Check out these videos to see why checking out Surrogates is worth it, and stay tuned for our upcoming review of this Blu-Ray.

The Surrogates Trailer:

Here is a featurette:

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With the Surrogates Blu-ray & DVD about to be released, we sit down to chat with actress Radha Mitchell. How does the action star handle stunts in high heels? What’s it like to be a sex symbol? Read on for Radha’s insights into bruises, bungee jumps, Bruce Willis and lots more…

Q: What can you tell us about your new Blu-ray & DVD, Surrogates?
Radha Mitchell: The movie is a sci-fi, action thriller and I play an FBI agent called Peters. The device of the story is that there is a surrogate technology being used in the world and the population is addicted to using it. You plug into a device, which is basically a robot, and that robot goes and performs all of your daily tasks for you. When that happens, you can manicure your life. You can organize and control how you want to live and how you want to feel. However, something goes wrong in this society and my character works alongside Bruce Willis’ character to figure out who committed a murder.

Q: Tell us more about the surrogates…
Radha Mitchell: When the story begins, the technology of surrogates has been around for years. It has been promoted because it’s considered extremely safe. You can have any kind of experience and not feel a thing. For example, you can jump out of a plane, but you’ll never be in physical danger because it’s all done vicariously. However, something terrible has happened to shake up this world – and it’s up to my character and Bruce Willis’ character to find out how and why this murder has occurred.

Q: What would you use a surrogate to do for you? Perhaps you’d like to jump out of a plane?
Radha Mitchell: I think you’d lose part of the experience if you used a surrogate for something like jumping out of a plane. Part of the experience is about risking your own mortality. I’d love to use a surrogate to do all of the boring things in life that I’ve done thousands of times before, like cleaning or household chores. However, I think I’d want to do all of the exciting stuff for myself.

Q: Are you a daredevil at heart?
Radha Mitchell: I haven’t jumped out of a plane, but I did consider it in the past. A friend of mine jumped out of a plane when I was in high school and I remember him coming back with the video, so I thought about doing it back then. Since then, I feel like there’s enough uncertainty in my life as it is without needing to add to the drama. But who knows? Maybe if the opportunity came along, I’d consider it again.

Q: Would you ever consider a bungee jump?
Radha Mitchell: Bungee jumping? No. My most daredevil experience has involved motorbike riding. I survived a motorbike accident because I fell off one, but I’m not too much of a thrill seeker in that sense.

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Surrogates, starring Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell, will be available on Blu-Ray and DVD on February 26, 2010. In the meantime, enjoy these Surrogates factoids.

• First-time author Robert Venditti came up with the unique premise while working at Top Shelf Publications in their shipping warehouse in suburban Atlanta.

• “SURROGATES” was filmed on location in Massachusetts, primarily in Boston and surrounding suburbs.

• In addition to mounting the film in several neighborhoods around Boston—the Leather District, the Financial District, the South End, Chestnut Hill, and the home of his alma mater, Cambridge, among them—director Jonathan Mostow also filmed in such Boston suburbs as Worcester, Taunton and Hopedale.

• Studies led the film’s scripters to a Japanese scientist named Hiroshi Ishiguro, who has been using a plastic version of himself to lecture around the world without leaving his Osaka office. They also uncovered a rhesus monkey in North Carolina that has been wired to make a robot in Kyoto walk, merely by thinking.

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Movie Info:
Writers: Michael Nitsberg, Kevin Elders
Director: Greg Marcks
Cast: Shane West, Edward Burns, Ving Rhames, Yuriy Kutsenko, Sergey Gubanov, Martin Sheen, Steven Elder, Tamara Feldman, Jonathan Pryce
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Paramount

Release Info:
Theatrical Release: March 12, 2009
DVD Release Date: July 21, 2009
Online Availability: Amazon for $27.99

It’s hard to screw up an action picture. The guidelines are fairly simple. There has to be plenty of explosions, a pretty girl, and some semblance of a plot (generally meaning a beginning, middle, and end). Most importantly, the movie needs to be at least semi-plausible and it can’t be boring. Echelon Conspiracy fails in the action genre for a number of reasons. These issues are a million little things and when you put them all together it just means that this movie was never worth being made in the first place.

Greg Marcks is a relatively new director. He received some Indy acclaim for his work on 11:14, but Conspiracy is his first bigger budget action flick. I know that every director has a film in their lineup that ends up being one of those…”What was I thinking” kind of films, but it seems a little early in his career after winning a student Academy Award and receiving such acclaim for his first movie to end up with something so flat.

If this were to keep up he might not end up doing many action flicks or at least not any major ones. The director always gets the brunt of the bad review because it is their job to make sure the movie as a whole comes out looking good. Marcks seems to overlook the glaring plot holes, the sinkholes of boredom, and the lack of interest in each of the characters. You can explode as much as you want, but at the end of the day it doesn’t mean much if people want the entire movie to explode just so it will end.

