The new year approaches, and people are probably still on vacation, especially the kids. It’s time for another family holiday review, and this time we turn our attention to Rowan Atkinson in Mr. Bean’s Holiday. This disc came out in late November so it’s still fairly new on HD DVD, and it’s also a movie that’s possibly playing in those dollar movie theaters in case you want (or need) to get everyone out of the house.

In this episode of the continuing saga of Mr. Bean, our hero has won a raffle ticket which sends him to France, fully equipped with a video camera to record his adventures. Those of you familiar with Mr. Bean can probably already think of at least a few ways that this goofball could get into trouble in a foreign country where he doesn’t speak the language, and Rowan Atkinson and the crew have come up with even dozens more hilarious situations than that. (more…)

Most of our coverage at HDDVD.com is for the North American HD DVD market, but HD DVD is actually an international product with sales ramping up in other parts of the world.

Each world region has its corresponding promotions and rules about players and movies, and as many of you already know, many movies that are not available on HD DVD in North America are readily available in Europe. This aspect has been covered in a previous article about region coding.

Today, December 29, marks the European debut of Venturer’s SHD7001 player on the QVC shopping channel. Toshiba decided not to market the HD-A3 in Europe (and other parts of the world), and this Venturer essentially takes its place. The SHD7001 is a 1080i player, and is equivalent in almost every way to the HD-A3. The North American version, the SHD7000, has already been on sale for $199 in the USA and Canada for about a month at Walmart. One key difference is that the European player is part of the same free movie deals as the Toshiba players are, but the SHD7000 sold in Walmart is not. You can chalk that up to differences in marketing strategies for each region. In the same vein, purchasing certain Toshiba HDTV models in Australia also gets you a free HD DVD player, but there’s no similar deal in the USA or Europe.

The SHD7001 went on sale for €169.62, but heading over to Amazon.com.uk, we see Toshiba’s HD-EP30 selling for 20 Euros more at €189. The EP-30 is the equivalent of the HD-A30. It seems like too good of a deal to pass up for what’s really only a little more.

Bringing things back to the USA, we have our own sales on players that are worth looking into. Amazon.com has been running a 10-movie promotion on purchases of HD DVD players, and they’re already making news for setting HD DVD sales records with their “Buy 1 Get 1 Free” sale. Amazon likes to keep shoppers on their toes — pricing on the players has been known to go down for a few hours or a day now and then, and the selection of movies in the “Buy 1 Get 1″ has been updated a few times so that titles come and go. For instance, the Harry Potter movies disappear and reappear.

DeepDiscount.com has lots of HD DVDs under $20, with many at $16 or less. Some of these discs are of the scenic variety, meaning they’re along the lines of Planet Earth, except more focused on a particular theme like landscapes or a single country. They also have a lot of concert discs.

And finally, today, December 29, is the last day for Best Buy’s “Buy 2 Get 1 Free” sale both online and in-store. My fingers are crossed that Best Buy or Circuit City come through with something interesting to follow up next week.

UPDATE: Best Buy’s “Buy 3 Get 2″ promotion going on from Dec. 30 to Jan. 5.

I’m Ursula, the one who tolerates helps out with the HD DVD lifestyle in our house, and with kids and family home for the holidays, we thought it might be a good idea to talk about some family-oriented HD DVDs for everyone to watch together.

Stardust is a very recent release based on a novel by Neil Gaiman, and starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Claire Danes, and Charlie Cox, with Sienna Miller, Ricky Gervais and Peter O’ Toole in smaller roles.

The story follows the transformation of a very simple village boy, Tristan (Charlie Cox), into a heroic prince. Tristan enters the nearby magical town of Stormhold through a gap in the wall that separates that city from his own. He’s there to fetch a falling star as a present for the girl he likes (Sienna Miller), and is unwittingly embroiled into a fantasy fairy tale involving witches, princes, and the magical star, who turns out to be Yvaine (Claire Danes). (more…)

After-Christmas sales are usually a great way to pick up huge discounts on lots of goodies, but the selection usually applies to clothing and Christmas-related stuff like giftwrap.

Amazon.com has come to the rescue for HD DVD owners with a Buy 1 Get 1 Free deal that just started this morning. This deal pretty much picks up where their last one left off, and only has about 40 titles to pick from. If you recall, the last time they did this, the selection was narly 80 movies, and it slowly dwindled to just over 40.

Go! Get your libraries stocked up now!

• Buy 1 Get 1 Free at Amazon.com
• Buy 2 Get 1 Free at Best Buy going on thru December 29. Select from over 200 movies.
• 10 Movies with HD DVD Player Purchase at Amazon.

UPDATE: This has turned out to be the least expensive way to get the entire Harry Potter set of movies, since all four can be had via the Amazon sale for $40, and then you’d pay full-price on the fifth. Admittedly, the selection is not the greatest, but if you like even one of those movies, this is a great way to take a chance on a second that you weren’t sure about.

