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Ben Drawbaugh

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Blu-ray Releases This Week

by Ben Drawbaugh on May 6, 2009 at 07:52 AM

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button -- Blu-rayWhat an easy week to decide which new releases is the most anticipated as 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' finally goes Blu. Although that is the biggest title, Paramount didn't stop there as it released the second season of the hot TV show 'Dexter' as well as some all time classics like 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' and 'Grease.' Sony has a few catalogs this week as well, but nothing we're really excited about. There is plenty to get excited about next week though, between all the 'Star Trek' movies and classics like 'Fargo' and -- our personal favorite -- 'The Good, the Bad And the Ugly,' there really is something for everyone.
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Blu-ray Releases on April 14th 2009

by Ben Drawbaugh on April 14, 2009 at 07:45 PM

Splinter Blu-rayIt's a slow week for blockbuster new releases, but it's a big week for catalog titles. So rather than focus on the new day-and-date movies like 'Splinter,' we will take a look at the awaited older titles. One that we really enjoyed the first time around is '8 Mile,' but there is also 'Mean Girls' as well as 'The Last Kiss.' More documentaries are making their way to Blu-ray and one of our favorite sources (PBS) has 'The Story of India' -- although we'd rather see more episodes of Nova and Nature. Next week is already looking better though as there are a few X-Men movies as well as another instant classic, 'Sin City. '
  • Splinter (Magnolia)
  • Strange Wilderness (Paramount)
  • Mean Girls (Paramount)
  • The Last Kiss (Paramount)
  • The Thirteenth Floor (Sony)
  • Universal Soldier: The Return (Sony)
  • 8 Mile (Universal)
  • The Spirit (Lionsgate)
  • Deep Sea (Warner)
  • Pride & Prejudice (A&E)
  • Cranford (BBC)
  • The Story of India (PBS)
  • Living Landscapes: Earthscapes - Wild Africa (Allegro)
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Blu-ray Releases on March 31st 2009

by Ben Drawbaugh on March 31, 2009 at 06:05 AM

Slubdog Millionaire - Blu-rayThere's little doubt that the best title this week is 'Slumdog Miliionaire,' after all it did winner Best Picture. But this is also a week of classics -- and we aren't using that word loosely here either -- as Fox has 'South Pacific' (1958) and Warner has 'Gigi' (1958) and 'An American in Paris' (1951). Also of note is the 10th anniversary edition of 'The Matrix', which more importantly is the first time the title has been offered outside of the pricey box set. The other title really worth looking out for is 'Seven Pounds' from Sony, but we'll warn you, this isn't the normal Will Smith action movie.

Slumdog Millionaire (Fox)
Marley & Me (Fox)
South Pacific (Fox)
The Matrix (Warner)
An American in Paris (Warner)
Gigi (Warner)
National Geographic: Journey to the Edge of the Universe (Warner)
National Geographic: Kingdom of the Blue Whale (Warner)
The Chronicles of Riddick (Universal)
Pitch Black (Universal)
Ghosts of Mars (Sony)
Seven Pounds (Sony)
The One (Sony)
LCD/Plasma Ultimate HD Experience: Africa (Well Go USA)
Serenity Travel: Vol. 1 (Mill Creek)
Tell No One (MPI)
Two Evil Eyes (Blue Underground)
UFC: The Best of 2008 (First Look)
The Way of War (First Look)
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Blu-ray releases on March 24th 2009

by Ben Drawbaugh on March 24, 2009 at 07:01 AM

Quantum Of Solace - Blu-rayWe like weeks like this when there is little doubt what the biggest title is. In fact we'd go as far as to call this the James Bond week with MGM releasing the latest addition to the franchise with the 'Quantum of Solace,' as well as some of our favorite classics like 'Goldfinger 'and 'The World Is Not Enough.' Also this week Universal has 'The Fast and the Furious Trilogy' box set -- although we're not sure why we mentioned it -- while Paramount has 'Things We Lost in the Fire,' 'The Kite Runner,' and 'A Mighty Heart.' Next week the top Oscar winner finally hits Blu as 'Slumdog Millionaire' hits the streets.


