When I started the Blogorium over on another social media site several years ago, I eventually became an early adopter of Blu-Ray. At the time, I worked at a used book store that sold video games and systems and I was able to purchase an 80gb PS3, partially for the games but mostly for the shiny new discs that beat HD-DVD in the "successor to DVD" format war. I wanted to upgrade TVs from the old standby 17" (?) set I had (and its twin, a loaner from a friend who moved) and eventually did pick up that HDTV monstrosity (it's in storage now for various reasons).
At the time, I was gently mocked by friends for taking such an interest in a "niche" market for home entertainment, to the point that I jokingly referred to all Blu-Ray and HDTV posts as being "fancy schmancy." Now that most of the world seems to be catching up (because Blu-Ray discs are often cheaper than their DVD counterparts and you don't have to get rid of your DVDs with a BD player), I haven't used the term in a while.
People seem to be moving more and more into the "all digital" direction, to the point that a younger co-worker derisively said to me "Blu-Ray is for noobs!" I laughed out loud, because that doesn't make any sense, especially coming from someone who never knew an analog world. I'm not articulating this well, but I think anybody who has been following the development of home media for the last... let's just say thirty years is far from being a "noob" on the subject. Maybe I'm the opposite - the fuddy duddy who still likes to have a tangible copy of something, an actual library of film, music, and books. I have plenty of digital copies and songs on iTunes (no e-reader to speak of), but there's something to be said for having friends over and giving them time to look through your shelves in the down time.
We've also established that I'm a "supplement junkie," and you don't get those kinds of extras with a digital copy. I get most people could care less about commentary tracks or making of documentaries or retrospectives, but it's not a coincidence that I buy Criterion discs that have lots of contextualizing extras about the films. To me, that's as interesting as the film itself - watch the second disc of The Battle of Algiers (if it's the DVD, the second and third discs) and then watch the film again. The all digital, just the movie world of cloud technology isn't totally for me just yet. It has its purpose, but it doesn't replace a shelf full of quality releases.
Speaking of quality releases, I think that was the point of this whole post... I must have gotten lost back there somewhere. Oh well, let's skip to the chase. The following are some of the most interesting discs I picked up in 2011. Not all of them were released in 2011 (I'm guessing with the imports anyway) but it's my list so you'll live. When possible, I'm going to put up links where you can buy them, because several are titles you probably didn't know you could buy and are already available.
For starters, let's look at this:
A Nightmare on Elm Street Collection - In the US, we got the first Nightmare on Elm Street on Blu-Ray released in time for the shitty remake in 2010. Last October, we got a double feature of 2 and 3 on one disc... and that's it. Not the worst deal, necessarily - two of the best entries in the series and... well, Freddy's Revenge. Still, it's not like we can replace our boxed set yet, right?
Not true, gang - Amazon.co.uk had an October 2011 release of the entire series on Blu-Ray. The five disc set replicates the individual release of the first film and then doubles up 2/3, 4/5, and 6/7, with a bonus disc of new extras, including episodes of Freddy's Nightmares, the anthology-ish series that you can only see if you're patient enough to watch Chiller for a week.
(Oh, Freddy vs. Jason fanatics are admittedly SOL, but that's not really a Nightmare film anyway. Wait... are there Freddy vs. Jason fanatics?)
Additionally, each of the BD discs has all of the interview clips from the seventh disc of the Nightmare on Elm Street DVD set, but without having to navigate the "labyrinth" to find them. Even though we're dealing with two films per disc, I have to say that all of the sequels look very good in high definition. This set will probably come out in the US (let's hope by next October) but if you've got a Freddy fix, the whole thing is available now. Most importantly, it's REGION FREE, meaning that all of the movies are going to play on any BD player you have here in the states.
Payback - also region free and available on Amazon's UK site, the release of Payback overseas improves the existing BD release here by including both versions of the film (the US release only has the director's cut) plus all of the extras from both original discs. Whether you like one version or the other, it's got something for all Payback fans, so you can watch it whenever you like, however you like. Let's hope Point Blank makes the leap to high definition in 2012...
Taxi Driver - Everything included from all the various versions of the DVD, plus the Criterion laserdisc commentary with Scorsese, at a very reasonable price. What's not to like?
Citizen Kane (Ultimate SomethingorOther Edition) - Best Buy has a two-disc version with Kane and The Battle for Citizen Kane, which is nice, but the super fancy schmancy edition (for a few dollars more) also includes RKO 281 and The Magnificent Ambersons. If you want to quibble, only Citizen Kane is a BD disc, but it's a nice set that encompasses all things Kane with the added bonus of the only version of The Magnificent Ambersons we're ever going to get included as a bonus. The film looks fantastic, by the way.
Battle Royale - I know Anchor Bay is releasing BR next week on Blu-Ray, but Arrow Films beat them to the punch in the UK with a region free set of the theatrical cut, the director's cut, and an additional disc of extras for what amounted to $35 at the end of 2010. As I didn't get it until 2011, I'm counting it - it also doesn't include Battle Royale II, which is a very nice thing for Arrow to do. That would only sully the experience. I opted for the super fancy, now out-of-print Limited Edition, which came with some other fun stuff, but you can still get the three disc version for a reasonable price.
The Lord of the Rings Extended Editions - Is it maybe a pain to switch out the discs? I guess. Are the "appendices" just DVDs? Well, yes. Will I take this over the "theatrical" Blu-Ray set? Any day. The movies look better, all of the extras are intact, and the extra documentaries from the "Limited Editions" are included for good measure. It's an impressive package, all things considered.
The Twilight Zone - I finally have all five seasons on Blu-Ray, and it's more than worth your while to pick the sets up. Yes, you can watch the episodes on Netflix, and they look pretty spiffy. The sets are packed to the gills with everything a TZ fanatic like the Cap'n could possibly want to see, hear, or know. I didn't think a series would catapult past Battlestar Galactica's complete set, but The Twilight Zone on Blu-Ray did it in spades.
Blue Velvet - on Blu-Ray, with an hour of long thought lost footage, restored and fancy schmancy-ed by David Lynch.
I couldn't narrow down the Criterion selections, so here's just a sampling of what they kicked our collective asses with this year: Kiss Me Deadly, Three Colors, The Great Dictator, The Killing / Killer's Kiss, Island of Lost Souls, The Music Room, 12 Angry Men, Cul-De-Sac, Blow Out, Carlos, The Phantom Carriage, and Sweet Smell of Success. That's not counting the HD upgrades to Beauty and the Beast, Orpheus, The Naked Kiss, Shock Corridor, Rushmore, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Dazed and Confused, The Double Life of Veronique, Army of Shadows, Le Cercle Rouge, The Battle of Algiers, Robinson Crusoe on Mars, Solaris, Diabolique, Smiles of a Summer Night, or Fanny and Alexander. To name a few.
