Evilspeak

another round of imports...

Speaking of imports...

I went back and forth on this big mother of a set for a while, and finally figured that we're probably not getting a Region A set for a good long while. The discs are native to Spain but region-free with the original English audio, and the reviews are good.



Also, watching and enjoying Alien vs. Predator, and then picking up Death Race, got me wanting more Paul W. S. Anderson in my collection. I apologize for nothing.

Found a used copy of Baraka at the thrift store for 3.99

$30.50 Bourne 1-3 Steelbooks (my first steelbooks)

City of Ember [German Import]

one last batch of imports (...i think)




I've gone back and forth on BoD. I know the issues with the Bd, but it's close to being my favorite Hammer at the moment, so I was hoping to overlook them if all else looked good.
I just went back and requested a cancellation, but it's close to being dispatched so the request may not go through. Either way I probably won't be upset. I don't think the framing is likely to be improved or rectified by another release elsewhere anytime soon, so waiting to purchase it is more about just waiting for a good deal or price drop.

So the Blu-ray of The Brides of Dracula is region-free, but the Blu-ray of The Mummy is Region B. What horseshit.

Speaking of horseshit, it sucks that Fox is still using old 2007 transfers for their Die Hard sets, and that they still haven't released the unrated cut of the fourth movie on Blu-ray, so I promised myself I wouldn't buy the set pictured below. Buuuuut... I wanted the bonus disc with new documentaries, and it seemed wrong having the fifth movie on Blu-ray but not the previous four. So I upgraded. I can finally retire my DVDs after watching them about 14,000 times.

I've been debating whether or not to get that Die Hard set, especially since the lack of UPCs on my Ultimate Collection boxed set means I can't sell the first three individually. Wasn't there a 4K DCP of the original struck to promote the godawful new movie? Why wasn't that released to promote it on Blu? I've been telling myself that I'll wait for the next edition, but with the state of the market, it doesn't look likely and that set appears tempting. And yes, region-codes suck.

My DVDs still have the UPC codes on the cover art. They're just hiding under a sticker on the surrounding plastic.

Yep.

I guess it made sense marketing-wise to release the four-film box set with the old transfers and new documentaries and then release the restored version of the first movie later to get people to double dip, but the four-film box set came out in January of 2013 and the five-film set came out in June of the same year. It's been nearly a year since then, so why they're still sitting on the restored version of the first movie is beyond me. Maybe they were hoping that the sixth film would get fast-tracked and maybe release it then.

Damn, I wish I'd known about that. I'll never get to see it in 35mm, and Die Hard in 4K would be something. I'm sure it'll get a release of some kind, doing the 4K master must have been expensive to do, not releasing it would be stupid. I thought they were saving up for a triple dip too (maybe with the R cut of 4 as well), but you're probably right that they're waiting for the inevitable sixth film. I watched that again with my friends recently. You forget how good the original film is after all these years.

Is it just the episodes, or does it have the TV films as well? I can see that. It getting released in the US, but it's odd that it'd come out in Spain before the UK. Wonderful series until towards the end.

The set's page on Blu-ray.com says it has everything, including the movies. There's also a topic on their forums with members posting their impressions of the set. Mine hasn't arrived in the mail yet so I can't speak for it.

It's funny, Jeremy Brett was at different times the best and worst Sherlock Holmes. He had such a "the show must go on" attitude that he insisted on continuing to work no matter how bad his health got, but someone really should have told him to just go the fuck home. It resulted in some awful performances and it practically killed him.

Another funny thing about the show is that it's so widely praised for sticking close to the original stories and criticized whenever it strays, but my favorite episodes were the ones in which the writers added and expanded. "The Dying Detective" and The Master Blackmailer are great stuff, superior to their source material I'd argue.

The Visitor

Only 7 days after getting the ship notice, my first set of discs came in from Amazon UK. Decently packed too- which was a concern based on how they tend to pack multiple items stateside.

Looks like I wasn't done afterall. Taking advantage of the Eureka sale while it lasts...

I have that copy of Lifeboat and it is excellent!

Hard to pass up a steelbook for a great movie for $17 shipped- though I may have wished I'd gotten it from Amazon. The Cleopatra steelbook in the order yesterday was still in it's Eureka cardboard shipping box inside the Amazon box with the other discs. I was worried about it getting dinged or scuffed being jostled around, but there was no chance of that whatsoever.
My first steelbook and I'm finding myself lusting after a bunch more now.

That Jaws one was a beaut.

  

Just scooped this up since both Herzog boxed sets coming later on this year do not contain every single Herzog film.

Great flick. I have this BD.