The Blu-ray market share dipped slightly to 11% while the revenue remained a solid $21.16M for the week ending January 31st, according to Home Media Magazine.

Michael Jackson’s This Is It from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment was easily the best selling title, taking the top position in the sales chart.

Disney’s Surrogates had to settle for 2nd place, ahead of the latest in the franchise Saw VI from Lionsgate 3rd position.

The top six was filled out by strong performers from 2009 - The Hangover from Warner, Star Trek from Paramount and Up from Disney respectively.

Summit’s The Hurt Locker took a bit of a tumble to end up in 7th place while Gamer from Lionsgate was in 8th position.

A surprise entry to the top 10 saw WWII in HD from A&E and the History channel take 9th place for the week, ahead of WWII movie Inglourious Basterds from Universal in 10th.

Drew Barrymore’s Whip It from Fox was the last new release to make the top 20 in 11th position on the chart.

It is easy to see why the market share was down for the week, with Michael Jackson’s This Is It taking ‘only’ 21% and Saw VI only 20% market share on Blu-ray Disc.

This in contrast to market shares of 28% for Surrogates and 27% for The Hangover.

The Hurt Locker and District 9 are also doing solid Blu-ray business with 33% Blu-ray Disc market share each.

Top prize though goes to Star Trek with 61% market share for the week, a little ahead of WWII in HD with 58%, not so surprising for a title with a leaning towards HiDef.

Other titles selling more than a third of their units on Blu-ray Disc include Up , Inglourious Basterds and Public Enemies.

I was expecting Whip It to have somewhat lower than its 13% market share, while I Can Do Bad All By Myself was again a poor performer in HiDef, and with 4% market share was the one of only two Top 20 DVD titles that took less than 10% market share for Blu-ray.

All said and done, with only a quarter of the top 20 DVD titles for the week having less than 20% market share on Blu-ray, I think the format is continuing to grow.

Amazon has kicked off a new promotion listing Fox Home Entertainment Blu-ray titles for $12.

The best deal is 70% off the titles Babylon A.D. and Hitman.

Additionally you will find Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull from Paramout is also 70% off at $12.

Titles at 66% off retail include Mr & Mrs Smith, X-Men, The Day After Tomorrow, Alien vs. Predator, Live Free or Die Hard and Independence Day.

There are a lot of great titles to choose from in this promotion!

See a full list after the break:

Continue reading “Amazon Lists Range of Fox Blu-ray Titles for $12″

Some may have been wondering why I have not been writing as much in 2010 and part of the reason is that I have been working on a film project.

The film was made in conjunction with the San Francisco based film makers community called Scary Cow (if you live in the Bay Area and are interested in making films you should check out the website or ask me in comments) and was shot on a fairly good consumer AVCHD camera.

I decided that I would author a Blu-ray Disc in addition to the DVD and as it turns out the film was the first (and so far only) Scary Cow movie to screen in HiDef at the Scary Cow Screening.

The disc was authored using one of the few editing packages out there that comes with Blu-ray authoring - though I believe that this aspect is actually handled by the Sonic Solutions authoring package.

While authoring the disc was very simple (just as easy as a DVD) I found that limitations like no lossless audio (not even LPCM) would make this solution firmly one for ‘amateurs’.

If folks are interested I can post more articles in the future covering Blu-ray authoring and burning - please show interest in the comments.

Lastly, if you want to check out the film I made, you can see it at YouTube or embedded below… feel free to link to it, digg it or make it a favourite to help spread the word…!

This week is a good week for musical fans, with the release of The Music Man on Blu-ray from Warner Home Video, which streeted on February 2nd 2010.

The movie is based on the Music Man Broadway musical from the late fifties what was created by Meredith Willson.

Even though huge musical films had become quite rare, the show was so popular that Warner optioned the rights and made the filmed version.

The Music Man is the story of a con man who travels from city to city, establishing a band for the children where he sells the instruments, uniforms and ‘instruction’.

However once the money is paid, he skips town and the children never learn to play.

The latest target for his scheme is the town of River City Iowa, and his plans go well, though there is the constant threat that his shenanigans will be revealed and the people will see him for what he really is.

The movie is loaded with music and dance that showcases the talent of the cast and company.

And when I say loaded, I mean it - the movie runs a full two and a half hours!

