I am – Hercules!!

Still No HD Season Sets, But. Warner Bros. announced Aug. 10 that the first (2006) half of “The Sopranos’” sixth season will hit HD-DVD Nov. 7, the same date the same 12 episodes come out on standard-def DVD. SRP for the HD set is an outrageous $129.99, which works out to $10.83 per hour. But that’s just because all the HBO season-sets are overpriced when they hit DVD. (The SD DVD version carries an SRP of $99.99.)

Cheaper HD season-sets for non-HBO series appear also to be in the works. The new “Invasion” season-set that goes on sale today contains a flyer with this text: “Experience your favorite TV shows in High Definition with HD-DVD.” Beside it are HD-DVD keepcases for “Smallville: The Complete Fifth Season” and “The West Wing: The Complete Seventh Season.”

Why Herc Is Ditching His DirecTV!! I signed up for my DirecTV system three years ago because that was the only way I could get uncut movies in HDTV. The satellite service offers a decent line-up: HBO East, Showtime East, Universal HD, Discovery HD, TNT HD, ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD, HDNet and HDNet Movies. But not Cinemax HD.

So which channel will be the first to transmit all six “Star Wars” movies in HD? Cinemax HD. DirecTV doesn’t have it. Time Warner Cable, which services us up here in Studio City, does. Buh-bye, DirecTV.

Episodes I-VI hit Cinemax HD in November. This will mark be the first time episodes IV-VI have been available in HD anywhere. Read more of TVWeek’s story about this here.

Half The HD Set Owners Don’t Watch HD!! It’s true and – strange as it sounds – AICN’s own Moriarty is one of these people. "Some of it has to do with consumer education, some it has to do with the lack of programming, and a lot of it has do to with pricing," says Mike Paxton, a senor analyst with In-Stat. Huh! Read all of TVWeek.com’s story about this here.

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H’s HD Pics of the Week!!

“Ooo, guns guns guns!”

Robocop , an actioner that will make you laugh and make you cry, is a relic from when filmmakers were not afraid to slap an R-rating on their robotic mayhem. Many many unforgettable performances. Peter Weller as amnesic automoton Alex P. Murphy. Ronny Cox as senior corporate prick Dick Jones. Miguel Ferrer as junior corporate prick Bob Morton. Kurtwood Smith as senior psycho Clarence Boddicker. Paul McCrane as junior psycho Emil Antonowsky. The ED-209 as the hilariously deadly ED-209. It’s the best film directed by Paul Verhoeven (who may have fled back to Holland following the release of “Hollow Man”) from a screenplay by Edward Neumeier and Michael Minor (Verhoeven and Neumeier would reunite in 1997 for the less successful “Starship Troopers.”) “Stay out of trouble.” “I’m cashing you out, Bob.” “I’d buy that for a dollar.” “I’m not arresting you anymore.”

“ … in the flawed vision of “The Searchers” we can see Ford, Wayne and the Western itself, awkwardly learning that a man who hates Indians can no longer be an uncomplicated hero.” – Roger Ebert

Ebert explains how The Searchers (1956) inspired George Lucas’ “Star Wars” here.

“I have to laugh, because I've outsmarted even myself.”

One of the best comedies in the history of history, Caddyshack (1980) is lighting in a bottle, the best movie in the filmographies of Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield and Ted Knight. There was an amazing script by Bill Murray’s older brother Brian, collaborating with “Animal House” scribes Doug Kenney and Harold Ramis, but director Ramis – in his feature directorial debut – allowed the younger Murray to improvise virtually his entire shllshocked groundskeeper role (only the bit about caddying for the Dalai Lama emerged from scripted dialogue). The movie’s also got the best piece of music Kenny Loggins ever wrote.

HD Disc Calendar

Last Week
Animal House (DVD/HD-DVD) $23.95
Into The Blue (BLU-RAY) $19.95
Memento (BLU-RAY) $19.95
Robocop (BLU-RAY) $19.95
RV (BLU-RAY) $27.25
Unleashed (DVD/HD-DVD) $23.95

This Week
The Bone Collector (HD-DVD) $19.95
Caddyshack (HD-DVD) $19.95 <--- NEW!!
Good Night, and Good Luck (HD-DVD) $27.95 <--- NEW!!
The Searchers (HD-DVD) $19.95 <--- NEW!!
Silent Hill (BLU-RAY) $16.99
Spy Game (HD-DVD) $19.95

