The Blu Ray Boutique

[Tulpa]

News and reviews for film on physical media.

 

[Tulpa]

 

[Tulpa]

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Since 1984, we’ve dedicated ourselves to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions of the highest technical quality.

www.criterion.com

July titles. Excellent batch!

 

[Ickles]

Wasn't a huge Okja fan (least favorite Bong film) but Drive My Car is fantastic and I might just have to pick up the physical media for it. Generally I stopped collecting and picking up blu-rays of things that aren't my absolute top tier favorites. Side effect of moving like 5 times in the course of 2-3 years. You start realizing boxes and boxes of DVDs might not be worth it!

 

[OneMoreChapter]

Might be slightly off-topic but when will the new master of IE be available to purchase or on streaming services (and will it be available on the latter, with the deleted scenes too)?

 

[Tulpa]

Might be slightly off-topic but when will the new master of IE be available to purchase or on streaming services (and will it be available on the latter, with the deleted scenes too)?

Not off topic at all. That's actually precisely the topic.



To temper excitement, these teases by Criterion sometimes take years to come to fruition (if at all). Might just be really happy it's Easter.

 

[TimG]

I like that we're getting FOUR UHD titles in a month but am irritated that Devil in a Blue Dress gets a release ahead of One False Move which, frankly, is the better movie of the two. Devil is fine but One False Move is in another league entirely. However, since Sony told Kino it was no longer part of the deal and Kino had to cancel their release of OFM, I'm hopeful that Criterion eventually get to OFM.

I think Bong Joon Ho has been on a steady decline with Snowpiercer, Okja and Parasite (though the latter at least reminds you occasionally how brilliant BJH used to be), and The Irishman would have been a better choice for the first UHD licensed from Netflix, especially when Criterion's BD of The Irishman has an absolutely dreadful encode. While they do have a Scorsese UHD, I find Raging Bull easier to admire than love, mainly because Jake LaMotta is such a dick (and to Scorsese's credit, he doesn't sugarcoat LaMotta's shortcomings as a human being). Again, I hope they eventually get to Bringing Out The Dead (Cage said a few days ago it was one of his three favorite roles).

So, out of that July announcement, I think it's only Drive My Car for me, maybe Virgin Suicides in 4k and Summertime (I like Lean's smaller-scale films a lot better than his epics).

 

[Tulpa]

Invaders from Mars, 1953

4K UHD/HDR restoration. Limited to 1,000 copies at $69.99

Invaders from Mars

Invaders from Mars became a modern cult classic, partly because it was filmed from a child's point of view, using exaggerated sets and upward angles. It was also one of two early 50s classic alien-invasion science fiction films (the other is Jack Arnold’s “It Came From Outer Space”) reflecting...

www.ignite-films.com

 

[Stavrogyn]

I think Bong Joon Ho has been on a steady decline with Snowpiercer, Okja and Parasite (though the latter at least reminds you occasionally how brilliant BJH used to be).

Interestingly, these three are the only ones I've seen. No wonder I'm not a big fan of his, even though they're not bad films at all. I liked Snowpiercer the best.

And everyone seems to be raving about Drive My Car, I should watch it as soon as possible. It's the only one of this year's 10 Best Picture nominees that I still haven't seen, even though it interested me more than most of the others.

Sorry for not saying or adding anything related to the intended topic of this thread!

 

[Tulpa]

Interestingly, these three are the only ones I've seen. No wonder I'm not a big fan of his, even though they're not bad films at all. I liked Snowpiercer the best.

And everyone seems to be raving about Drive My Car, I should watch it as soon as possible. It's the only one of this year's 10 Best Picture nominees that I still haven't seen, even though it interested me more than most of the others.

Sorry for not saying or adding anything related to the intended topic of this thread!

This is the intended topic. We're not that prescriptive

 

[Ickles]

Interestingly, these three are the only ones I've seen. No wonder I'm not a big fan of his, even though they're not bad films at all. I liked Snowpiercer the best.