That said, The Music Man contains a number of classic and memorable songs, including 76 Trombones and Till There Was You.

Some of the songs in the film borrow strongly from the environment, imitating the train, or the actions of the chickens, to amazing effect.

Since the movie was produced by the same folks as the stage show, the film is remarkably faithful to the source material and most of the singing and dancing numbers were shot pretty much in one take.

Many members of the Original Broadway musical are also in the film, including Robert Preston, Pert Kelton, The Buffalo Bills, and Susan Luckey.

Additionally the cast includes Shirley Jones (who eventually became the matriarch of The Partridge Family), Buddy Hackett, Hermione Gingold and a very young Ron Howard.

To be honest it is priceless to see this Hollywood legend at such a young age.

The Music Man was directed by Morton DaCosta, the man behind Auntie Mame and Island of Love.

The movie loved by the critics - it earned a Rotten Tomatoes score of 93% and a more modest IMDb score of 7.6/10.

The Music Man also won the Best Adapted Score Academy Awards in 1962.

The video on the disc is a VC-1 1080p encode at 24.5 Mbps, and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1.

Needless to say the original film elements are pretty old now - all things considered it looks pretty good.

The details page for The Music Man features full resolution PNG screen captures taken directly from the disc.

The main audio is lossless DTS-HD Master Audio with 5.1 channels - 24 bits resolution at 48 kHz.

The disc is a dual layer BD50, with 36.3 GB used and is coded for All Regions.

The special features are a little limited with a recently filmed introduction by Shirley Jones and a theatrical trailer.

The main featurette called Right Here In River City, the ‘making of’ features both vintage and recent footage, and is actually a quite fascinating 20 minute documentary covering the development and production of the movie.

The Music Man is another classic release from Warner Home Video, one that will greatly appeal to fans of the movie musical.

The retail price is $28.99, or get it now at Amazon for $19.99, saving 31%!

Extras:

• Introduction By Shirley Jones
• Right Here In River City: The Making Of
• Theatrical Trailer

Synopsis:

The Music Man, the joyful film of the 1,375-perfromance Broadway smash, remains an irresistible skyburst of Americana. Robert Preston recreates his Tony-winning Broadway triumph as con artist Harold Hill, arriving in River City, Iowa, to form a boys band, much to the disapproval…and later delight of town librarian Marian Paroo. Buddy Hackett, Hermione Gingold, Paul Ford and 7-year-old Ron Howard co-star. Meredith Wilson’s sassy, brassy score, is orchestrated to Oscar-Winning effect by Ray Heindorf.

Amazon has listed a number of recent 20th Century Fox titles for only $12.37, saving almost 70% off the retail pricing.

Titles in the promotion include Aliens in the Attic, I Love You, Beth Cooper, My Life in Ruins, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.

It is a little unusual to see such recent titles so heavily discounted, and as always with Amazon I recommend getting them before they change the price back!

Surrogates is the latest big budget Sci-Fi movie to be unleashed by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Blu-ray Disc with a January 26th release.

On the surface, Surrogates has a lot to offer, with a story about robot people and Bruce Willis in the lead role.

While the plot carries the feel of a Philip K Dick novel, the filmed version of the graphic novel doesn’t at all live up to the dark and foreboding nature of  similarly themed movies like Blade Runner.

Rather the whole thing lacks energy and style, and I can’t help but feel that here was a great opportunity squandered by some bad choices.

In Surrogates everyone who is anyone now lives their lives through a robot version of themselves.

Of course the surrogates are stronger and more capable, as well as being way better looking than their human counterparts, who have turned into ‘couch potatoes’ that never see the true light of day.

As well as the aesthetically pleasing aspect of a world filled with beautiful (robot) people,  it is also a safer way to live, with the robot taking the brunt of any unfortunate physical accident.

That is until we discover that a weapon has been created to not only destroy the robot but to also kill the human operator, and that is the inciting incident for the movie.

The FBI battles to find the weapon and its source, as the stakes ratchet up and everyone who uses a surrogate becomes at risk.

We are also subjected to the ethics questions of whether living life through a robot interface is natural or ethical, a point argued by a group called the Dread, who oppose the use of surrogates and live in communities where no robots are allowed.

Along with Bruce Willis, the cast includes Ving Rhames, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike, Boris Kodjoe, James Cromwell and James Francis Ginty.

