This Week On DVD and Blu-ray: March 31, 2009

March 31, 2009

By Brad Brevet

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As I am typing this up I am completing my tour of the five most recent James Bond Blu-rays released last week. I have already watched Goldfinger, Moonraker, The World is Not Enough and Quantum of Solace and I am watching Never Say Never Again for the first time with plans of watching Thunderball immediately afterward. I am sure many of you know the story and why I will be watching Thunderball, but for those that don’t, stay tuned as it will certainly be part of my Bond Blu-ray Round-Up Part Two. If you missed the first one you can read it here.

As for what else is on my plate I just received the new Blu-ray copy of No Country for Old Men as well as Doubt. I am also interested in taking a peek at Cecil B. DeMille’s Cleopatra, which just arrived on DVD along with a collection of six films as part of Universal’s Pre-Code Hollywood Backlot series. Universal also sent over the Blu-ray for The Tale of Despereaux, but I am not too sure how interested I am in checking it out.

Last week I rented Europa and Kagemusha from NetFlix, a pair of films from Lars von Trier and Akira Kurosawa I definitely recommend everyone check out. I would actually consider buying both of them if I didn’t think they would soon end up as Blu-ray releases from Criterion… I need to get in touch with some of the head honchos over there and discuss how they make their selections.

As for this week’s releases we have the Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire, a couple of lesser known Criterion releases and a host of other roundabout releases including Riddick’s first appearance on Blu-ray. Let’s get into it.