In yet another scratch to the world of home media, LG has announced that they are ceasing production on Blu-ray players. 

As per FlatpanelsHD, LG has discontinued their Blu-ray players, including their latest, the UBK80 and UBK90 UHD models which were released six years ago, going to show that this move has been planned for quite some time. Essentially, while you still might find them on shelves or online, they aren’t making any new models. As the site relays via LG Korea, they “stopped short of confirming a definitive global exit from the optical disc player market, leaving the door open for a return if demand picks up. For now, a few old models remain available in regions such as America and Europe, but only until inventory runs out.”

Our crusade to ensure that you keep your Blu-rays and keeping buying them comes from a wealth of simple facts: you aren’t guaranteed to have your favorite movie streaming anywhere; you don’t actually own anything digital that you purchase online; the quality is far inferior to Blu-ray and UHD; etc. etc. But in that, it’s as if we and so many others neglected to think about the one thing we already own: a Blu-ray player!

Now, that’s not to say that you should rush out and pick up a couple more Blu-ray players juuuuust in case, but the options are going to get even more limited as years pass. Like so many other things, they were one of those items we movie lovers took for granted because it was always there. (And before that, DVD players, VHS and LaserDisc.) With VHS and vinyl still holding its cult fandom, we do have to wonder if Blu-rays and such players will hit that degree in a couple of decades.

LG is just the latest to discontinue their players, as they join the likes of Samsung, the maker of my first-ever Blu-ray player when I began reviewing discs for JoBlo.com all those years ago.

What do you think the discontinuation of LG’s Blu-ray players will do to the home media market? Do you see the format being redeemed at any point?

The post LG discontinues Blu-ray and UHD players in latest hit to market appeared first on JoBlo.

To me, you are…creepy. It’s one thing to show up at a woman’s house unannounced while her husband is inside. But it’s another thing entirely to do so with hand-written cue cards declaring your love for her. To think, this was once considered one of the most romantic scenes in any Christmas movie. But today, that moment in Love Actually stands as peak creep, as its target, Keira Knightley, has no problem pointing out.

As the holidays near, Love Actually will be on many-a Christmas movie advent calendar, what with the romance of the season hitting everybody from love-struck kids to adulterous husbands. But its most famous scene still remains its most eyebrow-raising for multiple reasons. As Knightley – who played Juliet, the object of Andrew Lincoln’s affection – told The Los Angeles Times, “The slightly stalkerish aspect of it — I do remember that. My memory is of [director] Richard [Curtis], who is now a very dear friend, of me doing the scene, and him going, ‘No, you’re looking at [Lincoln] like he’s creepy,’ and I’m like [in a dramatic whisper], ‘But it is quite creepy.’ And then having to redo it to fix my face to make him seem not creepy.”

So that’s one thing, but Keira Knightley – who was coming up hot in the industry with Bend It Like Beckham and that summer’s Pirates of the Caribbean – took another issue entirely. “I mean, there was a creep factor at the time, right? Also, I knew I was 17. It only seems like a few years ago that everybody else realized I was 17.”

Knightley isn’t alone in her evaluation of that Love Actually scene. In addition to a wealth of articles written about the “ick factor”, the movie’s director can’t help but admit that that scene is dated and off-putting.

As for how that scene panned out for Lincoln’s Mark, Juliet didn’t ditch her husband for him, but she did chase him down and plant one on him, thus making yet another unfaithful spouse in Love Actually. Ah, holiday romance!

What is your take on the now-infamous scene from Love Actually? Does it impact your viewing of it?

The post Keira Knightley on “that” scene from Love Actually appeared first on JoBlo.

