Unfortunately, this isn't the case of Fincher making fun of a bad romantic comedy behind its back. Never Been Kissed star/executive producer Drew Barrymore signed off on the gag, a PR rep for Fox explains in a press release:

As you have probably noticed, there is a Never Been Kissed gag on the Fight Club 10th Anniversary BD, evident immediately upon insertion. As promised, below you'll find the background on this prank, which was devised by David Fincher himself.

Fincher was heavily involved in the 10th Anniversary BD and as you may know, is a bit of a prankster. As a fun gag for the Fight Club fans, Fincher wanted the Fight Club Blu-ray Disc to begin with "a fake menu" of a romantic comedy from the same year as Fight Club, as a trick on the audience. Never Been Kissed was his top choice and he eventually went to Drew Barrymore for her approval. When users insert the disc into their BD player, the menu for Never Been Kissed will pop up for a few seconds prior to the real Fight Club menu.

As you are writing your reviews of the Fight Club 10th Anniversary BD, please feel free to let your readers know about this prank and Fincher's intentions.

Fincher should have taken the joke the extra mile and substituted the entire Never Been Kissed movie for Fight Club as some sort of anti-materialist, marketing-media complex deconstruction statement.

If you're an HD junkie, DVD2Blu is a cost-effective way to rid your shelf of so-2005 DVD boxes and replace them with those slim, shiny blue cases. I spot-checked the Blu-ray prices on Amazon, and the program generally saves you on every title, some ($7 on Any Given Sunday) more than others ($2 on A Clockwork Orange).

Granted, it takes a mammoth 1080p TV to tell a noticeable difference between Blu-ray and an upconverted DVD. But do you videophiles out there find this program appealing?

DVD2Blu [Warner Bros.]
(Photo: frankieleon)
(Thanks, Colin!)

What's frightening for customers is Netflix is willing to go along with this thick-headed plan, PaidContent reports, as long as the company gets its DVDs for half off.

If the deal goes through it will no doubt hurt both parties. Trashing the value of its service, Netflix will lose subscribers, and the studios won't see the sales bump they're hoping for since a chunk of otherwise honest would-be renters will either opt for piracy or just sit out the 30 days to rent the movies.

Netflix customers, will you be more likely to buy a DVD or Blu-ray if you're not allowed to rent it until a month after it's released? Will you stick with Netflix even if it stops offering new releases in a timely manner?

Netflix Wants 50 Percent Discount Under Release Delay Scenario [PaidContent via TechCrunch]
(Photo: Great Beyond)

On a 32-inch HDTV the visual difference between a Blu-ray disc and a DVD played on an upscaling DVD player is negligible, but if you long to take the Blu-ray plunge, now is certainly a better time than three years ago, when there were barely any movies out on the format and you couldn't find a player for cheaper than $500.

Netflix Coupon for New Netflix-Enabled Insignia Blu-ray Players Brings Price to $99 & $149 [Hacking Netflix]
(Thanks, Mike!)

This means no more display cases to pimp the latest releases. Reporter Nat Worden quotes a stock analyst who says this means DVD and Blu-ray are dead in Walmart's eyes:

"We think the new strategy implies Wal-Mart no longer sees DVDs and Blu-ray discs as traffic drivers," J.P. Morgan analyst Imran Khan said.

Phoenix movie blogger Colin Boyd hints the situation could be the tipping point that kills the movie industry's cash cow:

The studios count on Wal-Mart to move over 30% of all of their product, and in an down environment overall for home video sales and rentals, that's probably not good news for industry. However, it could be seen as another door opening for online retailers, like NetFlix and Amazon.

There's not a direct correlation there, but online could see a small spike from it. Will it impact sales in stores? Absolutely, although I don't know that we'll be able to say how much until the first quarter of next year, because DVD sales are always brisk around the holidays.

It definitely seems people haven't been agog at buying up DVDs anymore. How many DVDs do you buy in a year? In a decade?

Wal-Mart Scales Back DVD Displays [Wall Street Journal]
Walmart Eliminating In-Store DVD, Blu-ray Displays [Get the Big Picture]
(Photo: Clean Wal-Mart)

Now Sony is finally making good on the deal, announcing that "select releases" will be capable of pulling off the transfer, starting with "The Ugly Truth" in November.

