Month: February 2019

I was thinking long and hard today about whether or not I should give my thoughts on last night’s Oscars.  I haven’t watched any of these awards shows in years.  It’s not that I find them arbitrary.  They serve an actual purpose, not just for entertainment, but for legitimate recognition within the industry.  That being said, I normally don’t pay attention to the Academy Awards, because I often strongly disagree with a lot of the nomination and the selection of the winners.  I understand that the votes are made by “professionals” with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences(AMPAS), but the Academy has had a reputation for mostly ignoring films in certain genres like science fiction, fantasy and horror.  Every once in a while you will see a sci-fi or fantasy film get nominated, but even more rare than that is when a movie in those genres gets an actual award.  Take James Cameron’s Aliens for example.  It actually won two Oscars:  One for Best Visual Effects and one for Sound Effects Editing.  It was also nominated for 5 additional Oscars including Best Actress in a Leading Role, which was Sigourney Weaver.  Another example is The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, which won 11 Oscars including Best Director, Best Picture, Best Music, and Best Film Editing.  I love it when films like these win, because it shows that even fantasy and science fiction can have powerhouse movies that deserve serious recognition.  But aside from maybe a handful of films, the Academy generally only looks at films in the comedy and drama categories.  I wasn’t going to pay attention to anything that the Oscars were nominating for last year, except for the fact that last year had some of the best films in any category.  So, what I’m going to for this post is go over some of the nominations and winners that took home an award last night.  Be aware that I haven’t seen all these movies, so I won’t be commenting on them at all.

Let’s start with Best Song.  The nominees were: “Shallow” from A Star is Born, “All the Stars” from Black Panther, “I’ll Fight” from RBG, “The Place Were Lost Things Go” from Mary Poppins Returns, and “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.  The winner, unsurprisingly to me at least, went to Lady Gaga and “Shallow” from A Star is Born.  This one didn’t surprise me, because it was a damn good song from an excellent film.  A duet with Bradley Cooper, “Shallow” is an incredibly powerful and uplifting song that really defines the relationship between the two lead characters in the film.  I’ve had that song on repeat for quite some time, it’s that good.  I completely underestimated Lady Gaga’s talents as a musician.  That woman is a force to be reckoned with.  She’s definitely got my attention now:

I’m going to briefly discuss Best Actress, as I only saw one movie in the category.  Lady Gaga ultimately didn’t win the nomination, but for someone whose first lead role landed her a nomination, that speaks volumes about Gaga and her talents as an entertainer.  She went above and beyond to play Ally in A Star is Born, going so far as to strip away all the make-up and costumes and reverting to her natural brown hair color.  Lady Gaga just crushed it playing a character that had all but given up on her dreams of being a singer.  Not only that, she had legitimate chemistry with Bradley Cooper, who also starred in and directed the film.  After the first two musical numbers, I fell in love with the movie.  While Lady Gaga is definitely a musician first, I’m going to be paying attention to her acting career as well.  She’s definitely got it where it counts.

I never would have thought it possible for a Marvel film to win any kind of award from the Academy, let alone be nominated, but this surprised the hell out of me.  Last year’s Black Panther was nominated not for one but SEVEN awards, taking home three of them.  This is a huge first for ANY Marvel film, and I’m glad it was Black Panther that secured at least three awards.  What this shows to me is that the Academy is finally opening themselves to see what comic book movies can offer.  Black Panther brought home awards for Best Original Score, Best Production Design, and Best Costume Design.  The costumes in Black Panther are something to behold.  They had done research among the various tribes in Africa and took elements from each tribe to create their own unique look.  The production design on the film was absolutely incredible.  Look at the set designs as well as the weaponry and the city-state of Wakanda.  It blew my mind.  I loved the soundtrack by Ludwig Göransson.  It had a combination of an orchestra as well as various tribal sounds that gave the film its unique identity.  So, kudos to Black Panther.