This week, players everywhere dove into the epic adventure that is Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. It’s a game packed with secrets and even with basic mechanics the game isn’t always great about foregrounding, so our tips can help you make the most of your time as the famed archaeologist. On top of that, we’ll…

Read more…

This week, players everywhere dove into the epic adventure that is Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. It’s a game packed with secrets and even with basic mechanics the game isn’t always great about foregrounding, so our tips can help you make the most of your time as the famed archaeologist. On top of that, we’ll…

Read more…

Sarah Michelle Gellar may not get a chance to be in the new I Know What You Did Last Summer, but there is another character of hers she wouldn’t mind revisiting: Buffy Summers. Gellar had previously been against the idea of reviving Buffy the Vampire Slayer but now sees there being less at stake…

Appearing on The Drew Barrymore Show (via Deadline), Sarah Michelle Gellar said of resurrecting Buffy, “It’s funny, I always used to say no, because it’s in its bubble and it’s so perfect. But watching Sex and the City and seeing Dexter, and realizing there are ways to do it, definitely does get your mind thinking, ‘Well, maybe.’” As for when the reboot could take place, Gellar added, “It could be anything. It’s a universe. And it makes you realize that in this world, we need those heroes, I think, more so than ever.” The great Dolly Parton, who served as an uncredited producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (there’s a fun fact for ya!), recently confirmed that a reboot was still on the table.

As mentioned, Gellar wasn’t for the idea of returning for another Buffy series as recently as last year, saying, “I am very proud of the show that we created and it doesn’t need to be done. We wrapped that up. I am all for them continuing the story, because there’s the story of female empowerment. I love the way the show was left: ‘Every girl who has the power can have the power.’ It’s set up perfectly for someone else to have the power. But like I said, the metaphors of Buddy were the horrors of adolescence.”

Gellar is set to be part of the upcoming prequel series Dexter: Original Sin, which will take a look at the budding serial killer as he learns “The Code” and becomes the man he would eventually become in the original Showtime series.

Led by Sarah Michelle Gellar and supported by a stacked cast of ‘90s/early 2000s stars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer ran for 144 episodes over the course of seven seasons.

Would you be down for a reboot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with Sarah Michelle Gellar or should this one stay in the coffin?

The post Sarah Michelle Gellar wants to sink teeth into Buffy reboot? appeared first on JoBlo.

The box office outlook for Kraven the Hunter keeps getting worse and worse. While the underwhelming Thursday previews made it obvious the film wasn’t going to even live up to our modest box office predictions; Deadline is reporting that the movie is now on track for a $12 million opening – tops. Some even expect the movie to have a hard time topping $10 million, making it one of the worst-performing superhero films of all time.

So what’s happening?

The reviews for Kraven have been poor, but the CinemaScore rating is even worse than expected, with it earning a C rating. By comparison, Madame Web, which is a movie I’ve never heard anyone say anything positive about (even its star), managed to earn a C+ rating. People actually seem to be liking it LESS than Madame Web. The only silver lining for Kraven is that it’s performing a lot better than Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, which is only on track for a $5 million opening. That said, it only cost about $30 million compared to Kraven’s $110 million budget.

Meanwhile Moana 2 should make about $26 million, while Wicked isn’ too far behind it with about $20 million and change. Gladiator II is just behind Kraven, with a $7 million-plus opening and a $145 million domestic total. No news yet on what the re-release of Interstellar grossed this weekend, as there’s a possibility it could outgross LOTR for a fifth-place finish.

At any rate, it looks like Sony’s Spider-Verse is coming to a brutal finish, with it unlikely we’ll see any more live-action entries that don’t star Tom Hardy as Venom (with the series still pulling in half-decent grosses) or Tom Holland as Spider-Man (not counting the upcoming Spider-Noir series).

The post Box Office Update: Kraven the Hunter on track for a terrible opening appeared first on JoBlo.

Without getting too political here, it’s easy to point out the similarities to Mike Judge’s Idiocracy and some of our current society. Look, there’s a reason it was re-released ahead of the 2016 election. So do we really need a sequel? Luke Wilson thinks so!

Luke Wilson recently told Business Insider that he is constantly pitching the idea of an Idiocracy sequel to Mike Judge. “I always call Mike and tell him. He’s always busy and always working on a script. But I’ve always told him, how about me and Terry Crews and Dax Shepard coming back to the present day. We see Terry’s Camacho character become president, Dax’s character runs a movie studio. I’m always pitching that to Mike. He gets a kick out of it.”