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Blu-ray Releases on March 10th 2009

by Ben Drawbaugh on March 10, 2009 at 07:30 PM

Transporter 3 Blu-rayJust as expected, things are starting to turn around already and movies worth seeing are once again hitting the shelves. First up is 'Transporter 3.' We don't expect it to be the best movie ever, but it should be entertaining. Next up is another title from Disney's vault, 'Pinocchio' -- which should be interesting for a few reasons. Another animated title worth a look this week is the hilarious 'South Park: Season 12,' which is showing that TV shows are finally starting to be released on Blu-ray with some regularity. We also can't forget one of our favorite Edward Norton movies as Paramount offers up 'Primal Fear.

One of the first Oscar winning titles hits this week as well with 'Milk.' Last week we had a poll to decide where our links should go, and we have to say we are a bit surprised that Blu-ray.com won -- well technically, no one cares actually won, but we threw that one out. Last week's poll was so much fun we decided to take a new suggestion and add a poll this week for which title you think will be the hottest selling of the week -- we'd ask which you're going to buy, but our polls are limited to a single answer.

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HD 101: Why There Are Black Bars on HDTVs

by Ben Drawbaugh on February 20, 2009 at 09:56 AM


It never fails, one of the first thing just about every new HDTV owners asks is; why are there black bars on my new widescreen TV? And this is the reason why just about every HD discussion forum has a sticked thread at the top of the forums explaining why this still happens. So in this addition of HD 101, we figured we'd have our go at trying to give a simple answer to an age old question. The most basic explanation is because the image you want to watch isn't the same shape as the your TV. Of course that seems too obvious and now you're thinking; but why not, they're both widescreen? But rather then getting into the why are there so many shapes -- called aspect ratios from here on out -- we'll show you the various formats and the different ways they might be displayed on your HDTV.

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Blu-ray Releases on November 11th 2008

by Ben Drawbaugh on November 11, 2008 at 07:11 AM

Hell Boy 2 Blu-rayJust when we thought there wasn't another comic book movie this holiday season until 'The Dark Knight,' along comes 'Hellboy,' which we somehow forgot about. It's available both in regular and extra geeky, the latter will set you back another $20, but while both include a digital copy, only the Collector's Edition includes a scary looking figurine and we're not sure what else. Also this week, Weinstein has the made for TV movie about the NASCAR legend, Dale Earnhardt, which is sure to be a popular stocking stuffer for Blu-ray NASCAR fans -- not sure how many of those there are. Star Wars fans can look forward to the animated feature 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars,' while WW2 junkies can can relive 'Band of Brothers for the first time on Blu-ray. That isn't the only TV show series this week though, as Warner has both the first season of 'Chuck' and the third season of 'Supernatural.' And finally, Fox offers up the first, and regrettably, the only season of 'Firefly.'
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Blu-ray Releases on October 28th 2008

by Ben Drawbaugh on October 28, 2008 at 08:01 AM

Hell RideThis could be the weirdest week of releases we've seen to date, because there are like 20 titles released (15 mentioned below) but not one that we are really interested in. If you can't wait for Christmas movies, then Warner has 'Elf' and the 'Essential Holiday Collection' which also includes 'Elf' and other Warner movies like our favorites -- which were previously released -- 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation' and 'A Christmas Story'. We really had a hard time deciding which title was the best this week, and ultimately just picked 'Hell Ride' for no good reason. We also considered 'Zombie Strippers' or 'Tinker Bell', but didn't want the stigma. If you're a 3D fan then this is an exceptionally good week for you, as we can't ever remember another week with not one, but two movies were released in 3D ('Polar Express' and 'Journey to the Center of the Earth'). If there's nothing for you this week maybe next week will have something, but it might depend on how much you like Planet of the Apes' movies.

