Blu-ray in Playboy

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My usual excitement when receiving a new issue of Playboy was increased today when I saw a snippet about Blu Ray! Here's the article:

"Blu Dawn"

It's ok to feel Blu about the next-generation format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray. Since its debut last year, Blu-ray has taken the lead in disc sales, studio support and number of titles. Every BD we tested surpassed its standard DVD cousin with jaw-dropping audio and picture quality. If you have an HDTV and want to test Blu-er waters, here are the 10 best reasons to dive in:

1) Casino Royale
The clarity of the construction-site chase and exotic settings is one reason this Bond em was the first BD to ship 100,000 copies.

2) POTC: COTBP
The disc includes a BD only feature that lets you build your own documentary about real-life pirate lore.

3) POTC: DMC
The high-def interactive pirate game "Liar's Dice" on disc two is BD-exclusive booty.

4) The Departed
This year's Oscar winner for best picture includes deleted scenes with intros by commentary-shy director Martin Scorsese.

5) The Descent
You won't miss any gory details in this spelunking shocker loaded with exhaustive extras, including an HD cave dive.

6) Superman Returns
This BD soars with nearly three hours of in-depth documentaries and 10 additional scenes in HD-all on one disc.

7) Goodfellas
Scorsese's mob classic looks as recent as The Departed thanks to this remastered BD stuffed like a cannoli with extras.

8) Planet Earth
This four-disc set of the acclaimed BBC series feature awesome natural wonders and is simply the best wildlife program ever.

9) The Prestige
With this much picture resolution, you still can't see what tricks are up the sleeves of dueling magicians Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale.

10) Bullitt
The film is almost 40 years old, but its infamous San Francisco car chase has never looked better. Supplements include "Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool."

So, overall a favorable mention. Superman Returns, while I like the movie, wouldn't be in my quality top ten, although the deleted scenes in HD are nice. I coincidentally just rewatched this last night after not having seen it in a few months, and after watching the other 20 some BD's I have, the PQ of Superman Returns kind of sucks ass. Superman The Movie, almost 30 years its senior, looks better. I think a lot of scenes were filmed with muted colors, which doesn't help it, but there is absolutely no fine detail in anyone's face. Weird looking transfer, I wish they'd redo it for the TrueHD/PCM release, but at least we're getting better sound.