Well, this isn’t the most overwhelming Blu-ray release day of the year but there are certainly some incredibly drool-worthy new titles out in shops today. Titles so amazing, in fact, that I’m going to be forced to place my top 3 picks this week all in the number-one slot. They are all must-own discs and I simply can’t rate one above the other!!

1. CRONOS

Cronos has never been my favourite film but it’s a damn important one. It’s the world’s introduction to the modern-gothic vision of Guillermo del Toro. The low-budget gateway into a dark-elegant style that would come to fruition in films like The Devil’s Backbone, Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth. This skewed and innovative take on the classic vampire tale is, when viewed in context, quite a marvel.

The gorgeous Blu-ray edition of the film is quite stunning when you consider its indie origins. But then again, you’d expect no less from a Criterion disc, would you? No matter what you think of the film itself, you’ll certainly be impressed with its high-def presentation and the special features that accompany it, which include a couple of excellent commentary tracks, a newly completed short film and a truly magical tour of Del Toro’s home offices and collections.

Highly recommended!

Special Features:

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Guillermo del Toro and cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, including optional audio with the film’s original Spanish-language voice-over introduction as well as DTS-HD Master Audio
• Two audio commentaries, one featuring del Toro and the other producers Arthur H. Gorson and Bertha Navarro and coproducer Alejandro Springall
• Geometria, an unreleased 1987 short horror film by del Toro, finished by the director in 2010, plus a new video interview with him
• Welcome to Bleak House, a video tour by del Toro of his office, featuring his collectibles and personal work
• New video interviews with del Toro, Navarro, and actor Ron Perlman
• Video interview with actor Federico Luppi
• Stills gallery
• Trailer
• New and improved English subtitle translation, approved by del Toro
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Maitland McDonagh and excerpts from del Toro’s notes for the film

READ MORE: Criterion announces December Blu-ray titles: Videodrome, Cronos

AMAZON: $29.49

1. VIDEODROME

That’s right. This is a two-Criterion Blu-ray week! Along with Del Toro’s Cronos, the studio is serving up the Blu-ray debut of David Cronenberg‘s classic Videodrome and it looks and sounds so much better than it ever has before. I run hot and cold on Cronenberg’s films but Videodrome has always just worked. A twisted look at the world of the media and how we consume it as it consumes us, the film holds up despite the dated technology on display (I haven’t seen that many VHS tapes in years!)

Criterion serve up the same excellent collection of special features as they did on the previously issued Videodrome DVD but the move here to high-def makes this an easy upgrade. There’s a lot more detail to see, colours pop and there’s a nice overall film-like look to the transfer. Audio is only monaural but uncompressed with more dynamic range than previous offerings.

Highly recommended.

Special Features:

• High-definition digital transfer of the unrated version (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack)
• Two audio commentaries: David Cronenberg and director of photography Mark Irwin, and actors James Woods and Deborah Harry
• Camera (2000), a short film starring Videodrome’s Les Carlson, written and directed by Cronenberg
• Forging the New Flesh, a new half-hour documentary featurette by filmmaker Michael Lennick about the creation of Videodrome’s video and prosthetic makeup effects
• Effects Men, a new audio interview with special makeup effects creator Baker and video effects supervisor Lennick
• Bootleg Video: the complete footage of Samurai Dreams and seven minutes of transmissions from “Videodrome,” presented in their original, unedited form with filmmaker commentary
• Fear on Film, a 26-minute roundtable discussion from 1982 between filmmakers Cronenberg, John Carpenter, John Landis, and Mick Garris
• Original theatrical trailers and promotional featurette
• Stills galleries featuring hundreds of rare behind-the-scenes production photos, special effects makeup tests, and publicity photos
• A booklet featuring essays by writers Carrie Rickey, Tim Lucas, and Gary Indiana

READ MORE: Criterion announces December Blu-ray titles: Videodrome, Cronos

AMAZON: $29.49

1. INCEPTION

Christopher Nolan‘s Inception might have been my favourite Hollywood film of 2010. I’m fully aware of all the character deficiencies and possible plot holes in the script but I don’t care. The film managed an incredible feat, as far as I’m concerned and spent the first three-quarters of the narrative setting it up – a storytelling gag wherein a group of characters live and interact at different speeds within different dream states. It’s a fantastic narrative gymnastic feat that has never been attempted before and I think it succeeds in a marvelous way. Also, I can’t stop listening to Hans Zimmer‘s incredible score for the film. Seriously. Every time I put my iPod on it’s Inception. I think it might be bordering on unhealthy.