Surrogates was directed by Jonathan Mostow, the man behind U-571 and perhaps the weakest in the franchise - Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

The critical response to the movie was luke warm at best, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 39% - somewhat better at the IMDb with a score of 6.3/10.

Surrogates was probably a disappointment at the cinema considering the budget - it earned $38.6M at the US box office.

The video on the disc is an AVC 1080p encode at 25.5 Mbps, and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.40:1.

Full resolution PNG screen captures taken directly from the disc can be seen at the details page for Surrogates.

The main audio is lossless DTS-HD Master Audio with 5.1 channels - 24 bits resolution at 48 kHz.

The disc is a dual layer BD50, with 29.4 GB used and is coded for Region A.

The supplements for the disc include the typical selection of deleted scenes and an audio commentary from director Jonathan Mostow.

The disc also includes the I Will Not Bow music video by Breaking Benjamin, along with a pair of featurettes.

The Breaking The Frame featurette presents interviews with the creators of the original graphic novel and offers comparisons between the original and the big screen adaptation.

The scientific basis of the movie concept is discussed in the A More Perfect You featurette, which contains interviews with robotics specialists, as well as cast and crew.

Surrogates as a movie is a bit of a mixed bag, though if you are familiar with Mostow’s previous films you probably have your expectations set about right.

The Blu-ray Disc is another competent release from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.

The retail price is $39.99, and it is available at Amazon for $23.49, saving 41%!

Extras:

• Deleted Scenes
• A More Perfect You: The Science Of Surrogates
• Breaking The Frame: A Graphic Novel Comes To Life
• ‘I Will Not Bow’ Music Video By Breaking Benjamin
• Feature Audio Commentary By Director Jonathan Mostow

Synopsis:

From the director of Terminator 3 comes a jaw-dropping psychological thriller starring the ultimate action hero, Bruce Willis. Experience every electrifying moment of this mind-blowing movie on Blu-ray Disc with its theater-quality picture and sound. In the not-so-distant future, where people experience life through perfect surrogates controlled from the safety of their own homes, murder is a thing of the past. But when a college student linked to the creator of these replicants is killed, one FBI agent must re-enter reality and risk his life to unravel the mystery. In the battle of technology versus humanity, who can you trust? Based on the acclaimed graphic novel and exploding with unforgettable action, Surrogates is nonstop entertainment - especially in Blu-ray High Definition.

The Blu-ray Cover Art Gallery for the week of the 31st of January 2010 reveals a lot of releases, though many of them are pretty basic titles from Anchor Bay.

New Day and Date titles include Zombieland and Amelia, while catalog titles include The Last King of Scotland, Walk the Line, Mystic River and individual releases for The Godfather and The Godfather Part II.

BBC SciFi fans will flip over the range of Dr Who titles, including Doctor Who: The Waters Of Mars, Doctor Who: The End Of Time and the whole shooting match in Doctor Who: The Complete Specials.

Warner also released less expensive ‘regular’ editions of Gone with the Wind and Bonnie and Clyde, along with The Music Man.

Click on any cover to see the details for the title.

Amazon has listed a new promotion with Twentieth Century Fox Blu-ray titles for only $9.99.

Titles in the promotion include Cast Away, Planet of the Apes, Speed and The Devil Wears Prada.

Amazon will no doubt continue to mix and match titles at this price point.

You can find more $9.99 titles from Fox after the break.

Continue reading “Amazon Blu-ray Bargain - Twentieth Century Fox Titles 60% Off Retail”

Ricky Gervais gets to play the leading man again in the January 19th Blu-ray release of the Warner Home Video title The Invention of Lying.

The premise seems to be right up Ricky’s alley - imagine a world that is just like ours except nobody ever lies.

They can’t even conceive of the idea of not telling the absolute truth, and in fact seem to be compelled to express what is on their mind, regardless of how it might affect others.

In this world, like any other, there are winners and losers, and our main character Mark Bellison falls clearly on the loser side as the movie starts.

He is set up on a date with someone well out of his league (who of course tells this to his face) and his desperation increases with his job in danger and his rent due.

Except Mark is not like everyone else - he is unique in that when pressed into the most difficult situation of his life, he tells a lie.

Soon he is aware of the power of lying, especially in a world where nobody lies and so nobody questions the statements of others.

