The Blu-ray market share was back up to 13% on a revenue of $20.96M for the week ending February 28th, according to Home Media Magazine.

While it was good to see double figure market share and revenue over $20M, it was a bit of a strange week, perhaps with significant sales promotions for certain titles.

Law Abiding Citizen from Anchor Bay was again in 1st place, ahead of Pixar’s Up in 2nd place - and hint that promotional pricing was in play.

The best selling new title was Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths from Warner in 3rd place, ahead of Star Trek from Paramount and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian from Fox in 4th and 5th.

Other new titles didn’t fare quite as well, with The Informant! from Warner in 10th place,  Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant from Universal in 12th place, and The Box from Warner down in 15th position.

Looking at per title market share, we see almost the exact opposite of last week.

Top selling Law Abiding Citizen had a strong 41% Blu-ray Disc market share while Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths also performed well with 29% share.

New Warner titles The Informant! and The Box sold19% and 18% on Blu-ray Disc respectively, while Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant had 21% share.

Strong signs of promotional pricing were evident with a number of titles outselling their DVD counterparts.

Up had 55% market share, Star Trek an amazing 77% market share, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian had 68% and Inglourious Basterds from Universal squeaked in with 52% Blu-ray share.

I was a little surprised that Everybody’s Fine from Disney/Miramax didn’t get a Blu-ray Disc release, so no market share for that title at all.

The Blu-ray Cover Art Gallery for the week of the 28th of February 2010 reveals a few bigger releases this week.

Sony steps it up with no less than two versions of the Roland Emmerich distater movie 2012 and the 2012 2 Disc Edition that also includes a Digital Copy.

Warner has Spike Jonze’s much anticipated adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are, again with Digital Copy.

Warner is also releasing a Digibook version of the original Clash of the Titans while Fox has the latest Jared Hess film Gentlemen Broncos, that features Jermaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords.

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

Amazon has a pair of Fox Blu-ray Box Sets discounted by $84 today.

Right now you can pick up the Planet of the Apes 40th Anniversary Collection for only $45.99 and The Mel Brooks Collection for only $55.99.

These prices represent savings of 60% or more off retail - a great chance to add these deluxe packaged movie collections to your collection.

Amazon has listed a new promotions with extensive savings on recent Fox Blu-ray titles.

Titles in the promotion are currently only $12.99 and include (500) Days of Summer, Slumdog Millionaire, My Life in Ruins, Jennifer’s Body, I Love You, Beth Cooper and All About Steve.

This is a great opportunity to get these recent titles at a nice price.

The other biographical movie released by Fox Home Entertainment on Blu-ray February 2nd was Walk the Line - the story of Johnny Cash.

The film covers Cash’s formative years, his start in the music business and the various ups and downs of his personal life and career, up until the late sixties.

The movie chronicles Cash’s struggle with drugs and alcohol as well as more personal conflicts with his disapproving father and the death of his brother.

Perhaps needless to say, the film contains a wealth of music, including iconic tracks like Ring of Fire and of course Walk the Line.

Walk the Line features strong performances from Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, with Witherspoon winning an Oscar for her portrayal of June Carter.

Apparently Cash himself chose Joaquin Phoenix to play himself in the movie after seeing Gladiator, and June also chose Witherspoon for her role.

Additionally he cast includes Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick, Shelby Lynn, Jonathan Rice, Waylon Payne and Shooter Jennings.

Walk the Line was directed by James Mangold, the man behind Girl, Interrupted, 3:10 to Yuma and Identity.

The movie was certainly will liked by critics - it earned a Rotten Tomatoes score of 82% and IMDb score of 7.9/10.

Walk the Line also had a great run in the cinema, reaching $119.5M at the US box office.

The video on the disc is an AVC 1080p encode at 23 Mbps, and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1.

See the details page for Walk the Line for 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 40.2 GB used and is coded for Region A.

The supplements include an audio commentary from director James Mangold and a selection of deleted scenes, also with an optional commentary.

The ‘making of’ featurette Celebrating The Man In Black runs 20 minutes and features interviews with the film makers, Cash’s son and friends like Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson.

