Who's idea was this...

My next rant is as follows. I picked up The Dark Knight on Blu-Ray for 20 bucks and was absolutely appalled and what I soon discovered. The transfer was the expected 2.39:1 aspect ratio (anamorphic widescreen), which then BLEW INTO 1.78:1 (full frame on a widescreen TV) on certain shots that were filmed with an IMAX CAMERA... These rude, distracting cuts completely ruined this sitting for me and after seeing the stunning resolution IMAX shots they made the rest of the film look grainy and almost like the difference between DVD and Blu-Ray in comparison. (Yes I'm blowing this slightly out of proportion but how can you watch a film which looks fucking amazing one second then sub-par the next??). Considering only a few scenes were shot with the uber-high-res IMAX film stock, it feels almost like a gimmick to drag people to the cinema and pay more for a ticket... I saw this for the first time in a regular cinema and didn't notice these cuts, which is likely a testament to the fact that films really need to be seen on the big screen, but if your film was too dear to make ALL on IMAX, Mr. Nolan, just film it NORMALLY and retain some sort of consistency! Especially considering your film will have to live on MUCH longer in homes... I'm not even sure if I can propose a solution... Perhaps having two versions on the Blu-Ray/DVD, one with cropped IMAX scenes which naturally may ruin their impact but will please purists like me who don't like their scope to be consistently fucked with... That is all...

Where The Wild Things Aren't

I had frighteningly high hopes for Spike Jonze's Where The Wild Things Are. Jonze is one of my favourite directors and as far as I'm concerned every film he's been part of (Jackass is not a real film) has been stellar. This, however, was a complete letdown. Personally I don't feel parents should take their kids to see this but I have read that some kids connected with Max's desire to escape and enjoyed it thoroughly. Perhaps my upbringing was different! To say the film bored me might be an insult (although I do appreciate how difficult it would be to adapt a very short book into a feature length film) but to be honest not much happened, Max didn't really seem to learn anything from his little trip, the characters who were supposedly just manifestations of his psyche were uninteresting, and James Gandolfini's voice as one of the monsters was fairly distracting. OK I may not have understood the film. Shame on me... Especially considering the source material... Just be aware this film has divided critics and viewers and I would be hard pressed to recommend!

The Godf- I'll be sick of typing that soon so I'll just stop

I have recently been brave enough to expand my film collection by buying Blu-Rays. No, I am not re-buying films I already own on DVD, that would be insane (well actually I did buy Fight Club and Terminator 2), I am however buying new films (or at least new transfers =p) which will add to my collection as opposed to simply double it up. One of the best transfers currently available is the Godfather Trilogy which is unfortunately still being sold as 'The Coppola Restoration' just as the DVD set a few years back (which I'm sure has detracted potential buyers from upgrading), but is actually a brand new transfer and is really quite stunning considering the age of the film.

Now, I must begin any praise of these films with a little background story. I had not seen any of the Godfather Trilogy until around 2005. I dredged through the first, and turned off the second half way through. By that point in my life I had read so much about these films and seen so many parodies and borrowings that every scene felt like a cliche and I lost interest in the overall story. It slowly became hard to ignore the fact that almost every top 100 or top 20 film list include either the first or both first and second parts, so I went out and just bought all three, banking heavily on my increased open-mindedness (in film anyway). After watching only 10 minutes of The Godfather, I realised what I had been missing... It is a near perfect film in every possible way and the only reason for it to not be on any film lover's top-whatever list is the subject matter which is perfectly understandable. I really don't feel it necessary to delve into any sort of review, I just wanted to plug the Blu-Ray. (No I'm not getting payed to say this and I resent the accusation).