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It’s another wallet-killer this week, folks! Between these pre-holiday releases and the incredible Black Friday Blu-ray deals on offer at the moment our poor bank accounts don’t stand a fighting chance.

This is a pretty strong group of titles this week. But after watching the review screener, I’d have to recommend heading straight out to pick up a copy of Angels and Demons. I’ll get my full review up as soon as I can but let me tell you in brief how shocked I was with this film. Not because of the subject matter. I was more surprised that I actually really enjoyed watching it! I’m far from a fan of screenwriter/hack Akiva Goldsman but man, he and director Ron Howard really delivered this time. And the Blu-ray disc looks like a million bucks too! Great work and a really great Blu-ray package.

Also take note, there’s a new Criterion release this week. I didn’t get a review copy but I will be heading out to pick up the Gomorrah Blu-ray disc as soon as I get a free moment. You’ll do the same, if you’re even the slightest bit a cinephile. Gomorrah is the best mafia film made this decade!

Speaking of the mob, Tony Soprano and family are back on Blu! Season One of The Sopranos is finally available in high-def and should be on everyone’s gift list. The disc set doesn’t feature any new or updated content but the high-def upgrade makes the Blu-ray version worth every penny!

NEW BLU-RAY RELEASES FOR THE WEEK OF NOV. 24
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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New Criterion! Yeah! That’s the way I like to start a Monday morning.

I don’t know a thing about this film, Gomorrah! How did I miss this one last year? It looks fantastic. This is how Criterion describes it:

“Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah is a stark, shocking vision of contemporary gangsterdom, and one of cinema’s most authentic depictions of organized crime. In this tour de force adaptation of undercover Italian reporter Roberto Saviano’s best-selling exposé of Naples’ Mafia underworld (known as the Camorra), Garrone links five disparate tales in which men and children are caught up in a corrupt system that extends from the housing projects to the world of haute couture. Filmed with an exquisite detachment interrupted by bursts of violence, Gomorrah is a shattering, socially engaged true-crime story from a major new voice in Italian cinema.”

Sold!

Here are the Gomorrah details and the late-released cover art for Mira Nair‘s brilliant Monsoon Wedding. Details of that release are outlined in our previous post found here: New Criterion Blu-ray Announcements: Howards End, Wings of Desire, Monsoon Wedding

GOMORRAH
(November 24, 2009 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 2.35:1 1080p
Audio: uncompressed stereo

Special Features:

• New high-definition transfer, supervised and approved by director Matteo Garrone (with uncompressed stereo soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
• Five Stories, a 60-minute documentary on the making of Gomorrah
• New video interviews with Garrone and actor Toni Servillo
• Interviews with writer Roberto Saviano and actors Gianfelice Imparato 
and Salvatore Cantalupo
• Deleted scenes
• Theatrical trailer
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Chuck Stephens

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