DVD/Blu-Ray Christmas Haul

I got some grand DVDs for Xmas this year -- my girl somehow managed to afford getting me the Criterion editions of THE SEVENTH SEAL, M, and VAMPYR, which made me SO happy! (A sidenote: Criterions are a million times more expensive in Canada than they are apparently in the States -- they tend to start at $80 and go up).

My parents got me FLEISCHER STUDIOS' POPEYE THE SAILOR VOL. 1, which means a lot to me because my grandfather (who passed in June) and I used to watch Popeye cartoons together when I was little.

From a friend I got the Swedish MILLENIUM TRILOGY box set.

How about you guys? What home video (HD or otherwise) discs did you get?

I got The King's Speech on blu ray and The Phantom Of The Opera 25th Anniversary Stage Edition as gifts from somebody. And today, with some Christmas money, I bought Schindler's List, The Young Lions and The Fugitive Kind on DVD.

Conan the Barbarian (2011) bluray 2D/3D - DVD set

Daughter 1 - season 2 & 3 Buffy the Vampire sayer
Daughter 2 - 4x Pirates of the Carabean & Willy Wonka (all containing 1 J. Depp)

Together they got Merlin Season 2 (BBC series)

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

(A sidenote: Criterions are a million times more expensive in Canada than they are apparently in the States -- they tend to start at $80 and go up).

Holy fcuk! You can't order from Amazon and have it shipped across the border? I'm gonna have to start a new life as a Criterion smuggler into Canada.

I didn't get anything really from my family for Christmas because I just got an inheritance anyway. I bought for myself SUSPIRIA and SISTERS (Criterion). SISTERS was 17 bucks.

Geez, Sykes. I usually get Criterion Blu-ray for 30.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Holy fcuk! You can't order from Amazon and have it shipped across the border?

No, you can...

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_18/182-9338450-7709640?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+seventh+seal+criterion&x=0&y=0&sprefix=the+seventh+seal+c

I didn't get any DVD for Christmas..... :(

Got RIFIFI on Blu-ray. Very pleased, since I've been getting into Dassin big time.

Louis Armstrong wrote:

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Holy fcuk! You can't order from Amazon and have it shipped across the border?

No, you can...

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_18/182-9338450-7709640?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+seventh+seal+criterion&x=0&y=0&sprefix=the+seventh+seal+c

I figure Canadians should be able to.

I'm in Canada and I order from Amazon.com all the time.

Got a few Blu-rays of Hitch and Once Upon A Time In The West a few days ago for Xmas.

I got BLUE VELVET on Blu-Ray, MY FAIR LADY, DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, Seasons 2-4 of MAD MEN, FOLLIES IN CONCERT, and MYSTERIES OF LISBON (well, it was pre-ordered, at any rate).

THE FRENCH CONNECTION and THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW.

Harmsway wrote:

I got BLUE VELVET on Blu-Ray,

Can't wait to dig into those 50 minutes of footage. Gotta be in the right mood to jump into BLUE VELVET, though.

Leone's Dollars trilogy on BD. Strangely enough, the first two look better than TGTBATU.

I've gotta say, THE FRENCH CONNECTION's got spanking good special features. A commentary with Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider, one with Bill Friedkin, Friedkin telling us how he does the colour timing approach (uses MOBY DICK as an example of the desaturated pastel look he's after), an interview with Hackman on Doyle, and a special by John Burlingame on Don Ellis's avant garde score. I really wasn't aware of how cutting edge it was, and still is to this day. The score uses quartertones heavily. i.e. the clashing chords in the main title are played by 6 trumpets - 3 regular and 3 detuned by a quartone, peppered with woodwind chirps, deep synth drones and a battery of percussion. The "umbrella" chase music uses 9 double basses (the largest number used for any film score) playing quartertones, the cue following the drug-fitted car to the warehouse is a string quartet amplified and given delay, and the Don Ellis himself plays the quartertone trumpet he ordered to be made specifically for this film, using an extra valve. Very impressive, just wish the score score could also be restored or re-recorded. The current sound quality doesn't do it justice.

With some vouchers I bought:

DVD:
Cold Mountain
Memoirs of a Geisha
Last Night
Silk

Blu-ray:
The Thin Red Line
No Country For Old Men
La Vie En Rose
North By Northwest