15 December 2008

Article: Bottle Rocket


As I seem to have been chronicling the various articles of note concerning both Criterion's new Blu-ray series and its Bottle Rocket (1996) release, here is another to add to the set, an article from the Times about both débuts, the most charming snippet of which is replicated here, below:

“Bottle Rocket” is being released both in a standard-definition version and in Blu-ray, part of the first batch of Criterion titles in the new high-definition format. This is a moment that videophiles have been waiting for, and the new discs don’t disappoint.

The Blu-ray of “Bottle Rocket” shows a better color balance and far more vividly rendered textures than Criterion’s standard-definition disc (much less the now ancient Sony edition of “Bottle Rocket” from 1998), and the increased storage capacity of Blu-ray allows for a very generous selection of extras to be included on a single disc. The most intriguing of these (also part of the standard-definition version, though on a separate disc) is the original black-and-white short “Bottle Rocket,” which was screened at Sundance and eventually attracted the attention of the producer James L. Brooks, who shepherded the feature version into existence. ("New DVDs: 'Bottle Rocket'" by Kehr, 2008).

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