The most surprising Oscar winner for Best Picture in decades, Crash (Lionsgate; Movie •••½, Picture/Sound •••½, Extras ••½) has a couple of secret weapons that quietly recommended it to members of the Academy. First, it captures the true look and feel of Los Angeles, where the majority of Oscar voters live.
The greatest kaleidoscopic experience without the benefit of hallucinogens, the terrific six-disc Busby Berkeley Collection (Warner; Movies ••••½, Picture/Sound ••••½, Extras ••••) has five of the choreography genius's best-known works: Gold Diggers of 1933, Footlight Parade (1933), Dames (1934), Gold Diggers of 1935
David Lean's 1970 epic Ryan's Daughter (Warner; Movie •••½, Picture/Sound ••••, Extras ••••) gets the grand treatment in this two-disc special edition. Sourced from restored 65mm picture elements, the 2.2:1 transfer is consistently crisp, revealing every crag in stone houses.
My month-old laserdisc player blog ( <a href="http://blog.ultimateavmag.com/fredmanteghian/things040806/" target=new> Things To Do with Your Laser Disc Player When You're Dead </a>) is still generating traffic as recently as yesterday. Thanks for your comments. It's nice to know I'm not alone in the Ether(net).
