All right, you know the drill. Despite the fact that there’s a pretty major new TV-on-Blu release, a new Criterion Collection disc easily trumps it as this weeks “must-buy” title. Now, don’t give me any guff over this. I’m a day late with this post and sweating my bits off in this ridiculous Montreal heat. Is it summer already? Sheesh…

1. STAGECOACH

John Wayne made movies before the 1939 film, Stagecoach, but Stagecoach rocketed him beyond the level of simply being a movie star and launched his second-stage career as a Hollywood icon. But even more important than this being the film that birthed a western star, Stagecoach is quintessential John Ford – a movie that would go on to inspire film makers from Orson Welles on Citizen Kane all the way to present day auteurs. It’s also the film that legitimized the western as a genre. This is important cinema. And a very important Blu-ray disc to add to your collection.

Criterion has knocked it out of the park again with a gorgeous new restoration that will leave you breathless, considering the age of the film and the fact that the original negative for Stagecoach has been considered lost for decades. The Blu-ray features a transfer sourced from “a 1942 nitrate duplicate negative that showed exceptional detail, gray scale, and clarity”, as the liner notes state, and a cleaned-up lossless mono audio track. The bonus features on the disc are, as per Criterion’s usual standards, beyond reproach, sporting a very informative commentary track courtesy of film scholar and historian, Jim Kitses, along with a bevy of shorts, interviews and more.

I can’t recommend this disc highly enough for anyone who is passionate about westerns or simply has a deep love of film in general.

SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• Audio commentary by western authority Jim Kitses (Horizons West)
• Bucking Broadway, a 1917 silent feature by John Ford, with new music composed and performed by Donald Sosin
• Journalist and television presenter Philip Jenkinson’s extensive 1968 video interview with Ford
• New video appreciation of Stagecoach, with director and Ford biographer Peter Bogdanovich
• New video interview with Ford’s grandson, Dan Ford about the director and his home movies
• New video piece, featuring journalist Buzz Bissinger, about trader Harry Goulding’s key role in bringing Monument Valley to Hollywood
• New video homage to legendary stuntman Yakima Canutt, with celebrated stunt coordinator Vic Armstrong
• Video essay by writer Tag Gallagher analyzing Ford’s visual style in Stagecoach
• Screen Director’s Playhouse 1949 radio dramatization of Stagecoach, with John Wayne, Claire Trevor, and Ford, downloadable as an MP3 file
• Theatrical trailer
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by David Cairns and Ernest Haycox’s “Stage to Lordsburg,” the short story that inspired the film

Amazon: $29.99

ALSO AVAILABLE FROM CRITERION THIS WEEK
BY BRAKHAGE: AN ANTHOLOGY, VOLUMES ONE, TWO AND THREE

Amazon: $58.99

2. TRUE BLOOD: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON

I hadn’t watched any of HBOs True Blood until this past week. And now I’m hooked. My girlfriend and I powered through season one a few days ago and are currently devouring season two on Blu-ray. And let me tell you, it is a sugary, delicious treat!

This exceptionally addictive yet terribly silly series is filled with supernatural melodrama, soap opera style, that almost plays like a modern day Dark Shadows. Based on the successful Southern Vampire Mysteries by The New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris, the series follows affable telepath Sookie Stackhouse and her vampire lover, Bill as they desperately attempt to have a “normal” romantic relationship amid anti-vampire church militia attacks, insane Dionysian cults and naked shape-shifters. In this era of a million vampire films and tv shows, the quirky True Blood stands apart. And, in this case, it looks like a million bucks on Blu-ray!

Great series, great Blu-ray box. Highly recommended!

(Stay tuned for a full review of the boxed set coming later in the week…)

Amazon: $39.99

3. DJANGO and CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD

Two incredible, classic cult films are now available in high-def for the first time, thanks to the Criterion of B-movie films, Blue Underground! Django is the other side of the man-with-no-name coin – a spaghetti-western anti-hero with a little less “hero” and lot more “anti”. Franco Nero as the titular character is the personification of “bad-ass”, dragging a coffin around with him and wasting the bad guys with a machine gun shot from the hip! Awesome! Equally as cool but in a far different genre is Lucio Fulci‘s City of the Living Dead, a truly vomit-inducing confection of flesh-eating horror from the Italian master! Both films look and sound a hell of a lot better than they deserve in 1080p. If you’re a fan of this type of film, don’t miss out on either of these discs!

Amazon: Django $21.99, Living Dead $25.99

4. FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: BROTHERHOOD PART 1

Well, this series is a real treat! Not having had a chance to experience the original 2003 tv show, which was the first adaptation of the popular manga series, I’m having a ball watching this “remake” of the series. Most of the voice cast has returned to their characters but the narrative structure of the show, from what I’m led to understand, has been tightened significantly. And it works! I’m about half-way through this first box sets 13-episode run and things seem to be moving along at quite a clip for brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric, who desperately seek the Philosopher’s Stone to cure them of their respective alchemy-induced ills (Ed has some metal limbs while Al’s soul is bonded to a suit of armour!) Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Part 1 is a lot of fun and, for the most part, looks and sounds fantastic on Blu! Recommended for all anime fans!

Amazon: $29.99

5. THE ROAD

I haven’t had a chance to see The Road yet. But damn, if I don’t love me some Viggo! I’ll watch anything starring the son of Arathorn! But honestly, that’s not why it claims the number 5 slot this week (though I understand his performance here is the main reason to check out the film!) This film is mostly noteworthy as a supposedly dutiful adaptation of Cormac McCarthy‘s grim, gritty novel. I know it’s a big-time downer, but I’m certainly excited to watch it once. This one is a renter for me!

Amazon: $22.99

AVOID AT ALL COSTS – SPARTACUS

I’m not even going to link to this dud of a Blu-ray release of the classic Kubrick film from Universal. But I will link you over to a review of the Blu-ray disc by Robert A. Harris, one of the folks responsible for all the hard work put into the restoration of the film twenty years ago. Here are a few choice words from Harris:

“I would suggest a recall. Spartacus on Blu-ray could have been as Mr. Kubrick wished it to be – a heroic and majestic piece of epic entertainment. With a simple new image harvest, Spartacus could be a piece of brilliant Blu-ray software. As it is, Spartacus receives an absolute and undeniable…Fail.”

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:

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