Jackass cast-crew in Blu-ray

Paramount Home Entertainment is releasing “Jackass 3” in 3D this week but not in the new industry HiDef 3D standard for Blu-ray. The anaglyph 3D version will make the movie available to play in 3D on any TV but only on DVD.
The Blu-ray version will offer an unrated version of the movie, 29 outtakes, 11 deleted scenes, and an MTV Making-Of special.

The four-minute video below features highlights from most of the cast and director/producers on the red carpet at the Paramount studio lot Wednesday night where they shared with HollywoodInHiDef.com / 3DHollywood.net their favorite 3D moments along with other celebrity Jackass fans such as Tony Hawk, between dealing with reporters emulating some of their wacky and masochistic stunts.

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– By Scott Hettrick

Megamind first Dolby TrueHD Blu

DreamWorks and Paramount may be holding back the 3D on the new Blu-ray Disc version of “Megamind” but the animated comedy features the world premiere of Dolby TrueHD Blu-ray, the home version of Dolby Surround 7.1 introduced in theaters last year..

A few days ago at Dolby Laboratories in Burbank, Dolby’s Craig Eggers introduced http://hollywoodinhidef.com/ and a few other media to Supervising Sound Editor Erik Aadahl, who explained the distinction of 7.1 sound in a screening room and demonstrated the contraptions created and used to make sounds such as a laser blast, as seen in the following video highlight.
– By Scott Hettrick

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Star Wars, directors do Blu-ray

Just as the Blu-ray industry touted the extraordinary sales success of Blu-ray in 2010 at CES here in Las Vegas on Thursday (Jan. 6), Storm Troopers and Darth Vader took the Panasonic booth stage with Fox Home Entertainment president Mike Dunn to announce that all six films in the Star Wars Saga would finally be coming to HiDef for the first time via Blu-ray in September, prior to the introduction of the Star Wars series in theaters in 3D beginning in 2012.
About 24-hours later directors Oliver Stone, Michael Mann, and Baz Luhrmann sat on the same Panasonic stage and hailed Blu-ray as the last best format for showcasing their movies, each of which has a new one on Blu-ray from Fox.
<Story continues below following two videos, the first a 3 1/2-minute video highlight of all three events… >

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<Story continues below the following 2 1/2-minute video interview about the Star Wars release with Fox Home Entertainment exec vp and general manager Simon Swart.>

Stone said Blu-ray is “a dream… even better than having a film print… like having a movie theater in your own home.” With everything going digital, Stone said Blu-ray will be the last physical format for movies, so we should all start collecting as many as we can.
Luhrmann said he also loves Blu-ray and the bonus features that provide so much insight, but that it also creates artistic challenges for restoring older films because it is so vivid and brings out elements never noticed before.
Mann said Blu-ray is the premier showcase for the color and depth nuances that he and other filmmakers spend so much time creating. It does a better job by a factor of 12 or 13, he said. Mann embraces new technologies and said he would like to shoot a dramatic dialogue-driven movie in 3D.

Fans can pre-order the Star Wars Blu-ray sets now, choosing either “The Complete Saga” 9-disc set with all six films and three discs of bonus features for $139.99, or either three-disc trilogy (original or prequel) for $69.99 each.
The more than 30-hours of extras will include previously unseen deleted and alternate scenes.
Also on Thursday, industry org DEG presented the Year-End 2010 Home Entertainment Report, noting that the adoption rate of Blu-ray hardware has increased dramatically over the last two years, including a soaring 62% gain last year, resulting in a U.S. installed base of 28.5 million.
While overall home video spending declined again by 3.3% to $18.8 billion, off a peak of $21.8 billion in 2004, Blu-ray software sales were up 68% to $1.8 billion and rental was up 34%.
Among the other sales highlights in 2010:
* Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment sold 15.3 million copies of “Avatar” in North America, with 5 mil. of those on Blu-ray, making it the #1 Blu-ray title of all time.
* A number of titles saw initial sales on Blu-ray in excess of 30% of total sales including Universal’s “Despicable Me,” Lionsgate’s “The Expendables,” Paramount’s “Iron Man 2,” Sony’s “Salt,” Warner’s “The Town,” and Disney’s “A Christmas Carol.”
* Blu-ray Disc catalog sales are up 52% year over year.
* Six million Blu-ray devices sold in fourth quarter alone.

With Blu-ray 3D launching in 2010, the DEG estimates that 100 Blu-ray 3D titles will be at retail by the end of 2011, in addition to dozens of 3D video games and hundreds of hours of 3D sports.
The DEG estimates that more than 91 million HDTV sets have sold to consumers bringing the number of HDTV households to nearly 56 million. The DEG further estimates that nearly 39% of these households have more than one set.
According to figures compiled by Swicker & Associates on behalf of the DEG, in calendar 2010, more than 170 million Blu-ray Discs shipped to market. In the fourth quarter, some 73 million discs shipped to retail.  Since launch, nearly 350 million Blu-ray Discs have shipped.

