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High-Def Digest-Digest: February 13, 2012by Dick Ward [teaser]A whole lot has happened this week, and while we have a team of people digging up and reporting all the news that's fit to print - er, publish digitally - you're only one person, and it's easy to miss some of the cool stuff that's been going on. Well, it's High-Def Digest-Digest to the rescue, filling you in on what's worth knowing.[/teaser] Blu-ray News Sales Report: Blu-ray the Majority Format for 3 of the Top 5 Movies Last Week 'Drive,' 'In Time,' and 'The Thing' all had Blu-ray outselling DVD, while 'Real Steel' came in at 42% Blu-ray, 58% DVD. 'Treasure Buddies' only had 18% of its sales come from Blu-ray, but a low-budged family film isn't exactly the kind of thing you need in high-def. 'Plan 9 from Outer Space' Dated for Blu-ray Back before 'Troll 2,' 'The Room,' and 'Manos: Hands of Fate,' came a movie that earned a reputation for being the worst that still holds up today. This brilliantly bad movie will be available on March 6th. 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' Dated and Detailed for Blu-ray Few films have as impressive a cast as this one, and even fewer offer commentary by one of the most impressive stars in the film. Gary Oldman joins director Tomas Alfredson for the commentary on the Blu-ray which is set to come out March 20th. 'Clueless' Blu-ray Announced Alicia Silverstone stars in the 1995 comedy alongside Paul Rudd, Brittany Murphy, Jeremy Sisto, and Breckin Meyer. The Blu-ray is set to be released on May 1st. Redbox Buys Blockbuster Express Kiosks and NCR Entertainment Division It's been a good week or two for Redbox, starting with the purchase of NCR's entertainment division which includes the Blockbuster Express kiosk business. They've also decided to ignore the demands of an extended deadline by Warner and start renting Warner films the day that come out on DVD and Blu-ray. Gear and Industry News Verizon and Redbox Join up for Netflix-Like Disc and Streaming Service If the purchase of Blockbuster Express wasn't enough, Redbox is also starting its own subscription based streaming service with Verizon. Vizio Announces $3,499 MSRP for 58" 21:9 CinemaWide TV The middle of the road CinemaWide TV from Vizio is coming in at an unsurprising $3,499. We're just waiting for the price reveal of the 70" version. Panasonic Prices and Dates Plasmas and LCDs for Japan The Japanese pricing doesn't reflect the US price completely accurately, but it's a nice way to get a prediction. New Sony President and CEO Kaz Hirai Says Sony Could be in "Serious Trouble" The company's new CEO is going to work hard to turn things around, but he knows it's not going to be an easy road ahead. Netflix Launches 'Lillyhammer' - its First Original Series The success or failure of 'Lillyhammer' could help to determine what Netflix plans to do with original content move forward. Game News Double Fine Raises Money for a New Adventure Game - In Talks with 'Minecraft' Creator About 'Psychonauts 2' The folks over at Double Fine studios were looking for $400,000 to make a new adventure game. A campaign on KickStarter has raised over four times that amount. Meanwhile, 'Minecraft' creator Markus "Notch" Persson is in talks to help fund 'Pyschonauts 2 .' Oklahoma State Rep Wants to Tax Violent Videogames Will Fourkiller is upset about 'Grand Theft Auto' and the 2001 release 'Bully.' His new bill would introduce an additional tax on games rated Teen, Mature or Adult Only. 'MLB 2K12' and 'NBA 2K12' $69.99 Combo Pack Coming to Xbox 360 If you're planning on picking up 'MLB 2K12' you'll be able to spend a mere $10 more and pick up 'NBA 2K12' right along with it. Sadly for PS3 owners, the combo pack is for Xbox 360 only. Activision Blizzard Says 'Diablo III' Coming This Spring - New 'Call of Duty' Out This Year 'Diablo III' has been delayed from its expected release date yet again and Activision says there's a new 'Call of Duty' on the way for 2012. No big surprises there! Namco Bandai is Forming a Studio Focused Solely on Game Development The company behind games like 'Soulcalibur,' 'Tekken' and the 'Tales' series is splitting off a development company so they can better focus on game development.Posted Mon Feb 13, 2012 at 01:00 PM PST by: -
Disney Will Finally Put 28 Day Delay in Place – Still Skeptical of UltraViolet[teaser]The company will only be selling directly to rental sources that agree to the delay. [/teaser] The folks at Disney are joining the rest of the studios in applying a 28 day delay to rentals of their DVD and Blu-ray releases. CEO Bob Iger says that, up until now, he hasn’t seen any benefit to the delay. At this point, he says that the trend is visible. As far as UltraViolet goes, Disney is taking a “wait and see” approach. Iger says that UltraViolet is “not as robust” and not as “consumer friendly as we had hoped. For now, Disney is sticking with its own digital locker – KeyChest. Source: Home Media MagazinePosted Mon Feb 13, 2012 at 11:00 AM PST by: -
