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The Nightmare Before Christmas: first Disney Blu-ray Disc with Digital Copy
We've grown pretty accustomed to seeing Digital Copy on Fox Blu-ray titles, but word on the street is putting said feature on a Disney film this August. If whispers prove accurate, Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Collector's Edition will be Disney's first film released with Digital Copy, which the studio will of course rechristen Disneyfile. As of now, there's no word on what types of devices will be able to play back the copy, but we are told to expect quite a few extras / featurettes with the movie. You'll need to save up quite a few pennies to throw this one on your shelf -- the Blu-ray edition will retail for $39.99, while the two-disc DVD set rings up at $32.99.[Via TheManRoom, image courtesy of KensForce]
Juno's Digital Copy causing headaches in Canada?
Apparently a number of Canadians who have purchased Juno in hopes of downloading a Digital Copy and hauling it around on the go are coming up empty handed. We're seeing reports of failed attempts to redeem the packaged code, resulting in error messages indicating that "This product is not available in the Canadian store." Initially, users were generally assuming the blame needed to be placed on Fox, but according to an e-mail reply from the Fox Digital Copy Support team, it indicated that "Apple [was] working" to fix the problem as quickly as possible. Any of you in the Great North dealing with the same issue? Have you seen this on more than just one occasion?[Thanks, Nick]
Juno Blu-ray Disc gets reviewed in detail
For those that peeked Jason Reitman's Juno in theaters, you could probably tell that cutting edge visuals weren't priority number one. That being the case, The Man Room found the 1080p / AVC-MPEG 4 encode to be "decent enough," but didn't hesitate to note that the film's low budget is still apparent in Blu-ray form. In essence, we wouldn't recommend picking this one up to wow your pals, but if you're a fan of the storyline, what is presented seems to be satisfactory enough. As for audio, you'll get a DTS-HD Master Audio track as well as a welcome 5.1 Dolby Digital track; both formats fared well, but then again, there's not much more than dialog and the occasional indie track to tingle your ear drums, anyway. On to extras: Fox tossed in a Digital Copy for those that care, and contrary to its habits, managed to stuff quite a few bonus features on the disc. Based on what we've read, Juno seems like a solid buy if you're cool with middle-of-the-road visuals, and particularly so if you're an extras junkie.
NetBlender prepping Blu-ray disc to iPhone connection?
NetBlender is preparing to reveal new technology aimed squarely at connecting Blu-ray content to Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch, called BD Touch. Designed to "leverage network capabilities of Blu-ray players" Macworld UK surmises it could lead to possible use of those devices as a remote control for Blu-ray players, but given NetBlender's history of authoring tools we see the potential for an add-on that easily helps developers implement features like Digital Copy or BD-Live enabled ringtone purchases. Remote control -- or better yet Remote Play style -- apps could be interesting however, so we'll keep an eye out for the official announcement, expected April 10.
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem Blu-ray Disc gets reviewed early
While we certainly had some fun with the original Aliens vs. Predator Blu-ray Disc at CES, The Man Room was able to get their paws around the sequel a fortnight or so before its official release. Irrespective of your views on the plot itself, reviewers found that the 1080p AVC-encoded transfer managed to "successfully hold onto detail even in the darkest of scenes," though one particular scene involving night vision goggles did produce "noticeable image degradation in handling the gradation of green hues." As for audio, the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Lossless Audio track was deemed a "real aural treat," and of course, the bundled Digital Copy made things even sweeter. All in all, critics found AvP:R to be a "must-see for technological advancements in special effects and high-definition," though even they couldn't completely ignore the "amateurish and unimaginative storytelling."