– By Scott Hettrick

Philips’ three new Blu-ray portables

Philips Electronics showed its first three new portable Blu-ray players, starting at $299 int he following 2 1/2-minute video produced for HollywoodInHiDef.com with partner GamerLive.tv at CES 2011 in Las Vegas…
By Scott Hettrick

Panasonic 3D, Blu, web-connects

Get a firsthand summary of all the new 3D, plasma, Blu-ray, and web-connected offerings in a 4 1/2-min. interview I was lucky to get with Panasonic chief technology officer Eisuke Tsuyuzaki whom I bumped into on the show floor at CES 2011 in Las Vegas…
<Story and more Panasonic videos below the following vid interview.>


Now sit in with me for the entire 40-minute Panasonic pre-show media preview presentation at 2011 CES in Las Vegas through this two-part video produced for 3DHollywood.net and partner GamerLive.tv.
Among the relevant highlights…
Video Part One (20-minutes):
12:30: Sales data shows successes
13:15 – 15:20: 3DTVs

Video Part Two (20-minutes):
2:50 – 4:30: new Viera tablet
4:45 – 7:15: gaming
12:00 – 17:00: HiDef and 3DTVs
18:40 – 20:40: cameras and 3D cameras and 3D camcorders

Carnahan wants more A-Team

Joe Carnahan says nothing would make him happier than to get the team back together for another movie — the “A-Team,” that is.
The director’s re-imagining of the 1980s TV series hits Blu-ray this week (Dec. 14) loaded with bonus features because Carnahan is a big fan of them himself — the more the better, he says — and an extended cut of the movie with more than 15-minutes of restored footage because he is also a fan of extended cuts of movies.
In the following 2 1/2-minute video Carnahan also discloses that he loves older movies and how the Blu-ray format makes them look as if they were shot recently, and that he uses “Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior” as his demo disc to show off the format to friends at his house.
– By Scott Hettrick

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Chu talks Step Up 3D, Bieber 3D

John Chu came back to direct a second installment in the “Step Up” series of dance movies only because he would be allowed to shoot it in 3D. He says 3D is not only perfect for a dance film but that it enhances the story and emotional nuance of dramatic scenes as well.
Chu immediately went to work on the Justin Bieber 3D concert/documentary “Never Say Never,” being released Feb. 11.
In the following video, Chu discusses both movies and the advantages of the Blu-ray 2D and 3D editions of “Step Up 3D,” being released on Dec. 21.

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“Avatar” Blu-ray 3D details

Even though a Blu-ray 3D version of “Avatar” is already available with the purchase of Panasonic 3D products in Europe and is expected to be introduced the same way in the U.S. on Dec. 1, that version does not offer any of the 16-minutes of added scenes or hours of bonus features being introduced in the three-disc “AvatarExtended Collector’s Edition” hitting stores Tuesday (Nov. 16).

All 16-minutes of new scenes will be presented in 3D along with some behind-the-scenes and bonus footage shot in 3D on a future Blu-ray 3D for general retail release, but only when the market grows big enough to justify it, “Avatar” producer Jon Landau told HollywoodInHiDef.com in a phone interview today (Nov. 10). Panasonic is believed to have paid for an unusually long 1-year exclusive window for the “Avatar” theatrical version on Blu-ray 3D.

“We were ahead of the curve on DVD with ‘Titanic’ and we don’t want to make that mistake again (with Blu-ray 3D),” Landau said. Although “Titanic” went on to become a big-selling DVD, Landau said initial sales were disappointing because there were only 500,000 homes with DVD players upon its initial release on disc.
Steven Spielberg withheld his films from release on DVD by Universal for several years in the mid-1990s until the market had time to develop, though he gave permission for Sony to release his “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” on Blu-ray very early in that format’s development in November 2007 as Blu-ray was battling for survival with the competing HD DVD format. Some industry execs say big filmmakers sometimes like to wait until there are at least 1 million homes with a new format before introducing their films for sale.
The situation creates a chicken-or-egg scenario as major films by big-time filmmakers are needed to drive adoption of a new format to the level they require before releasing their films.
Landau told HollywoodInHiDef.com that making the 3D version of the movie available on Blu-ray in a limited way initially, exclusively with 3D Blu-ray players and 3DTVs, is a “great way to start up a home consumer base (for Blu-ray 3D).”
He reiterated what he and Cameron said last week about the 3D quality on Blu-ray: “We’re thrilled with the 3D,” adding that they worked very closely with Panasonic Hollywood Labs, which listened to many comments and input and made all the appropriate adjustments.

