Blu-ray releases on May 6th, 2008
by Ben Drawbaugh 
posted May 5th 2008 at 8:46AM
Again this week the biggest news is the lack of a Blu-ray release, but this time from a studio that hasn't announced it'd go Blu. That's right, the once Red exclusive Weinstein, has been MIA in the HD movie business for a long time and no word when that might change. But I'm Not There isn't the biggest loss Blu has seen recently, and there are a few titles to get excited about. The big day-and-date title this week is from Warner with P.S. I Love You, which is the same studio that has the biggest catalog title with Twister. Sony also has a day-and-date and catalog combo with the comedy First Sunday and the Harrison Ford flick The Devil's own. Next week is another slow week, sort'a the calm before the storm because the week after Paramount comes back and with it will be the biggest release for Blu-ray ever, with 24 releases!Blu-ray
- The Air I Breathe (Image)
- The Devil's Own (Sony)
- First Sunday (Sony)
- Helvetica (Plexifilm)
- Helvetica (Limited Edition) (Plexifilm)
- Ozzfest: 10th Anniversary (Warner Music Group)
- P.S. I Love You (Warner)
- Saawariya (Sony)
- Shall We Dance? (Walt Disney)
- Twister (Warner)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DrXym @ May 5th 2008 9:16AM
Releases really kick up a notch at the end of May / start of June. June has a great release lineup.
Mr. E @ May 5th 2008 9:24AM
Starting May 20, we'll finally be able to start getting rid of the silly asterisk. I'll be picking up The Warriors and The Untouchables then.
Ben @ May 5th 2008 9:25AM
Actually only 6 of the 32 titles are being re-released on May 20th. So the asterisk will live on.
Grubert @ May 5th 2008 10:38AM
"Actually only 6 of the 32 titles are being re-released on May 20th. So the asterisk will live on."
Actually not - go to dvdempire:
http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_preorderpage.asp?userid=99366234616558&site_id=69&site_media_id=0&swit=3&sort=2&display_pic=1&week=5%2F20%2F2008
They're all there (except Norbit and Freedom Writers which for some reason are already in stock!)
Mr. E @ May 5th 2008 3:07PM
Yep, 6 of the 32 titles are announced to be coming back. Like I said, it's a start, right? Shoot, Ben, why are you worrying about the "integrity" of the asterisk anyway? Wasn't it the HD DVD blowhards who browbeat you into putting it there in the first place?
Achilles @ May 5th 2008 10:10AM
another slow BR week. *sigh
Captain Blu-ray @ May 5th 2008 10:32AM
@ Achilles: Just gives us more time to save that cash for the late May/ Early June BD releases!
I'm really psyched about Master and Commander and Chronicles of Narnia next week, and National Treasure the next.
Andy Anonymous @ May 5th 2008 1:13PM
I wouldn't say next week is all that slow. Master and Commander was a reference title on DVD for showing off awesome surround sound, and I expect it'll sound even better now with DTS-HD. Plus it's a really solid film. And of course Chronicles of Narnia I has been long overdue.
Nfinity @ May 5th 2008 2:30PM
Can these movies be bigger CRAP.. seriously WTF!
That's why Blu-Ray won't live.. crap movies, high price, expensive and unfinished players.
How can anyone approve of this is beyond me and I'm well over HD DVD, but this is ridiculous. Add to the whole crap the fact that you won't even find most of these movies to rent and the whole thing becomes even more ridiculous.
Achilles @ May 6th 2008 8:47AM
Amen brother!!! I feel your pain!!
Joe T. @ May 5th 2008 2:44PM
Crap. Man, aside from Superbad and No Country For Old Men, I haven't seen anything worth buying ALL BLOODY YEAR. Sony wonders why disc sales are in the toilet?
Mr. E @ May 5th 2008 3:21PM
Really? In addition to No Country, here are some of the Blu-rays I picked up this year (in no particular order, with corresponding Rottentomatoes T-Meter critics score). These are available in the U.S.; not sure where you are.
Bonnie and Clyde (93%)
The Water Horse Legend of the Deep (73%)
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (88%)
Juno (93%)
The Orphanage (84%)
Monty Python's Life of Brian (98%)
A Passage to India (86%)
Enchanged (94%)
That's just a partial list and doesn't include my approximately 10 very worthy titles on preorder.
We can play the "worthy titles" game forever, but of course everyone has different opinions about what they want to buy. The bottom line is that Blu-ray is replication constrained this year. Let's all hope that the floodgates will open up soon. My wife is waiting anxiously for the classic MGM musicals, and I'd like to see The Criterion Collection begin appearing on BD.
