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Recent acquisitions

5:06 PM / Blu-ray / DVD / No Comments

My post-birthday acquisitions, because I'm too lazy these days to do individual posts for all of them.

Sayonara BD & DVD section

4:55 PM / Blu-ray / DVD / Web / 7 Comments

As part of my ongoing efforts to streamline this site and give me a few less lists to keep up to date (see my removal of the film diary back in May), I've decided to junk the "in-house" BD & DVD section and simply have that page redirect to my DVD Profiler page from now on. Their site isn't as purrty as mine, but it's much less of a hassle for me to update, and it contains more information on each disc, including bonus features, audio and video formats, and even (if you're in the mood for a giggle) parental advisory information.

Please note that the DVD Profiler page doesn't show discs that I've since sold or given away, so a number will have disappeared.

BDs and DVDs I bought or received in December 2011

11:59 PM / Blu-ray / DVD / No Comments

• Thursday, December 1, 2011: SUPER 8 (BD/DVD/Digital Copy, Region ABC, USA)
• Saturday, December 17, 2011: WINNIE THE POOH (BD/DVD/Digital Copy, Region ABC, USA)
• Tuesday, December 20, 2011: IN BRUGES (BD, Region ABC, UK) - Christmas present
• Friday, December 23, 2011: ASTERIX CONQUERS AMERICA (BD, Region ABC, Itlay)
• Sunday, December 25, 2011: KILL LIST (BD/DVD combo, Region B/2, UK) - Christmas present
• Sunday, December 25, 2011: A LONELY PLACE TO DIE (BD, Region ABC, UK) - Christmas present
• Sunday, December 25, 2011: JURASSIC PARK: ULTIMATE TRILOGY (BD/Digital Copy combo, Region ABC, UK) - Christmas present
• Sunday, December 25, 2011: LOONEY TUNES PLATINUM COLLECTION: VOLUME ONE (BD, Region ABC, USA) - Christmas present
• Sunday, December 25, 2011: THE SPAGHETTI WESTERN TRILOGY (BD, Region AB, UK) - Christmas present
• Thursday, December 29, 2011: THE SKIN I LIVE IN (BD, Region B, UK)

#1110: Kill List

12:37 PM / Blu-ray / DVD / 3 Comments

(BD/DVD combo, Studio Canal, Region B/2, UK)

BDs and DVDs I bought or received in November 2011

9:59 PM / Blu-ray / DVD / No Comments

• Wednesday, November 2, 2011: TOM & JERRY GOLDEN COLLECTION VOLUME 1 (BD, Region ABC, USA)
• Thursday, November 3, 2011: THE WOMAN (BD, Region ABC, UK)
• Thursday, November 3, 2011: THE CONVERSATION (BD, Region B, UK)
• Saturday, November 12, 2011: THREE COLORS (BD, Region A, USA)
• Friday, November 18, 2011: PORTIER DE NUIT (BD, Region ABC, France)
• Friday, November 18, 2011: THE KILLING: COMPLETE SEASON ONE (DVD, Region 2, UK)
• Thursday, November 24, 2011: CARS 2 (BD, Region ABC, UK)
• Saturday, November 26, 2011: PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE (BD, Region ABC, France)
• Monday, November 28, 2011: PANIC BUTTON (BD, Region ABC, UK) (gift)
• Monday, November 28, 2011: RARE EXPORTS (BD, Region ABC, UK) (gift)

#1101: The Killing: Complete Season One

10:13 PM / DVD / 1 Comment

(DVD, Arrow Films, Region 2, UK)

I bought a DVD!

In my defence THE KILLING, the second season of which is currently airing on BBC Four in the UK, is an excellent show and alas not available on BD. Incidentally, this is the original Danish version and not the American remake, which I haven't bothered with.

BDs and DVDs I bought or received in October 2011

11:59 PM / Blu-ray / DVD / No Comments

• Thursday, October 13, 2011: THE SECRET OF NIMH (BD, Region ABC, USA)
• Monday, October 24, 2011: WAKING THE DEAD: THE COMPLETE SERIES NINE (DVD, Region 2, UK)

#1095: Waking the Dead: The Complete Series Nine

8:51 PM / DVD / No Comments

(DVD, 2 Entertain, Region 2, UK)

Speaking of series that recently came to an end...

It's the only standard definition DVD I've bought this year, by the way.

Image comparison: Szamanka

6:40 PM / DVD / 1 Comment

Apologies for the tardiness of this comparison, but SZAMANKA was unfortunately plagued by supply issues and I wanted to wait until more people had got their hands on a copy before posting this.

[Continue reading...]

