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Looking for stories that used to be listed above? Use the button bar or these links to access the following sections: Reviews (DVD, laserdisc and hardware reviews), FAQ & Archives (old feature stories and interviews, and Jim Taylor's Official DVD FAQ) and Upcoming DVD Art (at look at upcoming cover artwork). Finally, My Two Cents - Archives contains all past daily editorial posts dating back to 12/97. |
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| GIVEAWAYS |
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| DVD & HD FORMAT STATS |
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 TOTAL U.S. DVD PLAYER SALES (last data reported 8/24/07 - CEA): 133,443,356 |
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| Editor's Note: The Consumer Electronics Association has discontinued its reporting of DVD player sales data, and they have not begun reporting on Blu-ray player sales. However, our original CEA DVD Player Sales chart will remain available here for future reference. | |||||||
| TOTAL DVD TITLES (3/16/12 - DVD Release Report): 135,991/244* |
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| *Net total of R1 DVD-Video discs released/announced. Discontinued & adult not included. |
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| TOP 10 SELLING DISCS (3/11/12 - Nielsen/VideoScan): |
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| TOP 10 RENTAL DISCS (3/11/12 - Home Media Research): |
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| TOTAL BLU-RAY DISC TITLES (3/16/12 - DVD Release Report): 5,743/29* |
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| *Net total of Region A discs released/announced. Discontinued & adult not included. |
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| TOTAL HD-DVD TITLES (FINAL FORMAT TALLY as of 7/4/08 - DVD Release Report): 429/0* |
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| *Net total of R1 discs released/announced. Discontinued & adult not included. |
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| SOFTWARE MARKET SHARE - BD VS DVD (YTD through 3/10/12 - Nielsen/VideoScan): |
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| NUMBER OF AFI TOP 100 FILMS ON DVD - 2007 LIST (4/20/10): 100/0 (0) |
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| Released/Announced or In Development - ( ) Not yet available on DVD. |
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| MY TWO CENTS - 5/17/12 - by Digital Bits editor Bill Hunt |
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All right, we're very pleased this afternoon to be able to present a new Blu-ray Disc review from our very own Barrie Maxwell. Barrie's been watching a lot of movies to keep himself busy during his on-going battle with a brain tumor. And he's felt good enough to turn in a review of Entertainment One's new Hell on Wheels: The Complete First Season Blu-ray set. The series airs on AMC here in the States. Please feel free to drop Barrie an e-mail as well - it really means a lot to him hearing from you guys at a time like this. Enjoy the review!
In announcement news today, Warner Home Video has set Wrath of the Titans for 3D Blu-ray/Blu-ray/DVD/UltraViolet Combo Pack and Blu-ray/DVD/UltraViolet Combo Pack release on 6/26 (SRP $44.95 and $35.99). A rental DVD version will follow on 7/24 (SRP $22.97). Extras on the Blu-ray versions will include a pair of Maximum Movie Mode interactive viewing options (The Path of Men and The Path of Gods - featuring storyboard comparisons, Picture-in-Picture video, Focus Points and more), plus deleted scenes. Each "path" will include a number of mini-featurettes as follows: The Path of Men will include Battling the Chimera, Who Are The Titans?, Agenor: The Other Demi-God, The Cyclops Fight, Prison of the Titans, Minotaur: The Human Nightmare and The Heavens Raise Hell on Earth. The Path of Gods will include Hephaestus: God of Fire, Lost in Tartarus' Labyrinth and Creatures of the Titans. You'll find cover art for both BD versions below. Warner has also set Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation for DVD release on 8/14, along with (for the BBC) Doctor Who: Episode 51 - Spearhead from Space: Special Edition and Doctor Who: Episode.155 - Greatest Show in the Galaxy. They also have Bleach Uncut: Set 14 set for DVD release on 9/11 (for VIZ Media). 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment will release Thin Ice on Blu-ray and DVD on 6/12. Our friends at Blue Underground have moved the street date for the Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! Blu-ray to 7/3 (from 6/19). The company has also set Midnight Movies: Sci-Fi Double Feature (Contamination/H.G. Wells' The Shape of Things to Come) for DVD release on 8/28. Also coming that day to DVD are Midnight Movies: Car Crash Double Feature (Cannonball/Fast Company) and Midnight Movies: Crime Double Feature (Grand Slam/Revolver). Lionsgate has set William & Catherine: A Royal Romance DVD only release on 8/7, along with Blue Like Jazz on both Blu-ray and DVD. Vanguard Cinema has set Wan Chai Baby, Invisible Ink, Beyond the Steppes and Possession for DVD release on 7/24. Pathfinder Home Entertainment will release Sophie's Revenge and Good Morning President on DVD on 7/10. Millennium Entertainment has set A Little Bit of Heaven for Blu-ray and DVD release on 6/12. Green Apple Entertainment will release Elephant Sighs on DVD on 6/12, followed by Identical on 6/26. Shout! Factory will release The Rookies: The Complete Second Season on DVD only on 8/7. They'll follow with the animated Astonishing X-Men: Torn on 8/14. For you music fans, Shout! Factory will also release Los Lobos: Kiko 20th Anniversary Edition on CD and Kiko Live on CD, DVD and Blu-ray on 8/21. Also on the music front, MPI is releasing the concert/documentary John Mellencamp: It's About You on Blu-ray and DVD on 6/5 (SRP $29.98 and $24.98). The film "follows the singer on tour and in the recording studio." And for your soundtrack CD fans, our friends over at La-La Land Records (working with Sony Music and Paramount Pictures) are getting ready to release a new 3-CD Star Trek: The Motion Picture limited edition soundtrack set. The score for the 1979 film will be presented fully restored and remastered, along with "the legendary early "rejected" cues that Goldsmith recorded prior to composing his famous main theme". Additional audio extras will include "a collection of early takes of the Main Title (including extensive stage chatter), isolated segments featuring Craig Huxley's famous "blaster beam" and assorted synthesizer excerpts, the domestic CD debut of Bob James' disco cover version of Goldsmith's theme and Shaun Cassidy's vocal version of the love theme, A Star Beyond Time." You'll also get a 40-page booklet with liner notes by reissue co-producer Mike Matessino and our old friend Jeff Bond. The release date is 6/5 and the set will be limited to 10,000 units. More details on that, plus a special L.A.-area release event, can be found here at Trek Movie. Here's a look at the Blu-ray cover art for Warner's Wrath of the Titans and 20th Century Fox's Margaret (due 7/10)...   