When it comes to Best Visual Effects, the one that really should have won was Avengers: Infinity War.  The reason that I feel that Avengers should have won is because of how the character Thanos was realized.  Yes, he was a CGI character, but the design of the character was unique and felt like he was lifted straight from the comics.  It certainly doesn’t hurt that Josh Brolin nailed the character to a tee.  The CGI was so damn good, that Thanos looked like a real being, that’s how detailed he is.  If there was a category for Best Character Design, I believe it would’ve gone to this guy:

Now, I want to talk about the movies that were completely snubbed by the Oscars, and I don’t think they should have been.  First off, The Hate U Give is one of the best films of 2018, period.  I get why people were apprehensive about the film as it deals with a very uncomfortable subject matter, but it’s a film that has relevance in today’s society.  Not only that, it also boasts some of the best performances I’ve seen in 2018.  Amandla Stenberg gave one of the best break-out performances I’ve ever seen.  The fact that she wasn’t even nominated is a disgrace, in my opinion.  Russell Hornsby was also NOT nominated.  How The Hate U Give didn’t get a single nomination is beyond my capacity to understand.  Yeah, it was a risky movie, but I felt that it paid off.  Also not nominated was Toni Collette from Hereditary.  On one hand, I kind of figured that she wouldn’t get nominated at all, but it still irks me that she didn’t, because she puts in a powerhouse performance in one of the best horror movies of the decade.  Emily Blunt also got shafted, because her performance in A Quiet Place was just as amazing as Toni Collette’s.

I haven’t commented on films like Bohemian Rhapsody and Green Book, because I haven’t seen them yet.  I plan on it, but I only have so much time in the day and the week to get around to it.  So, with that in mind, what are my final thoughts on the 2019 Oscars?  For me, it’s a bit of a mixed bag, because while some of the winners definitely deserved the award, some didn’t and I feel that there other movies that should have gotten a nomination at least, but didn’t.  It’s one of those things that you can just take or leave.  Ultimately, it still doesn’t change my opinion that these award shows generally don’t get right.  I love it when they do, but I’m not surprised when they don’t.  Ultimately, I prefer to rely on the fans and blogs to deliver their own awards for movies, because it’s the fans that help make these movies as successful as they are.  Another year, another award show.  Those are my thoughts, anyway.  If you have any thoughts of your own, feel free to post them down below as to what movies you think should have won.

Released: October 2018

Director: Bradley Cooper

Rated R

Run Time: 133 Minutes

Distributor: Warner Bros.

Genre: Romance/Drama/Music

Cast:

Lady Gaga: Ally
Bradley Cooper: Jack
Sam Elliott: Bobby
Andrew Dice Clay: Lorenzo
Rafi Gavron: Rez Gavron
Anthony Ramos: Ramon
Dave Chappelle: George ‘Noodles’ Stone

A few days ago, I had a discussion with someone about this website and the kinds of movies that I cover here and ones that I should probably cover.  In case you haven’t noticed, most of the movies that I tend to cover here generally fall into certain genres that I really enjoy: Horror, action, science fiction, and other stuff like that.  Occasionally, I will tackle the odd documentary and drama.  It’s not an easy thing to step out of your comfort zone, especially if you’ve been covering certain kinds of movies for so long.  You know what the funny thing is?  Some of the best things happen when you open yourself up to challenges that you are not used to being in your wheelhouse.  It’s a good thing to be challenged.  It opens up possibilities that you never thought existed.  One of those challenges is Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born.  I’m going to tell you why you should see this movie.

A Star Is Born opens with singer Jackson Maine as he heads to a nearby bar for a drink.  When he shows up he notices a local singer, Ally, performing a song from Edith Piaf.  This catches Jackson’s eye and soon he’s brought back to meet her.  There’s an immediate connection and then we see Jackson actually invite her to one of his performances.  He then brings her on stage to help him sing one of her songs.  After several appearances with Jack she’s noticed by a music producer and her career begins to take off.  Unfortunately, Jack’s past struggles with addiction continue to haunt him and threaten to derail Ally and Jack’s relationship.  This is a love story at its core and while this kind of story has been done many times before, Bradley Cooper manages to infuse this story with a fresh direction and fresh talent.  It’s one of the most engaging and touching stories that I’ve seen a movie in a long time.  While I will touch on the use of music in the film later on in this review, it’s a very important part of the story that helps to bring two lost souls together.  That’s when the magic happens.  It’s such a great story and it’s very well-realized here.

A Star Is Born is one of the most well-acted films that I’ve seen in years.  Bradley Cooper is one of the best actors of his generation.  While he’s usually known for playing comedic roles, his turn as Jack in this film is incredibly.  He infuses the role with a quiet energy and humanity that’s just extraordinary.  When the character in his best moments is someone you can root for, Bradley Cooper also shows the character at some really low points and delivers a performance that is both captivating and heartbreaking.  Sam Elliott turns in one of the best performances of his career as Jack’s brother, Bobby.  I’ve always been a huge fan of Sam’s.  He’s a great actor, but he delivers some of this film’s most powerful moments.  Actors like Andrew Dice Clay and Dave Chappelle are fantastic in this film.  I’ll be truthful:  I’ve underestimated Lady Gaga at almost every turn.  When she first showed up, I didn’t think much of her and her music.  Let me tell you:  Lady Gaga is one of the most talented musicians in the industry, and while I’m not a big fan of her music, she is turning out to be one hell of an actress.  Her turn as Ally is one of the most emotionally engaging and powerful performances I’ve seen in such a long time.  Her chemistry with Bradley Cooper feels authentic and organic, which makes for a film that grabs you.  Seeing Lady Gaga without all her make-up and outrageous outfits allows you to see the person underneath all that.  Gaga brings such a graceful and soulful presence to the character that you just can’t help but fall in love with the character the way that Jack did.

When I said earlier that music was an important part of this film, I meant it.  Bradley Cooper spent months learning how to sing, play the guitar and the piano, and when you see him step out in front of thousands of people in actual concert, he really belts it out.  He wrote the song “Black Eyes” specifically for this movie and wow.  He’s absolutely fantastic.  Lady Gaga was always a talented musician, but I was completely caught off guard by the enormous range that she has as a singer.  This was a film that was written for her, and not only does she deliver the acting chops, but she just crushes it with the music.  The music is an important part of the story in terms of character development and emotional delivery, and when Cooper and Lady Gaga perform duets throughout the film, it is simply magic.  The chemistry between the two allows them to dig deep down and deliver some of the strongest music I’ve ever heard.  The music is so damn good that I ended up buying the soundtrack after I finished watching the movie.  I usually don’t do that right after watching a movie.  That’s how good it is.

The issues that I have with the film are minor nitpicks at best.  The music producer that Ally runs into after one of Jack’s concerts is a bit of a douchebag, and while I can see how that plays into the overall story, I don’t like him at all.  Honestly, that’s really the only gripe that I have with this film.  Bradley Cooper has proven himself to be not only an excellent actor, but a fantastic director as well.  As a first-time director, Cooper just hits it right out of the park, all the while acting and singing in the film.  Some of the most talented people in the industry would have problems doing one or two of those things, but Bradley just goes all in and delivers one of the best movies of 2018.  This is the kind of movie that you would take a date to.  It really is.  It’s romantic, dramatic, and it hits all the right notes, musically and acting-wise.  It’s an emotionally powerful film that takes risks.  I mean, Cooper actually shoots scenes during real live concerts.  You don’t see that happen very often, and actually perform for an audience.  I think A Star Is Born is an absolutely wonderful film that you should check out.  The music is amazing while Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga are captivating.  Sometimes it really DOES pay to step out of your comfort zone, and I’m glad I did.

My Final Recommendation: 9.5/10.  Highly recommended.

Released: November 2018

Director: Julius Avery

Rated R

Run Time: 110 Minutes

Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Genre: Action/War/Horror

Cast:
Jovan Adepo: Boyce
Wyatt Russell: Ford
Mathilde Ollivier: Chloe
Pilou Asbaek: Wafner
John Magaro: Tibbett
Iain De Caestecker: Chase
Jacob Anderson: Dawson

World War II, historically speaking, is one of the most devastating wars fought in history.  It’s one of the most fascinating periods in history, because there was a lot that went on during that war that most people probably wouldn’t understand or dream of.  It was brutal and cost the lives of hundreds of millions of people, both soldiers and civilians.  It is no mistake that when it comes to war movies, World War II is one of the most popular wars to use because there’s a lot of great stories that can be told.  Not just real-life stories, of which there are thousands upon thousands, but also when it comes to fictional stories and movies.  Some of my favorite movies take place during the 30s and 40s:  Raiders of the Lost Ark, Saving Private Ryan, and Hacksaw Ridge just to name a few.  You would think that setting a horror movie during World War II would be easy, considering the actual horrors that took place, but there really aren’t a whole lot of full-fledged horror movies set during this period.  So, J.J. Abrams and director Julius Avery bring us Overlord.

