The Blu-ray Blog » Ray Liotta

Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of May 10

Brenden — Wed, 11 May 2011 16:10:50 +0000

Argh! I know, another new release post that’s hitting a day late. Sorry about that. Aside from being swamped at my office job, this weeks Top 5 was a killer to put together. There are a ton of discs hitting shelves this week but very few truly worthy of your time and hard-earned cash. I’ve paired the list down to the essentials (cheating at number 3 but hey, if you read this list with any regularity you’re used to that by now) while including package art and links for the rest below.

As always, clicking the Blu-ray package art will zip you over to Amazon where every purchase you make through our links helps the site stay on its feet. We appreciate every single click and thank you again for continuing to read The Blu-ray Blog.

1. THE ILLUSIONIST

From the Director of the Oscar®-nominated classic The Triplets of Belleville, The Illusionist is a story about two paths that cross. While touring concert halls, theaters and pubs, an aging, down-on-his-luck magician encounters a young girl at the start of her life’s journey. Alice is a teenage girl with all her capacity for childish wonder still intact. She plays at being a woman without realizing the day to stop pretending is fast approaching. She doesn’t know yet that she loves The Illusionist like she would a father; he already knows that he loves her as he would a daughter. Their destinies will collide, but nothing – not even magic or the power of illusion– can stop the voyage of discovery.

In a lot of ways, I feel like Sylvain Chomet‘s The Illusionist was robbed of a golden statue earlier this year. It clearly wasn’t the popular choice amongst it’s more kid-friendly peers but it’s most likely the best animated film of the past year. The Oscar, of course, went to Toy Story 3 (was there ever any question?) but my affections are rewarded to The Illusionist – a sensitive, watercolour love-letter to late-filmmaker Jacques Tati and my favourite city in the world, Edinburgh.

Sony‘s Blu-ray presentation of The Illusionist is flawless – one of the finest ever for a cel-animated film. Don’t expect the crisp CGI perfection of Pixar animation here, though. The image on this Blu-ray is an accurate representation of lush, sometimes soft, sometimes dark, hand-painted animation cels. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless audio track isn’t aggressive by any means but provides sufficient ambient texture to bring the nearly-wordless film to life. Music is given more than enough dynamic headroom to breath in this overall natural and pleasing track.

I have to say that I’m a bit disappointed that the North American home video release of The Illusionist doesn’t include the 77-minute interview with Chomet from the UK DVD. Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have a bare-bones Blu-ray than a DVD of any variety. But, despite the nice, little collection of bonus features included here, I just feel like we could have/should have had more. A commentary, interview or documentary of significance (all the featurettes on the disc are under 10-minutes, most under 5). Something!

Nevertheless, on the basis of the film itself and the quality of its presentation, the Blu-ray is highly recommended!

Special Features:

“The Making of The Illusionist” Featurette
The Animation Process: A rare look at the line tests and progression sequences
“Chasing the Rabbit” Line Test
“Window Shopping” Line Test
“Fish and Chips” Line Test
“Morning Routine” Line Test and Completed Scene Montage
Garden Party & Travel Before & After Animation Sequences
Steam, Splashes, Smoke and The Flying Scotsman Before & After Animation Sequences
Tatischeff Before & After Animation Sequences

AMAZON: $24.99

2. SOMETHING WILD

A straitlaced businessman meets a quirky, free-spirited woman at a downtown New York greasy spoon. Her offer of a ride back to his office results in a lunchtime motel rendezvous—just the beginning of a capricious interstate road trip that brings the two face-to-face with their hidden selves. Featuring a killer soundtrack and electric performances from Jeff Daniels (Terms of Endearment, The Squid and the Whale), Melanie Griffith (Body Double, Working Girl), and Ray Liotta (Field of Dreams, Goodfellas), Something Wild, directed by oddball American auteur Jonathan Demme (Stop Making Sense, The Silence of the Lambs), is both a kinky comic thriller and a radiantly off-kilter love story.