I haven’t gotten my hands on the Blu-ray yet but I’m assuming that despite its lack of Maximum Movie Mode it’ll be one of Warner‘s best discs of the year. Really looking forward to it!!

READ MORE: Inception Blu-ray officially announced and detailed

AMAZON: $17.99

4. MADEMOISELLE CHAMBON

There’s a lot of talk about Stéphane Brizé‘s Mademoiselle Chambon being a modern, “French provincial version of Noel Coward‘s Brief Encounter” but that’s selling this wonderful little film short. It’s a thoughtful, sensitive romance that feels wholly original. With it’s pregnant pauses and long silences, the pacing won’t be for everyone but believe me, this small scale film is well worth the watch.

AMAZON: $31.49

5. LOST IN TRANSLATION

Lost in Translation is one of my all time favourite films so I have no choice but to place it in my Top 5 list, despite the fact that I haven’t experienced it on Blu yet. I’m really hoping that Universal has delivered a top tier transfer for the film and at least carried over the special features from the DVD, if not created a whole host of new extras for this release. They haven’t done great work with their standard catalogue releases in the recent past so here’s hoping they’ve got their act together for this one!

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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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

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I’ve been sitting on this news for a few weeks, since the last Warner press event but now that it’s is out there, it’s fair game. Christopher Nolan‘s Inception, one of my favourite films of this last year, is due for Blu-ray Combo-Pack release here in North America on December 7. Note that the discs “Extraction Mode” is a version of Warner’s excellent “Maximum Movie Mode” and will offer some sort of picture-in-picture experience with over 90-minutes of bonus content from director Nolan and star Leonardo DiCaprio. Sounds great but from the looks of the package, I can’t help but get the feeling that we’ll end up seeing a more robust deluxe/ultimate collector’s edition of the film on Blu at this time next year.

Special Features:

• Extraction Mode: infiltrate the dreamscape of Inception – with this in-movie experience – to learn how Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio and the rest of the cast and crew designed and achieved the movies signature moments.
• Dreams: Cinema of the Subconscious: taking some of the most fascinating and cutting-edge dream research to-date on lucid dreaming, top scientists make the case that the dream world is not an altered state of consciousness, but a fully functional parallel reality.
• Inception: The Cobol Job: now in full animation and motion, check out this comic prologue to see how Cobb, Arthur, and Nash came to be enlisted by Cobol Engineering and perform an extraction on Saito.
• 5.1 Soundtrack selections from Hans Zimmer’s score
• Conceptual art gallery
• Promotional art archive
• Trailers
• TV spots
• BD-Live
  • Project Somnacin: Confidential Files: get access to the highly secure files that reveal the inception of the dream-share technology.

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I wouldn’t consider myself a wild or devout fan of director Christopher Nolan‘s work. But goddamn did I ever love his most recent film, Inception! I know, I know, it’s far from perfect. There are a lot of elements of the script, the visuals and the direction that I would take issue with if I didn’t find the overall package so damn effective. And, to be honest, subsequent to seeing it on the big screen I’ve come to realize that a lot of my passion for the film begins with the wonderful score by Hans Zimmer. I’ve got it on my iPhone and listen to it regularly. So, for me, this is one of the most anticipated new Blu-ray releases of the year. And it looks like we’ll only have to wait until December to get our hands on it.

The following images and info are technically only applicable to the UK release of Inception but I’m certain the special features will be echoed on our edition, on this side of the Atlantic. And the release date will no doubt fall around the 6th of December.

As I’ve stated several times over, here on The Blu-ray Blog, I don’t really need to own all of the extra stuff packaged in these deluxe releases – in this case, the briefcase, the plastic top, movie cards, etc. I’m happy to have the film itself on Blu-ray, on my shelf. That said, I know these packages are popular, especially during the holiday season. Sadly, we can’t confirm yet that we’ll see this particular one outside of the UK. But we’ll let you know the moment we receive word, one way or the other. Expect an official announcement in the coming days.