Sharp Reveals Pricing for 2012 TV Lineup[teaser]The 80” LCD is going to run you $6,499 – others are obviously a bit cheaper. [/teaser] Sharp has revealed pricing for their new large screen LCDs, or most of them at least. They’re coming in at 60” or larger and the prices, of course, reflect the size of the set. The LE745U series is launching this month complete with 3D capability, built-in Wi-Fi, LED edge-lit screens and a refresh rate of 120Hz. The 60” model will be running at $2,699 while the 70” version comes in at $3,699. The 847U brings the refresh rate up to 240Hz and costs a bit more to reflect that. The 60” and 70” models each cost $500 more than their 745U counterparts. The 80” version, meanwhile, retails at $6,499. Source: TWICEPosted Mon Feb 13, 2012 at 09:00 AM PST by: -
Consumer Electronics Spending Between Men and Women is Closer than Ever[teaser]It used to be that only men were tech heads, but to quote Bob Dylan, “The times, they are a-changin’.” Also that song was an awesome way to open ‘Watchmen.’ [/teaser] According to a study by the Consumer Electronics Association, women are spending almost as much as men on consumer electronics. In previous years there’s been a pretty significant disparity, but things have changed significantly. Back in 2011, women spent, on average, $667 on electronics. Men beat that by $61 dollars with an average of $728. That’s a huge improvement over a $200 gap in 2007. Most of this additional spending seems to be on mobile devices, which have been a huge hit with both sexes. “This Valentine’s Day, the way to a women’s heart just might be through electronics,” suggests the CEA’s Jessica Boothe. “Women don’t want to be catered to with ultra-feminine looking products; they simply prefer lightweight devices that can fit smaller hands and smaller body frames.” Source: Home Media MagazinePosted Mon Feb 13, 2012 at 07:00 AM PST by: -
Bonus View Digest - February 10, 2012It's already February, where has the time gone? One thing is for sure though, The Bonus View hasn't slowed down in its coverage of everything HD. Whether it be in the theaters or on the small screen we've got you covered. [teaser]This week we continued to roll out more Sundance Film Festival coverage. We also covered a few mid-season series premieres so people know what's happening on TV. Check out everything this week had to offer.[/teaser] Blu-ray News You'll want to take a look at our Blu-ray Highlights post this week. Josh outlines a few stellar picks, such as 'Lady and the Tramp'. It isn't all good though, that one vampire vs. werewolf movie came out too and I'm not referring to the franchise with a leather-clad Kate Beckinsale. With his Full Metal Jackets post of the week, Tom Landy discusses the Future Shop steelbook for 'The Immortals' for all you collectors out there. Theatrical News Wonder what you should see this weekend at the movies? Well, Luke Hickman has seen just about everything being released and he's got a rundown of the movies you should see and the ones you should skip completely. See what Luke thinks about the releases of 'Journey 2,' 'The Vow,' and 'Safe House.' We still have some Sundance coverage that we're putting up so this week you'll be able to find reviews on Josh Radnor's 'Liberal Arts,' the fantastic little time travel movie 'Safety Not Guaranteed,' the funny gross-out R rated girl comedy 'For a Good Time, Call...' and a story about a kid, a couple goats and David Duchovny with a wily beard in 'Goats.' E, covered the trailer front, looking at a couple trailers for two new horror movies that are coming out. Check out what he thought about the previews for 'ATM' and 'Silent House' in this week's Trailer Park. Finally, as awards time fast approaches Luke takes a look at the SAG Awards winners and wonders if they'll predict the upcoming Oscar winners. TV Recaps This week saw the beginning of a couple new series, which we made sure we covered for you. Aaron took on the series premiere of 'The River' which he surprisingly enjoyed, while Josh checked out NBC's new musical drama 'Smash.' Other shows that we covered with recaps this week include: 'Grimm,' 'Fringe,' and 'Alcatraz.' Don't forget, 'The Walking Dead' starts back up this Sunday and we'll pick up right where we left off with that show. So remember to join in on the discussion. When this 'Walking Dead' season started we had quite a few lively discussions about the episodes, so it should be fun. Special Features This week's Weekend Roundtable we discussed our favorite acting performances of 2011. What were yours? Make sure to let us know. Leading up to the Oscars our Mid-week Poll asked who you think will win in the major acting categories and also who you think should win. Make sure to vote if you haven't already. Thanks for joining us here at The Bonus View for another week of movies, TV and fun. Please continue to comment. We love hearing what you have to say.Posted Fri Feb 10, 2012 at 11:00 AM PST by: -
