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Media | A2Q Archives | A2Q on Twitter | A2Q #82 | March 31, 2009
Right before I sat down to write this, I Netflix sent me an email notifying me that I’ll have to cough up an extra $4 a month to continue watching Blu-ray movies. But with everything I want to see on BD always out of stock, what exactly am I paying extra for? Supposedly, Netflix will be going deeper on their BD orders to justify the rate hike. I guess if all the “Short Wait” and “Long Wait” titles suddenly become available I’ll reconsider my outrage, although I won’t really know if the better availability is due to better inventory or just a bunch of BD customers canceling their subscriptions.
Speaking of outrage, I recently covered the fantastic Swedish vampire movie Let the Right One In. Turns out the version released on BD and DVD has subtitles that are dumbed down from the theatrical version. The studio claims that future pressings of the title will have the theatrical subtitles and will specifically call that out on the package. I returned my BD copy of the movie unwatched after learning about the two translations, and I’ll be keeping my eyes out for the revised disc. Obviously, I strongly recommend not buying the movie in its current state.
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Lots of titles are hitting Blu-ray this week, but honestly I’m not too excited about this lineup. I’m sure I’ll see Marley & Me simply because it’s a movie about a dog and I end up seeing all of those kinds of movies sooner or later — my wife and I are big friends to the animal kingdom. However, the real pick of the week for me is Pitch Black, which shouldn’t be judged by its terrible sequel or the mostly-awful output of its star, Vin Diesel. Pitch Black is an exciting sci-fi action movie with a simple premise. Flying, ravenous aliens attack wherever and whenever it is dark (these aliens seem the obvious “inspiration” for the Krill in Gears of War). A group of survivors crash land on the alien planet these creatures make their home, must rely on the help of Riddick, a dangerous convict who can see in the dark, to escape from the planet before it enters a month-long eclipse and there will be nowhere to hide from becoming a xeno-snack.
Slumdog Millionaire arrives on home video this week, carrying with it the baggage of an Oscar win for Best Picture. I”m happy that director Danny Boyle is getting a lot more recognition and opportunities. He’s certainly earned it with a resume that includes Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Millions, and Sunshine. I haven’t seen Slumdog yet, though, and I’m in no hurry, as it doesn’t really look like my kind of movie.
Exploitation and horror fans have probably heard of Takashi Miike. Miike is almost as famous for his prodigious output as the obscene images he puts on film. With over 70 directorial credits, a lot of what Miike puts out is awful. Miike is probably best known in the States for Audition, an incredibly disturbing horror movie. Ichi The Killer is also disturbing, as well as being deranged, offensive, vile, gory, and surreal. I don’t recommend anyone watch it who isn’t already laughing through movies like Hostel.
Has it really been ten years since The Matrix debuted? At the time, I thought it was cool-looking and had a decent story, but wasn’t as good as eXistenz — a movie superficially similar in story and theme which was released in the same year. Not being a big fan of The Matrix turned out to be a blessing in disguise when the next two movies were released.
Thanks for reading Add to Queue, GameSpite’s weekly round-up of US Blu-ray release highlights. Sorry, rest of the world; region locks are the industry’s way of saying they still don’t understand the Internet. Whoa. Cover art courtesy of Amazon. Follow Levi Tinney on Twitter, or add him to your PSN or XBL friends list: VsRobot. You can also contact him via e-mail via levivsrobot [at] gmail [dot] com.
I have an inexplicable (-excusable?) soft spot for Vin Diesel. I would never say Chronicles of Riddick was a good movie, but damn if I didn’t enjoy it. And double-damn if I’m not looking forward to the next one.
Actually, Levi, it’s $3 extra for Blu Ray from Netflix, making it $4 total. Still total bullshit, though.
And I do want to see Pitch Black for some reason. Now’s as good of a time as ever. Might as well get my $4 worth.
Pitch Black is a genuinely good alien horror movie.
Vin Diesel was the voice of The Iron Giant, so at least he’ll always have ONE excellent movie on his resumé!
What in the hell is a “Broly Broly Broly”?
Don’t skip out on Slumdog – it’s essentially another take on Millions, and is a very good movie, even if the ending is a little rushed. It’s no Trainspotting or 28 Days Later, but what is?
Also I think it’s nice that nerd rage will eventually get me the right Let The Right One In subtitles, but I kind of want to watch it again now after finishing the book. IMPATIENT.
My 8-at-once is costing me $9/month for Blu-ray access now.
I did write an e-mail to whine about paying more movies which are always on Wait. Today, three long standing waiters shipped to me. Coincidence?
Man, why all the hate for Chronicles of Riddick? It’s a great Warhammer 40K/Space Conan/science fantasy kinda thing, which is basically nonexistant in film. It’s also a case where the theatrical cut is pretty much better than the director’s cut, as it leaves out some of the foofier hack-rate exposition/backstory.
You gotta respect Miike’s commitment to authenticity tho: “Director Takashi Miike reveals on the US TokyoShock DVD release that the semen used in the close-up during the intro sequence, when the film’s title raises out of a puddle of semen, is real. It was notably supplied by Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo) who plays the mastermind that controls Ichi. Miike gave a bucket to Tsukamoto to fill but was unable to provide enough material for the shot. He passed the bucket to three other crew members to add the remaining amount.”
Gross.
If you get your blu-rays from Netflix you can get Let the Right One In with the correct subtitles. The blu-ray copy I got from Netflix had the theatrical subtitles. Just like the DVDs Netflix gets they get their blu-rays directly from the publisher which probably accounts for the difference.
I’m not thrilled about the extra money for blu-rays on Netflix, but they’re too expensive to buy and they look so good on my HDTV that I don’t want to watch a DVD if blu-ray is available.
“What in the hell is a “Broly Broly Broly”?
Mudron”
I would imagine it would be all 3 Dragonball Z movies that had Broly as the antagonist.
His power is maximum.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e200/grokyou/hispowerismaximum.jpg
Huh.
Now I’m kinda wishing there was a box set of the first three Star Wars films with Luke screaming on the cover and the words “VADER VADER VADER!” embossed beneath him.
I know I sound like one in the hundreds every week that has to point out something that you missed, but this week you missed a big title. Tell No One was absolutely one of the best thrillers of last year. You should give that movie a watch well before checking out the derivative tear-jerker Marley & Me, with its contrived, almost forced approach to getting the little ones in the audience to cry. Tell No One actually has a pretty brilliant story, and the acting is superb. No, I don’t have any of my money invested in it… god!
Well, Blu-Ray’s do cost a bit more than normal DVDs, so I’m sure they have to make up the money somehow. People always get worked up about crap like this. Netflix is just trying to make money…
For anyone considering not bothering to wait for the correct Let The Right One In subtitles, you really should.. I’ve seen both now and the changes really are significant. It doesn’t seem like it’d make a huge difference – it’s not like it changes anything much in the film at all – but the characterisation is much deeper and makes more sense with the better subs.
scarritt, I don’t think the issue is the extra cost but rather the fact that the cost has been levied on a service that, to date, has been extremely unreliable.
@parish: Ah, then in that case, I understand.
@Mudron: I would want a picture of Darth Vader, the band Guitar Vader, and the wrestler Big Van Vader on a VADER VADER VADER cover. You know something crazy is going on in there.
No love for An American in Paris?!? Awesome musical numbers? Gene Kelly tap-dancing? Who could ask for anything more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvglHa_P9BA
You know, it always bugs me how people bundle the Matrix sequels together like they do. Sure, the third one was an irredeemable piece of garbage which retroactively killed the entire franchise, but as I recall, everyone was still quite positive on the whole scene up until the moment it came out. Reloaded is a perfectly fine movie if you can ignore the cliffhanger ending. It’s not perfect, what with the whole Zion Rave scene and general levels of pretentiousness, and shout-outs to spin-off materials, but it has a fair number of redeeming qualities, only 90% of which are big set-piece action sequences.
@Josh: I’ve read the book “Tell No One” was based on, and enjoyed it. However, I’ve been burned bad by low budget film versions of the suspense novels I enjoy so much. One of the reasons I’m glad that there hasn’t been a Jack Reacher movie yet. I guess I’ll add “Tell No One” to my queue. I may even mention it on Twitter if it turns out to be good!
@Googleshng: I though Reloaded was generally considered the worst of the two Matrix sequels? I haven’t seen Reloaded since it opened in the theater, and I didn’t see the third movie until it had already been on video for at least a year, so I can’t really accurately judge them against each other. I just know I didn’t like either of them.
One more thought: Vin Diesel, like Nick Cage, should be getting a free pass from us nerds. They are both really into comics and other nerdy past-times. So a soft spot is excusable, even if many of the movies they release don’t warrant it.
Nick Cage? Come on now… He looks like Marilyn Manson w/o makeup and What The Hell is with his hair?! He hasn’t been in any good movies since Wild At Heart… ;)
Ugh, An American in Paris.
On the other hand, I really enjoyed Gigi.
I’m surprised Shigurui didn’t get a mention with all the Miike talk, since (while completely unrelated to Miike), it’s an unflinchingly brutal samurai anime that feels like you’re watching a twelve-episode Miike movie just for how shocking it can get. Despite that, it’s still an enjoyable watch, even if you’ll probably only watch it once and then shelve it indefinitely.
I can’t believe there isn’t more talk about The One, starring that angry British guy and the poor man’s Sam Jackson. And it dares to take the bold stand that your evil twin does not have to have an evil goatee.
No, he just practices a martial art that is the stylistic opposite of your own.
And that was honestly really cool.