Set just prior to the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944, Overlord follows a small group of American paratroopers as they are forced out of a plane over France due to high amount of flak cannon fire.  Led by Corporal Ford, the soldiers regroup in a nearby village aided by a female French resistance fighter, Chloe.  Their mission: To destroy a communications tower in a nearby church so the invasion of Normandy can begin unhindered.  They begin to discover that the Nazis are doing a lot more than just jamming communications.  It seems the local commander, Wafner, is conducting experiments that have the potential to lead the Nazis to a “thousand-year Reich.”  That’s pretty much the gist of the story.  It’s actually not that bad, but it isn’t the first film where Nazis are tampering with forces they really shouldn’t be messing with.  It is no secret that Hitler and his Nazi thugs had been trying to find really strange ways to win the war, even go so far as to dabble in the occult, so it is no surprise to a lot of people that movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark would have the Nazis scouring the world for religious artifacts exist.  Not a lot of them have a lot of basis in reality, but they make for entertaining reading or watching nonetheless.  As far as Overlord goes, it’s not the most original film of its kind, but the way the story is handled is pretty interesting, but it takes a little too long before the film really embraces its B-movie roots.  It’s a war movie first, horror movie second, and that kind of works against it in a way.

This movie starts off with a bang, literally.  The moment the film opens with part of Eisenhower’s address to the troops, it goes directly to one of the planes carrying the 101st Airborne.  The plane gets wrecked with flak from enemy cannons and tears the plane and soldiers apart.  It’s really intense.  After Boyce lands, it slows a bit to where his platoon are trying to regroup so they can finish their mission.  But as soon as Boyce infiltrates the Nazi base, things really start picking up.  This is a very violent and gory movie.  The war violence is realistic enough, especially when people get shot in the face.  It’s when you get to the underground lab that the film really goes off the rails…in a good way.  The film definitely embraces its bat-shit insanity, but truthfully, I don’t think it goes far enough.  Are the soldiers dealing with zombies?  There’s really no direct answer given for how some of these corpses are reanimated.  We see some of a tar-like substance that seems to be running underneath the church that affects living things in a very….interesting way, but no further explanation is given.  On one hand, I love the mystery of that, but on the other hand, not having an explanation forces to take the film at its word.  The last act of the film is easily the best part of the movie.  It’s just nuts.  Nazi zombies and crazed Nazi commanders just wreck things.  It’s glorious.

Character-wise, these characters aren’t really unique, and are mostly cardboard cutouts.  Don’t get me wrong, the actors really do their damndest to try and make some of these characters relatable, but it’s mostly for naught, with the exception of Boyce, Chloe and Wafner.  Those three characters are the real standouts, and the actors are absolutely fantastic.  Jovan Adepo is really likable as Boyce and he’s kind of the straight-man to everything that’s going on.  Pilou Asbaek almost steals the show as Wafner.  Pilou is good at playing villains, as his turn Euron Greyjoy in Game of Thrones is something to behold.  He really goes all in, and the film is all the better for it.  You can’t really overestimate how evil Nazis are, but Pilou just pulls it off.  Mathilde Ollivier is really strong as Chloe, the only female character in the film, but she holds her own with the boys.  She’s a serious bad-ass a young woman trying to protect her little brother from Wafner’s cruelty.  Wyatt Russell is pretty good as Ford, but the character is kind of a one-note guy and doesn’t really do anything aside from being a hard-ass.  Wyatt, being the son of Kurt Russell, does the best he can with what he’s given, but it’s a role that really could’ve been played by anyone.

The special effects in the film are actually really good.  A lot of the practical effects are enhanced with some CGI to kind of exaggerate some of the wounds and violence, but considering the film’s B-movie nature, I’m not complaining at all.  I prefer practical effects, but having some CGI is not awful.  The practical and make-up effects are pretty top-notch.  The set designs are pretty good as well, with the underground lab looking a lot like what you might expect a hidden Nazi laboratory to look like: Grimy, dirty, and bleak.  Overall, the movie looks pretty good.  That being said, the film plays it a little too safe, as it doesn’t really take advantage of its B-movie nature.  It really needed to go all out in delivering Nazi zombie carnage, but it pulls some punches when it shouldn’t have.  The Nazi zombie carnage that we get is pretty good, as the last act of the film is utterly insane, but more could have been done with this.  It’s not a bad movie, by any means, it’s a solid action and horror flick that gets enough right to make it worth viewing at least once.