BDs and DVDs I bought or received in November 2010

11:38 PM / Blu-ray / DVD / No Comments

• Monday, November 8, 2010: TÉNÈBRES (BD, Region ABC, France)
• Monday, November 8, 2010: GIALLO (BD, Region B, Italy)
• Wednesday, November 17, 2010: ASTÉRIX ET LA SURPRISE DE CÉSAR (BD, Region ABC, France)
• Wednesday, November 17, 2010: ASTÉRIX CHEZ LES BRETONS (BD, Region ABC, France)
• Wednesday, November 17, 2010: LE COUP DU MENHIR (BD, Region ABC, France)
• Thursday, November 18, 2010: VIDEO NASTIES: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE (DVD, Region 0, UK)
• Saturday, November 20, 2010: WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY (DVD, Region 1, USA)
• Wednesday, November 24, 2010: FANTASIA / FANTASIA 2000 (BD, Region A, USA)
• Wednesday, November 24, 2010: MICMACS (BD, Region B, UK)
• Saturday, November 27, 2010: VIDEODROME (BD, Region A, USA)
• Tuesday, November 30, 2010: SPLICE (BD, Region B, UK)

Just arrived...

6:27 PM / DVD / 4 Comments

#1012: WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY (DVD, Buena Vista, Region 1, USA)

A fascinating documentary about the Disney studio from the mid-80s to mid-90s - i.e. just before and during the so-called "second golden age" of Disney animation - consisting entirely of archival footage and voice-over commentary from the people who experienced it first-hand. With Trudie Styler's THE SWEATBOX continuing to be suppressed, I doubt we're going to see a more critically biting inside look at Disney any time soon... and one sanctioned by Disney themselves, no less.

Just arrived...

8:12 PM / DVD / 10 Comments

#1011: VIDEO NASTIES: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE (DVD, Nucleus Films, Region 0, UK)

An insightful documentary about the "video nasties" panic of the 80s, trailers and introductions to all 72 films that ended up on the DPP's infamous list, 50 minutes' worth of pre-cert video idents... and an absolutely delightful menu video featuring Emily Booth mangling VHS tapes in a manner of creative ways inspired by the films themselves. Drill action, anyone?

BDs and DVDs I bought or received in October 2010

11:59 PM / Blu-ray / DVD / No Comments

• Friday, October 1, 2010: THE DOWNFALL OF BERLIN: ANONYMA (BD, Region ABC, UK)
• Saturday, October 2, 2010: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED (BD, Region B, UK)
• Friday, October 8, 2010: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (BD, Region ABC, USA)
• Friday, October 8, 2010: THE EXORCIST (BD, Region ABC, USA)
• Saturday, October 9, 2010: THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (BD, Region A, USA)
• Wednesday, October 13, 2010: SZAMANKA (DVD, Region 0, USA) [sample copy]
• Thursday, October 14, 2010: ROMEO + JULIET (BD, Region A, USA)
• Friday, October 15, 2010: SEX AND LUCÍA (BD, Region A, USA)
• Wednesday, October 20, 2010: MOULIN ROUGE! (BD, Region A, USA)
• Friday, October 22, 2010: TOY STORY 3 (BD, Region A, USA)
• Tuesday, October 26, 2010: ALIEN ANTHOLOGY (BD, Region ABC, UK)

Just arrived...

6:25 PM / DVD / 2 Comments

SZAMANKA: Premium Collector's Edition (DVD, Mondo Vision, Region 0, USA)

Thanks, Mazi!

As a side note, this is...

...the 1,000th title to enter my collection!!!

(Counting DVDs, HD DVDs and BDs.) I probably still own about half of that figure given my tendency to sell titles I'm no longer interested in or have upgraded (either to a superior edition on the same format or from DVD to BD). Still, I thought this rather momentous occasion deserved to be recognised in some way, and there's something rather fitting about the fact that the title in question is an extremely lavish package... and one on which I receive a credit no less (in the "Special Thanks" section).

So here's to one thousand optical discs... and here's to the next thousand!

