Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD: The War of the Formats

The HardOCP article takes a good look at both formats.  The high definition world is split between two camps: HD-DVD and
Blu-ray Disc. Which of these offers the better viewing experience and
has the ability to deliver HD to your home theatre both now and in the
future? And when the film studios and even the porn business get into
the mix, what does that mean for the consumer? 

Art of Spider-Man 3

Firstshowing.net has some pics from the new "Art of Spider-Man 3" book that will be released later on.  After checking a couple of other sites, it looks like Sony is sending out the takedown requests, so view them while you can.  If the link here goes down, just use google and I’m sure a cached version will show up from somewhere.  That Venom maquette is SWEET!

New Disney film artwork.

Comingsoon.net has a bunch of artwork for upcoming Disney movies.  The Prince of Persia pieces look especially nice to me.  They definitely have some good Illustrators and Graphic Artists on their team.

The Wilhelm Scream history.

The Whilhelm Scream has been used in a ton of movies, and I can almost guarantee that you’ve heard it and never really picked up on it.  The article has a list of some of places it was used in popular movies.  It’s a good read on the history of the scream that you’ll always pick out in a movie if you hear it once.

TMNT Studio Visit.

Comingsoon.net got to sit down with writer/director Kevin Munroe and producer Tom Gray.  It’s a pretty long and in depth interview.  I was a big fan of the cartoon as a kid, not so much the early movies though.  And, I can’t help but think this new one is being made for just the wrong reasons.  How about this, from the article.

"CS/SHH!: Why remake this film?

Tom Gray: CG is the easy answer. (A little later)  We didn’t have the
money to make a $140 million picture. I guess that’s the real
motivation to do it and we felt that there was enough interest out
there that we could come back and keep it going."

So, they’re not making it because they finally got a kick ass script, or they just had a passion for the franchise.  No, they’re going to make it because it’s cheap now, and they can milk it for some more money.  Also, they’re not even really making the movie they want to make it.  Again, from the article.

"CS/SHH!: You said it’s rated PG, but pushing PG-13?

Gray: Well contractually we have to deliver a PG. (A little later)  If we had our way,
we’d probably be making R or PG-13, but the forces that be in the
market place tell you that you’ve got to push it a little bit because
times are different, but you can’t cross that line into PG-13. We
pulled back."

Sounds to me like they wanted to make a big action movie that tailored to adults, but they’re marketing to the 7 to 11 age bracket, as well as the 18 to 25 age bracket.  How successful is that going to be?  I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.