What's Your Blu?

With the release of Star Wars on blu-ray DVD just a month away my brain began to turn.

I have yet to jump onto the blu-ray bandwagon yet. I am sure I will in the future (if it remains that long), but so far I have not really had a reason - or the means - to purchase a blu-ray player.

There is one thing that appeals to me about this type of player - and that is that it sort of goes parallel. Unlike new technology of the past (read VHS/Beta) this move will still allow you to play your old DVDs.

When I made the jump from VHS to DVD 10 or 11 years ago, it took me quite a long time get all of my VHS tapes on DVD. Once I made the jump it made VHS obsolete to me - I can't even remember the last time I watched a VHS tape.

So, that is the good news. Once I do make the jump there is no reason to run out and buy a bunch of blu-ray DVDs that I already have on DVD. The old ones will still work. Which is exciting.

This sort of takes the same route that some of the new gaming systems have taken of late. By not allowing people to play their old games on the new consoles - it sort of penalizes someone for being loyal to a console maker. By making older games playable on the new consoles - it gives people a reason to make the switch and stay loyal.

So, the main reason that my mind began flowing was this: What movies out there would you absolutely have to make the switch from DVD to blu-ray?

A few jumped out to me.

Obviously, Star Wars. I have probably purchased these movies a handful of times already. I believe I owned three different versions of the original trilogy on VHS, plus I owned the Episode I on VHS before finally making the switch to DVD, which I own all six now.

Second, Back to the Future. I remember when it finally came out on DVD as a trilogy purchase how excited I was. It is one of the most iconic trilogies for me. It is an absolute upgrade for me.

Third, Indiana Jones. I know I am probably being obvious on these first three selections, but they are pretty obvious to me. I got the original trilogy on VHS and then quickly turned that around to the DVD trilogy - which I completed with the purchase of Crystal Skull.

Fourth, Toy Story. I am sorry, but the Pixar trilogy is one of my top set of films of all time. I would definitely need to upgrade these films.

Finally, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. This film has been my all-time favorite film since I saw it as a kid. There is something about it that draws me in every time I see it. Of course I would need to upgrade my all-time favorite film.

So - I turn the microphone to you. What films would you absolutely need (or already have) to upgrade from DVD to blu-ray?

Desert Island - Movie Soundtrack

OK. So I saw this on a few of my fellow bloggers' sites and I thought it was such a fun idea that I had to give it a try. And man was it hard. In fact, if I did this again next week I could very well have a whole new list. But, after my initial pass these are the ones that I have chosen.

Castor at Anomalous Material has given a set of parameters. A plane goes down and you are on a deserted island. In this case, what 12 songs (and those songs must be included in a soundtrack) would you bring with you to listen to on a continuous loop.

So, I began thinking. And a lot of different things popped into my head. First was, find your favorite groups or singers and figure out which soundtracks they belong to. Second, what songs resonate with you thanks to their inclusion in a film.

Well, these are the 12 that I came up with.

1) The Tragically Hip - Ahead By A Century

-Found on the Jumper soundtrack, The Tragically Hip have been my favorite band since I was in high school. Living in a small town just south of Canada, these Canadian musicians really had an influence on my teenage years and have continued to be a part of my life ever since.

2) Guster - What You Wish For

-Found on the Life as a House soundtrack, Guster is another of my favorite bands. I was introduced to them by my then friend and no current wife. They have sort of become a staple in our household and we continue to see them whenever possible.

3) Our Lady Peace - Life

-Found on the Men With Brooms soundtrack, I came across Our Lady Peace (another Canadian band) a little later than my other two favorite bands, but have come to love them all about the same. I realized that I had actually been listening to them for awhile, but didn't know who they were - now one of my top three bands.

4) The Clarks - Let It Go

-Found on the Summer Catch soundtrack, I was born in Pittsburgh, but moved away when I was eight years old. I returned to my birth city for college and discovered a local band doing pretty well for itself - and I have been following them ever since.

5) Gene Wilder - Pure Imagination

-Found on the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory soundtrack, my all-time favorite movie and besides The Candy Man, probably the most iconic song in the film. I had to include at least one song from this amazing film.

6) Soggy Bottom Boys - Man of Constant Sorrow

-Found on O Brother, Where Art Though soundtrack, the song that became a sensation throughout the film actually became a pretty big sensation outside of the film as well. The funniest parts are Clooney and his gang singing the words of the Soggy Bottom Boys.