Some of you are visiting the site today because you opened your Christmas presents, found an HD DVD player amongst them, and are now wondering how to get the most out of it.

For those of you who came here looking for technical help, you should read this earlier posting about getting assistance using various internet forums.

This posting has basic tips for some common technical issues, and concludes with information about living in the HD DVD world you just joined and getting movies.

Connect it Properly
First off, make sure that your HD DVD player is connected to your HDTV via an HDMI cable, or with component cables that have the three jacks (red, blue, green) for video. If you’re using the single RCA jack for video (usually colored yellow), or an S-Video connector, then your HD DVD player is not going to deliver HD picture quality. You’ll still have access to the HD DVD interactivity features, but your picture quality isn’t going to be much better than what you get on regular old DVDs.

Also make sure that your player and HDTV (and receiver, if you’re using one) are all set up properly for each other. Read about disc playback issues, firmware updates, and buying/renting movies…

Best Buy is helping make Christmas week a little brighter for everyone who’s already got their HD DVD player hooked up, or are about to find one under the tree this week. They’re following up last week’s Buy 1 Get 1 sale on a few movie titles with a Buy 2 Get 1 Free deal, where you can pick from 200 titles. The sale has already started and runs all this week, expiring on December 29. You can take advantage of this sale either in-store or online.

All of the movies seem to be discounted at least $5 or more off their list price, with most of them going for $24.99. I’m sure the selection in-store is probably not as vast as what you can pick from online, however shopping at the store has the advantage that you can come home with your movies right away.

This deal goes along nicely with Amazon’s 10-movie deal with purchase of an HD DVD player.

• Buy 2 Get 1 Free at Best Buy from Dec. 23-29
• 10 Free HD DVD Movies with HD DVD player purchase at Amazon

The Heartbreak Kid was originally a 1972 Neil Simon movie directed by Elain May, starring Charles Grodin, Eddie Albert, and Cybill Shepherd. The 2007 remake brought a whole new team, featuring the Farrelly brothers (Dumb and Dumber, There’s Something About Mary) writing and directing, with Ben Stiller as their tragic hero, and Michelle Monaghan as his taboo love interest.

The highly unusual situation the hero is placed in (and no doubt, the Farrelly influence) makes this more of a guys’ movie than a romantic comedy. Eddie Cantrow (Ben Stiller) is successful at business, but not so much at love. His father and best friend convince this 40-year old bachelor that meeting Lila (Malin Akerman) on Valentine’s Day is a major stroke of good luck, and he’s later goaded by them into marrying her after only knowing her for six short weeks. Eddie immediately realizes his mistake just hours into the honeymoon, and the plot thickens from there. His new bride has many secrets that should have been learned ahead of time, and these eventually push him to falling out of love with her the moment he meets Miranda (Michelle Monaghan) just days into his honeymoon. (more…)

Not that you’d be able to get any of this delivered for a Christmas present, but Amazon has resurrected the 10-movie HD DVD Player deal. This is where you pick three movies at the time of purchase, get 300 and The Bourne Identity in the box, and five more from a mail-in form.

The prices on players are pretty darn cool too:

• A3 for $178
• A30 for $246
• A35 for $350

I’m not sure how long this sale runs, but check back to this posting because it’ll be updated as information about other deals comes in.

• Buy an HD DVD Player and get 10 Movies at Amazon.com

Since next Tuesday falls on Christmas day, and most stores will be closed, the studios have adjusted their release schedules a bit and decided to make some movies available just a little sooner, or hold them up an extra day.

Because of the way shipments to stores work, it’s entirely possible that these movies are already on store shelves right now. In fact, it’s a very common occurence to see movies in stores a week or more before their official release date. Having just finished watching The Bourne Ultimatum, I’m looking forward to seeing The Kingdom very much, hopefully sooner rather than later.

In terms of family viewing pleasure, all of the titles this week are rated R, so you’ll have to rely on past releases if you’re looking for holiday fare with young ones running around the house.

Here are the movies due on Sunday, December 23. (All links go to Amazon’s ordering pages. There’s no way you’ll get these by Christmas, but you can at least enjoy the discounted pricing)

The Kingdom (2007) Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner Directed by Peter Berg Rated R

Eastern Promises (2007) Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts Directed by David Cronenberg Rated R

Cat People (1982) Nastassia Kinski, Malcom McDowell, John Heard Directed by Paul Schrader Rated R

Timecop (1994) Jean-Claude Van Damme, Mia Sara, Ron Silver Directed by Peter Hyams Rated R

These movies will be released on Wednesday, December 26:

The Heartbreak Kid (2007) Ben Stiller, Malin Akerman, Michelle Monaghan Directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly Rated R

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) Ivana Baquero, Sergi Lopez, Maribel Verdu Directed by Guillermo Del Toro Unrated (film was originally rated R)