Special kudos also go to Lionsgate for slowly but surely releasing Miramax films in a way that doesn't suck (*coughEchoBridgecough*), including Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Cop Land, Trainspotting, The Others, Mimic (in a Director's Cut!), Heavenly Creatures, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and Amelie. It's too bad Echo Bridge got From Dusk Till Dawn with all the Children of the Corn and Hellraiser sequels, because unless you want to see what happens when FDtD looks like when crammed onto a disc with both of its sequels and the documentary Full Tilt Boogie, you won't be seeing it on Blu-Ray (unless Criterion gets it... knocks on wood*). Oh sure, it's ten bucks, and that's three dollars more than just From Dusk Till Dawn on Blu-Ray (no, seriously), but it looks like crap. Trust me; someone bought it for me and I looked at all four movies on the disc. From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter probably looks the best of the three of them. Technically they're all watchable quality, but it's a missed opportunity to be damned sure when you see that Lionsgate is releasing HD versions with all of the extras from the DVD versions. Echo Bridge? Not so much.
Finally, I must admit that while nobody else seems to care for them, I was quite impressed in having everything together in the Stanley Kubrick Limited Edition Collection and I also bought the nine disc Star Wars Saga. I watched most of the extras and some of the movies. Guess which ones (okay, one) I haven't put in... Hint: It's EPISODE ONE THE PHANTOM MENACE. I won't be buying the 3D Blu-Ray Set, even if I have a 3D TV at that point. I'm also not going to see The Phantom Menace in 3D. You don't need to believe me because I know that's true.
And I'm out of steam... there were more, but I'll get to them another time.
* This is not as crazy as it sounds - I still have the Miramax DVD set of the Three Colors Trilogy, and Criterion picked up the rights to that...
Showing posts with label Region Free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Region Free. Show all posts
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Monday, October 17, 2011
News and Notes: Horror Edition
Welcome to another edition of News and Notes, where the Cap'n catches up on a few things I've been noticing and felt were worth sharing.
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Far be it from the Cap'n to neglect the fact that October means more horror releases, especially on Blu-Ray, and this year there are some doozies. For example, right now you can buy Basket Case, Frankenhooker, The Frighteners, The Others, The Bad Seed, The Last House on the Left, Torso, Dead Alive, Guillermo Del Toro's director's cut of Mimic, Herschel Gordon Lewis' Blood Trilogy (Blood Feast, Two Thousand Maniacs, and Color Me Blood Red), The Hills Have Eyes, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Maniac Cop, Troll Hunter, The Phantom Carriage, Dark Night of the Scarecrow, and The Ward.
That's right now. If that's not enough to fill up your queue, Attack the Block is coming next week, along with The House by the Cemetery and The Island of Lost Souls. If you're like me and feeling a bit industrious, you can shimmy on over to Amazon.co.uk and order the Nightmare on Elm Street Collection on Blu-Ray instead of waiting on a U.S. release next year. New Line figured it would be enough to leave Freddy fans with the existing first film on BD and a double feature of the best (Dream Warriors) and worst (Freddy's Revenge) Nightmare entries, the United Kingdom gets the whole shebang plus some new extras (including episodes of Freddy's Nightmares) in a Region Free package.
Yes, that's Region Free as in "it will play on your PS3 / Blu-Ray player / etc." And so I'm not sounding like a commercial, in the interest of full disclosure I already ordered one which means I paid what was roughly $55 bucks with currency conversion. It won't even arrive for another week and a half at the soonest, but it's worth the hassle for me. If it's available and the same thing I'm going to see twelve months from now, I'll drop a little more for the privilege of having all the Nightmare flicks in one box again.
I also put a little bit down for Arrow Film's Blu-Ray release of Day of the Dead, the much maligned third entry into Romero's "Dead" series. It's also region free, looks better than the Anchor Bay BD, and has something that no release of Day of the Dead has since VHS - the original audio track. For whatever reason, all of the Anchor Bay DVDs of Day of the Dead had slightly modified tracks that arbitrarily replaced profanity. Arrow Films found the original track and included it on the disc, along with new and old extras, a special effects commentary track (with the "N" and "B" of KNB plus two other crew members) in a really nice box that kicks the old BD all over the road. That I was able to find on the Amazon Marketplace for less than what a comparable set might sell for over here.
I'd considered Arrow's Dawn of the Dead, but the darned thing isn't Region Free, which makes it about as useful as the All the Boys Love Mandy Lane Blu-Ray I bought without reading carefully. Ah well, all the more incentive to seek out a Region Free Blu-Ray player down the line...
Oh, and just so we don't leave out Amazon.ca, they have [Rec], [Rec]2, and Martyrs on Blu-Ray, which has my attention (although not my wallet.... yet). So there are plenty of options out there for a high definition Horror fanatic with an urge to splurge. Which would be me, but currently isn't: of the massive list above, I only have The Phantom Carriage and Troll Hunter. That Frighteners discs is really calling me though - both cuts and everything from that flipper disc special edition!
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In order to make this a proper "News and Notes" and not just a "hey gang, this is what's coming on Blu-Ray" I must stress my disappointment in the walloping that the prequel to The Thing is taking. I had a more than passing interest in seeing the film, but the negative buzz is such that I just can't bring myself to waste $10 for something that disappointing. Damn. Well, there's always Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, and Piranha 3DD when that comes out.
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Far be it from the Cap'n to neglect the fact that October means more horror releases, especially on Blu-Ray, and this year there are some doozies. For example, right now you can buy Basket Case, Frankenhooker, The Frighteners, The Others, The Bad Seed, The Last House on the Left, Torso, Dead Alive, Guillermo Del Toro's director's cut of Mimic, Herschel Gordon Lewis' Blood Trilogy (Blood Feast, Two Thousand Maniacs, and Color Me Blood Red), The Hills Have Eyes, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Maniac Cop, Troll Hunter, The Phantom Carriage, Dark Night of the Scarecrow, and The Ward.
That's right now. If that's not enough to fill up your queue, Attack the Block is coming next week, along with The House by the Cemetery and The Island of Lost Souls. If you're like me and feeling a bit industrious, you can shimmy on over to Amazon.co.uk and order the Nightmare on Elm Street Collection on Blu-Ray instead of waiting on a U.S. release next year. New Line figured it would be enough to leave Freddy fans with the existing first film on BD and a double feature of the best (Dream Warriors) and worst (Freddy's Revenge) Nightmare entries, the United Kingdom gets the whole shebang plus some new extras (including episodes of Freddy's Nightmares) in a Region Free package.
