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Movie Review
by John Holliday
by George Taylor
by Christian Fannin
COMING SOON!
[Our editor, Emily Bloom, brings you the best new releases in her "DVD / Blu Review" article. No filler, no hype, only movies and TV shows we personally buy.]
Finally! The first great release week of the new year is here with Hitchcock on Blu-ray, the King of Monsters in the Criterion Collection, and a billion dollar movie. Though I'm the kind to hold out for the uber edition Hitchcock collection and I already own and love my Classic Media release of Gojira / Godzilla, I'm still excited about these Blu-ray editions. Before I explain why, just a reminder that our site can only continue with your support by making your regular purchases at Amazon through our links below. We are repaid with roughly 6-7% of your total purchase and it all goes towards improving CineWeekly.
The original Gojira (Japanese version) and Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (U.S. version) make their Blu-ray debut thanks to the Criterion Collection. Ishiriô Honda's classic man in suit movie was more serious than it's predecessors but not bogged down by political propoganda. It's also more of a horror movie than most of the sequels and spin-offs which shocked me after returning to Godzilla for the first time in a few years. The giant monster's thunderous footsteps are chilling, especially on Blu-ray even though it's still a monaural soundtrack and the score always gets to me. The extra eerieness of the slow composition borders on depressing during one sequence. It's so well done that you may temporarily find yourself emotionally invested in a semi-cheesy monster movie.
It's the Criterion Collection so you know the bonus material is bountiful and treated with care. The best thing about this release is that all the special features are different from those in the excellent Classic Media release of the movies. So not only can you keep that version if you already own it, it's still worth the double-dip for all the extras. In this particular Blu-ray we get the film historian commentaries (separate for Gojira and Godzilla) that are standard in these kaiju titles, featurettes, and trailers. Surprisingly, there's even several interviews with the original Japanese cast and crew members totaling nearly two hours.
Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious, Rebecca, and Spellbound all hit Bluray with quality releases. Undoubtedly scheduled to coincide with the Academy Awards is the first Best Picture Oscar winner, Wings which would be a perfect double feature with Tim & Eric's Billion Dollar Movie. There's some sarcasm there but if you can't wait for it's theatrical release in March, T&EB$M is available for download from Amazon's Instant Video service which we'll abbreviate to [AMZN] in this and future articles. Last week, we did a "Modern Movie" write-up for the Paranormal Activity 3 Blu-ray Review which is very thorough and worth checking out.
Did your pal Emily miss your favorite new release title? Are you sure you aren't the only one that likes it? Let her know at: emily@cineweekly.com
Memento
- Christopher Nolan Directing
