Happy Easter, with eggs, and bunnies, and Jesus, and all that.
OK, so your friendly neighborhood format neutral buyer decided to pick up a title he already had on HD-DVD just to do some comparisons, but also to cover my bases in the event that one format suddenly tanks. So when I got Superman Returns, aside from not having a lossless track, the picture seems a little bit on the blandish side. In the interest of full disclosure, I haven’t seen the HD version in awhile, but seriously, I hope that there…are some better dinners to the table, you know?
In other news, Universal has quietly decided to re-do their combo discs as HD only for whatever reason. It doesn’t apply to discs that are just came out (like The Good Shepherd), only to existing stuff. We’ll see what the logic is behind this one of these days. In disc release news, Letters From Iwo Jima is confirmed for both next-gen platforms to an already crowded 5/22 street date. Both platforms have VC-1 transfers and Dolby TrueHD soundtracks. I’m presuming the TrueHD on Blu-ray is a first, so you Blu-ray exclusive buyers will enjoy it. In Blu exclusive titles, Seven Years in Tibet and Cruel Intentions will be released by Sony on 6/12, and HD-DVD exclusive buyers will see Breach come out on 6/5, while The Bourne Identity reveals itself on 7/24. On titles for this week’s docket, format neutral buyers have their choice of Dog Day Afternoon, A Scanner Darkly and the Director’s Cut of Payback.
As always high definers, so until next time, keep the brightness low and the resolution high!
