Upcoming Releases

[edgeciff]

What I want or waiting for is the price for Blu Ray discs to drop and I don't mean some special sales. If a standard disc comes out at SRP of $19.95 then the Blu Ray should equal this price not be between $5 and $10 more!.

[filmlover]

Well, maybe some day. But don't forget, Blu-ray is a better technology that DVDs, with more capacity, a little more expensive to produce. However, you should be able to get the new Criterion Blus at exactly the price of the regular DVDs (that's what Criterion said their pricing will be). So, if I understand you, if a standard DVD of a title is $19.95, and next to it is a Blu-ray, with high definition image, sound, color, possibly some special featurettes the DVD doesn't have, and it is priced at $24.95, you wouldn't buy it?

[Film_Fatale]

Well, maybe some day. But don't forget, Blu-ray is a better technology that DVDs, with more capacity, a little more expensive to produce.

 

I'm becoming more and more concerned about the number of Blu-Rays that is reportedly being issued with no bonus features at all. Yup - even if the normal DVD had bonus features, some companies will release a Blu-Ray and not even bother to port over the old extras in standard-definition. Like the guy from digitalbits.com pointed out, that's a horrible way to try to get people to switch over.

[filmlover]

I would say that the number of Blu-rays that don't have extras to be in the minority, not the majority...just like you can find many DVDs that have no extras.

[iowahawkeye]

I've been following the posts on this board daily/weekly,and i'd say i have to agree w/the poster who says that Blu Ray upgrad has NOT been overly enticing to me either. I most surely have the funds and curiosity to upgrade my player in the next 6 months, but if you regularly follow new Blu Ray releases on highdefdigest.com, you can easily surmise from the reviews of most critics that they are not impressed w/the efforts thus far from MOST studios re: blu ray releases. I've read editorials that a FEW studios have stepped up the plate, but that several/most have not re: overall quality. Note: this is moreso regarding OLDER films being released that require extensive spiffing up, NOT necessarily new or current releases. They are clearly NOT making blu ray upgrading enticing to older movie buffs, not as of yet. And with this economy and the scarcity of releases these past few months, i will be following any new developments rather closely! This is just my opinion, derived from some research here and there.

[filmlover]

As an update to an announcement I posted several months back about Quo Vadis coming to Blu-ray, blu-ray.com today announced willbe released March 17th, 2009, and will have the following extras:

 

Commentary by F. X. Feeney

In the Beginning: Quo Vadis and the Genesis of the Biblical Epic - documentary

Theatrical Trailer

Teaser Trailer

 

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=2100

[Film_Fatale]

I would say that the number of Blu-rays that don't have extras to be in the minority, not the majority...just like you can find many DVDs that have no extras.

 

The guy from digitalbits.com said they seem to be increasingly common (Blus without extras). I don't know if he's right or wrong, but they do get advance preview copies of pretty much all DVDs and Blu-Rays....

[filmlover]

You also have to realize he was speaking specifically about one particular company, MGM, who is famous for providing little in the way of extras (even on DVDs). (MGM basically issues more recent films of Fox and the last few decades of MGM - not the golden years stuff, which is done by WB). MGM is CHEAP!!!! Take a look at their DVD packages of things like the Frankie & Annette set, the Sinatra set, te war films, Peter Sellers, and others. Even for DVD, they tend to not upgrade their releases to anamorphic widescreen when issuing yet another reissue of a title. And they so often just grab a number of titles they have out there already pressed and stick those into box sets. The Frankie & Annette series of beach movies were taken from the Midnite screenings series, with no remastering at all. So far, their release schedule is a joke when it comes to Blu-ray. I'm serious, I would be hard-pressed to even recall a dozen titles they have put on Blu yet.

[Film_Fatale]

Well, then let's hope this is limited to the MGM titles (meaning, of course, MGM titles that WHV doesn't control!)

[lawrenceliberty]

Wasn't there supposed to have been a Ritz Brothers set released this year as well as some of the series films like Torchy Blaine, Andy Hardy etc..?

[edgeciff]

Sony has announced five more titles in their idiot titled Martini Movies series coming out February 3:

 

Five

Getting Straight

Gumshoe

Our Man in Havana

Vibes

 

The best of these probably are OUR MAN IN HAVANA and GUMSHOE, a parody of the 40's detective films.

