September turns out to be D-Day for sexy Blu-ray sets. Even with the unfortunate delay of The Avengers Phase 1, we’ve still got giant collections for Titanic, James Bond, Indiana Jones and Alfred Hitchcock. The good people at Warner Bros – prepping the Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection to kick off the fun – likely realized early on that they needed to bring their A-game to compete, especially with the series so recently ending and a glut of other Potter DVDs and Blu-rays readily available. Looking at the new set, however, “A-game” is an understatement. It’s more like “exercising the nuclear option.” Good luck making a splash with this 600-pound gorilla in the room. Hit the jump for my full review.

The most successful film franchise of all time will be available on home video in one nifty box set early next week with the release of the Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection, and a devoted fan has put together a rather impressive video retrospective to mark the occasion.  Titled “Mischief Managed,” the video goes through all eight film adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s wondrous series, with scenes accompanied by the franchise’s various scores.  It’s a great watch for Harry Potter fans, but it’s also interesting to see the different directors’ visions back-to-back.  The story gets dark quite fast, but it’s neat to see it progress from the colorful, faithful touch of Chris Columbus on the first two films, to Alfonso Cuaron’s inventive and playful twist on Azkaban, to the bombastic Britishness of Mike Newell’s Goblet of Fire, and finally David Yates’ grounded yet haunting stamp on the final four films.

Hit the jump to watch the fan-made video retrospective.  The Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection will be available on September 7th.

Many of you know that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is preparing to write a new novel aimed at adults, but what’s a Potter fan to do in the meantime? Well, now that all eight films have been released, you can pre-order the ultimate movie set dubbed, Harry Potter Wizards Collection on Blu-ray / DVD Combo with UltraViolet Digital Copy. Details have yet to be confirmed and there is not currently a street date , but the pre-order price is set at about $350 (“marked down” from $500). It’s a limited and numbered edition of 31 discs with over 5 hours of never-before-seen footage. The special collectibles include a map of Hogwarts and concept art, while some of the features appear to have extended editions. Hit the jump to check out the collection.

Well this is a bit drastic. Very soon, it’s going to be incredibly difficult to buy any of the Harry Potter films. Deadline reports that Warner Bros. is set to stop shipping all Harry Potter theatrical releases (including both Deathly Hallows films) starting December 29th. Coincidentally, a comprehensive set that includes all eight Harry Potter films is set to be released on Blu-ray November 11th. The report doesn’t state whether or not this set is included in the shipping hault, but it’s highly unlikely. It seems that WB might be making Harry Potter: The Complete 8-Film Collection fans’ only way of purchasing the most successful franchise in film history [Edit: Variety reports that the 8-Film Collection is included in the shipping stop, so it will be unavailable after the 29th as well].

While I’m inclined to run out and grab this comprehensive set, I’m hoping for a much more impressive retrospective set released sometime in the next few years that’ll include new special features. But at this time, no plans for such a set are confirmed. Maybe Warner Bros. is planning on releasing the single films vault-style like Disney, where the movies are available one at a time for a limited period? At this point, all we know is that production ceases on December 29th, so if you own some or most of the films already and were planning on completing your collection, I’d suggest you do so before Christmas.

With the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 only four days away, Warner Bros. has released a five-minute retrospective that looks at the previous seven films in the franchise.  It won’t catch you up but for fans of the series, it’s nice to see how the actors have grown and how the visual style and tone has changed over the years.  I re-watched all seven movies this past weekend and after the jump you can check out the retrospective as well as my brief thoughts on the films.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 opens in 3D this Friday.

Here are my brief thoughts on the films.  Hopefully when the Blu-ray box set comes out, I can do full-length reviews for each of the movies.

Warner Brothers has attempted to create ultimate editions for the films in the Harry Potter franchise to tie into the final title in the series – which opens this summer. The problem is that this made more sense for the early films, as those DVDs and those supplements were nearly a decade old – new transfers and new insight could be had. With the Ultimate editions of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince both were done after the inception of Blu-ray, and already had fairly elaborate special editions. These ultimate editions are for fans and completists. Daniel Radcliffe, Michale Gambon, Rupert Grint, Alan Rickman, and Emma Watson all return in the series fifth and sixth installments. My review of the Ultimate edition Blu-rays of Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince follow after the jump.

For the second weekend in a row Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 heads the weekend box office, taking in an estimated $76.3 million over five days and bringing its ten day domestic total to $220.4 million.  Potter was not the only family film that enchanted over the Thanksgiving holiday: Disney’s Tangled pulled in an estimated $69 million in its five day start, besting many predictions.  Meanwhile, debuts aimed at the adult audience gave new meaning to the term ‘turkey trot.’ Burlesque, Love & Other Drugs and Faster all failed to pass $20 million after five days. Nevertheless, this was the second-highest grossing Thanksgiving on record after Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Blind Side took 2009.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 1 is the Hagrid-sized hit everyone expected it to be; although its three day estimate – at this point – won’t put it into the top five All-Time releases as was previously projected. They really missed the mark and came in sixth instead. Warner Brothers will have to be content in the knowledge that they have topped their previous Harry Potter record and bide their time until Part 2 comes out in July.

