Romeo + Juliet

In an early collaboration with Leonardo di Caprio, Baz Luhrmann’s adaption of Shakespeare’s timeless tale of the two star crossed lovers electrifies on screen. The Blu-ray version features an array of special features including a “Shaking Up Shakespeare” picture-in-picture commentary and an interview gallery with the stars, including di Caprio, Claire Danes and John Leguizamo.

Seabiscuit

Toby Maguire stars as Red Pollard, a race-horse competitor in the indie trailblazer Seabiscuit. This movie is based on the true story of racehorse Seabiscuit, a 100-1 outsider as he pushes the boundaries of what is possible in the midst of the depression. Seabiscuit demonstrates the possibility for reimagining the American dream and the potential for anyone to achieve success. The Blu-ray version comes with a host of extras including deleted scenes and a Director’s commentary.

Drive

Carey Mulligan became established in Hollywood after she played Irene in Nicholas Winding’s controversial masterpiece Drive. The movie, which won Best Director at Cannes, stars Ryan Gosling, a getaway driver who can’t help falling in love with his beautiful neighbour (Irene). After a heist, intended to pay off Irene’s husband’s protection money, spins unpredictably out of control, Gosling finds himself fighting for the girl he loves, pursued by a syndicate of deadly criminals. The Blu-ray includes a number of featurettes that delve into the making of this modern classic.

The original comedy movie, directed by Dick Lester, follows John, Paul and George as they attempt to rescue Ringo after he finds himself the target of the notorious “Clang” cult. It’s a race against time for the band mates as they are chased not only by Clang and his minions, but also by two mad scientists and the chief inspector of Scotland Yard. The soundtrack to the movie, featuring Beatles classics including Ticket To Ride, You’re Going To Lose That Girl and the title track Help!, provides the perfect backdrop to this ground-breaking movie.

Beatles fans will be excited to hear that the Blu-ray edition of Help! will feature an introduction by director Richard Lester and an appreciation by acclaimed director Martin Scorsese. In addition to the digital restoration and the  5.1 soundtrack the Blu-ray will also include an hour of extra features, including a 30-minute documentary on the making of the film, memories from the cast and crew, original theatrical trailers and radio spots.

For further details and an insider low-down, head over to Billboard.com

Spanning seventeen years, the film follows the intergenerational relationship between two families in a suburban town in upstate New York. The movie opens as motor cycle stunt rider Luke (Ryan Gosling), living by his own moral code outside societies’ rules, turns to robbing banks as a way to provide for his family. Luke’s controversial lifestyle choice means he finds himself set on a collision course with ambitious police officer Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper). As the movie unfolds we watch how the consequences of this family feud trickle down to haunt the next generation.

Special features for the Blu-ray are yet to be announced, but we’ll let you know when more details are available. In the meantime head over to Blu-ray.com for more information.

For this week’s Blu-ray Monday, we’re giving you a chance to win Doctor Who: Series 7: Part 2 on high-definition Blu-ray.

In this latest instalment of the much-loved series, the Doctor returns with his mysterious companion Clara to do battle across the universe with his sworn enemies, both old and new. The series concludes with finale episode “The Name of the Doctor”, which just aired on TV this weekend and saw the Doctor’s oldest secret revealed.

As usual with our Blu-ray Monday competitions, you have two chances to win. For your first entry, just click on the tweet button above. Then for a second entry, leave a comment below in response to the following question:

The final episode of Series 7 closed several long-running plotlines, including the mystery of Clara and the Doctor’s true identity. However, just as these loopholes have been closed, more threads have been opened up ahead of the much anticipated 50^th anniversary episode, due to air in November. It has already been confirmed that David Tennant will be starring alongside Matt Smith in this special instalment (see the guys tease their appearance here), but what else would you like to see happen to mark the 50-year milestone?  Which of the Doctor’s other friends and most terrifying foes you would like to see in the special episode, and where and when in time and space would you like to see him (or them) travel? With six months to go and 50 years of mythology to choose from, let your imaginations run wild!

To make it easier for us to contact you, remember to leave your Twitter details with your comment. Good luck!

500 Days of Summer

This playful rom-com follows Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) after he falls in love with Summer (Zooey Deschanel), but things don’t go quite according to the romantic dream he has in mind.  The film follows Tom as he reconciles why his relationship failed, and asks whether his girlfriend never truly believed in love, or never truly believed in being in love with him. The Blu-ray version brings summer vividly to life with a Director’s Commentary, a feature on how the film fared at the Sundance film festival and a look at the storyboards behind the movie.

Dirty Dancing

Nothing captures the spirit of summer better than the 1987 classic Dirty Dancing, starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. Dirty Dancing follows the story of a naive girl (Jennifer Grey) who meets an experienced dance instructor (Patrick Swayze) and becomes his pupil both in dance and in love whilst on holiday with her parents one summer. The Blu-ray version’s special features include a retrospective interview with Patrick Swayze as he shares his thoughts on the film’s construction, as well as Multi Angle Dance Sequences which allow viewers to watch two scenes, The Lift and Everybody Dance, from four different perspectives.

