I just saw ____ on HD-DVD and WOW:

Since many of us are buying so many cheap HD-DVD's I figure we should also have a thread where we talk about the handful of them we actually watch from time, and whether we liked the flick/concert/TV show/etc. or not. It's clear that a lot of us buy way more HD-DVD's than we watch (with few exceptions). So here's a place where we can say 'it stunk,' 'it rocked' or simply 'it was OK' about the actual movie, not the deal. Since most HD-DVD's now cost less than a Blockbuster rental fee we can also be honest with ourselves and say whether the movie was worth the cost and effort. I'll start with a few I've watched recently.

I just saw Midnight Run (1988) over the weekend and WOW, it was pretty mediocre. Neither violent-enough or funny-enough to be mentioned in the same breath as Martin Brest's "Beverly Hills Cop." It doesn't help that Danny Elfman delivers an 80's rock soundtrack so generic and filled with punctuations/guitar riffs to highlight the so-called funny moments that during the first half of "Midnight Run" I felt I was watching a movie sitcom. I hated the forced Grodin-DeNiro banter and ridiculous circumstances in George Gallo's screenplay that sent them on their cross-country road trip. At the halfway mark the movie gets better though: Grodin becomes a little more endearing, DeNiro's then-new comedic persona eases up a bit and the action scenes/banter (particularly with John Ashton's rival bounty hunter) get better and better. Some rather unbelievable leaps-of-movie-logic notwithstanding (why doesn't Yaphet Kotto see Walsh and Mardukas from his helicopter when he's surveying the wrecked cop cars just a few yards behind where the duo crashed their car?) and a too-convenient happy ending aside "Midnight Run" is polished-but-still-brain-dead typical 80's buddy formula template material. The high-def transfer is very soft and mediocre for HD-DVD; it only shows its true colors during the nighttime Vegas outdoor scenes (which rock). For less than four bucks though I can't complain I was stiffed because I got exactly that: $4 worth of entertainment... barely!

I just saw Galapagos (2007) and WOW, it was really good. Much better than Disney's "Earth" movie, this 150 min. travelogue about the natural life in Ecuador's coastlines is good enough to have along "PE." Tilda Swinton's narration is better than Sigourney Weaver's for the US version of "Planet Earth" (though not as good as Sir Attenborough's in the BBC version) but it takes a backseat to the stunning high-def photography that shows you little details on turtle shells, lava sparks and water ripples that seem tailor-made for flat screen displays. Nothing original here (just another National Geographic nature special) but a good-looking time capsule of a spot on Earth with unique-enough animal/weather combinations to make me want to schedule my next vacation down in Ecuador. For $9.99 it was money well spent.

Also saw "The Interpreter" recently (last month) on HD-DVD for the first time and liked it with some reservations. Equals parts political thriller and character study between the leads (Kidman and Penn bring their 'A' game to their roles even as the script lets them down), Sydney Pollack's last movie as director is a handsome-looking studio production that feels a tad preachy and short on actual thrills (except for that standout bus sequence, which was scary). Watching the anamorphically shot movie in high-def brings the best from its actual UN locations, which only makes Pollack's plea in a bonus featurette to eliminate full-screen butchering of widescreen movies all the more reasonable. Pollack didn't go out with a directorial bang (the movie is kind-of a dud) but at least he went out classy.

Other HD-DVD's I've seen recently (not recent-enough for a full review) that I only bought because they were cheap: The Untouchables (as an A-to-Z story it's pretty shallow and superficial, but the signature pieces/action scenes and good casting sell it; one of the better-looking catalogue titles on either HD format), Flags of Our Fathers (preachy, clunky and everything that "Letters from Iwo Jima" was but this one can't be: memorable, touching, disturbing and even uplifting; Adam Beach steals the movie), Letters from Iwo Jima (a slightly-flawed but finely-crafted masterpiece; both "Flags" and "Letters" look good in HD but the draining of color from both masters doesn't to the high-def transfer any favors), Bonnie and Clyde (never seen it before and experiencing it for the first time in high-def was a revelation; funny, touching and disturbing in equal measure, this landmark movie is an awesome catalogue title to show-off high-def can enhance the enjoyment of an already-loved classic), Pride & Prejudice (not as good as "Atonement" but a classy cliffnotes version of the classic Austen novel; great visuals, nice camera work and great performance by Keira Knightly) and a couple more that I've forgotten.

I just saw Next (2007) over the weekend and WOW, it sucked. Here's a big-budget action sci-fi flick (loosely based on Philip K. Dick's 'The Golden Man') so enamored with its own CGI-enhanced stunt sequences and/or visualization of lead character Cris Johnson's ability to see two minutes into his own future that it steamrolls over a stellar cast of supporting actors (Peter Falk, José Zúñiga, etc.) to rush to an ending that, while quite clever, feels like one of those great ideas on paper that don't translate as envisioned to the screen. If I had been in a movie theater when the ending of "Next" happened I would have been half-tempted to march to the box office and ask for my money back (something I never even think of). Only Julianne Moore (as a Scully-like FBI agent) completely sells the motivation behind her character's actions like if she actually believes Johnson's future-seeing ability will help her save Los Angeles from nuclear terrorists. Everyone else (Nicolas Cage, Jessica Biel, director Lee Tamahori, etc.) seems to be on auto-pilot and/or thinking about the studio paycheck they'll cash as soon as filming of "Next" wraps up. That Cage's character doesn't care about and is forced to track down the terrorists against his will (not because he wants to help save fellow Americans from being nuked) is another strike against a movie with too many cakes baking in its already overheated boilerplate of a crammed narrative.

For the couple of bucks it cost me though I got a handful of decent action scenes (the log avalanche scene was pretty cool) and some high-def sights of the always-pleasing-to-the-eye Ms. Biel. But man, what a waste of everybody's time (and Paramount's money).

Specific vendors within amazon sell much cheaper than the 'general' price that appears on amazon when you type 'HD-DVD.' Traderbora is such a seller: http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&rs=...RTJ&rh=&page=1. Check out the prices for the "Elizabeth" HD-DVD movies at Traderbora, add shipping and see if it's more within your range. Internet stores like InetVideo (they have an ad running on AVS right now), eBay and a few discount stores around the country is where most of us have been getting out HD-DVD's. Check them out.

They have an ad running on AVS right now. Check around the advertisements when you go around the site.