Netflix frequently adds more HD titles to their streaming lineup — you can find them under the “New Arrivals” tabs in the Netflix interface . Unfortunately they don’t have a simple breakdown of HD quality, so we’ve scrolled through ourselves. Videos in high-definition are AVC compressed with Dolby Digital at 48kHz. Yeah, the quality doesn’t quite match that of a Blu-ray Disc but then again you don’t have to wait for it. Full Story
This week there’s not a heck of a lot to recommend as must-own Blu-ray discs, though for dramedy you may wanna check out Ben S
tiller in Greenberg as well as the newest Atom Egoyan film for rental. Let’s take a quick gander at what we’ve got for Blu-ray releases:
Hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July… Glad we live in country where we have plenty of life, liberty and the pursuit of cool technology, but due to the holiday this week’s kind of a dumping ground for Blu-ray releases… nothing much to shout out about, but I did manage to dig up two worthy discs to highlight. The rest of the bunch are a mixed bag of dual-pic releases for Blu-ray, similar to how the studios dumped a lot of releases on DVD only a few years back. Warner Bros. has released some great BD’s lately, but these double-feature releases seem destined for the cut-out bin at your local big-box discount store. Let’s take a gander at two decent picks for the week: Full Story
This week is long on releases… check ‘em out below. A few are recommended, and one is partially recommended, but the rest are a mixed bag, though the concert films should be outstanding on Blu-ray.
We’re focusing on Green Zone this week here at HD Report, but there are of course other releases for June 22nd. Suffice to say, you can never go wrong with Criterion, though sometimes other distributors give their releases just as much love… Consider Warner Bros release of a classic heartbreak story, and Shout! Factory’s impressive line of B-movies. Let’s take a look at what’s on the bill for this week’s street date.
On a production budget of around $100 million, but a domestic return of just over $35 million, no one would call the newest Paul Greengrass/Matt Damon collaboration, Green Zone (Universal, 2010) a hit… one might even call it a bomb (financially speaking), but this box office analysis does a disservice to a very good film that, unfortunately, serves two masters by attempting to be both an intriguing political thriller and a tough-as-nails war movie. Full Story
This week looks like a dump of lesser titles, tv/cable series offerings and some B-grade genre grinds, but there is one must-own title, for indie-fans (or fans of what was once called Independent Cinema) and one truly spectacular little gem of a horror film. There’s also a real stinker from the 80’s that somehow still has legs as trash cinema cult fave.
In The Book of Eli (Warner Brothers, 2010) Denzel is The Postman! Er—I mean, Eli!
Full Story
This week’s a little light on Blu-ray releases of any note save for Scorsese’s recent foray into gothic psychological terror and an old comedy fave from the 80’s.
WHITE SPACE
Gunga la-gunga! From the 80’s vault comes Caddyshack (Orion/Warner Bros., 1980) in a spiffy Blu-ray 30th Anniversary Edition that makes me feel rather old when they start posting numbers like that on home media releases (I saw the film in a movie theater at age 10 during the time when my Dad had weekend child-rearing duties… he’d take us to see just about anything including that particular brand of 80’s comic raunchiness). Full Story
This week we pick over the new Disney Alice in Wonderland and investigate Warner Bros. Clint Eastwood fixation.
WHITE SPACE
So, Disney decided to remake a classic… and sure it’s their own property (essentially), but did we really need a CGIcandy-colored update of Lewis Carroll’s classic tale of a girl on a wild trip through the looking glass? And is it any better than the their own animated film from 1951? Full Story
WHITE SPACE
This week’s picks offers one absolutely must-have disc for your hi-def library, three if you’re a really keen cineaste with a yen for the experimental and if you don’t mind a little digital dusting (aka DNR) marring an otherwise classic epic. The rest of the bunch are a mixed batch of titles you’re probably better off renting. Full Story
Slim prospects for good Blu-ray releases this week, with only a few standouts amongst the bunch. Criterion is here, of course, but there’s nothing that could be called a must-own title for HD… though your opinion may vary especially if you like fine acting (and schlock) in high-def. Full Story
Lots o’ cool stuff gets released on Blu-ray this week. It’s a good week for fans of Mel Brooks and Mr. Miyagi, and Criterion releases one absolutely must-have classic for your HD library… Let’s take a look: Full Story
Last week on Blu-ray saw the release of Season Two and Three in the Highlander TV series, but not much more than that… This week there are plenty more offerings but not much worth purchasing (or in some cases renting, unless you really need your Michael Bolton fix).
The first rule of Hollywood should be “don’t bet against James Cameron.” The second rule, should simply support the first rule as a redundancy and reminder that Cameron achieves his successes where others fear to tread… Full Story
Tuesday the 27th brings us plenty of new Blu-ray releases that might be worth a rental, but hardly any that demand a purchase. Some of these BD’s were already released some time ago on the HD DVD format before it was thrown under the proverbial bus and many are short-changed by lack of features. Let’s face it, 1080p transfers that look decent if not spectacular are becoming the norm… it’s the features that should make these releases distinctive and worth adding to a Blu-ray library. Let’s take a look:
- Limited Time
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