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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 - 5/14/12 - by Digital Bits editor Bill Hunt |
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All right, let's get an early start this week, shall we?
To start with, Bits reader Charles N. spotted something pretty cool on the AnimEigo website, which is an explainer on the differences between the vintage Lone Wolf & Cub films and the later Shogun Assassin. Essentially, the latter was created by editing the first two Lone Wolf & Cub films together and dubbing the result into English. Shogun Assassin is currently available on Blu-ray and DVD from AnimEigo. But here's the best news: According to the company's website... a Blu-ray Disc release of the original Lone Wolf & Cub films is set for Fall 2012! That's pretty awesome. Speaking for Doogan and myself, we sure wish AnimEigo would make their Zatoichi films available on Blu-ray Disc as well. Fingers crossed. (If you'd like to see them on BD too, drop them an e-mail and let them know!) Anyway, great spot Charles and thanks for the heads-up! Couple other bits of release news today... Warner Home Video has set Project X for release on Blu-ray/DVD/UltraViolet Combo on 6/19 (SRP $35.99). The DVD only version follows on 7/17 (SRP $22.97). WHV has also set the animated Superman vs. The Elite: Special Edition for DVD only release on 7/24. HBO Home Entertainment has set the 4-part documentary series The Weight of the Nation for DVD only release on 7/31. Magnolia Home Entertainment will release the comedy The Yankles on Blu-ray and DVD on 6/5. Eagle Rock Entertainment will release Kasabian: Live! - Live at the O2 on Blu-ray and DVD on 6/26. Inception Media Group has set Decisions for DVD release on 6/12. The film features the final appearance of the late actor Corey Haim. Inception will also release Titanic's Final Mystery on Blu-ray and DVD on 5/29. MTI Home Video will release the war film Normandy on DVD on 6/5 (SRP $24.95). And for you sports fans, A&E Home Entertainment has set Highlights of the 2012 Masters Tournament for release on DVD only on 5/29 (SRP $19.95). Here's a look at the BD cover art for Warner's Project X, Universal's Being Flynn (due 7/10) and Kino Lorber's The Last of England (7/24)...   
Stay tuned... 5/11/12 All right, we've got a couple more things for you today to close out the week... First, this is going to irritate the heck out of many of you: Hollywood and the U.S. Government have officially cooked up a pair of new anti-piracy warning screens that are soon going to appear on new Blu-ray and DVD releases from the six major Hollywood studios. No big deal, right? Here's the problem: There are two new screens, each of which will run for 10 seconds. They'll be displayed back to back when you first boot up the disc in your player... and you will NOT be able to skip them. So that's 20 second of unskippable irritation, on top of the time it already takes Blu-rays to load BD-Java and check for BD-Live updates, plus all the already unskippable studio logos and trailers you have to endure. Yeah, we hate this too. Seriously, we REALLY hate this. And it will do absolutely noting to curb piracy. Apparently Hollywood is trying very hard to drive the physical media business right into the ground. Anyway, more here at Ars Technica. Ugh. [Our own Jeff Kleist notes: "The people who bought the disc legally are not the ones who need to see this message." He's come up with an interesting proposal: "The industry has been pushing UltraViolet as its catch-all digital locker of choice, so why not reward those first-week paying customers who register their BDs on UltraViolet - as long as you're hooked into the Internet your disc will automatically bypass those annoying warnings and load straight into the menus. This not only gives customers a tangible benefit in purchasing new titles versus renting, but also introduces more people to UltraViolet which the studios want anyway. Combine that with a merging of all these separate studio accounts into one master UV account, and in theory everyone wins."] It's not a bad idea. Which naturally means Hollywood will never go for it. Unfortunately, those customers who don't use UltraViolet (or Digital Copy of any kind) or who don't have Net-connected players are still out in the cold. Anyway... Here's another bit of news that's a potential irritation for you Windows PC users: Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system is going to ship without the ability to play DVD and Blu-ray movie titles in Windows Media Center. You'll have to download an upgrade from Microsoft (for a "nominal" and as-yet-unannounced fee, of course) to play them. This is probably not a surprising development, because the vast majority of PC users who watch movies on their systems do so via third-party software like PowerDVD. It might just be that Microsoft doesn't feel like paying license fees to Hollywood up front anymore when most of their consumers don't use Windows Media Center to watch discs anyway. Nevertheless, it's another irritation. More here at Tom's Hardware. Okay, let's have a little bit of new announcement news... Warner Home Video and Cinemax have set Strike Back: Cinemax Season 1 for Blu-ray and DVD release on 8/7 (SRP $59.96 and $49.98). All 10 episodes will be included, along with audio commentary and more. Paramount has set Eddie Murphy's A Thousand Words for Blu-ray and DVD release on 6/26. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment will release Mirror Mirror on Blu-ray and DVD on 6/26 as well. They also have Leverage: The 4th Season set for DVD only release on 7/17 and The Glades: Season 2 on DVD due on 7/10. Anchor Bay Entertainment will release On the Inside on Blu-ray and DVD on 7/24, followed by Lake Effects on DVD only on 8/14. IFC Films will release the "apocalyptic romance" Perfect Sense, staring Ewan McGregor and Eva Green, on Blu-ray and DVD on 5/22. Also, Shout! Factory has set the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season One, Volume One for DVD only release on 8/21. The 3-disc set (SRP $19.93) will include the first 30 episodes. Shout! Factory and Time Life are also making the 6-DVD Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Complete Season One set and the 40-DVD Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Seasons One-Seven box set available online only directly to fans starting on 7/30. By the way, Shout! also has Diff'rent Strokes: Season Three coming to DVD only on 7/17, followed by The Smurfs and The Magic Flute on DVD only on 8/14. And EOne Entertainment will release Babar: The Classic Series - The Complete First Season on DVD on 6/5 (SRP $19.98). In other release news, Bits reader Jason B. has let us know that a pair of John Wayne classics from 20th Century Fox are now available on Blu-ray only at Walmart as retail exclusives: The Big Trail and The Barbarian and the Geisha. SRP is $12.96 each. The Chuck Norris titles The Delta Force, Missing in Action and Missing in Action 2: The Beginning are also available on Blu-ray exclusively at Walmart for $9.96 each. And that's all for this week. We'll leave you with a look at a little more Blu-ray cover art: Disney's Grosse Pointe Blank: 15th Anniversary Edition, IFC's Perfect Sense and Lionsgate's The Flowers of War (due 7/10)...   
See you next week! 5/10/12 All right, sorry about missing yesterday's post. We had a whole behind-the-scenes thing going on here. Much busy work I won't bore you all with. Anyway, we've got some pretty good release news to report to you all today... First of all, Lionsgate has revealed more of its July Blu-ray and DVD release slate and it includes some good titles. Look for Battle Force (DVD) on 7/3, Barney: All About Opposites (DVD), Yimou Zhang's The Flowers of War (BD & DVD), Thomas & Friends: Schoolhouse Delivery (DVD) and You're Nobody Till Somebody Kills You (DVD) on 7/10, Friends With Kids (BD & DVD) and Timmy Time: Happy Birthday Timmy (DVD) on 7/17, Boss: Season One (BD & DVD) and The Monitor (DVD) on 7/24 and the Total Recall: Mind-Bending Edition (BD), La Grande Illusion (BD) and Cole Younger and the Black Train (BD) on 7/31. Total Recall (SRP $14.99) will feature "an all-new director approved, high-definition transfer from the original film negative" and both new and legacy extras, including an all-new interview with director Paul Verhoeven, an all-new Restoration Comparison featurette, audio commentary with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Paul Verhoeven, the Imagining Total Recall documentary, 2 featurettes (Models and Skeletons: The Special Effects of Total Recall and Making of), a photo gallery and the film's theatrical trailer. La Grande Illusion (SRP $29.99) will include a trio of articles (La Grande Illusion: Success and Controversy by Olivier Curchod, La Grande Illusion by Ginette Vincendeau and The original negative of La Grande Illusion by Natacha Laurent), the Restoring La Grande Illusion featurette, a John Truby film presentation, and trailers from 1937 and 1958. And The Flowers of War (SRP $29.99) will include the 5-part Making of The Flowers of War documentary. Meanwhile, Warner has announced that the BD/DVD version of Ben Affleck's The Town recently released in the UCE box set will be available in standard BD Digi-Book packaging on 6/5 (SRP $34.99). Also, Warner and Adult Swim have set Squidbillies: Volume Five for DVD only release on 8/7, the same day as Warner's The Cat in the Hat: Deluxe Edition Blu-ray and DVD. Universal has set American Reunion for Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy Combo Pack and DVD on 7/10. Extras on both versions will include 7 deleted scenes, a gag reel, 3 featurettes (The "Reunion" Reunion: Re-Launching the Series, Jim's Dad and Ouch! My Balls!) and commentary with co-writers/co-directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. The Blu-ray will exclusively add 13 extended scenes, alternate scenes, an Out of Control Track (featuring the cast appearing in pop-up video during the film), 4 more featurettes (The Best of Biggs, Lake Bake, Dancing with The Oz and American Gonad-iators: The Fight Scenes), an interactive American Reunion Yearbook and all the other usual BD-Live and BD-Java bells and whistles. Universal will also release Being Flynn on Blu-ray and DVD on 7/10. The film stars Robert De Niro and Paul Dano. Here's a look at the BD cover art for Lionsgate's Total Recall: Mind-Bending Edition and La Grande Illusion, and Universal's Mystery Men (due 7/24)...   
Stay tuned! Bill Hunt, Editor The Digital Bits billhunt@thedigitalbits.com |
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