Afternoon, folks! Hope you guys all had an enjoyable and relaxing weekend.
Sarah and I actually spent our day Sunday in Palm Springs, CA, visiting with a vacationing Sue Maxwell… the wife of our dear friend Barrie Maxwell, the longtime Bits columnist who passed away last year. I’ll tell you… it was really great spending time catching up, reminiscing and of course talking about Barrie. Sue is doing well and mentioned to us again how much she appreciated it when so many of you guys sent kind e-mails and messages of support about Barrie’s passing. It meant everything to her and to Barrie’s whole family. Sue’s been staying in California for a few weeks visiting with family and friends – a trip she and Barrie had planned to make together at one point. So it was sure great to see her.
Here at The Bits today, our own Russell Hammond has updated the Release Dates and Artwork section with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Video Game cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, a portion of everything you order from Amazon after clicking through to them from our links goes to help support our work here at the site and we sure do appreciate it.
In announcement news today, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has revealed that it will be releasing the Netflix original series House of Cards on Blu-ray and DVD on 6/11 (SRP $65.99 and $55.99). The series stars Kevin Spacey. We’ll post details on extras, if any, as they come in.
Meanwhile, Universal has set Identity Thief and Mental for Blu-ray and DVD release on 6/4. The studio has also set Covert Affairs: Season Three and Suits: Season Two for DVD only release on 5/28.
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has set Burn Notice: Season Six for release on DVD on 6/11, followed by Wilfred: Season Two on both Blu-ray and DVD on 6/18.
Image Entertainment and RLJ Entertainment are releasing Sony’s Peggy Sue Got Married on Blu-ray Disc for the first time on 7/30, along with BD re-issues of Arlington Road on 7/16 and Gattaca on 7/9.
New Video has set Absence for release on Blu-ray/DVD Combo on 8/6.
A company called Section 23 will release Patlabor TV: Collection 1 on Blu-ray on 7/16.
And Wolfe Video and Sundance are releasing Mosquita y Mari on DVD only on 6/4.
Finally today, we must take a moment – sadly, to be sure – to acknowledge the passing of the legendary and prolific Spanish filmmaker Jess Franco, who help pioneer the low-budget cult/horror genre (fighting censorship every step of the way due his signature use of gore, violence and sex), with such classics as Dracula vs. Frankenstein, Vampyros Lesbos, Necronomicon, Oasis of the Zombies and Count Dracula. He died in Malaga, Spain, after suffering a stroke. The bit of silver lining in all this is that many of his best films are now available (or are coming soon) to Blu-ray and DVD from the folks at Kino Lorber, so they can be enjoyed for years to come. Franco was 82. Rest in peace.
We’ll leave you with a look at the BD art for Fox’s Wilfred: Season Two, as well as Sony’s Breaking Bad: The Fifth Season (due 6/4) and Parker (5/7)…
Stay tuned...
- Bill Hunt