While, Warner Bros. has decided to send David Yates’ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I into theaters without 3D, the studio isn’t leaving the boy wizard’s past adventures alone.  Variety reports that the studio’s home entertainment division has hired Prime Focus to convert Yates’ previous Harry Potter films, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, into 3D Blu-ray.  Because Yates is still at work on Deathly Hallows: Part II, he won’t be able to give his full attention to the 3D conversion until early 2011.  However, Variety notes that “the Prime Focus process is flexible enough to permit the director to view shots and ask for adjustments after most work on those shots has been done.”

Hit the jump for more on Warner Bros.’ plans to turn Harry Potter 3D.

The 2010 MTV Movie Awards have just opened voting for the best films and cinematic moments of the year, and the Best Movie nominees represent five out of the seven highest grossing films since last year’s awards: Alice in Wonderland, Avatar, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Hangover, and The Twilight Saga: New Moon.  Noticeably absent, with $836 million worldwide to its name: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.  Take that, racist caricature vehicles!

Unlike the snooty Oscars, MTV honors such offbeat categories as “Best Kiss”, “Best WTF Moment”, “Best Scared-As-S**t Performance” (their asterisks, not mine), and “Global Superstar”, where three of the five nominees are from New Moon; that’s a pretty good indication of Twilight‘s nomination dominance (although The Hangover edged it out with six nominations to New Moon‘s five).  Check out the full list of nominees, plus an amusing promo featuring host Aziz Ansari and Kristin Bell, after the jump.

Are there really six other movies this year that can compete with the visuals of Avatar, which is clearly on a mission for world domination? According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, apparently so.  The Academy has announced these seven films remain in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 82nd Academy Awards: Avatar, District 9, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Star Trek, Terminator Salvation, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, 2012.

Thursday, Jan. 21, all members of the academy’s Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 15-minute excerpts from each of the seven shortlisted films, and then pick the three they think should make it to the final round on Oscar night. The Oscar nominations will be announced Tuesday, Feb, 2, at 5:30 a.m. PT.
Having seen all of these except 2012 (I just couldn’t bring myself to do it), if I were a betting man, I’d put my money on Avatar, District 9 and Star Trek being the final three, with Avatar being the big winner. What do you think?

It has been a good year at the box office, either due to or despite the recession, depending on your outlook. As we reported last week, the domestic box office has exceeded $10 billion for the first time ever. Meanwhile, Warner Brothers became the first studio to sell more than $2 billion worth of tickets domestically even without an enormous hit the size of last year’s The Dark Knight. And 20^th Century Fox set a new record of $2.26 billion in international box office receipts, thanks in large part to a holiday push from Avatar and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel.

Take a closer look at the movies that captured our hearts, minds, and wallets this year after the jump.

Yahoo! Movies has listed the top 10 most streamed trailers from their site in the past year.  They’re all blockbuster movies except for one.  You’ll know which one it is and after you see the trailer, you should know that the movie is available on Netflix “Watch Instantly” and you should add it to your queue.

But since it’s mostly blockbuster movies, there aren’t a lot of surprises.  Of course, sometimes Yahoo! Movies gets an exclusive trailer and sometimes Apple.com gets it.  Since they’re tracking video streaming numbers, their list may not match Apple’s (if Apple ever released a list, which I doubt they will).  Also, keep in mind that this isn’t a list of the year’s best trailer, just the ones that got the most hits.  If you want a countdown of the best trailers, come back later today when I’ll list my top five.

Hit the jump to check out all ten of the year’s most-watched trailers.

The Harry Potter series is something that has been running at the same time as the book were being written, and it’s hard not to wonder how much one commented and shaped the other. J. K. Rowling has suggested certain things be in the film because of end payoffs, and now we can see what she was hoping for as the books are done. With Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, I think it’s fair to say that this film isn’t the sixth film in the series, even though it is, but meant to be the start of a trilogy. My review of the sixth Harry Potter episode will continue if you click the continue reading link (I dare you).

With Avatar the reigning champ and Sherlock Holmes still to come, Hollywood crossed the $10 billion line for the first time in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales for 2009.  Through Sunday, the total stood just $36 million short of crossing the $10 billion line, according to tracking firm Hollywood Box Office, and was set to plow across it Tuesday night.

The year’s top box office attractions were Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and with hits like Harry Potter and The Hangover, Warner Bros. was the North American box office champ among studios.  And with both Robert Downey Jr.’s take on Sherlock Holmes and the return of those rascally rodents in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel coming in time for Christmas, the final take is expected to top $10.4 billion.

Hit the jump for a list of the top 20 domestic box office hits of 2009.