The Blu-Ray Upcoming, News & Info Thread

[Reinhardt]

Waiting for IronFingaz to post the February Criterion titles.












Fantastic Mr. Fox

Definitely!! That and Throne of Blood from January are MUST BUYS!

 

[IronFingaz]

The Criterion Collection has announced seven titles for Blu-ray release in February: On February 4th, the studio will release François Truffaut's Jules and Jim. On February 11th, it will release Abdellatif Kechiche's Blue is the Warmest Color. On February 18th, it will release Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent and Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox. And on February 25th, it will release Steven Soderbergh's King of the Hill and Roman Polanski's Tess. On the same date, Criterion will also rerelease Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless as a Dual Format Edition.

Jules et Jim -

Hailed as one of the finest films ever made, Jules and Jim charts, over twenty-five years, the relationship between two friends and the object of their mutual obsession. The legendary François Truffaut directs, and Jeanne Moreau stars as the alluring and willful Catherine, whose enigmatic smile and passionate nature lure Jules (Oskar Werner) and Jim (Henri Serre) into one of cinema's most captivating romantic triangles. An exuberant and poignant meditation on freedom, loyalty, and the fortitude of love, Jules and Jim was a worldwide smash in 1962 and remains every bit as audacious and entrancing today.

Special Features:
New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray Two audio commentaries: one featuring screenwriter Jean Gruault, François Truffaut collaborator Suzanne Schiffman, editor Claudine Bouché, and film scholar Annette Insdorf; the other featuring actor Jeanne Moreau and Truffaut biographer Serge Toubiana
Excerpts from The Key to "Jules and Jim" (1985), a documentary about author Henri-Pierre Roché and the real-life relationships that inspired the novel and film
Interviews with Truffaut, Gruault, and cinematographer Raoul Coutard
Conversation between scholars Robert Stam and Dudley Andrew
Excerpt from a 1965 episode of the French television program Cinéastes de notre temps dedicated to Truffaut
Segment from a 1969 episode of the French television program L'invité du dimanche featuring Truffaut, Moreau, and filmmaker Jean Renoir
Excerpts from Truffaut's first appearance on American television, a 1977 interview with New York Film Festival director Richard Roud
Excerpts from a 1979 American Film Institute seminar given by Truffaut
Audio interview with Truffaut from 1980, conducted by film scholar Claude-Jean Philippe
Trailer
One Blu-ray and two DVDs, with all content available in both formats
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic John Powers, a 1981 piece by Truffaut on Roché, and script notes by Truffaut

Blue is the Warmest Color -

The colorful, electrifying romance that took the Cannes Film Festival by storm courageously dives into a young woman's experiences of first love and sexual awakening. Blue Is the Warmest Color stars the remarkable newcomer Adèle Excharpoulos as a high schooler who, much to her own surprise, plunges into a thrilling relationship with a female twentysomething art student, played by Léa Seydoux. Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, this finely detailed, intimate epic sensitively renders the erotic abandon of youth. It has captivated international audiences and been widely embraced as a defining love story for the new century.

Special Features:
New high-definition digital transfer, approved by director Abdellatif Kechiche, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
Trailer and TV spot
New English subtitle translation
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic B. Ruby Rich
*A full special edition treatment of this film will follow at a later date.

Foreign Correspondent -

In 1940, Alfred Hitchcock made his official transition from the British film industry to Hollywood. And it was quite a year: his first two American movies, Rebecca and Foreign Correspondent, were both nominated for the best picture Oscar. Though Rebecca prevailed, Foreign Correspondent is the more quintessential Hitch film. A full-throttle espionage thriller, starring Joel McCrea as a green Yank reporter sent to Europe to get the scoop on the imminent war, it's wall-to-wall witty repartee, head-spinning plot twists, and brilliantly mounted suspense set pieces, including an ocean plane crash climax with astonishing special effects. Foreign Correspondent deserves to be mentioned alongside The 39 Steps and North by Northwest as one of the master's greatest adventures.

Special Features:
New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
New piece on the visual effects in the film with effects expert Craig Barron
Hollywood Propaganda and World War II, a new interview with writer Mark Harris
Interview with director Alfred Hitchcock from a 1972 episode of The **** Cavett Show
Radio adaptation of the film from 1946, starring Joseph Cotten
Have You Heard? The Story of Wartime Rumors, a 1942 Life magazine "photo-drama" by Hitchcock
Trailer
One Blu-ray and two DVDs, with all content available in both formats
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film scholar James Naremore

Fantastic Mr. Fox -

Fantastic Mr. Fox is the story of a clever, quick, nimble, and exceptionally well-dressed wild animal. A compulsive chicken thief turned newspaper reporter, Mr. Fox settles down with his family at a new foxhole in a beautiful tree directly adjacent to three enormous poultry farms—owned by three ferociously vicious farmers: Boggis, Bunce, and Bean. Mr. Fox simply cannot resist. This adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic children's novel from Wes Anderson is a meticulous work of stop-motion animation featuring vibrant performances by George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Willem Dafoe, Michael Gambon, and Bill Murray.

