All right, we’re pleased as punch today to offer you a brand new History, Legacy & Showmanship column by our very own Michael Coate!  In this installment, Michael goes in depth on last year’s 50th anniversary of the James Bond franchise by interviewing a roundtable of leading (and published) authorities on the subject, including Jon Burlingame, John Cork, Bill Desowitz, Paul Duncan, Charles Helfenstein, Mark O’Connell, Lee Pfeiffer, Steven Jay Rubin, Bruce Scivally and Dave Worrall!  It’s a really great read, so we hope you all check it out and enjoy 007… Fifty Years Strong: An Interview with Bond Historians!

Also today, the good Dr. Jahnke has turned in a review of Shout! and Scream Factory’s hot new Blu-ray release of the Lifeforce: Collector’s Edition, which hits stores on 6/18.  It’s another terrific release from Scream, so you’re definitely not going to want to miss it.

Let us continue the James Bond 50th anniversary celebration, shall we?  Last autumn, around the time Skyfall was being released to theaters, the Blu-ray set was hitting retailers and the anniversary hype was in high gear, I had this idea that it might be interesting if I could round up a few of my James Bond historian friends, turn on a recorder… and talk James Bond, and then perhaps turn that into an article.  It didn’t happen (primarily for logistical reasons).  But a few months later the next best thing did happen. That is, separately-conducted interviews that have been edited into a round-table format.

Okay… we’ve got some good announcement news for you guys this morning…

First up, Warner Home Video has set NBC’s Revolution for Blu-ray and DVD release on 9/10.  Revolution: The Complete First Season (SRP $69.97 and $59.98) will feature all 20 episodes and over 90 minutes of bonus content.  Both formats will include 2 featurettes (An In-depth Look at the Revolution Pilot and Creating a Revolution), deleted scenes, the NBC.com “webisodes” and a gag reel.  To this, the Blu-ray will exclusively add video of the Revolution cast and creative team at the 2013 Paley Festival, as well as UltraViolet digital copy versions of all 20 episodes.

Meanwhile, Universal has set The Place Beyond the Pines for Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 8/6.  The film stars Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper and Ray Liotta.  Extras on both versions will include deleted and extended scenes, as well as audio commentary with director and co-writer Derek Cianfrance.

All right, let’s get to a few new announcements…

Warner Home Video has set a double feature of Eastwood Directs:  The Untold Story/The Eastwood Factor: Extended Version for DVD release on 9/3.  They’ve also set Doctor Who: Spearhead from Space – Special Edition for BD release on 8/13, along with Doctor Who: The Green Death – Special Edition on DVD.  And on the TV front, look for Mike & Molly: The Complete Third Season on 8/20, The Mentalist: The Complete Fifth Season on 9/17 and 2 Broke Girls: The Complete Second Season on 9/24, all on DVD only.

Speaking of Warner, sources tell us that they’re still working on a Blu-ray release of Philip Kaufman’s The Right Stuff for later this year.  The film celebrates its 30th anniversary on 10/21, so you should expect to hear something in the next couple of months.  Gotta say, The Right Stuff is a film that’s a must have on Blu-ray for me.  I’m actually surprised it’s take this long, but better late and done right than never.

Before we get started today, we wanted to let you know that Amazon.com is having a big sale on Criterion Blu-ray titles right now – many titles are as much as 50% off (including Repo Man, Seven Samurai and lots more).  Amazon is also running a weekly special on Farscape: The Complete Series on Blu-ray for 53% off.  Be sure to take advantage if there are titles you’re looking for.

Afternoon, folks!  We’ve got a couple good things in store for you today…

First up here at the site this afternoon, our very own Dr. Jahnke has kicked off his new weekly Burnt Offerings column here at The Bits in which he plans to run down the latest MOD/DVD-R release and announcement news, specifically including the list of titles newly added to the Warner Archive each week.  Going forward, Jahnke also plans to cover news about all the other different major studio MOD programs as well.  He’ll also review a new MOD title each week – this week’s column features a review of Warner Archive’s Sincerely Yours on DVD-R.  And as always, you can always contact Adam with comments, thoughts, encouragement and input here.  We hope you enjoy it!