From Sony's press release:

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Sony Computer Entertainment America today announced an advancement to the Blu-ray format, whereby users can now transfer a Digital Copy of the movie directly from the Blu-ray Disc to their PSP®(PlayStation®Portable) systems via PlayStation®3 (PS3™). This new technology eliminates the need to include the PSP file on a separate DVD-ROM, packaged with the Blu-ray, which would normally contain the Digital Copy files. This feature will launch with the November 10th Blu-ray release of Godzilla and will be included on select releases going forward, including The Ugly Truth.

"Blu-ray is already known as the best way to watch movies at home, and now SPHE & SCEA are also making it the most convenient way to watch movies on the go," said Rich Marty, Vice President of New Business Development at Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Marty continued, "This latest enhancement to Blu-ray and Digital Copy demonstrates the versatility of the format and its ability to deliver a multi-platform video experience. It also showcases the unique advantage that the PlayStation 3 brings to the Blu-ray consumer."

This is undoubtedly a boon for those who already own a PS3 and PSP, or PS3 owners who are planning on buying a PSP Go that won't play any of their Universal Media Disc movies. Especially since DVD-transferable digital copies of movies don't play on PSPs unless you download a sketchy, not-quite-legal converter program.

(Photo: GarotaDesastrada)

Here's what's been happening to Victor:

We have been experiencing a growing number of brand new Blu-Ray releases from Netflix that arrive with a small crack (usually 1-3mm, and sometimes only through the hardcoat part) along the outer edge that makes the disc unplayable. In better than 4 years we have had only ONE regular Netflix DVD arrive cracked, but with Blu Ray we've now have three arrive in just the last three weeks with this problem. I started asking around, and it seems like this is a growing problem. The Blu Ray hard coating actually seems to make the discs MORE susceptible to damage in transit.

Mars Box noted this problem nearly two years ago, when 13 out of 24 Blu-ray titles he rented in September and October of 2007 arrived cracked. In the comments below the post, other Netflix customers are still posting (as recently as last month) that their Blu-ray rentals keep showing up cracked.

Netflix raised the rates on Blu-ray plans by $1 per membership tier this past March. At the time, they justified the price increase by saying, "Blu-ray discs are substantially more expensive than standard definition DVDs." We wonder if that price increase wasn't also a way for Netflix to avoid an expensive envelope redesign, and pass the cost of frequent disc replacement over to the consumers who rent Blu-ray in the first place.

RELATED
"Cracked Netflix Blu-Ray Disc Problem" [Mars Box]
"Netflix Raising Blu-Ray Rates By $1 Per Tier"
(Photo: Ross C.)

Because the PlayStation 3 is the most popular Blu-ray player, gamers have driven what little success the format has had as it edged out HD-DVDs but has thus far failed to push DVD players out of the vast majority of living rooms or even make up for drooping sales of the older format.

On a tip from a friend, I spot-called several GameStop stores in Tucson and found that none of them take Blu-ray for trade-in anymore. Most of the stores hadn't been taking them for a while.

We've contacted GameStop for confirmation multiple times in the last month but the company has yet to get back to us.

Erin writes:

Wanted to tip everyone off: Best Buy sells a sweet Blu Ray player made by
Insignia for $169. I picked one up & spotted the "Geek Squad" can upgrade the firmware for $29.99. Meh. I'll do it myself.

On checking out, the young lady pointed out that I'd need the firmware upgrade, and they could do it. Without it, I'd not be able to watch the latest Blu Ray titles, such as the Dark Knight. I told her I'd take care of it.

I got home, and took a peek. There is no phone jack or ethernet port on the unit, only an SD Card slot on the front. Hmm. Went to Insignia website, no firmware update notice anywhere. I call Insignia, and guess what? All of their CS is now handled by Best Buy. Awesome.

The Dark Knight plays fine.

Tell everyone you know- if you buy the Insignia KM- BRDVD player, it's FINE. NO FIRMWARE update needed. I wonder how many people they sucker into this.

To those shoppers confused about the difference between hardware and software, "firmware" is probably scary enough to get them to shell out $30. Thanks for the heads up, Erin!