Special Features:
New digital master, approved by director Wes Anderson, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
Audio commentary featuring Anderson
Storyboard animatics for the entire film
Footage of the actors voicing their characters, puppet construction, stop-motion setups, and the recording of the score
Interviews with cast and crew
Puppet animation tests
Photo gallery of puppets, props, and sets
Animated awards acceptance speeches
Audio recording of author Roald Dahl reading the book on which the film is based
Gallery of Dahl's original manuscripts
Discussion and analysis of the film
Stop-motion Sony robot commercial by Anderson
One Blu-ray and two DVDs, with all content available in both formats
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay; a 2002 article on Dahl's Gipsy House by Anderson; White Cape, a comic book used as a prop in the film; and drawings, original paintings, and other ephemera

King of the Hill -

For his first Hollywood studio production, Steven Soderbergh (whose independent debut, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, had won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival a few years earlier) crafted this small jewel of a growing-up story. Set in St. Louis during the Depression, King of the Hill follows the daily struggles of a resourceful and imaginative adolescent (Jesse Bradford) who, after his tubercular mother is sent to a sanatorium, must survive on his own in a run-down hotel during his salesman father's long business trips. This evocative period piece, faithfully adapted from the memoir by the novelist A. E. Hotchner, is among the ever versatile Soderbergh's most touching and surprising films.

Special Features:
New high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Steven Soderbergh and supervising sound editor and rerecording mixer Larry Blake, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
New interviews with Soderbergh and A. E. Hotchner, author of the memoir on which the film is based
Against Tyranny, a new video essay by ::kogonada in which he explores Soderbergh's unique approach to character subjectivity
The Underneath (1995), Soderbergh's follow-up feature to King of the Hill, with an interview with the director
Trailers
One Blu-ray and two DVDs, with all content available in both formats
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Peter Tonguette, a 1993 interview with Soderbergh, and an excerpt from Hotchner's 1972 memoir

Tess -

This multiple-Oscar-winning film by Roman Polanski is an exquisite, richly layered adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles. A strong-willed peasant girl (Nastassja Kinski, in a gorgeous breakthrough) is sent by her father to the estate of some local aristocrats to capitalize on a rumor that their families are from the same line. This fateful visit commences an epic narrative of sex, class, betrayal, and revenge, which Polanski unfolds with deliberation and finesse. With its earthy visual textures, achieved by two world-class cinematographers—Geoffrey Unsworth and Ghislain Cloquet—Tess is a work of great pastoral beauty as well as vivid storytelling.

Special Features:
New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director Roman Polanski, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
Once Upon a Time . . . "Tess," a 2006 documentary on the film
Three programs on the making of the film—From Novel to Screen, Filming "Tess," and "Tess": The Experience—featuring interviews with Polanski, actors Nastassja Kinski and Leigh Lawson, producer Claude Berri, costume designer Anthony Powell, composer Philippe Sarde, and others
Interview with Polanski from a 1979 episode of The South Bank Show
Forty-five-minute documentary shot on location for French television during the making of the film
Trailer
One Blu-ray and two DVDs, with all content available in both formats
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Colin MacCabe

Breathless -

There was before Breathless, and there was after Breathless. Jean-Luc Godard burst onto the film scene in 1960 with this jazzy, free-form, and sexy homage to the American film genres that inspired him as a writer for Cahiers du cinéma. With its lack of polish, surplus of attitude, anything-goes crime narrative, and effervescent young stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg, Breathless helped launch the French New Wave and ensured that cinema would never be the same.

Special Features:
Restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by director of photography Raoul Coutard, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
Archival interviews with director Jean-Luc Godard and actors Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, and Jean-Pierre Melville
Contemporary interviews with Coutard, assistant director Pierre Rissient, and filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker
Two video essays, one on Seberg and one on Breathless as film criticism
Chambre 12, Hôtel de suède, an eighty-minute 1993 documentary about the making of Breathless
Charlotte et son Jules, a 1959 short by Godard starring Belmondo
Trailer
One Blu-ray and two DVDs, with all content available in both formats
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by scholar Dudley Andrew, writings by Godard, François Truffaut's original treatment, and Godard's scenario.

 

[UTtoyfan]

Wow, Fantastic Mr. Fox??!?! I might get another Criterion again. Plus the Alfred Hitchcock!

 

[rushmore223]

Wow, Fantastic Mr. Fox??!?! I might get another Criterion again. Plus the Alfred Hitchcock!

It's been a while since seeing it, but King of the Hill was a pretty great film too.

 

[meth head]

I hate not being able to buy Criterion blu-rays

 

[Darth Waller]

Wow, Fantastic Mr. Fox??!?! I might get another Criterion again. Plus the Alfred Hitchcock!

