Automata - Title

Automata – iTunes HD Review

Automata is a science-fiction thriller starring Antonio Banderas, available on iTunes in HD right now, and since it’s not available on Blu-ray yet, I thought I’d give it a review. Directed by Gabe Ibáñez, Automata is based on a script he co-wrote with Igor Legarreta and Javier Sánchez Donate. Made on a shoe-string 15 million dollar budget, Automata tells the story of beaten-down insurance agent Jacq’s (Antonio Banderas) quest to explain-away why his companies robots have been breaching their prime directive not to self-modify. Interestingly the film has been given an almost parallel theatrical and digital release on iTunes, which I always appreciate, since it’s increasingly difficult to get to the theater.

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Spirited Away - Blu-ray

Spirited Away – Japanese Blu-ray Review

Spirited Away, in my opinion at least, is Hayao Miyazaki’s magnum opus, and having only been released on Japanese Blu-ray a few months back, I decided to give it a quick review. ‘Spirited Away’ (千と千尋の神隠し ‘Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi’) was released in 2001 to universal critical and commercial success. A heroes-journey tale of a timid girl whose family is sucked into a magical world, where she must struggle to save both herself and her parents. The original Japanese (and other Asian-region) DVD releases had several issues most noticeably a strong red/pink tint, as well as window-boxing the image substantially on all four sides. The US DVD release largely addressed these issues, although the image was a little red.

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