[mateo107]

don't forget the infamous lawsuit where it turned out MGM was just cutting off the top and bottom of full screen versions and calling it "widescreen"

[filmlover]

Everything considered, isn't it a shame of what has become of what many considered the greatest film studio of them all? They used to be know for only having the best of everything, stars, writers, directors. designers. And now they are one of the worst.

[filmlover]

Can't recall if we have mentioned this before but there is another set of *Murnau* coming out, this time from Kino on March 17th:

 

The titles are listed below and the six-disc set will retail for $99.95, but is available at Classicflix.com for only $69.99. The only title of the bunch not previously released on DVD is *The Finances of the Grand Duke* (1924), with *The Haunted Castle* (1921) being rescued from public domain and *Faust* (1926) receiving a new 2-disc deluxe edition.

 

While Nosferatu (1922), The Last Laugh (1924) and Faust (1926) are all available as singles in 2-disc deluxe editions, each version of the movies in this set will only contain a restored single disc version.

 

Titles with previous release information (if any):

 

 

*Tartuffe* (1927 - Previous Kino release that is being re-packaged, but not available for individual resale)

 

BONUS FEATURES:

 

The Way To Murnau: Documentary on the Life and Career of F.W. Murnau

PLUS: Booklet essay by film scholar Jan Christopher Horak

 

 

*The Haunted Castle* (1921- Previous PD release and is available as a single for $17.99)

 

BONUS FEATURES:

Gallery of set design paintings by Robert Herlth

Excerpts of Rudolf Stratz?s novel

 

 

 

*The Finances of the Grand Duke* (1924 - No previous releases, available as a single for $17.99)

 

BONUS FEATURE:

Audio Commentary by Film Historian David Kalat

 

 

 

*Faust* (Deluxe Restored Edition) (1926 - Previous single disc Kino release, now available in a 2 Disc Deluxe Edition for $21.99)

 

A Two-DVD edition featuring the restored German version (106 min. with optional English subtitles) and the previous U.S. release version (116 min.)

 

BONUS FEATURES:

?The Language of Shadows: Faust,? a 53-minute documentary on the making of Murnau?s film

New musical score by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra in 5.1 Stereo Surround or 2.0 Stereo

The lost screen test footage of Ernst Lubitsch?s abandoned 1923 production Marguerite and Faust.

Essay by film historian Jan Christopher Horak

Image Gallery

 

 

*Nosferatu* (1922) Previous Kino Release

 

 

*The Last Laugh* (1924) - Previous Kino Release

 

 

Here is a link with more details and pictures of the covers:

 

http://www.classicflix.com/kino-more-murnau-march-a-374.html?osCsid=fe81e9c821254fa2ec1b8c7f1d80621e

[Film_Fatale]

> {quote:title=filmlover wrote:}{quote}

> Everything considered, isn't it a shame of what has become of what many considered the greatest film studio of them all? They used to be know for only having the best of everything, stars, writers, directors. designers. And now they are one of the worst.

 

The MGM of today is not the MGM of the Golden Age of Hollywood. The studio has gone through so many ownership changes, and it's been decades since their backlots and studios were torn down.... the library of most pre-1986 MGM titles is owned by WHV. So today's MGM is really just a stripped-down corporate entity that happens to retain the name and studio logo from the old MGM.

 

Of course the old MGM really started to die with the end of the old studio system. It's all been downhill since then.

[filmlover]

I was going to post this over in the Blu-ray discussion thread, but thought I might put it here since there have been a few comments about DVD and Blu comparisons here in the last few days and how some have read there is not much difference. This is a new thread on the site of blu-ray.com, entitled My entire DVD collection was destroyed! (and, LOL, no, I did not write it):

 

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=72638

 

I have a large DVD collection amassed over many years. I have a Mits HD1000U projector in my home theatre and have always thought it looked great with my DVD's...

 

UNTIL

 

My PAN BD35 BLU-RAY player arrived three weeks ago. My new Blu-ray collection (now up to 10) has destroyed all enjoyment of my DVD collection!

 

Now when I spin up a DVD in my home theater, the quality just looks like crap to me! Grain, artifacts, lack of detail. I can't stand to watch them. How did I suffer with such poor quality for the past two years!?

 

 

Long live blu-ray!

 

Anybody want to buy a few hundred DVD's for cheap?

