Criterion makes the best DVDs and Blu-rays.  Their transfers are impeccable and their special features are fascinating.  When you pay the $35-$40 for a Criterion Collection movie, you’re paying a premium but you’re getting your money’s worth.  But wouldn’t it be great if you could just pay half that?

You can do that right now.  Barnes & Noble is having a special sale where ALL Criterion Collection movies that are currently in print are 50% off their list price (which is what they normally sell for).  You probably won’t find another sale like this for probably at least a year so if you’ve been waiting to buy a particular Criterion DVD or Blu-ray, now’s the time.  Click here and get yours (but preferably do it after I get mine; I don’t need you taking the last copy of The Seventh Seal on Blu-ray).

Warner Bros. has announced a DVD to Blu-ray upgrade program.  While the list doesn’t include all their titles, it’s at least a start.  According to WB, the process to upgrade is simple.  Consumers select the titles they want to upgrade on DVD2Blu.com, mail in their standard DVDs with pre-paid postage and a short time later receive copies of the same film on Blu-ray Disc.  If you mail in one DVD, it’s $7.95 plus shipping.  If you order more than $25, you’ll receive free shipping.

While some people haven’t been converted to Blu-ray, I’m all in.  I think the picture quality is amazing on Blu-ray and I definitely see a difference between DVD and the HD format.  All I can say is, if you have an 1080p TV, the format is absolutely worth the investment.  For a complete list of what WB is willing to upgrade and the full press release, hit the jump:

You know those brilliant ideas that once you hear it you’re shocked no one’s done it already?  One of those just happened.  THR is reporting that beginning today, [adult swim], a block of television programming which lured convention into its van with candy and stole its innocence, is allowing fans to take different episodes from different series and mix and match them into 110 minutes of DVD glory.  You also get to choose what kind of art you want for the box, disc, menu, title, and then [adult swim] will put it all together and ship it to you.  The cost?  20 dollars.  Digital downloads are great but being able to pop in a disc full of your favorite episodes or loan it to friends is a pretty damn cool idea.

The service launches with 100 episodes available to choose from but by the end of the year you’ll be able to choose from over 1,000 episodes from more than 30 series. Head over to AdultSwimShop.com to start building your all-killer, no-filler DVD.

As I said last week, with the holiday’s approaching and everyone trying to save money, we’re keeping our eyes open for “geek gifts”.  And thanks to Amazon, if you haven’t already pre-ordered Up on Blu-ray, they have a great deal that ends tomorrow.  If you buy Up for $19.99, you can get a second Disney Blu-ray for an additional $10 dollars.  Since the retail price for the four disc Blu-ray of Up is over $40 dollars, this is a great deal as you get two Blu-ray movies for $30 dollars with free shipping and no sales tax (depending where you live).  While the list of choices is limited, they do have the Blu-ray’s of Bolt, Snow White, and Cars. Click here to check it out.

However, the best part of the deal for the Pixar fanatics out there is getting Up and Monsters, Inc. (both directed by Pete Docter) together for $32.98.  That’s basically getting the 4-Disc Blu-ray of Up AND the 4-Disc Blu-ray of Monsters, Inc. for $16.49 each.  You’re not going to beat that deal.  Either way, this is one of the must-own movies of the year so head over to buy Up with whichever deal you prefer.  Remember, Up will be available to own starting tomorrow so pre-order today because these deals ain’t gonna last.

Citing the (how to put this politely?) languid economy, Walmart.com cut prices on its pre-order DVDs down to $10. With free shipping. And not just on the Criterion Blu-Ray Release of “Cool Runnings.” All the summer’s big hits-”Angels & Demons,” “Terminator: Salvation” and “Julie & Julia” are all available for bargain bin prices. Target and Amazon quickly followed suit and added titles like “Harry Potter,” “Night at the Museum 2″ and “Star Trek” to the list. Be advised, however, because Variety is reporting this pricing is only available online and only until the movies are officially released on DVD. But you don’t know that because you have already left this site, haven’t you?

For future reference, if you’re clearly being punk’d by one of Sacha Baron Cohen’s characters (or really anyone that’s trying to put you into an uncomfortable situation on camera), just play into it.  The whole point of the comedy is having a person realize that they’re not in on the joke and thus they become the butt of it.

Disgraced baseball player Pete Rose was able to realize the prank Cohen’s ultra-gay alter-ego “Bruno” played so easily on the not-very-bright/somewhat-insane Paula Abdul.  The premise is whether or not a celebrity would have an interview while sitting on Mexican laborers.  It’s not as funny when A) no one thinks the subject is stupid; and B) when the subject isn’t stupid and realizes this is a prank.  That’s probably why this is a deleted scene on the upcoming “Bruno” DVD which hits stores on November 17^th.  You can watch it after the jump and wonder why Cohen just doesn’t mention the whole gambling-on-baseball thing.

“Star Trek” should have a very nice Tuesday, November 17^th when the DVD and Blu-ray of the film hit stores.  But which store will get your space bucks?  With such a major release, a variety of retailers are offering extra incentives to get you to buy your copy of “Star Trek” at their store.  So not only do you have the choice between the 1-Disc, 2-Disc Digital Copy Edition, or the 3-Disc Blu-ray + Digital Copy edition,  you have the choice of which retailer will give you the best bonus.  Which path will you choose?  Hit the jump for your options.