I'd highly recommend Mother. It's my favorite of his film by far.

 

[TimG]

It's my favorite as well, though Memories of Murder runs it close.

 

[Stavrogyn]

Thanks for the recommendations! My two best friends like him, and I think they also mentioned those titles as the best.

 

[sneakydave]

It's my favorite as well, though Memories of Murder runs it close.

My DVD player broke years ago when my Memories of Murder disc was in. So I've been too scared to watch it on my new player in case it breaks another one.

The Host is probably my favourite of his.

 

[TimG]

I completely forgot about The Host. Excellent film too with a fine line between horror and comedy and absurdity. Bong Joon-Ho was so good during that period that all three films feel about equally great. I'm still hopeful that he can get his mojo back. Parasite did have some excellent scenes in it and felt more satisfying than either Okja (this of all titles being the first UHD title from Criterion for Bong Joon-Ho!) or Snowpiercer.

Re that Invadors from Mars asking price; I don't know what Ignite are smoking. For $70 you can get the three Godfather films (five if you are counting Part 3's theatrical and second cut on top of the recent CODA edit) and in 4k to boot. An Arrow UHD goes on release for little more than half the price. I'm having a hard time seeing this shift all 1k limited copies at $70 (Amazon and other retailers might already mark it down by $10 or 15 from the RRP).

 

[Tulpa]

Oh boy!



I guess I'm getting a third seperate copy of this film, then.

Also:

Amazon product ASIN B09YS4QPYH

 

[Stavrogyn]

Oh, I just saw your latest post in this thread, Tulpa!

The Trial was the first Orson Welles film I ever saw, back when I was a teenager, mainly because I was a Franz Kafka fan. I need to have a rewatch. I've seen all of the Orson Welles feature films except the three Shakespearean films, so I need to watch them too.

He's probably my favourite director from the Golden Age of Hollywood (at least he began making films in that period).

 

[Tulpa]

Oh, I just saw your latest post in this thread, Tulpa!

The Trial was the first Orson Welles film I ever saw, back when I was a teenager, mainly because I was a Franz Kafka fan. I need to have a rewatch. I've seen all of the Orson Welles feature films except the three Shakespearean films, so I need to watch them too.

He's probably my favourite director from the Golden Age of Hollywood (at least he began making films in that period).

It was my first film of his, too! I still find it breathtaking how kinetic/contemporary his films look and feel.

The only director that makes me think "If only he was still around and making films. What would they look like now?"

The Trial is also a perfect companion piece to Twin Peaks.

​

In fact, we should probably have a thread to discuss films/books/TV/video games/music that complement TP. Then we could collate them into feature articles for reference.

 

[Stavrogyn]

I still find it breathtaking how kinetic/contemporary his films look and feel.

Well said! I felt this a few years ago when watching Touch of Evil (my favourite film of his). I thought: here's Orson Welles in 1957 doing something Oliver Stone would channel and be known for in the early 90s.

The only director that makes me think "If only he was still around and making films. What would they look like now?"

The Other Side of the Wind felt a bit like a contemporary film to me because it was released in 2018 (even though it was filmed long, long ago). I loved it.

It's a shame he had so much trouble with creative control and studios messing with his films. The Magnificent Ambersons is great as it is, but supposedly it was to be a genuine masterpiece until the studio cut its runtime considerably, and, I think, changed the ending as well?

Orson Welles also had a strong connection with Croatia. Large portions of The Trial were filmed in Zagreb; Oja Kodar is Croatian; Welles starred in a few Croatian/Yugoslavian films, like Battle of Neretva (1969), Battle of Sutjeska (1973), and The Secret of Nikola Tesla (1980), etc.

Actually, I think he deserves a thread in the film section dedicated specifically to him.

 

[Ickles]

Generally I don't really care much about new physical media releases outside of Lynch stuff (those discs of IE and the Lost Highway 4K can drop any time now!) but this did catch my eye: Sound of Metal

Sound of Metal is probably my favorite film from the last couple of years, definitely deserves the Criterion treatment.