My Two Cents
Thursday, 27 May 2021 15:21

Amazon officially buys MGM, plus Punk the Capitol doc, and Arrow to announce Lynch’s Dune 4K tomorrow

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Today’s update will be a quick one, as we’re all working on new disc reviews here. Speaking of which, we have a couple of new ones for you now...

I’ve posted my thoughts on ClassicFlix’s outstanding new 2K restoration of The Little Rascals. I’ve reviewed Volume 1 on Blu-ray in depth, and it’s well worth your money and attention if you’re a fan of the Our Gang series of just great film restoration work in general. The disc streets next Tuesday.

Also today, I’ve reviewed Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal, which streets on Blu-ray next Tuesday as well from Adult Swim and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. This is an absolutely modern masterpiece of animation. Some of you will have seen it on Adult Swim, but the Blu-ray release was delayed for over a year by the COVID-19 pandemic, so it’s finally about to land in your hands. Don’t miss it.

And sometime probably later this evening, we’ll have Stephen Bjork’s in-depth review of John Landis’ Animal House in 4k Ultra HD, which arrived in stores last week from Universal. [Read on here...]

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More reviews are on the way tomorrow, and all next week, so be sure to watch for them.

Now then, in announcement news today, Passion River has set the music documentary Punk the Capital: Building a Sound Movement for Blu-ray and DVD release on 6/12. The film traces the birth of the punk rock scene in Washington DC from 1976 to 1983, featuring bands like Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Void, and more. That should be cool if you’re a music fan.

Also, Arrow Video is going to officially announce their August slate of titles tomorrow, among them the long awaited 4K Ultra HD release of David Lynch’s Dune. Some of the details leaked online early this morning (based Zavvi listings which have since been pulled down), but I’m told those details are not complete or fully accurate. We’ve posted the cover art on our social media (here, here, and here) but we’re going to wait to post anything on The Digital Bits until Arrow actually makes their official announcement to ensure accuracy. So watch for those details here tomorrow AM.

Finally today, the big news in the home video industry is, of course, Amazon announcing that they have officially closed their deal to purchase MGM for $8.45 billion. From the announcement: “The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of [intellectual property] in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team,” Mike Hopkins, senior VP of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, said in announcing the deal. “It’s very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling.” What this means for the Bond franchise is yet to be determined, though EON Productions says that No Time to Die will still remain a strictly theatrical release. Keep in mind that EON still controls 50% of the Bond franchise, including creative decision making. One thing we do hope is that the new infusion of cash from Amazon will encourage MGM to get much more active about restoring their catalog of classic film titles, some of which are in dire need of proper preservation. In any case, you can read more this afternoon here at Variety and here at Deadline Hollywood.

And that’s really all for now. Check back later for our Animal House 4K review, and tomorrow for Arrow’s August release slate details and more disc reviews.

Stay tuned...!

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