Top Blu-ray Deals for July at Amazon

Posted in Amazon Bargains on July 1st, 2010 by Dave

terminator2judgmentdayskynetedition.jpgTop sale titles at Amazon this week include The Day After Tomorrow, Dark City, Collateral, Mr & Mrs Smith, The Godfather and The Adventures of Robin Hood.

The recent Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Skynet Edition) release remains a great Amazon bargain, currently listed for only $10.00.

Pixar’s latest Blu-ray release Up is also a great deal - only $17.99 right now - saving 61%.

Leon: The Professional is selling well at only $10.99, saving 56%.

Save 60% off The Godfather or The Godfather Part II, both currently listed for only $11.99.

2001aspaceodyssey.jpgIf $10 is your price threshold, you can choose from 2001: A Space Odyssey , Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Mr & Mrs Smith, Dark City, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The Day After Tomorrow and The Adventures of Robin Hood - saving 60% to 71% off retail.

There are lots more bargains to choose from - keep an eye on the home page for the latest popular deals at Amazon.

Amazon Lists a Bunch of Blu-ray Titles for only $10

Posted in Amazon Bargains on June 21st, 2010 by Dave

mrmrssmith.jpgAmazon has listed new promotions with $10 titles from studios including 20th Century Fox, Warner, Disney, Lionsgate, Anchor Bay and Sony.

Fox titles in the promotion include Mr & Mrs Smith, The Day After Tomorrow and Vanishing Point, which are discounted over 71% off retail.

Also discounted 71% are Lies and Illusions and The Open Road from Anchor Bay.

Other $10 titles include Disney’s Coyote Ugly, Lionsgate’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Skynet Edition) and MGM’s The Silence of the Lambs.

terminator2judgmentdayskynetedition.jpgNew Line titles include A History of Violence, Dark City, Domino and Freddy vs. Jason.

Warner titles The Lost Boys, Deliverance, The Dirty Dozen, The Aviator, A Clockwork Orange and The Adventures of Robin Hood are also listed for only $10.

$10 Sony titles include Hancock, La Femme Nikita, National Security, Rudy and Secret Window.

Certainly a lot to choose from - something for everyone!

Valentine’s Day on Blu-ray Disc Released May 18th, 2010

Posted in Commentary on May 26th, 2010 by Dave

Valentine's DayIt is Valentine’s Day in May this year with the new Blu-ray release from New Line Home Entertainment on May 18th, 2010.

Naturally released in theaters in February, this ensemble cast movie appears to have had a fairly rapid transition to the sell through market.

In many ways the film is modeled after a British romantic comedy named Love Actually, which similarly features a large cast and a number of relationship stories.

Valentine's DayUnfortunately though, this Hollywood production somehow fails to do justice to the concept that worked so well in the British film.

The film starts with the main character getting engaged, and his friend enjoying a new relationship of her own.

But that is only the beginning - a huge variety of relationships, situations and conversations that seem to be random are tied together slowly as the film continues.

The day is filled with ups and downs however as relationships become strained by the circumstances of the most romantic of days.

But never fear - after all it is a Hollywood movie.

While the story lines that tie together was a clever piece of writing, for me at least it to the point where it became somewhat contrived.

One amazing aspect to this film though is the large ensemble cast of rather famous and popular actors, including Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Kathy Bates, Shirley MacLaine, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Queen Latifah, Patrick Dempsey, Jamie Foxx, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Topher Grace, Emma Roberts and Taylor Swift.

Apparently only one man could get all these stars to work on the same film - Valentine’s Day was directed by Garry Marshall, the man behind Pretty Woman, The Princess Diaries and Beaches.

The movie got a pretty rough reception from the critics - it earned a Rotten Tomatoes score of only 18% and IMDb score of 5.7/10.

Valentine’s Day defied the critics at the cinema however, reaching $110.5M at the US box office.

Valentine's DayThe video on the disc is a VC-1 1080p encode at 16.5 Mbps, and is presented at 1.78:1 aspect ratio, filling the HDTV screen.

You will find full resolution PNG screen captures taken directly from the disc at the details page for Valentine’s Day.

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 28.0 GB used and is coded for All Regions.

This release includes a Digital Copy for both Windows Media and iTunes, and a DVD copy for legacy players.

The disc also contains a selection of supplements, including a commentary by director Garry Marshall.

Additional footage is also presented in a large collection of deleted and extended scenes, with optional introduction from the director, and there is also a gag reel.

The casts’ thoughts and feelings about Valentines Day are presented in The Stars Confess Their Valentine’s Day Stories.

The Garry Factor featurette presents interviews with the movie’s large ensemble of big stars about the director and what motivated them to work in this film with him.

Valentine's DayA music video for the Jewel song Stay Here Forever is included, as is an exclusive ’sneak peak’ at the upcoming Sex And The City 2 movie.

