This is an amazing week for Blu-ray – not only in that there are a handful of pretty amazing new releases (and some duds) to grab up but that there are more deals to be had this week on titles and players than at any time of the year, thanks to the incredible BLACK FRIDAY sales in the USA. If new releases aren’t your thing this week, you can find a handy, constantly-updated Black Friday Blu-ray Guide to sales and sale prices here.

1. AMERICA LOST AND FOUND: THE BBS STORY

I know I’ve said this a few times recently, but this really might be the Blu-ray release of the year. Criterion have assembled a box full of seven of the most important and influential films from the late 60s/early 70s, all made and produced by Bob Rafelson, Bert Schneider and Steve Blauner. And of course, each one has been prepped and transferred with the same love and care that Criterion give each standalone release, individually stacked with great special features.

Less well-known films, Head, A Safe Place and Drive, He Said hold up well amongst their popular siblings. In fact, though most film fans will pick up the boxed set for The Last Picture Show or Five Easy Pieces, I think the true delight will be the discovery (or re-discovery, as the case may be) of these hidden gems.

Higher profile Blu-ray releases and boxed sets might steal the spotlight this holiday season but the true coveted prize for any true film-fan will be this incredible, robust collection of films from Criterion. America Lost and Found: The BBS Story receives our highest possible recommendation.

FULL DETAILS HERE: Criterion Collection America Lost and Found: The BBS Story Blu-ray set contains Easy Rider, Last Picture Show, Five Easy Pieces

Amazon: $87.49

2. THE COMPLETE METROPOLIS

Speaking of incredible, influential and must-own releases of the week, The Complete Metropolis Blu-ray release from Kino is the newly released disc that you don’t put on your Christmas list – you run out and buy it today. Metropolis is inarguably one of the most important films ever made and now, for the first time in decades, we have the opportunity to see it in its complete form. Well, as close as technology and available resources allow.

The film was censored, ravaged from its initial length to a truncated 90-minutes. This version, which looks incredible on Blu-ray, for the most part, restores a good deal of the story and brings the run-time to a more film-accurate 145-minutes. This is a landmark Blu-ray release that shouldn’t be missed at any cost!

Amazon: $29.49

3. DEADWOOD: THE COMPLETE SERIES

On any other week, this would have easily been the number one release. The Deadwood: The Complete Series Blu-ray boxed set showed up at my door just as I was stepping out on vacation. As a result I haven’t been able to watch it yet but I’ll tell you, the damn thing weighs a ton! It’s packed with 13-discs of one of the best shows to ever have aired on television. And knowing HBO as I do, I’d be willing to bet that the quality of the packaging and the transfers are all beyond reproach. It’s an expensive set but an easy recommendation, even without having viewed a single one of the 13 discs.

Amazon: $137.99

4. THE EXPENDABLES

Ahhh, Sly. I totally missed this one in the theatres. (I know, you’re shocked, right?) But strangely, I have a feeling that this testosterone-fueled 80s callback will be better enjoyed on the smaller screen, just as we all truly fell in love with this type of film on cable and VHS back in the day. Call me crazy, but I’m actually more excited to check this out on Blu-ray than in the theatre. I’m looking forward to having the boys over, ordering pizza and busting out The Expendables very soon. Too bad the disc doesn’t have a VHS-quality transfer as one of the special features. … I can’t believe I just wrote that…

Amazon: $19.99

5. THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH

I have a feeling I’ll take a little heat for this but I loved The Pillars of the Earth! After steadfastly avoiding the television mini-series format for ages, I found myself quickly sucked into this brilliantly executed medieval melodrama, adapted from the bestselling novel by Ken Follett. Admittedly, the fact that the show is produced by Ridley and Tony Scott and stars a ton of amazing actors (Donald Sutherland, Gordon Pinsent, Hayley Atwell, Ian McShane, Matthew Macfadyen to name a few) makes watching what could have been a very weak movie of the week-style program an easier pill to swallow. The castles and bloody battles look great on the 3-disc Blu-ray set, despite the fact that the 6-episodes are actually encoded in 1080i (the back of the packaging incorrectly states that the encoding is 1080p.)

Amazon: $38.99

6. SALON KITTY

Another week, another sixth title in the Top 5 list. I’m sorry, but I can’t wrap up this column without pointing out that the lude, rude and all-together very nude (see what I did there, with the rhyming?) Salon Kitty has made its way to Blu-ray thanks to the dirty boys and girls of Blue Underground. Three years before he would shock the world with Caligula, Tinto Brass delivered a lengthy, somewhat muddled World War II-era film about a madame whose brothel is bugged in an attempt to gather bedside intel from unsuspecting Nazi soldiers. Brass takes the subject matter seriously but undermines his intent with over the top tits and ass. Fans of the film will be happy to know that Salon Kitty looks and sounds better than ever on Blu-ray and includes a limited but informative collection of extras (“Inside ‘Salon Kitty:’ Interview with Director Tinto Brass“, “Designing ‘Salon Kitty:’ Interview with Production Designer Ken Adam“, international trailer and three radio spots)

Amazon: $22.49

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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Here’s another apparent cinematic gem I missed out on from this past summer. The Expendables is something of an 80s party, featuring almost every action hero from that decade kicking ass and taking names. Word on the street is that writer/director/star Sylvester Stallone was hard at work on a director’s cut of the film, to be included on the Blu-ray upon its eventual release but there doesn’t appear to be a hint of it here. I guess we can expect a double dip of this title in the future.

Special Features:

• The Expendables: Ultimate Recon Mode: in-movie BonusView where Stallone and the other Expendables provide a multi-layered, all-access look at the making of the film as it runs (BD-exclusive)
• Audio commentary with Sylvester Stallone
• ComicCon 2010 panel (BD-exclusive)
• Inferno: feature-length making-of documentary (BD-exclusive)
• From the Ashes: Post-production documentary
• Deleted scene
• Gag reel
• Marketing archive, including trailers and TV spots
• Metamenu remote and BD Touch enabled
• D-BOX motion control enabled

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I feel like I’ve been watching a lot of visually dark movies the last little while. And maybe not enough movies with that serious sense of Blu ray “awesome” to them. That dazzle of visual pop the format does best. And it seems that Snatch, despite its better qualities follows that trend.

Don’t get me wrong, Snatch, written and directed by Guy Ritchie is an awesome crime movie with fast dialogue, violence and comedy in equal measure and a f*ck load of swearing. Seriously, they swear a lot. But it’s a film with a very particular visual style, shot dirty and gritty about dirty, gritty people in a …well, you get the point. I found that while watching Snatch, it was so grim in tone and image that I was really yearning for some bright, crisp, high-def detail. The kind that Blu does best, you know? I felt like the style of the film was actually getting in the way of the story to some extent! Nevertheless, the movie flows pretty damn well and it really is top of the heap when it comes to crime/drama/comedies. Oh, I should mention that if you live on the more western side of the Atlantic, you may find some of the dialogue slightly cryptic with its broadly spoken, London-underground vernacular. Just think of it as extra salt and vinegar on your chips!

Despite all my poo pooing, I really enjoyed watching this movie again. It looked technically quite good (despite the dark grit of the source material), it sounded good, it ran along at a brisk pace and is well written for all it’s faults. I should add that the cast is quite spectacular, featuring an all star line-up of both US and UK performers: Brad Pitt, Denis Farina, Jason Statham, Benicio del Toro, Vinne Jones just to name a few. While I was watching it with all of these elements considered I just couldn’t help myself from thinking, “This is one of those movies that could have been great… but it’s really just good.” I feel like it fell just a little short of its potential.

In terms of the video quality, the discs 1080p, 1.85:1-framed transfer has only one issue; it’s a dark, gritty film. I really have to stop watching all these dark, moody films; it’s killing my excitement for Blu ray! The transfer is fine, no problems really at all. The team at Sony manages to handles all that Snatch throws at them, delivering a final product with deep blacks, film-accurate colour and great shadow detail. In fact, if you are really paying attention you can see some surprising detail in things like faces and dirty buildings and all the things you don’t normally pay attention to. The transfer has really been done well, it’s just that there really isn’t a lot in the movie to showcase how good it is.

The audio in the movie is delivered in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and even though the movie wasn’t intended to be an aural-spectacular the sound is surprisingly good at times. It stays crisp and quite dynamic throughout (particularly where the music is concerned) and every once and awhile you get a nice little surprise from a .50 caliber handgun or some immersive ambient noise.

We also get a fairly dry director’s commentary and a “making-of” featurette, deleted scenes, some story boards and stills (ho hum). But in keeping with the value added features of Blu ray, Sony has added some Movie IQ content using the BD Live function. The highlight of the special features, however is the innovative “The ‘Snatch’ Cutting Room” which allows you to to interact directly with the contents of the disc, assembling your own edit of scenes, customizing it with music and titles and sharing the finished product with friends via BD-Live.

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