We missed some stories this past week.  We’re sorry.  But we did not forget them.  We never forget.  We’re like elephants and people who hold grudges.  With that in mind, here are some stories that are a little late but they’re still great.  You can enjoy them all after the jump.

With the holidays fast approaching, everyone is looking for the perfect gift you can buy for a cheap price.  Since we’re all busy and often miss the various deals that are online, for the next two months we’ll be keeping our eyes open for “geek gifts”.  And the first one is the Complete Stargate SG-1 Collection on DVD for $120 dollars. Included in the set are 54 discs that make up ten seasons.  For twelve dollars a season, you can own “Stargate SG-1″. That’s 9,900 minutes of television.  Here’s the link Stargate SG-1: The Complete Series Collectionif you’re interested.  And if anyone finds a geek gift worth mentioning, please email me.

While all the movie studios are struggling to deal with falling DVD sales, one studio is smiling.  Paramount Home Video sold 7.5 million DVD/Blu-ray copies of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” in its first week of release including 1.2 million Blu-ray’s, making it the year’s highest selling HD title. To put that in perspective, “Twilight” was the year’s biggest selling title and has sold 8 million copies since March 21st.  So if you were wondering why Michael Bay jumped right into making “Transformers 3″, it’s because the movies make a lot of money.  Sorry to dispel the notion that Bay does it because he deeply believes in the “Transformers” mythology and the soul-searching questions it raises.

Of course, the big question is whether or not Bay will listen to outside voices on TF3, because from what I heard, he was left completely alone when making the sequel.  While I didn’t hate the movie like some people, I was definitely let down.  But I can’t think of another filmmaker I’d want to see making “Giant Fucking Robots That Punch Each Other 3″*.  So Michael, if you’re reading this, your visuals are awesome but please get a good script and try to listen when people give you helpful advice.

*Not the official title.

With “Battlestar Galactica: The Plan” hitting DVD and Blu-ray tomorrow, Captain Adama himself Edward James Olmos (who also directed the film) did a bunch of interviews earlier today. Thankfully, I was offered a spot and just an hour ago I was sitting in a room in Studio City talking about “The Plan”. While we talked about how he got involved and the normal stuff, I did find out some major info if you’re a fan of the series. It seems that if “The Plan” sells 5 million copies, Olmos was told we’d get more straight to DVD “Battlestar Galactica” movies!

But it gets better.

Not only could we be getting more “Battlestar” movies but Olmos told me what some of them could be about! According to Olmos, some of the future movies could be about where the final five Cylons came from and how were they created; what really happened to Starbuck and what she was; or if you want to know what happened after the finale ended you MUST buy “The Plan”. While some fans might not want to see everything explained and others may have soured after finale (although I think the latter group is insane) if you love the “Galactica” universe and want to watch more adventures, you’ve got to buy a DVD or Blu-ray of “The Plan”.  And with that, hit the jump to watch me and Olmos talk about “Battlestar Galactica” and the future of the franchise:

It took a few years, but the PlayStation 3 has finally become competitive in the mainstream marketplace and no longer giving the Xbox 360 a free ride.  After slimming down the size of their system earlier this year along with slashing the price from $400 to $300, the PlayStation 3 will now allow users to stream their Netflix “Watch Instantly” queue to their console.  Hit the jump for details as XBox 360 fanboys snarl and gnash their teeth.

I never thought I’d be saying this, but I pity whoever has to review the DVD or Blu-ray of “Funny People”.  It’s not because it’s a bad film but because it’s a long one.  Now take the length of the film and then remember how loaded the DVDs are for Judd Apatow films.  Add that all together and whoever has to watch all of these feature–especially on the Blu-ray-will not see his family or friends for at least two weeks so that he can get his review online by the DVD/Blu-ray’s release date of November 24^th.

The special features for the DVD and Blu-ray of the movie have been announced and, as expected, there are more special features than you can handle because “Funny People” is really two movies smooshed together.  And because the film wasn’t long enough, there’s also an “unrated” version which adds seven minutes to the two and a half hour runtime.  Hit the jump to check out the full list of special features for the 1-Disc, 2-Disc, and Blu-ray editions of “Funny People”.

While we already knew that The Weinstein Company would be releasing “Inglourious Basterds” before the end of the year in order to circumvent the expense of sending out screener copies to critics (studios send out screeners at the end of the year for films they think can garner some awards buzz), today the specs have landed online and I’m impressed that we’re not getting a bare-bones DVD but a healthy amount of special features.

However, you won’t find any deleted scenes and since the version that hit theaters in August is different than what was screened at Cannes, it would be out of the question to assume we’ll be getting another edition sometime next year.  That being said, how long have be waiting for “Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair?”  I’m perfectly happy with the current cut of IB (just as I’m happy with both volumes of “Kill Bill”) and if I have to do a double dip, so be it because this DVD/Blu-Ray looks like it gets the job done.  Hit the jump for the full specs.

With Michael Bay’s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” now out on DVD and Blu-ray, we’ve been given 10 copies to giveaway. So if you’d like to enter to win a copy, hit the jump to see what you need to do:

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen earned over $820 million at the box office and become the #1 movie of the year in North America and throughout the world. Star Trek is the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2009 and has become the highest-grossing film in the series.

The writers responsible for both of those films, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman talked about their DVD releases, during a recent press day at the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica. The two compared their processes for each of the films, along with their approach to making existing material interesting and new for audiences. They also talked about their history with “Star Trek” and covered a lot of subjects the fans will find interesting. Here’s what they had to say: