Blu-ray Movie Reviews

<I>William L. Petersen, Marg Helgenberger, Gary Dourdan, George Eads, Jorja Fox, Eric Szmanda, Robert David Hall, Paul Guilfoyle. Various directors. Aspect ratio: 4:3 (full frame). Dolby Digital 2.0. Six discs. 999 minutes. 2000. Paramount/CBS Video 87165. NR. $89.99.</I>

<I>Jack Nicholson, Kathy Bates, Dermott Mulroney, Hope Davis, June Squibb, Len Cariou, Howard Hessman. Directed by Alexander Payne. Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1, Dolby Surround 2.0 (English). 125 minutes. 2002. Warner Home Video 39524. R. $27.98.</I>

The following reviews appeared as "Reference DVD" features in the Movies section of Sound & Vision. Out of the 22 discs chosen for their exceptional audio and video from September 2000 through July/August 2003, I consider these five the standouts. BLUE CRUSH Universal

<I>Dustin Hoffman, Susan George, Peter Vaughan, T.P. McKenna, Del Henney, David Warner, Jim Norton, Donald Webster, Ken Hutchinson. Directed by Sam Peckinpah. Aspect ratio: 1.78:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital mono. Two discs. 117 minutes. 1971. Criterion 182. NR. $39.95.</I>

<B>Blue (Bleu)</B> <BR> <I>Juliette Binoche, Beno&#238;t R&#233;gent, Charlotte V&#233;ry. 98 minutes. 1993.</I>

<I>Voices of Daveigh Chase, Jason Marsden, Suzanne Pleshette, Michael Chiklis, Lauren Holly, John Ratzenberger, Susan Egan, David Ogden Stiers. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1 (English, Japanese, French, Spanish). Two discs. 132 minutes. 2001. Walt Disney Home Video 04784. PG. $29.99.</I>

Are movies more important than life? Are women magic? These two questions, repeatedly posed in François Truffaut's Day for Night (1973), often seem to be at the heart of French cinema, especially in a big batch of recent DVD releases.