Yes, that's Region Free as in "it will play on your PS3 / Blu-Ray player / etc." And so I'm not sounding like a commercial, in the interest of full disclosure I already ordered one which means I paid what was roughly $55 bucks with currency conversion. It won't even arrive for another week and a half at the soonest, but it's worth the hassle for me. If it's available and the same thing I'm going to see twelve months from now, I'll drop a little more for the privilege of having all the Nightmare flicks in one box again.
I also put a little bit down for Arrow Film's Blu-Ray release of Day of the Dead, the much maligned third entry into Romero's "Dead" series. It's also region free, looks better than the Anchor Bay BD, and has something that no release of Day of the Dead has since VHS - the original audio track. For whatever reason, all of the Anchor Bay DVDs of Day of the Dead had slightly modified tracks that arbitrarily replaced profanity. Arrow Films found the original track and included it on the disc, along with new and old extras, a special effects commentary track (with the "N" and "B" of KNB plus two other crew members) in a really nice box that kicks the old BD all over the road. That I was able to find on the Amazon Marketplace for less than what a comparable set might sell for over here.
I'd considered Arrow's Dawn of the Dead, but the darned thing isn't Region Free, which makes it about as useful as the All the Boys Love Mandy Lane Blu-Ray I bought without reading carefully. Ah well, all the more incentive to seek out a Region Free Blu-Ray player down the line...
Oh, and just so we don't leave out Amazon.ca, they have [Rec], [Rec]2, and Martyrs on Blu-Ray, which has my attention (although not my wallet.... yet). So there are plenty of options out there for a high definition Horror fanatic with an urge to splurge. Which would be me, but currently isn't: of the massive list above, I only have The Phantom Carriage and Troll Hunter. That Frighteners discs is really calling me though - both cuts and everything from that flipper disc special edition!
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In order to make this a proper "News and Notes" and not just a "hey gang, this is what's coming on Blu-Ray" I must stress my disappointment in the walloping that the prequel to The Thing is taking. I had a more than passing interest in seeing the film, but the negative buzz is such that I just can't bring myself to waste $10 for something that disappointing. Damn. Well, there's always Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, and Piranha 3DD when that comes out.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Phantasm II review followup: Region 1 release
I've noticed that a lot of folks have been directed to the Blogorium in search of a proper review of Phantasm II. Odds are you were looking for a review of the newly arrived Region 1 disc (out today), and my review of the Region 2 disc was less than helpful.
Let it be known that the Cap'n took your concerns to heart and decided to check out Universal's release of Phantasm II, and I will be happy to let you know what $14.99 will get you in order to complete the collection.
The first thing you should know is that since Universal released this disc, and not Anchor Bay, you're not getting any extras with the movie. Notice that they dumped it the same day as repackaged editions of Wes Craven and John Carpenter Universal releases (including They Live, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Shocker, Village of the Damned, and The People Under the Stairs). For some reason, if the movie isn't The Thing or one of the Universal Classic Monster movies, it's not going to get much more than the trailer. Phantasm II is no exception.
Accordingly, nothing from the region 2 disc (the commentary, convention footage, or TV spots) are on this disc. However, if you're just looking for Phantasm II itself, you're in pretty good shape. Universal released an anamorphic widescreen transfer (1.85:1) of the movie, and while it's hard to do an apples to apples comparison between a region free player and an upconverted PS3 picture, I didn't notice too many radical differences.
There's some really heavy grain near the beginning, especially when the Tall Man's hearse pulls up to Michael's house, but things settle down and the movie looks pretty good, considering that there was likely no remastering done here. Phantasm II is still perfectly watchable, and I'm not going to complain about having a copy I can show at anybody's house.
Still, I'm not parting ways with my Region 2 disc any time soon. The commentary track with Don Coscarelli, Reggie Bannister, and Angus Scrimm is sorely missed on the Region 1 disc. On the other hand, for most people, this is as good as you're going to get Phantasm II stateside, and at least now you'll have all four films together. The price isn't unreasonable (after all, that's what I, III, and IV cost to buy) and I'm sure you can get it for around $10 online.
I hope that's helpful. As long as you know you're getting what Universal considers to be a "lesser" title, and to not expect much more than the movie, then Phantasm II is worth picking up. If you've never seen it, this is ideally the way for you to watch the film, and cheaper than importing a UK disc.
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When I say Universal's "lesser" titles, I mean in comparison to the comparably packed An American Werewolf in London: Full Moon Edition dvd or Blu Ray. For obvious reasons I picked up the BD and while the image can frequently be "Ghostbusters" level grainy, it does look much better than the older dvd. I haven't dived into the 97 minute documentary about the movie, but I'll let you know when I have.
Universal kinda half-assed it with the Army of Darkness "Screwhead" Edition on Blu-Ray, including a U-Control picture-in-picture that consists of "Production Photos." The only thing that really separates it from the HD-DVD version is the inclusion of a new interview with KNB's Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger that's a variation on "The Men Who Made the Army" featurette from the old Anchor Bay disc. Still, it is in high definition and there is some new information. They were also kind enough to include the trailer and the "Alternate Ending" (but not the Director's Cut or any of the deleted scenes), so you're getting a mixed bag, dvd and BD-wise.
Now that Universal has the rights again, I'm sure there's another Army of Darkness disc looming in the wings, considering that Anchor Bay's Boomstick Edition and the Bootleg Cut are out of print. So unless you just want a nice looking copy of the theatrical cut of Army of Darkness (which is what most people prefer, I realize), you might want to wait and see what's coming in a year or so.
Finally, who would have thought that Child's Play would look so good on Blu Ray? And if that's not enough, even though the BD disc has all of the extras, MGM/Fox kindly included a dvd copy of the Chucky's 20th Birthday Edition so that you can watch that with a regular player. This bucks their trend of putting BD/dvd combos out where the Blu Ray disc has jack shit on it and the dvd has all of the extras (like Walking Tall, The Graduate, and Road House).
Oh, the new poll is up. I think you have until Thursday night.
Let it be known that the Cap'n took your concerns to heart and decided to check out Universal's release of Phantasm II, and I will be happy to let you know what $14.99 will get you in order to complete the collection.
The first thing you should know is that since Universal released this disc, and not Anchor Bay, you're not getting any extras with the movie. Notice that they dumped it the same day as repackaged editions of Wes Craven and John Carpenter Universal releases (including They Live, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Shocker, Village of the Damned, and The People Under the Stairs). For some reason, if the movie isn't The Thing or one of the Universal Classic Monster movies, it's not going to get much more than the trailer. Phantasm II is no exception.
Accordingly, nothing from the region 2 disc (the commentary, convention footage, or TV spots) are on this disc. However, if you're just looking for Phantasm II itself, you're in pretty good shape. Universal released an anamorphic widescreen transfer (1.85:1) of the movie, and while it's hard to do an apples to apples comparison between a region free player and an upconverted PS3 picture, I didn't notice too many radical differences.
There's some really heavy grain near the beginning, especially when the Tall Man's hearse pulls up to Michael's house, but things settle down and the movie looks pretty good, considering that there was likely no remastering done here. Phantasm II is still perfectly watchable, and I'm not going to complain about having a copy I can show at anybody's house.
Still, I'm not parting ways with my Region 2 disc any time soon. The commentary track with Don Coscarelli, Reggie Bannister, and Angus Scrimm is sorely missed on the Region 1 disc. On the other hand, for most people, this is as good as you're going to get Phantasm II stateside, and at least now you'll have all four films together. The price isn't unreasonable (after all, that's what I, III, and IV cost to buy) and I'm sure you can get it for around $10 online.
I hope that's helpful. As long as you know you're getting what Universal considers to be a "lesser" title, and to not expect much more than the movie, then Phantasm II is worth picking up. If you've never seen it, this is ideally the way for you to watch the film, and cheaper than importing a UK disc.
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When I say Universal's "lesser" titles, I mean in comparison to the comparably packed An American Werewolf in London: Full Moon Edition dvd or Blu Ray. For obvious reasons I picked up the BD and while the image can frequently be "Ghostbusters" level grainy, it does look much better than the older dvd. I haven't dived into the 97 minute documentary about the movie, but I'll let you know when I have.
Universal kinda half-assed it with the Army of Darkness "Screwhead" Edition on Blu-Ray, including a U-Control picture-in-picture that consists of "Production Photos." The only thing that really separates it from the HD-DVD version is the inclusion of a new interview with KNB's Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger that's a variation on "The Men Who Made the Army" featurette from the old Anchor Bay disc. Still, it is in high definition and there is some new information. They were also kind enough to include the trailer and the "Alternate Ending" (but not the Director's Cut or any of the deleted scenes), so you're getting a mixed bag, dvd and BD-wise.
Now that Universal has the rights again, I'm sure there's another Army of Darkness disc looming in the wings, considering that Anchor Bay's Boomstick Edition and the Bootleg Cut are out of print. So unless you just want a nice looking copy of the theatrical cut of Army of Darkness (which is what most people prefer, I realize), you might want to wait and see what's coming in a year or so.
Finally, who would have thought that Child's Play would look so good on Blu Ray? And if that's not enough, even though the BD disc has all of the extras, MGM/Fox kindly included a dvd copy of the Chucky's 20th Birthday Edition so that you can watch that with a regular player. This bucks their trend of putting BD/dvd combos out where the Blu Ray disc has jack shit on it and the dvd has all of the extras (like Walking Tall, The Graduate, and Road House).
Oh, the new poll is up. I think you have until Thursday night.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Quick Review: Phantasm II (and part of III)
While the Cap'n was out of town last weekend, Mr. Veal was kind enough to give me a region free dvd player, which has been all kinds of fun. I watched the first episode of Life on Mars (the UK version, which looks to be much better), tried to suss out the German commentary of Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, and will eventually look at the extras on a French copy of Lost Highway.
The most exciting viewing experience, however, had to be Phantasm II. It's never been available on dvd in the United States because of conflicting rights (Anchor Bay owns I, III, and IV while Universal owns II), and I've never actually seen it. For those of you who didn't know, I'm a big fan of the series, and for a long time I've had to do without the second chapter and sort of work around its absence. Since every Phantasm film picks up where the last one left off, you can kinda piece together how I gets to III from the dvds, but it was nice to finally bridge the gap.
Phantasm II is an improvement on the first film in every way but one (I'll get to that in a moment). Don Coscarelli is working with a major studio, so he has a bigger budget, more time to set up shots, and can set up more elaborate camera work. This is going to sound snarky, but the easiest way you can tell the budget is bigger is there are two explosions in the first fifteen minutes, and another one an hour in.
Unfortunately for Reg (Reggie Bannister), the first two are houses he owns and the third one is his car. The guy just can't get a break when you couple this with the beginning of his "coitus interruptus" that become a running joke through III and IV. Phantasm II does explain how Reg gets his 4-barreled shotgun, even if there's a puzzling plot hole between the second and third movie.
The gore is also pretty gnarly in Phantasm II: not only do the balls do more, but there's some pretty nasty prosthetics work, including a Freddy Krueger-esque Tall Man puppet that comes out of someone's back. The dwarves look cooler and the Tall Man's death scene (by hydrochloric acid) is also impressive.
In fact, most of the film is more impressive. Phantasm suffered from some logic gaps because of footage that was never shot or couldn't be used, but Coscarelli rectifies this by keeping Phantasm II concise and coherent throughout, even during the dream sequences. Where it lacks the dreamlike imagery of its predecessor and sequels, Phantasm II makes up for it by moving forward the story of Michael, Reg, and the Tall Man in interesting and expanding ways.
The sense of scope expands in the Tall Man's plot to steal the dead, paving a way for the next two movies, even if they can't quite convey the post-apocalyptic nature. I love the crane shot of Reg and Michael walking through a graveyard with nothing but empty plots, and there are some nice editing tricks to tie Elizabeth (Paula Irvine)'s story into Michael's.
The only problem I have with Phantasm II is a critical one: Michael isn't Michael. Instead of casting Michael Baldwin to reprise his role from the original, Universal forced Coscarelli to cast James LeGros in the lead, along with insisting that Paula Irvine and Samantha Phillips were added as "love interests." While Elizabeth and Alchemy don't really detract from the movie, James LeGros sticks out like a sore thumb. He looks like any generic "male lead" shoehorned into a genre film, and while LeGros doesn't do anything wrong per se, his presence is distracting in the scope of all four films.
Because I had remembered seeing the four barreled shotgun in Phantasm III (and Reg's car), I was a little surprised to see the car explode and the gun be tossed aside before part II ended. There's absolutely no explanation at the beginning of III why Michael has the shotgun or how Reg gets the exact same car back, but then again maybe I'm asking too much of the Phantasm series. They are both iconic parts of the series, after all...
