James Bond Blu-ray Volumes 1 & 2
Tuesday, October 21, was an amazing day if you're a fan of the James Bond movies; MGM, through their distributor Fox, released 6 of the 20 "true" Bond movies in their catalog on Blu-ray for the first time. The discs feature stunning high definition transfers of the movies alongside great bonus material. All the bonus material from the Special Edition DVDs, released 5 or 6 years ago, appear on these "Ultimate Editions," along with new bonus material.
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The Jack Ryan Collection courtesy Paramount Home Entertainment
Last summer, fans of the movies based on Tom Clancy's popular books were thrilled to hear that Paramount Home Entertainment was announcing new cinema-quality high definition releases of all four films in The Jack Ryan Collection. These Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD sets would include Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin in The Hunt for Red October, Harrison Ford in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, and Ben Affleck with Morgan Freeman in The Sum of All Fears. The releases were all to be the "Special Collector's Edition" versions, incorporating all the bonus material found on the similarly titled DVDs... but with 1080p quality video!People, myself included, were excited, and this was certainly high on most want lists. The release date for versions in both formats was going to be Sept. 25th. But then, in August, Paramount announced that they would no longer support the Blu-ray format, and that effective immediately all future hi-def releases would be HD DVD only. A "BD" version of The Jac...
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George Lucas
George Lucas is feeling good about television. In his life post-Star Wars franchise, the legendary writer, director, producer, special-effects czar and mega-mogul is still embracing his legacy — the far-far-away galaxy he created for six films that changed the cinematic universe and became a part of world pop culture. But now a new medium will bear the message. In a conversation with TV Guide executive editor Steve Sonsky that began with a discussion of Fog City Mavericks, a Starz documentary (premiering Monday, Sept. 24, at 9 pm/ET) about the history of San Francisco-based filmmakers like himself, Francis Ford Coppola and Clint Eastwood, Lucas also held forth on the status of his two
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The fourth (and final, whispers Harrison Ford's back) Indiana Jones film, scheduled to start shooting this month, will not revisit the father-son relationship introduced in Last Crusade, if only because Sean Connery simply isn't up to it. "I thought long and hard about it, and if anything could have pulled me out of retirement, it would have been an Indiana Jones film," the 76-year-old actor says in a statement. "I love working with Steven [Spielberg] and George [Lucas], and it goes without saying that it is an honor to have Harrison as my son. But in the end, retirement is just too damned much fun."And just like that, craft services' Metamucil budget gets reduced by half.
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The Hollywood Reporter's fifth-annual accounting of the biz's best-paid actresses names Nicole Kidman this year's biggest breadwinner, earning as much as $17 million per film. This marks the first time that Julia Roberts, MIA from the live-action circuit this year, didn’t top the list. Rounding out the top 10 were Reese Witherspoon, Renée Zellweger, Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz (at $15 million each), Halle Berry ($14 mil), Charlize Theron and Angelina Jolie ($10 mil), Kirsten Dunst ($8 to 10 mil), and Jennifer Aniston ($8 million).Meanwhile, I'm reading in the Post that Sean Connery turned down hundreds of millions to play Gandalf in the LOTR trilogy. Someone alert NOW.
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Have gun, will travel: Daniel Craig
Question: Why is everybody saying this new guy can't be James Bond because he's blond? Roger Moore was blond!Answer: Thank you, Sharron! Yes, Roger Moore was indeed dark blond, as is Daniel Craig. And while fans are entitled to be as skeptical as they want, facts are facts: The Bond series has been going on for more than 40 years, and in order for it to continue, the actor playing Bond has to be replaced periodically. There have already been five James Bonds: Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and
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Rebecca Holden and David Hasselhoff, Knight Rider
Question: On the show Knight Rider, what did K.I.T.T. stand for?Answer: Why, he and partner/driver Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff) stood for truth, justice and single-handedly lowering the auto-industry fleet's miles-per-gallon average by 10 miles or so. Weren't you watching?
Actually, K.I.T.T. stood for Knight Industries Two Thousand, the model name for the superpowered, computer-sentient car built by dying rich guy Wilton Knight. The hit series ran on NBC from September 1982 to August 1986, and as fans will know, Knight rescued undercover cop Michael Young, who'd been shot in the face while on the job. He paid for his plastic surgery, giving Young a new mug and a new name (Knight, which smacked of some ego, I thought) in the process. Then he handed his creation the keys to K.I.T.T., a black Trans Am with a
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24"Jack, what do we do now?" Your fake president, ladies and gentlemen. Seriously, if Logan were any less qualified to hold this office, he'd be... eh, too easy. The important thing is, our favorite fictitious POTUS to hate gets one helluva smackdown from First Crazy — to which I can only say: Thank you, Martha. I've been wanting to slap that guy square across the face for like a year now. And while I'm doling out little tidbits of appreciation, let me go ahead and offer a big ol' bite of gratitude Jack Bauer's way. Now, we've talked about Jack's mad skillz in the surly dialogue department, but sometimes the man tosses off a line so effortlessly, I'm convinced even he doesn't realize just what a badass he truly is. Case in point, when discussing Big Bad Russian Hosta
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Answer: This humble game-show host can bluff at poker with the best of them. Question: Who is Alex Trebek? Too bad that he ultimately lost on, well, not Jeopardy!, but Celebrity Poker. Hey, at least he fared better than Sean Connery in an SNL parody of Celebrity Jeopardy!. Tonight was quite an exciting night: Dave had to call for security when Michael Vartan tried to return to the table after getting his butt kicked by Anthony Anderson's quad five slow play; those same fives reared their ugly heads when Alex landed a set to take a bunch of Anthony's cash; and awesome poker-player Annie Duke (whom I want to be just like when I grow up) dropped by for a short visit. So cool, as she's like, the coolest chick in this often male-dominated game. I think that even though she picked newcomer Amber Tamblyn to win, she'd probably be pretty proud that Curb Your Enthusiasm's Cheryl Hines
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Question: Why on earth was George Lazenby given the role of James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service? Was Sean Connery ill? Was there a contract dispute? Were the producers mad?
Answer: No longer the little-known actor who rocketed to fame in Dr. No (1962), Sean Connery retired from playing James Bond after his fifth outing, You Only Live Twice (1967). Australian model George Lazenby won the role after a high-profile search for a new 007, and I'm not alone in thinking he was actually good in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) and would probably have grown into the role if given half a chance. But he didn't clic
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