Pick ‘The Last Emperor’ from the Criterion Collection on Blu-ray this Week
I’ve been sadly remiss in my Weekly Pick duties over the holidays but to be honest, until this week there wasn’t much worth my recommendation aside from the amazing sales I’ve been covering. Let’s just get down to it. Off the top, I’ll spotlight some worthwhile releases newly available this week, followed by some images of notable Blu-ray releases I neglected in previous weeks. As usual, all titles and images are clickable and will zap you over to the corresponding Amazon page which will provide you with a lot more detail about the title and the opportunity to purchase it. In doing so, you’ll be helping to support the ongoing existence of The Blu-ray Blog and this Picks column in particular. Scroll down and enjoy!
WEEK OF JANUARY 6TH
See that little “C” icon up in the corner of this Blu-ray cover? That means run right out and buy it! Criterion has yet to make a major misstep in their initial spate of high-def releases and Bertolucci’s visual feast, The Last Emperor is no exception. Featuring an incredible, fully restored digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro himself and a bucket-load of extras, this disc knocks another ball right out of the park. My only reservation comes in the form of a feature available on the deluxe DVD but sadly missing from the Blu-ray release – the alternate TV cut of the film.
I ignored Dexter when it first hit the airwaves a couple of years ago. It seemed like a silly premise – cop works in blood lab during the day, goes out serial-killing at night. Urgh.
I was wrong. It took the recommendation of my extremely cute hair stylist to force me to give it a shot. And now I’m hooked. I haven’t had a look at this Blu-ray release yet (reviews seem generally positive regarding AV quality and the abundance of BD-Live extras) but I can fully recommend the show itself as one that is sure to entertain.
I love these guys. I mean, I really love them. There’s something genuine and truthful about both Seth Rogan and James Franco‘s character portrayals. They can sell me on the reality of their on-screen lives while making me bust a gut laughing. That’s a unique combination. Now, I can’t speak for Pineapple Express, another in the line of comedies from the Judd Apatow laugh factory, as I missed it in theatres and haven’t yet snapped it up on Blu-ray but if Rogan and Franco deliver their usual hilarious performances I can’t see this going too wrong. It’s also the most mainstream and popular (#3 on Amazon’s Bestsellers as of this writing) release of the week.
Shaw Brothers in High-Def! Shaw Brothers in High-Def!
Opium and the Kung-Fu Master is one of the best films to ever come out of the Shaw Brothers studio and now it can be yours on Blu-ray. The AV presentation on the disc is far from perfect (2.0 channel Mandarin with English and Cantonese DUBs available and a serviceable 1080p transfer) but probably looks far better than you’d expect. Not up to modern standards but incredible to see Ti Lung so clearly in such great detail on the screen in Tang Chia‘s final and finest film.
ADDITIONAL RELEASES THIS WEEK:
PREVIOUSLY RELEASED:
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