Folsom, Cash & The Comeback takes a look at Johnny Cash’s legendary 1968 performance live at Folsom Prison.

The Ring Of Fire: The Passion Of Johnny & June featurette covers the relationship between June and Johnny.

The release also features extended musical sequences and the theatrical trailer.

Walk the Line is an enjoyable film and the Blu-ray release is a strong presentation from Fox Home Entertainment.

The retail price is $29.99, and available from Amazon for $19.49, saving 35%!

Extras:

• Audio Commentary By Co-Writer And Director James Mangold
• 10 Deleted Scenes With Optional Commentary
• Extended Musical Sequences
• Folsom, Cash & The Comeback
• Celebrating The Man In Black: The Making Of
• Ring Of Fire: The Passion Of Johnny & June
• Theatrical Trailer

Synopsis:

Singer. Rebel. Outlaw. Hero. With his driving freight-train chords, steel-eyed intensity and a voice as dark as the night, the legendary “Man in Black” revolutionized music - and forged his legacy as a genuine American icon. Golden Globe winners Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon star (and sing) as Johnny Cash and June Carter in this inspiring true story of one man’s unwavering devotion to his sound, his message and the greatest love of his life.

Best Buy has a new Blu-ray promotion this week with a $9.99 Blu-ray Disc Sale.

The sale includes 16 titles from MGM and Fox Home Entertainment.

Titles include Fargo, Dodgeball, Cast Away, Navy Seals and Speed.

For me sub-$10 is the right price for purchasing Blu-ray movies!

The promotion runs until Feb 27th and while I am not sure if the prices are valid in store, you can always order online for store pickup or price match to the website if the in store prices are higher.

The quality movies keep coming in February with the Fox Home Entertainment release The Last King of Scotland which hit shelves on Blu-ray Disc February 2nd, 2010.

The movie is an interesting approach to a biographical movie, which covers the presidency of Idi Amin in Uganda through the eyes of a fictional character who is hired on as Amin’s personal physician.

The movie is largely fictional, though it also includes some historical events.

While the murder of Amin’s second wife and the plane hijacking near the end of the story actually happened, the involvement of Dr Garrigan in these events was fictionalized.

That said the movie does a great job of showing the nature of Idi Amin, an African dictator who was equally charming and brutal.

The film does a great job of presenting the complexity of the leader, as well as his paranoia and fear for his life.

Forest Whitaker’s performance in the role of the dictator was astounding, and apparently the academy agreed since he won the Oscar for Best Actor in 2007.

The cast includes James McAvoy as the doctor, as well as appearances by Gillian Anderson, David Oyelowo, Kerry Washington and Simon McBurney.

Director Kevin Macdonald cut his teeth on documentary film making with movies like Into the Void, and was a great choice to helm The Last King of Scotland.

The movie has a strong critical reception with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 87% and an IMDb score of 7.8/10.

The Last King of Scotland was also earned $17.6M at the US box office.

The video on the disc is an AVC 1080p encode at 30 Mbps, and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1.

Expect a film-like presentation here with noticeable film grain in the transfer.

Check out the details page for The Last King of Scotland to see 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 42.2 GB used and is coded for All Regions.

The title comes with a number of extras including a director commentary and a selection of deleted scenes, also with optional commentary by Kevin MacDonald.

The documentary Capturing Idi Amin is a fascinating watch, with a lot of archival footage of the real Idi Amin and it is clear from interviews that while some considered him the devil for his brutal actions, others still admire him for his strength and ability to stand up to foreign powers - an uncommon practice for African leaders at the time.

Forest Whitaker discusses the challenges in portraying Idi Amin in a second featurette, and the Fox Movie Channel Presents segment covers the casting for The Last King Of Scotland.

A theatrical trailer rounds out the supplements.

I found The Last King of Scotland to be an excellent movie and the Blu-ray is another great release from Fox Home Entertainment.

I can thoroughly recommend this to anyone who likes a good drama or has an interest in the history of the region.

While the film is not intended to be true to all of the events, care has been taken to present the man as he really was back in the 1970s.

The retail price is $29.99, though it is available at Amazon for $20.99, saving 30%!

