All right. I’m at an impasse here. When I make a Top 5 list should it represent the most important releases of the week, my favourite films, newly available on Blu that week or the top-quality Blu-ray discs of the week? I have no idea. The problem for me is that when new-release day rolls around every Tuesday, I haven’t necessarily seen everything yet. So how am I to accurately judge?! I guess I’ll have to keep shooting from the hip, as I have been doing, and list them as I feel appropriate, with caveats in place.
With that said, let’s dive into this weeks offerings…
1. The Twilight Saga: New Moon
I didn’t see the first Twilight film and I have no intention of checking out this sequel (unless, of course, it ends up in my mailbox!) That being said, I can’t deny the franchises following and I can’t deny that as a result of the mob’s of people drooling gobs of love upon these films, The Twilight Saga: New Moon Blu-ray needs to sit at the number one spot this week. Much as it might pain me.
I finally got around to screening The Princess and the Frog on Blu-ray last night. I have a hard time making a call on this film right now, as I nodded off several times during the 98-minutes it was playing. It’s not like it was late at night or anything but I had taken some antihistamines to quell the construction-induced allergy fiesta my nose was struggling with at the time. But I’ll tell you this, as beautiful as the 2D, cell-painted animation might be and as gorgeous as the Blu-ray presentation is, nothing can change the fact that there are way too many musical numbers in this film. And they are almost all dead boring. There, I’ve said it. Allergy pills and singing frogs put me to sleep.
I promise that I’ll give it another chance before I write up my final review, later in the week.
Amazon: $26.99 (3 Disc Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy Combo Edition)
I loved Broken Embraces. Not only does this look and sound fantastic on Blu but it’s a wonderful all-around film as well. By all rights, this disc should be number one on my list this week. But I understand that a Spanish-language art film will hold less interest than other, more North America-friendly discs for most, so I’ve demoted it to number three. I’m sorry, Broken Embraces. I hope you forgive me.
As per his usual, Almodóvar delivers a rich, finely textured tale of damaged people and, once again, provides the lovely Penélope Cruz an opportunity to break our hearts. Wonderful all around!
I admit, I’ve never seen Fallen Angels. And it kills me! I’ve been a fan of Wong Kar-Wai for years and years but have never had the opportunity to see this classic film. This new edition from KINO should, by all rights, be amazing. Wong Kar-Wai tends to make visually stunning films and KINO tends to release well-produced Blu-ray discs. So this title, for me, is a sure thing!
What a silly, silly movie. That said, Ninja Assassin looks awesome on Blu, stars the legendary Sho Kusugi as the evil Ninja Master, and has some of the best action sequences I’ve seen on film in ages! For those reasons, it sits in the number five slot this week.
Read my full review of the Blu-ray disc here: Ninja Assassin Blu-ray Disc Review
ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY THIS WEEK
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:
I have never bought into the entire Twilight Hype. I know some people that just love it. But I just can not get into like that.