As for the newest version of the movie coming Tuesday for 2D Blu-ray, Landau said that even with three versions of the movie on a single Blu-ray Disc, including two extended editions of the movie with up to 16-minutes of additional footage and an alternate family-friendly dialogue track, no quality level was sacrificed.

In justifying the rationale not to include a single extra element on the initial release of “Avatar” on Blu-ray in April — not so much as a trailer — Landau and Cameron said last March that they wanted to use every bit of available space on the disc to ensure the best possible quality.
Landau said today that they have been able to learn how to manipulate the bit rate, reducing it for scenes where it’s not as important to carve out room for the additional elements. Like most discs in recent years, particularly from Fox, the extended versions simply seamlessly connect the added footage into the underlying theatrical cut of the film at the appropriate moments so the total additional time needed was the 16-minutes of added scenes in the longest cut of the movie exclusive to this Blu-ray edition, he said.
Additionally, Landau and Cameron told an audience at the Blu-Con conference in Beverly Hills last week that the bonus features, including more than an hour of previously deleted scenes, were not finished in time for the April release.

Landau also noted that producers are making use of the BD Live technology on Blu-ray, not only for the upcoming release but also for those who bought the first Blu-ray version in April. While awaiting November 16 to roll around, users can connect their “Avatar” Blu-ray Disc to the Internet and get a sneak peek at some of the behind-the-scenes bonus features on the new disc and even some extras not included on the new disc, he said, such as a mockumentary. His team will continue to post new updates accessible via  BD Live for users to access via the new Blu-ray edition of “Avatar.”

– By Scott Hettrick

Van Dyke on Blu Chitty, 3D

Dick Van Dyke says “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” is one of his favorites and he told HollywoodInHiDef.com that he can’t wait to see it on Blu-ray next week (Nov. 2). In fact, the nearly 85-year-old actor with boundless energy who filmed a remarkable short film in 3D this year called “The Caretaker,” said he’d also like to see “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: in 3D, noting that he’s a big fan of the technology (he already owns a 3DTV and 3D Blu-ray player) and recently attended a computer convention downtown L.A. and was encouraged by the strides being made in 2D-to-3D conversion.
(Story and review continues following the fast-paced 3-minute video below with Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes at the MGM/Fox red carpet and screening of a Blu-ray projection of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” at the Pacific Theater in The Grove in Beverly Hills this morning, Saturday, Oct. 30).

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“Mary Poppins” gets all the attention but “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” deserves much of the same praise. The parallels are many and the quality and enduring appeal is nearly identical.
Released four years after “Mary Poppins” (1964), the 1968 “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” also starred Dick Van Dyke in a 2 1/2-hour family musical featuring an adorable young brother and sister and boasted the same masterful Sherman Brothers songwriting team with an equal number of memorable songs — title song, “Me Ol’ Bamboo,” “Truly Scrumptious,” “Toot Sweets,” “Hushabye Mountain,” “Chu-Chi Face,” and Van Dyke’s favorite, “You Two” — and the same dance choreographers.

If that weren’t enough, the movie boasted all the production value and fantasy gadgetry of a James Bond movie at the peak of that franchise since it was produced by the 007 movie producers. In addition to much of the same crew, such as production designers, “Chitty Chitty Bang” also starred the actor who played the iconic Goldfinger (Gert Frobe, who had to mimic his lines from a coach since he didn’t speak English), and featured a cameo by the actor otherwise almost singularly recognized as gadget master “Q.” That unlikeliest of scenarios happened as a result of the story being based on the one and only children’s novel written by James Bond creator Ian Fleming. Oddly, neither Fleming nor the 007 producers ever revisited the genre, but their one foray into that family realm lives on.

Greatly enhancing the legacy of the film is the newly remastered wide-screen version with upgraded 7.1 sound on Blu-ray Disc from MGM/Fox. The colors and image of the 42-year-old movie are as vivid and crisp as any new feature.
Although the bonus feature interviews and retrospectives are almost all the same as the 2003 special edition DVD, they are worth revisiting.
Discussing the scene where he plays a puppet on invisible strings alongside Howes pretending to be a lifesize music box doll, Van Dyke says it was his lifetime ambition to play the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz, so this was as close as he could come.
This morning Van Dyke told HollywoodInHiDef.com that he also coveted the role of Willy Wonka in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”

The bonus features also include a “vintage featurette” of a rather remarkable discussion by Van Dyke with an apparent gaggle of British reporters from the drivers’ seat of a car three weeks into production on “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” It was shortly after pulling a muscle while shooting a dance number for “Toot Sweet” that left him unable to film any dance numbers for six weeks. Van Dyke politely discusses everything from the somewhat unexpected discontinuation of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” (“We all voted” to end it before it got stale, he said) to the impact of TV ratings (“That’s what’s wrong with TV”) to the similarities between the then-recent Oscar-winning “Mary Poppins” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” (lots of dance numbers and his character in “Chitty” similar to his Bert character in “Poppins,” he says).