The acting was touch and go. Shane West was completely unbelievable as the computer expert. He couldn’t even manage to trace a cell phone call. Not to mention you barely see him working on a computer at all in the movie. For a few minutes you see him finishing up a job and swinging some electrical cord, but other than typing you don’t get anymore computer action from West. Burns is a little more believable as the lawman turned casino security head. Of course, this is a part, in some way, that we have seen him play before. He’s tough, loud, and no nonsense. All good, but you can’t save a movie with one guy.

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Movie Info:
Writers: Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett
Director: George Stevens
Cast: Millie Perkins, Joseph Schildkraut, Shelley Winters, Richard Beymer, Gusti Huber, Lou Jacobi, Diane Baker, Douglas Spencer, Ed Wynn, Dodie Heath
Rating: N/a
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Release Info:
Theatrical Release: August 26, 1959
DVD Release Date: June 16, 2009
Online Availability: Amazon for $21.99

It seems that many young people today do not respect the classic films of yesterday like they once did. While pop culture and entertainment media would be nothing without it’s roots; the roots of movies and celebrities of the 30s and before, it seems as if some can dismiss these roots as if they had little to do with today. The funny thing in that is that many of the movies that were hailed as being fantastic and industry changing are being re-made now. Thankfully, The Diary of Anne Frank is not one of those movies. Of course, it’s seen its remake before, a long while ago, and hopefully it does not see it again. In any case, this version, the original film directed by George Stevens and starring the magnificent Millie Perkins, is the one that you want to see.

Prior to Perkins being chosen, the job was offered to a few other women including Natalie Wood and Otto Frank’s personal first choice, Audrey Hepburn. Hepburn was Anne Frank’s age and lived through the war in the Netherlands. Still, she chose to turn down the role because she felt she was too old to play a teenager and she couldn’t imagine having to relive the war in such a way. Despite not being the first choice for the role, Perkins ended up showing everyone that she had just what it took to offer an emotional and thought-provoking performance.

I have to imagine that it was a labor of love creating a movie like this. Not only that, but on some level it had to be an incredibly emotional experience. Still, everyone involved in the production handled it to the best of their ability. In the end they had a movie that would win three Academy Awards, one of which was donated to the Anne Frank House (courtesy of Shelley Winters) and that was so effective it would change the lives of the actors and numerous people that watched this movie over the years.

It’s shocking to imagine that anyone hasn’t seen this movie at this point, but if you haven’t you need to see it. Buying or renting, doesn’t matter much as long as you choose an option and see it. While some liberties were taken, the movie is very similar to the Pulitzer Prize winning play and the book upon which the story was based. As a child I remember watching this and being so affected by it. It’s one of the few old movies I remember watching. It always made me cry. It also made me want to be a better person.

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Blu Ray Authoritay is proud to be giving away one of three copies of The Code. To enter all you need to do is leave us a comment. Please be sure to only leave one.

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Blu Ray Authoritay is proud to be giving away a copy of Confessions of a Shopaholic on Blu-ray. To enter all you need to do is leave us a comment. Please be sure to only leave one.

COMMENTS ARE MODERATED to avoid spam, so it will not show up right away. People who leave multiple comments will be deleted from the contest altogether. If you do not see your comment within a day then by all means leave another one. Otherwise, do not worry as we accept comments several times a day.

ENTRY GUIDELINES:
To enter you need to be at least 18 years of age and a resident of the US. If you have won a contest within the last 30 days you are not eligible.

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Movie Info:
Writers: Clayton Frohman, Edward Zwick
Director: Edward Zwick
Cast: Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, Alexa Davalos, George MacKay, Allan Corduner, Mark Feuerstein, Tomas Arana, Jodhi May, Kate Fahy
Rating: R
Studio: Paramount

Release Info:
Theatrical Release: January 16, 2009
DVD Release Date: June 2, 2009
Online Availability: Amazon for $24.99

In Hollywood there are a slew of directors that stand out for the controversial and thought provoking films that they make. These are directors that can be named at the drop of the hat. They are directors like Sam Mendes, Oliver Stone, Francis Ford Coppola, and Martin Scorsese. Then there are directors you know, by body of work, but they have a name that constantly escapes you. For me, this is Edward Zwick to a tee. Zwick has directed a few well known films, such as Blood Diamond, About Last Night, and Glory. Having seen and loved all three of these movies, I feel I know the quality of Zwick’s work much better than I know him by name.

I may not have had a clue who Zwick was, but the names of a few key cast members are names not easily forgotten. Two of the main leads are played by Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber. These two men are well known for their acting ability, so that naturally helps quite a bit. In the beginning, there was only one real problem from what I could tell. Before I received Defiance for review, I don’t recall hearing one thing about it!

After watching the movie I went ahead and looked up more details about the Bielski brothers. Come to find out, some of the story that you see in the movie is true. Granted, much of it (especially the fighting) has been trumped up to make a better picture, but the brothers’ trying to save themselves and other Jews from persecution was on the money. This makes the film more interesting than originally anticipated.

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