All things considered, I still enjoyed Phantasm II quite a bit. While there's at least one nice reference to Sam Raimi, I wonder how many people caught the "chainsaw battle" reference to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2. I laughed anyway. I've heard that Universal is finally releasing Phantasm II stateside (the one I watched was from the UK) so everyone else can watch the movie soon. I have no idea if the disc will have the same extras my copy has (they resemble the other Anchor Bay releases with a commentary track, making of, a trailer, and photo gallery) but it would be nice to have a copy that played anywhere. Keep an eye out.
The most exciting viewing experience, however, had to be Phantasm II. It's never been available on dvd in the United States because of conflicting rights (Anchor Bay owns I, III, and IV while Universal owns II), and I've never actually seen it. For those of you who didn't know, I'm a big fan of the series, and for a long time I've had to do without the second chapter and sort of work around its absence. Since every Phantasm film picks up where the last one left off, you can kinda piece together how I gets to III from the dvds, but it was nice to finally bridge the gap.
Phantasm II is an improvement on the first film in every way but one (I'll get to that in a moment). Don Coscarelli is working with a major studio, so he has a bigger budget, more time to set up shots, and can set up more elaborate camera work. This is going to sound snarky, but the easiest way you can tell the budget is bigger is there are two explosions in the first fifteen minutes, and another one an hour in.
Unfortunately for Reg (Reggie Bannister), the first two are houses he owns and the third one is his car. The guy just can't get a break when you couple this with the beginning of his "coitus interruptus" that become a running joke through III and IV. Phantasm II does explain how Reg gets his 4-barreled shotgun, even if there's a puzzling plot hole between the second and third movie.
The gore is also pretty gnarly in Phantasm II: not only do the balls do more, but there's some pretty nasty prosthetics work, including a Freddy Krueger-esque Tall Man puppet that comes out of someone's back. The dwarves look cooler and the Tall Man's death scene (by hydrochloric acid) is also impressive.
In fact, most of the film is more impressive. Phantasm suffered from some logic gaps because of footage that was never shot or couldn't be used, but Coscarelli rectifies this by keeping Phantasm II concise and coherent throughout, even during the dream sequences. Where it lacks the dreamlike imagery of its predecessor and sequels, Phantasm II makes up for it by moving forward the story of Michael, Reg, and the Tall Man in interesting and expanding ways.
The sense of scope expands in the Tall Man's plot to steal the dead, paving a way for the next two movies, even if they can't quite convey the post-apocalyptic nature. I love the crane shot of Reg and Michael walking through a graveyard with nothing but empty plots, and there are some nice editing tricks to tie Elizabeth (Paula Irvine)'s story into Michael's.
The only problem I have with Phantasm II is a critical one: Michael isn't Michael. Instead of casting Michael Baldwin to reprise his role from the original, Universal forced Coscarelli to cast James LeGros in the lead, along with insisting that Paula Irvine and Samantha Phillips were added as "love interests." While Elizabeth and Alchemy don't really detract from the movie, James LeGros sticks out like a sore thumb. He looks like any generic "male lead" shoehorned into a genre film, and while LeGros doesn't do anything wrong per se, his presence is distracting in the scope of all four films.
Because I had remembered seeing the four barreled shotgun in Phantasm III (and Reg's car), I was a little surprised to see the car explode and the gun be tossed aside before part II ended. There's absolutely no explanation at the beginning of III why Michael has the shotgun or how Reg gets the exact same car back, but then again maybe I'm asking too much of the Phantasm series. They are both iconic parts of the series, after all...
All things considered, I still enjoyed Phantasm II quite a bit. While there's at least one nice reference to Sam Raimi, I wonder how many people caught the "chainsaw battle" reference to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2. I laughed anyway. I've heard that Universal is finally releasing Phantasm II stateside (the one I watched was from the UK) so everyone else can watch the movie soon. I have no idea if the disc will have the same extras my copy has (they resemble the other Anchor Bay releases with a commentary track, making of, a trailer, and photo gallery) but it would be nice to have a copy that played anywhere. Keep an eye out.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Cap'n Snarky's House of Gripes
Today's Blogorium Post is Brought to You By:
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It appears that Neil was not the only person promised a role in Spider-Man 4 for his enthusiastic endorsement of Drag Me to Hell; I can always count on the internet to shill for this movie, but at least one other person has clearly been given a supporting role in the fourth Spidey film. Good for you guys.
Lucky for the Cap'n, the true judge of how good a film is (other than the MTV Movie Awards), the almighty Box Office is listing Drag Me to Hell at 28 million after two weeks. It's doing slightly better than Dance Flick and we all know that's a winner, right? The Box Office never lies, which means that Terminator: Salvation, a clearly inferior film, is still better than Drag Me to Hell. Better box office means better movie. I mean, that's just common sense, right*?
Now if you'll excuse me, I clearly need to watch Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian because it is also superior to Drag Me to Hell according to how much money it made. I'm also derelict in my Titanic watching (having never seen it) as it is clearly the BEST MOVIE EVER MADE.
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Speaking of the "feeling like I'm not part of the club but also not sure I want to be", I feel strange about having no compulsion whatsoever to see The Hangover. It's not that anything looks wrong with it or I intensely dislike someone in the cast or that the Cap'n is just taking a haughty "I'm too good for this movie" attitude; I just don't feel anything when I see ads for it. I neither feel compelled to see or to avoid it. I feel no way whatsoever about the movie and accordingly am not all the interested in watching it.
Maybe if I cared more about my newly earned "heretical" status - for turning down Sam Raimi horror and debauchery comedy with Zach Galifianakis - I would feel a deep sense of shame. Instead, I'm going to stay focused on not getting the internet cut off. If it does go down, you can say adios to the Blogorium for a while if not longer and I can fail an online class. Yee-ha!
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Aside from La Haine, I'll have to admit I didn't watch many movies this past weekend or even last week. I did burn through the first disc of Weeds: Season 4 courtesy of Netflix but that's about it. While I haven't mentioned it in nearly two weeks (this must be some kind of record for me), Summer Fest is still in the cards, although it won't be at the AOS because somebody's landlord is REALLY excited about an open-ended notice of "moving out" and is expecting the Cap'n to be out by the end of the month, no discussion necessary.
So even if we have to have it in someone's yard because I can afford to live somewhere else, there will be a Summer Fest, and the lineup looks very good. Since I last wrote about it, several films have appeard out of the woodwork and will probably join in. I'm reasonably confident there will be at least two 3-D films and at least one VCR Classic. More details when I'm less, well, whatever it is I am right now.
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If (and it's a pretty big IF right now) I ever get a refund check and pay off many people who are hounding me for money, I have been looking into Region Free players on Ebay, where they seem to be pretty cheap. This would open up the possibility of having a Phantasm marathon sometime as we could actually watch the copy of Phantasm II I have. The series runs (roughly) sequentially, so there's no point in watching 1, 3, and 4 without part 2.
