Wilco Strikes Down Blu-ray Release
November 3, 2008

Wilco's anti-Blu-ray rant worked. Last week, Wilco email blasted fans about its rejection of an upcoming Blu-ray rollout of their I Am Trying to Break Your Heart documentary and the release. And one weekend later, the release has been indefinitely benched.
The film's distributor Plexifilm contacted the L.A. Times Pop and Hiss blog to confirm the development.
Plexifilm wants to first convince Wilco about the value of a Blu-ray release before it re-schedules its bow. In its email blast, Wilco didn't think Blu-ray would best play up Break Your Heart's extra grainy shooting style on 16 mm film. Additionally, Wilco band members warned fans about the hefty pricing premium with the format.
But all is not lost for turning Wilco into a Blu-ray supporter. Today on its official Web site, the band explains that this is "not in any way intended to be an indictment of the merits of Blu-ray as a technology." The band just wants the release to be worthy of fans, and among other things, was upset that Break Your Heart's audio wasn't going to be remastered for the expected Nov. 18 Blu-ray launch. 
Blu-ray fans over at Blu-ray.com don't seem much bothered by the dropped Wilco release, with comments noting that the band is not a hit among mainstream consumers anyway. 
In theory, I agree with Wilco that not everything deserves an automatic Blu-ray release. There are just some films that will generate a high-def huh? without the proper restoration or re-mastering. If too many so-so films get out on shelves, distributors risk turning off people all together to the format.

Posted by Susanne Ault on November 3, 2008 | Comments (1)