Today marks the beginning of a new type of post I’ll be trying to make on this blog. It is called “Running to the Movies” and will hopefully fulfill two purposes. Purpose one is to help me get through the large stacks of DVDs and Blu-ray movies that sit unwatched at my house. Purpose two is to get my lazy ass running on the elliptical and to keep track of time, steps, calories and weight. So without further ado, here is the first of hopefully many posts.

The Last Emperor (1987)
Director:
Bernardo Bertolucci
Starring:
John Lone, Wu Tao, Tijger Tsou, & Richard Vuu as Emperor Pu Yi
Peter O’Toole as Reginald Johnston

Movie Running Time: 165 Minutes (Theatrical Cut)
My Running Time: 150 Minutes
Elliptical Revolutions: 8500 approx.
Calories Burned: 1800 approx.
My Mass: 190 lbs 86.2 Kg

The Last Emperor covers the life of Pu Yi from the time of his gaining the title of Emperor at the age of 3, to his death at the age of 61. The movie deals with both his personal life and political life as Emperor of China, Emperor of Manchuckuo, and as a citizen of the People’s Republic of China. The acting in this film is astounding with Pu Yi being played extremely well by four separate actors bridging the length of his life, as well as a notable performance by Peter O’Toole as Reginald Johnston, an English tutor to the Emperor. This film falls into the category of Docu-Drama, but does not seem to add any unnecessary drama to an already exhilarating set of historical facts.

The edition of the movie I viewed was the Blu-ray edition produced by the Criterion Collection in 2008, which has the 165 minute theatrical cut of the film. It features a flawless director approved high definition transfer, which only adds brilliance to this being the first film allowed to film inside of the Forbidden City. One odd problem I encountered with this film has to do with the audio transfer, though I am unsure if it has to do with my particular home theater setup or the disc itself. While viewing the film I could max the volume on the television and still have difficult hearing portions of the audio track. Outside of the audio volume there was nothing I could possibly imagine complaining about with this edition put forth by the Criterion Collection. Special note should be made to the eco-friendly cardboard packaging used as opposed to the standard plastic cases found with most DVDs and Blu-ray discs.

As usual for a Criterion Collection presentation, the supplemental features set is extremely informative and entertaining. The provided documentaries help explain the background surrounding the history of China during this time period. Additional information is present in regards to the production of the film, which fulfills the unstated mission of the Criterion Collection to provide you not only with a thrilling feature, but also a mini Film School in a box.

For those who already know about and love the Criterion Collection, this movie is an instant buy with no additional thought needed. For those unfamiliar with the content, or the Criterion Collection, this epic film can be a bit daunting and may not warrant ownership or repeat viewing. I leave it up to you to make the best choice. For those who want more information, clicking on the image of the cover will take you to the Criterion Collection listing for this Blu-ray.

I was pleasantly surprised in the last few weeks when opening several newly purchased Blu-ray movies. Upon opening these cases I found that I had in my hands a new type of eco-friendly packaging design I had never seen before in my life.
After some research online, it appears this case is called the Viva Eco-Box, and is also available for DVDs and Video Games. I for one am glad to see this kind of thought being taken in the production of a product that uses wasteful products like plastic. According to the Viva Eco-Box webpage these cases are also 100% recyclable, but there is no exact figure as to the total plastic saved in each case. I would be very interested to find out such a figure if anybody knows.
From the limited use I’ve had so far the case seems to work extremely well. The weight is reduced, but the strength is still present as well as the protective ability of the case. I’ve seen many complaints floating around online about these cases, and I’ve yet to really understand what there is not to like about these cases.
I can only hope that this type of packaging becomes the norm. I also highly encourage you to support the companies that have been willing to embrace this design.

I’d be terrified to total up the amount of Time, Money, Energy, and Gas used in my purchasing and traveling to Ryden’s Border Store in Grand Portage. I mention this as I realize in the next week alone I personally have four packages arriving there. The total value of this trip in particular is in excess of $300 CAN.

1) Absolute Watchmen by Alan Moore
I read this recently, on loan from The BookShelf when it came in in Trade Paperback form. It was a weird read, but not something I didn’t enjoy. I’ve read a small amount of work by Alan Moore, and every time he’s thrown me for a loop, this book being no exception. A review I once read, and totally agree with states that this is a book meant to be digested several times over a large time-span. Having only read it once, I figured for the next 20 reads, why not have it in a beautiful oversize hardcover edition. This edition also features newly recoloured artwork by the original art team, oversized images and plethora of special features. Along with a sewn in bookmark and a cardboard slipcase. In Canada this would retail for over $100, on eBay i got my copy for $50. Currently its sitting on the shelf at Ryden’s just aching to be brought home and read again, and again, and again.