Joe T. @ May 5th 2008 3:44PM
I'll give you Life of Brian (just ordered it), but many others (Waterhorse?) may be worth only a rental. But I definately echo your last two sentences-- I see that An American in Paris and The Maltese Falcon (finally) are both in the pipeline-- those'll be buyers.
Maybe I just don't buy many films-- I'll only buy them if I expect multiple viewings, so I only have maybe 80 films.
(as an aside, I find any Warren Beatty film to seem horribly dated-- that is, I don't think they've aged well)
Achilles @ May 6th 2008 8:46AM
Amen brother!!!! I feel your pain!
phanbouy @ May 5th 2008 4:42PM
awesome! straight to bargain bin titles this week!
Video Master @ May 5th 2008 5:14PM
I like blu-ray but I just went to Best Buy and the average price of a Blu Ray DVD was about $45 dollars. I don't like the fact that Sony now has a monopoly on our DVD's and I won't be buying anything before they drop to below $20. Sony is just hurting the movie industry and themselves with those prices. Right now a blu ray player is about as effective as the laser disc was 15 years ago. And $500 for a Blu ray player? How are they going to sell that to the masses at Walmart? It's already enough that we have to shell out $1500 for a decent plasma HDTV. Get with it Sony. They are making the movie theaters actually look like a good deal!
Mr. E @ May 5th 2008 6:15PM
Average of $45? That must be a typo, unless you're not in the U.S. The highest MSRP I've seen for "regular" Blu-ray releases (not boxed sets) is $39.99.
I never want to pay MSRP, so I buy all of my BDs from Amazon. At approximately 30% off MSRP, they range from just under $20 to around $27. I avoid the $27 (i.e. $39.99 MSRP) releases unless it's something I just HAVE to get. I'm hoping Paramount and Fox will reconsider such a high MSRP as they've been using across the board. If not, the price will eventually drop, as Fox has already done for a lot of their catalog BDs.
As for hardware prices, they'll come down, it just takes time (like it did with DVD at the start). I don't think many of the Wal-Mart demographic were buying DVD hardware and software in 1998-1999 (the equivalent period to where we are with Blu-ray). By this holiday season, and especially holiday 2009 I think we'll see a big influx of players at mass-market friendly prices.
DrXym @ May 5th 2008 6:50PM
Sony doesn't have a monopoly, neither does the BDA. They are competing for your dollars against DVD, video on demand, digital downloads and any other movie delivery format. If you don't like the prices they charge, or the titles they offer, don't buy the discs. Obviously the price and the selection will get better over time so pick your moment.
The reason discs are so expensive right now is because people are buying them. Blu Ray is still emerging from early adopter land and early adopters have different tastes and budgets from mainstream audience. In order for Blu to go mainstream it will have to appeal to a broader audience which means cheaper players and cheaper and a wider selection of movies.
It doesn't take a genius to figure there is going to be a huge push on Blu Ray for the holiday season and the glut of films from June onwards and a substantial number of new players will drive that. It will also drive prices down. I fully expect you will see sub $300 players before year out, possibly some at $200. Fact is that the first half of the year is always dead for consumer electronics. The deals and the majority of spending always happens in the second half of the year.
You can even see this trend by looking back at DVD stats. Sales in the second half of the year are significantly higher than the first half. Same will happen for Blu Ray.
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/cemadvdsales.html
Gus @ May 6th 2008 1:41AM
Sony doesn't have a monopoly??
95% market share on the hardware, their own movie studio and the lions share of disc and disc drive royalties.
Sounds like a monopoly to me.
Video Master @ May 5th 2008 6:59PM
I cud care less about sales down the road - I'm talking about right now guddammit
Mr. E @ May 5th 2008 8:20PM
Heh heh. Patience, grasshopper! Good things come to those who wait. Oh, and I'm not talking about sales either, but rather permanent lowering of hardware prices at least. Most likely software as well, although brand new movie releases will always have a higher MSRP. Many special edition DVDs are still being released with $34.99 MSRPs. Check it out if you don't believe it. In the first week, a lot of these DVDs are sold very cheaply as loss leaders to entice you into B&M stores, so they may appear a lot cheaper than Blu-ray, when in fact there's only a $5 difference as far as the studio is concerned.
Richard @ May 6th 2008 6:00PM
For the love of... WHY are we still putting digital media on plastic discs and shipping them around the world??? By the time BD publishers get to most back titles we will be downloading these files directly and the stoopid disc format won't matter. How many CDs did we buy last year? Not many.BD is a technology just aiting to be leap frogged.