Extras:

• Director Commentary
• 7 Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Kevin MacDonald
• Exclusive Documentary: Capturing Idi Amin
• Forest Whitaker Idi Amin Featurette
• Fox Movie Channel Presents Casting Session - The Last King Of Scotland
• Trailer

Synopsis:

Forest Whitaker won the 2006 Oscar for his riveting portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in this powerful drama inspired by real people and events. This is Amin’s incredible story as seen through the eyes of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a young Scotsman who becomes the volatile leader’s personal physician and trusted confidant.

The Blu-ray market share was only 9% for the week ending February 14th according to Home Media Magazine - the first time it has been single figures this year.

On the other hand, the revenue was a healthy $20.15M for the week.

Top seller for the week was Couples Retreat from Universal, ahead of Zombieland from Sony Pictures in 2nd place.

New release The Time Traveler’s Wife from Warner took 3rd place ahead of strong sellers Michael Jackson’s This Is It from Sony Pictures and Star Trek from Paramount.

New releases A Serious Man from Universal, The Stepfather from Sony and Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic from Anchor Bay placed 12th, 13th and 15th place respectively.

Looking at per title market share, the top sellers were a little lower this week, with Couples Retreat at 19% and The Time Traveler’s Wife at 10% Blu-ray Disc market share, while Zombieland had a healthier 27%.

The Hangover from Warner was also lower than previous weeks with ‘only’ 20% Blu-ray Disc market share.

Top performers were Inglourious Basterds from Universal with 45% market share, and Star Trek with an awesome 56%.

Looking at other new releases, The Stepfather took only 13%, while A Serious Man had 27%  and Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic 34% Blu-ray market share.

Two Top 20 DVD releases that had an adverse effect on the overall market share were The Penguins of Madagascar: Operation DVD Premiere and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Minnie’s Bow-tique, which had no Blu-ray release at all.

Martial arts fans will be pleased to finally see the Blu-ray release of Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior from Fox Home Entertainment on February 2nd, 2010.

The 2003 Thai action movie is essentially a showcase for the marital arts skills of star Tony Jaa, and served as his break out movie.

After the head of the Ong-Bak is stolen from his village, Ting sets off to Bangkok in order to recover it and get it back in time for the sacred festival.

In Bangkok Ting meets up with ex-villager Humlae, who now calls himself George and has rejected the ways of the village in favour of a more modern lifestyle involving a lot of gambling.

Humlae steals all of Ting’s money and takes it to an illegal boxing match, where be gambles it all away.

After chasing Humlae down, Ting ends up in the middle of the fighting and his skills are revealed.

The movie plays out as a cat and mouse game, with Ting trying to track down the Ong-Bak head, all the time getting deeper and deeper into the underworld illegal fighting scene.

While the storyline is not overly strong, naturally there is plenty of fighting to be seen and Tony Jaa’s Muay Thai skills are shown off to great effect.

Overall I found the movie to be pretty enjoyable, with exciting action scenes and enough of a story to string it together.

Along with Jaa the cast includes Petchthai Wongkamlao, Pumwaree Yodkamol, Rungrawee Borrijindakul and Chetwut Wacharakun.

Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior was directed by Prachya Pinkaew, who went on to direct Chocolate.

The movie was pretty well received by the critics - it earned a Rotten Tomatoes score of 85% and an IMDb score of 7.2/10.

Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior also took in $4.6M at the US box office.

The video on the disc is an AVC 1080p encode at 18 Mbps, and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1.

The image quality on this release is not the greatest, as you might expect from a relatively low budget Asian movie.

Full resolution PNG screen captures taken directly from the disc can be seen on the details page for Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior.

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

The original Thai soundtrack is present, along with an English dub that is also encoded with DTS-HD Master Audio.

The disc is a single layer BD25, with 21.7 GB used and is coded for Region A.

This release includes a number of interesting featurettes and supplements.

The Movements Of Muay Thai offers a closer look at the martial art, and we are treated to a taping of a live Tony Jaa performance that was shot in France.

There is a Rap Music Video featuring Tony Jaa, along with a ‘making of’ for the Music Video.

