On January 17th, Criterion will release Lars von Trier’s Europe Trilogy (Spine #1168 – Blu-ray), which includes The Element of Crime (1984), Epidemic (1987), and Europa (1991).
January 24th will see the release of Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection (2019) (Spine #1169 – Blu-ray and DVD).
And rounding out the month, look for Mia Hansen-Løve’s Bergman Island (2021) (Spine #1170 – Blu-ray and DVD) on January 31st.
You can see all the cover artwork for these titles below, and you can click here for additional details on the Criterion website. I would love to see von Trier’s Europe Trilogy in 4K at some point, but if the Blu-ray sells well, you never know.
Also today, Paramount has officially announced the Paramount Presents 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo release of Norman Taurog’s Blue Hawaii (1961) on 11/15. As fans will know, the film stars Elvis Presley. It’s restored from the original 35mm camera negative and features both Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10. From the studio’s press release...
“For the restoration, the original negative was scanned in 4K/16bit, however the opening title sequence was very grainy because it originally used duped film. That sequence was completely rebuilt using the original film elements from the Paramount library. Brand new text overlays were created for a truly spectacular opening sequence befitting this delightful film.”
Extras will include audio commentary by historian James L. Neibaur and a Blue Hawaii Photo Scrapbook.
Here’s a surprise for anime fans: Crunchyroll has announced that they’re releasing a Yu Yu Hakusho: 30th Anniversary Blu-ray box set on 1/31. All four seasons (112 episodes) will be includes with two never-before-dubbed OVAs with the original cast and more than 90 minutes of extras.
Also coming on Blu-ray in January from Crunchyroll are Sasaki and Miyano: The Complete Season and Sabikui Bisco: The Complete Season on 1/3, Obey Me!: Season 1 and Platinum End: Part 1 on 1/10, The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation out of Debt: The Complete Season, One Piece: Season 12 Voyage 2 (Blu-ray + DVD), and Black Clover: Season 3 Complete on 1/17, The Stranger by the Shore on 1/24, and Ascendance of a Bookworm: Season 3 on 1/31.
And Kino Lorber Studio Classics has surprised us by revealing that they’re working on a 4K Ultra HD release of Michael Cimino’s Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974). The films stars Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, George Kennedy, Geoffrey Lewis, and Catherine Bach.
Finally today, we need to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of actors Robbie Coltrane and Angela Lansbury. Coltrane was best known to young fans as Hagrid in the Harry Potter films, but he was a great Bond villain too in GoldenEye (1995) and The World Is Not Enough (1999), not to mention many other great film and TV roles. Lansbury appeared in many great film over the years, among them Gaslight (1944), National Velvet (1944), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), as well as Broadway roles, and of course TV’s Murder, She Wrote. Both will be missed. You can read more on them here and here.
We’ll leave you today with a look at the cover art for all of the Criterion titles mentioned above, as well as final 4K Ultra HD art for HBO’s House of the Dragon: The Complete First Season. We’ll add the Amazon pre-order links as they become available...
Stay tuned...
(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)