Oh, what a weird day today! Was awakened at 5AM by bad porch kitten, iPhone died around 7AM, almost choked on a Cinnamon Streusel Mini-Wheat at 9AM, now I’m left exhausted, out-of-touch and coughing, to wade through this weeks new Blu-ray releases. Thankfully, there aren’t a lot of quality discs out today (there is a whole pile of crap, direct to video kind of stuff I’ll just ignore) but the discs worth noting are most certainly worth rushing out to pick up.
I just watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince a couple of nights ago. Amazing! I’m in love with this series. I’m not sure that I can even be objective about the individual films anymore. I loved this film to the extent that I’d be happy to pop it on again tonight and watch it all over again. And the Blu-ray package is a fantastic one as well, stuffed with incredible special features. Chief among them is the Maximum Movie Mode, which allows you to watch the film alongside the actors and production crew, who explore elements of the film through conversation, stills and focus featurettes. Awesome!
And if you’re half the Harry Potter nut that I’ve become, you’re going to want to grab up these new Ultimate Editions of the first two films. They come complete with everything included on the old versions of the discs and have added extended cuts of the films, more special features and come packaged with collectables and books. Read our full run-down of the releases for more details.
Best. Season. EVER! With season 5, Lost went from a pretty good show to absolutely great! And this Blu-ray set will let you relive every moment in stunning 1080p. Really, these episodes are gorgeous in HD. You haven’t seen a thing until you’ve seen them on the Blu-ray disc. The Season 5 disc set contains a ton of extras, the coolest of which is the online Lost University, which you can enroll in today via BD-Live.
And if you’re a super-mega fan of Lost, you’ll want to get your hands on this Dharma Initiative Orientation Kit edition of the Season 5 set. It includes a VHS Orientation Video for New Recruits, Limited Edition Collectible embroidered DHARMA Patches (MAY Include The Exclusive Submarine Patch), Orientation Guides to the Compound, Motor Pool, Security and Cafeteria and an exclusive CD of Geronimo Jackson’s “Dharma Lady” and more!
And if you’re up for a killer deal today (Tuesday, Dec. 8th only!) Amazon.com has Lost: Seasons 1-5 in their Gold Box Deal today for 70% off the MSRP! Take advantage of this deal before it’s over and get every episode of Lost that’s aired so far for only $108.99!
This film was surprisingly good! We watched Julie and Julia last night and while I would take issue with some of the more ham-fisted lines of dialogue and moments of over-acting littered throughout, the whole film plays quite well overall. It is sweet, in that Rom-Com kind of way but that’s to be expected from a director like Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail). But this isn’t a Rom-Com. It’s a study of two lives that run in parallel over two different time periods – one, a young girl in 2002 lost in the doldrums of her life and the other, a lady approaching middle age, who would become famous for bringing French cuisine to the USA. And Meryl Streep is simply outstanding in the role of famous chef Julia Child. It’s worth checking out the movie for her portrayal alone. Great film and a wonderful Blu-ray from Sony.
I haven’t had a chance to screen this Blu-ray yet but I really enjoyed Public Enemies in the theatre. I’ll get behind any Michael Mann film, of course, but I think this one is really worth checking out. If for no other reason than the very peculiar way a period film plays when shot on High-def video!
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