Birthdays, the Lighthouse and Blu Rays

Well its been a wicked fortnight spent on the one hand celebrating birthdays and on the other battling the stomach bug from hell. Now I would be a lier if I even attempted to claim that this had curtailed my cinema going. It didn't, simple truth of the matter is Rock of Ages was the only new film in town, and to be quite honest it didn't really appeal. But last Saturday was spent celebrating my sons 4th birthday and Thursday my own 46th. 

   Well if you have been a follower of my blog you will know that Birthdays in our household mean a visit to Amazon.co. UK , a time when my wife unleashes the Visa card and sets me loose. As you well know when placed in this intolerable situation I tend towards a mix of the old and the new in the blu ray selection process. So this years official Mark's birthday selection is as follows.

1. The Yellow Submarine, if there is one other love outside of cinema, then it would be for the music of the Beatles. As a young kid in the 70's they were something I grew up with, and became a part of my make up. The Yellow Submarine to a kid brought up on Disney is like a shot of adrenaline , very much a product of its time, and yet timeless due to its wonderful stylistic choices. I already have the DVD but I now have the 4K blu ray restoration. It was the one film I did watch on my birthday and Its never looked better.
2. Transformers 3 The Dark side of the moon. Purchased to show off my 3D set up and because I actually enjoyed this third effort. 
3. X Men complete collection, it was on special and as it had X Men First class and for this reason it jumped to the top of my order along with
4. The Jurassic Park Collection, Spielberg, Dinosaurs, what more can I say. Its not Jaws but that Blu ray is out soon so this will help the wait.
5. Despicable Me 3D what can I say, I love this animated marvel, and its one I can share with my son.
6. The Italian Job, this is the original and in my eyes greatest version. Michael Caine, Benny Hill, Cool Britannia and a brilliant Quincy Jones soundtrack. I've yet to see the Blu Ray but its one I cant wait to hold in my hands and put into the player.

So although my blog has been quiet, my film watching hasn't been. I was even taken aback by the Blu Ray of Highlander which I had been led to believe was barely better than the DVD version. ( Its a lot better, it shows its age, but I was pleasantly surprised). 

    

     But normal service is about to resume, later today I will be taking the family to our local Lighthouse cinema to see Ice Age 4 and then tomorrow I will be taking my wife to see Brave. We would have taken my son but reviews have led me to believe that it might be for a slightly older audience. So watch this space. Also in the next week or so we will have Spiderman and the Darknight films to look forward too.

      But tonight I have something else to look forward too. Rialto film channel is showing Kill List the Ben Wheatly movie which I have been waiting to see for nearly 12 months to see. It didnt get distributed in Wellington so this is my first chance to see it and I'm pretty excited so I might expect my views in the next roundup I post.