Jaws

Jaws, based on Peter Benchley’s novel and set right in the middle of the summer holiday season, sees police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) trying to protect beachgoers from a ferocious man-eating shark. Teaming up with marine biologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and a professional shark hunter Quint (Robert Shaw), this thrilling classic is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat. The Blu-ray pack presents the remastered film in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio, alongside newly remastered 7.1 DTS master audio. The movie also includes an interview with director Steven Spielberg in which he describes how the film has been enhanced by the Blu-ray experience.

What’s your favourite summer movie? Let us know in the comments below.

Starring Rachel McAdams, Olga Kurylenko, Ben Affleck and Javier Bardem this bold, beautiful and entrancing film lyrically explores vital questions about love, faith and existence. It follows the relationship between Neil (Ben Affleck) and Marina (Olga Kurylenko), a French-speaking European, as they fall madly in love in Paris. When the couple return to America, the couple find their relationship riddled with problems. This movie shows Malick at his most innovative as the film weaves together a series of flashbacks and emotions to offer a fluid, loose sense of time and place.

The majority of the movie was shot in the “golden hour” just before sunset, which will lend itself to a vivid high definition depiction on Blu-ray. It has also been confirmed that the Blu-ray version is set to include a making of featurette and an interview with Olga Kurylenko to help make sense of some of the key themes behind the movie.

For more details and further news, head over to Blu-ray.com

According to the BVA, Blu-ray Disc sales grew by 44% over the same period in 2012, rising to £65.3 million. Not only were sales of Blu-ray Discs up, but the UK also saw sales of Blu-ray players break through the 5 million barrier, with 5,010,100 stand-alone players now sold since their original launch.

Commenting on today’s results, Lavinia Carey, Director General of the British Video Association, said: “Today’s figures are most encouraging, particularly the increase in the value of physical sales and uplifting performance of Blu-ray Discs.”

To read the full press release, head over to the British Video Association.

Digitally mastered in 1080p, the Blu-ray shows Les Mis on a scale like never before. The musical follows the tale of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) as he is doggedly hunted by self-righteous policeman Javert (Crowe) through fifteen years of instability, famine and disease in 19th Century France. The Blu-ray version will include exclusive featurettes to show the stories behind the songs, as well as interviews with the cast to discuss the daunting challenge of live performance  and a piece on adapting the musical whilst maintaining the intensity of the original production.

As usual with our Blu-ray Monday competitions, you have two chances to win. For your first entry, just click on the tweet button above. Then for a second entry, leave a comment below in response to the following question:

Who did you think stole the show in Les Mis and why? Were you wowed by Hugh Jackman’s turn as Jean Valjean, or were you more impressed by Anne Hathaway’s performance as Fantine? Which other Hollywood stars would you like to have seen perform in Les Mis? Perhaps you were impressed by Gerard Butler’s appearance in Phantom of the Opera and think he could have made a steely Javert? Or maybe you think Jonny Depp could have replaced Sasha Baron Cohen as the feckless Thénardier following his appearance alongside Helena Bonham Carter in Sweeney Todd? Nicole Kidman plays the role of a tragic fallen woman in Moulin Rouge – would she have equalled Anne Hathaway as Fantine?

To make it easier for us to contact you, remember to leave your Twitter details with your comment. We look forward to your suggestions!

Bridget Jones’s Diary

A delightfully witty script co-written by Richard Curtis dramatises the life of terminal singleton Bridget Jones in this British classic. Bridget (Renée Zellweger) is a binge drinking, occasional smoker and slightly adrift thirty-something living in central London. The movie opens as Bridget resolves to keep a diary to track her year as she is torn between the Byronically mad, bad and dangerous to know Daniel (Hugh Grant) and the sullen and stuffy human rights barrister Mr Darcy (Colin Firth). Bridget Jones’s Diary is among the earliest Miramax titles put on Blu-ray, but Colin’s performance alone is enough to make singles and couples laugh and cry.

The King’s Speech

Easily the most talked about British movie of the decade so far, having scooped a whole display cabinet of Academy Awards, Golden Globes and Baftas, (including Oscars for Best Actor, Best Director and Best Film), The King’s Speech has touched the hearts and minds of audiences around the globe. Colin takes on the lead role as King George VI in this touching film that examines his hidden struggle to overcome a lifelong stutter with the help of speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush).

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Colin Firth stars alongside supreme  acting talents Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, John Hurt and many more in this acclaimed adaptation of John le Carré’s spy novel. MI6 agent Smiley (Oldman) investigates intelligence that suggests there is a mole at the centre of the service’s London headquarters and soon finds himself drawn into a web of betrayal and deceit in an effort to unmask the double agent who has fooled him, and his colleagues, for decades. The Blu-ray version includes interviews with Le Carré and the cast, deleted scenes and a number of featurettes.

The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) has released its first report of 2013 and Blu-ray’s popularity has seen a year-on-year boost.

The DEG found that Blu-ray sales were 28.5% higher in the first quarter of this year than a year ago, with sales rising to $2.1 billion. Within the Blu-ray Disc category, the sales of new films on Blu-ray increased by 37%, while catalogue title sales increased by a healthy 16%, showing a growing interest in watching older films on the HD format. According to DEG data, the number of Blu-ray homes continued to rise as well, with 3.2 million Blu-ray disc players (including BD set-tops, PS3s and HTiBs,) sold in the first quarter of 2013.

For more insight on the DEG stats head over to Reuters.