I am – Hercules!!

HD-DVD Goes 1080p!! The HD-DVD discs and a lot of the HD screens have been 1080progressive – the best HD on the market for the foreseeable future - for a while now, but it took till last month for Toshiba to finally bring to market a 1080p player. The HD-A1 and the HD-XA1, the first Toshiba HD-DVD players introduced last spring, output at only 1080interlaced. With its 1080p output, the new HD-XA2 theoretically puts HD-DVD on a more level playing field with Blu-ray. At this, one can find the HD-XA2 for $1044.99. That’s nearly three times the $385 Electronic Express is charging for Toshiba’s new 1080i player. Keep this in mind if you’re considering an upgrade: Experts advise that it is virtually impossible to tell a 1080i image from a 1080p if you’re not watching on a screen bigger than 50 inches or so.

What’s Doing With Blu-ray? Those who haven’t yet been able to get their hands on one of those $820 Blu-ray-playing PlayStation 3 units will pleased to learn post-Christmas Blu-ray player prices have fallen. Refurbished Samsung BD-P1000s are now available for as little as $500. New ones can be had for less than $570. HD Pics of the Week!!

PRINCIPAL VERNON: Now this is the thought that wakes me up in the middle of the night. That when I get older, these kids are going to take care of me. JANITOR CARL: I wouldn't count on it. When I first saw “The Breakfast Club” (1985) I was certain it would make $200 million. John Hughes’ exploration of high-school angst seemed too interesting and too hilarious not to capture the imagination of a few different generations. Loved the Simple Minds song, loved the Wang Chung chase music, I had that poster on my wall for a long time and I don’t hang a lot of posters. It only made about $45 million. And it’s only Hughes’ second-best directorial effort.

NICK: Did you hear about the happy Roman? He was glad-i-ate-r! Here’s something amazing. John Cazale made a total of five feature-length motion pictures in his lifetime – “The Godfather” (1972), “The Conversation” (1974), “The Godfather Part II” (1974), “Dog Day Afternoon” (1975) and “The Deer Hunter” (1978), which hit HD-DVD last week. All five were nominated for “best picture” Oscars. Three of them – the two “Godfather” pictures and “The Deer Hunter” - won. It was the movie Deric Washburn wrote between “Silent Running” and “The Border.” It was the movie Michael Cimino directed between “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot” and “Heaven’s Gate.” It starred Christopher Walken, John Savage and Robert De Niro. It’s a three-hour epic about how the Vietnam War thoroughly fucked up the lives of three Pennsylvania steel-mill workers who enlist in the military and end up prisoners of the Viet Cong.

HD Disc Calendar December 22 The Breakfast Club (HD-DVD) The Deer Hunter (HD-DVD) January 2 The Covenant (BLU-RAY) January 9 Crank (BLU-RAY) January 16 Employee of the Month (BLU-RAY) Goodfellas (BLU-RAY) Gridiron Gang (BLU-RAY) The Mummy Returns (HD-DVD) Poseidon (HD-DVD) Pulse (HD-DVD) Scooby-Doo (BLU-RAY) Scooby-Doo (HD-DVD) The Sting (HD-DVD) Winged Migration (BLU-RAY) January 23 Alien Vs. Predator (BLU-RAY) Black Rain (HD-DVD) Brokeback Mountain (HD-DVD) Casanova (BLU-RAY) Chicago (BLU-RAY) Commando (BLU-RAY) Courage Under Fire (BLU-RAY) Failure to Launch (HD-DVD) The Guardian (BLU-RAY) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (BLU-RAY) The Manchurian Candidate (BLU-RAY) Men Of Honor (BLU-RAY) Saw III (BLU-RAY) We Were Soldiers (BLU-RAY) January 30 Fireplace (HD-DVD) Flyboys (BLU-RAY) Half-Baked (DVD/HD-DVD) Hart's War (BLU-RAY) Open Season (BLU-RAY) February 6 American Psycho (BLU-RAY) Hollywoodland (HD-DVD) First Blood (BLU-RAY) The Grudge 2 (BLU-RAY) Rambo (BLU-RAY) Saw II (BLU-RAY) Young Guns (BLU-RAY) February 13 Broken Arrow (BLU-RAY) Chain Reaction (BLU-RAY) Entrapment (BLU-RAY) Ladder 49 (BLU-RAY) Marie Antoinette (BLU-RAY) The Marine (BLU-RAY) Planet of the Apes (2001) (BLU-RAY) Phone Booth (BLU-RAY) The Princess Bride (BLU-RAY) Reign of Fire (BLU-RAY) The Sentinel (BLU-RAY) The Usual Suspects (BLU-RAY) February 20 The Prestige (BLU-RAY)