BDs and DVDs I bought or received in the month of September

9:58 PM / Blu-ray / DVD / 3 Comments

• Friday, September 3, 2010: KICK-ASS (BD, Region ABC, UK)
• Thursday, September 9, 2010: SE7EN (BD, Region ABC, USA)
• Wednesday, September 15, 2010: INFERNO (BD, Region ABC, UK)
• Wednesday, September 15, 2010: MENN SOM HATER KVINNER [The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo]: Extended Millennium Edition (BD, Region ABC, Norway)
• Wednesday, September 15, 2010: JENTA SOM LEKTE MED ILDEN [The Girl Who Played with Fire]: Extended Millennium Edition (BD, Region ABC, Norway)
• Wednesday, September 15, 2010: LUFTSLOTTET SOM SPRENGTES [The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest]: Extended Millennium Edition (BD, Region ABC, Norway)
• Thursday, September 16, 2010: AMERICAN BEAUTY (BD, Region A, USA)
• Thursday, September 16, 2010: HIERRO (BD, Region B, UK)
• Wednesday, September 22, 2010: MULHOLLAND DRIVE (BD, Region B, UK)
• Tuesday, September 28, 2010: THE SECRET OF KELLS (BD/DVD, Region ABC, USA)
• Thursday, September 30, 2010: THE EVIL DEAD (BD, Region A, USA)

An expensive month. :(

BDs and DVDs I bought or received in the month of July

11:59 PM / Blu-ray / DVD / 2 Comments

• Sunday, July 4, 2010: TRUE BLOOD: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON (BD, Region ABC, UK) [birthday present]
• Sunday, July 4, 2010: THE BOX (BD, Region B, UK) [birthday present]
• Sunday, July 4, 2010: FIGHT CLUB (BD, Region ABC, UK) [birthday present]
• Monday, July 19, 2010: AFTER.LIFE (BD, Region A, USA)
• Monday, July 19, 2010: WAKING THE DEAD: THE COMPLETE SERIES EIGHT (DVD, Region 2, UK)
• Wednesday, July 21, 2010: WAKING THE DEAD: THE COMPLETE SERIES SEVEN (DVD, Region 2, UK)

Just arrived...

6:22 PM / DVD / No Comments

WAKING THE DEAD: THE COMPLETE SERIES SEVEN (DVD, 2 Entertain, Region 2, UK)

Just arrived...

10:48 AM / Blu-ray / DVD / No Comments

AFTER.LIFE (BD, Anchor Bay, Region A, USA)

WAKING THE DEAD: THE COMPLETE SERIES EIGHT (DVD, 2 Entertain, Region 2, UK)

BDs and DVDs I bought or received in the month of June

11:59 PM / Blu-ray / DVD / No Comments

• Wednesday, June 2, 2010: CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (BD, Region ABC, USA)
• Wednesday, June 2, 2010: WATCHMEN: DIRECTOR'S CUT (BD, Region ABC, Canada)
• Saturday, June 5, 2010: WHERE EAGLES DARE (BD, Region ABC, UK)
• Monday, June 7, 2010: TERROR AT THE OPERA (DVD, Region 0, UK)
• Tuesday, June 8, 2010: A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (BD, Region ABC, USA)
• Thursday, June 10, 2010: LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN (DVD, Region 2, UK)
• Tuesday, June 15, 2010: RIVELAZIONI DI UN MANIACO SESSUALE AL CAPO DELLA SQUADRA MOBILE (DVD, Region 2, Germany)
• Tuesday, June 22, 2010: LÉON: THE PROFESSIONAL (BD, Region ABC, USA)

Coming soon...

9:47 PM / DVD / 4 Comments

The fourth Mondo Vision DVD release, Andrzej Zulawski's SZAMANKA, should be out soon and available to pre-order from Amazon.com even sooner. No specific dates just yet, but the final master is on the way to the factory, so the gears are definitely in motion. You can find out all the details about the two versions that will be available in this thread at CriterionForum.org (along with a closer look at the artwork).

Please begin disposing of your Russian pirate copies now.

Just arrived...

9:32 PM / DVD / 6 Comments

RIVELAZIONI DI UN MANIACO SESSUALE AL CAPO DELLA SQUADRA MOBILE (DVD, Camera Obscura, Region 2, Germany)

...a.k.a. SO SWEET, SO DEAD. This is the third instalment in the Italian Genre Cinema Collection from German label Camera Obscura, which has been generating quite a bit of positive buzz since its launch (they will also be releasing Dario Argento's INFERNO on BD in Germany later this year). The film itself is by pretty much anyone's standards a lower-tier giallo (despite the presence of Hitchcock stalwart Farley Granger and several giallo mainstays, and some nice Maurice Binder-inspired opening titles) at the more right-wing, reactionary end of the spectrum, but this is a quality package clearly put together by people who understand and love this sort of film. Perhaps best of all, for English speakers, the whole thing is bilingual, with the menus, extras and even the included booklet in both German and English (the film itself includes Italian and German audio, and a choice of German and English subtitles). It features an excellent (subtitled) commentary by critics Christian Kessler and Marcus Stiglegger, which does an impressive job of making a third-rate giallo seem like a fascinating historical document of its time... which to be fair, all gialli are, otherwise I doubt I'd be researching a PhD on them.

The PhD, incidentally, is currently taking up most of my time. I need to get the second draft of my current chapter finished by Monday. After that, it's back to my CASUALTY shadow scheme script. Plus, I've got my faulty motherboard being picked up tomorrow. Here's hoping for a swift conclusion to that little calamity.

Just arrived...

11:48 AM / DVD / 8 Comments

LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN (DVD, Optimum, Region 2, UK)

This is my fourth copy of Fulci's best giallo, and I've only taken a brief look at it, but it looks to be the best presentation of the film yet, much more consistent than either of the two Shriek Show releases or the Italian version from Federal Video. I've come across a couple of segments that still seem to have been taken from a poorer source (by the looks of it the same one used for certain segments in the Shriek Show re-release), but otherwise the look of this presentation is extremely consistent. The annoying green tint that affected the middle of the film on both Shriek Show versions is completely gone. It looks like a new scan to me, not just the same old stuff recycled.

I know those of us who saw the "work in progress" at the Glasgow Film Festival earlier this year were a bit concerned about how the final disc would look, but take it from me it's well worth the money, even if the only extra is a trailer.

Just arrived...

11:18 AM / DVD / No Comments

TERROR AT THE OPERA (DVD, Arrow Video, Region 2, UK)

I picked up this recent DVD re-release of OPERA (to use its proper name - I refuse to refer to it by its ridiculous retitling) not because it offers any improvement over the earlier releases in terms of image or sound quality (and in fact the 5.1 remix it includes is one of the worst botch-jobs I've ever heard, with some sort of reverb effect added to the entire thing), but because it includes the shorter American re-edit by Orion Pictures (the one entitled TERROR AT THE OPERA), which I've always wanted to see, out of morbid curiosity.

Szamanka LE cover art and specs

9:15 PM / DVD / 3 Comments

A few months back, I posted the cover art for the standard edition of the next Mondo Vision release, Andrzej Zukawski's SZAMANKA. Today I can exclusively reveal the artwork for the Limited Edition:

The final specs have yet to be announced, but I've been told that the Limited Edition will include the by now customary special booklet and soundtrack CD. In addition to that, both the standard edition and limited edition will include a new video interview with Zulawski and an audio commentary by Daniel Bird and David Mackenzie.

For more information on the film, see the entry on the Mondo Vision web site.

For an idea of the sort of insanity the film contains, check out this clip on YouTube. (Skip ahead to 03:20 for my favourite part.) Don't worry - the DVD won't look anything like as shitty as this.

BDs and DVDs I bought or received in the month of March

10:18 PM / Blu-ray / DVD / No Comments

• Wednesday, March 3, 2010: LUFTSLOTTET SOM SPRENGTES (BD, Region ABC, Norway)
• Wednesday, March 3, 2010: TRIANGLE (BD, Region B, UK)
• Wednesday, March 3, 2010: 36 (BD, Region B, UK)
• Wednesday, March 3, 2010: LADY VENGEANCE (BD, Region B, UK)
• Wednesday, March 3, 2010: A TALE OF TWO SISTERS (BD, Region B, UK)
• Wednesday, March 3, 2010: THIRST (BD, Region B, UK)
• Wednesday, March 3, 2010: SIN CITY (BD, Region ABC, UK)
• Tuesday, March 9, 2010: CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY (BD, Region A, USA)
• Thursday, March 11, 2010: TOY STORY (BD, Region ABC, USA)
• Thursday, March 11, 2010: TOY STORY (BD, Region ABC, USA)
• Friday, February 12, 2010: THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX (BD, Region A, USA)
• Saturday, February 13, 2010: THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG (BD, Region A, USA) - BD impressions
• Monday, March 15, 2010: TOY STORY 2 (BD, Region ABC, USA)
• Thursday, March 18, 2010: BROKEN EMBRACES (BD, Region A, USA)
• Thursday, March 18, 2010: THE DESCENT: PART 2 (BD, Region B, France)
• Saturday, March 20, 2010: ZOMBIELAND (BD, Region ABC, USA)
• Wednesday, March 24, 2010: DUMBO (BD, Region BC, UK)
• Friday, March 26, 2010: SPOOKS: SEASON SIX (DVD, Region 2, UK)
• Friday, March 26, 2010: THE LORD OF THE RINGS (1978) (BD, Region ABC, USA)

You know, I actually didn't realise how many discs I'd bought this month. Fair enough, this time of the year seems to be a particularly busy one for good releases (FOUR Disney movies - that's practically unheard of!), and the four Tartan releases plus SIN CITY were heavily discounted, but still... I certainly won't be having another month like this any time soon, not when I've got a computer to finance.

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