When I heard Hamlet was coming to Blu-ray, I was immediately asking myself whether it’d be Kenneth Branagh’s version or Mel Gibson’s… or perhaps Ethan Hawke’s modern telling. I was surprised to find that the first Hamlet to get the Blu-ray treatment was none of the above, but rather a screen adaptation of a recent stage version starring David Tennant and Patrick Stewart. How does this modern retelling of the classic Shakespeare play hold up to previous incarnations?

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When I first saw the new artwork for the Blu-ray of Near Dark it was reminiscent of a certain vampire romance saga that is currently sweeping the nation… I was immediately taken back, I began questioning my memory. When I first saw Near Dark all those years ago, it wasn’t some sappy romantic vampire film… It was a dark and awesome. Read the full story

The Montreux Jazz Festival is arguably the finest music festival in the world. It has always been a dream of mine to attend the festival and hopefully, one day, I will be able to do so. However, with Blu-ray, with its high definition picture and lossless multichannel audio capabilities, we now have the technology that can transport us to a concert venue without us ever having to leave the couch. How successful this experience is in our home depends, in part, on the quality of the video and audio on a given disc, which can vary widely from release to release. The question to be answered today is how successful Eagle Vision’s Carlos Santana Presents Blues at Montreux 2004 is in being able to transport us to Montreux. The short answer, pretty darn good. Read the full story

There is no doubt that Quincy Jones is a giant in the world of music, from his early days as a jazz musician and bandleader to his latter career as a record producer. In addition to many decades, his career in music spans all musical genres from jazz to pop, soul, R&B, classical and the blues. His signature is almost everywhere including being the producer of Michael Jackson’s greatest solo recordings, including the Thriller album, which in this writer’s opinion is the very best sounding pop album ever produced, due, in large measure, to Quincy Jones efforts. As he approached his 75th birthday, it was appropriate that a concert be scheduled to celebrate his long and distinguished musical career. I can think of no better place for that concert to occur than Montreux, Switzerland, home of the universally renowned, Montreux Jazz Festival. Read the full story

I must say, it is a great time to be a music lover. While the recording industry overall is in the doldrums, especially CD sales, the advent of high definition and the lossless audio codecs supported by Blu-ray really provide for the first time, the ability to bring the complete live concert experience into the home via the home theater. Fortunately, we are seeing more and more classic artists taking advantage of all the benefits that the Blu-ray disc format brings to the table both visually and sonically. The latest example is the John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers and Friends Blu-ray release featuring Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor and Chris Barber from Eagle Rock Entertainment, which is a real crowd pleaser. Read the full story

Reviews of concert discs are a funny creature.  Music is much easier to be pre-judgmental about than a certain film genre.  For instance, someone who isn’t crazy about dramas is still more likely to watch a drama than someone who dislikes classical music would be to watch an Andre Rieu concert.  Make sense?  Good.  Moving onward, I am more than happy to review the Blu-ray of my favorite music artist, Dave Matthews, and a good friend of his, guitarist extraordinaire, Tim Reynolds.  Read the full story

I love a good argument. In fact, I argue for a living. In addition to the usual subjects that are great fodder for argument and debate is music. Do you like Jazz, Rock, hip-hop, etc.? The way I look at it, there are just two types of music. Good and bad which is always a matter of personal preference.  One of the signs you are experiencing some great music is when you lose control over one of your feet, which begins to tap seemingly on its own to the beat of the music. Once your head begins to swing from side to side, you have hit pay dirt as you are listing not only to good music but great music. Read the full story

OK, I will admit it up front. I am a Chris Botti fan. I first heard his music several years ago but didn’t get pulled into his music until the release of the Chris Botti: Live With Orchestra and Special Guests on Blu-ray back in 2007. That release featured top flight musicianship and excellent audio although the video was a bit disappointing. Even though it was clear from the outset that Mr. Botti had total control over his instrument, I was struck by the incredible tone he was able to generate on his instrument on that BD release. Read the full story