My Final Verdict: More Nazi zombie carnage, please! 8/10

In today’s world, digital entertainment has taken a large step towards online streaming.  We have various digital platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Vudu, and other platforms.  It only makes sense as broadband internet has become very widespread across the world.  Some movies and some shows are only available online.  While I can definitely understand that’s where the tech is going, it’s also important to remember where all this comes from.  40-50 years ago, the only way that most people could see a movie was to actually go to the movie theater, other-wise they would have to watch it on TV.  Not many people had access to equipment that could record shows and movies.  In fact, home video wouldn’t become a thing until the mid-70s when Betamax and VHS were introduced.  During the 80s and early 90s, nearly every household in the United States had a VCR in their living room.  In the late 90s, home video would take another huge leap in the digital realm with the advent of Digital Video Discs, or DVDs for short.  I was the first in my family to adopt the new technology with a huge-ass DVD player, but the difference in video and sound quality was night-and-day.  This is also when home theater set-ups would start emerging.  DVD ruled the market until companies Toshiba and Sony would create competing high-definition formats HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.  Ultimately Blu-Ray won out in the end and has since become the standard for high-definition media for movies.  While Blu-Rays are still on the market and probably will be for some time, people are moving away from digital media and going to streaming services.  It’s more convenient and often cheaper than going out and buying a hard-copy of a movie.  I’ll still do it because I’m a collector.  For this post, I’m going to go over some of the best DVD and Blu-Ray collector’s sets.  Be aware that these are the ones that I own.  Another thing is that it’s not necessarily how many movies are in the set, but the quality of the set itself.  Sometimes, it’s just a single film.  Let’s get started shall we?

Army of Darkness 3-Disc Set from Scream Factory

Army of Darkness, being the third entry in the Evil Dead film series, is probably the silliest film of the bunch, but it embraces that B-movie schlock with gusto and it was one of the most entertaining movies I’ve ever seen.  This set from Scream Factory gives us the film on Blu-Ray with not one, not two, not three, but FOUR different versions of the film.  The first version is the theatrical version released in 1992.  The second is the director’s cut which was released in 2001, while an international cut was released about the same time as the US theatrical version.  But the version that surprised me the most at its inclusion is the television cut.  It’s censored the big swear-words by switching them out with something more family-friendly.  It’s displayed in the 4:3 aspect ratio and the video quality is garbage, but it’s such a unique inclusion that I wish more DVD/Blu-Ray editions would include something like that.  There’s also a new feature-length documentary featuring many of the film’s principle cast including Bruce Campbell, Ted Raimi, Marcus Gilbert, Bill Mosely and more.  It’s a pretty extensive set for a movie that has since become a cult classic.  If you are a fan of Army of Darkness and an avid film collector, this is a must-own.

Alien Quadrilogy/Alien Anthology

The Alien films have been among my favorite science fiction films of all time.  The first two films in the series are genuine classics as far as I’m concerned.  Ridley Scott’s Alien is the real deal when it comes to science fiction/horror hybrids.  It’s incredibly well-made and terrifying.  James Cameron’s follow-up is no less amazing, even though the film goes in a different direction.  Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection are often disregarded as the worst in the franchise, but I don’t necessarily agree with that.  Yeah, they’ve definitely got problems, but they’re entertaining in their own right.  What can’t be disputed however, is the treatment that the first four films have gotten on DVD and Blu-Ray.  First with the Quadrilogy set in 2003 and the Blu-Ray Anthology released in 2011.  Each film comes with two different versions on their own disc.  Each film has an extensive documentary detailing the making of the film from pre to post-production as well as audience reception.  There’s a lot more to describe than I can say in a short paragraph, but suffice to say, the Alien Anthology is worth every single penny, regardless of how you may feel about the last two movies in the set.

