Ian White's Top 5 Blu-ray Discs of 2010
By Ian White
2010 may not have been the greatest year for new film releases, but it was one of the best in recent memory for home video; especially for those of us who live and die with our Blu-ray discs (I sleep with my Blu-ray copy of Slapshot). It would be easy to single out Avatar and Toy Story 3 as the year's best, but that wouldn't be a lot of fun either. Both looked phenomenal in the theater and you sorta knew what to expect from the home version.
The studios have really kicked it up a notch with the quality of the transfers (although some of the films that I have seen lately on Blu-ray have looked decidedly less than HD), and the one studio that really deserves some recognition is Criterion Collection. Not only have they released some great films on Blu-ray in 2010, but the quality of restoration of some of the older films that had serious print issues has been fantastic.
I could easily pick five Criterion transfers and be done with it, but I am going to spread around the love this year with these gems that really stood out from both a content and video/sound quality perspective.
Paths of Glory
Director Stanley Kubrick made a lot of really outstanding and controversial films during his career, but none of them resonated with me more than
Paths of Glory. His landmark WWI drama pulled no punches in its attempt to expose the ruthlessness of war and utter stupidity of the generals running the show fifty miles behind the front lines. A generation of men died in the trenches while the nobility masquerading as military officers sipped cognac. Kirk Douglas and an all-star cast make the most of every hard hitting piece of dialogue and the film does not let up for even one frame. Criterion Collection has done a tremendous job with this Blu-ray release; improving not only the aging and dirty print, but cleaning up the mono audio track as well. This film has never looked better and is one of the most important and poignant anti-war films of all-time. A must own for anyone who loves great films.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
The first time I viewed
Scott Pilgrim, I was incredibly impressed, yet put-off by the ridiculous number of references to Toronto. I was born in the icy mistake north of the lake and have always been disturbed by its insecurity. Movies based in New York never tell you that they are based in New York. The location speaks for itself. Michael Cera jumped the shark a while ago, but he really made this film work. Directed by Edgar Wright (
Shaun of the Dead,
Hot Fuzz) and adapted from Bryan Lee O'Malley's entertaining graphic novel,
Scott Pilgrim has to be one of the most unique looking film in years. It looks and plays like a video game, with some of the most impressive looking visuals that you will ever see. On a well-calibrated screen, the colors snap, crackle, and pop. The soundtrack is capable of killing your speakers. For real. I was asked to turn it down more than once. A quirky, yet fun film that was not a huge hit at the box office.
Apocalypse Now Full Disclosure Edition
A lot of films screwed with my head as a kid (no parental supervision), but none as badly as
Apocalypse Now. Francis Ford Coppola's nightmarish tale of the Vietnam War which was inspired by author Joseph Conrad's
Heart of Darkness, was rife with over-the-top violence and rather frightening imagery, but none of that would make me turn away. Throw in a brilliant soundtrack ( the Doors "The End" as one example) and hypnotic color palette, and it is almost impossible to resist. Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, and the dazzling Robert Duvall star in this blockbuster that drove its makers to the very edge of their collective sanity. The absurdity of the Vietnam War is the core message of the film and it is delivered with the intensity of a napalm strike. The Blu-ray release kicks the video and audio quality up a few notches; especially the soundtrack which has to be one the best I've listened to in years. Nothing like having helicopters land in the middle of your media room.
Moon
Actor Sam Rockwell has been one of my favorites for a number of years, primarily because he takes roles that other actors are afraid to touch with a ten foot pole.
Choke,
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy were all box office dogs, but Rockwell was great in all of them. He has the anti-hero thing down pat and plays psychologically disturbed characters with a blunt edge. You like the guy, even if he acts like a total douche bag. I may have been one of the five people who saw
Moon in the theater, but I know that it fared far better in the rental world. Rockwell stars as an astronaut stuck at a lunar station for three years working under contract for Lunar Industries. Not only is he the sole employee, but he has to trust his daily existence to a computer/robot named GERTY. If this sounds a lot like "HAL", you would be correct. Rockwell has an accident on the surface of the moon and begins to go a tad crazy. The isolation from the rest of the universe hits him hard, even as his replacement is on its way. The video and sound quality are first-rate with deep blacks, amazing shadow detail, and a very haunting soundtrack. It's a tad slow at times, but a great performance.
Kick-Ass
My absolute favorite film of the past two years (with the soon-to-be released on Blu-ray
Lebanon running a close second) is a thrill-ride with more up and downs than the AVN convention that runs concurrently with CES in Las Vegas. If you are old enough to remember
The Greatest American Hero which ran for three seasons (1981-1983) on ABC, you will certainly appreciate the sentiment behind
Kick-Ass. Tired of being a typical teenager (feeling ignored and unappreciated by the opposite sex and adults), our hero decides to order a costume online (and you thought one could screw up their life with idiotic Twitter and Facebook posts) and take justice into his hands. Is he out to avenge the murder of his parents? Hell no. Does he have any special super hero powers? Not even uber bad breath. Being brave doesn't translate to being smart and he almost dies his first day on the job. To make matters worse, the local crime boss blames him for the deaths of his henchmen and some real super heroes enter stage left. It is loud and violent and incredibly satiric. The icing on the cake? Fantastic image quality and a score that will have you bouncing in your seat. Who am I? I'm Kick-Ass! Gotta run.