Watching Something Wild, it’s hard to believe that the film emerged from the hand of the same man responsible for bringing Silence of the Lambs to the big screen only five years later. But perhaps that’s due more to the differing tones of the screenplays and less to the choices of the director. In Something Wild, Jonathan Demme crafts something of a genre hybrid. Unlike the razor-sharp, single note, intense style of Lambs, this earlier work drifts into being as a casual, fun road-movie but eventually winds its way into becoming an edgy crime-thriller. Griffith leads Daniels down the garden path, from his hum-drum office-job existence, into a world of chance and impulse. Oh, it starts innocently enough – an unpaid bill here, a little shoplifting there – but the road-trip eventually digs into Griffith’s past, which comes back to haunt she and Daniels in a dangerous way.

Something Wild sports one of the finest high-def transfers that Criterion has released thus far in 2011. And that’s saying something. The film looks remarkably clean, colourful and detailed for a nearly-forgotten eighties relic. I didn’t note any untoward use of digital manipulation on this extremely handsome, film-like presentation. The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 is robust and clean, with a surprising dynamic range.

Supplemental material is a bit on the lite side for a Criterion disc but of the highest standard, as you’d expect. Aside from a trailer for the film and an excellent 16-page illustrated booklet, the only extras are a couple of interviews – a half-hour chat with Demme and 10-minutes with the writer, E. Max Frye.

AMAZON: $26.99

3. MGM Classics: THE MISFITS, SOME LIKE IT HOT, THE HORSE SOLDIERS

Wow. Fox and MGM have unleashed a torrent of films onto Blu this week. While most have been on shelves in some form or another before (some are newly re-issued in Blu-ray Digi-book format, others have been retail exclusives until this week) the three titles above are of note. Not only are all three classic films from the MGM library but they’re also notable for making their high-def debut this week! I haven’t laid eyes on any of them as yet but, if gauged by the quality of recent catalogue releases from the studio, I would guess that all three will sport pleasant, film-like transfers that won’t quite take your breath away. I’m excited to get my hands on them and will report back when I do. I’m not holding my breath for greatness with these but I expect them to be head and shoulders above their DVD counterparts.

UPDATE: I just received all three of the above discs. I haven’t had time to sit through the films in their entirety but here are my initial impressions of the quality of the discs…

THE MISFITS: What a great film. Written by Arthur Miller, directed by Huston and the final film of stars Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. The transfer seems source accurate, with softer (read: romantic) shots of Monroe popping up now and then. Grain is apparent and detail is beyond what you’ll find on the old 2001 DVD. The print appears to be quite clean in my sampling of it. An overall film-like presentation. The DTS-HD MA track seems clean and clear as well but fairly up the middle, with little separation. Extras are limited to the theatrical trailer.

SOME LIKE IT HOT: The classic Billy Wilder comedy with Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis has most likely never looked better on home video. The transfer is reminiscent of The Misfits and other MGM catalogue discs, appearing rough around the edges but generally film-like and satisfying with no sign of digital tampering. There is some print damage of which to speak but it’s generally minor and won’t distract at all. Contrast and detail benefit the most from the 1080p presentation, showing improvement from the 2006 DVD transfer. The DTS-HD Master 5.1 audio track is nice, providing a dynamic boost for the music of the film. While not as expressive as modern soundtracks, this is clean and clear and overall quite pleasing to listen to. It’s a shame the original mono track isn’t included as an option.

Special features mimic the previously available DVD and are plentiful – Audio Commentary with Paul Diamond, Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (and featuring cuts from archival interviews with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon), 25-minute doc “The Making of Some Like It Hot“, 20-minute doc “The Legacy of Some Like It Hot“, 30-minute doc “Nostalgic Look Back” with Leonard Maltin and Curtis, “Memories from the Sweet Sues” featurette, “Virtual Hall of Memories” gallery and the theatrical trailer.

