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Blu-ray Comedy from Warner: Vacation, European Vacation, Caddyshack, What's Up Doc?

Brenden — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 14:56:58 +0000

Playing catch up here, with a ton of upcoming release announcements. This post, focusing on a group of comedies coming up from Warner Home Video. I’ve never seen Bogdanovich‘s What’s Up Doc? but I generally love his work, so I’m really looking forward to checking out the Blu-ray. The other three films are family favourites – films we watched so many times we nearly wore out our old VHS tapes, back in the day. Caddyshack is out in June, with the two Vacations and Doc coming in August. Details below:

CADDYSHACK
(July 8, 2010 – MSRP $24.98)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Special Features:

Feature length documentary: Caddyshack: The Inside Story
Caddyshack: The 19th Hole
Theatrical trailer

NATIONAL LAMPOON’S VACATION
(August 10, 2010 – MSRP $24.98)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Special Features:

Griswold family commentary by Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid, Anthony Michael Hall, Dana Barron, director Harold Ramis and producer Matty Simmons
Family Truckster featurette gallery

NATIONAL LAMPOON’S EUROPEAN VACATION
(August 10, 2010 – MSRP $24.98)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Special Features:

Commentary by Chevy Chase

WHAT’S UP DOC?
(August 10, 2010 – MSRP $24.98)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Special Features:

Scene-specific commentary by Barbra Streisand
Full-movie commentary by director Peter Bogdanovich
Vintage featurette: Screwball Comedies… Remember Them?”
Theatrical trailer

Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of February 23

Brenden — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:22:11 +0000

Another week, another bank-breaker collection of new Blu-ray releases! Thankfully for my pocketbook, while there may be a lot of titles hitting the shops today, there isn’t a lot I feel the need to grab up. As always, we appreciate any Amazon purchase you make through our links. They help to keep this column and the site alive!

1. THE INFORMANT!

I’m not one of those crazy Steven Soderbergh fans. I’m not one of those art-jerks who’ll drool over everything the man touches (I thought Full Frontal was absolute garbage) but everything he’s touched lately seems to me to be quite brilliant. That goes for Che (which I reviewed a couple of weeks ago) and that certainly goes for his newest release, The Informant! (and yes, that exclamation mark is a part of the title.) I’ll publish a more thorough look at the disc later in the week but let me tell you right now, this is the best thing going today. It’s a cracking, fun little story, told with a ton of style, beautiful photography and the best Marvin Hamlisch score I’ve ever heard. And Matt Damon is not half bad in it either…

Amazon: $24.99

2. THE DAMNED UNITED

I can’t believe how much I really loved this movie. Like I said in my review, I loathe sports and I possess an even greater loathing for films about sports. The fact that I could enjoy it at all makesThe Damned United a pretty special movie, in my books. But ultimately, it’s less about the game than it is about the rise and fall of football club manager, Brian Clough, played brilliantly here by Michael Sheen. Watch the film for his performance, if nothing else.

Read my full review here: The Damned United Blu-ray Disc Review

Amazon: $24.99

3. JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths is receiving a critical drubbing! I think I’m the only reviewer out there who has responded positively to the film. I’m not sure what people were expecting from it but as far as I’m concerned, it’s one of the best direct-to-video animated fliks that DC and Warner have released thus far!

Read my full review here: Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Blu-ray Disc Review

Amazon: $19.99

4. ICHI THE KILLER

I have no idea what this film is going to look like on Blu, but Ichi the Killer is a bat-shit crazy good time and worth the risk. I’m going to place my Amazon order tonight, when I get home from the office. For $16.99 you can’t go wrong!

Amazon: $16.99

5. WARNER DOUBLE FEATURES

Well, the title kind of speaks for itself but let me explain. Warner Home Video has packaged up a bunch of films, some never before available on Blu-ray, into double feature sets – Blu-ray releases featuring two similarly themed or sequel films now available in one affordable case. I haven’t seen them all myself but out of the three sets I’ve watched only the Dirty Harry/Magnum Force featured each film on its own disc (both previously available elsewhere) with tons of extras. Both the Funny Farm/Spies Like Us (two Chevy Chase films!) and Presumed Innocent/Frantic (two Harrison Ford films!) sets are bare-bones, movie only releases, with one BD-50 disc containing both films. Pretty decent deal here for fairly quality editions of pretty great films!