Since the Warner Archive Collection introduced the concept of Manufactured On Demand DVDs, I’ve written a number of times about my enthusiasm for the format.  As a longtime champion of forgotten and obscure movies with my JET’s Most Wanted project, I immediately recognized that MOD was the best way for many of these movies with an admittedly limited appeal to finally be released on DVD.  For awhile now, we’ve been trying to figure out a way to increase our coverage of MOD discs on The Bits.  This column is the result of these efforts.

Every week, Burnt Offerings will take a closer look at what’s newly available from Warner Archive and other MOD programs from Sony, 20th Century Fox, MGM, and Universal.  I’ll run down what’s new and take a look at what’s coming down the pike.  I’ll also be digging through the Warner Archive Collection and reviewing titles I think are particularly exceptional, noteworthy or unusual.  Some of these will be recent additions to the collection, others will be titles that have been available for awhile.  There are over 1,500 titles available on Warner Archive alone, so it’s easy for stuff to fall through the cracks.  Burnt Offerings will try to catch them.

All right, we’ve got some new announcements to report today…

Warner Home Video is releasing a war film classic on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/1 – The Big Parade (1925).  The Blu-ray will come in 64-page book packaging with audio commentary by historian Jeffery Vance with director King Vidor, as well as The Men Who Made the Movies: King Vidor documentary and a vintage 1925 Studio Tour short.  See the cover art below.

Warner has also just made it official: The original House of Wax is coming to Blu-ray 3D on 10/1 (SRP $35.99).  Extras will include audio commentary, 3 featurettes (House of Wax: Unlike Anything You’ve Seen Before!, Round-the-Clock Premiere: Coast Hails House of Wax and the 1933 Mystery of the Wax Museum) as well as the film’s theatrical trailer.  For this new release, MPI scanned the film in 4K and fully restored and realigned both the “left eye and right eye” elements for optimal 3D image quality.  The Blu-ray will also include a 2D version.

Okay… real quick update today to close out the week…

First, totally not BD-related but if you click on over to the SLOOH Space Camera website in the next 30 minutes or so, you can watch a 1.7 mile wide asteroid fly safely by the Earth LIVE via streaming webcast.  Pretty cool.

Also today, the folks over at the Dread Central website have sleuthed out some cool news for you horror film fans, specifically the likelihood that Warner Home Video may be getting ready to release a complete Blu-ray box set of Paramount’s Friday the 13th films in time for the holidays!  More here.

Afternoon, folks!

Doogan has checked in this afternoon with a quick update on Criterion’s May newsletter – he’s got a line on the latest clues Criterion has offered on upcoming titles for the Collection.  You’ll find that in Gripe Soda, so do check it out.

In announcement news, Universal has officially set Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life: 30th Anniversary Edition for Blu-ray release on 10/8.  The Blu-ray will include an all-new Sing-Along Version as well as the all-new and hour-long The Meaning of Monty Python: 30th Anniversary Reunion documentary with John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin.  Additional features will include the 2003 Prologue with Eric Idle, audio commentary with Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam, The Snipped Bits (7 deleted scenes), the 4-part The School of Life documentary (including The Meaning of Making The Meaning of Life, Educational Tips to Prepare You For Life in the Real World, Un Film De John Cleese: A Trailer for the John Cleese Version of the Film and Remastering  a Masterpiece: How to Revive an Old Master), a Song and Dance featurette, Songs Unsung (alternate versions of the original songs), Selling the Meaning of Life (“in your face” promotional material), Fish (including Virtual Reunion: The Pythons Together Again and What Fish Think: Go Into the Minds of Fish) and finally a Soundtrack for the Lonely.  SRP is $19.98.