Also included is a simplistic but mildly enjoyable interactive driving game, a sing-along option, and lots more featurettes and archive shorts and audio recordings, including an outing with the owner of the iconic car of the movie.

– By Scott Hettrick

Beauty Diamond is Blu-ray jewel

Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” which is being released in HiDef for the first time in a Diamond Edition Blu-ray disc on Tuesday, Oct. 5, was not initially a musical, and Oscar-winning lyricist Howard Ashman came on board only after he had already begun work on Disney’s follow-up movie “Aladdin” and while he was literally on his death bed.

Nonetheless, the result in 1991 was a landmark achievement that represents the apex of the renaissance era of Disney animated films in the 1990s.

<Story continues below the following 3 1/2-min video highlights of a celebrity-filled red carpet Hollywood event to promote the new “Beauty” Bu-ray with a presentation of the sing-along version at the historic El Capitan theatre, featuring video interviews of Paige O’Hara and Robby Benson and clips from composer Alan Menken’s extended medley of his Disney movie compositions.>

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“Beauty” producer Don Hahn, who has many other Disney movies to his credit, shares the opinion that “Beauty” is a standout.

"Beauty" producer Don Hahn

“It was definitely a pinnacle,” he told HollywoodInHiDef.com, noting that while many movies that followed copied the Broadway musical style formula, it was never equaled. “It’s like striking a match,” he said. “You can’t do it twice, and who would want to?”

“The Little Mermaid,” which came before “Beauty,” is a pure delight, and many others that came after, from “Aladdin” and “The Lion King” to “Pocahontas” and “Mulan” have great appeal as well.

But “Beauty and the Beast” was the first animated film to receive an Oscar nomination for best film before animation was given its own category, and it even won the Golden Globe for best musical or comedy movie of the year. It also won Academy Awards for best song (title song) and best score, and was nominated for best sound and two other songs — “Belle” and “Be My Guest.”

All the reasons for this acclaim are showcased better than ever on the new Blu-ray. Not only does the movie itself look stunning, no matter which of the three versions you choose — an incomplete work-in-progress version shown with great fanfare at the New York Film Festival, and the previously-released special edition featuring the “Human Again” song from the Broadway adaptation set to new animation (Hahn and I are again in agreement in preferring the original movie without this added song) — but the hours of new retrospective bonus features provide a clear understanding and appreciation of the myriad elements that came together in what Hahn describes during one of his multiple featurettes and audio commentary on the disc as “a perfect storm” of creative talent confluence with the management evolution at the studio, the timing of the echo Baby Boomer generation being the perfectly receptive audience, and good fortune.

Even before the 1989 release of “The Little Mermaid,” which would revolutionize Disney films, the “Beauty” production team was in London working on a much different storytelling approach, much of which is included here. After months of that work was scrapped in late 1988, Disney turned to Ashman and composer Alan Menken, who had been hired after their successful outrageous Broadway adaptation of “Little Shop of Horrors” and had already finished work for Disney on “The Little Mermaid” and were well into work on “Aladdin,” scheduled for release in 1992.

During that time the studio was not aware that Ashman was suffering from AIDS. He would finish the work on “Aladdin” and work diligently on “Beauty” even after everyone became aware of his incurable illness, continuing to make calls from his bed about the project right up until he died in 1991 shortly before the film’s release.

A special featurette spotlighting the life of Ashman is one of several optional mini-documentaries that can be selected as temporary detours at various points during the Blu-ray’s primary new full-length documentary, “Beyond Beauty: The Untold Stories Behind The Making of ‘Beauty and the Beast’,” hosted by Hahn, which is featured on a second Blu-ray disc.

Hahn also hosts a wonderful conversation with Menken and Disney historian Richard Kraft about the production, during which Menken, sitting at a piano, repeatedly enhances an anecdote by playing and singing songs from the movie.

Disney gets high praise for including extensive interviews with former studio execs such as Jeffrey Katzenberg, who created Disney’s chief rival in DreamWorks Animation, and Peter Schneider. Of Katzenberg, Hahn told HollywoodInHiDef.com that he was a very central part of the success of that time when the animation unit needed structure and a leader.

Most of the many other bonus features and interactivities from previous video and DVD incarnations of this movie are included on the Blu-ray Disc. Fans of music group Jump 5 will be disappointed to see their music video version of the title song on the Platinum DVD edition has been cut from this Blu-ray. But in its place is a new music video with American Idol winner Jordin Sparks singing the same song.

Interactivities include a game involving answering trivia questions (oddly, the honor system is employed to determine whether you answered correctly) and using the remote to search rooms in the castle for hidden characters. Another new one, “Bonjour, Who is This?,” requires the Web-connected BD Live feature and a telephone to receive a message.
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By Scott Hettrick

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