While from my personal perspective Valentine’s Day is not a strong film, it was certainly a popular one with the women folk and the Blu-ray release from New Line Home Entertainment is perfectly sufficient for this kind of film.

The retail price is $35.99, or order it right now at Amazon for $27.49, saving 24%!

Extras:

  • The Stars Confess Their Valentine’s Day Stories
  • Commentary By Director Garry Marshall
  • The Garry Factor
  • Jewel Stay Here Forever music video
  • Blooper Reel
  • Exclusive Sex And The City 2 Sneak Peak Trailer
  • Additional Scenes

Synopsis:

An all-star cast sparkles in this hilarious and heartwarming romantic comedy from the director of Pretty Women and The Princess Diaries. Stories crisscross, collide and boomerang in this look at a day in the life of love. There’s a proposal. Flowers that didn’t get sent. A big fat secret that’s finally told. The “I’ll show up and surprise him” that ended up surprising her. Fights, kisses, wrong turns, right moves and more. Whether new to or through with love, you’ll fall in love with this 19-star, funny-side-up celebration of romance.

Amazon Blu-ray Bargain - Lord of the Rings Trilogy for only $49.99

Posted in Amazon Bargains on May 15th, 2010 by Dave

lordoftheringsthemotionpicturetrilogy.jpgIf you wanted Lord of the Rings on Blu-ray but the price was too high, Amazon is aiming to help you out.

Right now Amazon has the Blu-ray edition of the The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy listed for half off retail.

You will get all three theatrical editions and Digital Copies for only $49.99 - under $20 per movie.

A great chance to get these excellent Peter Jackson movies at a discount.

Blu-ray Market Share at 12% on a Week with Few Notable New Releases

Posted in Market Share on April 28th, 2010 by Dave

hmm121.jpgWith few new releases for the week, the Blu-ray market share was 12% and the revenue was $15.77M for the week ending April 18th, according to Home Media Magazine.

The top seller for the week was Sherlock Holmes from Warner, selling roughly double the second placed The Hurt Locker from Summit.

sherlockholmes.jpgThe top five featured Toy Story from Disney, The Blind Side from Warner and The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy from Warner.

Toy Story 2 from Disney followed up in 6th place.

Apollo 13 from Universal was the best selling new release in 7th place, while Pirate Radio, also from Universal, had to settle for 15th position.

Sherlock Holmes continues to have a strong 28% Blu-ray Disc market share, while Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel from Fox is considerably lower at 12%.

The big winner for the week was The Hurt Locker with 51% market share for Blu-ray Disc, while new release Pirate Radio had a pretty decent 21% Blu-ray Disc market share.

hurtlocker.jpgTitles right around 30% market share include 2012 from Sony and Fantastic Mr. Fox from Fox Home Entertainment.

Quite a number of DVD’s made the top 20 chart that had no Blu-ray counterparts, including Robots from Fox, The Great Mouse Detective from Disney and Dora the Explorer: Pirate Adventure from Paramount.

Bluray Revenue Down Compared to 2009 for the Week Ending April 11th

Posted in Market Share, Studios, US Releases on April 19th, 2010 by Dave

hmm13.jpgWhile the Blu-ray market share was a fairly healthy 13%, the revenue of $18.57M for the week ending April 11th was down compared to the same time last year for the first time ‘on record’, according to Home Media Magazine.

While the Blu-ray revenues were a little over 5% down compared to 2009, DVD revenues were down closer to 60%.

lordoftheringsthemotionpicturetrilogy.jpgThe much anticipated The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy from Warner was the top selling Blu-ray title, ahead of Sherlock Holmes, also from Warner, in 2nd place.

In fact the Blu-ray release of Peter Jackson’s trilogy ranked 5th place in DVD sales for the week.

The top 5 was rounded out by The Blind Side from Warner,  Toy Story from Disney and the new release Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans from First Look Home Entertainment.

As well as taking all of the top 3 Warner’s The Lord of the Rings original animated version took 10th place in the chart.

Lastly the new catalog release The Thomas Crown Affair from Fox just squeaked into the chart in 20th position.

sherlockholmes.jpgSherlock Holmes continues to sell well on Blu-ray Disc with 30% market share on Blu-ray Disc, while Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is down at 9%.

In the middle we have The Blind Side, New Moon from Summit and The Princess and The Frog from Disney at 14% Blu-ray Disc market share.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans had a healthy 29% Blu-ray Disc market share, as did 2012 from Sony Pictures with 28%.

The Lord of the Rings: Original Animated Classic had a 45% market share on Blu-ray Disc, while The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy was credited at 100% on Blu-ray Disc for the week.

