New to Blu: March 14-20, Part Two

If Game of Thrones or the latest in The Twilight Saga don’t spin your wheels in a week congested with top titles, opt for the chic crime thriller Drive.

“I can only name a few titles in my collection off the top of my head that also look this amazing.”

“The grain structure is very pleasant and film-like while the contrast is deep enough (maybe too deep for some) to show off image detail perfectly.

“Blacks are completely solid while the rest of the colour palette is quite vivid and lush … an immaculate presentation in every regard.”

However, while acknowledging the movie’s stylistic flourishes, a British critic took issue with “some unsightly artefacts which pop up throughout the film …

“They undermine what is otherwise a very competent video presentation.”

Also new are Contagion, TT3D: Closer to the Edge, In Time and Midnight in Paris.

“Contagion is not a film filled with dynamic visuals. There are some but this is more the evolution of an epidemic with strong emphasis on the storyline. We are never distracted by superfluous eye-candy, hence the modest bitrate is not detrimental to the 1.78:1 presentation.”

“Shot digitally with Red One cameras, director/cinematographer Steven Soderbergh maintains a cold, clinical and at times, sickly appearance that leaves one ill at ease as the world the characters inhabit deteriorates.”

“The Blu-ray of TT3D: Closer to the Edge comes with the 2D and 3D versions on one disc, both versions are framed at 1.85:1 and the 2D version has an AVC encode whilst the 3D version has a MVC encode.

“Whilst both transfers are excellent, since this documentary was shot in native 3D, that is the preferred viewing format.

“It was actually shot using two Red One cameras and the disc is a direct digital transfer, as a result the image is beautifully clean with lots of detail and almost no grain.”

“Captured in high definition on the Arri Alexa, In Time comes to Blu-ray in a beautiful progressive AVC/MPEG-4 1080p encodement from Fox that is clean and artifact-free with extended details, obsidian blacks and nuanced shadow delineation.”

“Detail is strong throughout, even during some of the darker scenes (like when our co-stars taken a naked dip in the ocean), and black levels are consistent and deep. Colours are perfectly saturated, and no digital artifacts mar the image.”

“Midnight in Paris makes its Blu-ray debut via a high quality 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer.

“This one is noticeably warm; flesh tones are hot, and there’s usually a golden/yellow/orange tinge to the entire picture. All colours are influenced, but not to the point that their natural shading is lost.”

“The bitrate is middling and the image quality isn’t about to be considered ‘demo’ but it still supports the film without nagging flaws.”