The Avengers & Hunger Games – Pre-order ?
 
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It appears that Hollywood is no longer waiting for films to leave the theaters before issuing release dates for DVDs and Blu-rays.
A few days back I had discovered that Men In Black III was available for pre-order from amazon.com Spring blockbusters have usually been slated for release during the Christmas season. But it appears they will be released in late summer/early fall. I guess the earlier release dates can be attributed to the digital film conversion in theaters. It’s much easier to produce blu-rays and DVDs from films that are already in a digital format. The previous 35 mm motion pictures required extensive conversion before they could be made available for distribution on blu-ray and DVD. Perhaps digital films will be made available for rental or purchase online within weeks of their theatrical release in the near future. Some independent films were already made available during their theatrical run, some on the very day they were released in theaters. |
are available for pre-order as well.Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia Released
 
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The Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia was released in paperback and on Kindle .
Authored by Jaimie Vernon this two volume set continues where Rick Jackson’s “Encyclopedia of Canadian Rock, Pop & Folk Music” left off in 1994 and includes information on Canada’s pop scene from 1949 up to 2011. Each 400 page, alphabetically indexed volume features biographies and discographies for Canada’s most popular recording artists, as well as photographs of these artists. So it is definitely a must for the Canadian music fan. By the way, the Kindle version can also be viewed online via your browser using Amazon’s Kindle Cloud Reader |
Men In Black III Pre-Order ?!
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Men In Black III was just released in theaters and it is already available to pre-order from amazon.com.
Also included with the pre-order is an offer for a free movie ticket to see it in theaters. I took advantage of an offer I had previously mentioned on this blog. |
May The 4th Be With You
 
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It’s Star Wars Day and I thought I’d post an entry about the very first soundtrack I’ve ever loved independently from the film on which it was featured.
In 1984, my brother bought the original soundtrack for Return Of The Jedi on cassette. And it was incredible. Until then I had loved soundtrack music but never an entire soundtrack from start to end. I had only liked the odd theme from John Barry This soundtrack, which featured The London Symphony Orchestra, included variations of the original Star Wars themes composed by John Williams and new themes like “The Parade Of The Ewoks“, “Luke and Leia“, “Lapti Nek” and the superior “Ewok Celebration” finale. Though I like the new “Celebration” theme, I prefer the original soundtrack and I find “Jedi Rocks” annoying and distracting in the Special Edition Release of the film. Unfortunately the original soundtrack from 1983 and 1990 re-release of this soundtrack are no longer in print. And two of my favorite tracks from this soundtrack, “Lapti Nek” and the “Ewok Celebration” (a.k.a “Yub Nub“) cannot be found on the many re-releases and compilations issued since. Apparently the labels believe these particular pieces are way too dated to include them on their discs, although one can find new and used copies of the 1990 re-release on Amazon.ca Another one of my favorite soundtracks from the franchise is the “Episode I: The Phantom Menace” soundtrack, which was again composed and conducted by John Williams. “Duel Of The Fates” stands out as a theme and the other compositions on this soundtrack are as excellent, regardless of the film’s less than impressive dialogue and characterization. The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack |
, mostly from 
and 
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released in 1999 and limited, double CD 
released in 2007 are still commonly available in the United States. The 1999 release is also available on Special Offer – The Avengers
An offer like that of the MIB III offer mentioned yesterday on this blog is available from Amazon.com
The offer, which is available to Canadians and Americans, requires a purchase of a specially marked DVD
When the DVDs are purchased from Amazon.com
Similar offers are also available at Future Shop locations through-out Canada on many Marvel cartoon DVD titles, for a limited time only. And in Canada the discounts can be applied to tickets at Cineplex Theaters.