Best Buy March Blu-ray Promotions

Posted in Best Buy Bargains on March 8th, 2010 by Dave

bestbuy.jpgBest Buy has a number of new Blu-ray promotions this week, including Half Off, Oscar titles and movies from $10.99.

haroldkumarescapefromguantanamobay.jpgTitles at $10.99 include Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, Dark City, Blow, The Perfect Storm, The Lost Boys and Final Destination.

As always you can order online and have them shipped or pick them up in store.

The Time Traveler’s Wife on Blu-ray Disc Released February 9th, 2010

Posted in Commentary on March 3rd, 2010 by Dave

The Time Traveler's WifeThe Time Traveler’s Wife, released on Blu-ray by New Line Home Video on February 9th, is an interesting fusion of a love story with science fiction.

The film follows Clare and her unusual relationship with the time traveling Henry, who mysteriously travels through time and space when he becomes emotional.

When Henry travels he finds himself naked in his new location, and has to find the nearest shelter and clothing, never sure when he will return to the present time.

Henry has no control over when he travels, where and when he ends up, nor how long he stays, and he travels into both the past and future.

The Time Traveler's WifeThe film mostly follows Henry’s time line, with occasional flash backs to help establish Clare’s time line also.

When Henry first meets Clare, he does not know who she is, though she has already fallen in love with him through his many visits into the past.

The truth of the time line in the movie is well maintained, and the characters struggle with the facts that they know from the future and the possibility of changing their destiny.

Personally I found the concept intriguing and the movie to be quite enjoyable, though it fits into the thought provoking side rather than the action side of science fiction.

The cast features Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana in the lead roles, as well as Ron Livingston, Arliss Howard, Stephen Tobolowsky, Jane McLean and Brooklyn Proulx.

The Time Traveler’s Wife was directed by Robert Schwentke, the man behind the thriller Flightplan.

The movie had a mixed reception from the critics wiith a Rotten Tomatoes score of 38%, and a much better IMDb score of 7.2/10.

I would tend to side towards the IMDb score for this one.

The Time Traveler’s Wife did fairly well in the cinema though, reaching $63.4M at the US box office.

The Time Traveler's WifeThe video on the disc is a VC-1 1080p encode at 17 Mbps, and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1.

You will find full resolution PNG screen captures taken directly from the disc at the details page for The Time Traveler’s Wife.

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

The disc is a single layer BD25, with 23.6 GB used and is coded for All Regions.

Along with a couple of featurettes, his release includes a Digital Copy for both Windows Media and iTunes.

An Uncoventional Love Story features Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams and their views on the characters they portray.

The other featurette - The Time Traveler’s Wife: Love Beyond Words - is a 20 minute behind the scenes ‘making of’ documentary.

I quite enjoyed The Time Traveler’s Wife myself, though I can see that this style of movie is not for everyone.

The Blu-ray release from New Line Home Entertainment is another fairly light weight release from parent company Warner, though the movie itself gets a fairly decent presentation.

The retail price is $35.99, or order it right now at Amazon for $23.99, saving 33%!

Extras:

  • An Uncoventional Love Story
  • The Time Traveler’s Wife: Love Beyond Words

Synopsis:

Lose yourself in timeless love with this gloriously romantic story of the journey of two hearts. Artist Clare Abshire (Rachel McAdams of The Notebook) shares a deep emotional bond with Henry De Tamble (Eric Bana of The Other Boleyn Girl), a handsome librarian who travels involuntarily through time. Knowing they can be separated without warning, Clare and Henry treasure the moments they have together, imbuing them with the yearning and passion of two people imprisoned by time - and set free by love. Based on the #1 bestseller, The Time Traveler’s Wife weaves together destiny and devotion, past and future to turn an extraordinary love into an extraordinary love story.

Blu-ray Cover Art Gallery for the Week of February 7th, 2010

Posted in Studios, US Releases on February 9th, 2010 by Dave

Blu-ray Cover Art Gallery for the week of the 7th of February 2010 reveals a number of catalog titles from Lionsgate including Arnold in The Running Man, along with fresh titles from Universal in the form of Couples Retreat and A Serious Man.

Maybe someone can get A Serious Man, watch it and explain it to me…!

Warner is also releasing The Time Traveler’s Wife while Magnolia also has a couple of new titles - the comedy Serious Moonlight and the British film Bronson.

Stargate fans are also treated to a Blu-ray release of SGU Stargate Universe: Season One.

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

Amazon Continues to Add $7.99 Blu-ray Titles to Promotion

Posted in Amazon Bargains on January 29th, 2010 by Dave

weddingcrashers.jpgAmazon has added a number of new titles to their list of $7.99 Warner Home Video titles.

Most recently added are Wedding Crashers, Ocean’s Eleven and Alexander, Revisited - The Final Cut.

Certainly $8 is a great price for Blu-ray movies, and there are some nice titles here.

See a growing list of $7.99 after the break:

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