Matt Damon Movie:

		List Price: $39.99		Label: Miramax Films Salesrank: 10022 Released: November 17, 2009
		Our Price: $22.48
		Used Price: $24.49
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: Blu-ray

Editorial Review:
CHASING AMY, the third installment in the New Jersey Trilogy from award-winning writer/director Kevin Smith becomes more intimate and alive than ever on Blu-ray. Cult comic-book artist Holden (Ben Affleck) falls in love with fellow artist Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams), only to be thwarted by her sexuality, the disdain of his best friend Banky (Jason Lee) and his own misgivings about himself. Filled with Smith's unique ear for dialogue and insight into relationships, CHASING AMY offers a thoughtful, funny look at how perceptions alter lives, and how obsession and self-doubt skew reality -- now with the pristine picture and theater-quality sound of Blu-ray High Definition.

Bonus Features Include: Audio Commentary With Writer/Director/Actor Kevin Smith And Producer Scott Mosier, Tracing Amy: The CHASING AMY Doc, Was It Something I Said? -- A Conversation With Kevin & Joey, 10 Years Later Q & A -- With Kevin Smith And The Cast, Deleted Scenes, Outtakes, Trailer

Description of Chasing Amy [Blu-ray]:
Writer-director Kevin Smith (Clerks) makes a huge leap in sophistication with this strong story about a comic-book artist (Ben Affleck) who falls in love with a lesbian (Joey Lauren Adams) and actually gets his wish that she love him, too. Their relationship is attacked, however, by his business partner (Jason Lee), who pulls a very unsubtle Iago act to cast doubt over the whole affair. The film has the same sense of insiderness as Clerks--this time, Smith takes us within the arcane, funny world of comic-book cultism--but the themes of jealousy, deceit, and the high price of growing up enough to truly care for someone make this a very satisfying movie. --Tom Keogh

Chasing Amy [Blu-ray] Reviews:
Overpriced Blu-Ray, but the best version available
2009-12-14 - Blu-Ray, done right, will show all the warts of a film. In this case, CHASING AMY was shot on a larger 16mm format called Super16 and then blown up to 35mm. The natural grain of Super16 will be even larger blown up to 35mm and no doubt that some of that natural grain is apparent on this new Blu-Ray. However, Miramax has seen fit to noise reduce the image a bit in an effort to please people who have no clue what grain is and why it is important. The result is a slightly softened look, but one that is noticeably superior to the older DVD releases. I think Miramax would have served this film better had they stayed away from filtering the grain, but at least they didn't overdue it (examples of that are releases such as PATTON, ZULU, PAN'S LABYRINTH, HAIRSPRAY).

That being said, the Canadian release is grainy and looks sharper, but the compression methods are inferior, so grain is reduced to mpeg artifacting and that results in an artificially sharper image. In the end, the Miramax release is the one to buy and we know it won't have a re-release any time soon as this is from a new 2k master supervised by the cinematographer (who admits he has not seen the actual Blu-Ray release. Directors and cinematographers typically approve a transfer, but that transfer can then have the grain reduced or filtered for BD without their knowledge and that happens a lot).

Fans of the film who already own the DVD should upgrade if they have the spare cash and they can get it at the 35%+ discounted price. If money is tight, hold off until the price comes back down. Waiting pays off. Sometimes staying away from a favorite film for a few years and then going back to it results in a wonderful viewing experience. I stopped viewing HIGHLANDER on DVD years ago, knowing it would hit Blu-Ray at some point. It did (in England) and when I sat down to watch it in HD on a 71 inch screen I was blown away. What a revelation. It was like coming home again.

In the case of CHASING AMY, it had been five or more years for me. It was a wait that made viewing the film again all the more enjoyable.

Smith's best film
2009-11-21 - I've always felt (and still do) that Chasing Amy is Smith's best film. The writing is fantastic, the performances engaging and the story adheres closer to reality than any of his other films. Certain cinephiles are known for disparaging Smith for his rudimentary camera set-ups. In reality, his work is all about the writing and those who obsess over camera angles and visual style are missing the point.

I was a little hesitant to pick this release up after reading the review on [...] that quibbled with the visual quality and transfer. We'll, I put the disc on back to back with the Criterion regular DVD and the Blu-ray is far, far superior in every way. The film was shot on 16mm and so it's never going to look as sharp as other films like Mallrats that had larger budgets. Perhaps without the DVD as reference I would have quibbled too, but clearly this is a HUGE improvement. Perhaps still a little softer than necessary due to grain reduction or whatever but I can live with it.



Schindler's Pissed
2009-11-15 - "Hey, gang! Check this out!! Kevin Smith shot this in 16mm but *I* review stuff on Amazon...stuff that hasn't even been released yet! Kevin Smith, you used sucky sixteen millisuckymeter but *I* can see the future! You suck! I WIN!!"

Schindler, Chasing Amy is a great flick, but that 5 star review is for you, grumpy baby.

Low resolution source, over priced blu ray transfer
2009-11-15 - Chasing Amy is a decent movie, but it was filmed on very low quality Super 16 film stock. A blu ray transfer can't possibly make the amatuer video quality look much better. Compounding this travesty is the ridiculous high price for this blu ray transfer. I have home videos filmed in higher quality than this film. Save your money and stick with the Criterion DVD release or at least wait until this blu ray drops to a reasonable price.