We can give credit to films like 2001, The Truman Show, Network, The Terminator, and so many others for predicting certain elements of our modern society: technology, reality TV, ratings grabs, AI, and so on. But perhaps no other movie was such a surprise in doing so than Idiocracy. It all seemed so, well, idiotic at the time, but the parallels are definitely there.

On its legacy, Wilson added, “Idiocracy might be the biggest surprise. It seemed like such an odd, funny movie, and I like Mike Judge so much and knew him from Austin. Mike has such a great offbeat sense of humor, and I thought things were funny, but I didn’t know if it would translate. And Fox wasn’t really giving him the money for the effects and set pieces. I’ll never forget I was reading the LA Times before the movie opened, and I saw a small ad that said Idiocracy, and only three theaters were listed. So I called Mike Judge, and he told me the studio dumped the movie. I was bummed out.”

It really took a long time for people to come around on it. Idiocracy was never out on more than 130 screens and it peaked at #43 on opening weekend — even behind Over the Hedge, then out for four months! In total, it would take in less than a half million dollars worldwide. But once it hit DVD, things changed for Idiocracy, finding the sort of cult audience that Mike Judge thrives on.

What do you think? Would an Idiocracy sequel be worth it? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.

The post Luke Wilson keeps pitching Mike Judge on Idiocracy 2 appeared first on JoBlo.

The long-anticipated Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has finally arrived, and it’s different—and better—that what we expected, really putting you in the boots of Harrison Ford’s adventurous archaeologist to become something of an Indiana Jones simulator. Read our full review for lots more on this terrific new…

Read more…

The long-anticipated Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has finally arrived, and it’s different—and better—that what we expected, really putting you in the boots of Harrison Ford’s adventurous archaeologist to become something of an Indiana Jones simulator. Read our full review for lots more on this terrific new…

Read more…

When we talk about prestige television, we’re talking about the era that came about at the turn of the 21st century where networks were starting to once again invest in dramas. Budgets got bigger, stars were made (and later drawn in), the landscape was changed. To many, the cinematic elements and storylines that were applied to the small screen matched those on the big screen. And then you have the cinema purists, who could never see prestige TV matching anything that the movies have to offer. Yes, we mean Quentin Tarantino.

Appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast for an extensive sitdown (alongside Roger Avary), Tarantino said that while modern prestige TV has a wide audience, it will never touch pure cinema. “Everybody talks about how television is now. It’s pretty good, I gotta say. It’s pretty good now. But it’s still television to me. And what’s the difference between television and a good movie? Because a lot of the TV now has the patina of a good movie. They are using cinematic language to get you caught up in it.”

Tarantino would go on to cite Yellowstone as a prime example of good prestige TV that drew him in, saying the first season felt as cinematic as a show could. That said, its continuation ultimately left no impression, saying he couldn’t name the primary villains of the subsequent seasons. “The difference is I’ll see a good Western movie, and I’ll remember it for the rest of my life. I’ll remember the story, this scene and that scene. It built to an emotional climax of some degree. The story is good. It’s not just about the interpersonal relationships. But there’s a payoff to it. There is not a payoff on TV stuff. It’s more interconnected drama.” He also called out television for relying too much on season-ending cliffhangers, saying it further lacks the finality of a film.

Tarantino got a lot of hate recently for heaping praise on Joker: Folie à Deux and he might get even more for his take on prestige TV. While it’s cool that he got into a show like Yellowstone (though it’s quite questionable how much he loves How I Met Your Mother), his comments can be read as him dissing TV as a whole. While I would argue that television killed mid-budget dramas that used to thrive on the big screen, film and television exist on separate planes and have different standards. With that, there’s really little reason to bash one for not being the other.

What are your thoughts on Quentin Tarantino’s take on prestige TV? Does he have a point?

The post Quentin Tarantino says prestige TV is forgettable and has nothing on movies appeared first on JoBlo.