Panasonic Prices and Dates Plasmas and LCDs for Japan[teaser]Details on the US versions of the sets aren't available yet, but we can glean plenty from the Japanese pricing. [/teaser] There's a three stage cycle to TV releases from Japanese companies and we're at the really frustrating one. The first step is showing off new sets at CES. That's an exciting one. The final step is releasing the TVs in the US - also exciting. Right now, we're at the point where companies are going to be releasing their sets in Japan, which does us very little good. Still, we can get a little glimpse of what to expect from the US releases by what's announced for Japan. Panasonic revealed that its upcoming VT50 series of plasmas will be hitting Japanese stores on April 20th. the 50" version runs 360,000 yen or $4,664, while the 60" set comes in at 500,000 yen, or around $6,478. Pricing tends to be a bit lower in the US, but don't expect to see huge drops. LCD TVs will be coming out on March 9th along with GT5 plasmas. Of particular interest is the ET series, which is the first from Panasonic that uses passive 3D glasses. Source: EngadgetPosted Fri Feb 10, 2012 at 09:00 AM PST by: -
Streaming Super Bowl Sets Records for Viewers, but Drops the Ball in Quality[teaser]Lag, poor quality, and a lack of easy access made the stream an overall failure. [/teaser] Good news first. Super Bowl XLVI, the first Super Bowl ever to be made streaming by the NFL, brought in 2.1 million unique viewers. That’s a huge number, and will certainly encourage more streaming events in the future. Now the bad news. The stream was less than acceptable for many viewers. Video and audio quality were lacking, lag was bad for both the main stream and the alternate angles that really added appeal to the streaming idea. One telling statistic is that the average viewer only watched for 39 minutes. That means for every person that watched the entire thing, there were several that tuned in and immediately tuned out. Certainly there were those that had no choice but to watch it streaming, but for everyone else the stream was a disappointment. Source: EngadgetPosted Fri Feb 10, 2012 at 07:00 AM PST by: -
New Licensing Deal Brings Viacom Shows to Amazon Instant Video[teaser]Older shows from Spike, Comedy Central, MTV, and Nickelodeon will be added. [/teaser] Amazon is working hard to add new content to its video services, and a new deal with Viacom does just that. Episodes of shows from the usual assortment of Viacom's TV channels have been added to Prime Instant Video. The shows coming to Amazon aren't anything shocking or new - it seems to mostly be the same content that Netflix offers. Still, the addition of shows like 'Yo Gabba Gabba,' 'Jersey Shore,' and 'Chappele's Show' will certainly bring smiles to the faces of Prime members. There's still a rumor floating around that Amazon is going to break off it streaming service into something separate from the rest of Amazon, but nothing to show for it quite yet. Source: EngadgetPosted Fri Feb 10, 2012 at 07:00 AM PST by: -
HDD Interviews 'The Double' Writer/Director Michael Brandtby Luke Hickman Now on Blu-ray, from the writers of '3:10 to Yuma' and 'Wanted,' is writer and first-time director Michael Brandt's 'The Double' - an espionage thriller starring Richard Gere and Topher Grace. In it, Gere plays a retired CIA agent who's called back into action when an assassin who he spent his career tracking resurfaces. Grace plays an up-and-coming young agent who devoted his collegiate studies to investigating the assassin's case. Both have to work together in a twisted journey to uncover the assassin's identity and stop him from taking out other government officials. [teaser]Michael Brandt comes from an interesting past in the movie-making business and took time out of his busy schedule to tell us about how he went from studying film, to editing, to writing and now directing. He also tells us how hard it is to break into directing and what it's like finally making that switch. Enjoy![/teaser] HDD – Luke Hickman: Hello! Michael Brandt: Hey, Luke! How are you? HDD: Not bad. How are you? Michael Brandt: Well, I'm a little under the weather, so I hope that my voice will hold out. HDD: Right now, I can understand you just fine. Michael Brandt: Good. HDD: Have you been doing a lot of these phoners today? Michael Brandt: Actually, you're early on the list, so that's good. I don't know if by the end I'll be able to do the phone calls – but for now, I'm fine. HDD: I watched 'The Double' Blu-ray last night and you put together this film independently, right? Michael Brandt: Yeah. Hyde Park was the financing company. They finance their movies – most of