Extra footage and behind the scenes shots feature in Selected B Roll, which is well worth a look to see just how real the effects and stunts in the movie actually are.

Lastly there is a selection of Promo Videos, Teasers and Trailers from France, Thailand and the USA, including a couple featuring RZA.

Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior is pretty decent release from Fox Home Entertainment for this ground breaking martial arts action film.

The retail price is $24.99, or order it right now at Amazon for $15.99, saving 36%!

Extras:

• Live Tony Jaa Performance
• The Movements Of Muay Thai
• Rap Music Video With Tony Jaa
• Making of the Music Video
• Selected B Roll
• Promo Video featuring RZA
• Trailers
• About the Film Transfer

Synopsis:

Tony Jaa, the fighting superstar “destined for film’s martial arts pantheon” (New York Daily News) electrifies as Ting, a religious young warrior who swears an oath of peace. But when the head of Ong-Bak, his village’s sacred statue, is stolen, he heads for Bangkok to recover it from a ruthless crime lord at any cost. In a film Time calls “exhilarating,” with relentless, fever-pitched action free of stunt doubles and special effects. Jaa performs “moves that would send Jackie Chan to the chiropractor!” (Maxim)

February 2nd marked the Blu-ray release of the MGM title To Live and Die in L.A.

This movie plays a lot like an eighties version of The French Connection, and no doubt the film-makers were aiming to repeat the success of that film.

This time around though the characters are are even more flawed and the tone is darker.

The start of the film is somewhat cliched, with the agent who is about to retire losing his life in the line of duty.

Big time counterfeiter Rick Masters is the man behind the crime and Secret Service agent Richard Chance vows to take Masters down, no matter what it takes.

As the plot plays out, Chance gets deeper into the underworld as he tries to get closer to Masters in order to make the collar.

As a result To Live and Die in L.A. plays more like a gritty crime drama than a thriller, though it has elements of both.

While the film is certainly well made, when the good guys sink to the same levels as the bad guys, I feel that the audience loses empathy with the characters and the film suffers as a result.

On the plus side, it is great to hear the Wang Chung soundtrack - a real blast from the past.

The cast includes William L. Petersen from CSI and Willem Dafoe, as well as appearances by Dean Stockwell, John Turturro and Robert Downey Sr.

To Live and Die in L.A. was directed by William Friedkin, who won Best Director Oscar for The French Connection and also directed The Exorcist.

The movie has been well received by critics, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 86% and IMDb score of 7/10.

To Live and Die in L.A. earned $17.3M at the US box office.

Contrary to what the box art says, the video on the disc is an AVC 1080p encode at 38 Mbps, and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1.

With the age and style of the film, there is quite a bit of grain, so it is no surprise to me that they have used such a high bitrate to avoid artifacts.

Check out the details page for To Live and Die in L.A. to see 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 box is also has incorrect capacity information - the disc is actually a dual layer BD50, with 40.3 GB used and is coded for All Regions.

It is apparent to me that MGM opted to delay the release of the film in order to do a fresh transfer and encode, though did not change the artwork that matched the original effort.

I must say that I am thrilled that MGM went to these extra lengths to ensure the best possibly image quality for this release.

The only extra on the Blu-ray Disc is the Theatrical Trailer, though the DVD that is included contains a number of supplements.

To Live and Die in L.A. is another great release from MGM Home Entertainment.

The retail price is $24.99, or order it right now at Amazon for $15.99, saving 36%!

Extras:

• Theatrical Trailer

Synopsis:

William L. Petersen (Manhunter, CSI ) and Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man) face off in a deadly game of cat and mouse in this “riveting” (The New York Times) action-thriller from the Oscar-winning director of The French Connection. “Full of flash, style and grit” (Boxoffice), this raw tale of corruption and revenge features one of the most harrowing car chases ever caught on film and a shockingly explosive ending. Federal agent Richard Chance (Petersen) has a score to settle, and he’s through playing by the rules. Whether that means blackmailing a beautiful parolee, disobeying direct orders or hurtling the wrong way down a crowded freeway, he vows to take down a murderous counterfeiter (Dafoe) by any means necessary. But as the stakes grow higher, will chance’s obsession with vengeance ultimately destroy him?