October 30, 2007 - LATE UPDATE - Here are Blu-ray Disc review of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment's "28 Days Later" and "David Cronenberg's The Fly."

October 29, 2007 - LATE UPDATE - Here is a Blu-ray Disc review of Starz Home Entertainment's "Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn."

October 29, 2007 - Here is a Blu-ray Disc review of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's "Hostel: Unrated Director's Cut." Read The Genre Online.Net Eighth Anniversary Report by clicking here!

October 28, 2007 - LATE UPDATE - Here is a Blu-ray Disc review of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's "Hostel Part II: Unrated Director's Cut."

October 26, 2007 - LATE UPDATE - Here is a TV review of The History Channel Original Special, "Lost Book Of Nostradamus," which will premiere on Sunday, October 28, 2007, at 9pm (ET)/ 8pm (CT).

October 25, 2007 - If you are in the New York City area, Disney’s Magical Blu-Ray Tour, sponsored by Panasonic, is arriving in Long Island this Friday at Roosevelt Field and will be there through Sunday. You can read more about it below as well as find out additional tour dates in various areas of North America. More media reviews coming soon.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Walt Disney Studios Presents

DISNEY’S MAGICAL BLU-RAY^™ TOUR

 Consumers in Malls Across the Nation to Experience the Exciting
High-Def Blu-ray Disc^® Format

Tour to Visit 18 Markets and Focus on Consumer Education

Featuring a First Look at Upcoming
Cars and Meet the Robinsons Blu-ray Disc Releases 

BURBANK, CA. July 17, 2007 – The Walt Disney Studios today announced the launch of Disney’s Magical Blu-ray Tour, which will visit 18 malls nationwide beginning August 17.  The announcement was made by Bob Chapek, president of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.  Disney’s Magical Blu-ray Tour, sponsored by Panasonic, is an interactive exhibit designed to educate consumers about the new high-definition home entertainment technology and will feature interactive kiosks, viewing stations and a special presentation theater where consumers can experience first-hand the amazing capabilities and benefits of Blu-ray Disc technology.  Disney’s Magical Blu-ray Tour will also focus on providing clarity for the growing consumer confusion around high-definition home entertainment and educating them on the benefits of Blu-ray Disc technology.  The tour will kick-off in Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the world, beginning August 17 at the Westfield Topanga mall in Canoga Park, CA and continue on to 17 additional locations across the U.S.

According to a recent survey by Leichtman Research Group[1], close to one-half of the 24 million households with HDTV don't actually watch high-definition programs because they haven't obtained the necessary hardware from their cable, phone or satellite operators.  About one-half of those viewers – about six million – don’t even realize they’re not watching HDTV.  The tour aims to educate consumers by delivering a comprehensive and entertaining high-definition
Blu-ray experience, allowing them to interact with the technology and view live demonstrations hosted throughout each day of the tour.

“Disney has always put consumers first and we are here to help everyone understand this amazing new technology. It is imperative that we continue to educate and engage consumers as to the advantages and exciting features that are unique to the Blu-ray Disc format,” said Dick Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. “There are so many high-definition enabled households not taking full advantage of its capabilities and we hope to change that with the Disney Magical Blu-ray Tour.”

Disney’s Magical Blu-ray Tour will feature exciting first-look opportunities in each market including previews of Disney/Pixar’s Cars, as well as Disney’s Meet the Robinsons, and live demonstrations where consumers will get first-hand experience playing the interactive “Liar’s Dice” game from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. The Mall Tour features six to fourteen interactive stations (depending on the size of the mall) which will showcase all aspects of the Blu-ray Disc technology.  A special mini theater will host hourly live presentations on Blu-ray high-definition technology. To date, Disney has released such hits as Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, The Guardian, The Prestige and many more on Blu-ray Disc. 

“Our goal with the Disney Magical Blu-ray Tour is to reach as many people as possible and to help educate the consumers across all demographics," said Bob Chapek, president of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.  "Our presentations and demo areas will hold something of interest for everyone, from kids and their parents, to older adults and teens.  Even early adopters won’t be disappointed with the first looks of the bonus materials that we're rolling out for our future titles.  Since high definition is for everyone, we made sure that the Tour elements reflected that as well."

“We are very excited to be working together with Disney to bring Blu-ray technology to consumers in this very personal, grassroots experience,” said Eisuke Tsuyuzaki, vice president Corporate Development & General Manager, Blu-ray Group for Panasonic. “Consumers will be blown away by the 1080p High Definition presentations we have in store for them and are sure to be excited about the biggest new development in home entertainment since the advent of DVD 10 years ago.  Also, we are proud that Disney will be displaying these beautiful images on Panasonic Plasma TVs.”