them – through foreign sales. They actually have a fund out of Abu Dhabi that they use to finance their movies. It's independent, as in it wasn't a huge studio [film], but it wasn't like Derek Haas' mom or anybody like that [financed it] – just some sheik in Abudabi. HDD: (laughs) That's awesome. You and Derek have been working together for some time now, right? Michael Brandt: We've been working together since we were in college. We met at Baylor University in the early '90s, we were in grad school there together. I ended up in Los Angeles working as a film editor and Derek was working in advertising in Atlanta when he sent me what he thought was a completed script that was like 75 pages long. I said, "This isn't quite done yet, but it's really good." We'd tried to write some stuff together earlier in college and it was all terrible. So he sent me 75 pages of this great idea and I said, "What if this isn't the end of the movie, but the end of the second act?" I wrote the end of the movie and went back and rewrote some of the other stuff. The next thing you know, we had Brad Pitt attached to that thing and Gore Verbinski [set to direct], but at the last minute they left our movie to go do 'The Mexican' with Julia Roberts. So our movie didn't get made with those guys, but we were on the map in Hollywood. Derek moved out to Los Angeles and we got an agent. The rest is cinematic history, as they say. HDD: What a cool beginning! Was your goal to always end up directing? Michael Brandt: When I went to film school – Baylor is a really good technology school in terms of the technology of media. When I got there in the early '90s, we were already finishing up with high-definition television – and this was in like '92. The head of our department at the time had been Sony's head of new technologies in the '80s, so we would go to NAB (the National Association of Broadcasters conference) and run Sony's high-definition equipment for them. We knew more about it than they did. When I got there, thankfully, my interest was film and they were transitioning out of HD because they thought it was "old school" – like everyone was starting to do it – and were getting into this thing called non-linear computer editing. I had one of the first Avids ever made. We got it and I figured out how to take it apart and put it back together. I got really into the techie side of it. I went [to Baylor] wanting to be a writer/director and left there as an editor, which turned out to be the best move I could make because I moved to Los Angeles and within three weeks I was cutting a feature and within a year I was working for Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez because they were all making the move to the Avid and I was one of the few guys who knew how to do it. It's funny looking back at how it all worked out. Then Derek and I sold our first script when I was working with Robert. That was a really long answer to a question that I can't remember. HDD: "Was the goal to end up directing?" Michael Brandt: Yep. And that's how I got there. HDD: (laughs) That's awesome. So, how was it directing your first feature film, being the man in charge on-set? Michael Brandt: Umm. There's great satisfaction in having the final decision go through you. I loved that. I loved knowing that fail or succeed, it was going to be on me - and also Derek. The nice thing about my personality in terms of creative collaboration is that I'm really open to input – and that's because I have a writing partner. You can't survive with a writing partner without being naturally collaborative. You have to have that mindset of "the best idea wins." That was something that I tried to bring to directing – "the best idea is going to win" – versus the guy who comes on set and everything has to be his way. What's funny is as I look back, there are times when I think that I should have stood up more for what I wanted specifically than I did. I should have been a bigger asshole than I probably was. Maybe there are some things in the movie that worked better in my own mind than when I watch it. Directing, all in all, is really fun because it's such a massively collaborating situation. It's also physically exhausting. It's a hard day, you never get to stop, and even when you're done you have to be thinking about tomorrow. Really, until you've [directed], you don't know just how mentally taxing the whole thing is. HDD: How long was the process of making 'The Double?' Michael Brandt: (laughs) Well, let's see. 12 years. We sold the idea as a pitch to MGM 12 years ago. Then we wrote the script, MGM got bought and sold and bought and sold and the script disappeared into their vault. We got the rights to it back and were able to separate the rights so that we owned them and Derek and I went out and got Hyde Park and [Richard Gere] attached. It was a really long process in some ways, but once we got