Blu-ray, in General

[mfunk9786]

Thanks Matt! It looks like I'll hold out.

[perkizitore]

I got the Suspiria BD, because simply i didn't own the Anchor Bay DVD. But don't count on getting any better PQ unless a new transfer is made!

[flyonthewall2983]

I'm of the firm opinion that you pick and choose what you want on blu ray and what you want on dvd. Films that are spectacle or have stunning cinematography are great for blu so I have films like the Last Emperor, Red Desert, Blade Runner, etc. on Blu but I typically buy the other stuff on dvd since it saves money and cinematography or spectacle may not be crucial to the film overall.

I agree, and would add to that for myself if there's a significant amount of features on the blu not on the DVD, I'd be more inclined to purchase the BR.

I have to say, after finally getting one, I've changed my mind on this. Since getting it, I've put every BD I could find on my Amazon wish list that I currently have that could be replaced. Namely WB snapper-cases and 2 disc edition DVD's.

[Finch]

Lost in Translation & Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are two Universal catalogue titles coming to Blu in early January.

Specs:

Lost in Translation

* English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
* French 5.1 DTS Surround
* English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
* A Conversation with Bill Murray and Sofia Coppola
* "Lost" On Location
* Matthew's Best Hit TV
* On The Set of Sofia Coppola's Somewhere
* Kevin Shield's "City Girl" Music Video
* My Scenes
* pocket BLU App

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

* English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
* French European 5.1 DTS Surround
* English SDH and French subtitles
* A Look Inside Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
* A Conversation with Jim Carrey and Michel Gondry
* Inside The Mind Of Michel Gondry
* Anatomy Of A Scene: Saratoga Avenue
* A Conversation With Kate Winslet And Director Michel Gondry
* The Polyphonic Spree "Light & Day" Music Video
* Lacuna Infomercial
* Easter Egg
* Feature Commentary With Michel Gondry And Writer Charlie Kaufman
* pocket BLU
* My Scenes

[MichaelB]

Blu-ray discs do not live up to the hype says the Daily Mail.

Anyone familiar with the editorial standards of that particular publication will probably know what to expect - and the comments are jaw-droppingly ignorant, especially those that pretend to know something about the subject.

But the most important detail that they've left out is that they don't say what screen size these "identical televisions" were - and clearly you're going to get radically different results with 24" sets than you would with 42" sets or above.

[Jonathan S]

I'd like to know too how they paid £23.96 for North by Northwest (and some of the other Blu-ray prices). By Daily Mail standards, it's almost a balanced report, though! Twenty years ago, I was the subject of a vitriolic 1000 word editorial from them - all because I'd written an article for Gay Times celebrating Stan Laurel's centenary. Still, as they say, you can't buy that kind of publicity....

[reaky]

Are you "Michael of London" (second comment), Michael? If so, good on you!

[Duncan Hopper]

Michael of the London borough of Worthing.

[MichaelB]

Michael of the London borough of Worthing.

...who works in central London. Well spotted, Reaky!

[tenia]

If even such an independant lab like Which can say that the North By Northwest BD is not an improvement over the DVD release, it shows that even the people supposed to be the reference needs to clean their eyes before talking non-sense.

Of course, most of the classic movies with BD which have been major improvement (as Le cercle rouge, The third man, Psycho, etc etc) are not tested...

17 BD.
It's not even statistically relevant !

[Jonathan S]

If even such an independant lab like Which can say that the North By Northwest BD is not an improvement over the DVD release, it shows that even the people supposed to be the reference needs to clean their eyes before talking non-sense.

... although - on that particular title - one of our own experts here came to the same conclusion, albeit from a much more informed perspective (see also his post directly above that one), and a few others here agreed.

[Finch]

From FilmFreakCentral's review

Lost in Translation seems to have been rushed onto Blu-ray as a glorified brochure for writer-director Sofia Coppola's upcoming Somewhere. The 1.85:1, 1080p presentation was clearly sourced from a dated master: soft, flat, and littered with pinhole artifacts that correspond to the 2004 DVD, the image lacks both Hi-Def "pop"--I thought for certain the Tokyo nightlife would gleam on the format--and filmic texture, with DVNR stomping grain like Godzilla except in one inexplicable insert of a clock radio. It's preferable to an upconvert because the colours are bolder, more dynamic, and shielded from bleeding and blooming, but Lance Acord's achingly beautiful cinematography deserves even better.

