Are you ready to head back to Westeros? Thanks to Appliances Online we have four copies of the Game Of Thrones Season 2 blu-ray to give away! 

Earlier this week (in a post where despite my best efforts I once again messed up the definition of “the United Kingdom”), we covered the discovering of a mysterious edit to the UK version of The Avengers DVD set. Specifically, it edited a pretty pivotal scene with Agent Phil Coulson to be less violent. You know, that scene. The one that most people half expect them to retcon, and a not-insignificant number of people actively want them to reveal as being not the whole truth of the matter.

Well, Disney’s got an explanation for that.

With added lightning bolt, these have to potential to poke you in the eye but if you’re anything like me, you don’t care. You can find them in thinkupjewel’s Etsy shop. (via Neatorama) 

Most of us here are weeping in anticipation of April 1. That’s when Season 2 of HBO’s award-winning series Game of Thrones returns to the network. We can’t wait to see our favorite characters return and find out where their stories go next (that is, if you haven’t already read George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series) but some people will be watching the show for the first time today. Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season is out on dvd and blu-ray today. Read on for our thoughts, the specs, and as an added bonus, what it would look like if Walt Disney had made Game of Thrones.

With the final peals of Blu-ray’s battle horn being sounded across the grassy sward, echoing in the new era of format supremacy; a lot of our old favorites, once released on the best of the best of the format of the day, are getting remasterings and rereleasings in order to introduce them to a brand new audience in as pristine a quality as possible.

Which is precisely why Ben Solovey, current accidental owner of the workprint of Manos: the Hands of Fate, generally considered to be one of the worst films ever made, is trying to raise the money to remaster it and create a Blu-ray release. “How bad could it possibly be?” you ask, clearly having never seen the 1993 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 that dragged the film out of obscurity and into the #3 spot on IMDB’s 100 worst movies list? Lets look at some choice clips from its Wikipedia article:

Earlier this week we told you Harry Potter DVDs would “soon disappear from shelves” (Warner Bros. words, not mine) to make way for what would mostly likely be all-new special editions with limited availability down the road. We didn’t need Professor Trelawney to tell us fans would freak out. They did. That’s why Warner Bros. has come out to clarify their original announcement. 

We knew Voldemort couldn’t be gone for good. It looks as if he’s wised-up some since he last fight with Harry though. Now his devious plan is to infiltrate Warner Bros. in an effort to make as much money as possible. The company announced yesterday that as of December 29, all Harry Potter DVDs would magically disappear from stores.

With the huge success of Walt Disney’s re-release of The Lion King in 3D, the company has decided to go for gold by converting several other classics. Beauty and the Beast, Pixar’s Finding Nemo and Monsters, Inc. and The Little Mermaid will be back in theaters in 3D in the next two years. Just imagine that giant splash coming towards you!

It’s not quite in time for everyone’s holiday lists, but you might want to keep it in mind anyway. Star Trek: The Next Generation will be making it to Blu-ray in high definition next year, the culmination of a long project by CBS to re-edit the whole series and recomposition the special effects instead of just blanket converting the two-and-a-half-decade old series to a modern resolution.

Each season will be coming out in its own set, so you’ll be waiting a while for that giant, hideously expensive complete HD edition. In the meantime, to wet whistles, CBS will be releasing three of the shows most award winning episodes in January. The stand-alone set will include the first episode of the series, The Inner Light, and Sins of the Father, and will be priced around $20. Understated trailer below:

The LA Times held a 30th anniversary screening of Raiders of the Lost Arc this weekend, and none other than Steven Spielberg himself was there in attendance, and was kind enough to spend some time doing an audience Q&A afterward. During the session, he made some admissions that will gladden the hearts of an fan tired of worrying that they’re always going to have to worry about the editing of films for each new format.

Mentioning specifically that George Lucas can do whatever he wants with his movies, Speilberg confessed that he regrets the edits he made to E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial for its 20th anniversary.