thebluview

Released tomorrow in the UK, follow the link for a review of Law Abiding Citizel on Blu-ray

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Released today in the UK, follow the link for a review of Zombieland on Blu-ray

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I’m not sure why I missed UP when it hit the cinema usually the kids drag me to Disney/Pixar movies. So it was with some excitement and a little trepidation that we sat down to watch UP. Well I’m not sure where the uncertainty came from but it was totally unjustified. UP is easily the best Disney/Pixar movie for a while. The story a little farfetched and with a few holes (with the age of the main character just how old is the baddie) is enjoyable. Being an older viewer the start of the movie can defiantly pull on the heart strings

The video on this Blu-ray is exceptional with nice bright colours and no hint of edge enhancement or artefacts. The sound design in DTS HD Master Audio is equally as good with good articulation and some nice steering effects, defiantly demo material in the way the original Toy Story was used in many stores to demo the first flat screen TV’s.

Extras are also good with some nice shorts and documentaries. If you can go for the deluxe four, yes four disk editions. With this you get the Blu-ray main disk, a Blu-ray extras disk a DVD for the kids to watch over and over again and a digital copy that works in Windows Media Player and iTunes.

Up is by far the best Disney/Pixar has produced in a while and if you where in two minds whether to invest in it, don’t hesitate. Get your copy straight away.

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Universal has announced that Academy Award winning picture Apollo 13 will be available on Blu-ray from April 13th. This BD-50 platter will feature HD picture and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. As well as a host of BD Live features including integration with the iPhone. At the same time they will release their pocket Blu app for Blackberry and Android phones.

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The Times Online reports that following the success of Avatar and with a substantial number of cinemas having recently installed 3D projection equipment movie studios are looking to revive their back catalogues by converting them to 3D. Highlighted possibilities include Lord of the Rings and Star Wars.

Full story here

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Disney has announced that it will release a 3D Blu-ray of it hit animated movie ‘Disney’s A Christmas Carol 3D’ this year.
No further details have been released but Disney will also release a 3D Showcase Blu-ray disk to player manufacturers featuring in addition to A Christmas Carol 3D, 1953 animated short – Working for Peanuts (think we all know that feeling) and 3D trailers for up and coming movies including Toy Story 3 and Alice in Wonderland. I can see the disk getting quite a following for those early adopters looking for something to show off their new setups.

See my impressions of A Christmas Carol 3D here

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Less than one month after release James Cameron’s block buster 3D movie Avatar has hit the $1Billion mark already making it the fourth highest grossing movie ever.

I must say that my boys and I really enjoyed Avatar and seeing it in RealD’s 3D bodes well for future home 3D. With many TV manufacturers signing up to RealD I’m really look forward to using similar technology in the home. Avatar used 3D very well throughout the whole movie to give real depth, not just the odd pop-out gimmick.

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You can now manage your Blockbuster movie rentals via your iPhone. The new app allows you to check store availability, check their complete catalogue and schedule future rentals. In future version you will be able to reserve movies and games as well as movie downloads.

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Yes Lord of the Rings will be released on April the 6th 2010, that’s the good news. The not so good news is that it will be the theatrical release. No high definition special edition extended version for you. Most of the extras have been seen before on the various DVD releases. Each movie will also include a digital copy (glad I just upgraded to a 32GB iPhone.

Now I’m not sure about this, yes I love these movies but the extended versions add so much and if it’s an April release why not delay them a little to accommodate the extended versions. Could this be another studio trying to make us all buy multiple copies of the same movie again? I already have the theatrical releases and the extended versions on DVD so I might just skip the initial Blu-ray release and wait for the inevitable extended versions which will probably be announced a few months after these releases as it was with the DVD versions.

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Universal Studios Entertainment has announced that it will introduce combination Blu-ray and DVD disks with the launch of the Bourne trilogy. What sets these disks apart from the current combo disks is that they will be different sides of the same disk; Blu-ray one side and DVD on the other also known as ‘flipper’ disks. Current combination packs include two separate format disks. This was a feature the now defunct HD-DVD format offered and it was developed in response for Blu-ray but no disks where ever released. It’s hopped that these new disks will encourage people with DVD players who have not yet taken the step to HD that they can still invest in DVD’s with an eye to upgrading their player at a later day and not have to reinvest in their collection.

