Weekly RoundUp 1-25-2011

Thanks Mike!  RED and Secretariat.  FYI for those of you wanting to purchase RED it looks like you may need to spring for the SE BD if you want lossless audio.  The non-SE BD appears to have DVD quality audio.

Red is in the Netflix queue.  Saw 3-D when the price drops since I missed it in the theater.  Broadcast News for sure at the BN half off sale.  Another week of sub-par deals means another week of staying out of BB and Target for me. 

Double-dip alert! For anyone considering either the DVD or Blu-ray of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Music Box will release a box set of the Stieg Larsson trilogy on Feb. 22 containing all three films and additional extras. From all indications, the films in the trilogy set will be identical to the discs previously released, and the new extras will be on a separate disc.

 

I do not yet have review copies of either Hornet's Nest or the trilogy set.

Could even be a triple-dip as there are rumors the extended cuts of all three films could be released later this year--possibly to coincide with the release of Fincher's version?  They've already been released in Sweden. 
 

I'll have the review up later tonight for Basil Dearden's London Underground (Eclipse Series 25). Criterion was very late getting the review copy shipped.

 

Like Dandelion Dust, a rare DVD review copy from Fox, will also be reviewed at some point this week.

 

We asked for a review copy of Glee, Season 2, Volume 1, but there is no way to know if it will arrive or not.

Don't forget your $8 Secretariat coupon

 

http://www.disneymovierewards.go.com/promotions/special-offers/secretariat-coupon

Looking at my local Ultimate Electronics ad, it is showing the Larson Trilogy for release Jan. 25 for the DVD set $34.95/Blu-Ray $45.96, just FYI..not sure what the specs are  but another resource for people to look into...

Thanks Mike as always for the prices.

 

Hornet's Nest on Blu-ray is already on it's way from Amazon (pre-ordered a month ago when it was priced at $19.99).

 

I'll pick-up Red on Blu-ray - not sure which version yet, but the $13 price at Target is enticing. Also getting Secretariat at Best Buy for $14.99 using the $8 DMR coupon.

I'll pick up the Almost Famous and Saw 3-D Blu-rays at some point.

 

Thanks for the prices!

Looks like I'm going to pick up the Best Buy exclusive version of Red, but if they're sold out by the time I get there, I'll probably pop over to Target and settle for the single-disc at $13. All other things being equal, I'll opt for lossless audio. It's not worth a $9 difference in my book, however.

At some point I will rent/buy the "Girl With..." trilogy, but I'm just starting to read the first book and want to get through them before watching the movies.

The SE of Red says it includes a commentary track by Robert Baer.  He's the ex-CIA agent whose nonfiction books were the loose basis for Syriana (and he was the inspiration for Clooney's character).  Strange choice. :)

 

I highly recommend going this route. I wasn't as impressed with Larsson's writing as some people, mainly because I found it preachy and self-indulgent at times, but the books are head and shoulders above the first two films. Niels Arden Oplev's adaptation of "Dragon Tattoo" is very effective, but Daniel Alfredson's adaptation of "The Girl Who Played With Fire" absolutely guts the book, removing all of the complexity of the book while losing much of the atmosphere and tension that made the first film so effective. I can't judge the third movie, since I haven't seen it, but I'm not too optimistic.

Thanks for another WRU, Mike.

 

 

Hmmm...  Not many reviews for the BB exclusive Almost Famous BD yet, but it doesn't sound any better than the UK import so far (other than including most/all the old extras).  I'll probably just stick w/ my UK import (plus my old Untitled Bootleg Cut DVD edition) instead -- and maybe try a color print of the cover as I like that much better than the UK cover.

 

Would be very interested to see reviews for some of the other catalog BD releases, but not holding my breath on the Universal titles -- actually, I'm guessing that's partly why Almost Famous isn't so hot either as it's a Dreamworks title that used to handled by Universal and now by Paramount (like a few other previous Dreamworks releases).  Hopefully, if they're any good, the reviews won't be too late for making use of B&N's B2G1 sale.

 

BTW, looks like Amazon got around to pricematching Target for the movie-only edition of the Red BD.  Too bad though that it's saddled w/ a lossy audio track...

 

_Man_

YMMV on the Red Bluray.   Target flyer has the Bluray (Special Edition) listed for $13 and Deluxe SE Bluray for $24,  when you click the picture it says SE Bluray.

 

The problem is there is a Regular (1 disc Lossy) and SE (1 disc, Extended/Extras, and non lossy audio) while technically there isn't a Deluxe Bluray.  Several people have either gotten Target to honor the $13 price or even pricematched at other stores using the ad.