Disney’s Magical Blu-ray Tour, sponsored by Panasonic, will travel to select markets across the country beginning August 17 and continue through December 23, 2007. Cities on the tour include Canoga Park, Costa Mesa, San Diego, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, Washington DC, Long Island, Boston, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Houston, Austin, and Phoenix.

Mall Tour Sweepstakes

Guests who visit Disney’s Magical Blu-ray Tour in each market can register to win a Blu-ray home entertainment package comprised of a Blu-ray player and a library of Disney Blu-ray Discs.

Mall Tour General Schedule

Disney’s Magical Blu-ray Tour, sponsored by Panasonic, will be open in all locations during regular malls hours from Friday – Sunday, with a special preview for the media on Friday mornings. The exhibits will be hosted by experts from both Disney and Panasonic, who will be available to answer questions about the technical aspects of Blu-ray and content featured on Disney Blu-ray Discs. 

DISNEY’S MAGICAL BLU-RAY TOUR SCHEDULE:

MALL                                     LOCATION                           EVENT DATES

Westfield Topanga                       Canoga Park, CA                     Aug. 17 - 19

South Coast Plaza                Costa Mesa, CA                    Aug. 24 - 26

Westfield North County             Escondido, CA             Aug. 31 - Sept. 2

Westfield San Francisco            San Francisco, CA              Sept. 7 - 9

Washington Square                        Portland, OR.             Sept. 14 - 16

Westfield South Center            Seattle, WA                            Sept. 21 - 23

Mall of America                       Bloomington, MN                   Sept. 28 - 30

Orland Square             Orland Park, IL                       Oct. 5 - 7

Westfield West County             St. Louis, MO                               Oct 12 - 14

Tyson Corner Center             McLean, VA                           Oct. 19 - 21

Roosevelt Field             Garden City, NY                      Oct. 26 - 28

Burlington Mall                         Burlington, MA                        Nov. 9 - 11

King of Prussa             King of Prussia, PA                  Nov. 16 -18

Circle Centre                            Indianapolis, IN                       Nov. 23 - 25

Lennox Square                         Atlanta, GA                               Nov. 30 - Dec. 2

The Galleria                              Houston, TX                           Dec. 7 - 9

Barton Creek Square             Austin, TX                               Dec. 14 - 16

Chandler Fashion Center             Chandler, AZ                          Dec. 21 - 23

October 24, 2007 - Here is a combined Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD review of BBC Video's "Galapagos."

October 23, 2007 - Here is a Blu-ray Disc Review of Warner Home Video's "Alexander Revisited: The Final Cut: Two-Disc Special Edition."

October 20, 2007 - Here is a DVD QuickView of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's "Walking Tall: Lone Justice."

October 19, 2007 - Brooklyn is a quantum singularity amidst a storm of swirling atoms vibrating at different frequencies that we call the Universe, but I call home. You can now bookmark www.thebrooklyncritic.com (That's me) as an alternate method of reaching GENRE ONLINE.NET, Home of The Brooklyn Critic, Mark Rivera. ;)

October 18, 2007 - Here is an advanced TV review of the highly anticipated SCI FI Channel Original Event "Battlestar Galactica: RAZOR."

October 16, 2007 - My hard drive crashed Sunday night and I just got my PC and website running again. New updates will begin tomorrow. Thank you for your patience and big thanks to Brian T. for helping recover everything and get back online. 

October 8, 2007 - Here is a QuickView of Warner Home Video's "Smallville: The Complete Sixth Season On DVD Box Set."

October 5, 2007 - Here are Blu-ray Disc reviews of Starz Home Entertainment's "George A. Romero's Dawn Of The Dead" and "George A. Romero's Day Of The Dead" and an HD DVD review of Universal Studios Home Entertainment's 2004 remake of "Dawn Of The Dead: Unrated Director's Cut." Catch the first of the "Battlestar Galactica: Razor Flashbacks" tonight on SCI FI during new episodes of  Flash Gordon beginning tonight at 9pm (ET/PT). To learn more click on the poster below!

October 1, 2007 - I have moved my TV review of the SCI FI Channel Original Series Premiere Episodes of  "Flash Gordon (2007)" to the Archived TV Reviews Page and I have moved my "On The Mark Updates For September, 2007" to the Archived On The Mark Updates Page. New reviews coming soon. Thank you.

Return To The Archived On The Mark Updates Page