Whenever a new format appears, we enthusiasts wonder: ‘Will my favourite items appear in this format. If so, how long will I have to wait?’ I’ve been through this when the CD came in, then the DVD. In both cases, nearly everything I liked, no matter how obscure, eventually made it into the format.
I wondered this when SACD and DVD Audio were introduced. In both cases, nearly nothing that I liked appeared in the new formats.
So now we’ve got Blu-ray. There are now about a thousand titles available in Australia, or coming very soon. Those who enjoy the most recent movies are well served, and those who enjoy some of the classics, particularly from Warner Bros and MGM are also well served. But what if you want some of the classy independent and art-house stuff which has appeared over the past dozen years?
Dendy (part of Icon Home Entertainment) comes to the rescue here, with its excellent back catalogue. For release on 4 November will be (IMDB rating in bracket):
- Amelie (properly, Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain – 8.6)
- The Blair Witch Project (6.2)
- Emma (6.8)
- Man on the Moon (7.4)
- The Motorcycle Diaries (properly, Diarios de motocicleta – 7.9)
- Once Were Warriors (7.9)
- The Piano (7.5)
- Scream (7.2), and
- The World’s Fastest Indian (8.0)
Then, on 2 December, these titles will also hit Blu-ray:
- Becoming Jane (7.0)
- Black Robe (7.2)
- Brassed Off (7.1)
- Death Defying Acts (5.9)
- Good Night, and Good Luck (7.7)
- Mambo Italiano (6.6)
- Oyster Farmer (6.7)
- Strange Bedfellows (6.6)
- Super Size Me (7.6)
- Volver (7.7), and
- Two Hands (7.0)
There’s some fine stuff, most of which will already by known to readers of this Blog. But I would mention the last one, Two Hands. This is an early Heath Ledger film and a very nice crime thriller with a good Australian flavour.