Blu-ray, in General

[fdm]

Doesn't sound too promising (blu-ray.com thread):

"This is one of the worst Blu-ray discs I ever bought. It's just an upconvert from a standard definition source. It doesn't look any better than my German DVD. "

Thanks for finding that! I'm still oh so curious about it, the Amelie and Hard Candy BDs look so good - I don't know how this of all films could go so wrong.

FWIW, I've seen (possibly exaggerated) reviews like that for other BDs, so grain of salt.

[Forrest Taft]

Doesn't sound too promising (blu-ray.com thread):

"This is one of the worst Blu-ray discs I ever bought. It's just an upconvert from a standard definition source. It doesn't look any better than my German DVD. "

Thanks for finding that! I'm still oh so curious about it, the Amelie and Hard Candy BDs look so good - I don't know how this of all films could go so wrong.

FWIW, I've seen (possibly exaggerated) reviews like that for other BDs, so grain of salt.

I actually re-watched my Norwegian blu-ray edition of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly yesterday (it´s been out for more than a year here...), and I have no complaints about the transfer. No English subs though, only Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, and Icelandic.

[domino harvey]

In my continuing quest to be able to watch Duplicity in peace, I bought the Blu-ray the other day and, well, I can see right through the disc? It worked and all, but man, how is that even possible

[Jeff]

In my continuing quest to be able to watch Duplicity in peace, I bought the Blu-ray the other day and, well, I can see right through the disc? It worked and all, but man, how is that even possible

That is strange. I'd never noticed before, but my copy is completely translucent (bordering on transparent) too. Duplicity is a very fun film, which ended up being rather underrated. Amazon's got a good price on the Blu, and the physics-defying disc is just a bonus.

[Finch]

What concerns me more immediately is whether Universal have made Carlito's Way look as good as it can on Blu for the release later this month [-o<

I would expect it to be an identical HD-DVD port at best, or a extra-DNR-ed version of the HD-DVD transfer as worst. That seems to be what Universal is doing with most of their catch-up titles.

I don't own the old HD DVD to compare but a sampling of a handful of scenes from the Blu-Ray I got this morning suggests it is actually a fine transfer. I can post more once I've had a chance to watch the film in full.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

In my continuing quest to be able to watch Duplicity in peace, I bought the Blu-ray the other day and, well, I can see right through the disc? It worked and all, but man, how is that even possible

Well, any dual-layer disc has at least one translucent layer -- otherwise the second inner layer would be unreadable. My guess is the Duplicity disc (which is single-layer) is basically what you would have if you took a dual-layer disc and removed the inner layer, leaving a single translucent layer just opaque enough to reflect the laser. So with a transparent label you would have a see-through disc.

[manicsounds]

It's a Universal thing. They hate to use disc artwork, and most, if not all the BDs I've seen of theirs can be seen through when put up next to a light...

[Cinephrenic]

Universal is the worst of the big studios when it comes to releasing their catalog titles.

[Finch]

Anyone worried about another botched release of a catalogue title needn't worry about Carlito's Way: I watched it from start to finish this morning and it's a very competent upgrade from SD. Beaver has caps.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompar ... tosway.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[tojoed]

Psycho will be released on Blu-Ray in October.
Special features include:
Feature-length audio commentary with Stephen Rebello (Author of Alfred Hitchcock and the making of Psycho)
The Making of Psycho: A feature-length documentary on Hitchcock's most shocking film
In the Master's Shadow – Hitchcock's Legacy: Some of Hollywood's top filmmakers discuss Hitchcock's influence and why his movies continue to thrill audiences.
Hitchcock/Truffaut Interviews: Excerpts from a 1962 audio interview with Alfred Hitchcock.
Newsreel Footage: The Release of Psycho: Vintage newsreel on the unique policy Alfred Hitchcock insisted upon for the release of the film.
The Shower Scene: A look at the impact of music on the infamous "shower scene."
The Shower Scene: Storyboards by Saul Bass: Original storyboard design.
Production Notes: Read an essay on the making of the film.
The Psycho Archives: See the gallery of on-set photo stills from the film's production.
Posters and Psycho Ads: See a gallery of original posters and ads from the theatrical campaign.
Lobby Cards: View a gallery of promotional lobby cards from the film's theatrical campaign.
Behind-The-Scenes Photographs: View rare photos showing the cast and crew at work.
Psycho Sound: A never-before-seen piece that looks at the re-mastering process required to create a 5.1 mix from the original mono elements using Audionamix technology.
Theatrical Trailer: Watch the original promotional trailer from the film's theatrical campaign.
Re-Release Trailers: Watch the promotional trailer created for the re-release of the film.

[Cinephrenic]

Sold. And they better not fuck this up. :-"

[Alphonse Doinel]

For those Canadians who haven't jumped on Blu yet, this may be of interest to you. It's apparently region free, has a usb port, will play 1080i through compontent, and best of all, is $88. Downside is its made by a company I can guarantee you've never heard of.

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/wm-seiki ... 8-a-893497

[Michael Kerpan]

For those Canadians who haven't jumped on Blu yet, this may be of interest to you. It's apparently region free

Blu-ray region-free or only DVD region-free?

[Alphonse Doinel]

For those Canadians who haven't jumped on Blu yet, this may be of interest to you. It's apparently region free

Blu-ray region-free or only DVD region-free?

DVD is confirmed, not sure about Blu. They seem to have not bothered putting any restrictions on the thing, so chances are pretty good. Put in a question on the forum to make sure though.

Oh, and this thing may not be limited to Canadian stores. Unfortunately, you'll have to step into a Walmart to find out.

[Michael Kerpan]

Oh, and this thing may not be limited to Canadian stores. Unfortunately, you'll have to step into a Walmart to find out.

I went in a Walmart...once. Once was enough.

[Noiretirc]

Aside: In WalMart I found the "bloodbag" edition of Ichi The Killer.

ALWAYS go to WalMart.

[Alphonse Doinel]

Just a follow up to that player. It does easily allow you to change your region for Blus. Unlike Dvd, there's no 0 setting though, so you'll have to switch every time you change regions.

[mfunk9786]

Wow, it looks like Fox has sunk to a new low, using the same low-grade Blu-Ray transfer as the Canadian Alliance disc for their U.S. release of The Illusionist. Thank God this isn't a film I care about owning, but this could be a slippery slope we're looking at here.

[nsps]

Damn, I was just in Seattle. Shoulda run across the boarder and grabbed one of these.

[fdm]

I think what's more disturbing is they've mimicked their MGM releases by putting the film on a blu-ray disc and presumably included a DVD copy so they didn't have to bother putting the supplements on the BD, including the commentary it seems. Not really sure how much better the transfer itself could be given the nature of the film, you may be overstating its "low-grade"-ness in this particular instance. (I've only seen the DVD (a few years ago), so I really couldn't say )

[mfunk9786]

I've never understood that. The first time I watched The Graduate on Blu I was flabbergasted at the fact that it was featureless. I'll never understand this procedure. Especially when it's implemented on BD50s that have plenty of space left, like Misery.

[eerik]

2010 HD Awards, you can vote for some Criterion Blu-ray releases as well. Do it!

[denti alligator]

2010 HD Awards, you can vote for some Criterion Blu-ray releases as well. Do it!

How could North by Northwest be a contender for best picture quality?

[Napier]

As far as image quality and supplements go, Paris Texas is tough to beat. And it's not even on there.

[aox]

2010 HD Awards, you can vote for some Criterion Blu-ray releases as well. Do it!

How could North by Northwest be a contender for best picture quality?

The reviews I read seemed to indicate it was a huge failure.