When I was at Best Buy to pick up Red, the only two options were the 1-disc lossy or the Best Buy exclusive hybrid version with the comic wedged inside. Personally, that's the version I wanted. But because of the extra side and the exclusive, Best Buy probably isn't going to price match the $13 price from the Target ad.

 

For those who can't stand flippers, be warned that the Best Buy exclusive has the Blu-Ray version on one side and the DVD version on the other, all on one disc. The Blu-Ray side has DTS-HD 5.1 audio and all of the special features from the "regular" SE.

 

EDIT: probably ISN'T* going to price match

Hmmm...  I wonder if the moviecash for Drive Angry that comes w/ the BB copies of Red can be used for some other movie instead (as had often been the case in the past).  Anyone know?

 

BTW, according to the BB website, they seem to have followed suit and pricematched Target (and Amazon) for the movie-only BD of Red.  If that moviecash can be used for some other movie (that actually interests me), then I can certainly live w/ the lossy audio for such a sweet deal.  I'm not sure I'd want to spend the $ on either version otherwise.

 

_Man_

 

So that's how it is now? "Movie Only" versions of BDs that don't even get lossless audio? 

I think Quick and the Dead is a fun movie and for free it's a great 2 hours.

 

Admittedly it's no Unforgiven, but the scenes with Gene Hackman are almost as much fun -- damn he makes one mean SOB when he wants to.

Some silliness, a lot of trash talking, but I always seem to end up watching it when I flip through the channels.

 

 

 

Just to contribute something this week:

 

BN has A Beautiful Mind on sale for $14.84 with some available coupons for additional discounts and free shipping.

It is also eligible for their B2G1 free deal until the end of the month.

http://video.barnesandnoble.com/DVD/A-Beautiful-Mind/Russell-Crowe/e/25192082184/?itm=2&USRI=beautiful+mind

 

If you'd rather buy in store there a number of 50% off coupons floating around fat wallet  and the dvdtalk master thread.  The instore price looks to be 26.99, but

with the coupon and 10% member discount it could be had for a little more than $12 + tax.   The 50% coupon also stacks with the B2G1 and

10% members discount so with a little effort you could end up with 3 new/recent Blurays for less than $35.

 

 

 

Best current codes anyone can use for online (one use per account)

 

20% off one item (with VISA) enter R7V9J9N at checkout. (expires 2/7)
15% off one item enter B7C3R9C at checkout. (expires 2/15)

 

Free shipping with Mastercard   D4F9J9J   (I'm not sure if you can use the FS and 15%off, but maybe)

Directed by Sam Raimi, good deal on that one Mike.

 

Interesting.  B&N must've just cut the price on A Beautful Mind BD today -- it was still ~$22-23 online last night when I last checked.  This price slash will make me reconsider my options for the B2G1 sale now.  Maybe I'll opt for another relatively cheap title instead of something like the Eternal Sunshine BD.  I think it was you that alerted us to the Criterion Broadcast News BD being priced at ~$28 too -- I was going to go w/ that plus maybe ABM and ES for the sale (along w/ the 20% off coupon).

 

One other thing.  If you have membership w/ BB's RewardZone (and don't have a better option for cashback portal), apparently you can shop through its shopping mall portal to earn points at the B&N site *plus* make use of the one-time(?) 250 Coke rewards points, which can basically net you an additional $5 in RZ GC (w/ 50 Coke rewards points leftover).  I haven't tried it yet, so can't confirm that it works as some expect it, but I intend to try that w/ the B2G1 sale.   I also have some B&N GC leftover that I plan to use though I'm not 100% sure the 20%-off Visa coupon will allow that -- I've never had trouble w/ something like that before, but B&N has been making changes to how things work in the past year, so...

 

RE: the 50%-off in-store coupon, I'm not sure how you'd get 3 recent BD titles down to ~$35 w/ that and the B2G1 sale, etc. unless they let you use 2 coupons -- one for each paid title.  Some clerks/manager might balk at that, especially when combining w/ the sale.  Without using 2 coupons, the in-store deal probably wouldn't work that great since the in-store prices tend to be much higher in most cases (and the selection might not be so great anyway).

 

Anyway, thanks for the heads up, David.

 

_Man_

 

I probably should have said as low as $35, but you'd have to choose some pretty specific titles.   I kept mixing up their online and instore prices which makes showing off a little tricky.

 

Something like:  True Grit +  A Beautiful Mind + Rob Roy  -- 25 + 27 + 0 - (5.20 member) - (12.60  50% coupon) would be close to 35.

 

I picked up King Kong, Exorcist, and A Star is Born Digibooks today for around 46 (+tax).  Those are listed at $35 each in store and  I got tired of waiting fro Amazon to discount those below $22-25. each.

 

 

 

I have a question for those that uses these coupons frequently.  Does the retailer apply the coupon before or after the state taxes have been added?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crawdaddy