My love affair with The Criterion Collection will continue, unabated into March, as the label issues another incredible slate of films on Blu-ray! This batch includes a further round of older spine-numbers (previously issued titles on DVD) like Louis Malle‘s Au revoir les enfants and Edward Yang‘s Yi Yi as well as films new to the Collection such as Mike Leigh‘s Topsy-Turvy and the film adaptation of the Gilbert & Sullivan stage play it dramatizes, The Mikado. Full details below:

Special Features:

• Restored digital transfer supervised by director of photography Renato Berta with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• Video interviews with Louis Malle biographer Pierre Billard and actress Candice Bergen, Malle’s widow
• Joseph: A Character Study, a profile of the provocative figure from Au revoir les enfants, created by filmmaker Guy Magen in 2005
• The Immigrant, Charlie Chaplin’s 1917 short comedy, featured in the film
• Audio excerpts from a 1988 AFI interview with Malle
• Original theatrical trailer and teaser
• PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by film critic Philip Kemp and historian Francis J. Murphy

Special Features:

• Newly restored digital transfer with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• Audio commentary by writer-director Edward Yang and Asian-cinema critic Tony Rayns
• Video interview with Rayns about Yang and the New Taiwan Cinema movement
• U.S. theatrical trailer
• Optional English subtitle translation by Yang and Rayns
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by Kent Jones and notes from the director

Special Features:

• Director-approved digital transfer, from the meticulous UCLA Film and Television Archive restoration with DTS-HD Master Audio
• Audio commentary featuring director Robert Epstein,coeditor Deborah Hoffmann, and photographer Daniel Nicoletta
• New interview with documentary filmmaker and UC Berkeley professor Jon Else
• New program about The Times of Harvey Milk and Gus Van Sant’s Milk, featuring Epstein, Van Sant, actor James Franco, and Milk friends Cleve Jones, Anne Kronenberg, and Nicoletta
• Postscript containing interview clips not used in the film
• Rare collection of audio and video recordings of Harvey Milk
• Interview excerpts from Epstein’s research tapes
• Footage from the film’s Castro Theatre premiere and the 1984 Academy Awards ceremony
• Panel discussion on Supervisor Dan White’s controversial trial
• Excerpts from the twenty-fifth anniversary commemoration of Milk’s and Mayor George Moscone’s assassinations
• Original theatrical trailer
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic B. RubyRich, a tribute by Milk’s nephew Stuart Milk, and a piece on the film’s restoration by the UCLA Film and Television Archive’s Ross Lipman

Special Features:

• Director-approved digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Dick Pope (with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
• Audio commentary featuring director Mike Leigh
• New video conversation between Leigh and the film’s musical director, Gary Yershon
• A Sense of History, Leigh’s 1992 short film written by and starring actor Jim Broadbent
• Deleted scenes
• Featurette from 1999 including interviews with Leigh, stars Broadbent and Allan Corduner, and other cast members
• Theatrical trailer and TV spots
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Amy Taubin

Special Features:

• Newly remastered digital transfer with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• New video interview with Topsy-Turvy director Mike Leigh on The Mikado and its adaptation for the screen
• New video interview with Mikado scholars Josephine Lee and Ralph MacPhail Jr., tracing the 1939 filmed version of the opera back to its 1885 stage debut
• More!
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien

Related posts

• Twenty questions with Criterion designer Eric Skillman (0)
• Trailer for Renoir's LA BETE HUMAINE, complete with great retro typefaces and train noises (0)
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of September 7 (1)
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of September 28 (1)
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of September 21 (2)

If you’re reading The Blu-ray Blog, you most likely don’t need to be sold on the benefits of the technology. And if you follow us at all, you most likely don’t need to be sold any further on Fox‘s amazing slate of recent and upcoming releases on the format. We’ve published a crap-ton of articles on the Alien Anthology, The Sound of Music: 45th Anniversary Edition, Moulin Rouge and The Rocky Horror Picture Show Blu-ray discs. Having just received them a couple of days ago, I can personally speak to the outstanding quality of the Moulin Rouge and Rocky Horror releases on the format. I’m simply blown away by the high-standard of the transfers, extras and packaging of these discs and can easily place them amongst the finest of the year.

As to the video above, well, clearly there’s a little something lost in the translation from the high-bandwidth, high-def Blu-ray presentation to the crunched down, compressed YouTube stream you see here. But hey, you get the point, right? Blu-ray rocks! High five!

Via: Bleeding Cool

Related posts

• Blu-ray Holiday Gift Guide 2010: Gift Sets (5)
• Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet officially announced for release on Blu-ray (0)
• [VIDEO] The Sound of Music (45th Anniversary Edition) Blu-ray Trailer (3)
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of November 2 (1)
• The Sound of Music: 45th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray officially announced and detailed (3)

We got a peek at these releases last week in the form of a couple of trailers promoting the UK releases of Baz Luhrmann‘s Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet on Blu-ray disc. Now we’ve got the official North American release details for the titles and they look absolutely grand!

If the press release is any indication, I think we can safely say that these will be Blu-ray discs done right. Here are a few words from the director, Luhrmann himself, to assure you that these will be discs worth owning:

“As a fan, I’ve seen examples where the technology is so powerful, a much-loved film goes in for a Blu-ray treatment and, somewhat like a friend who has had too much surgery, you no longer recognize them.

“Mindful of the relationship evolved with many fans of these two films, the esteemed digital intermediate colorist Jan Yarbrough, who recently completed color restorations of North by Northwest and the Godfather films, and I sat together day in and day out seeking to maintain the color philosophy forged in the cauldron of shooting, while giving full reign to the power of high-definition technology to deliver a Moulin Rouge and an R+J that audiences will recognize but are nevertheless realized at the highest possible visual quality.

“As a filmmaker you never know whether you will ever have a chance to revisit movies again, and so we have gone about this with the attitude that this could be for the last time.”

Jan Yarbrough worked on these discs? That’s all I need to know to confidently pre-order them on Amazon. Just in case you need some more convincing, here are all the details:

Special Features:

• Spectacular, Spectacular: Picture-in-Picture mode with audio commentary by Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Donald M. McAlpine and Craig Pearce, and featuring behind-the-scenes footage and stills
• All-new featurette: A Creative Adventure, with introduction by Baz Luhrmann A Word from Baz
• Uncut footage from the Bazmark vault including:
  • Father & Son: a look at an alternate opening
  • Nicole Kidman’s first vocal test
• Production featurettes and interviews:
  • The Stars
  • The Writers
  • The Design
  • The Dance
  • The Music
  • The Cutting Room
• The Making of Moulin Rouge
• BD-Live
  • Live Lookup™ powered by IMDb®

Special Features:

• Shaking Up Shakespeare: Picture-in-Picture mode with audio commentary by Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Donald M. McAlpine and Craig Pearce and featuring behind-the-scenes footage and stills
• Uncut Footage from the Bazmark Vault
• Documentary: Romeo + Juliet: The Music
• Filmmaker and interview galleries
• BD-Live
  • Live Lookup™ powered by IMDb®

Related posts

• [VIDEO] Fox Blu-ray Demo features Alien Anthology, Sound of Music, Moulin Rouge and more! (1)
• [VIDEO] William Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet Blu-ray Trailer (1)
• [VIDEO] Moulin Rouge Blu-ray Trailer (3)
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of October 19 (3)
• Blu-ray Picks for the Week of February 2 (2)

Much like we debuted Fox‘s Rocky Horror Picture Show Blu-ray set by trailer last month, before the official press release hit the news-wire, we’re very fortunate to get a glimpse at their upcoming Moulin Rouge Blu-ray via YouTube video!

This particular trailer is meant for consumption by those in the U.K. so the November 1st release date won’t exactly apply to those of us on the opposite side of the Atlantic but should act as a good measure of when we’re likely to see it pop up (My best guess would be November 4th.) No special features are spoken of in specific terms during the trailer but we can glean from the images they show that we’re likely to see some Picture-in-Picture functionality. More news on this highly anticipated title as it comes…

Related posts

• [VIDEO] Fox Blu-ray Demo features Alien Anthology, Sound of Music, Moulin Rouge and more! (1)
• Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet officially announced for release on Blu-ray (0)
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of October 19 (3)
• [VIDEO] William Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet Blu-ray Trailer (1)
• Blu-ray Picks for the Week of February 2 (2)

Okay, this is just ridiculous. I can’t afford all of these discs in one week! I had no idea that February would be such a big release month. I thought March was going to be my bank-breaker and that I’d have another month to save up for the big titles but this week is going to make me reevaluate. As always, we appreciate any Amazon purchase you make through our links. Your clicks help keep the site on its feet!

ZOMBIELAND! This is such a fun movie and you’re really doing yourself a disservice if you don’t check it out. It’s a great little horror/teen-comedy/action mash-up that looks and sounds fantastic on Blu. I’ll have my full review up for you later in the week. Don’t miss this one if you can help it!

Read more here: Zombieland Blu-ray Announced and Detailed

Amazon: $23.99

Tony Jaa is our generation’s Bruce Lee. This guy is incredible! And Ong Bak, available today on Blu from Fox, is the movie that introduced him to the world. I’m picking this one up as soon as possible. Here’s hoping the transfer does the 2003 Thai hit film justice!

Read more here: Ong Bak coming to Blu-ray in February!

Amazon: $15.99

More Tony Jaa!!! Ong Bak 2: The Beginning, the 2008 sequel is set in the past and Jaa plays a totally different character so there’s no need to see Ong Bak before this film. It might not be quite as strong as the original but Ong Bak 2 is so well shot and the fight scenes are so stunning it’s definitely worth checking out.

Read more here: Ong Bak 2: The Beginning heading to Blu-ray in February

Amazon: $14.99

Did you see The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus? Awesome. I mean, it’s not perfect but it felt like a bit of a return to form for Terry Gilliam. I enjoyed it. And I also really enjoy Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, released on Blu-ray today. I don’t count it among Gilliam’s finest but it’s so bat-shit crazy, filled with amazing imagery and performances it can’t be ignored. This Blu-ray doesn’t include the awesome extras form the Criterion DVD but the 1080p transfer makes it worth adding to your collection.

Read more here: Universal brings Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas to Blu-ray

Amazon: $18.99

Today is the day that Disney rights their wrongs and apologizes to Martin Scorsese and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus for the visual butchery of the initial Gangs of New York Blu-ray release with this brand new, remastered edition. Check out this screenshot comparison of the two Blu-ray releases to see just how improved this new edition is!

Amazon: $25.99

House of the Devil is a retro-style horror film, crafted to feel like something straight out of the 80s. The studio has even gone so far as to promote it by sending out VHS copies of the film to the press (which you can now order for yourself in this limited collector’s edition DVD/VHS bundle!) Reviews and word of mouth have been pretty good on this one and I’m anxious to get my hands on the Blu-ray to see what all the hype has been about.

Amazon: $21.99

Speaking of scary movies with great word of mouth, Triangle is the story of a group of friends who go sailing on a yacht and come upon a seemingly deserted ocean liner during a storm in the Bermuda Triangle. They soon realize they’re not alone. The premise doesn’t sound electric to me but a million positive reviews can’t be wrong. Worth a look!

Amazon: $18.99

I’m not a big Doctor Who fan (the psychological scars it inflicted on me as a child have yet to heal) but I know this show is kind of a big deal. In addition to this Blu-ray box collection of the Complete Specials, BBC is releasing all of them (The Next Doctor / Planet of the Dead / The Waters of Mars / The End of Time Parts 1 and 2) in individual editions!

Amazon: $44.99

What’s that? You love Casablanca but you didn’t want to buy that big, overpriced Blu-ray box set of goo-gahs and crap it was previously packaged in? Well, today is your lucky day! The beautiful Blu-ray disc edition of the film is now available all on its own at a really great price. You owe it to yourself to own this film on Blu if you’re a film lover.

Amazon: $16.49

And speaking of films you love now in a cheaper package, Paramount has made both Godfather and Godfather Part 2 available in individual Blu-ray releases under their premium Sapphire label. These are the same discs from the previously available boxed set and look and sound brilliant! Full reviews coming this week.

Amazon: Godfather – $23.99
Godfather Part 2 – $22.99

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:

Related posts

• Gangs of New York Remastered Blu-ray Screenshot Comparison (1)
• Gangs of New York gets Remastered, Re-Released on Blu-ray (1)
• Zombieland Blu-ray Disc Review (3)
• Zombieland Blu-ray Announced and Detailed (1)
• Ong Bak coming to Blu-ray in February! (0)

I was elated when I heard the announcement of the new, remastered edition of Martin Scorsese‘s Gangs of New York Blu-ray but there remained the question of how much of an improvement that disc would be over the original, brutally flawed release. Well now, thanks to the AVS Forum‘s Xylon we have the answer. Check out these screenshot comparisons for proof!

Xylon seems thoroughly impressed with this new, remastered Blu-ray. From his posts on AVS Forum:

“When I was watching this last night I was just flabbergasted how much of the picture quality … has been lost and altered in the original version. At the same time I am thinking about other Blu-ray/HD DVD titles that has been infected with with the same PQ issues namely DNR and EE. From Patton to Dark City to Gladiator what if they were done right the first time? Could it be that they can look as good as this? Our answer to that is of course! And why not? … Excessive use of DNR (Digital Noise Reduction), EE (Edge Enhancement) and poor recycled old masters has no place in our modern home theater.”

I couldn’t agree with Xylon more. And his screenshots speak for themselves. This new edition of Gangs looks fantastic! I hope this is a sign that the studios are beginning to come to their senses are realize that their catalogue films deserve the best treatment possible.

Via: Land of Whimsy

Related posts

• Gangs of New York gets Remastered, Re-Released on Blu-ray (1)
• Blu-ray Picks for the Week of February 2 (2)
• The Ultimate Force of Four Blu-ray Box set (Hero, Iron Monkey, The Legend of Drunken Master, Zatoichi) Review (0)
• Kevin Smith 3-Movie Collection (Clerks | Chasing Amy | Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) Blu-ray Disc Review (0)
• Extract Blu-ray Disc Review (0)

At long last, one of the most reviled Blu-ray discs unleashed on the unsuspecting consumer can be chucked in the bucket, removed from your library forever and replaced with this sparkling new remaster! Yes ladies and gentlemen, we’re about to get that version of Martin Scorsese‘s Gangs of New York that we’ve all been waiting for! The one that doesn’t look like dirty videotape! The one that doesn’t suck! The Gangs of our dreams!

Miramax has clearly heard our cries and is delivering a brand spanking new version of Gangs of New York for us to drool over. I seriously doubt it will fall into the traps of the previous, muddy, poorly compressed edition. But in the meantime, until we see it for ourselves, let’s just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best, shall we?

Special Features:

• Feature commentary with Martin Scorsese
• Featurettes:
  • Costume Design
  • Set Design
  • History of the Five Points
• Exploring the Sets of ‘Gangs of New York’ with multiple angles utilizing 360-degree shots of the sets
• Music video: U2, “The Hands That Built America”
• Uncovering the Real Gangs of New York (Discovery Channel Special)
• The Five Points Study Guide: Luc Sante Introduction and Five Points Vocabulary
• Teaser trailer
• Theatrical trailer

Related posts

• Gangs of New York Remastered Blu-ray Screenshot Comparison (1)
• Blu-ray Picks for the Week of February 2 (2)
• The Ultimate Force of Four Blu-ray Box set (Hero, Iron Monkey, The Legend of Drunken Master, Zatoichi) Review (0)
• Kevin Smith 3-Movie Collection (Clerks | Chasing Amy | Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) Blu-ray Disc Review (0)
• Extract Blu-ray Disc Review (0)