Mercury Rising in September

Source: HighDef Disc News

Director Harry Becker's 1998 film Mercury Rising is getting a Blu-ray upgrade September 14th. Now it has been awhile since I popped in my old DVD of Mercury Rising but I faintly remember it being ridiculous.

Ridiculously awesome!

Let me try to break down the plot; you have an autistic kid that unwittingly broke an unbreakable government code and, consequently, you have and over the top evil Alec Baldwin doing everything in his power to find the poor boy and liquidate him. You'd think the unfortunate kid should be screwed right? Not if Bruce Willis, the only thing keeping that boy out of Alec Baldwin's grubby governmental paws, has anything to say about it!

With this new Blu-ray transfer you can expect full 1080p picture quality with improved audio quality, which you think would be a given but some Blu-ray transfers of old movies have been barely above DVD quality.

No extra specs have been announced yet, but be sure to check back in as they are on the way!

Flight of the Conchords: The Complete Collection in August

Source: HBO

It's a Kiwi invasion!

For the first time HBO is releasing both seasons of Flight of the Conchords in one glorious DVD collection on August 24th. Follow the misadventures of Jemaine and Bret as they try to change the American music industry as "New Zealand's 4th most popular folk parody duo".

This musical, comedic and sometimes classically tragic tale of two friends trying to make it big in the city was wildly entertaining even if the show itself was short lived.

Flight of the Conchords: The Complete Collection DVD set comes with hours of extras that are sure to be entertaining, some of which are exclusive to this new release.

Extras Include:

• Flight of the Conchords: One Night Stand; a live 30-Minute special that takes you back to the beginning.
• Flight of the Conchords: On Air; a short documentary featuring Bret and Jemaine at their funniest.
• Dave's Pawn Shop Commercials; a series of fake TV ads with a lot of energy and even more ridiculousness.
• New Zealand Consulate Meetings; Bret, Jemaine and their manager Murray's series of important band meetings.
• Deleted Scenes and Alternate Takes

No word yet on a Flight of the Conchords Blu-ray release, so if you have been waiting on that it may still be awhile.

I was trying to decide on what my favorite moments from the series were, and it really comes down to the musical numbers and this is easily my favorite song to sing along too:

Date Night in August

Source: Blu-ray.com

On August 24th you can have a nice quiet evening with your significant other and enjoy Date Night on Blu-ray and DVD.

Starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey, Date Night is a wild journey resulting from a normal couples night on the town going anything but normal. Hilarity does ensue. Besides Carell and Fey Date Night has an impressive supporting cast including Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, James Franco and Common among others.

This release will come complete with extended cut of the film that you did not see in theaters with a ton of extras to keep you busy in case your own date goes south.

Blu-ray Extras Include:

• Digital Copy of Date Night
• Gag Reel
• Deleted and Extended Scenes (Including the epic car chase)
• Directing Off Camera
• Date Night PSA's
• Audio Commentary with director Shawn Levy
• Directing 301 with Shawn Levy
• Disaster Dates with the Cast
• Steve and Tina Camera Tests
• Live Lookup

DVD Extras Include:

• Gag Reel
• Extended Car Chase Scene
• Directing Off Camera
• Date Night PSA's
• Audio Commentary with Shawn Levy
• Directing 301 with Shawn Levy

Bonus Picture: Topless Marky Mark for the ladies

Kurt Russell, Baseball and My Hometown!

So I just found out that my podunk hometown just got a new semi-pro Baseball team!

Go Walla Walla Sweets!

I am pretty stoked because this means I will actually have something to do when I am back home this summer when I am not working or sitting in a movie theater. But this also reminds me of some unique family history, so pull up a chair because this anecdote is pretty cool!

Years ago we used to have another team called the Walla Walla Padres, and guess who was on that team in the '70's? If you said Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith you would be correct, but this is a blog that deals with movies so go on guess again!

Kurt Russell is who!

No joke! He apparently played about half a season in Walla Walla back in '72 and batted a respectable .325! That in itself would be some cool trivia, but remember this is family history.

Now this little yarn gets even better still! Apparently the players would be invited to eat with local families, probably as both a way for the Padres to keep in touch with their fans and to keep the players fed and happy.Two birds with one stone and all that noise ...

So anyway, my mom's family hosted a couple of the young players from the Walla Walla Padres to dinner at some point in '72 and guess who came with an appetite?!

Freaking Kurt Russell is who!

Apparently they enjoyed a fine meal and my aunt's homemade desert, some sort of cake, and packed away some serious vittles. By all accounts Kurt Russell was "a very polite, nice young man."

That's right! Snake Plissken ate and my grandparents house and had seconds.

Damn straight he did!