a comedy for old folks, with plenty in between. Are any worth buying? Read this week's Blu-ray roundup and decide for yourself.Posted Mon Jan 27, 2014 at 07:00 AM PST by: -
'The Little Rascals Save the Day' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]The all-new family comedy will bring Our Gang to Blu-ray in April. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Universal Studios says 'The Little Rascals Save the Day' will have a Blu-ray release on April 1. The most adorable rabble-rousers in film history return in 'The Little Rascals Save the Day,' a fun-filled, all-new adventure featuring Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat, Darla, Petey the Dog and all their friends. In the spirit of the treasured Our Gang comedies, The Little Rascals Save the Day finds the most entertaining bunch of third graders in town hatching a series of madcap schemes to earn enough money to keep Grandma's (Doris Roberts of "Everybody Loves Raymond") bakery out of the clutches of conniving businessman Big Ray (Greg Germann of Here Comes the Boom). From caddying to pet care to taxi service, each of their plans goes hilariously awry until they are left with just two options: find a way to win the local talent show or wave goodbye to the best cupcakes a kid ever tasted! Eden Wood of the hit reality series "Toddlers and Tiaras" makes her feature film debut as pint-sized coquette, Darla, along with the fresh young faces of Camden Gray, Chase Vacnin, Connor Berry, Drew Justice, Grant Palmer II, YouTube sensation Isaiah "Zay-Zay" Fredericks, Jet Jurgensmeyer, Jenna Ortega and Rio Mangini in the iconic Rascals family-friendly original comedy. Adult actors Valerie Azlynn ("Sullivan and Son") and Lex Medlin ("Drop Dead Diva") complete the cast. The Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack will feature 1080p video, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements will include: deleted scenes and a Blu-ray exclusive gag reel and animatics. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $34.98. You can find the latest specs for 'The Little Rascals Save the Day' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under April 1.Posted Mon Jan 27, 2014 at 06:00 AM PST by: -
And the Oscar Goes to... Eight-Plus Decades of Best Picture Winners on Blu-ray, Part Oneby David Krauss It's Oscar time! Thor helped read the nominees, Oprah Winfrey, Robert Redford, and Tom Hanks have all been snubbed, so Oscar season is officially underway and the race to the big night - Sunday, March 2 – has begun! I'm not ashamed to admit I'm an Oscar junkie. I love the politics, history, handicapping, glitz, and even the glamour of the storied, often stodgy, always star-studded Academy Awards. You can have the Super Bowl; I'll take the Oscars and its beautiful train-wreck of a telecast any day of the week. [teaser]In the 36 days leading up to Oscar Sunday, High-Def Digest will chronicle the 85-year history of the Academy Awards through all the Best Picture winners that have been released on Blu-ray.[/teaser] We'll start at the beginning, in 1929, when the first awards were presented at a modest dinner at Hollywood's Roosevelt Hotel (the winners were notified three months earlier), and each week we'll focus on a decade – or two – and the Oscar-winning films that distinguished them. From 'Wings' to 'Argo,' we'll cover them all, saluting old and new favorites, remembering lost gems, and shaking our heads over some of Oscar's controversial and downright bone-headed blunders. Though, sadly, not every Best Picture winner has thus far enjoyed a Blu-ray release (some of the omissions may shock you), enough are available to provide a fascinating overview of Oscar history and satisfy the cravings of the most voracious film aficionado. (To see a full HDD review of the movie and the disc, click on the link that accompanies the description.) So let's get started. This week, we honor Oscar's roots, the 1920s and 1930s. In 12 short years, the film industry moved from silence to sound and black-and-white to color, and Oscar appropriately honored the progressions. Back then, Best Picture was called Outstanding Production, and between 1927 and 1939 a dozen films received the coveted award. Unfortunately, only six are available on Blu-ray, and they are… 'Wings' (1927) - "Go big or go home" has often been Oscar's mantra, and the Academy's penchant for large-scale, sprawling, breathtaking epics was evidenced at the very first awards. This thrilling, stunningly photographed aerial spectacular about two best friends (Charles "Buddy" Rogers and Richard Arlen) and their adventures as fighter pilots in France during World War I holds the distinction of being one of only two silent movies to take home the Best Picture prize. (The other was 'The Artist' in 2012.) Director William Wellman mounted cameras on biplanes to capture the midair dogfights and the result is some of the most exciting and realistic aerial sequences ever committed to celluloid. The film's emotional core is also strong, making 'Wings' a moving and memorable experience. The 1927-28 Oscars also featured a category that would be abandoned the following year: Most Unique and Artistic Picture. The winner of that statuette would be F.W. Murnau's 'Sunrise' with George O'Brien and Janet Gaynor, who would win the first ever Best Actress prize for her portrayal in this film, as well as 'Seventh Heaven' and 'Street Angel.' 'All Quiet on the Western Front' (1930) – Quite possibly the greatest anti-war film of all time, this impeccably produced and supremely affecting drama, based on the classic novel by Erich Maria Remarque, focuses on a young German student (Lew Ayres) swept up in a patriotic wave of battle fever at the dawn of World War I who becomes increasingly disillusioned and disgusted after witnessing horrible and senseless acts of violence. The scope and scale of the battle sequences are extraordinary, the brutal depiction of trench warfare is difficult to watch, and the film's humanistic and pacifistic message remains as powerful today as it surely was eight decades ago. Director Lewis Milestone also won an Oscar, and the movie received additional nominations for its screenplay and cinematography. 