Best of the Best
The Seventh Seal: The Criterion Collection
I've never seen a print of Bergman's best-known work, and have since ever subsisted on the original Criterion DVD. The thick, inky blacks and stark whites have never been as splendid as presented here.
Best of the Best
Last Year at Marienbad: The Criterion Collection
When I reviewed this back in July, I was sent the DVD, which looked just fine. I've since gone on and purchased the Blu-ray on my own and am satisfied putting it in the same field as the other Criterion successes on this list.
Best of the Best
Wages of Fear: The Criterion Collection
This is lovely and deserving of the not-so-grainy acclaim given to it by Jeff last year.
Best of the Best
The 400 Blows: The Criterion Collection
I would love to see the rest of the "Antoine Doinel" films released at this quality. I long-considered picking up that box set, and would gladly get them one at a time if they need to spread them out.
Best of the Best
The Third Man: The Criterion Collection
At my own peril, considering my editor's unending hatred for this transfer, this is one of the creme de la creme of vintage B&W masters. The wide gap between Jeff's take on it and many other, myself included, is puzzling to me. As I said in the Blu Controversies and Fiascos post:
"I can't defend what Jeff saw on his display, but I can disagree as to who is to blame for his experience and that of others. I'm not alone in defending Third Man, but I am trying to come at it from a more reasonable stance than those treating him like an unknowledgeable jerk (which he's absolutely not). None of us are the bad guy. As usual, the consumer is the one getting screwed over."
"The enemy is not one side or the other, but HDTV and blu player manufacturers who didn't standardize any sort of auto-equalizer for different types of content. There are newer sets that do this auto-calibration, like the HG10 series, but the feature should be industry-wide. You really have to be an obsessive tinkerer with some sort of formalized training in HD monitor calibration to get good separate presets for everything from B&W to Technicolor to modern content. As we see more B&W titles hit Blu-ray, we'll inevitably continue to have a lot to argue about in this regard."
Best of the Best
The General
From a brief review I posted last year:
"It's definitely the best home version of the movie I've watched. The depth of detail throughout the portions I've watched are up there with WB's new Wizard of Oz 8K transfer, aside from some scratches and dirt. The additional visual data make the picture appear close to three dimensions deep."
Gojira
From a Disc Roundup back in September:
"After a great deal of comparison watching, the new Blu-ray offers a great deal more clarity than what is to be assumed going from DVD to Blu-ray. The image is not particularly grainy, not so much due to DNR, but the fact that the existing elements are far from perfect. Some may instinctively leap to complain about picture quality as they did on the DVD, but this is about as good (if not better) than release prints came out thanks to scratches and dirt that were on the original soft-emulsion negative before and after adding optical effects. Cutting rooms were notoriously difficult to keep clean, and when you mix the wear and tear adding "analog" effects can add, this is really what the best restoration prints of Gojira look like."
The Diary of Anne Frank
This is the cleanest and most crisp (but grainy) transfer of a classic movie that birthed the Holocaust Oscar Movie genre.
It's a Wonderful Life
From my review:
"...includes the colorized version on a separate Blu-ray disc, so I thankfully never have to touch it. The original trailer is included in the best shape possible, and as has often been the case on catalog titles, it's a great comparative piece to how lovely and sumptuous with detail the Blu-ray picture is. It, like Gump, includes a $10 rebate for owners of previous DVD editions. This is a wise move for studios that want people to switch to Blu-ray."
Clerks
From my review of the Kevin Smith Collection set:
"The transfer is actually an improvement over the DVD, so the joke about "how is Clerks going to look better in 1080p?" is misguided to say the least. The previous discs suffer from lack of contrast that the Blu-ray has in spades. The most important thing is to make sure your monitor is calibrated for black & white picture with lots (and lots) of grain."
The Highly-Regarded But Unseen:
Raging Bull, Repulsion, Wings of Desire, A Christmas Carol
Discs of the Year is a look back at the year in disc releases and trends, from the best to the worst.