Back tomorrow with a DVD review from Doogan. Stay tuned... 5/16/12 All right, we had a bit of work happening on the server yesterday, which explains the downtime. But let's get you caught up on release news and whatnot... First however, our own Russell Hammond has turned in the weekly update of the Release Dates & Cover Artwork section with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Video Game cover art and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, a portion of anything you order from Amazon after you click through to them from our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we really do appreciate it. Now then, we've got some great new Blu-ray and DVD reviews coming for you starting tomorrow and through the rest of the week. Doogan's checked in with one, Barrie's feeling good enough to send one in as well and we have a new staff reviewer contributing too. So be sure to check back in over the next couple days for those. Meanwhile, here's some new title announcements... Criterion has just unveiled their August Blu-ray and DVD slate and as always there are some really great titles. Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums (Cat #157) gets a Blu-ray Disc upgrade on 8/14. That same day, Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne's La promesse (#620) and Rosetta (#621) arrive on both Blu-ray and DVD as well. Andrew Haigh's Weekend (#622) follows on Blu-ray and DVD on 8/21. And on 8/28, look for Paul Fejos' Lonesome (#623) and The Who's Quadrophenia (#624 - directed by Franc Roddam) on both Blu-ray and DVD. Also on 8/28, watch for Eclipse Series 35: Maidstone and Other Films by Norman Mailer on DVD only, featuring Maidstone, Wild 90 and Beyond the Law. Kino Lorber has announced their August slate too. On their Horizons label, look for Mr. Hush (DVD & BD) on 8/7. On the Kino Lorber label, look for Foreign Parts (DVD only) and Derek Jarman's Sebastiane (BD) and The Tempest (BD) on 8/7, followed by Post Mortem (DVD & BD) on 8/21. From Kino Classics, look for Louis Feuillade's Les Vampires (2-disc DVD & 2-disc BD) and Andrzej Wajda's Korczak (DVD & BD) on 8/14. And rounding out the slate, look for the Redemption titles Visions of Ecstasy (BD - the film was made in 1989 but was banned for over 20 years in the U.K.) and Renato Polselli's Black Magic Rites: Remastered Edition (DVD & BD) on 8/21, followed by Jean Rollin's The Living Dead Girl: Remastered Edition (DVD & BD) and Two Orphan Vampires: Remastered Edition (DVD & BD) on 8/28. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has set Kenneth Lonergan's Margaret for release on Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack on 7/10. It'll be available exclusively at Amazon.com for a limited time, and will include the theatrical cut and (on a bonus DVD disc) a never-before-seen extended cut as well. Universal has set the direct-to-video crime thriller 4.3.2.1 for Blu-ray and DVD release on 7/31. Extras on both versions will include a "making of" featurette. Sony has set the Hallmark Channel's The Note 3 for DVD release on 7/10, followed by Drew Peterson: Untouchable on DVD 7/24. Lasse Hallstrom's Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is also due from Sony on both Blu-ray and DVD on 7/17. It features Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt and Kristin Scott Thomas. Paramount has set Clue for Blu-ray only release on 8/7. Extras will include three different endings (with the option to watch them all at once or one at random) and the theatrical trailer. Meanwhile, CBS and Paramount have Gunsmoke: The Sixth Season, Volume One due on DVD on 8/7, followed by Vegas: The Third Season, Volume Two and Vegas: The Complete Series Pack on 8/14. And Showtime and Paramount have set Dexter: The Complete Sixth Season for Blu-ray and DVD release on 8/14. In other release news, a company called Neptune Media is releasing Kenji Misumi's original The Last Samurai on DVD on 6/26. Misumi is best known for directing Shogun Assassin and several of the Zatoichi films. The film will be presented in anamorphic widescreen, and will include the original theatrical trailer, a photo gallery, actor bios and an essay by Tom Mes, author of Agitator: the Cinema of Takashi Miike. Also, Warner Home Video has announced that the street date for their Lethal Weapon Blu-ray Collection has moved up from 6/12 to 5/22. Adjust your plans accordingly. And our friends over at TV Shows on DVD have confirmed that 2 seconds of film footage from the Season One episode We'll Always Have Paris still haven't been located by CBS in the Paramount vaults and so will have to be upconverted in the forthcoming Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season One remastered Blu-ray, due on 7/24. That's still not bad given how much of the previously missing footage from other episodes has been located. Meanwhile, a couple of the remastered TNG episodes are going to be screened in theatres around the country in July to promote the release. Here's a look at the cover artwork for Neptune's The Last Samurai DVD, Kino Lorber's Saphead BD (due 7/10) and Mr. Hush DVD (8/7), CBS' Dexter: The Complete Sixth Season BD and Criterion's The Royal Tenenbaums and Quadrophenia BDs...   
  
Back tomorrow with reviews and lots more news. Stay tuned! Bill Hunt, Editor The Digital Bits billhunt@thedigitalbits.com |
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