Special Features:

• Limited edition aluminium briefcase
• PASIV (Portable Automated Somnacin IntraVenous) Device User Manual
• Movie art-cards
• Inception Spinning Top
• Maximum Movie Mode: Christopher Nolan and Leonardo DiCaprio extract information about the world of Inception and learn about all things you may have missed in the film. Questions, answers, surprises and intrigue are all there for the taking!
• Prologue (Motion Comics):
  • Inception: The Cobol Job: Online comic that details how Cobb, Arthur and Nash came to be enlisted by Cobol Engineering to perform an extraction on Saito.
  • Inception: The Big Under: The story that reveals how Cobb and company get to Saito to put him under for the dream featured in the beginning of the film.
• Dream of Consciousness: Taking some of the most fascination and cutting-edge dream research to date on lucid dreaming, leading scientist to make the case that the dream world is not an altered state of consciousness, but a fully functional parallel reality.
• 15 Focus Pods
• Photo Gallery

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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®

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Well, geez. You can’t just go and show us the Moulin Rouge Blu-ray trailer, pimping the disc set which streets on November 1st in the UK and not show the trailer for its sibling film, William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

So here it is, the Romeo and Juliet Blu-ray trailer, in all its glory, sporting the same street date for the disc and the same cryptic exclamation that it will deliver stunning new bonus features. This time around, as well as the P.I.P. features Moulin Rouge will adopt, it looks like we’ll get some nice, new documentary content to enjoy. Sounds pretty good to me! As before, I’m certain we’ll see the disc over on these here North American parts around about November 4th. But don’t quote me on that, ya’ here?!

Yes, I’m feeling a little bit country today… No, it has nothing to do with Blu-ray…

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I really, really tried to love this film. I wanted to enjoy every ghastly, CGI driven action scene, as if it was the new schock cinema. But there’s an integral piece of the puzzle missing here. And it’s not what you’d think. You see, as garish and over the top as some of the effects in this update to the classic 80s film are, they are simply the new stop-motion. They are the window dressing. What this film lacks that the original had in spades is heart. All the way from the glimmer in the eye of a fantastical, mythological creatures to the very structure of the story itself. Heart. Allow me to explain.

I hate to judge a film based on the material it’s being adapted from but the obvious missteps here don’t leave me much option. Now I said the film was lacking heart in its special effects. While criminal in some eyes, to me, this is a sin easily forgiven in this day of big-budget film making. Ray Harryhausen lovingly crafted and animated every move of every character in the original 1984 film, with only a few assistants to make the work move a little quicker. This new Clash of the Titans boasts an impressive roster of artisans enlisted to bring ancient Joppa to its best digital life. And for what it is, it’s beautifully designed and executed. It’s just not Harryhausen. It doesn’t feel as “real” or handmade. But I can’t fault the film for that.

What really irks me about the new Clash is the script by the credited writing team of Travis Beacham, Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi (amongst many others who remain uncredited, I’m certain.) That’s right, it took a committee to make a perfectly serviceable story into an unnecessary mess of motivation and mood. They managed to take the simplest, most effective of stories – a hero, half-god, half-man, sets out to find his destiny, win the hand of his great love and save her city from certain doom – and turn it into a jumbled mess of political backstabbing and daddy issues. Sure, those elements have their place in mythic storytelling but never at the expense of classical structure. It’s easier to cheer our hero, Perseus (Sam Worthington) on if the princess in danger (Alexa Davalos) is also the girl he’s keen to hook up with. It’s more difficult when that girl seems an afterthought, as he flirts with his attractive companion (Gemma Arterton) and rages against his God/father, Zeus (Liam Neeson.) Newly introduced into the mix is Hades (Ralph Fiennes), Perseus’ uncle and the architect of all evil in the plot of the film. One wonders how the original managed to get by without him, after witnessing how critical the character is to this new, overwrought version of the tale.

Try as I might, I can’t divorce myself of Harryhausen’s original Clash of the Titans long enough to pick apart this update on its own merits and faults. The bold, well-designed CGI special effects are cold yet entertaining enough, much as the rest of this relatively heartless, messy endeavour.

Clash of the Titans arrives on Blu-ray disc with a transfer that presents a very schizophrenic image. I believe this to be a solid transfer, very accurate to the original film, without evidence of artifacts or banding. It’s essentially noise free. And that includes the “noise” of film grain! Clash is slick in every regard but inconsistent. And I believe that inconsistency can be traced back to the various methods used to process the image so that the footage might integrate well into the CGI and to render the differing looks of the film required by the vision of director Louis Leterrier and DOP Peter Menzies Jr. The end result is visually stunning but all over the map, leaving us with highly detailed scenes with rich colours and deep blacks, alongside low contrast images that exhibit a waxy, muddy appearance.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix, however, will blow the very doors from your house! Bass is very aggressive in the mix, music well presented on a wide soundstage through all channels and ambient sounds active through the rear channels. Clash is an excellent way to break in that new set of speakers you just set up in your home theatre!

Whatever you might think of the film itself, there’s no denying that the Blu-ray disc has an incredibly strong set of extras, highlighted by another of Warner Home Video‘s “Maximum Movie Mode” features! Although, this time around, it’s not quite as “Maximum” as it has been in the past, eschewing the director-walk-on effect for a simple and much less effective Picture-in-Picture chat with the director and the films stars. Despite my disappointment with the lack of true MMM, there’s still a lot of amazing insight into the film to be gained by checking it out. If you want to learn more about the film, there are over half-an-hour of “Focus Points” which can be viewed on their own or as branching supplements to the MMM feature. I enjoyed the 20-minutes of deleted scenes and the Blu-ray exclusive alternate ending, which, taken together, give a really solid look at how this update to Clash was initially fashioned before reshoots and some heavy editing. The package is rounded out with a 5-minute featurette on star, Worthington and a DVD and Digital Copy of the film.

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I’ve been waiting to see Henry Selick‘s adaptation of James and the Giant Peach for almost 15-years now. And I would be lying to you if I told you that I wasn’t disappointed. Unlike most who saw it in theatres back in 1996, I wasn’t expecting a repeat of his very successful Nightmare Before Christmas – another Selick outing produced by (and in that case, conceived and designed by) Tim Burton. To his credit here, it’s Selick’s fully animated scenes that are the highlight of the picture. Some of the stop-motion work is truly inspiring – a showdown with a giant mechanical shark and underwater battle with pirate-skeletons come immediately to mind. But the film, sadly, falls apart in its clunky, live-action opening and closing scenes.

The first act of this adaptation of the famous Roald Dahl novel feels off kilter, as a live-action James loses his parents and moves in with his abusive aunties who make him work day and night, with only left over fish heads to eat. It isn’t until a magical giant peach grows in their yard that the film comes to life. James and his world become stop-motion animated as he meets a group of insects who join him on a journey over the wild seas to New York City in their giant-peach mobile, flown through the air by a flock of captured seagulls. Sadly, after all the wonderfully rendered scenes of high adventure, it ends as it began, with real-life actors on real-life sets and some really stiff, uncomfortable-looking performances. Perhaps Selick just isn’t comfortable directing actors. He should stick to animation.

Clearly, the animation is the highlight of James and the Giant Peach. That’s why this Blu-ray disc presentation will be such a disappointment to most who’ll pick it up. It appears quite soft and aged, like a film from a much earlier decade, rich with grain and a seemingly colour-shifted palette. Disney has cleaned the film up and granted it a great transfer for this new Blu-ray. I’m certain that most of the gauzy haze that seems to overpower some scenes here (notably the live-action ones) is intentional and part of the style of the picture. The image may not appear clean and modern here but the dynamic DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack goes a long way toward making the film feel fresh. This is a powerful, explosive mix that is sure to please.

I enjoyed the film well enough and was pleased with the vintage look of the Blu-ray image but the big let-down of this new James and the Giant Peach disc release is the lack of engaging bonus features. There’s a brand new, Blu-ray exclusive “Spike the Aunts” interactive game that’s probably all right for the little ones in the family. Leaving me only the 5-minute long, EPK style featurette, a Randy Newman music video (blech!), a still frame gallery, and the film’s original theatrical trailer to enjoy.

