The Screengrab : chungking express

DVD Digest for December 16, 2008

Paul Clark — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:00:00 GMT

One of this holiday season’s most in-demand gifts is sure to be a shiny new Blu-Ray player to go along with the mess of HDTVs that have flooded the market (what economic crisis?). Consequently, this week’s DVD Digest is heavy on Blu-Ray DVDs in titles both old and new, to serve as last-minute impulse buys for movie lovers of all stripes.

DVD of the Week: With all the new Blu-Rays that have hit stores lately, it seems only fitting that this week’s DVD of the Week be the first wave of Blu-Ray releases from everyone’s favorite DVD company, The Criterion Collection. Earlier this year, Criterion announced just over a dozen upcoming Blu-Ray titles, and today will bring four of them. Two are will be Blu-Ray editions of titles that were recently released by Criterion on standard DVD- Wong Kar-wai’s Chungking Express and Wes Anderson’s debut feature Bottle Rocket. But no less notable are the Blu-Ray releases of two old favorites from the Criterion vault, Carol Reed’s immortal The Third Man and Nicolas Roeg’s SF classic The Man Who Fell to Earth. As is the case with virtually all Criterion releases, the new Blu-Rays contain many special features, and the increased definition and sharpness that’s possible with Blu-Ray will undoubtedly make the films themselves look better than ever (Third Man and Chungking should be particularly eye-popping). If you own a Blu-Ray player and you don’t plan to buy at least a couple of these, you don’t have much business calling yourself a movie lover…

… In which case, you’ll probably be more inclined to purchase one of the other Blu-Rays that are hitting stores today. Paramount is releasing a quartet of their comedies- Hot Rod, Old School, The Heartbreak Kid, and the ever popular “Holy Schnike!” edition of Tommy Boy- along with the strange double feature of Coach Carter and Into the Wild, all in Blu-Ray only. And Fox is answering Paramount’s challenge rather feebly, releasing only Uwe Boll’s In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale in response. Gonna have to try harder than that, guys.

This week’s recent releases on DVD are highlighted by two late-summer hits that scratch some very different itches. On the one hand, you could watch the Golden Globe-nominated ABBA musical Mamma Mia! (Universal, also Blu-Ray). On the other, you could take a gander at The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Universal, also Blu-Ray), the latest in Universal’s effects-heavy franchise.

Heck, practically the only new DVD release not to be coming out in Blu-Ray this week is the acclaimed series Generation Kill (HBO). And while I won’t hold the lack of a Blu-Ray edition against the show, it nonetheless feels like the DVD-release version of bringing a knife to a gunfight. Unless, of course, you don’t have a Blu-Ray player in the first place, in which case the point is moot.

Code Blu For Criterion

Leonard Pierce — Wed, 14 May 2008 15:30:00 GMT

Well, now we know the format wars are over: the kingpin of art-film imprints, the Criterion Collection -- who we believe only abandoned the VHS format in late 2006 -- has announced the roll-out of a whole batch of prestige titles in the Blu-Ray high-definition DVD format.

According to Slash/Film, Criterion will be debuting a raft full of Blu-Ray discs starting in October, ranging from Hollywood classics (The Third Man) to esteemed modern productions (Chungking Express) to New Wave ground-breakers (The 400 Blows) to concert films (The Complete Monterey Pop). A number of the film will feature new bonus material not even available on other Criterion DVDs, brand-new transfers, and an enticing initial price point of $39.95 USD.

Now, if only they could negotiate getting rid of the garish blue plastic packaging; it's not all that distracting with regular DVD movies, but with Criterion, where the gorgeous packaging is often part of the appeal, it's just gross.

See Bardot's Ass, Bowie's Junk in Blu-Ray

Paul Clark — Wed, 07 May 2008 23:27:00 GMT

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later, but for all of you movie lovers longing for the day when you’d be able to take some honest-to-goodness classics (by which we don’t mean The Sixth Day) for a spin in your shiny new Blu-Ray player, your wait will soon be over. In an e-Mail sent to members of the Criterion Collection mailing list, the Criterion powers that be have announced the release of thirteen titles from the Criterion Collection beginning in October, encompassing classics and newer films, foreign and English-language. Here’s the complete list:

The Third Man
Bottle Rocket
Chungking Express
The Man Who Fell to Earth
The Last Emperor
El Norte
The 400 Blows
Gimme Shelter
The Complete Monterey Pop
Contempt
Walkabout
For All Mankind
The Wages of Fear

According to the e-Mail, “these new editions will feature glorious high-definition picture and sound, all the supplemental content of the DVD releases, and they will be priced to match our standard-def editions.” Criterion also plans on rereleasing the standard DVD of Walkabout featuring a new transfer and features, for those so inclined. But just as exciting is that it looks like Criterion has new DVD editions of Bottle Rocket, Chungking Express, and El Norte in the pipeline, which is cool even for those of us still rockin' old-school players.

Meanwhile, Facets has announced that they plan to continue their plans to move ahead with a new line of HD-DVDs. David Huddleston was not amused.

Famous Last Words: Round 1, Week 9

Paul Clark — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 20:00:00 GMT

The influence of Quentin Tarantino loomed large over mid-90s pop culture, not only in the films he directed, but also those he starred in, and even the movies he claimed as his influences. But as ubiquitous as he became, he can take credit for at least one unambiguously good deed- convincing the Weinstein Brothers to give Wong Kar-wai's gorgeous Chungking Express (the source of last week's quotation) an American release. In doing so, he introduced many a budding film nerd- myself included- to the magical career of Wong Kar-wai, as well as to an Asian art cinema that previously took a backseat to John Woo and Tsui Hark-helmed actioners on the world film scene. While In the Mood for Love seems to get the most critical love of any of his films nowadays, Chungking Express remains my personal favorite. Congrats to those who guessed it.

Two-thirds of the way through the round, and there are still plenty of contenders for the prizes. Here's this week's quote, the shortest of this round so far:

"You're working for me now."

Submit your guesses to famouslastwords@nerve.com. If you need to brush up on the rules of the game, click click here, and remember, all submissions must be received by next Wednesday night at 11:59 PM Eastern. Good luck!