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To sum it up: Drag Me to Hell - clearly not good but I'll be looking for Kraven the Hunter and Young Vulture in Spider-Man 4, I'll pass on a Hangover, Summer Fest - under the stars if need be, and Region Free if not house-free.
* The question is obviously rhetorical and your pithy complaints to the contrary are not necessary.
---
It appears that Neil was not the only person promised a role in Spider-Man 4 for his enthusiastic endorsement of Drag Me to Hell; I can always count on the internet to shill for this movie, but at least one other person has clearly been given a supporting role in the fourth Spidey film. Good for you guys.
Lucky for the Cap'n, the true judge of how good a film is (other than the MTV Movie Awards), the almighty Box Office is listing Drag Me to Hell at 28 million after two weeks. It's doing slightly better than Dance Flick and we all know that's a winner, right? The Box Office never lies, which means that Terminator: Salvation, a clearly inferior film, is still better than Drag Me to Hell. Better box office means better movie. I mean, that's just common sense, right*?
Now if you'll excuse me, I clearly need to watch Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian because it is also superior to Drag Me to Hell according to how much money it made. I'm also derelict in my Titanic watching (having never seen it) as it is clearly the BEST MOVIE EVER MADE.
---
Speaking of the "feeling like I'm not part of the club but also not sure I want to be", I feel strange about having no compulsion whatsoever to see The Hangover. It's not that anything looks wrong with it or I intensely dislike someone in the cast or that the Cap'n is just taking a haughty "I'm too good for this movie" attitude; I just don't feel anything when I see ads for it. I neither feel compelled to see or to avoid it. I feel no way whatsoever about the movie and accordingly am not all the interested in watching it.
Maybe if I cared more about my newly earned "heretical" status - for turning down Sam Raimi horror and debauchery comedy with Zach Galifianakis - I would feel a deep sense of shame. Instead, I'm going to stay focused on not getting the internet cut off. If it does go down, you can say adios to the Blogorium for a while if not longer and I can fail an online class. Yee-ha!
---
Aside from La Haine, I'll have to admit I didn't watch many movies this past weekend or even last week. I did burn through the first disc of Weeds: Season 4 courtesy of Netflix but that's about it. While I haven't mentioned it in nearly two weeks (this must be some kind of record for me), Summer Fest is still in the cards, although it won't be at the AOS because somebody's landlord is REALLY excited about an open-ended notice of "moving out" and is expecting the Cap'n to be out by the end of the month, no discussion necessary.
So even if we have to have it in someone's yard because I can afford to live somewhere else, there will be a Summer Fest, and the lineup looks very good. Since I last wrote about it, several films have appeard out of the woodwork and will probably join in. I'm reasonably confident there will be at least two 3-D films and at least one VCR Classic. More details when I'm less, well, whatever it is I am right now.
---
If (and it's a pretty big IF right now) I ever get a refund check and pay off many people who are hounding me for money, I have been looking into Region Free players on Ebay, where they seem to be pretty cheap. This would open up the possibility of having a Phantasm marathon sometime as we could actually watch the copy of Phantasm II I have. The series runs (roughly) sequentially, so there's no point in watching 1, 3, and 4 without part 2.
---
To sum it up: Drag Me to Hell - clearly not good but I'll be looking for Kraven the Hunter and Young Vulture in Spider-Man 4, I'll pass on a Hangover, Summer Fest - under the stars if need be, and Region Free if not house-free.
* The question is obviously rhetorical and your pithy complaints to the contrary are not necessary.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Buyer's Choice: Region Ambiguity
After 12 Monkeys finally arrived this afternoon*, I realized the Cap'n never followed up on the whole "discs from elsewhere" story. Since I actually did try a few of them out, I can dish a little bit.
I ended up trying out 12 Monkeys from Germany, plus Fido and Slither from Canada. The prices were comparable, if maybe a little higher, than buying these things new, and I've had time to watch or sample all three. So let's take a look and suss out whether this is a great thing or a "buyer beware" situation.
12 Monkeys - of the three, this one poses the most "adjusting" problems. The film plays immediately, in German and (for some reason) with German subtitles turned on. You can change this easily by pressing the "audio" and "subtitles" buttons, or if you want to learn a little German, hit the menu button and work out which one is which. It's not actually that hard.
The movie itself looks great. I saw 12 Monkeys at the Imperial when it first ran, and while it's been thirteen years, this is probably the closest I've seen the film look to that experience. Improved clarity is quite handy with a film like 12 Monkeys; as anyone who watched "The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of 12 Monkeys" can attest, Terry Gilliam is big on detail in his films. Being able to make out the faces of the "scientists" interrogating Cole or what's written on the chalkboards during his "interview" at the asylum were marked changes from previous dvd versions. I was surprised at the level of detail both in the underground section and when Cole goes on his "expedition", or little things like the fibers on his robe in the madhouse.
So the movie looks great, it doesn't take much to switch simple language and subtitle shifts (or you can learn German! Plus!), so what are the downsides? For one, don't expect "The Hamster Factor" or the commentary track from the dvd, because you won't get them. This is just the movie, which in and of itself is really what you're looking for, but supplement junkies might grumble a bit and hope Universal doesn't chop up "Hamster" into U-Control when it comes out stateside.
Honestly, the big complaint I had was how long it took to get here. It took them three weeks to process the order and they finally shipped it last Monday. The disc arrived today, but this is the trade-off I suppose. Otherwise, if you're looking for 12 Monkeys in High Def and don't mind no extras, it's up to you if the price is right.
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Slither - a movie from the first Horror Fest that I'm rather fond of. Unlike 12 Monkeys, it does have everything on the dvd included, the Canadian rate exchange is roughly the same as prices here, and the disc itself is well put together. So where's the catch?
Cranford, you're perfectly welcome to say "I told you so", but the picture quality is not a radical leap from the dvd. Don't get me wrong: when I did the "play one scene from the BD and the DVD" I could tell the difference, but this isn't going to be the disc you pull out to show off your fancy tv. This may have more to do with the budget of the film or how it was shot, but Slither tends to go on the "soft" side in some scenes and doesn't exactly leap off the screen.
On the other hand, it does take away some of the smudginess I saw on the dvd, and I'm not regretting the upgrade. It's still Slither, and it looks as good and probably a little better. It's certainly a toss up and hinges entirely on your setup and preferences for upconverted vs BD.
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Fido - here's where things get a bit problematic. If there's any one disc where I wish I hadn't dropped the money, it'd be Fido. I still love the movie and there are upsides to this disc, the mastering of the disc is just awful.