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I’m out of town for the week, on vacation and visiting my folks in the country where internet access is as rare a thing as social interaction. As I’m a day late getting you this Top 5 New Release list and my time online is sadly quite brief, let’s just bust into it. It’s an exciting week on Blu, with a lot of kick-ass catalogue titles being released alongside Kick-Ass the movie…Sorry. Bad pun.

1. THE GHOST WRITER

Roman Polanski‘s The Ghost Writer is one of the best films I’ve seen all year. It might not be the most high-profile Blu-ray release of the week, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s the best thing going. It’s a great script by Robert Harris (adapting his novel of the same name) with some incredible performances by some of my favourite actors (I’ll watch pretty much anything starring Ewan McGregor.) Highly Recommended.

From the Blu-ray:

“When a gifted ghostwriter (Ewan McGregor) is hired to write the memoirs of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), he quickly finds himself trapped in a web of political and sexual intrigue. Lang is implicated in a scandal over his administration’s harsh tactics, and as the ghostwriter digs into the politician’s past, he discovers secrets that threaten to jeopardize international relations forever. Co-starring Olivia Williams and Kim Cattrall, it is a taut and shocking thriller from acclaimed director Roman Polanski (The Pianist).“

Special Features:

• An Interview with Roman Polanski
• The Ghost Writer: Fiction or Reality?
• The Cast of The Ghost Writer

Amazon: $26.99

2. KICK-ASS

I enjoyed Kick-Ass well enough when I saw it in the theatre but thought it well beneath the hype that was surrounding it. I could happily go without seeing the film again but I’m curious to see how the image turned out in the Blu-ray disc transfer seeing as how the visuals were notoriously drenched in DNR from the get-go – a stylistic choice by DOP Ben Davis and director Matthew Vaughn. Kick-Ass grabs the number two position this week by heat-factor alone. It’s the disc that most people want to get their hands on right now (it’s still the #1 Blu-ray on Amazon as I type this!)

Amazon: $22.99

3. ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK

Escape from New York on Blu-ray. ‘Nuff said. If you’re not down with classic John Carpenter and classic Kurt Russell I’m not sure there’s any hope for you. This is one of their finest collaborations ever – the first and best outing of the tough-as-nails, gruff Snake Plissken character. I pray that this new Blu-ray edition lives up to the quality of the film itself but I fear the original elements might not have given MGM much to work with.

Amazon: $18.49

4. JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH

Henry Selick hasn’t really been grinding out a million films since his big breakout animated extravaganza The Nightmare Before Christmas. But the few movies he has managed to produce in that time are true gems. James and Giant Peach might not be a picture perfect Blu-ray disc but it’s a welcome addition to my animation collection. Full review coming this week.

Amazon: $24.99

5. A PROPHET

Combine the HBO prison drama OZ with a touch of the Godfather and you’ve got a glimpse of where Jacques Audiard‘s A Prophet will lead you. It feels epic at its monster 149-minute run-time but honestly doesn’t waste a minute of screen time. This is two-and-a-half very tense hours that will fly right by. One of the best films of 2009 and highly recommended on Blu-ray!

Amazon: $28.99

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Isn’t Clash of the Titans still playing in theatres? It really feels like these films are moving too quickly from the big-screen to the home-screen these days, doesn’t it? To tell you the truth though, in most cases, I’d just as soon watch them in my living room anymore. And it looks like I’ll get a chance to see this remake of Clash when it hits Blu-ray on July 27th, complete with a preview for next summers DC Comics superhero film, Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds!

According to the HD Room, the Green Lantern footage will premiere at the San Diego Comic Con mere days before it becomes available for all to see on the Clash Blu-ray disc. There will be a lot of excitement over this first footage from the film and its availability on the disc will keep those obsessives among us (read: me) from losing hours scouring YouTube for a blurry, handheld camcorder upload from the Con.

Special Features:

• Sam Worthington: An Action Hero for the Ages
• Harnessing the Gods: Maximum Movie Mode
• Deleted Scenes
• Alternate Ending
• BD-Live
• DVD and Digital Copy
• Green Lantern Sneak Peek

Previously on The Blu-ray Blog: Clash of the Titans Blu-ray Disc Review

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