'Grand Hotel' (1932) – MGM producer Irving G. Thalberg invented the all-star film with this glamorous look-in on the lives of a group of disparate people staying at a posh Berlin hotel. Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, and Lewis Stone comprise the high voltage cast, and all the actors try their best to steal the spotlight. Though the film would give Garbo her signature line, "I want to be alone," the young Crawford makes the biggest impression as a "stenographer" who's hired for after-hours duty. The movie epitomizes MGM's slick style and would help coin the studio's famous catchline – "more stars than there are in the heavens." 'Cavalcade' (1933) – One of the least known Best Picture winners, this sprawling adaptation of the Noel Coward play charts the changing fortunes of a single upper-class British family from the turn of the 20th century up through the Great Depression through such noteworthy historical events as the Boer War, the death of Queen Victoria, the sinking of the Titanic, and the trying times of World War I. Reminiscent of 'Upstairs, Downstairs' and 'Downton Abbey,' 'Cavalcade' is about as stiff as England's proverbial upper lip, but the production's scope is impressive and the performances are first rate. Director Frank Lloyd also won an Oscar and leading lady Diana Wynyard received a nomination for Best Actress. 'Mutiny on the Bounty' (1935) – This absorbing sea epic about a tyrannical captain (Charles Laughton) who's overthrown by his rebellious crew is based on a true-life incident and features plenty of action and adventure, as well as stirring performances from Laughton, Clark Gable, and Franchot Tone. All three received Best Actor Oscar nominations, the only time in Academy Award history three stars from the same film were nominated for lead actor. (It's no coincidence the Best Supporting Actor and Actress categories were created the following year to make sure such a situation never happened again.) Ambitious and brilliantly executed, the original adaptation of 'Mutiny on the Bounty' far outclasses the bloated remake starring Marlon Brando. 'Gone With the Wind' (1939) – The movie that coined the term blockbuster, 'Gone With the Wind' was bigger, longer, more sumptuous, and more grandiose than almost any film to date, and it captured the fancy of American audiences like nothing ever had before. Producer David O. Selznick's almost four-hour adaptation of Margaret Mitchell's bestselling opus chronicles the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the tempestuous life of one of literature's most iconic heroines, Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh), a headstrong belle who weathers war, poverty, and a humdinger of a romance with the macho Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). Though it creaks a little around the edges, 'GWTW' remains one of the all-time great Hollywood movies, featuring excellent performances, beautiful cinematography, and a knockout production design. Frankly, my dear, it's impossible not to give a damn about this sensational picture, which reaped a whopping eight Academy Awards (the most to date), including a Best Director award for Victor Fleming (who also helmed 'The Wizard of Oz' the same year!) and acting honors for Leigh and Hattie McDaniel, the first African-American to win an Oscar. Best Picture Winners of the 1920s and 1930s Not Yet Available on Blu-ray: 'The Broadway Melody' (1929) 'Cimarron' (1931) 'It Happened One Night' (1934) 'The Great Ziegfeld' (1936) 'The Life of Emile Zola' (1937) 'You Can't Take It With You' (1938) Best Picture Nominees of the 1920s and 1930s Available on Blu-ray 'In Old Arizona' (1929) 'Lady for a Day' (1933) 'A Farewell to Arms' (1933) 'A Star Is Born' (1937) 'Grand Illusion' (1938) 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' (1938) 'The Wizard of Oz' (1939) 'Stagecoach' (1939) Next week: The 1940s and 1950sPosted Fri Jan 24, 2014 at 02:45 PM PST by: -
Weekend Roundtable: Sci-Fi Gadgets You Wish Were RealIn this week's Roundtable, we highlight the gadgets and hardware from science fiction movies, TV, books, comics or videogames that we wish we could have in the real world today. Tell us in the blog about the sci-fi technology you look forward to becoming a reality.Posted Fri Jan 24, 2014 at 12:00 PM PST by: -
New Apple TV Rumored for 2014[teaser]Rumors indicate that an updated Apple TV set-top box is in the works for later this year. [/teaser] According to reports from 9to5Mac, Apple is getting ready to release a new version of its popular Apple TV. Though rumors of an actual Smart TV from the company have been swirling for quite some time, this new device is expected to be an updated set-top box similar to the currently available model. The new Apple TV is rumored to launch in the first half of this year and will likely include a redesigned operating system based on iOS. In addition, rumors indicate that the company might be experimenting with motion controls for the new device and a full App store or Game store could be implemented as well. Likewise, hardware improvements over the current Apple TV are also expected, but there are no spec details at this time. An official release date and pricing have not been revealed, but if these rumors pan out, Apple's newest set-top box will hit stores within the next six months. The current Apple TV is available now for a suggested retail price of $90. Source: 9to5MacPosted Fri Jan 24, 2014 at 11:15 AM PST by:
