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New Release Tuesday Preview: "Splinter Cell: Conviction", "Nightmare on Elm Street" Blu-ray, "GTA: Episodes From Liberty City" & More
Man, what a crappy week for home entertainment. Oh well, there were a few titles worth mentioning so here we go:
DVD / BLU-RAY
![A Nightmare on Elm Street [Blu-ray]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_ttBRdn0p2a9q2bfP3vk0afa6nn_KBbwRc_UjxsxswMomFErWzyEn0YGvo7YqIA7vHvFQIrCo3dDK0EIKeC-dJdFTyLcZ-_8ZwVg7Eu8L2-4paCm3F3OLPCS9ouAS_OuFBcTobJP-T3Ng=s0-d)
Tron 3, Apes, Robotech, Voltron, RE: 3D, Dark Life, Thing Prequel, Inception, LOTR Blu-Ray, HDMI, Xbox Live Arcade, Fright Night
Guess who forgot to write his new release Tuesday DVD column this week...? Oops. I still have a little Blu-Ray news to report further down today:
Writers Hired for Tron 3
Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, writers/producers of TV's "Lost" and the upcoming Tron: Legacy, have already started work on a third film in the series, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Disney must be banking on a hit, 'cause Legacy doesn't even hit theaters until December. I know I'm going to be burned at the stake for admitting this but I've actually never seen Tron. I know, I know. Still, I'm excited about Tron: Legacy--it looks cool as hell--so I'm all for continuing the franchise. And, yes, I'll go add Tron to my Netflix queue asap.
Planet of the Apes Prequel Still On
MTV talked to special-effects artist Aaron Sims and he states that the Apes prequel, titled Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, is still in pre-production. "They're just starting. There was another director, It's in the process right now," says Sims. I have mixed feelings about this. I'm a big fan of the original movie (not so much the sequels or TV series) but I hated Tim Burton's remake. Fox intends for this to be a reboot of the series, but setting it in the present day as a prequel scares me.
Sylvan White Circling Robotech
I loved "Robotech" when I was a kid; I wasn't maniacal about it but I did enjoy it. A lot of my friends had the toys and the VHS episodes and whatnot; honestly, I couldn't tell you a thing about it now. I just don't remember--but I'm eager to see a big-ass $200 million Hollywood version refresh my memory. Director Sylvan White (of the upcoming DC comic adaptation The Losers) may be the one to bring it to us. He tells Latino Review, "I'm interested in doing it. The project is not fast tracked. There is no official thing. They sent me a draft and I liked it. It's a work in progress." Note to Hollywood: fast-track this thing. NOW.
New Animated "Voltron" Coming/Movie Script Tossed Out
Coming Attractions had the opportunity to visit World Event Productions, which is the studio that is producing the new "Voltron Force" cartoon. Not much info on the new show but they did learn that the movie script by Justin Marks (of Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li) has been scrapped and the studio is planning to start from scratch with a new writer. I was a big "Voltron" fan, too, but I have trouble seeing this one translating well to the big screen. A new animated show is cool news, though.
Resident Evil: Afterlife Trailer
First things first: I hate Paul W.S. Anderson. The only movie he's made that I even came close to enjoying was Event Horizon and that was a long time ago, so my memory may be failing me there. I also hated the first Resident Evil movie; so much so that I avoided the sequels like the plague. Here's the thing, though--he directed this new installment using the new 3D camera system designed by James Cameron for Avatar. That means this thing is in REAL 3D, and I have such a hard-on for real 3D that I might just have to see this in the theater. Other than the fact that it's in 3D, though, it really doesn't look that interesting:
Want to know another movie I've never seen? John Carpenter's The Thing. Sometimes I really am the worst geek ever, I know. Anyway, Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.'s prequel is gearing up and Shock Til You Drop spoke to one its stars, Joel Edgarton. Here's what he says:
"Well, it's a prequel and definitely the Norwegian base is modeled on the base you see in the Carpenter film," he told us. "Being a prequel you'll see a lot of tie-ins as to how the base comes to be the way it is in the Carpenter film, being so destroyed, and that evidence you see in the Carpenter film, We'll get a glimpse into that. It's great because you have a bunch of people behind making it—Eric Newman and Marc (Abraham), the producers at Strike (Entertainment), those guys and Matthijs the director, they have such respect for the original film that they're not trying to do a remake, they're just trying to pay homage to the original and also do the right thing with what I think is a real cool way in to doing that, and revisiting the material."
Since I haven't seen the original, I don't really have an opinion here but I know a lot of people were upset at the idea of anyone touching Carpenter's original so maybe this news will appease them a little.
What the Hell is Inception About?
Have you seen the trailer for Christopher Nolan's new film, Inception, starring Leonardo DiCaprio? Did it makes sense to you? Me either, but it does look cool and Nolan's a genius. The Los Angeles Times spoke to Nolan and he finally revealed some high-level plot details. If you want to stay spoiler-free, I'd advise you not to click. But I can tell you that the details are VERY high level so there's not too much spoilage regardless.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy on Blu-Ray
Here's that DVD/Blu-Ray news I promised you. As of today, the LOTR trilogy is now available on Blu-Ray. Here's the catch, though--these are the theatrical versions, not the awesome extended versions. But I gotta admit, I'd almost buy them just to see LOTR in high-def...although I know that's exactly what New Line Home Video wants me to think because they know I'll be perfectly happy to purchase the trilogy AGAIN next year when they finally release the extended versions. Decisions, decisions...
Expensive HDMI Cables are Bullshit
A great article over at Mint.com confirms my long-held belief that there is absolutely NO REASON to spend a ton of money on expensive HDMI cables (Monster Cable even has a gold-plated version for $250!). Here's the deal: unlike component cables where the signal CAN degrade depending on the quality of the cable, HDMI is purely digital--meaning the same digital information is transferred from one component to another, regardless of the "quality" of the cable. Think of it this way: when you use a USB cable to transfer photos from your camera to your computer, don't the photos always come out the same, no matter what cable you use? That's because the "quality" is in the photo file itself--not the cable. It's exactly the same with HDMI, so next time find the cheapest ones you can.
Halo 3 and Tomb Raider: Legend Coming to Xbox Live Arcade
Now that there's a 250GB hard drive and USB memory support is available for the Xbox 360, Microsoft is going balls-to-the-wall with their downloadable games. Coming next Tuesday to Live Arcade is Tomb Raider: Legend and, the following Tuesday, 2007's Halo 3. My prediction? This is the beginning of the end for disc-based games. Within 5 years, we'll be buying all of our games online. Trust me.
Anton Yelchin Joins Fright Night Remake
Star Trek's new Chekov, Anton Yelchin, will headline Craig Gillespie's remake of the 1985 movie, Fright Night. The Hollywood Reporter states that Marti Noxon's script keeps many details of the original movie in place. Jesus Christ--Fright Night is yet another movie that I haven't seen. I really need to get with the program.