To tease that out a little bit, I'll say that every now and then you'll see a dvd where the movie is going along pretty well and then you see something that just pulls you right out of the movie. Sometimes it's jagged edges on the screen or "combing" (horizontal lines that cut across the picture**, or sometimes the color bleeds or you get "halos" around characters.
Fido has... well I guess it might be what's called "ghosting". A character will be walking (usually in brightly lit scenes) and there's this digital blob behind the motion that lingers all the way through the scene. It's most evident when Timmy takes Fido to the park early in the film, when any and everything moving leaves this temporary smudge while it's onscreen. It's really distracting and makes it almost impossible to watch the movie.
That's a shame, because when that's not happening, the movie looks much better than it did on dvd. At times I was quite surprised how much detail you could make out on the zombies and the production design. The makeup job on Billy Connolly shines in brightly lit scenes, and since he's mostly stationary you can enjoy him without those infuriating smudges.
Still, this is a "Buyer Beware", and if Lionsgate doesn't address this, then there's no point buying it when the Blu Ray comes out here either. This kind of sloppy encoding to disc is inexcusable, especially with the added space of Blu Ray discs. Watch the movie, skip the BD.
---
And there you have it: three cases of discs from outside the borders, each of which have ups and downs (some more than others). It was an interesting experiment but I think that before making any more investments like these I'll read as many reviews as humanly possible. That way I can avoid problems like Fido happening again.
To their credit, Fido and Slither arrived together less than a week after I ordered them. 12 Monkeys took a lot longer, but it was worth the wait in my opinion.
Oh well, live and learn. Now I'm off to start (and maybe finish) Punisher: War Zone. Any movie that inspires a comparison to The Story of Ricky because of violent content is a movie for me. Peace.
* I bought it shortly after the blog mentioning the Region loophole for Blu Rays.
** This was a BIG problem when Monty Python's Meaning of Life came out on dvd. I went through two returns of the disc before giving up and getting a refund until Universal fixed the mastering.
I ended up trying out 12 Monkeys from Germany, plus Fido and Slither from Canada. The prices were comparable, if maybe a little higher, than buying these things new, and I've had time to watch or sample all three. So let's take a look and suss out whether this is a great thing or a "buyer beware" situation.
12 Monkeys - of the three, this one poses the most "adjusting" problems. The film plays immediately, in German and (for some reason) with German subtitles turned on. You can change this easily by pressing the "audio" and "subtitles" buttons, or if you want to learn a little German, hit the menu button and work out which one is which. It's not actually that hard.
The movie itself looks great. I saw 12 Monkeys at the Imperial when it first ran, and while it's been thirteen years, this is probably the closest I've seen the film look to that experience. Improved clarity is quite handy with a film like 12 Monkeys; as anyone who watched "The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of 12 Monkeys" can attest, Terry Gilliam is big on detail in his films. Being able to make out the faces of the "scientists" interrogating Cole or what's written on the chalkboards during his "interview" at the asylum were marked changes from previous dvd versions. I was surprised at the level of detail both in the underground section and when Cole goes on his "expedition", or little things like the fibers on his robe in the madhouse.
So the movie looks great, it doesn't take much to switch simple language and subtitle shifts (or you can learn German! Plus!), so what are the downsides? For one, don't expect "The Hamster Factor" or the commentary track from the dvd, because you won't get them. This is just the movie, which in and of itself is really what you're looking for, but supplement junkies might grumble a bit and hope Universal doesn't chop up "Hamster" into U-Control when it comes out stateside.
Honestly, the big complaint I had was how long it took to get here. It took them three weeks to process the order and they finally shipped it last Monday. The disc arrived today, but this is the trade-off I suppose. Otherwise, if you're looking for 12 Monkeys in High Def and don't mind no extras, it's up to you if the price is right.
---
Slither - a movie from the first Horror Fest that I'm rather fond of. Unlike 12 Monkeys, it does have everything on the dvd included, the Canadian rate exchange is roughly the same as prices here, and the disc itself is well put together. So where's the catch?
Cranford, you're perfectly welcome to say "I told you so", but the picture quality is not a radical leap from the dvd. Don't get me wrong: when I did the "play one scene from the BD and the DVD" I could tell the difference, but this isn't going to be the disc you pull out to show off your fancy tv. This may have more to do with the budget of the film or how it was shot, but Slither tends to go on the "soft" side in some scenes and doesn't exactly leap off the screen.
On the other hand, it does take away some of the smudginess I saw on the dvd, and I'm not regretting the upgrade. It's still Slither, and it looks as good and probably a little better. It's certainly a toss up and hinges entirely on your setup and preferences for upconverted vs BD.
---
Fido - here's where things get a bit problematic. If there's any one disc where I wish I hadn't dropped the money, it'd be Fido. I still love the movie and there are upsides to this disc, the mastering of the disc is just awful.
To tease that out a little bit, I'll say that every now and then you'll see a dvd where the movie is going along pretty well and then you see something that just pulls you right out of the movie. Sometimes it's jagged edges on the screen or "combing" (horizontal lines that cut across the picture**, or sometimes the color bleeds or you get "halos" around characters.
Fido has... well I guess it might be what's called "ghosting". A character will be walking (usually in brightly lit scenes) and there's this digital blob behind the motion that lingers all the way through the scene. It's most evident when Timmy takes Fido to the park early in the film, when any and everything moving leaves this temporary smudge while it's onscreen. It's really distracting and makes it almost impossible to watch the movie.
That's a shame, because when that's not happening, the movie looks much better than it did on dvd. At times I was quite surprised how much detail you could make out on the zombies and the production design. The makeup job on Billy Connolly shines in brightly lit scenes, and since he's mostly stationary you can enjoy him without those infuriating smudges.
Still, this is a "Buyer Beware", and if Lionsgate doesn't address this, then there's no point buying it when the Blu Ray comes out here either. This kind of sloppy encoding to disc is inexcusable, especially with the added space of Blu Ray discs. Watch the movie, skip the BD.
---
And there you have it: three cases of discs from outside the borders, each of which have ups and downs (some more than others). It was an interesting experiment but I think that before making any more investments like these I'll read as many reviews as humanly possible. That way I can avoid problems like Fido happening again.
To their credit, Fido and Slither arrived together less than a week after I ordered them. 12 Monkeys took a lot longer, but it was worth the wait in my opinion.
Oh well, live and learn. Now I'm off to start (and maybe finish) Punisher: War Zone. Any movie that inspires a comparison to The Story of Ricky because of violent content is a movie for me. Peace.
* I bought it shortly after the blog mentioning the Region loophole for Blu Rays.