2) All Star Superman Vol 1 by Grand Morrison
This story proved to be one of the most interesting I’ve read in years Comic Book wise. Morrison took the entire sixty odd years of back story and shackles that have been applied to the character of Superman, and threw them right out the window. This story exists in its own little corner of the universe, away from all the trappings of continuity, and coming back from the deadness that has been dragging most Comic Book titles to an early grave. This story features a Superman who is actually dying, and not in some weird shot with a Kryptonite Bullet kind of way. He is a plausible and serious character to read, and the story unfolds as a nearly End of Superman kind of event. I read this series originally in regular issues, and now have sold those on ebay, and upgraded to beautiful Hardcover editions. I already have volume two waiting on my bookshelf at home next to all the other unread graphic novels, but it won’t be going anywhere until this beauty comes home from Ryden’s.

3) Samsung BD-P1500 (see its not all graphic novels)
This beautiful piece of drool worthy tech is my second Blu-ray player. Last year I purchased a Sony PS3 with Ryan, and love the little bugger to pieces. But sadly it does not reside at my house, its at Ryan’s. This isn’t a problem as I spend a Lot of time over there, and get to watch my fair share of stuff on the PS3. But there are plenty of occasions where my taste in movies just doesn’t quite match up with that of my better half. So I do my best not to watch those titles when he isn’t around. The other occasion of conflict is the time I actually spend at my own house in front of the 52″ HDTV there that only has a DVD player hooked up to it. For those occasions I made this purchase for the benefit of not just myself but that of my family too. So I sold what proved to be an DVD recorder worth $130, and some other odds and ends around the house I found while we were moving. After a little ebaying, voila, enough money to fund this purchase, and that of item number 4. This player just recently got a good review from CNET, now that it has been updated several times by Samsung with firmware. All things are looking up for this purchase, so I can’t wait to get it home. My parents are puzzled by it with the question of why buy it when we don’t have any Blu-rays? My thoughts, we don’t have any because we didn’t have the player.

4) HDMI Cable
If I’m going to buy item 3, then obviously this essential piece must be purchased too. Also screw you Future Shop for daring to charge over $50 for an HDMI cable, I got mine for $10 with free shipping online. No reason this stuff should be so expensive, it makes me sick. Also don’t ever buy anything made by Monster Cables. There stuff isn’t any better than the rest of the stuff available cable wise. If I ever find it, I’ll post the link where they had sound experts fail to notice a difference between a stereo wired with Monster Cables, or patched together with plain copper cables and duct-tape type setup.

As you can see, these kind of trips get to have large values and large quantities of items. This one honestly pales in comparison to some previous trips I’ve made. Surprisingly they don’t know me by name there yet, but I doubt I’m the most active customer they have there.
To top all of this off, Ryden’s charges $3 US in handling fees per package when you pick them up. You can’t tell me they don’t make a killing by accepting peoples mail for them. Though slightly more stringent pickup procedures would be nice, as I could waltz in and grab whatever I wanted as long as I know the persons name.
Anywho, I accomplished my goal of making a long, meaningful post that actually has pretty pictures in it. Hope you all enjoyed.

Today, while wondering about on the internet I found a review at one of my local haunts of Batman (1989) on blu-ray. Reading it I realized, I have it written down that that movie doesn’t come out until March 10th in North America. wtf?

So I continue reading, to find out, it’s the UK release, and its Region Free! Now I would have balked back in the DVD days, because just because you can play it here, doesn’t mean it won’t be crap. No longer must I fear, as the stupidity that is NTSC vs PAL is not over. Turns out that there is only 1, yes 1 kind of HD signal in the world, about freaking time. 1080p/24 is the same 1080p/24 EVERYWHERE.

So much to the dismay of my poor little credit card, $54 CAN just went to the monolithic company that is Amazon.co.uk. But the bright side is, these Blu-ray discs come as individual films, so I can own only Batman and Batman Returns, without having to waste money (again) on Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.

Technological progress can be a good thing once in a while, and I’m glad to be up on it, most of the time.

Below are the pretty new covers.