Why do I always save the Shelf Space Awards ‘til the last minute. I know I’m going to do them every month. I could say it’s because I haven’t gotten all the Blu-rays for the month in yet, but that’s not true. I usually get them early. But the beginning of July reminded me that another round of Shelf Space Awards are due. I did have to rely on secondhand accounts for a couple of Awards, but for most of the categories I had plenty of strong contenders. Be sure to cycle all the way until the end for my wild card pick this month!
And the Winners Are…
Fred Topel is a staff writer at CraveOnline and the man behind Best Episode Ever and The Shelf Space Awards. Follow him on Twitter at @FredTopel.
The Shelf Space Awards: June 2014
-
Best New Blu-ray
The Grand Budapest Hotel is not the best movie that came out on Blu-ray this month. That would be The Lego Movie. But it is the most interesting movie to watch on Blu-ray. Wes Anderson combined aspect ratios from full widescreen to old school full frame and a few in between. The movie even opens with instructions to set your monitor to 16 x 9. I thought that was just Anderson taking a stand against uncalibrated HDTV, but I can only imagine how messed up the movie would look stretched out or zoomed in by technically unsavvy viewers. The images are so beautiful they look like they should be in 3D, and the trademark Wes Anderson color palette is as vibrant as ever.
-
Worst New Blu-ray
You’re in luck, Winter’s Tale. While you lived up to your notorious reputation, you at least look like an actual movie. Two other new release Blu-rays can’t even claim that much. I saw Almost Human at TIFF where I wrote it off as first time filmmakers and didn’t even review it. Now that it’s been distributed by IFC it has to answer for its shoddy filmmaking and horrible characters, even by low budget horror standards. And Walk of Shame, poor Elizabeth Banks. As producer I’m sure she meant to do a Bridesmaids-y female raunch-com, but it’s demeaning, not funny, and so sloppily put together that Kevin Nealon’s helicopter pilot character changes shirts three times in a single scene.
-
Best Catalogue Blu-ray
I’m afraid I didn’t really get any Catalog Blu-rays this month, so I’ll have to go by other accounts for this. Reviews of the two new Spike Lee Joints collections all confirm that the transfers are stellar, making note that all films were filmed prior to the digital revolution and make the upgrade to Blu-ray nicely, complete with intentional grain where appropriate. Vol. 1 contains He Got Game and 25th Hour, 2 has Summer of Sam and Miracle at St. Anna, all with new Spike Lee commentaries.
-
Worst Catalogue Blu-ray
To be fair, I did not have four hours to watch this fourth version of Oliver Stone’s Alexander the Great epic. I wasn’t even that hard on the theatrical cut. I thought it was fine, which certainly wasn’t what Stone was going for, but I didn’t feel the subsequent Director’s Cut and Final Cut improved it at all. So, sorry, I can’t. This isn’t Blade Runner.
-
Best Foreign Blu-ray
I watched Capital earlier this year for an interview with Costa-Gavras. The exotic world of international finance makes a strong Blu-ray presentation as well. The film maintains an overcast aesthetic, no matter what brightness modes you set your TV to, like a sterile corporate boardroom even if you’re in Paris.
-
Best TV on Blu-ray
CBS Home Entertainment has been meticulously restoring “Star Trek: The Next Generation” to Blu-ray. This means re-assembling the edits from original film negatives and reconstructing the visual effects for every episode. By season six, they’ve gotten even better at it. I feel there are still areas on the Enterprise that look a little noisier with static than others, but it’s been significantly minimized. It creates a more consistent look all around, and the new effects are glorious.
-
Best Cover Art
The “Everything Is Awesome” Edition comes in a fun clear plastic case with a large scale Emmet emblazoned within, and a LEGO sized Vitruvius action figure. It actually goes against the idea of saving shelf space, since it’s easily the size of four or five slim Blu-rays, but I’ll make an exception for The LEGO Movie. It includes all three versions of the film: 3D Blur-ray, 2D Blu-ray and DVD. Four if you count the digital copy. I reviewed the Blu-ray version in full.
-
Worst Cover Art
While Shout! Factory/Scream Factory can usually be counted on for cool new impressions on classic movies, their re-release of Ravenous lacks inspiration. It’s really a floating head Photoshop job that makes even the ambiguous theatrical release art seem preferable. I didn’t check out this Blu-ray myself, but if a picture’s worth 1000 words, that cover art looks like it’s not exactly the crown jewel in the Scream Factory collection.
-
Wild Card of the Month
I don’t have anywhere else to put this. It’s not quite the best new release, but Joe is an exquisite high def visual experience in its own right. The backwoods of Austin are presented in crisp detail. It’s a grizzled world of manual labor and the characters and settings look grizzled in HD. For Nicolas Cage’s return to grounded, real world acting, the real world has never looked so beautifully stark.