Dear Dash,

As you may know, Blu-ray movies are more expensive than standard definition movies. As a result, we're going to start charging $1 a month (plus applicable taxes), in addition to your monthly membership charge, for unlimited access to Blu-ray movies.

The additional charge for unlimited Blu-ray access will be automatically added to your next billing statement on or after November 5th, 2008 and will be referenced in your Membership Terms and Details. If you wish to continue getting Blu-ray movies for $1 a month more, you don't need to do anything. If not, you can remove Blu-ray access anytime by visiting Your Account at the Netflix website.

If you have questions about this change or need any assistance, please call us anytime at 1-888-638-3549.

-The Netflix Team

Price change for access to Blu-ray movies [The Official Netflix Blog] (Thanks to Dash!) (Photo: corsec67)

Sean writes:

Iron Man was released [this week] on DVD and Blu-Ray and there is much ire in the Blu-Ray community regarding the BD-Live aspects of the disc. When the disc is first booted the disc loads some information from the internet and begins an auto download. This load is taking anywhere from 2 minutes to over 45 minutes.

Last night I struggled for over an hour and half trying to get the disc to play, but all I could get was an "Iron Man" heart on my screen that did nothing but flash. I finally consulted the internet and found some advice on a few forums stating that I needed to change the BD-Live function of my player from Auto to Confirm; then to reload the disc and not allow the BD-Live functionality.

There is no warning on the disc that this initial load could take 30+ minutes to load. And what does this time intensive application do? It loads an interactive quiz that viewers may take during the movie. This should be something that is offered after watching the movie for the first time from the menu, not during initial start up.

I wonder how many consumers are taking the discs back to the retailer thinking the disc is broken or defective, only to get home and see the same thing again.

A post on Consumerist could go a long way towards educating the public on another "wonderful" marketing idea.

Done! Change the BD-Live setting on your player from Auto to Confirm so you're not forced to deal with future auto-connect Blu-ray "features."

Summer Blu-ray Offer (postmarked by 10/31/07)
P.O. BOX 410338
El Paso, TX 88541-0338

Holiday Blu-ray Offer (postmarked by 2/28/08)
P.O. BOX 410260
El Paso, TX 88541-0260

One reader reports that he submitted his rebate paperwork during the holidays and still hasn't heard anything. Another says he postmarked his February 29, and received it a few days later with a note that the P.O. Box had been closed. Another recently wrote in to say he still hasn't heard anything from the summer promotion (the postmark deadline for that was October 31).
Here's what we know. The number for the rebate's support line (which most readers say hasn't been very helpful) is 800-598-9671. A WHOIS search for the rebate site shows that Disney is the owner of the site, and one reader spoke to a CSR who suggested mailing a copy of everything to Buena Vista Home Entertainment, PO Box 72699, Rockford, MN 55572. Maybe it's time to EECB of call the CEO of Disney.
UPDATEReader Isaac writes in to let us know that although "Buena Vista Home Entertainment is a stain" and sent him The Corpse Bride because they ran out of The Italian Job, he complained to Costco, where he bought his Blu-Ray Disc Player (in this case, a PS3), and Costco sent him a copy of the movie he wanted, despite having really nothing to do with the rebate. Kudos to Costco, boo to Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

(Photo: highdef)

I ordered a new 50 inch plasma tv on Sunday march 2nd from Newegg.com. We decided to get a PS3 to go with it so we could watch Blu-Ray movies. The PS3 was listed as SONY PlayStation 3 w/Spider Man 3 40 GB Black - Retail [link] [Ed. note: the current product listing does not mention Spiderman 3, but it may have been updated since this customer's order was placed.*]

I recieved the PS3 and TV on Wed March 5th. When I went through the package I noticed there was no Spiderman 3 Blu-Ray disk. I called NewEgg to see what they would do for me.

The lady their said it should have been in the box, and stressed that they do not OPEN that packages. I stated that in addition to their being no movie in the box, the box I recieved was also different than the one advertised on thir site. The box on the website shows a Spiderman 3 Blu-Ray disk on the box, and the one I recieved does not.

I have attached pictures of the 2 boxes.

What he ordered.

What he got.