Amazon:

Dirty Harry/Magnum Force – $17.99
Funny Farm/Spies Like Us – $29.99
Presumed Innocent/Frantic – $17.99
Analyze This/Analyze That – $17.99
Grumpy Old Men/Grumpier Old Men – $18.99
Miss Congeniality/Miss Congeniality 2 – $18.99

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:

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation: Ultimate Collector's Edition Blu-ray Disc Review

Brenden — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:18:26 +0000

NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION: 20th ANNIVERSARY ULTIMATE COLLECTOR’S EDITION (1989, Blu-ray released November 3, 2009 – MSRP $49.99)

It wouldn’t be Christmas without the Griswold‘s, as far as my family is concerned. We have a few films that we make sure to catch every holiday season and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is at the top of the list. And now, with this Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blu-ray Disc tin, we can not only enjoy the film we love so much but we’ve got a whole lot of Griswold paraphernalia to celebrate with!

In 1989, Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo made a return to their characters of Clark and Ellen Griswold (along with two new actors playing their children, as is par for the course in the series) in the third of National Lampoon’s Vacation films. This Christmas edition, teaming the Griswold’s suburban family with their RV traveling, backwater cousins and some eccentric seniors made for some pretty great gut-busting. A jello cake full of cat treats, a blinding amount of holiday lights and the biggest Christmas tree anyone has ever packed into a tiny living room set the stage for some classic holiday humour.

All right, look. I’m not really here to review National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation or the Blu-ray disc it’s on. Not exactly. This release that I’m tackling includes the disc, yes, but it’s more like I’m telling you about a big metal gift basket filled with goodies and holiday treats. The Blu-ray disc inside the tin is the same one that Warner Home Video released in December of 2006. It’s not the best looking or sounding disc on the market but anyone who is picking up this gift set is clearly a fan of the film and won’t be disappointed by the transfer. It’s the best representation of the film available on home video. But it’s extremely unfortunate that we’re not getting any further special features than the old, previously available commentary track on this 20th Anniversary Blu-ray. It’s not a bad track by any stretch of the imagination, despite the absence of Chase. It’s just that it would have been amazing to finally see some of the cut scenes we’ve heard so much about make their way to disc! Or to see a retrospective featurette. Anything more would have been welcome. Sigh…

As I mentioned above, this Ultimate Collector’s Edition isn’t just about the film. Oh no! Aside from a copy of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation on Blu-ray disc, the tin also contains a ton of goodies that will get you into the spirit of the Griswold festivities:

Instant snow powder

A Santa cap

Holiday drink coasters with favourite movie quotes

“I Survived a Griswold Family Christmas” button

Blu-ray Exclusive Miniature mug replica

I’m really glad to have an anniversary release of this film on Blu-ray. It’s a classic. Maybe Chevy Chase’s final great comedic performance in a film! It’s a shame that the disc wasn’t given a updated transfer and some new special features but the tin full of holiday goodies makes for a great gift-basket of Griswold that any fan would be happy to find under the tree on Christmas morning.

The Blu-ray Blog is Back from Vacation

Brenden — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:02:09 +0000

Zat shop over zere, just down ze Champs-Élysées has a delightful selection of Jerry Lewis films on ze Blu-ray disc!

We’re back from vacation and ready to play catch up with all the Blu-ray and High-def news and reviews that we’ve been missing this past week!

Things have been crazy here, at TBRB central – we’ve been out of town, pimping Wednesday Comics at Fan-Expo in Toronto, performing with Wainwright cousins The Mittenstrings in Montreal and moving from a cramped apartment to a lovely small house in the east-end, Hochelaga-Maisonneuve area of the city. It’s a crazy amount of stuff to pack into seven days. But now we’re back in business and there’s a lot of news to report on. We’ve also got a few reviews coming up in the next couple of days including Disney Nature‘s Earth and Paramount‘s much-maligned Gladiator Blu-ray discs. As soon as the projector is up and running we’ll let you know what we think!

Thanks for sticking with us! Happy September!

The Blu-ray Blog » Chevy Case

Blu-ray Comedy from Warner: Vacation, European Vacation, Caddyshack, What's Up Doc?

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