THE HORSE SOLDIERS: John Huston‘s 1959 film looks colourful and rich on Blu-ray. It lacks the depth of the best HD transfers but is a pleasure to look at, with more detail, thick film grain and warm but accurate skin tones than the 2001 DVD throughout. Again, there doesn’t appear to be any nasty digital tampering or boosting here, leaving the image looking natural if not a bit dark. Audio is faithfully reproduced in a clean DTS-HD Master Audio track, adapted from the original mono. Music sounds full enough, given the extra dynamic headroom of the lossless track but, as you’d expect from a film over fifty years old, sound effects won’t rattle your china or give your subwoofer a workout. The only bonus feature on The Horse Soldiers Blu-ray disc is the theatrical trailer.

AMAZON: $14.99, $14.99, $11.99

4. BLUE VALENTINE

Blue Valentine is the story of love found and love lost told in past and present moments in time. Flooded with romantic memories of their courtship, Dean and Cindy use one night to try and save their failing marriage. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams star in this honest portrait of a relationship on the rocks.

Blue Valentine isn’t for everyone. It’s a raw, truthful examination of a couple at the end of their rocky marriage. Director Derek Cianfrance turns in a stylistic, if somewhat depressing film that rocks the verite like there’s no tomorrow, with stunning performances from leads Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling. The Blu-ray presentation is only as fine as the source material, which is all over the map. It’s a faithful transfer of the film but the disc won’t be the one you pop in to showcase your home theatre setup. The dialogue-heavy DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio track is solid and clean. Extras include a director’s commentary track, deleted scenes, a ‘making-of’ doc and a short film.

AMAZON: $18.99

5. I SAW THE DEVIL

I Saw the Devil is a shockingly violent and stunningly accomplished tale of murder and revenge. The embodiment of pure evil, Kyung-chul is a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. On a freezing, snowy night, his latest victim is the beautiful Juyeon, daughter of a retired police chief and pregnant fiancée of elite special agent Soo-hyun. Obsessed with revenge, Soo-hyun is determined to track down the murderer, even if doing so means becoming a monster himself. And when he finds Kyung-chul, turning him in to the authorities is the last thing on his mind, as the lines between good and evil fall away in this diabolically twisted game of cat and mouse.

I Saw the Devil isn’t for everyone (yes, another film that isn’t for everyone…) but if you like your revenge films brutal, bloody and from Korea you’re in luck. You’ll recognize Oldboy‘s Choi Min-sik and Lee Byung-hun from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra but it’s the beautifully stylized imagery of director Kim Ji-woon that you won’t be able to take your eyes off of. The film looks like a million bucks on Blu, sporting a detailed, colourful, film-like image. Audio is delivered via English or Korean language tracks, both in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. (Skip the English dub.) Extras include 25-minutes of deleted scenes, a half-hour long ‘behind the scenes’ featurette and trailers.

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:

Goodfellas (20th Anniversary Edition) Blu-ray Disc Review

Brenden — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:27:06 +0000

GOODFELLAS (20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION) (1990, Blu-ray released February 16, 2010 – MSRP $34.99)

Goodfellas is twenty years old? Get the f*$& outta here! There’s no denying that this is one of the finest mob movies, if not one of the finest films that has ever been made. And the new Blu-ray from Warner, celebrates the anniversary with a new silk suit and haircut but, sadly the mobster inside remains the same. Um…by that, I mean that this is the same disc they released three years ago in a new package.

You don’t need me to tell you the story of Martin Scorsese‘s Goodfellas, do you? I mean, in the twenty years since its release it’s managed to become the ultimate depiction of the mob, inspiring damn near every subsequent mafia film that’s emerged in its wake. Not to slight the Godfather films in the least, but Goodfellas seems to have eclipsed the famous Francis Ford Coppola trilogy in the minds of younger generations. And that fame and level of import are only a few of the reasons that this 20th Anniversary Blu-ray release is a bit of a let-down.

