Warner Archive’s December includes more classic gems, plus Special Ops: Lioness, The Expanse, Leave it to Beaver & The Odd Couple are all coming to Blu-ray!

Thursday, 26 October 2023 17:24

Warner Archive’s December includes more classic gems, plus Special Ops: Lioness, The Expanse, Leave it to Beaver & The Odd Couple are all coming to Blu-ray!

by Bill Hunt

All right, I’d like to start today’s post out by saying a big thank you to everyone who’s signed up to support our Digital Bits Patreon, or expressed the intent to do so soon, or made a PayPal donation, or simply sent us good wishes. Thanks also to those among you who are using our Amazon affiliate links whenever you shop or pre-order new Blu-ray and 4K titles. The overall response has been very encouraging and very understanding, and we appreciate each and every one of you. So thank you!

Now then, we’re going to catch up on some news, plus we’ve got a bunch of new disc reviews for you here, and then I’m going to spend the next few days working on a few Blu-ray and 4K reviews myself. But first, here are some reviews our team has posted for you all to enjoy in the last few days...

Stuart has chimed in with reviews of Henry Hathaway’s Nevada Smith (1966), John Cassavetes’ Gloria (1980), and Ida Lupino’s Outrage (1950) all on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, François Ozon’s Everything Went Fine (2021) on Blu-ray from Cohen Media Group, and John Mackenzie’s Unman, Wittering and Zigo (1971) on Blu-ray from Arrow Video.

Dennis has offered his thoughts on Dorothy Arzner’s Christopher Strong (1933) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection, Harley Cokeliss’ Malone (1987) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, Chalit Krileadmongkon and Pakphum Wongjinda’s Creepy Crawly (2022) on Blu-ray from Well Go USA, and Brian Paulin’s At Dawn They Sleep (2000) on Blu-ray from Saturn’s Core and Vinegar Syndrome.

Stephen has taken an in-depth look at Louis Malle’s Pretty Baby (1978) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, Godfrey Ho’s Undefeatable (1993) on 4K Ultra HD from Vinegar Syndrome, and Allen Plone’s Night Screams (1987) also in 4K Ultra HD from Vinegar Syndrome.

And Tim has reviewed Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha’s direct-to-video animated finale Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar (2023) on Blu-ray from Adult Swim and Warner, as well as Amy Holden Jones and Deborah Brock The Slumber Party Massacre (1982) and The Slumber Party Massacre II (1987) in 4K Ultra HD from Scream Factory. [Read on here...]

More reviews are definitely on the way, and I’ll be getting to some as well over the weekend, so be sure to watch for them.

Now then... our friends at Arrow Video are going to be announcing their January 2024 slate of Blu-ray and 4K titles tomorrow morning on social media (at 7 AM Pacific/10 AM Eastern). And while their teaser image obliquely hinted that maybe they were going to be releasing John Borman’s Excalibur (1981) in 4K, we suspect it’s actually going to be John Milius’ Conan the Barbarian (1982) instead. Which is great—that film has long needed and deserved a 4K release so if that’s the case, great news indeed! We’ll check back here tomorrow morning with all the official details.

Speaking of announcements, the fine people at The Warner Archive Collection have just unveiled their December Blu-ray slate, which is set to include Clarence Leon Brown’s Anna Christie (1930), W.S. Van Dyke’s Tarzan, the Ape Man (1932), Robert Z. Leonard’s The Great Ziegfeld (1936)—featuring the 183-minute Roadshow version—Raoul Walsh’s Gentleman Jim (1942), Vincente Minnelli’s Madame Bovary (1949), and Nigel Cole’s Saving Grace (2000), all on 12/12. Here’s a look at the cover artwork for each of them (Amazon pre-order links will be added as soon as they go live)...

Anna Christie (1930) (Blu-ray Disc) Tarzan, the Ape Man (1932) (Blu-ray Disc) The Great Ziegfeld (1936) (Blu-ray Disc)

Gentleman Jim (1942) (Blu-ray Disc) Madame Bovary (1949) (Blu-ray Disc) Saving Grace (2000) (Blu-ray Disc)

If any of you are fans of the Paramount+ original series Special Ops: Lioness, Paramount will be releasing Season One on Blu-ray and DVD on 1/23/24.

Also now available for pre-order on Amazon in 4K Ultra HD are John Woo’s Face/Off (1997) and E. Elias Merhing’s Suspect Zero (2004) on 12/12, as well as George Pavlou’s Underworld (1985) on 12/19. Here’s the cover art for those as well (with Amazon links)...

Universal has just announced My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on 10/31. Also available that same day will be a My Big Fat Greek Wedding Trilogy Blu-ray release containing all three films in the series.

Speaking of Universal, here’s a great surprise: The studio is releasing The Expanse: The Complete Series and Leave It to Beaver: The Complete Series on Blu-ray on 11/14, followed by The Odd Couple: The Complete Series on Blu-ray on 12/5! Here’s a look at those (again with Amazon links for each)...

For you music fans, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert featured a great interview with Talking Heads last night and you can watch it in three parts here (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). If you’re a fan, it’ll warm your groovy little art-rock heart. And I have it on good authority that A24 is going to release the remastered Stop Making Sense concert film on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD sometime next year, which makes me very happy indeed.

Finally today, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of some cinema and television notables in the past few weeks, including actors Suzanne Somers (Three’s Company), Burt Young (the Rocky films), and most recently the great Richard Roundtree (of Shaft and Roots fame), as well as cult filmmakers Jeff Burr (Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, the Puppet Master sequels) and Anthony Hickox (Waxworx, Hellraiser III). I’ve included links in the text for you to read more about each of them. Every one one of these fine creative individuals made a made real mark in this industry in one way or another, and they will certainly all be missed.

Back with more soon. Stay tuned...

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Warner Archive’s December includes more classic gems, plus Special Ops: Lioness, The Expanse, Leave it to Beaver & The Odd Couple are all coming to Blu-ray!

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