[edgeciff]

I have a HD TV set and don't think my SD discs look like "crap" when viewing them. Agreed films look much better in Blu Ray, but I am not dissatified at all with my DVD collection played on my 52" HDTV especially with quality DVD releases. And I have no intention to dump my entire collection!! Granted if you play a PD disc it will show up poorly on a large screen TV's. And one could always buy a DVD player that upconverts DVD's to 1080p. Toshiba is offering a new player with XDE which has special picture enhancement capablities. This one sells for under $100. This is the way to go if one cannot afford a Blu Ray machine.

[filmlover]

Actually, reviews of the Toshiba XDE have been very mixed; some say it doesn't live up to its hype. The XDE was a last ditch effort of theirs to try to take some of the people who might buy Blu-ray after they lost so very badly with HD DVD, but even the XDE is ready to bite the dust, too.

 

As to upconverting DVDs, don't forget that a Blu player does that, too, and better than a regular DVD upconverting player. I tested an upconverting DVD player against that of the Blu with the same DVD movie on both and my Sony Blu player upconverted it better. No one says you have to dump your DVD collection (calm down, Edge!!!!!!!!!!!!)

 

And with a number of Blu players now under $200, they are not so expensive. I mean think about it, Costco has a Sylvania Blu-ray player right now that costs $179. That's pretty darn cheap. Maybe people would feel less upset if it was rightly called "a Blu-ray and DVD player"? I would think if one had to choose between a DVD player (the XDE) that tries to imitate Blu quality, but can't play Blu high definition discs, for $99 or a real Blu player for $179 (some will be $149 on Black Friday), I think they won't mind paying those few extra dollars.

 

Another thing regarding upconverting, it still will never equal a high def disc because a DVD is 480p and Blu is 1080p. You can't really add on to what's not there in the first place. It can try looking good with what it's got, but "if it ain't there in the first place, it just ain't there."

 

(By the way, out of curiousity, did you ever have an HD DVD player? Somebody here did and I am wondering if it is you.)

[Film_Fatale]

This is a new thread on the site of blu-ray.com, entitled My entire DVD collection was destroyed! (and, LOL, no, I did not write it):

 

It seems a bit contradictory, because so many folks keep saying, "Don't worry if you get a Blu-Ray and some movies you like are not on BR yet, because they'll still look pretty good with the upconverting of the regular DVD".

[Web]

"Anybody want to buy a few hundred DVD's for cheap?"

 

A few hundred is his entire collection amassed over many years? I take in that much over a month. No wonder Blu destoyed his entire "collection." With only a few hundred, it doesn't seem like he was much excited over DVDs in the first place.

 

As for me, standard DVDs have destroyed my enitire collection of Blu. I had them locked up but somehow they got out and in a jealous rage they scratched up my Blu-rays. I don't mind. Blu-rays don't have enough grain, artifacts, or lack of detail for my tastes.

[mateo107]

why wouldn't Kino release the 2-disc versions of Nosferatu, The Last Laugh, and Faust? sadly, this release seems as misguided as the last Murneau set, which i never got because it overlapped the German Horror set. since the only reason to buy this would be for Tartuffe, i think i'll pass. while i love Kino, sometimes the organization in their boxed sets has a little to be desired. every company should have the practice that WHV does of not distributing a release in more than one boxed set, and the 2 or 3-disc version should always be the one included in the set.

[edgeciff]

No Filmlover, I never had an HD player only an HD TV. My friend bought one late in the game, although I passed. I think he was foolish to do so in the first place since HD machines were on their way out. I know he is going to want a new Blu Ray machine shortly. Will probably buy a Blu Ray next year. But I will be very selective in buying discs. Some that I am interested in are PINOCCHIO, SLEEPING BEAUTY, DR. NO and THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. Not interested in any new films at all. I really want companies to reduce the price of these discs. In doing so I think more people will get on the bandwagon.

 

BTW can't believe Disney is releasing a reissue disc of MARY POPPINS. Why not Blu Ray?

 

I did think that was an odd statement that someone would dump their entire SD collection. So many discs that are on SD will probably never appear on Blu Ray. But its that his/her perrogative.

[Film_Fatale]

I did think that was an odd statement that someone would dump their entire SD collection. So many discs that are on SD will probably never appear on Blu Ray. But its that his/her perrogative.

 

Someone whose collections consists mainly of new releases might as well get rid of their SD collection. For those of us who collect classic films on DVD, it's probably a good idea to hold on to them for the time being.

[filmlover]

I think it is obvious from the person's message that he is exaggerating about getting rid of the collection.

[Film_Fatale]

Yes, perhaps a little bit.