This is the same Blu-ray disc that was released in 2007. The same transfer, the same extras. Same, same, same. If you already count Goodfellas among your Blu-ray disc collection, you won’t find anything new here. And that’s a disappointment. The quality of the transfer isn’t awful. But it’s not great either. It didn’t win any awards back in 2007 and it only looks that much worse now, when our expectations for what a good transfer can be have been raised so high. But a lot of the problem here isn’t necessarily the fault of the disc. The film could really use a restoration (for instance, there’s a moment about an hour into the film when a very distracting line runs down the entire screen) despite its relative youth. I’m sure, given the cost of such a job, we won’t be seeing an improvement here anytime soon. With that in mind, you can feel confident that this version of Goodfellas is best this film will look on home video into the immediate future. But enough about the problems of the disc set, let’s talk about what’s great here.

Lots. First of all, Goodfellas comes packaged in a beautiful hardcover book. I really love these things. Warner should reissue as many films as they can in nice “digibook” editions. I think it’s the classiest way to display a Blu-ray collection. Inside the little book, you’ll find two discs – the Goodfellas BD and Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film on DVD, a feature length documentary about mob movies that, until now was an exclusive addition to the Warner Gangsters Collection Vol. 4.

While they may not be exactly new, the special features on the Goodfellas Blu-ray disc are quite nice. Anytime you can get a Scorsese commentary track you know you’re in for a treat. And his commentary here is shared with author/screenwriter Nicolas Pileggi, producers Irwin Winkler and Barbara De Fina, cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, editor Thelma Schoonmaker, and cast members Ray Liotta, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino and Frank Vincent. As excellent and informative as this cast and crew track is, you may prefer to listen to the Cop and Crook Commentary, featuring the real Henry Hill (the man whose real-life story is told in the film) and FBI agent Edward McDonald. An awesome and truly inspired inclusion!

Rounding out the extras on the disc are a handful of fairly good featurettes – a standard, half-hour “making-of”, a 14-minute piece examining the legacy of the film, an 8-minute look at real-life mobsters and a storyboard comparison. In addition, the second disc (the gangster doc DVD) includes half an hour of gangster related Looney Tunes and Merrie Melody cartoons. All bonus features are in standard definition.

Previously on The Blu-ray Blog: Goodfellas 20th Anniversary Blu-ray coming in February

Goodfellas: 20th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Disc Details, Package Art

Brenden — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:53:53 +0000

We’ve finally got some details on Warner Home Video‘s upcoming Goodfellas: 20th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Disc set. Not only do I love this film but I love the idea that we’re getting a new edition of it packaged in a digibook along with a whole host of additional special features. I fear, however, that Disc-1 of the 2-disc set, the one with the feature on it, will just be a re-purposing of the previously available release. If that’s the case, we may have to wait until a possible 25th Anniversary Blu-ray edition of the film to get an audio upgrade from the 2007 lossy Dolby Digital to a lossless soundtrack.

GOODFELLAS: 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
With 34-page digibook with film facts, insider info, and photos
(February 16, 2010 – MSRP $34.99)
Video: 1.78:1 VC-1
Audio: TBA

Special Features:

Commentary with cast and crew
Commentary with Henry Hill and Former FBI Agent Edward McDonald
3 featurettes (“Getting Made”, “Made Men: The GoodFelllas Legacy”, “The Workaday Gangster”)
Storyboard-to-Screen Comparisons
“Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film” documentary
Classic Gangster Themed Cartoons (“I Like Mountain Music”, “She Was an Acrobat’s Daughter”, “Racketeer Rabbit”, “Bugs and Thugs”)
Theatrical trailer

Previously on The Blu-ray Blog: Goodfellas 20th Anniversary Blu-ray coming in February

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Goodfellas 20th Anniversary Blu-ray coming in February

Brenden — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:13:45 +0000

You might remember that I picked Goodfellas as one of my Top 8 Blu-ray Discs to get Dad for Father’s Day this year. I had to. It’s one of those films that my father will watch over and over and over again. Clearly it plays well to the over-50-with-adult-children set. Hell, it plays well to damn-near everybody! What a perfect film. And now it’s getting a new edition to celebrate its 20th Anniversary.