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Looking through the crystal ball at how the movie and music companies (and perhaps to a larger extent the IT and hardware companies) would like the market to evolve we may have few Christmas’s left where people can actually give real physical movies and music. Giving music has been a long tradition since the first days of vinyl and with the advent some thirty years ago of video tape movies have also been a main stay of recent festive gift giving. However with these industries pushing to move to digital downloads where we do not actually own anything but just licence everything what are we all to do? Doo all give each other iTunes or Netflix vouchers? The reason I still buy CD’s and Blu-ray is that I want to own what I spend my money on and I want to be able to consume it whenever I want to. I don’t want to wait for it to download and I don’t want to have watched it several times only to be told that my licence for it has expired and I have to pay more to enjoy it again. A lot of people within the industry say that the time for physical media is nigh. Well I for one intend to keep growing my collection of hundreds of CD’s and movies and perhaps this is a movement we can grow. Blu-ray can keep the fight alive by providing far better audio and video than any download service but I fear music may be lost. We (the 40 something’s – ouch that hurt to type) could be the last generation that appreciated good sound quality, looking at my own children they prefer convenience over sound quality and with the growth of downloads I fear that will only get worse.

Give the gift of high quality audio and video this Christmas, while you can…

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Warner Home Video is now offering people in the US the chance to upgrade their old DVD titles to Blu-ray. So far a list of 54 titles has been announced with upgrade prices ranging from $7.95 to $9.95 (which I can tell you this is much better than you get at your local Blockbuster store in the UK). Titles include Michael Clayton, Wedding Crashers and 10,000 B.C.

Full details on www.dvd2blu.com

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Sony Electronics has announced that owners of BRAVIA HDTV’s and Blu-ray players will be able to rent the movie “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” online up to four weeks before it is available on DVD and Blu-ray. Sony is leveraging is ownership of Sony Pictures by offering this advanced screening free for one off 24 hour period, however from December 8th  it will cost owners $24.99 to rent on these networked devices and you have no physical media should you wish to keep it you will then have to buy the DVD or Blu-ray. No details have been given on the video resolution or audio being offered. The DVD and Blu-ray will be available from January 5th in the US so it looks like Sony are also trying to capitalize on the release missing the lucrative holiday season.

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The December 8th release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will feature an invitation at join an online live screening on December 12th via BD-Live (so you will need an Internet connected Blu-ray player to participate). The screening will feature live audio commentary from director David Yates who will be joined by Harry himself Daniel Radcliffe.

“I’m really looking forward to the Live Community Screening of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and excited to talk directly to fans of the movie about my experiences and answer their questions,” said Daniel Radcliffe.  “It’s a wonderful way for fans and for those directly involved with making a film to share opinions and ideas.”

More great news for fans, the disk will also feature exclusive footage from the final movie in the Harry Potter series Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to be released in November 2010.

You will also be able to create you own screenings and invite friends via facebook
Get that pre-order in now…

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From the title you might think that this is not going to be a very good review. Well far from it I really enjoyed the first Crank movie with its non-stop adrenalin pumping pace and sense of humour. Well Crank 2 is more of the same only with the dial set to eleven. The movie starts where the previous movie ends with our hero (?) dropping to the ground from a helicopter and surviving only to have his heart stolen and replaced by an artificial version which he must keep charged and that’s all I’m going to reveal about the plot.
As far as picture quality at times it’s outstanding and always looks good. At low of the action takes place outside or in well lit interiors which contribute to the quality. However once you realise while viewing the extras that the whole film was made on hand held consumer 1080p cameras you’ll understand a good job they have gone with the picture and some of the effects. The 7.1 channel DTS HD Master Audio mix is also very good bullets and the effects constantly fly around the sound stage.
The extras are also reasonably good with some insight into why and how the movie was made but as with the movie don’t expect anything too deep and meaningful.  However marks are taken off as the US version comes with a digital copy which is missing from the UK release.
Now the Cranky bit. There is a major issue with this disk in the UK. It’s quite obvious that the disk was not thoroughly tested before it was sent to be mastered and there are a lot of posts on the internet from people having issues getting this title to run and I experienced it myself. After inserting the disk and waiting quite a while you get a small square in the middle of the screen and you only get video here and no menus. I experienced this on both a PS3 (I never download updates the first time I load a movie) and also on a Sony BDP-S350, both very popular players. On the PS3 I was able to stop the disk and start it again and said yes when it prompted me to down load an update, after this all was good. For the S350 it was a little more complex as the machine is not within easy reach of an internet connection and I had to add a USB memory stick to allow it to update, again once the update was complete all was good. But a word of warning if you have a profile 1.0 player or your player it not connected to the internet, it’s not your player it’s the disk.
Overall a good fun movie but Lionsgate really need to sort their testing out for future releases.

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