Just when you thought it was safe to watch a blu-ray...

Last week saw the release of quite possibly my favourite Steven Spielberg movie, Jaws. Hopes were very high that this release would get the treatment it deserved and boy did it ever!  This is the best Jaws has and probably ever will ever look  The transfer is mind blowing in how much it adds to the movie going experience and the soundtrack make-over is just as good as the picture!

The release in Australia is a wonderful digibook with some interesting pictures and info included in the book. Here is a preview of a few pages:

Of course Jaws has been released to home video in many variations over the course of the years.... I personally have owned at least 4 copies on VHS, the Signature Collection Laserdisc and 3 separate DVD releases.  I also have the UK steelbook blu-ray on order so that will make 2 blu-ray copies as well! As well as owning the actual film, I have on occasion spent up on Jaws Memorabilia... some of which I will share below for you!

 Signature Collection Front & Back (Above)

 Signature Collection Contents (Above)

 Region 1 DTS Release & 30th Anniversary DVD Release (Above 1st Line)

Jaws paperback, Jaws BFI Classics & The Jaws Log paperback (Above 2nd Line)

Jaws Pressbook - features cast & crew information, plot synopsis and advertising supplements. (Above)

 Jaws Video Game (Above)

 Neon Magazine (Jaws is No 1 on the list of 100 films!)

And what Jaws collection would be complete without an all-singing all-dancing shark on a mount!

Singing Jaws (Above)

I was going to upload a video of the above, but if you search Youtube for singing Jaws you will find one easily enough! (Of course!)

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)

Whilst not an unoriginal idea, this film fails purely in application.  The acting is rubbish, the dialog should have been shot at birth and the over abundant use of "bullet time" slow motion just makes the length of the film all the more painful. It only goes for one hundred and five minutes.

We are set up to believe that Abe's Mother was killed by vampire and plantation owner Jack Barts, A number of years after her death Abe seeks Barts out and during a momentary lapse of  revenge he himself is saved from an untimely fate by vampire killer Henry Sturges.  Sturges takes Abe under his wing and teaches him how to fight and kill those nasty creatures of the night, that incidentally somehow now walk in the day and can only be killed by silver... (thought that was werewolves, but anyways).  he is told that he should not make friends or family and yet he meets Mary Todd who creates his exception to the rule.  He is also told about Adam, the creator of all vampires and the one he must seek out to destroy if he wishes to rid the United States of its vampire scourge.

I went into Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter with some hope for entertainment, instead I actually wish I had chosen to see The Sapphires instead...  which is a shame as I think director Timur Bekmambetov has an amazing visual talent, and this film is very visual, it is just everything else that doesn't work and basically hasn't worked for him since he has been Hollywoodized.

Goodies Galore!

Well this has been a busy time for collecting and it isn't going to slow down either.... we have some massive releases here in Australia over the next month with numerous metal slips, steelbooks and digibooks announced... not sure my bank balance will be able to cope!!

Here though, we have some new additions to my Blu-ray collection.  First up, the next wave of Studio Ghibli titles including my all time favourite My Neighbor Totoro!  Grave of the Fireflies was also released and whilst I was looking at getting the limited edition, in the end I went with the separate releases. They both also came with a picnic/play mat!

 

I also picked up The Aristocats from Amazon UK, as I have mentioned on here previously this is one of my favourite Disney films and I am so glad to finally have it on Blu-ray!

Whilst I know a fancy limited edition of Blade Runner is on its way, and I would usually jump at the option of having an LE to add to the collection, this set was simply to good to pass on at the princely sum of $20

One of the better sci-fi films of the last few years, Cargo, whilst a little predictable is still quite a ride and this German release has a pretty decent transfer and a great DTS-HD audio track!

And last, but by no means least, the 60th Anniversary Edition of Singin in the Rain arrived yesterday! Housed in a box not dissimilar to Casablanca and Gone With the Wind the set features 3 Discs, a Book, an Umbrella and a set of lobby poster reproductions:

 

 So there you go... the latest movies in the collection... sadly my extended edition of Margaret still hasn't materialized yet (despite being sent 2 weeks before Singin in the Rain), but hopefully that will get here this week!