FIFA in 3D review and first impressions

ESPN 3D launched with the FIFA World Cup last Friday, providing coverage of the events utilizing Sony 3D technology. The network promises up to 25 of the matches in 3D from 5 of the 10 World Cup stadium locations, and more live sporting events in 3D throughout the year. Currently DirecTV, Comcast and AT&T are carrying the network. Customers, of course, must have a 3D HDTV and 3D glasses to see the broadcasts. Recent estimates from CEA say less than 1 million people are “capable” of watching the active shutter feeds. Full Story

Blu-ray Picks Of The Week for May 11th

Lots o’ cool stuff gets released on Blu-ray this week.  It’s a good week for fans of Mel Brooks and Mr. Miyagi, and Criterion releases one absolutely must-have classic for your HD library… Let’s take a look: Full Story

MLB.TV For PS3. One Word Review: Wow!

As an addendum to our earlier HD Report article on MLB.TV for PS3… let’s get in a quick review of this thing (watching Red Sox v. Texas on the NESN feed right now).

First off… no disc is required.   This is a PS3 download (requiring a software update via the PS3’s broadband), and requires you to have a valid MLB.TV subscription (either one will do).  The download takes up 16mb of space, and installs quickly.  From there you enter your MLB.TV login info and off you go!  Full Story

Up – Blu-ray Review

They’ve done it before, the folks at Pixar… turning a rat loose in a French restaurant to prove that anyone with gumption (and a little talent) can cook and impress a cranky food critic; allowing us to follow the near-silent escapades of two robots amidst their blossoming romance and the dawning of hope in a once decrepit and apocalyptic setting. Now, perhaps more difficult, they’ve outdone themselves by giving a broken-hearted old curmudgeon one last shot to find the spirit of adventure for both himself and a can-do, but lonely, boy scout. Full Story

The Dark Knight – Blu-Ray Review

The Dark Knight – Blu-Ray Review

What more can be said about Christopher Nolan’s superb sequel to his reboot of the Batman franchise: Batman Begins?  The mere fact that it was already much improved over the first film, a fine comic book movie in its own right, was enough to make fans and fanboys alike eager to see it, but when word leaked of a powerhouse performance, as opposed to some new, cool special effect, from Heath Ledger as the Joker (a role previously assayed by Jack Nicholson in classic form), fan and general audience anticipation rose to a fevered pitch… Full Story

HD broadcast review: ‘Escape from Alcatraz’

Kill the lights on this one. This film is dark, dark, dark. I must have seen “Escape from Alcatraz” a hundred times over the years in standard-definition, and each time it seemed the quality got progressively worse. But it is just one of those films that I can’t turn off, even with commercial interruptions. Full Story

Blu-ray Review…The Spirit

Pity Frank Miller’s second feature directorial effort: “The Spirit” pretty much sank and stank in terms of box office returns and critical/public reception, but the film isn’t nearly as bad as you might have heard… it’s not “Catwoman” bad. Though it looks as slick as “Sin City” (which Miller co-directed) and “300,” it never attempts to rise beyond the level of been-there-done-that mediocrity. Miller has essentially done a goof on the silly, scattershot style showcased in the celebrated Will Eisner comic, and yet the film isn’t nearly as fun as it could have been, barely sustaining its momentum due to wooden acting from the lead talent involved and uninteresting plot. Full Story

‘Resident Evil 5’: Evolving the series

Resident Evil 5 is a 3rd person shooter/survival horror game that was released on March 13th for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. The game follows the most recent chapter in Chris Redfield’s story arch that has spanned the entirety of the Resident Evil series. The reviews are out and the critics have had their say, but how do we fans feel about the close of this chapter? How does this Resident Evil stack up against its predecessors? Where can the series go from here both in terms of story and in terms of the gaming mechanics? Full Story

Blu-ray pic of the week

Among some other great releases my Blu-ray pic of the week is The Shawshank Redemption from 1994. This is the movie’s first release in high-definition and Dolby TruHD. It comes packaged with a 32-page booklet and contains all the extras previously released on the Special Edition standard-def DVD. Full Story

‘Return of the King’ to broadcast in HD with limited commercials

TNT will broadcast the third movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy in HD today with limited commercials. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King will start at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT, following a run of the first two LOTR movies which begins at 11:30 am ET/8:30 am PT. Full Story

‘Search for Spock’ HD broadcast review

Not available on Blu-ray disc yet, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock was broadcast last night on Universal HD network. The film from 1984 held up surprising well in high-definition, a testimony to the film’s original production. It was shot in Panavision with Metrocolor processing, giving the film punchy color saturation, a characteristic commonly given to plasma television technology. Full Story

‘Survivor: Gabon’ HD first episodes review

Lush fields of green, wild elephants, and contestants running around in their underwear…sound like eden? In high definition you will get a taste of what the beauty of this untouched landscape is like. It’s the first Survivor season in HD, and that may keep viewers coming back. Full Story

Blu-ray Disc Review: IMAX: Blue Planet

IMAX: Blue Planet (Warner)
Featuring: The Beautiful Planet Earth

Imagine being a visitor from another planet (go ahead, imagine it!)… your approach to Planet Earth would be breathtaking in its scope as the small fuzzy blue dot becomes a blue-green and white sphere where obvious weather activity is taking place, but on closer inspection… wait! there seems to be spectacular changes taking place right before your eyes. Full Story

Blu-ray Disc/HD DVD Movie Review: The Fountain

The Fountain, now available on both Blu-ray disc and HD DVD. This sci-fi film was directed by Darren Aronofsky, and stars Hugh Jackman, Rachel “Hottie” Weisz, Ellen Burstyn. Read this week’s hi def movie review from Scanlines.

The Fountain (Warner) (Blu-ray)
Featuring: Hugh Jackman, Rachel “Hottie” Weisz, Ellen Burstyn Full Story

Blu-ray Disc Review: Dirty Dancing

Dirty Dancing (Lionsgate) (Blu-ray)
Featuring: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Cynthia Rhodes, Jerry Orbach, and Jack Weston

Oh, Baby! This disc is simply filled with features! While a bit different than the standard-def DVD release from a few years back (“Ultimate Edition”), it retains many of the best features from that release while adding a few new ones including a nice tribute to the wonderfully talented Jerry Orbach. Celebrating 25 years since the original theatrical release, the characters (and quotable lines) remain memorable, and this well-made film (by low-budget standards) remains a cut above similar fare. Taking place at a Catskills resort in the early 1960’s rather simple story might have been cribbed from parts of Footloose (and a little bit of The Karate Kid thrown in) with its rebellious dancing a metaphor for the burgeoning sexuality of its teenage character as well as a bridge between generations and classes. Full Story