House of pain jump But as many

House of pain jump

But as many of you know, I moderated a panel discussion at the event this past Tuesday, entitled Film Classics: New Opportunities for Blu-ray Catalog. My panelists included Jeff Baker Executive Vice President General Manager of Theatrical Catalog at Warner Home Video, Rita Belda Director of Asset Management for Film Restoration and Digital Mastering at Sony Pictures Entertainment, Bob Buchi Senior Vice President of Marketing at Paramount Home Entertainment and Dave Shaw Senior Vice President Marketing at Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. We only had about 40 minutes, and its pretty tough to really go in-depth on such a complex subject with so little time. Still, we managed to cover a wide range of topics related to bringing classic catalog titles to the Blu-ray format, and I think it was a pretty interesting discussion. As it happens, our old friends Ron Epstein and Adam Gregorich from the excellent Home Theater Forum we on-hand to cover the event. Not only did they post an excellent live report on Blu-con over at the HTF, they also managed to capture pictures AND video of my panel. So here they are for all of you to check out! Do keep in mind that Blu-Con is a conference for industry insiders not consumers so my questions to the panelists reflect that fact. My moderating approach at these kinds of industry events is very different that it would be, say, at Comic-Con. Still, I think youll find what the panelists had to say pretty interesting. So I hope you enjoy it. Note that the video is available in 5 parts on YouTube, of which the clip below is the first the other 4 parts should appear for selection when this first clip finishes, and you can also find them here on YouTube: 2, 3, 4 and 5 Id like to express my thanks to Jeff, Rita, Bob and Dave for a great panel, to Mark, Lyndsey, Amy Jo and everyone at Blu-Con for the opportunity to moderate again this year, and especially to Ron and Adam for their excellent coverage. Finally today, I wanted to let you all know that even though the DVD and BD street dates are still a week or two off the first chance for most of you to see The Complete Metropolis in high-def happens THIS WEEKEND! Those of you who have Turner Classic Movies on your cable or satellite service will be pleased to know that The Complete Metropolis makes its TV debut Sunday at 8PM on TCM. More here on the TCM website. Dont miss it! Have a great weekend, everyone! All just one more quick update for you today. Were working on more reviews, so little rest for the Warner and HBO have set Funny or Die Presents: Season 1 for DVD release on 1/11/11 SRP Warner and the BBC will release MI-5: Volume 8 on DVD on 1/25/11 SRP 98, followed by Diana Rigg at the BBC on 2/15/11 SRP And Warner has also set the animated Batman: The Brave and the Bold Season One, Part Two for DVD on 3/15/11 SRP Also, we have final cover art for Warners The Town Blu-ray for you due 12/17, along with the revised art for Paramounts True Grit 12/14 and Foxs Hope Floats Finally today, I wanted to take a moment to tip my cap in memory of meteorologist Matt Hughes, who was one of the stars of Discovery Channels Storm Chasers long a favorite show of mine. Matt apparently passed away on May 26th, but most fans only became aware of it when watching last nights episode, which was dedicated to him. Matt was one of many professional scientist-storm chasers around the country who risk their own lives attempting to gather valuable research on tornadoes research that might save the lives of others. There are reports that he suffered from depression, and that it may have contributed to his death. All I know is, he was a smart young man, who clearly loved and was great at what he did. And I and many others have really enjoyed watching him do it these past couple seasons. Matt was just 30, and left behind a wife and two sons. Discovery Channel has put up a tribute page in his honor, where you can make donations to benefit his family. Morning, everyone! Ive got a cool cover art surprise for you this At the Blu-Con event on Tuesday, Warner Home Video in an effort to tease a couple of their biggest 2011 catalog Blu-ray releases to attendees included a small sneak peek at the packaging in the event program. Naturally, as these titles are SO big and long-anticipated, I knew you guys would love to see the images too. Warner kindly provided this art to me in higher quality, so that all of you might get a peek at it too! So heres an exclusive first look at the preliminary box art for a pair of what promise to be VERY exciting Blu-ray event releases from the studio next year: The Citizen Kane: Ultimate Collectors Edition and the Ben-Hur: 50th Anniversary Ultimate Collectors Edition ! Note that the packaging is still early and obviously subject to change, and the exact street dates have yet to be locked down. Right now, just plan on both as TBA 2011 releases. Still, theyre pretty damn cool to see. This 4th quarter has really been strong with great catalog Blu-ray titles, and its looking like next year is going to be even better. Thanks again to WHV for providing the images! Evening, folks! Sorry this post is so late, but as you know I spent all day at Blu-Con and got only 4 hours of sleep the night so I was pretty wiped out today. Youve got to catch up on sleep sometime, right? But for those of you who hung in there today, Ive got a nice surprise for you: Kino just sent over their forthcoming Blu-ray version of The Complete Metropolis ! The moment I opened the package from the well, it was clear that I was going to have to drop everything and work on my in-depth review. Ive always loved this film, and loved seeing the newly-complete version at the TCM Festival even more. So my review is now up for you all to check out.