"Does your mother know what you do for a living?"
Let's talk HD format war for a second. In case you hadn't heard, Warner Bros. decided to end the stalemate in the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray format war last week by declaring they'd go Blu Ray exclusive within six months. It seems that, sooner or later, HD-DVD is going to go away. IMO, they made this choice not a moment too soon. Why? Two reasons:
1) Apple just began video rentals over iTunes. Now, Apple isn't the first to do this, but having rentals on such a popular service pushes movie downloads further toward the consumer mainstream. This is just the beginning. I don't know how long it will take for downloads to become popular for movies, but I believe it will become mainstream sooner or later. This is a problem for those who want HD media to succeed; and when I say HD media, I mean HD on discs. Apple is offering movies in HD resolution (Microsoft already had them via its XBox console), 720p. Now, this isn't the same quality as you get on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, it's more akin to broadcast HD quality. 720p isn't mind-blowing, but it's better than standard DVD and may be good enough for most people. If the various electronics companies and studios want HD on disc to be anything more than the Laserdisc of the 21st century, they need to stop screwing around and get the format out there before iTunes and Co. make "just OK" HD the norm. I am attracted to the idea of getting movies, especially rentals, electronically, but know it will be a long time before downloads have full 1080p/lossless audio. The bandwidth just isn't there yet.
2) Simple: I want to start buying movies in HD, but don't want to invest in a player while there are two formats!
OK, on to the usual:
Here's the whole list, and here's the highlights:
Already Dead (2007)
Breaker Morant (1980, also on Blu Ray)
Earth vs. The Flying Saucers (1956)
Extras - The Complete Series
Family Guy: Blue Harvest (2007)
Good Luck Chuck (2007, also on Blu Ray)
Mr. Woodcock (2007, also on Blu Ray)
The Naked Prey (1966)
She's Gotta Have It (1986)