Next Week
Backdraft (HD-DVD) $20.99
Galaxina (HD-DVD) $18.69
Red Dragon (HD-DVD) $19.95
Seabiscuit (HD-DVD) $26.99
That's The Way of the World (HD-DVD) $22.49
Traffic (HD-DVD) $19.95

September 19
The Big Hit (BLU-RAY) $19.95
A Knight's Tale (BLU-RAY) $19.95
S.W.A.T. (BLU-RAY) $19.95

September 26
Dazed and Confused (DVD/HD-DVD) $23.95
End of Days (HD-DVD) $19.95
The Fast and The Furious (HD-DVD) $19.95
Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas (HD-DVD) $19.95
Land of the Dead (DVD/HD-DVD) $23.95
2 Fast 2 Furious (HD-DVD) $19.95

October 10
Army of Darkness (HD-DVD) $23.95
Fast Times At Ridgemont High (DVD/HD-DVD) $23.95

Waist Deep (HD-DVD) $35.99 <--- NEW!!

October 17
American Psycho (BLU-RAY) $19.95
First Blood (BLU-RAY) $19.95

The Haunted Mansion (BLU-RAY) $23.95
Saw II (BLU-RAY) $19.95
Young Guns (BLU-RAY) $19.95

October 24
The Interpreter (HD-DVD) $19.95
Slither (HD-DVD) $27.95

December 5
Poseidon (HD-DVD) $23.95

Already Out There
Apollo 13 (HD-DVD) $19.95
Assault on Precinct 13 (HD-DVD) $23.95
ATL (DVD/HD-DVD) $27.95
Basic Instinct 2 (BLU-RAY) $27.25
Benchwarmers (BLU-RAY) $27.25
Blazing Saddles (HD-DVD) $19.95
The Bourne Supremacy (HD-DVD) $23.95
The Chronicles of Riddick (HD-DVD) $23.95
Cinderella Man (HD-DVD) $23.95
Constantine (HD-DVD) $19.95
Crash (BLU-RAY) $27.95
Doom (HD-DVD) $19.95
The Dukes of Hazzard (HD-DVD) $19.95
Enter The Dragon (HD-DVD) $19.95
The Fifth Element (BLU-RAY) $19.95
50 First Dates (BLU-RAY) $19.95
Firewall (DVD/HD-DVD) $27.95
Friday Night Lights (HD-DVD) $23.95
The Fugitive (HD-DVD) $19.95
Full Metal Jacket (HD-DVD) $19.95
Goodfellas (HD-DVD) $19.95
Good Night and Good Luck (BLU-RAY) $19.95
Happy Gilmore (HD-DVD) $19.95
Hitch (BLU-RAY) $19.95
House of Flying Daggers (BLU-RAY) $19.95
Jarhead (HD-DVD) $23.95
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (BLU-RAY) $23.95
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (HD-DVD/DVD) $27.95
Kung Fu Hustle (BLU-RAY) $19.95
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (HD-DVD) $19.95
The Last Samurai (HD-DVD) $19.95
The Last Waltz (BLU-RAY) $19.95
Legends of the Fall (BLU-RAY) $19.95
Lethal Weapon (HD-DVD) $19.95
Lord of War (BLU-RAY) $27.95
The Perfect Storm (HD-DVD) $19.95
The Phantom of the Opera (HD-DVD) $19.95
Pitch Black (HD-DVD) $19.95
The Punisher (BLU-RAY) $19.95
Ray (HD-DVD) $19.95
Resident Evil: Apocalypse (BLU-RAY) $19.95
Rumor Has It (BLU-RAY) $23.95
Rumor Has It (DVD/HD-DVD) $27.95
The Rundown (HD-DVD) $23.95
Sahara (HD-DVD) $19.95
Saw (BLU-RAY) $19.95
Serenity (HD-DVD) $19.95
16 Blocks (HD-DVD) $27.95
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (HD-DVD) $19.95
Sleepy Hollow (HD-DVD) $19.86
Species (BLU-RAY) $19.95
Stealth (BLU-RAY) $19.95
Swordfish (HD-DVD) $19.95
Syriana (HD-DVD) $23.95
The Terminator (BLU-RAY) $19.95
Terminator 2 (BLU-RAY) $19.95
Training Day (HD-DVD) $19.95
Ultraviolet (BLU-RAY) $27.25
Underworld Evolution (BLU-RAY) $27.25
Unforgiven (HD-DVD) $19.95
U-571 (HD-DVD) $23.95
Van Helsing (HD-DVD) $23.95
XXX (BLU-RAY) $19.95