Richard, the time from when we were shooting was seven months. That part was actually pretty fast. HDD: Was it hard landing Richard? Michael Brandt: You know, landing any actor for your first directing gig is a huge challenge. I've been trying to direct my first movie for six or seven years and it's hard to get somebody who's worth enough financially, to a financier, to commit to a first-time director. The script kinda spoke for itself, it's pretty strong – it's an interesting character for a guy like Richard to play. Our agent sent it to him and I heard he liked it, so I conned my way into a meeting at his house and after a couple of hours with my "dog and pony show," he was in. He was really open-minded and didn't care that I hadn't directed before. He embraced that and actually never took advantage of the power that guy like Richard Gere has on a relatively small movie. That was nice. He championed me and Derek all the way through it. HDD: Once you had him, was it easy casting Topher Grace, Martin Sheen and Odette Yustman? Michael Brandt: Yeah. Once you get a guy like Richard, you now have a certain amount of cache on the movie. You then get attention from agents and actors around town. And Topher - we needed that second guy though. There are a lot guys around that age group who could've played that role, but Topher, I thought, was an interesting choice because - he's obviously funny. He can pull off comedy easily. But the times that he has done drama, I've been impressed. I've always been impressed with what he did in the Weitz brothers movie ['In Good Company'] and also the Soderbergh movie he did – I can't remember the movie, I have too much cold medicine in my brain. HDD: 'Traffic?' Michael Brandt: Right! I'm also inherently fascinated with watching funny people do serious work. It seems like there's a tension there to it, like if you watch Patton Oswalt – the funniest guy on the face of the Earth – in 'The Fan' and watch him play drama, there's something even more dramatic about it because you realize that there's a pain behind the comedy to begin with. I thought Topher would be – (SPOILER) nobody would think that there's an additional twist at the end of the movie if we cast Topher, so that meant a lot (END SPOILER). Talking with him about how I saw the character and how he saw the character, it felt like a natural fit. HDD: With you being a techie, were you involved with the Blu-ray conversion process? Michael Brandt: I'm a tech person, but certainly limited. Any of that kind of stuff is beyond me. I'm not quite as techie as I used to be. No, I wasn't involved [with the Blu-ray], but I was involved in all of the actual post [production]. In terms of editing, I actually did some editing myself. I really thrived on that whole process, but the actual transfer and all that, that was not me. HDD: With technology moving at a rapid pace, is it hard to keep up with it? Do you want to keep up with it? Michael Brandt: That's it. I would like to be more involved with it, but the truth is that my life right now is as a screenwriter and director and also the father of three little kids. It's seriously hard enough just trying to figure out if the Lakers won last night. HDD: I've got tell you before I get kicked off the phone that I'm a huge fan of '3:10 to Yuma.' Michael Brandt: Thank you! We're working with Jim Mangold on another project right now that – since you liked 'Yuma' – you might really like as well. HDD: Can you tell us a little bit about it? Michael Brandt: Um. All I can say is that it's a sports movie. HDD: Well if you're saying that it's got a '3:10 to Yuma' element to it, I'm in. Michael Brandt: Thank you very much!Posted Thu Feb 9, 2012 at 02:30 PM PST by: -
Netflix Launches 'Lillyhammer' - its First Original Series[teaser]The success or failure of this series could have a huge impact on the future of Netflix. [/teaser] The first original series from Netflix has officially launched. 'Lillyhammer' stars Steven Van Zandt of 'Sopranos' fame as a former mobster under witness protection in Norway. It's a fish-out-of-water story that promises to be both humorous and dramatic. User reviews are positive so far, with an average of 4.2 stars out of five. Netflix, despite some slipups last year, is a company that's dominating its space. That, of course, means that they have a huge target on their back. With Verizon and Redbox teaming for a streaming service and rumors of a standalone Amazon service, Netflix is doing what it can to separate itself from the pack. 'Lillyhammer' is the first attempt to do so. The show marks the first original series to hit Netflix - a move designed not only to keep old customers but inspire new ones to join. Coming later this year is the show 'House of Cards' while we'll be waiting until 2013 for new episodes of 'Arrested Development.' Source: Netflix BlogPosted Thu Feb 9, 2012 at 09:45 AM PST by:
