I’ve been working on this piece in various capacities, tempos, and formulae, since January 2012. “But…it’s been 2013 for four months now!” you cry. “Best Of List Articles should be finished within the year they’re written about or as insanely quickly afterward as is possible!”

Welcome to “as insanely quickly afterward as is possible”.

Compiling a list like this one is not as simple for me as scribbling off 10-25 numbers on a dry erase board and throwing titles at it to see what sticks, and then spending a couple of hours writing capsule reviews for each. Let me pause a moment to clarify: this is not simply a list, it’s a collection of a few lists.

I've looked at loads of "Best of 2012 Blu-rays" lists around the web (some posted as recently as the end of March). I found them all lacking as a thorough or comprehensive-enough reference point. Go look around the web. Most of them are under 1000 words and read like something designed to butter up to their favorite labels or publicists. I don't find pieces like that very helpful.

At first, I set out to write a shorter version of this for myself. It mutated into its current form where, at just over 13,000 words, it includes a healthy dose of pondering and analyzing the Blu-ray market itself. I added in pushing movies that readers may have not had on their radar nor knew were on Blu-ray in the first place.

 

Please click on the links of individual titles if you choose to buy through Amazon. Doing so helps make this column and articles like this one possible. I've listed the usual/reasonable prices of different discs and sets for all individual honorees so that you have a barometer of what really constitutes a "deal". These are also listed to reflect where pricing is across the board (aka still too high).

Lawrence of Arabia

"If you've never seen Lawrence, you're missing out on one of the greatest case studies for why Blu-ray is an important format."

Criterion's Brief Encounter

An early 2012 release from Criterion, the story packed into the sleeves of David Lean Directs Noël Coward is masterfully composed and told.

Criterion's The Game

David Fincher's 1997 thriller has finally seen the HD light of day it deserves, adding long-OOP laserdisc extras to a little bit of new stuff and an outstanding transfer.

David watching Lawrence of Arabia in Prometheus

Charles de Lauzirizka's three-hour-plus documentary, Furious Gods: The Making of Prometheus, is worth the price of purchase even if you hated the movie.

Studio Ghibli's Grave of the Fireflies

Don't mind the washed-out color of the cover art: the disc is gorgeous, and features a new English dub if you care about those.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1