Home Media Magazine is reporting that Warner will ship a Blu-ray Book Edition version of the film on February 16. In addition to the standard hardcover 34 page book packaging, the Blu-ray will include a TCM feature-length documentary called Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film (available on DVD from Amazon here), four Warner Bros. mob-themed cartoons and the rest of the bonus content from the previously available Blu-ray disc.

We’ll update you when we find out more about this release!

Observe and Report Blu-ray Disc Review

Brenden — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:51:35 +0000

OBSERVE AND REPORT (2009, Blu-ray released September 22, 2009 – MSRP $35.99)

What do I say about the newest Seth Rogen comedy, Observe and Report on Blu-ray disc? It’s not a really funny film. It doesn’t have any truly likeable characters. The story isn’t dramatic or moving in any way. The photography is nothing to write home about. The music…I don’t even recall. Was there music? Sigh…Hold on…Let me down this bottle of scotch and try watching the film again. I have a feeling that being half-in-the-bag might just be the ideal state in which to consume Observe and Report.

Urgh. I really hate to be negative about this film. I mean, I really, really wanted to love it. I was so in the mood for another Pineapple Express or Knocked Up when I popped the Blu-ray disc into my PS3. I have found myself, in the past enjoying damn near every film that Seth Rogen touches! That guy has either got a gift for picking projects or he’s got himself one damn good agent! I consider Observe and Report a mere bump in the road for Seth Rogen. A learning experience. I point my finger in his direction, wag it a little and scold, “Now don’t do it again!” (I’m sure he’s paying attention.) Yeah, this movie just didn’t work for me at all. Okay, I laughed a few times. There are some good gags, here and there. But I found that nine times out of ten it just falls flat. That being said, a lot of my pals absolutely loved this movie. It’s a black comedy, an attempt at creating a “funny” Taxi Driver, constructed as a series of sketches, loosely strung together by a paper thin story.

Here’s the gist of it – Seth Rogen plays Ronnie, a jerk who happens to be a mall cop. Ronnie has dreams of being a real police officer and hooking up with Anna Faris‘ Brandi, a bitchy, plastic cosmetic counter princess. His mother is an unrepentant drunk and his best friend…well, I won’t spoil it for you. Let’s just say his best friend is also a jerk. Ronnie is on the job when a flasher strikes in the mall parking lot. He figures that breaking this “case” could be his ticket to a job with the Police force and to Brandi’s heart. Unfortunately for Ronnie, Detective Harrison, played by Ray Liotta, stands in the way of both dreams coming true.

Observe and Report looks and sounds all right on Blu-ray. I mean, this isn’t world class cinema here, so I wasn’t even looking for a great transfer or brilliant use of the soundstage. And what Warner delivers is certainly in line with the quality of the film itself. Aside from a little bit of black crush and some uneven detail, Observe and Report looks better than it deserves to on Blu-ray.

The disc is packed with special features, almost all of them exclusive to the Blu-ray release. I found it difficult to be engaged by any of them, however, as I wasn’t in love with the film. But kudos to Warner for their inclusion. The best of the bunch are the Seth Rogen and Anna Faris: Unscripted outtake featurette and the picture-in-picture commentary with director Jody Hill and the stars. It’s fascinating to watch Rogen and crew creating these scenes through the outtakes. I never would have guessed that so much of Observe and Report s dialogue was created through improvisational work on the set. The disc also features a making-of doc, a “Forest Ridge Mall: Security Recruitment Video“, deleted scenes, a gag reel and more!

The Blu-ray Blog » Ray Liotta

Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of May 10

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