We don't normally blog about a single new release, but  Battlestar Galactica: Season Three was by far our most requested DVD not yet released, so we figured it was newsworthy. It  has finally been announced, and even though it doesn't come out until March, you can pre-order your copy today.  So you BSG fans finally have another whole season to look forward to on DVD. Enjoy.  --Dan

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Not every new product shown at this week's Consumer Electronics Show is as spectacular as the
new 150-inch Panasonic plasma TV (or the hole you would need in the side of
your house to get it inside).  While I
doubt that any of us will contemplate purchasing such a set, plenty of other new
products announced at CES look to improve home theaters--and easily fit through the front door
to boot. I couldn’t help but point out two of my top picks from this year’s
showcase, which winds up today in Las Vegas.

One of my favorite new products is the Video Transfer by
Pinnacle. If you’ve ever wanted to backup your home videos onto a digital
format, you might have struggled with the conversion process—install a special
card to your computer, install software to process and decode the video, add a
larger hard drive to handle the data, etc. This one-inch-thick box, about the
size of a card deck, simplifies the process to a ridiculous degree: hook your
analog audio/video input into one end, then hook any USB storage device to the
other. The device processes the video, compresses it into the convenient MPEG-4
format, then spits it out via USB onto your computer, flash drive, or even iPod
and PSP. And, yes, that means you can avoid using your computer entirely to pull this off if you so choose. Though the device certainly makes sense with old VHS home movies, you
can use any standard-def video source, as long as it isn’t copy protected, and
transfer its content as well--should be interesting to see how this works with DVR
units. The Video Transfer is expected to be available on January 15th
with an MSRP of 9.

My other favorite was actually a reintroduction of something
cool from CES 2006: Mitsubishi’s Laser TV. Most rear-projection HDTVs (DLP,
LCOS, etc.) use light bulbs, which have issues like relatively short lives,
power consumption, start-up delays, and rare on-screen flashes of color. Mitsubishi’s
laser technology addresses all four of these flaws directly, which could help
rear-projection HDTVs gain traction in the coming year. I'm hopeful that the first laser-equipped
TVs will reach stores by this November, but don’t expect to find them on sale on Black Friday; they
will carry a premium over bulb sets. --Adam

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Atonement was one of the major movies of 2007 having its big North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last September, and I was fortunate enough to be able to attend. After the film had its premiere showing at the Elgin theater,


a lavish affair was put on at the Rosewater Supper Club where the film's star, James McAvoy, circulated quickly around the room to heavy congratulations by just about everyone in the room. The poor guy couldn't talk to anyone for more than 5 seconds before someone else was in his face or whisking him away to talk to someone else. He was nice enough to give me a few seconds of his time where I asked him how many takes it took to get that incredible shot of the Dunkirk scene. "Three takes, one day," he said with animated gestures to make sure I heard him clearly above the din of the crowd (or maybe so that I didn't misunderstand his strong brogue). Then he turned around and went to chat with Harvey Weinstein (hey, no problem, I know where I rank in that pecking order).




To the left, James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, and Joe Wright at the Atonement Premiere in Toronto.



Also hanging out at the party were director Joe Wright, Jessica Alba, and Simon Pegg, fresh of off Hot Fuzz  fame, who was in Toronto to promote Run Fatboy Run, his new movie directed by David Schwimmer. I never did see Keira Knightley at the party.

As this was one of the most anticipated films showing at the festival this year, I asked most of the partygoers for their thoughts. Naturally those involved in the making of the film were very pleased with the results and the very positive reception it received. But the buzz around the room, and the next day around the city, was that the film was a huge success and the first reviews were very positive, and it wasn't too soon for the word "Oscar" to start getting thrown around. You can read my interview with Screenwriter Christopher Hampton here to learn more about the production and the effort he and director Joe Wright put into staying faithful to the novel.

Check out our Atonement page for more clips and exclusives from the film.
 --Dan

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