7) Kermit the Frog - Rainbow Connection

-Found on The Muppet Movie soundtrack, definitely brings me back to my childhood and love of the Muppets. My son has slowly gotten into these movies and has these songs in his iPod. Just a great song - probably the best by a frog.

8) Wailing Souls - Wild Wild Life

-Found on the Cool Runnings soundtrack, this song definitely reminds me of this great film. It truly fits the movie of the first Jamaican bobsled team to compete in the Olympics.

9) Frou Frou - Let Go

-Found on the Garden State soundtrack, a film that is truly known for its soundtrack this Frou Frou song has always stuck out to me and compliments the film very well.

10) Linkin Park - What I've Done

-Found on the Transformers soundtrack, when I first heard the song it really jumped out and me and although it is probably overplayed by now it still is a great song that really fit into the movie well.

11) Citizen Cope - Let the Drummer Kick

-Found on the Accepted soundtrack, one of the best films ever that my wife and I have to watch at least once a month. This song - besides the amazing You Think We Suck - is probably the song that resonates the most for me from the film.

12) The Wallflowers - Heroes

-Found on the Godzilla soundtrack, but I would technically be including it from The Replacements. The original song was used in the film, but for some reason they used another artist on the actual soundtrack.

Well, there is my 12-track deserted island CD. Like I said, if I made this list a month later it might be a little different - and I am sure I missed a ton of great songs that I will find late on, but for now, at this moment, this is my list.

12 Movie Meme

So, while I was away on vacation Nick at Random Ramblings of a Demented Doorknob tagged me for a 12 Movie Meme blog. The idea came from Piper at Lazy Eye Theatre, who then chose five others to participate, including Fletch at Blog Cabins, who then tagged five more, including R2D2, who tagged me.

Apparently, I am supposed to act as if I am in charge of a movie theater for a six-day period. In those six days, I am to play 12 movies in total. Here are the 'guidelines'.

1) Choose 12 Films to be featured. They could be random selections or part of a greater theme. Whatever you want.

2) Explain why you chose the films.

3) Link back to Lazy Eye Theatre so I can have hundreds of links and I can take those links and spread them all out on the bed and then roll around in them.

4) The people selected then have to turn around and select 5 more people.

So, I have given it some thought and did a little bit of a theme night. Here are my picks:

Monday: College Night

The greatest college movie of all-time Animal House, must launch this six-day film fest. That film would be followed by what I would consider the best college film of the 2000's, Accepted. Each film is based around a single incident, and the characters from the lead all the way through the background, each give the movie something special.

Tuesday: Family Night

Tuesday will kick-off with one of the greatest films ever made, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. That will be followed by The Wizard of Oz, the mack-daddy of fairy tale stories.

Wednesday: Disaster Night

Wednesday a couple of disaster movies will be shown. The first follows a group of tornado chasers as they search for the true reasoning for a tornado in Twister. 1998 gave us a pair of comet-to-end-the-world movies in Armageddon and Deep Impact. Armegeddon received most of the notoriety due to its stars, but Deep Impact gave a more believable scenario and is my choice to wrap up Disaster Night.

Thursday: Heist Night

I have become a huge fan of the heist films when done correctly. When a group goes in to do a job with their brains instead of their fists. In both The Italian Job and Ocean's 11 the 'thieves' are always two-steps ahead of their victims - and showing exactly how they were able to get away with it is always a fun and exhilarating journey.

Friday: War Night

The Great Escape is not your typical war movie, as there isn't very many scenes that actually deal with the war. For most of the movie, a group of POW's are trying to figure out how to escape from their prison. In Saving Private Ryan, again the focus isn't on the war, but you see a whole lot of it - and in probably the most realistic view of war ever seen in film.

Saturday: Psychological Thriller Night

To complete my six-day film festival I wanted to leave the audience thinking. I enjoy films where you have to follow every last detail of the movie to understand the ending, and The Sixth Sense and The Game are both perfect examples of that. If film is supposed to be art, than each and every aspect of it should be important - and with these two they are.

So there they are, my six-day film festival. Obviously, I would have a ton more choices - I could have a year-long festival I am sure - but I feel this event would be pretty successful.

Due to my not being a full-fledged movie blog site, and that most of the blogs that I read have already done this, I am only tagging one person: Aimee at The Refutation Process. Give it a whirl, it should be fun.