Next up: Classics on Blu-ray

MORE GIFT IDEAS:

* GIFT & BOXED SETS
* TV ON BLU
* CLASSICS
* THE BEST OF THE YEAR

Animation just doesn’t get any better than the work of Hayao Miyazaki. His latest film, Ponyo is also his first on Blu-ray. This is not only a perfect gift for kids and animation fans but also for film fans of all ages.

Highest possible recommendation!!

READ MORE: Ponyo Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $21.99

I reviewed the Fantastic Mr. Fox Blu-ray way back in March and, let me tell you, I’m still surprised at how much I enjoyed it! I’m a fan of Wes Anderson but didn’t think I’d care for this stop-motion animation take on the classic Roald Dahl tale. What a pleasant surprise! It’s a great film with a stellar presentation on Blu-ray disc.

READ MORE: Fantastic Mr. Fox Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $17.49

Highly recommended!!

READ MORE: Neon Genesis Evangelion 1.11: You Are (Not) Alone Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $16.49

I’m still hoping to get my hands on a copy of The Secret of Kells Blu-ray disc (hint hint!) but understand that it’s stellar in just about every possible way. The film itself is one of the best animated films to be released in years and worth your every attention. If the Blu-ray lives up to its reputation of having a killer transfer and great audio, this one could end up with a special place on my Blu-ray “shelf-of-honour“.

READ MORE: Oscar nominated animated film The Secret of Kells coming to Blu-ray

AMAZON: $18.49

Disney is really killing it with the Blu-ray releases of their classic catalogue titles. And Beauty and the Beast is one of the most significant, as it truly ushered in the modern renaissance of the studio’s 2D animated offerings. The film looks unbelievably great on Blu-ray and features tons of amazing special features. Again, another pick that’ll please animation AND film fans alike.

READ MORE: Beauty and the Beast: Diamond Edition Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $19.49

I’m really steamed that I missed out How to Train Your Dragon. By all accounts, this is one of the best animated films to come out in the past number of years and the finest work of Dreamworks animations studios since the original Shrek. I just might have to grab a copy of the Blu-ray disc for my niece and nephew for Christmas, just so that I can finally get to see it myself!

AMAZON: $18.99

Warner Home Video and DC Comics continued their onslaught of animated superhero adaptations throughout the year, releasing four new Blu-ray discs in 2010, culminating with the DC Showcase collection of exceptional short films this past month. My favourite disc of the lot (though I enjoyed them all) is the Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths disc, which features a fun dimension-hopping story, great character designs and a slate of decent special features. But they’re all highly recommended for fans of the comics.

READ MORE:

• Batman: Under the Red Hood Blu-ray Disc Review
• Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Blu-ray Disc Review
• Superman/Batman: Apocalypse Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $18.99, $20.99, $10.99, $9.99

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs doesn’t look like a whole hell of a lot but it’s one of my girlfriend’s favourite films of the entire year (and I thought it was pretty all right too!) Released way back of the beginning of January the title is now available in a Blu-ray 3D edition as well as the standard, old Blu-ray combo pack.

READ MORE: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $14.99

As I said before, Disney is on a roll with its Blu-ray releases of catalogue animation titles. Fantasia and its sister film, Fantasia 2000 both look and sound stellar in high-def. It’s unfortunate that most of the old DVD special features have been relegated to an online BD-Live archive, providing the sole option of streaming the content to your screen, as opposed to putting it on a local disc. Don’t let this single shortcoming keep you from adding this exceptional presentation of a classic film to your collection. Recommended!

READ MORE: Fantasia / Fantasia 2000 Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $27.99

FUNimation has been releasing some great anime series on Blu-ray this year. Not all of them were created in HD, so the studio has been tirelessly improving their up-conversion process (taking the standard definition material and turning it into HD goodness!) to provide the best looking presentation possible. And you know, they’re doing a bang up job. The titles above are among my favourite released this year, with Eden of the East being one of the best looking, best written, most compelling animated series I’ve seen in an age. It especially comes highly recommended!

READ MORE:

• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of May 18 – DRAGONBALL Z KAI: PART ONE
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of May 25 – FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: BROTHERHOOD PART 1
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of October 19 – Eden of the East: The Complete Series

AMAZON: $37.99, $19.99, $69.98, $19.99

I’m not a big fan of the Family Guy but I kinda get how their Star Wars spoof episodes are so popular. Anyway, all three shows will be available for the first time in this brand new Blu-ray boxed set on December 21st.

AMAZON: $27.99

Far from Disney’s absolute best animated film but a decent return to form as the studio’s first hand-drawn effort in years, The Princess and the Frog is a great choice for any young girl who loves a musical rags-to-princess story.

READ MORE: The Princess and the Frog Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $28.99

And while we’re on the subject of Disney and the films that little girl’s might like, it’s hard to beat the revisionist (it’s hard to believe this is the same character from J.M. Barrie‘s Peter Pan!) direct-to-video Tinkerbell series. These things have been consistently entertaining and this years’ entry, The Great Fairy Rescue is no exception.

READ MORE: Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $18.49

ANIMATION ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:

MORE GIFT IDEAS:

* GIFT & BOXED SETS
* TV ON BLU
* CLASSICS
* THE BEST OF THE YEAR

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Hey, didn’t I just write one of these Top 5 lists, like, yesterday or something?! When the floodgates of Blu-ray releases open wide there’s just no stopping them, huh? Nevermind. I’m still up to my armpits in office work so I’ll just blast through this as quickly as I can so as to get this extremely important list of titles up online to assist you in your time of purchase-decision need!

Ahem…

1. THE MAGICIAN

SPOILER ALERT: I couldn’t find a trailer for my number one pick this week, the new Criterion Collection edition of Ingmar Bergman‘s The Magician, but what I did find is a 7 1/2 minute clip from the film – damn-near the end of the film – with commentary by film-historian and Bergman scholar Peter Cowie (who, coincidentally, contributes a “visual essay” to the Blu-ray disc). If you don’t mind a spoiler or twenty then this lengthy clip will give you a perfect idea of what you can expect from the film.

Look, I understand that Bergman isn’t for everyone. I’d never force my girlfriend to sit through The Magician (“too slow, too old, too black and white”). I don’t think I’d even show this to my mum (who is responsible for my love of film). But being a fan of his work, this is the most exciting new disc hitting shelves today, as far as I’m concerned. I think Bergman is absoutley brilliant. And this dark tale in particular – which pits the magic of a nineteenth-century traveling mesmerist and peddler of potions against the scientific mind of a rational royal medical adviser – is a perfect treat right now in the lead-up to Halloween!

Special Features:

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
• New visual essay by Bergman scholar Peter Cowie
• Brief 1967 video interview with director Ingmar Bergman about the film
• Rare audio interview with Bergman conducted in English by filmmakers Olivier Assayas and Stig Björkman
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoff Andrew, a reprinted essay by Assayas, and an excerpt from Bergman’s autobiography Images: My Life in Film

Amazon: $34.99

2. THE DARJEELING LIMITED

I love the films of Wes Anderson. I swear, Rushmore actually improves every single time I watch it. It remains in my Top-10-Criterion-DVDs-that-deserve-a-Blu-ray-upgrade list (a list I desperately need to revisit and update very, very soon). Though it might not be in direct competition with my favourite of Anderson’s films, The Darjeeling Limited, new on Criterion Blu-ray this week, is a fantastic and very original journey through India and three brothers’ awkward attempts to reunite their family.

Full review this weekend!

Special Features:

• New high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Wes Anderson (with DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray edition)
• Anderson’s short film Hotel Chevalier (part one of The Darjeeling Limited), starring Natalie Portman, with commentary by Anderson
• Audio commentary featuring Anderson and cowriters Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola
• Behind-the-scenes documentary by Barry Braverman
• Anderson and filmmaker James Ivory discussing the film’s music
• Anderson’s American Express commercial
• On-set footage shot by Coppola and actor Waris Ahluwalia
• Audition footage, deleted and alternate scenes, and stills galleries
• Original theatrical trailer
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Richard Brody and original illustrations by Eric Anderson

Amazon: $24.99

3. THREE KINGS

Man, I haven’t seen David O. Russell‘s Three Kings since it was initially released in theatres way back in 1999. I remember it being extremely effective, firing on all story and style cylinders right out of the gate. I’m anxious to check out this new Warner Blu-ray edition of the film to see if it holds up. I have a feeling that a lot of the artistic choices in script and production design/cinematography will feel a bit dated, much like other mid to late nineties films like Natural Born Killers and The Matrix.

Amazon: $18.99

4. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON

After all the crazy, over the top reviews it’s been getting, I really regret not requesting a review copy of How to Train Your Dragon on Blu-ray. Apparently, this is not only one of the best kids fliks to be released in the last year but one of the most entertaining animated films for adults! If you snap it up, let me know what you think.

Amazon: $22.99

5. I AM LOVE

I didn’t get a chance to see I Am Love but the reviews that it garnered seemed quite positive. I include it on the list for the single reason that gets me excited to see it – the crazy-awesome art direction/production design. I understand that it’s absolutely gorgeous to look at – a feast for the eyes with an incredible sense of design reaching as deeply into the film as its credits and inter-titles. Can’t wait to see this one!

Amazon: $23.49

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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Comparing The Peacemaker, the very first film to come out of Dreamworks thirteen years ago, with the likes of 24 or The Unit is not negative criticism, in my eyes. Merely an observation. I really love(d) those shows and enjoyed the heck out of Leder’s The Peacemaker. It’s a solid couple of hours of watching military intelligence-types chase down terrorists and bombs and save the world. It’s like a James Bond film minus the charm, excitement and personality.

Dr. Julia Kelly (Nicole Kidman), an American military intelligence analyst is tasked to find the source of a nuclear explosion within Russia. She determines it to be a terrorist act – detonation caused by the head-on collision of a couple of trains. Lt. Col. Thomas Devoe (George Clooney), with years of Russian intel-experience under his belt, believes otherwise. And we know Clooney is never wrong! The explosion was a cover for the theft of several additional warheads which now need to be tracked down and recovered. Kidman and Clooney jet around the world, hot on the trail of the nukes and the madman who has a devious plan to use them.

It’s a great, if not holey unoriginal setup that feels like it should payoff in an exciting Bond or Bourne-like adventure filled with action, intrigue and a smattering of romance between between the two leads. But there’s very little payoff here. The action an adventure feels very by-the-book and the romance never bubbles to the surface. In fact, for two such high-profile performers, it’s a bit of a surprise that Kidman and Clooney don’t seem to be able to muster up any chemistry here. Between the lack of spark and a fairly dry script, Leder is tasked with the impossible, yet she delivers an entertaining Clancy-lite thriller that I’ll be happy to revisit in the future.

The Peacemaker comes to Blu-ray in a pleasing yet flat high-def presentation. There’s nothing technically wrong here, aside from a few fleeting compression artifacts that pop up now and then, but there’s also nothing to get excited about. Colour is accurate but blacks sometimes overwhelm and detail comes and goes. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 is a vast improvement over its DVD counterpart, with a more dynamic and engrossing soundfield and enough expression to keep a keen ear engaged.

Sadly, The Peacemaker Blu-ray disc falls short in the special features department, only offering a 5-minute behind-the-scenes collection of stunt footage, 3-minutes of interviews with the cast and crew and the theatrical trailer.

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I had heard tell that writer/director Wes Anderson actually didn’t have much of a hand in the production of Fantastic Mr. Fox, and that the stop-motion animators responsible for bringing the characters to life on a day-to-day basis were forced to take the reigns in his place. After watching the film, I can’t believe that for a moment. Fantastic Mr. Fox feels like an Anderson film through and through. The visual style, the dialogue, the pacing – it’s all trademark Anderson. And it truly is Fantastic.

Adapted from a Roald Dahl (James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) story, Fantastic Mr. Fox is given a very new and modern life, voiced by uber-celeb George Clooney. It’s a similar device to that used in adapting Sendak‘s Where the Wild Things Are to celluloid – animated characters from a children’s book speaking naturalistic dialogue, grounding the film while mining greater depth and complexity from a seemingly simple concept. And it really works here. The visual style speaks directly to the children’s book illustrations that bore it. But the wonderful performances of the very smart script, along with the trademark vintage-Anderson music-mix elevate this film from mere animated fare aimed at children to the sort of well made art-film that even the pop-culture intelligentsia can appreciate.

And Blu-ray fans also have a lot to appreciate with the Fantastic Mr. Fox disc. It’s gorgeous! And it should be with a direct digital-to-digital transfer from Nikon D3 digital still camera footage that exhibits beautiful, rich colours, deep blacks and a ton of detail. While not as overwhelmingly sublime as the visuals, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is dynamic and clear. It’s not as immersive as it could have been but nevermind. This front-heavy mix makes Anderson’s musical selections sound great here.

Their isn’t a lot of variety in the Fantastic Mr. Fox special feature set, but the extras on the disc are nothing to shake a tail at! The main feature is a six-part documentary that runs almost 45-minutes and covers every aspect of production from the script to the design to the cast. While it doesn’t quite take the place of a commentary track it is an excellent and fairly candid look behind-the-scenes of the film. There are also a couple of featurettes providing a very brief look at “The World of Roald Dahl” and a 2-minute animated sports lesson in “A Beginner’s Guide to Whack-Bat“. The disc is rounded out with the theatrical trailer and DVD and Digital Copies of the feature film.

Read more: Fantastic Mr. Fox coming to Blu-ray in March

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Now, don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed Up In The Air. It’s got a whole lot going for it. It’s got a great setup, it’s super-stylish and the performances are, across the board, fantastic. George Clooney is Ryan Bingham, a professional “downsizer” who travels three-hundred days of the year, existing between airplanes and hotels, keeping an emotional and physical distance from everyone in his life until he meets Alex, played by the wonderful Vera Farmiga. Alex lives a parallel lifestyle to Ryan and the two quickly bond over their collections of points cards and traveling perks. But this connection quickly begins to turn Ryan’s world upside down as he realizes that any emotional bond could ground him for good. And there’s the rub. The movement of the whole piece is a little too movie-by-numbers, showing it’s hand early on and remaining quite predictable right to the end, where Ryan learns the exact lesson he’s set up to be taught from the start. I enjoyed the film well enough but the sanctimonious turn it takes really put me off, despite the fine performances and brilliant visual design.

And speaking of visuals, Up In The Air looks absolutely spectacular on Blu-ray. This is a fantastic, clean transfer, with spot on flesh-tones, a nice amount of grain and healthy black levels. Honestly, I could watch the gorgeous opening titles of this film again and again. It seriously looks that good! The DTS-HD MA 5.1 is source-accurate but isn’t going to blow your doors off. Like the video, though, it’s exactly perfect. Very nice indeed.

Up In The Air boasts a respectable amount of special features on the Blu-ray. The commentary track with writer/director Reitman, director of photography Eric Steelberg, and first assistant director Jason Blumenfeld is fairly decent and covers a lot of ground. It’s unique in that it was recorded before the film opened wide and received its critical acclaim, giving us an innocent perspective on the films merits. The 3-minute long “Shadowplay: Before the Story” is an insightful look at the design team resposible for the beautiful opening sequence of the film. I understand that most people couldn’t give a rats ass about such things but I, for one, would have appreciated it if this featurette had been longer. There are also storyboards, a collection of deleted scenes with optional commentary, a music video, a prank video and a trailer.

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Man, I can’t escape those damn Oscars!! Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in…to writing about..them? (Sigh…I shouldn’t try to be witty or cleverly try to incorporate movie quotes into these intros, should I?) There are a couple of stand-out Hollywood titles here this week, both represented at the 82nd Academy Awards. Outside of those discs and an outstanding anime on Blu debut, this is a pretty barren week. It’s days like these that make me glad I didn’t decide to make this list a Top 10 every week.

