Here are the last DVD picks for the year, with all of these already available as of last Sunday.
It’s kind of slim pickings this week, although there is a great Blu-Ray addition and a few decent DVD titles.
The Kingdom
Kind of weird because the HD-DVD version of this released last week but EngadgetHD didn’t show it listed, but Amazon had it last week, but the regular DVD version comes out this week?
It’s all so confusing, but either way, both are available now!
I’ve not seen it yet, but I heard mixed reviews about it. Jennifer Garner, Jamie Foxx, Jason Bateman and others star in this movie about terrorism in the Middle East. The sum of what I’ve heard was that it started good, but ended more like an action flick.
Sounds a lot like I Am Legend.
Pan’s Labyrinth
This has been out for quite awhile now, but the HD versions on both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD get released and thus are worth a look.
The special effects that show off the fantasy world created in this movie will look pretty amazing in HD I suspect. It was a crazy movie, but very good. Check it out.
Eastern Promises
Another movie I haven’t seen yet, but I plan on it. The reviews were good and Viggo Mortensen is up for a Best Actor in the SAG Awards.
The plot from IMDB:
“The film follows the mysterious and ruthless Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen), who is tied to one of London’s most notorious organized crime families. His carefully maintained existence is jarred when he crosses paths with Anna (Naomi Watts), an innocent midwife trying to right a wrong, who accidentally uncovers potential evidence against the family. Now Nikolai must put into motion a harrowing chain of murder, deceit, and retribution.”
Some other DVDs out this week:
DVD (buy these titles at Amazon)
- The Brothers Solomon – Worst movie of the year for Roeper? We’ll see.
Blu-ray (buy these titles at Amazon)
- Pan’s Labyrinth - More bloody than you think
- Azur & Azmar – Japanimation
HD DVD (buy these titles at Amazon)
- Pan’s Labyrinth - Most twisted fantasy in years
- The Heartbreak Kid – Ben Stiller, been there, seen that
- Cat People – hmmm…no?
I was very tempted to pick up Pan’s on Blu-ray today, but resisted. I already own it on SD and I am not really sure if I want to replace it or not, although the High-Def versions (both of them) are getting good reviews for the transfer.
For gifts yesterday I ended up receiving on Blu-ray the following titles:
1. March of the Penguins (pretty good, but I wasn’t totally blown away by it – I might need to watch it again when I’m not so sleepy after eating a big Christmas meal)
2. Close Encounters of the Third Kind: 30th Anniversary Edition (I popped it in and jumped around on it a little – all I can say is WOW)
3. Elvis Costello & the Imposters: Club Date – Live in Memphis (yeah…I think I have watched this 3 times already – simply brilliant and definitely a must-have if you are an Elvis Costello fan)
4. Harry Potter Years 1-5 Limited Edition Gift Set (Sorcerers Stone/ Chamber of Secrets/ Prisoner of Azkaban/ Goblet of Fire/ Order of the Phoenix) (I bought this for Davina as a gift – we haven’t checked it out yet, but we are soooo looking forward to it)
Then today, with a Best Buy gift certificate I received yesterday, I picked up the following two Blu-ray titles:
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (oh yeah….the transfer looks fantastic, but I didn’t watch the entire thing – just bounced around)
2. Ratatouille (again, I haven’t watched this nor have we even seen this movie period. Definitely looking forward to sitting down and checking it out – perhaps tomorrow evening).
Hey Mike – I know that you are always looking for new little odds and ends when it comes to technology. I stumbled across this site Christmas Eve evening. It is called DVDSpot.com and it is a free, online service where you can catalog all of our DVD’s, what you own, what you’ve watched, what you’ve loaned out, a wishlist, etc. I went through and loaded all my movies into their database. It was super easy – just punch in the UPC code and the movie should pop up, then you save it.
If you want to take a look at my personal collection, you can do so by going here: http://www.dvdspot.com/member=dashwhite
Enjoy!
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..What Hope Does He Bring?
Ape,
Nice list man…I hit up Best Buy today as well, and along with an XM radio install, I also got on HD-DVD:
Children of Men
Bourne Supremacy
Knocked Up
Also got Once, but on regular DVD.
I’m not as much into the DVD library as you are, considering we just sold about 20 DVDs, but that DVDSpot is interesting. I may have to check that out.
I got Bourne Ultimatum for Christmas on HD-DVD, so I’m off to watch Supremacy!
Nice get on the Bourne movie! We bought that on SD already since its an HD exclusive. Same with Star Dust.
Wow – we are continually at opposite ends of the spectrum. Last year for gift’s Davina’s brother bought us Sirius Satellite radio – absolutely love it.
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..What Hope Does He Bring?
I had a hard time choosing between the two, but there were two things I liked about XM:
The players seemed better for under $100, and they seem to have a better music package.
I know that Sirius has Stern (who I don’t care for anymore) and the NBA/NFL package, but I really never seem to be in a car where I am looking to listen to an NBA game, and I have NFL ticket for Sundays and we never leave the house
I hear ya. The Sirius was gift – so Davina and I each have one in our cars. I like it for a bunch of different reasons and Stern is not any of them…
The NFL on Sirius has been nice for me because I can catch the games while I’m driving back from church on Sunday, or if I am at work late on Monday evenings, I can stream online from my account and listen.
But with this one I agree with you – it is a toss up.
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..What Hope Does He Bring?
XM vs Sirius isnt a toss up… Snoop dogg or Howard Stern, hmmmm….
Yeah – that’s more like a toss under because both suck.
The Trousered Ape’s last blog post..What Hope Does He Bring?
I wouldn’t ever listen to either of them so who cares