Powder Blue Blu-ray

Powder Blue

 (2009)

Drama



On the gritty streets of LA, the destinies of four people desperate for connection and redemption are about to collide. Jessica Biel, Ray Liotta, Forest Whitaker and Eddie Redmayne lead a top-notch cast in this powerful thriller about an overwhelmed erotic dancer, a grieving husband who has lost his will to live, a terminally ill ex-con and a pathologically shy mortician. With Kris Kristofferson, Lisa Kudrow and Patrick Swayze in unforgettable supporting roles, this film movingly chronicles the imperfect lives of people teetering on the edge of despair and the miracles that bring them back.

For more details about Powder Blue on Blu-ray, see the Powder Blue Blu-ray Review

Starring: Jessica Biel, Ray Liotta, Forest Whitaker

Powder Blue Blu-ray, Video Quality

 

Powder Blue arrives on Blu-ray with a vivid 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that overcomes a veneer of gritty, at-times militant grain to present a fairly faithful rendering of Linh Bui's every intention. Cinematographer Jonathan Sela relies on a series of monochromatic palettes to enhance the tonal qualities and themes of each scene -- Liota generally encounters a cyan-tinted cityscape, Whitaker is often submerged in ungainly yellow-golds, and Biel dances in a world of stark reds and overpowering shadows -- but the high definition presentation handles each one in stride. Searing lights and heavy shadows make Velvet Larry's club the sole source of severe distractions: primaries bleed, noticeable blocking and banding appears in the backgrounds, and depth is inconsistent (note how lifeless and two-dimensional an early dressing-room encounter between Biel and Swayze looks). Other locales fare much better, offering relatively natural skintones, refined textures, and well-defined object edges. Powder Blue may not boast the most attractive picture, but its technical transfer serves up an above average experience that pays respect to the film itself.

Powder Blue Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 

With a soundstage that resembles a vacant parking lot more often than a sprawling Los Angeles cityscape, Powder Blue isn't the sort of film that will ever shake home theaters or send audiophiles running for store shelves. Still, Image Entertainment's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is worth some praise since I can't imagine Linh Bui's low-budget production sounding much better than it does here. Most of my complaints come down to the film's uninvolving original design and its resulting potential. Dialogue is intelligible and reliably prioritized, but errant hiss and street noise pop up at inopportune times, usually to the detriment of center channel clarity. Likewise, ever-present rear speaker activity keeps streetwise ambience and fairly convincing acoustics on target, but lacks the precision and polish typically associated with high definition audio. To its credit, LFE support exhibits strength when called upon (strip club sequences, a jarring car wreck, and a lumbering bus are weighty to say the least), pans are decidedly transparent, and the overall soundfield is unexpectedly (albeit inconsistently) immersive. I can't say it changed my life, but I have to admit Powder Blue sounds pretty good.

Powder Blue Blu-ray, News and Updates

• Powder Blue Announced for Blu-ray - February 27, 2009

Powder Blue Blu-ray, Forum Discussions

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