1. PRECIOUS

Geez, after all the attention Precious is getting I’m really regretting not requesting a review copy of the Blu-ray disc. Every clip from the film seems to have some of the finest, most naturalistic performances I’ve seen in ages. Looks to be masterful work there. The Blu-ray has a lot of extras included on it, including a bunch of featurettes, a commentary track with director Lee Daniels and the screen test of the brilliant Gabourey Sidibe, star of the film. Precious won the Oscar for adapted screenplay and best supporting actress, Mo’nique.

Amazon: $23.99

2. UP IN THE AIR

I just watched Up in the Air. In fact, I chose to watch it over the Oscars (take that, MPAA!) And let me tell you, while it might not exactly live up to all the hype, it’s still a wonderful, if not predictable film. I’ll have a full review of the Blu-ray disc up shortly but in the meantime, this is the only disc on the list that I can unequivocally recommend. I only put Precious before it in the Top 5 list because of the two films, it was the one that took home the Oscar statues. Up in the Air was nominated for six Oscar awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Actress.

Amazon: $26.99

3. EVANGELION 1.11: YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE

I haven’t seen this disc yet and, if you read my previous post about the Evangelion 1.11: You Are (Not) Alone Blu-ray, you’ll recall that I’m not a huge fan of the series. I can, however, tell you that over the last week or so, I’ve been privy to a host of comments about and reviews of this disc that lead me to believe it may be the best representation of anime on Blu yet! If you’re a fan of Eva, this is a must buy!!

UPDATE – Read my full review here: Neon Genesis Evangelion 1.11: You Are (Not) Alone Blu-ray Disc Review

Amazon: $19.99

4. PARIS

If you’ve ever been to Paris, if you’ve ever fallen in love with the city – its alleys and streets, buildings, history, people, food – this film is going to make you want to buy a ticket back, as soon as humanly possible. Paris might not be a perfect film but it is a kind love-letter filled with entertaining character portraits. And who doesn’t love Juliette Binoche?!

Amazon: $24.99

5. HACHI: A DOG’S TALE

Okay, honestly, the title of this film just put me off right away. Also, I’m not a big fan of Richard Gere. But Hachi: A Dog’s Tale does have a few things going for it – it stars Joan Allen (who you may remember from the last two Bourne films), it’s based on a true story from Japan (the dog’s name is actually Hachiko, after the Japanese symbol for good luck) and it’s directed by the extremely talented Lasse Hallström (of The Cider House Rules fame.) That’s good enough to make it on the list today!

Amazon: $24.99

AND…

In the “I’m sure some of you will love it but I hated the original so much I pray the sequel Blu-ray self-destructs” category:

BOONDOCK SAINTS II: ALL SAINTS DAY

I don’t want to give this film too much press here. Just adding the image of the disc to this release page irks me to some degree. You see, I really hate the original Boondock Saints. I feel like it was everything that was wrong with cinema in the 90s – men posing, unloading hundreds of bullets and doing a lot of violent things in slow motion for the sake of being “cool”, in a vapid and derivative circus of style-above-substance cinema. Note to director Troy Duffy, you’re not John Woo. Even Woo has learned to reign in his old-brand of stylized violence lately. Get with the times, Duffy!

I include the disc here simply because I know that some of you are fans of the original. I don’t know why, but to each his own. The rest of you should be warned that this sequel is more of the same, only ten years older and ten times shittier.

Amazon: $19.99

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:

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Despite my love for the films of Wes Anderson there’s just something about this Fantastic Mr. Fox film that didn’t appeal to me when it was released. Maybe it was the hype surrounding it or the feeling that it was another trendy adaptation of a kids book aimed at the hipsters of my generation. As a result, I didn’t end up seeing it in the theatres. And now I regret missing it. Thankfully, I’m going to get another chance on March 23rd, when Fox brings it to Blu-ray! Details below:

Special Features:

* Making Mr. Fox Fantastic:
o The Look of Fantastic Mr. Fox (BD-exclusive)
o From Script to Screen
o The Puppet Makers (BD-exclusive)
o Still Life: Puppet Animation
o The Cast (BD-exclusive)
o Bill and His Badger (BD-exclusive)

* A Beginner’s Guide to Whack-Bat
* Fantastic Mr. Fox: The World of Roald Dahl (BD-exclusive)

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