DISC JUST IN for 3/31/09

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Here’s a look at the latest DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases:

BLU-RAY DISC:
An American in Paris (Warner)
Bedtime Stories (Disney)
Chronicles of Riddick (Universal)
Chronicles of Riddick 2-pack (Universal)
Ghosts of Mars (Sony)
Gigi (Warner)
Marley & Me (Fox)
The Matrix: 10th Anniversary Edition (Warner)
The One (Sony)
National Geographic: Journey to the Edge of the Universe (Warner)
National Geographic: Kingdom of the Blue Whale (Warner)
Pitch Black (Universal)
Seven Pounds (Sony)
South Pacific (Fox)
Slumdog Millionaire (Fox)
Tell No One (MPI)

DVD:
Bedtime Stories (Disney)
Danton (Criterion)
Il Generale Della Rovere (Criterion)
Jim Gaffigan: King Baby (Paramount)
Killer at Large (Disinformation)
Marley & Me (Fox)
National Geographic: Journey to the Edge of the Universe (Warner)
National Geographic: Kingdom of the Blue Whale (Warner)
Pitch Black (Universal)
Seven Pounds (Sony)
Slumdog Millionaire (Fox)
Tell No One (MPI)
Timecrimes (Magnolia)

TV-on-DVD:
Dennis Miller: The HBO Specials (SRO)
The Fugitive: Season 2, Vol.2 (Paramount)
Hope & Faith: Season 1 (Lionsgate)
The IT Crowd: Season 1 (MPI)
In Plain sight: Season 1 (Universal)
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: Season 4, Vol.1 (Fox)

HIGHLIGHTS:

There’s a great mix of old and new this week so let’s get to it:

An American in Paris – After a recent DVD-only release featuring newly-restored video, Warner finally brings the classic Gene Kelly musical to Blu-ray. Lovely new 1080p video is bolstered by a truckload of extras, including a fresh high def segment featuring ten new interviews.

Bedtime Stories – Adam Sandler does the kiddie movie. This CGI fest is definitely aimed at the younger set and while I don’t really recommend the film, Disney once again does a bang-up job on the technical front; the film is gorgeous to look at. Also, kudos to Disney for once again giving us the Blu-ray, the DVD and the Digital Copy all in one value-minded package. I hope you other studios are taking notes here!

The Matrix – What can be said about The Matrix that hasn’t already been said? The quintessential "home theater movie," fans can now purchase the original Matrix on Blu-ray all by itself. Warner’s 10th anniversary packaging does include a Digital Copy, but there’s nothing else new here that wasn’t available in the Matrix box set released a while back. Reloaded and Revolutions haters should appreciate the cheaper price tag though.

Seven Pounds – Will Smith reminds us that he can do more than battle aliens – though he does that a lot, doesn’t he? – with Sony’s Seven Pounds. Extras include deleted scenes, numerous featurettes and a Digital Copy.

South Pacific – Fox has pulled out all the stops for this magnificent 50th anniversary edition of the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein musical. Fans will positively swoon over the lush new 1080p video and a second disc brimming with extras only sweetens the pot. After their work on The Robe and now South Pacific, Fox has shown videophiles that Warner isn’t the only studio capable of remarkable restoration work.

Slumdog Millionaire – It seems like just yesterday we were seeing Danny Boyle and company accepting all of those Oscars, and now you can own last year’s Best Picture winner on Blu-ray. Fox treats the film right, giving it a top notch video and audio presentation plus a respectable smattering of extras including Digital Copy.

Tell No One – If not for my sci-fi geek love of David Twohy’s Pitch Black, Tell No One would have been my pick of the week. Based on the novel by best-selling mystery writer Harlan Coben (I recommend his Myron Bolitar series), Tell No One is a twisty, slow boil thriller with a first rate cast and a refreshing dose of intelligence. MPI gives this French adaptation a solid 1080p video transfer plus several audio choices including a 5.1 Dolby Digital track, a 2.0 PCM Lossless track and a dubbed English 2.0 option. I recommend the French 2.0 PCM with English subtitles.

Greg’s Pick of the Week:

Pitch Black (Blu-ray)
Universal Home Entertainment | Rated R | 109 minutes | $29.98

My wife and I saw Pitch Black in the theater in 1999 and we instantly loved it. At the time Vin Diesel was a complete unknown and all we knew going in was that this was a sci-fi thriller from the guy who made The Arrival – another underrated favorite. My wife of course took a subsequent liking to Mr. Diesel, but it’s easy to understand why. "Richard B. Ridick, escaped convict, murderer" is still the best character Diesel has played – at least in this first film.

Apparently David Twohy has grand plans for a Riddick Trilogy but the first film in said trilogy, Pitch Black‘s follow-up The Chronicles of Riddick, isn’t nearly as engaging as the smaller and tension-filled Pitch Black. That said, I’d love to see more of Riddick and I hope Mr. Twohy gets the opportunity to finish his story.

Universal previously released Pitch Black on HD DVD but this new Blu-ray edition takes things one step further with a number of U-Control style extras, including "Pitch Black Raw" where you can see portions of the film without the visual effects in place. The contrasty 1080p video looks superb and fans can finally experience the opening crash sequence in lossless DTS-HD Master Audio. The rest of the film is merely average in the sound department but if that opening sequence doesn’t get your heart rate up, you might want to check for a pulse.

Pitch Black is available seperately or as part of the Riddick 2-pack along with the inferior-but-still-entertaining Chronicles of Riddick.

EVALUATION SYSTEM:
Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 1080 projector
Carada Masquerade screen system (92")
Panasonic DMP-BD35 Blu-ray Disc player
Oppo DV-983H DVD player
Onkyo TX-SR805 A/V receiver
Definitive Technology ProCinema 1000 speakers
Datacolor SpyderTV PRO 2007 video calibration
Monster Power HTS5100 power center
BetterCables interconnects
UltraLink speaker wire