Already On HD-DVD

The Adventures of Robin Hood (DVD/HD-DVD) An American Werewolf in London (HD-DVD) Animal House (DVD/HD-DVD) The Ant Bully (HD-DVD) Apollo 13 (HD-DVD) The Architect (HD-DVD) Army of Darkness (DVD/HD-DVD) Assault on Precinct 13 (HD-DVD) ATL (DVD/HD-DVD) Backdraft (HD-DVD) Batman Begins (HD-DVD) Blazing Saddles (HD-DVD) The Bone Collector (HD-DVD) The Bourne Supremacy (HD-DVD) The Break-Up (DVD/HD-DVD) Caddyshack (HD-DVD)

Casablanca (HD-DVD) Casino (HD-DVD) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (HD-DVD) A Christmas Story (HD-DVD) Christmas Vacation (HD-DVD) The Chronicles of Riddick (HD-DVD) Cinderella Man (HD-DVD) Constantine (HD-DVD) The Corpse Bride (HD-DVD) Dazed and Confused (DVD/HD-DVD) Derailed (HD-DVD)

The Dirty Dozen (HD-DVD) Doom (HD-DVD) The Dukes of Hazzard (HD-DVD)

Dune (HD-DVD) Enter The Dragon (HD-DVD) End of Days (HD-DVD) Excalibur (HD-DVD) The Fast and The Furious (HD-DVD) The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (HD-DVD & DVD) Fast Times At Ridgemont High (DVD/HD-DVD) Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas (HD-DVD) Field of Dreams (HD-DVD) Firewall (DVD/HD-DVD)

Forbidden Planet (HD-DVD) Friday Night Lights (HD-DVD) The Fugitive (HD-DVD) Full Metal Jacket (HD-DVD) Galaxina (HD-DVD) Goodfellas (HD-DVD) Good Night and Good Luck (BLU-RAY) Good Night, and Good Luck (HD-DVD) Grand Prix (HD-DVD) Happy Gilmore (HD-DVD) House of Wax (HD-DVD) How The Grinch Stole Christmas (HD-DVD) Hulk (HD-DVD) The Interpreter (HD-DVD) Jarhead (HD-DVD) Jet Li's Fearless (HD-DVD) King Kong (2005) (HD-DVD) Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (HD-DVD/DVD) Lady in the Water (DVD/HD-DVD) Land of the Dead (DVD/HD-DVD) Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (HD-DVD) The Last Samurai (HD-DVD) Lethal Weapon (HD-DVD) Lethal Weapon 2 (HD-DVD) The Matador (HD-DVD) Meet The Parents (HD-DVD) Miami Vice (DVD/HD-DVD) Mission: Impossible III (HD-DVD)

Mission: Impossible Ultimate Missions Collection (HD-DVD) The Mummy (HD-DVD)

Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) (HD-DVD) Nacho Libre (HD_DVD) Out of Sight (HD-DVD) The Perfect Storm (HD-DVD) The Phantom of the Opera (HD-DVD) Pitch Black (HD-DVD) The Polar Express (HD-DVD) Ray (HD-DVD) Red Dragon (HD-DVD) Reds (HD-DVD) Rumor Has It (DVD/HD-DVD) The Rundown (HD-DVD) Sahara (HD-DVD) Scary Movie 4 (HD-DVD) The Scorpion King (HD-DVD) The Searchers (HD-DVD) Seabiscuit (HD-DVD) Serenity (HD-DVD)