Needless to say he takes advantage of this, and practically invents religion as a side effect of his actions.

All in all I found it to be a pretty fun film - the premise was a little weak for me at times, and the blunt honesty was a little bit of a downer, especially at the start.

Though persevering with the movie paid off and overall I think it worked reasonably well, with the occasional nugget that was beyond hilarious.

The cast includes a huge number of familiar faces like Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, Tina Fey, Christopher Guest, Jeffrey Tambor and Jonah Hill.

The Invention of Lying was also directed by Ricky Gervais, along with Matthew Robinson.

The critical reception to the movie was middle of the road, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 57% and IMDb score of 6.7/10.

The Invention of Lying was also earned $18.4M at the US box office.

The video on the disc is a VC-1 1080p encode at an amazingly low 14.5 Mbps, and is presented at 1.78:1 aspect ratio, filling the HDTV screen.

Take a look at the details page for The Invention of Lying to see full resolution PNG screen captures taken directly from the disc.

The main audio is lossless Dolby True HD with 5.1 channels - 16 bits resolution at 48 kHz.

The disc is a single layer BD25, with 17.5 GB used and is coded for All Regions.

You have to imagine that the feature could have been given a lot more bitrate with so much of the disc left empty!

The release comes with a handful of features that include a Digital Copy for both Windows and iTunes.

Additional footage is presented in the form of deleted scenes and a gag reel.

More specific to this release is a short prequel set in ancient times, The Dawn Of Lying.

A behind the scenes Making Of featurette is included, as is one titled Meet Karl Pilkington, which follows Karl as an extra on the set of the film.

There is also a set of Video Podcasts from the directors Ricky and Matt.

The Invention of Lying is an enjoyable movie though feels like a pretty canned but decent Blu-ray release from Warner Home Video.

Certainly a great choice for Gervias fans, and really for anyone looking for something a little less mainstream.

The retail price is $35.99, or get it at Amazon for $19.99, saving 44%!

Extras:

• Prequel: The Dawn Of Lying
• Making Of
• Meet Karl Pilkington
• Ricky And Matt’s Video Podcasts
• Additional Scenes
• More Laughter: Corpsing And Outtakes

Synopsis:

In a world where the human race has never evolved the ability to lie, a man who suddenly discovers how will change the world. With this superpower, he can get anything he wants. Well, nearly everything. Ricky Gervais (Extras, BBC’s The Office) displays his hilariously deadpan acting talents in a comedy invention he co-wrote and co-directed. With a star-studded cast including Jennifer Garner, Louis C.K. and Rob Lowe, plus cameos by Tina Fey and Jonah Hill, it’s “explosively funny.” according to New York critic David Edelstein. Believe it.

There wasn’t much week to week movement for the week ending January 24th, with a Blu-ray market share of 13% and a $19.46M revenue, according to Home Media Magazine.

Gamer from Lionsgate took 1st place in the sales chart, with Inglourious Basterds from Universal surprisingly in 2nd place.

Star Trek from Paramount, The Hangover from Warner and The Hurt Locker from Summit rounded out the top five.

The smaller studios continued to do well with Pandorum from Anchor Bay in 6th place and Weeds: Season Five from Lionsgate in 7th position.

New release Whiteout from Warner took 9th, while the new DVD combo versions of The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Ultimatum from Universal took 10th and 11th places, with The Bourne Supremacy in 13th.

Warner’s The Invention of Lying featuring Ricky Gervais was in 15th place and Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins’ Ball from Universal was the last new release tomake the chart in 19th position.

Looking at per title market share, the top selling DVD titles Gamer and The Hangover took 31% and 27% on Blu-ray Disc respectively while family title Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs from Sony Pictures sold only 13% on Blu-ray Disc this week.

The Hurt Locker sells well on Blu-ray with 31%, and Inglourious Basterds sold more Blu-ray Discs than DVDs for the week.

Pandorum had a 32% Blu-ray Disc market share while I Can Do Bad All By Myself from Lionsgate had only 6%.

The Invention of Lying and Whiteout took in a respectable 17% and 26% for Blu-ray Disc.

Both Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Star Trek sold more Blu-rays than DVDs this week also, with Trek getting close to 2 Blu-rays for every DVD sold with 62%.

While I don’t doubt that promotional pricing is at play here, it is great to see so many titles breaking the 50% level for the week.