The Lord of the Rings: Extended Editions

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is among the greatest trilogies ever made.  Peter Jackson did the impossible when he crafted such an incredibly epic and powerful fantasy film series.  6 months after each film was released, and extended version of the film was released on DVD.  Each film had anywhere from 30 minutes up to nearly an hour of additional footage put into the film, expanding on an already enormous universe.  While I personally prefer the theatrical versions of the films, there is no doubt in my mind that these special extended editions are incredibly well-made.  Over 26 hours of content spread across multiple discs was an achievement unlike any other.  While the extended versions of the films are available on Blu-Ray, I actually like the individual film sets a bit better, because each film has 4 discs encased in a book-like case.  Like the Alien Anthology, the Lord of the Rings Trilogy Extended Edition is easily one of the most comprehensive sets ever released.

Hellraiser: Scarlet Box Limited Edition

As a huge fan of horror, Hellraiser is among my favorite franchises in the genre.  While it has seen its ups and downs of the past 30 or so years, the impact that the original Clive Barker film had is inescapable.  Featuring one of the most iconic villains in cinema history, Pinhead has become an icon.  For most people, Hellraiser doesn’t extend beyond the first two or three movies.  I certainly understand why, the quality of the films after the third one have gone steadily gone downhill.  But for those of us still enjoy the first three films, this collector’s set is an absolute most. Released by Arrow Video, The Scarlet Box is easily the most definitive versions of the first three films.  Each film comes with its own mini case and has an additional disc detailing the effects that Clive Barker had on the genre, both in print and on film.  Not only that, the set also comes with a 200 page hardbook detailing writings by Clive Barker as well as a 20 page book featuring concept art that hasn’t been previously released.  Each film has some pretty extensive special features as well, with each film including interviews with principle cast members like Doug Bradley and Ashley Laurence.  This is a set that belongs on the shelf of EVERY fan of horror and Hellraiser.

The James Bond Collector’s Set

While the other sets that I mentioned are nothing short of amazing in their quality, when it comes to quantity, look no further than the James Bond 50th Anniversary Collection.  Holy shit.  This sucker is massive.  Released in 2012, the set included every single official 007 film, which came to a total of 22 at the time.  The set even included a special empty spot for Bond’s 23 outing, Skyfall.  Every Bond film from every era(again, at the time) is included here, with the exception of Never Say Never Again, which was an unofficial James Bond film, and the original Casino Royale from 1967.  In 2012, this was the most complete collection for James Bond fanatics around the world.  To be fair, some of the movies in the set aren’t that great.  I actually hate Moonraker with a passion, but it’s inclusion is still warranted.  If you have a favorite 007 film, it’s here, and each film has a bevy of special features.  This is an absolutely wonderful addition to any film buff’s collection.

James Cameron’s Avatar Collector’s Edition

When it comes to pushing technology in movies, nobody does it quite like James Cameron.  Whether it was The Terminator, The Abyss, or Titanic, Cameron always had a vision for each film that he made.  His 2009 release of Avatar was the culmination of 15 years of work that came to life in 2009.  It was a visually spectacular film with a message that was pretty heavy-handed, but it was such an experience that I couldn’t wait to see it again.  The initial Blu-Ray release was a massive disappointment.  It had no special features of any kind aside from the films themselves.  It was about November of 2010 that audiences would get a serious release of the film in a collector’s edition.  It was worth the wait.  The Collector’s set included not one but three different versions of the film, with the 3-hour extended cut being the most anticipated, because it came with a very different opening sequence.  As with a James Cameron extended film, most of the editions tended to be more character focused and helped flesh out the world of Pandora a little bit more.  With extensive behind-the-scenes footage as well as the entire marketing campaign for the film, it all came together in an attractive little package that opened up like a book.

These aren’t the only collector’s sets I have, but these are the ones that really stand out in terms of content and quality.  Some of them are upwards of a 100 bucks or your regional equivalent, but I assure you, they are worth the entry fee.  People these days are saying that digital media formats like Blu-Ray are on their way out.  Eventually, maybe.  But right now, not so much.  These sets that I mentioned are some of the main reasons why I collect movies.  There are advantages to streaming films and hard formats like DVD and Blu-Ray.  I think both complement each other very well.  I don’t formats like Blu-Ray are going away any time soon, but I could be wrong.  Regardless, these are some of the best collector’s sets available.