If you don't buy both of those you aren't my friend.

 

[UTtoyfan]

If you don't buy both of those you aren't my friend.

Oh, then I won't buy both of those.

 

[Darth Waller]

Oh, then I won't buy both of those.

 

[UTtoyfan]

 

[Darth Waller]

Star Trek TOS Blu-ray set (seasons 1-3) is currently $69.99 at Amazon.

 

[UTtoyfan]

MUSt GET! NOW

 

[Reinhardt]

I knew this would happen, and I'm pumped.

Robocop new Blu-ray, mastered in 4K
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/RoboCop-Blu-ray/89781/

 

[Garemlin]

[ame="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007ZQAKHU/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk"]The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (The Fellowship of the Ring / The Two Towers / The Return of the King Extended Editions) [Blu-ray][/ame]

$44.99 regular $119.98

 

[jye4ever]

I knew this would happen, and I'm pumped.

Robocop new Blu-ray, mastered in 4K
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/RoboCop-Blu-ray/89781/

A recent review from the Spiderman 4K

The Video: Sizing Up the Picture

Though far from the night and day difference that some might be hoping for, this new "Mastered in 4K" transfer is indeed an improvement over the previous release. Like before, the movie is provided with a 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio (though there are some negligible framing differences) and the picture has very similar (but not quite) identical colors and contrast. Detail and grain, however, are slightly improved, but the film still features some inherent inconsistencies.

The print is in good shape with no distracting blemishes to report. Grain is a bit more natural on this new disc compared to the previous transfer and carries a finer appearance, though there are still fluctuations with some scenes looking heavier than others. Clarity is strong, revealing a pleasing sense of fine detail in the comic book inspired costumes and New York locations. The Spider-Man vs Green Goblin fight in the burning building is especially impressive, with lots of intricate effects happening all at once, and the transfer captures all the dancing flames and tiny sparks wonderfully. With that said, there are some comparatively soft shots that creep in from time to time. The bright and cheery colors offer strong pop with rich saturation, though some hues do faintly bleed and certain sequences look a tad faded. Contrast is well balanced, and while blacks are deep, they do crush a bit in the darkest scenes.

Compared to the old release, this new transfer provides a slightly more natural, filmic, and sharp image. While these improvements can be seen in the included screenshot comparisons, I must stress that when I was actually flipping between the two sources on my HDTV, the differences were fairly subtle and, in some cases, nearly undetectable. This is a technically stronger video presentation, but it doesn't quite offer the type of significant upgrade that other remastered discs have provided in the past ('The Terminator,' for instance).

Can you pick the 4K.

 

[Batty]

I knew this would happen, and I'm pumped.

Robocop new Blu-ray, mastered in 4K
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/RoboCop-Blu-ray/89781/

Loaded with extras too. Nice.

 

[rushmore223]

A recent review from the Spiderman 4K

The Video: Sizing Up the Picture

Though far from the night and day difference that some might be hoping for, this new "Mastered in 4K" transfer is indeed an improvement over the previous release. Like before, the movie is provided with a 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio (though there are some negligible framing differences) and the picture has very similar (but not quite) identical colors and contrast. Detail and grain, however, are slightly improved, but the film still features some inherent inconsistencies.

The print is in good shape with no distracting blemishes to report. Grain is a bit more natural on this new disc compared to the previous transfer and carries a finer appearance, though there are still fluctuations with some scenes looking heavier than others. Clarity is strong, revealing a pleasing sense of fine detail in the comic book inspired costumes and New York locations. The Spider-Man vs Green Goblin fight in the burning building is especially impressive, with lots of intricate effects happening all at once, and the transfer captures all the dancing flames and tiny sparks wonderfully. With that said, there are some comparatively soft shots that creep in from time to time. The bright and cheery colors offer strong pop with rich saturation, though some hues do faintly bleed and certain sequences look a tad faded. Contrast is well balanced, and while blacks are deep, they do crush a bit in the darkest scenes.

Compared to the old release, this new transfer provides a slightly more natural, filmic, and sharp image. While these improvements can be seen in the included screenshot comparisons, I must stress that when I was actually flipping between the two sources on my HDTV, the differences were fairly subtle and, in some cases, nearly undetectable. This is a technically stronger video presentation, but it doesn't quite offer the type of significant upgrade that other remastered discs have provided in the past ('The Terminator,' for instance).

Can you pick the 4K.

The second image with Mary Jane seems to have a little more detail.

 

[The Ween]

Target will have a Despicable Me 2 Digibook but not with a 3D disc. At least that's what they're showing. In store who knows?

 

[Sweet Rabbit]

I might get that RoboCop blu ray

 

[Darth Waller]

The Ghostbusters 4K looks better than the previous release, so I'll probably pick this one up.

 

[steveo]

so now that 4k is coming out, is there even a point to keep buying Bluray?