I don't get Universal: some catalogue titles look fab (Carlito's Way for instance) but more often than not, they don't seem to care. Doesn't bode well for the Eternal Sunshine disc in January...

[Alphonse Doinel]

I have the Alliance blu of Eternal Sunshine that has been out a while, here in Canada. It looks quite good, and it definitely doesn't have any DNR issues. If the Universal disc ends up being a disaster, its a very cheap alternative. Its only flaw is that it's barebones.

[Jeff]

Out of Sight is coming March 1. Bless Universal for finally using the awesome poster art.

[Jeff]

MGM is releasing Thelma and Louise and Last Tango in Paris on February 8 and 15, respectively.

Virgil Films (nee Arts Alliance, nee Hart Sharp) has announced Blu-ray versions of two public domain films, Welles The Stranger and Phil Karlson's Kansas City Confidential. No telling what the quality will be.

[Roger Ryan]

Virgil Films (nee Arts Alliance, nee Hart Sharp) has announced Blu-ray versions of two public domain films, Welles The Stranger and Phil Karlson's Kansas City Confidential. No telling what the quality will be.

I'm thinking that THE STRANGER will probably be sourced from a recent "HD restoration" performed by an independent company called Film Chest, a project that received a small amount of press coverage two months ago. From what I heard, the upgrade was not performed using the elements owned by MGM, but on a compromised public domain print, so...

I can only imagine what Welles would have thought about this film being the first of his directorial efforts released on Blu-ray!

[Jameson281]

MGM is releasing Thelma and Louise and Last Tango in Paris on February 8 and 15, respectively.

The THELMA transfer, incidentally, was supervised by Ridley Scott.

[Zot!]

Could you guys recommend your "go-to" sources for technical reviews and comparisons regarding Blu-Rays? I always hit Beaver and Blu-Ray first, but obviously they don't cover all the titles. I understand that some less-popular discs only have one random nut either ranting or raving about it buried on page 15 of some thread, but even that is better than nothing. Where does one find the most reliable and abundant nuts?

[perkizitore]

Check DVDBasen

[eerik]

Two public domain film-noir titles coming in February:

[David M.]

Could you guys recommend your "go-to" sources for technical reviews and comparisons regarding Blu-Rays? I always hit Beaver and Blu-Ray first, but obviously they don't cover all the titles. I understand that some less-popular discs only have one random nut either ranting or raving about it buried on page 15 of some thread, but even that is better than nothing. Where does one find the most reliable and abundant nuts?

My brother does reviews of discs he watches here. Coverage of niche titles may not be as good as other sites, but the write-ups are fairly technically accurate and informed. There are also some informed users over at the BD section of the AVS Forum.

[Faux Hulot]

Could you guys recommend your "go-to" sources for technical reviews and comparisons regarding Blu-Rays?

Similarly, I'd appreciate anyone's favorite source for player reviews. I'm looking for a good, relatively inexpensive region-free unit (preferably with WiFi) and I'm a bit overwhelmend by the choices out there.

[eerik]

Could you guys recommend your "go-to" sources for technical reviews and comparisons regarding Blu-Rays?

Cinema Squid Blu-ray Movie Database

[Oedipax]

'Giving Up on Bluray'

All this techno-triumphalism behind streaming really makes my blood boil for some reason. I guess it has to do with the heavy correlation between tech-geeks and miserable taste in film, plus the hyper-consumerism that always needing the latest and greatest gadget seems to bring. Everything becomes instantaneous, half-processed before it's retweeted, memed and discarded.

I mean, these are people who've shelled out in large numbers for 1080p sets who are now content to stream sub-DVD shit over the internet because the blu-ray menu takes a few seconds to load. Christ.

Anyone else feel like dogpiling on?

[willoneill]

My big issue with streaming (and articles about streaming) is that none of them take into account the cost-of-bandwith issue. Maybe it's not an issue in the US, I'm not sure. But here in Canada, high speed bandwith isn't unlimited under any plan I know, nor is it in any way cheap. And contrary to what I've read, it's only getting worse. My bandwith used to be unlimited, but that was changed in late 2008. Not only that, but recently Rogers lowered the cap on almost all of their plans for new customers. Right now our plan allows only 25 gb/month, but anyone else signing up for the same plan would only be allowed 15gb/month. And the overage charges are quite hefty. With our activity at home, we barely stay under our cap every month, and any kind of movie streaming (like if we were to sign up for netflix) would probably put us way over.

Am I alone here, or do other people see this as an issue?