She said that it is not her problem if Sony does not include the movie anymore. I responded that I did not order a PS3 from Sony I ordered one from NEWEGG.COM and that NEWEGG says i'm getting Spiderman 3. Also, as the box I recieved is different from the box pictured, they should have known that the movie was not included, and not advertised it as such.

She ended with, "Not our problem, call SONY" I ended with "I will call Sony, but it is not thier job to resolve this, and if they do not, I will be calling back and you WILL be making this right!" (At this point I have not yet booted the PS3 and was not 100% certain that the movie was not on the pack-in disk of trailers and such)

I called Sony, and after a 10 minute hold I got a nice guy who listened to the compliant and said "No Problem, I can resolve this for you" So I had to fax Sony my reciept, name, address..... and an Authorization # he gave me, and they said they would mail the movie within 2 days of recieving the info.

I do not believe Newegg.com will be changing their listing to reflect that Spiderman 3 is no longer included (in their inventory anyways), they will just wait for people to call, then say screw you. [Ed. note: well, actually it looks like they already have—see link above.*]

I called Newegg back to let them know that even though they screwed me over, Sony has stepped in to make it right, and that they are false advertising their PS3 w/ Spiderman 3 and that I was letting the Consumerist.com know about it. Her response was to tell me that they could only talk to the account holder (My wife) and goodbye. Funny they didn't mention having to talk to her last time I called, and before there were complain notes in my case.

*Note: Since I began writing this post around 7pm EST, the link referenced above has stopped working. Before 7pm it led to a product page for an ordinary 40 gb PS3 with no mention of Spiderman 3. It now returns the following message: "We apologize for the inconvenience, but the item you are looking for has been deactivated."

(Thanks to Terry!)

The first generation Blu-ray players currently on shelves, profile 1.0, don't offer many nice perks like picture-in-picture, local storage, or internet connectivity. Those features will arrive with second generation players, called BD Live or profile 2.0, which should hit stores by the end of the year. Once prices fall, those are the players to buy.

As for HD-DVD...

Japanese public broadcaster NHK had earlier reported that Toshiba would suffer losses in the tens of billions of yen (hundreds of millions of dollars) as it scrapped production of HD DVD players and recorders and took other steps to exit the business.

Toshiba to give up on HD DVD, end format war: source [Reuters]

Representatives at the Blu-ray booth at CES told BetaNews that the PlayStation 3 is currently the only player they would recommend, due to upcoming changes to the platform. But Pioneer, Samsung, Panasonic and Sony have all been selling standalone Blu-ray players to customers.

When asked why current players were released to the market when in such a primitive state, manufacturers blamed the release of HD DVD and said it forced them to come to market too soon. "We should have waited another year to introduce Blu-ray to the public, but the format war changed the situation." Okay, well how about we just don't buy any Blu-ray players for a while (not counting the PS3) until you guys decide to get your act together?

"Blu-ray: Early adopters knew what they were getting into" [BetaNews]

RELATED
"Where Things Stand In The Hi-Def DVD Format War"
(Photo: Getty)

From their press release:

"Warner Bros.' move to exclusively release in the Blu-ray disc format is a strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give consumers what they want," said Meyer. "The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers."

"A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry," said Tsujihara. "Consumers have clearly chosen Blu-ray, and we believe that recognizing this preference is the right step in making this great home entertainment experience accessible to the widest possible audience. Warner Bros. has worked very closely with the Toshiba Corporation in promoting high definition media and we have enormous respect for their efforts. We look forward to working with them on other projects in the future."

Format wars suck. That's all we really have to say about it.

Warner Bros. Entertainment to Release its High-Definition DVD Titles Exclusively in the Blu-Ray Disc Format Beginning Later This Year [Time Warner]
(Photo:someToast)

(Photo: Getty)

"The consumers are sending us a message. I can't ignore what I'm seeing," Matthew Smith, senior vice president of merchandising at Blockbuster, told The Associated Press.

The North American HD DVD Promotional Group responded: "I think trying to make a format decision using such a short time period is really not measuring what the consumer is saying," said Ken Graffeo, co-president.

Is this the final blow for HD DVD? Wait, does anyone still rent at Blockbuster? —MEGHANN MARCO

AP: Blockbuster to Favor Blu-Ray HD Disc [AP] (Thanks, Phil!)
(Photo: medalian1)