In Contention

Dear Santa…

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I’ve been a good less obnoxious than usual boy this year. And if you’re a devoted reader of our site, you might know that “Gone With the Wind” is my favorite film of all time.

Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind

Since it’s kind of your job to keep abreast of potential gift solutions, you are doubtless aware that the 1939 Oscar champ film has been magnificently cleaned up and remastered for its BluRay release. Perhaps you read Jeff Wells’s piece calling it “the most beautifully rendered old-time Technicolor film I’ve ever seen on a high-def system,” or perhaps you simply gawked at the stills from DVD Beaver’s review here.

You’re a busy man, and I don’t want to waste your time. So if you could just send a copy of said BluRay my way on December 25 (coupled with, perhaps, a BluRay player to watch it on), it’d be appreciated. Cheers.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Guy Lodge

Comments

16 responses to “Dear Santa…”

  1. James D. Avatar

    What kind of cinephile does not have his own Blu-Ray player? Next you are going to tell us you don’t have a 1080p television.

  2. Guy Lodge Avatar

    Uh, a cinephile without money?

  3. JAB Avatar

    i’m in the same boat Guy.

  4. James D. Avatar

    If I were you I would squeeze Kris for more money, then. I could never go back to standard.

  5. Speaking English Avatar
    Speaking English

    Same. Still got an old CRT with VCR installed. Only a DVD player in tow. No 1080p. No 720 either.

  6. Erik Avatar
    Erik

    i NEARLY won a BluRay home cinema DTS thingy with a 1080p 40 inch tv earlier this year with a predict-the-oscars contest. I got all but 2 of the categories right (granted, they didn’t include the short film categories, which I can only guess at every year). I have since come to resent the Academy for not giving both sound oscars to the Dark Knight and not giving best foreign language film to the Class. I lost to someone who got only 1 category wrong. In fact, i should have asked for a recount! Oh well, i already had a good tv anyways.

  7. adelutza Avatar
    adelutza

    God, I have pre-ordered this some time ago! Looking forward to Tuesday!

  8. Glenn Avatar

    Yeah, Blu Ray is for people who have money to spend.

    I saw this yesterday and my god they look amazing. Just stunning. What a movie, too! Although I imagine that if it were made today then it’d go down with a thud (or at least indifference).

  9. aspect ratio Avatar
    aspect ratio

    I finally made the switch to Blu-ray a month ago, I bought a no-frills Philips player for about $90 at a sale and it’s just awesome. I paid more four years ago for my previous DVD player!

    Yes, it’s certainly more expensive if you like to buy movies, but I’d rather buy two movies on Blu-ray than three on standard DVD. Also, if you’re mostly a renter it’s definitely worth it just to be able to rent Blu-ray discs.

  10. Encore Entertainment Avatar

    “Uh, a cinephile without money?”: Exactly!

    Guy, I did not know this…Anyhow, I always see Gone With the Wind as one part bright and the other part dark. I’m biased to the first [and very bright part]. It’s all good…but which do you rather?

  11. Jonathan Spuij Avatar

    This new blu-ray is the reason I’d concider buying the whole system with a player and new tv. Those captures simply look stunning. It’s also gonna be one of the first things I’ll buy when I do get a player.

  12. Alex Avatar

    WOW, my favorite movie ever too :D

  13. Paolo Avatar
    Paolo

    I just realized that as a “big fan” of the movie, I can’t remember the scene where she wore that blue and white ensemble. I suck.

  14. aspect ratio Avatar
    aspect ratio

    Old movies are simply amazing on Blu-ray. The increased in quality from standard DVDs to Blu-ray is all the more significant when it comes to old movies, when properly restored.

    Just recently they’ve released The Wizard of Oz and North by Northwest (and soon Gone with the Wind), and one can imagine they might never have looked as good as that, not even when they were first released in theaters.

    You can easily pick up a no-frills but fully functional player for $100-150 these days, and it won’t surprise me if there will be a lot of offers for sub-$100 players over the holiday season.

  15. billybil Avatar
    billybil

    And I still can’t think of a more “appealing” role for an actress to play than Scarlett? It has got to be the absolute summit of roles and I just can’t believe how incredibly perfect Vivien Leigh was in the part! And how truly gorgeous she was in the portion of the film in which she wore the blue and white as well as that stunning red dress for Melanie’s party. What a role! What a movie! And what an actress! I can’t even get much enjoyment of trying to think of other actresses to play the part because Leigh was so good. Even gorgeous Elizabeth Taylor would not have been fierce enough and Bette Davis was just a tad too crazy in the eyes and…well, you get the picture. I do think it’s a shame Streep never got to do a similar role – I suppose PLENTY had some of the fire and OUT OF AFRICA was supposed to be similar but her character, although spirited, was just too good to be truly great. Ah well…

  16. Michael Avatar
    Michael

    I love the fact that Gone With The Wind is your favorite film of all time, Guy. It says a lot about the quality of the film that it can be loved by people all around the world and not just us good ole southerners from the USA. I hope Santa grants your wish this year b/c you have certainly been a good blogger and that has to count for something right? ;-)