** This was a BIG problem when Monty Python's Meaning of Life came out on dvd. I went through two returns of the disc before giving up and getting a refund until Universal fixed the mastering.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Warning: Some Blu-Ray Talk Ahead (HD-phobes need not apply)
The Cap'n has always wanted to dive into the "Region Free Player" world, but between buying yet another dvd player (not counting the PS3 or my computer, I already have three) and the price of importing dvds / monitoring the PAL vs NTSC headaches, I never did. The farthest I ever got was buying some Canadian-only editions of dvds: Ginger Snaps is actually widescreen and has extra features up north, and eXistenZ gives a Criterion-like treatment to a largely overlooked Cronenberg film*.
It can be a bummer, because studios regularly put out films in other markets or other editions the U.S. will never see. Not only can you get Battle Royale by itself, decked out with a decent picture (technically speaking, you can't get it in the US officially), but Japan has a four-disc edition of Grindhouse. In addition to the whole movie (as seen in theatres), you get both "extended" cuts, and an extra disc that we may never see here in the states. Of course, you'll pay for it if you really want it.
Enter Blu-Ray, where the territory is a little more murky. Instead of Regions One (US and Canada), Two (UK and Australia), Three (Uh... Russia? India? I don't know), and Four (Japan), Blu-Ray has regions A and B so far.
Region A discs work in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, so anything coming out in Germany, France, England, or Spain will play over here. Even if it's PAL, because the films themselves tend to be mastered NTSC. The extras might be dodgy, but it's a way to see films the U.S. is dragging their feet on.
For example, while digging through Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.ca, I found the following movies are already available: In Bruges, The Machinst, Taken, Fido, Slither, A Nightmare on Elm Street, the Batman films of Burton and Schumacer, Danny the Dog (Unleashed), Downfall, Freddy vs. Jason, Escape from New York, Friday the 13th parts 2 and 3, Sin City, Pulp Fiction, From Dusk Til Dawn, Amelie, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and 12 Monkeys.
Presently, I could order any of them and they'd play right away on my PS3. Since they're imports, you have minor headaches like switching audio tracks or subtitles, but the reviews point to otherwise spiffy discs. Some of the Canadian ones are barebones (A Nightmare on Elm Street, From Dusk Til Dawn), but personally I'm interested in Slither. Fido too, and possibly 12 Monkeys.
Considering the prices of BD's in stores right now, the "import" discs are comparable in price and it's now possible to watch High Def movies on your own pace, not the studios'. Actually, if my conversion tables are correct, the Canadian discs might even be cheaper. Sure, eventually Universal will get around to releasing Slither. The question is: what Slither will we get?
What bugs me about Universal is that they'll take away most of the extras (e.g., King Kong, The Thing) and incorporate them into their "U-Control". I happen to like "The Thing: Fear Takes Shape" as a documentary, so having it chopped up and playing during the movie is cool, but it's not the same. I can easily see them doing the same with Slither, and if I have the option of not doing that, I'll take it.
Is the Cap'n vicariously living through BD's in lieu of diving into the actual world of "Region Free"? Probably. The flexibility of next-gen discs does make enjoying movies from across the regions possible. When the incentive to do this starts dropping, don't think these "Region A's" won't vanish. In the meantime, I say dig in!
---
That's it. Sorry. No "b"-plot today. I was writing a paper last night and slowly watching Brides of Dracula from Hammer. It's fun, even without Christopher Lee**.
* I also bought a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to legitimately complete the series. It's the only way you can get the film with its actual title in a Region One format.
** By Brides of Dracula the series has established that Dracula himself is dead and now it's up to his "descendants" (understood as people he bit) to pass on vampirism.
It can be a bummer, because studios regularly put out films in other markets or other editions the U.S. will never see. Not only can you get Battle Royale by itself, decked out with a decent picture (technically speaking, you can't get it in the US officially), but Japan has a four-disc edition of Grindhouse. In addition to the whole movie (as seen in theatres), you get both "extended" cuts, and an extra disc that we may never see here in the states. Of course, you'll pay for it if you really want it.
Enter Blu-Ray, where the territory is a little more murky. Instead of Regions One (US and Canada), Two (UK and Australia), Three (Uh... Russia? India? I don't know), and Four (Japan), Blu-Ray has regions A and B so far.
Region A discs work in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, so anything coming out in Germany, France, England, or Spain will play over here. Even if it's PAL, because the films themselves tend to be mastered NTSC. The extras might be dodgy, but it's a way to see films the U.S. is dragging their feet on.
For example, while digging through Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.ca, I found the following movies are already available: In Bruges, The Machinst, Taken, Fido, Slither, A Nightmare on Elm Street, the Batman films of Burton and Schumacer, Danny the Dog (Unleashed), Downfall, Freddy vs. Jason, Escape from New York, Friday the 13th parts 2 and 3, Sin City, Pulp Fiction, From Dusk Til Dawn, Amelie, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and 12 Monkeys.
Presently, I could order any of them and they'd play right away on my PS3. Since they're imports, you have minor headaches like switching audio tracks or subtitles, but the reviews point to otherwise spiffy discs. Some of the Canadian ones are barebones (A Nightmare on Elm Street, From Dusk Til Dawn), but personally I'm interested in Slither. Fido too, and possibly 12 Monkeys.
Considering the prices of BD's in stores right now, the "import" discs are comparable in price and it's now possible to watch High Def movies on your own pace, not the studios'. Actually, if my conversion tables are correct, the Canadian discs might even be cheaper. Sure, eventually Universal will get around to releasing Slither. The question is: what Slither will we get?
What bugs me about Universal is that they'll take away most of the extras (e.g., King Kong, The Thing) and incorporate them into their "U-Control". I happen to like "The Thing: Fear Takes Shape" as a documentary, so having it chopped up and playing during the movie is cool, but it's not the same. I can easily see them doing the same with Slither, and if I have the option of not doing that, I'll take it.
Is the Cap'n vicariously living through BD's in lieu of diving into the actual world of "Region Free"? Probably. The flexibility of next-gen discs does make enjoying movies from across the regions possible. When the incentive to do this starts dropping, don't think these "Region A's" won't vanish. In the meantime, I say dig in!
---
That's it. Sorry. No "b"-plot today. I was writing a paper last night and slowly watching Brides of Dracula from Hammer. It's fun, even without Christopher Lee**.
* I also bought a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to legitimately complete the series. It's the only way you can get the film with its actual title in a Region One format.
** By Brides of Dracula the series has established that Dracula himself is dead and now it's up to his "descendants" (understood as people he bit) to pass on vampirism.
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