{"id":66957,"date":"2014-12-15T06:00:03","date_gmt":"2014-12-15T14:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/?p=66957"},"modified":"2015-03-17T12:13:43","modified_gmt":"2015-03-17T19:13:43","slug":"bluray-highlights-dec-14-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/bluray-highlights-dec-14-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Blu-ray Highlights: Week of December 14th, 2014 &#8211; Gnarly, Dude"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last week brought us the Blu-ray release of one of the most popular and well-liked movies of the year. This week\u2026 doesn&#8217;t. But it has Michael Bay&#8217;s latest attempt to cynically exploit a 1980s children&#8217;s property. So there&#8217;s that.<br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<div id=\"polls-612\" class=\"wp-polls\">\n\t<form id=\"polls_form_612\" class=\"wp-polls-form\" action=\"\/blog\/index.php\" method=\"post\">\n\t\t<p style=\"display: none;\"><input type=\"hidden\" id=\"poll_612_nonce\" name=\"wp-polls-nonce\" value=\"d3a824d103\" \/><\/p>\n\t\t<p style=\"display: none;\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"poll_id\" value=\"612\" \/><\/p>\n\t\t<p style=\"display: none;\"><input type=\"hidden\" id=\"poll_multiple_ans_612\" name=\"poll_multiple_ans_612\" value=\"26\" \/><\/p>\n\t\t<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Which Blu-rays Interest You This Week (12\/16\/14)?<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"polls-612-ans\" class=\"wp-polls-ans\"><ul class=\"wp-polls-ul\">\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8518\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8518\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8518\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/13619\/theambitionofodanobunacompletecollection.html\">The Ambition of Oda Nobuna: Complete Collection<\/a>' (Sentai Filmworks)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8519\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8519\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8519\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/13737\/atthedevilsdoor.html\">At the Devil's Door<\/a>' (MPI)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8520\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8520\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8520\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/15569\/batmanthecompleteseriesstandardedition.html\">Batman: The Complete Series (Standard Edition)<\/a>' (Warner Brothers)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8521\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8521\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8521\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/15351\/certainmagicalindexiiseason2part2.html\">Certain Magical Index II: Season 2, Part 2<\/a>' (FUNimation)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8522\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8522\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8522\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/13560\/cowboybebopthecompleteseries.html\">Cowboy Bebop: The Complete Series<\/a>' (FUNimation)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8523\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8523\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8523\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/13556\/cowboybebopthecompleteseries.html\">Cowboy Bebop: The Complete Series (Amazon Exclusive Edition)<\/a>' (FUNimation)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8524\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8524\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8524\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/13620\/detroitmetalcity2008.html\">Detroit Metal City (2008)<\/a>' (Sentai Filmworks)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8525\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8525\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8525\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/14001\/30for30fifthanniversarycollection.html\">ESPN Films: 30 for 30 Five-Year Anniversary Collection<\/a>' (ESPN Films)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8526\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8526\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8526\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/13551\/extantseason1.html\">Extant: Season 1<\/a>' (Paramount)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8527\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8527\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8527\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/13625\/hidamarisketchsp.html\">Hidamari Sketch Sp<\/a>' (Sentai Filmworks)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8528\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8528\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8528\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/13553\/intrudersseason1.html\">Intruders: Season 1<\/a>' (BBC)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8529\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8529\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8529\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/9180\/hair_death.html\">The Long Hair of Death<\/a>' (RaroVideo)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8530\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8530\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8530\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/10854\/lord_illusions_ce.html\">Lord of Illusions: Collector's Edition<\/a>' (Scream Factory)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8531\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8531\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8531\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/13927\/magicinthemoonlight.html\">Magic in the Moonlight<\/a>' (Sony)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8532\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8532\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8532\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/14778\/themazerunner.html\">The Maze Runner<\/a>' (20th Century Fox)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8533\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8533\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8533\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/13623\/okamikakushimasqueofthewolf.html\">Okamikakushi: Masque of the Wolf<\/a>' (Sentai Filmworks)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8534\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8534\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8534\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/16166\/sciencelessfiction.html\">Scienceless Fiction<\/a>' (Bill Zebub)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8535\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8535\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8535\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/14428\/theskeletontwins.html\">The Skeleton Twins<\/a>' (Lionsgate)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8536\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8536\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8536\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/16168\/stonehearstasylum.html\">Stonehearst Asylum<\/a>' (Millennium)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8537\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8537\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8537\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/13353\/teenagemutantninjaturtles2014.html\">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)<\/a>' (Paramount)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8538\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8538\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8538\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/13354\/teenagemutantninjaturtles20143d.html\">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - 3D (2014)<\/a>' (Paramount)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8539\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8539\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8539\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/13355\/teenagemutantninjaturtles20143d2.html\">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - 3D (2014) (Amazon Exclusive)<\/a>' (Paramount)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8540\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8540\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8540\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/14637\/thisiswhereileaveyou.html\">This Is Where I Leave You<\/a>' (Warner Brothers)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8541\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8541\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8541\">'<a href=\"http:\/\/bluray.highdefdigest.com\/13468\/tootsie.html\">Tootsie<\/a>' (Criterion)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8542\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8542\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8542\">Other (Tell us in the Comments)<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<li><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"poll-answer-8543\" name=\"poll_612\" value=\"8543\" \/> <label for=\"poll-answer-8543\">Nothing for me this week<\/label><\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><input type=\"button\" name=\"vote\" value=\"   Vote   \" class=\"Buttons\" onclick=\"poll_vote(612);\" \/><\/p><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"#ViewPollResults\" onclick=\"poll_result(612); return false;\" title=\"View Results Of This Poll\">View Results<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n\t<\/form>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"polls-612-loading\" class=\"wp-polls-loading\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-polls\/images\/loading.gif\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading ...\" title=\"Loading ...\" class=\"wp-polls-image\" \/>&nbsp;Loading ...<\/div>\n\n<h2>New Releases<\/h2>\n<p>&#8216;<strong>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles<\/strong>&#8216; \u2013 Michael Bay may not have directed this one himself (acting as producer, he handed directing duties to Jonathan Liebesman), but the movie has his stamp all over it, especially in the way the title characters have been made into beefier, uglier versions of their original selves for no reason. I won&#8217;t pretend to be a &#8216;Ninja Turtles&#8217; superfan, but I watched a fair amount of the old cartoon series in the &#8217;80s and kind of liked the 2007 &#8216;TMNT&#8217; animated movie. Although I can&#8217;t bring myself to get worked up about Bay ruining another cherished piece of my childhood, this new live-action reboot still looks\u2026 ugh. Just ugh. Will 3D help? Probably not. The Dolby Atmos track, on the other hand, may be more enticing.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;<strong>The Maze Runner<\/strong>&#8216; \u2013 Here&#8217;s another YA adaptation set in a dystopian future where young kids are forced to compete in a deadly contest. Since even the original book was published after the first &#8216;Hunger Games&#8217; novel, I feel pretty comfortable calling this a &#8216;Hunger Games&#8217; knockoff.  Produced for a low budget with a no-name cast, the movie actually made some decent money, especially overseas. A sequel is in the works. Nothing about this interests me, except that a small number of theaters played the movie earlier this year in a gimmicky <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/behind-screen\/how-maze-runner-barcos-new-728641?\">super-ultra-wraparound-widescreen format called Escape<\/a>, which the Blu-ray will certainly not attempt to replicate. <\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wt-video aligncenter\" width=\"560\" height=\"420\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Hqbn-7kJGj0?wmode=transparent\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p>&#8216;<strong>Magic in the Moonlight<\/strong>&#8216; \u2013 At 79-years-old, Woody Allen is still cranking out one new film a year. Lately, he seems to have fallen into a rhythm where he alternates between good movies and duds every other year. In 2013, he gave us the acclaimed &#8216;Blue Jasmine&#8217;, so it shouldn&#8217;t be too surprising that his latest effort, a period comedy with Colin Firth as a stage magician and Emma Stone as the fake psychic he&#8217;s trying to debunk, would be widely panned. Better luck next year, Woody.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;<strong>The Skeleton Twins<\/strong>&#8216; \u2013 Former &#8216;SNL&#8217; castmates Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader play siblings from a dysfunctional family in an indie dramedy that reportedly hits on just about every trope for such things, but is largely redeemed by the performances.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;<strong>This Is Where I Leave You<\/strong>&#8216; \u2013 Tina Fey and Jason Bateman play siblings from a dysfunctional family in an indie dramedy that reportedly hits on just about every trope for such things, and is not redeemed by much of anything. <\/p>\n<h2>Catalog Titles<\/h2>\n<p>The Criterion Collection released Sydney Pollack&#8217;s terrific cross-dressing comedy &#8216;<strong>Tootsie<\/strong>&#8216; on Laserdisc back in 1993, but couldn&#8217;t get the rights for DVD until now. The title finally re-enters the Collection on both DVD and Blu-ray (in separate editions) today. <\/p>\n<p>As a follow-up to its release of &#8216;Nightbreed&#8217; back in October, Scream Factory gives us Clive Barker&#8217;s &#8216;<strong>Lord of Illusions<\/strong>&#8216; on Blu-ray now. The film is both Barker&#8217;s most ambitious but also probably the weakest of his three directorial features. Scott Bakula is terribly miscast in the lead, which makes it particularly strange that Barker claims he loved the actor so much in the role that he wrote later depictions of the character in his novels based on Bakula&#8217;s performance. <\/p>\n<h2>Television<\/h2>\n<p>TV offerings this week include the first season (shockingly, it <em>has<\/em> been renewed for a second) of CBS&#8217; laughably awful sci-fi drama &#8216;<strong>Extant<\/strong>&#8216;, as well as BBC America&#8217;s unwatchably dull and confusing &#8216;<strong>Intruders<\/strong>&#8216;.<\/p>\n<p>Just last month, Warner Bros. released the campy 1960s &#8216;<strong>Batman<\/strong>&#8216; TV series on Blu-ray in an expensive, oversized Limited Edition box set. Barely five weeks later, the studio has already reissued it in standard packaging without the toy car or other physical swag. At current street prices, the Standard Edition is actually slightly more expensive than the Limited Edition, but that will hopefully change eventually. I&#8217;m not certain whether Warner has already issued corrected discs (as it promised to) for the episodes missing small pieces of footage, or if this new box set will still have the problem until an exchange program can be worked out.<\/p>\n<p>I may not know anything about modern anime, but even I know that the space Western &#8216;<strong>Cowboy Bebop<\/strong>&#8216; is a classic that&#8217;s frequently hailed as one of the greatest anime series of all time.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>Going on my wish list this week are &#8216;Tootsie&#8217;, &#8216;Lord of Illusions&#8217; and &#8216;Cowboy Bebop&#8217;. What about yours?<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week brought us the Blu-ray release of one of the most popular and well-liked movies of the year. This week\u2026 doesn&#8217;t. But it has Michael Bay&#8217;s latest attempt to cynically exploit a 1980s children&#8217;s property. So there&#8217;s that.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_excerpt -->","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":66960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[140],"tags":[707,67,6375,7520,3200,666,5111,7508,7589,7861,7543,7663,194,7639,6000,7662,5317],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66957"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66957"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68904,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66957\/revisions\/68904"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}