Well, now we know the format wars are over:  the kingpin of art-film imprints, the Criterion Collection -- who we believe only abandoned the VHS format in late 2006 -- has announced the roll-out of a whole batch of prestige titles in the Blu-Ray high-definition DVD format.

According to Slash/Film, Criterion will be debuting a raft full of Blu-Ray discs starting in October, ranging from Hollywood classics (The Third Man) to esteemed modern productions (Chungking Express) to New Wave ground-breakers (The 400 Blows) to concert films (The Complete Monterey Pop).  A number of the film will feature new bonus material not even available on other Criterion DVDs, brand-new transphers, and an enticing initial price point of $39.95 USD. 

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When you think about it, the movie that made Morgan Spurlock famous — Super Size Me — wasn't that much of an accomplishment.  All he did was eat McDonald's food for every meal for a month.  There are probably millions of Americans who eat the equivalent of McDonald's food every day for most of their adult lives.  His follow-up movie, Where in the World is Osama bin-Laden?, set the bar a lot higher, however.  This time, he was going to do something that no one in America — indeed, no one in the entire world — seems capable of doing:  finding the world's most sought-after terrorist.

Spurlock's not the first person to give it a whirl.  Plenty of journalists make the finding of America's bogeyman their job one, and another noteworthy documentarian, Michael Moore, made a half-assed attempt at it himself in Fahrenheit 9/11.  (That Spurlock and Moore's efforts may be little more than glorified publicity stunts doesn't diminish the fact that, unlike a number of right-wing documentarians who make terrorist fearmongering their stock in trade, at least they gave it the old college try.)

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