One of the best movies of 1999 and easily one of the ten best of the decade is coming out on Blu-ray today. I’m quite excited to say that PT Anderson’s masterpiece Magnolia is out today. All of his films are masterpieces, but this one in particular. When I first saw it, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Upon repeated viewings in the last 10 years, it’s continued to wow me and offer increasing layers of depth and complication to the story. Budget-tron once said that he can easily judge people based on their opinion of Shaun of the Dead, and while I think that’s also true, I think it’s true in the case of Magnolia, too. If you don’t like it, I’m going to assume something is wrong with you. Don’t take it personally, it’s just the truth.
It’s also important to note that Boogie Nights was released in Blu-ray also. While this film is a masterpiece, it’s just slightly not as good as Magnolia to me. That being said, it is a perfect 10.
Next we have Steven Soderbergh’s Che, out from the Criterion Collection on Blu-ray and DVD. I’ve been mulling over this disc for the last week and I have to say that the transfer is amazing. Soderbergh set out to make a film that looked and felt period, almost as though it was shot on period cameras and broadcast on television and it never seems more crisp or apparent than on this Blu-ray transfer of the film. Now for me to finish watching it. The film is divided into two 130 minute parts and I’ve made it through one so far. Now I need to get through the rest. Expect a full review soon.
The last thing I will mention is the Blu-ray/DVD flipper disc set of the Jason Bourne saga. I think this is a great idea and one that will yield the industry a lot of money if they embrace it quickly, but this takes all of the guess work out of the format wars for people. And for people still on the edge of converting, it gives them a reason to convert faster. I really liked the first movie in this series and the second gave me motion sickness. I haven’t seen the third yet, but I think I might watch all three of these with this release and let you know what I thought. And give a side-by-side comparison of the DVD/Blu-ray since I’ll have them both.