Blu-ray
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MSNBC Going HD This Spring

by Ben Drawbaugh on October 27, 2008 at 10:46 AM

MSNBC LogoEvidently as much as MSNBC wanted to go HD in time for the big election push, it just didn't get done. We'd like to think that the fact that MSNBC isn't presented in HD is the reasons why it's behind both CNN and Fox News in ratings -- which have both been HD for some time -- but it's probably the content. Either way though, in the spring MSNBC will finally make the big upgrade.

But what's more interesting is how important MSNBC's president, Phil Griffin, thinks HD is. In fact he said that "you better be in HD in the next year or so, because you have to be in that tier." Obviously we've been saying this for some time now, but it's refreshing to know that even network big wigs are on board with the rest of us HD snobs now.
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Blu-ray Releases on October 21st 2008

by Ben Drawbaugh on October 21, 2008 at 08:01 AM

Sweeney Todd Blu-rayThe fourth quarter continues to hit on all cylinders for Blu-ray this week with yet another nice slate of titles. At the top of the list is two pretty good movies, 'Sweeney Todd' and 'The Incredible Hulk.' When Johnny Depp stars in a Tim Burton flick, it is almost always worth the cost of admission and at the same time, Edward Norton tries his hand at being the Hulk, and considering how bad the last Hulk movie was, and how Norton has never done a bad movie, it shouldn't disappoint. The remaining titles are just about all James Bond movies, as MGM releases all the classics on Blu, and in addition, Sony is double-dipping with Casino Royale. Looking ahead, there isn't that much to get excited about in the immediate future, but things do get rolling again in about a month when 'WALL-E' hits in mid-November.

Blu-ray
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Blu-ray Releases on October 14th 2008

by Ben Drawbaugh on October 13, 2008 at 07:45 AM

Blu-ray's incredible fourth quarter of new releases continues this week as some of the biggest blockbusters of the summer debut. The biggest title this week is very easily 'Kingdom of the Crystal Skull', with almost no other day-and-date release coming in second. The other big news this week is all the HD DVD catchup titles from both Warner and Universal, the biggest of which is easily 'The ... Read more »
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Blu-ray Releases on October 7th 2008

by Ben Drawbaugh on October 7, 2008 at 08:01 AM

There are a few day and date releases this week, but we don't think any of them are the biggest title of the week. Sure 'Sleeping Beauty' doesn't fit in the Blu-ray demographic, it does mark a significant milestone in Blu-ray's path to replacing DVD. In fact it marks the very first Disney Classic to be released on Blu-ray, which we're sure will help more than one father convince his wife they need ... Read more »
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Blu-ray Releases on September 30th 2008

by Ben Drawbaugh on September 30, 2008 at 07:01 AM

We are finally getting our first Summer blockbuster in time for the holiday season, after some rumors of delays, as 'Iron Man' is set to hit the shelves tomorrow. This is the first title to be released in some time that is expected to once again raise the Blu-ray bar and be the best selling titles to date. But this isn't the only news this week, for starters Discovery has its latest title, 'When ... Read more »
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Blu-ray Releases on September 23rd, 2008

by Ben Drawbaugh on September 23, 2008 at 07:02 AM

With September finally nearing to a close, we are finally starting to see some big titles on Blu-ray. The biggest of those this week is arguably the biggest catalog title of all time, 'The Godfather'. Some have even stated that the fact that Paramount brought the historic series to Blu-ray in half the time it took for it to come to DVD, is proof that Hollywood is really putting all its weight ... Read more »
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Blu-ray Releases on September 16th, 2008

by Ben Drawbaugh on September 16, 2008 at 08:16 PM

We're switching up the format a bit on the weekly Blu-ray release post, because the number of titles being released each week is so great, and the total number of titles so insignificant, that from now on we're just going to focus on the movies we find interesting and drop the title count all together -- mostly because it's impossible to keep accurate anyways. The biggest news this week is that ... Read more »
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