Items filtered by date: July 2016

All right, this just in from our industry sources...

Universal is confirmed to be preparing to release a new Marx Brothers set, The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection – Restored Edition on Blu-ray on 10/18, set to include The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers, and Duck Soup. This will be a 3-disc set and an upgrade of the existing DVD edition (first released by the studio in 2004). As many of you know, Universal has recently completed the 4K restoration of all five films (see here) and those restorations will be the source material for this release. [Read on here…]

We’ve got some great news for you today, which is that Criterion has just announced their November slate of Blu-ray and DVD releases, and it’s truly one of their best line-ups yet!

Starting on 11/8, you’ll get Lone Wolf and Cub (Cat #841 – Blu-ray and DVD) which includes all six films in the series (Sword of Vengeance, Baby Cart at the River Styx, Baby Cart to Hades, Baby Cart in Peril, Baby Cart in the Land of Demons, and White Heaven in Hell) as well as the Shogun Assassin edit of the first two films, plus amazing extras. Next up on 11/15 are Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (Cat #842 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love (Cat #843 – Blu-ray and DVD), both with great extras. Dreams will include a 150-minute documentary shot on the set by Nobuhiko Obayashi about the making of the film and more. Then on 11/22, look for Marlon Brando’s One-Eyed Jacks (Cat #844 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Noah Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale (Cat #845 – Blu-ray and DVD), again each with great extras. You can see the cover artwork and pre-order each below. What an amazing slate!  [Read on here…]

All right, let’s talk Monday turkey (as in Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K news)...

First up though, Tim Salmons has turned in a new Pick-Ups column with his thoughts on Frank Kenenlotter’s Basket Case 2, newly released on Blu-ray Disc by our friends at Synapse Films. Do give it a look.

In announcement news today, Uncork’d Entertainment has set Marty Langford’s Doomed! The Untold Story of Roger Corman’s Fantastic Four documentary for DVD release on 12/20, with a digital release expected on 10/11.  [Read on here…]

We’re rounding out the week with two more new Blu-ray reviews, and we’ve got more coming on Monday.

But for now, we have Tim’s thoughts on Scream Factory’s new Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Collector’s Edition and Jim’s take on Twilight Time’s Support Your Local Sheriff / Support Your Local Gunfighter double feature. Enjoy!  [Read on here…]

Welcome to a new edition of Pick-Ups!

Well, like many of you, I checked out Suicide Squad this past weekend, and also like many of you, I just didn’t care for it all that much. I won’t go into any major details about it because it’s still pretty fresh and I don’t want to spoil anything for those who still want to see it, but I’m sure many of you already know many of the ins and outs of why certain folks didn’t like it. On the flipside, I also managed to see Star Trek Beyond as well, and I was a bit floored on that one. It’s easily the best of the new Treks, as well as the most solid film in that new franchise. It felt like they were done making the references and trying to copy what had come before and decided to tell a new story with the new cast for a change, which is what the major misstep of Into Darkness was, in my opinion. It’s not a flawless movie, but it was damned entertaining and very well made. Try to see that one in the theaters if you can before it’s gone. It’s worth the cash. [Read on here…]

We’re starting today with a pair of new Blu-ray Disc reviews, and the films couldn’t be more different.

The first is my take on Warner’s animated adaptation of Batman: The Killing Joke, the iconic 1988 graphic novel by Alan Moore. The film version is... interesting. You should check out the review. Also today, I’ve taken a look at a film that’s one of my absolute favorite indie discoveries of 2016: John Carney’s Sing Street. If this film had come out in the 1980s, we’d all consider it a classic today. It’s an absolutely wonderful celebration of music and coming of age, and I can’t recommend it to you all more highly. So again, do check out the review.  [Read on here…]

All right, we’ve got some big Star Wars Blu-ray news for you today...

Disney and Lucasfilm have just announced (via The Star Wars Show) that they’re officially releasing Star Wars: The Force Awakens 3D – Collector’s Edition on Blu-ray Disc here in the States on 11/15. Here are the latest international release dates for the title: Holland, France, Sweden & U.K. (10/31), Spain & Italy (11/2), Australia (11/9), U.S. & Canada (11/15), Brazil (11/16), Germany (11/24). Adjust your plans accordingly.

You can see what the packaging looks like at the left and also below. This will be a 4-disc set.  [Read on here…]

Okay, there isn’t a ton of release news to report early this week, so we’re going to be focusing mostly on review work...

As such, I’ve just posted my thoughts on Warner’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Ultimate Edition on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format. It’s a complicated film to discuss, and one that’s neither as bad nor as good as the most ardent critics would have you believe. But at least it’s a better experience than the theatrical cut. Do check it out. I’ve taken a look at Shout! Factory’s new Humpback Whales on 4K as well. And yesterday, in case you missed them, we posted regular Blu-ray reviews of Bite from Shout! Factory via our own Tim Salmons, as well as Diary of a Lost Girl (1929) from Kino Lorber Studio Classics via Jim Hemphill. Enjoy.  [Read on here…]

We’re kicking things off today with a great new View from the Cheap Seats column from our own Bud Elder in which he muses over classic film scores, catches up on some of the recent deep catalog releases coming out on Blu-ray from the indie distributors, and has a few things to say about a fella named George Hamilton too. Do check it out!

Also available today is a new Blu-ray review from Jim Hemphill, none other than Fernando Leon de Aranoa’s A Perfect Day (2015), now available on disc from IFC Films and MPI Media Group.

Now then, in announcement news this afternoon… [Read on here…]

I think it’s time we caught up. Walking outside during this Oklahoma summer is like tasting something after it’s been in the microwave about eight minutes. The heat and stupidity started even before Memorial Day and has not abated. It’s like we’re living on Mars – I’ve been pricing those spacesuits which protected Matt Damon.

But thank goodness for the movies. Especially the kind one watches in the comfort of one’s own home. Let’s discuss.

Here’s a serious complaint – as I learned over the years, watching a great film is a multi-sensory experience – you see, you listen, you emote. And for me, always a major component of that experience is the music score. For those who pay attention, music is usually the heart of the movie – name a classic up through about 1990 or so for which you can’t hum a main theme. Or name a dud or two with a score that is better than the picture. [Read on here...]