The 2005 infamous Ozploitation terror flick Wolf Creek scores a two-disc Blu-ray release from Via Vision Entertainment with a lenticular cover and is limited to a shockingly slim 1000 units!
Based on true crimes within the Australian Outback (not the steakhouse chain), the film rode the wave of body horror "torture porn" terror flicks like Hostel, High Tension, and the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Only this one was pretty good and genuinely terrifying without completely diving deep into the depictions of mutilation and pain. Directed by Greg McLean and starring Kestie Morassi, Cassandra Magrath, and Snakes On A Plane's Nathan Phillips with John Jarratt turning in a particularly scary performance as Mick Taylor.
Absent a proper Blu-ray release in the United States after HD-DVD went defunct, Wolf Creek has been around the block in other markets and territories on the format for several years now. While we await a domestic release, ViaVision is delivering an exciting 2-Disc 2-Version Limited Edition with a lenticular cover and six art cards. $40+ shipping (U.S) may be a bit steep for some but it'd be great to finally have both cuts of the film in the same package. I'm tired of waiting for someone to deliver the first and best of the series while Wolf Creek 2 has been available here stateside for years, so I think I'm going to take the plunge and jump for this edition.
Again, this set is limited to only 1000 units so get those pre-orders in fast! You can only purchase this direct from ViaVision
This week's 4K calendar is basically owned by Paramount. Excluding the last staggered Rocky steel, names like Wes Craven, Brad Pitt, and a recognizable movie from the 80s with a dragon in it are all brought to you by the same studio. And of course there are a few blu-rays worthy of checking out too. And yes, Spring begins officially on Monday, YAY!
Welcome to Volume 3 Episode 42 of our weekly release guide. A look at the highlights of what's coming to disc the week of March 19th - March 25th, as well as a look at announcements from last week.
New release of the week is that other film about Hollywood, titled Babylon. This one is available as a standard edition and as a SteelBook edition. (If you haven't followed, The Fabelmans might easily be confused to those that have not seen either film yet as the descriptions of each talk about early Hollywood film.)
Moving on to catalog titles, Dragonslayer also gets the same release structure, a standard edition and a SteelBook edition. The toughest choice here will be which one do you want most, they've both got some pretty iconic 80s poster/cover art. If you can't decide, get one of each! (Maybe that's the 80's geek in me talking right there!)
Wes Craven gets the 'Paramount Presents' treatment this week with Red Eye. Wes Craven, 4K, thriller, yes please!
The 4th and final (for now) staggered 4K SteelBook of the Rocky Collection comes out this week, Rocky IV.
Walletmageddon is coming next week! Netflix's All Quiet on the Western Front, Gerard Butler's Plane, Chuck Norris is a Sidekick, several boutique releases, and so much more. Consider the imports on the calender too and it is going to be a wallet-buster, prepare yourself!
The Paramount blu-ray counterparts of the above titles this week include Babylon and Dragonslayer, both as standard editons.
Overall, the blu-ray category is pretty light this week, but there's plenty to ponder.
From Criterion, David Lynch's Inland Empire.
From Universal and Blumhouse, M3GAN. This release has a gorier cut, and according to Bryan's review, though it is more enjoyable, it is not the ultimate cut we are thinking of. The only other thing missing is a 4K disc option.
TV on disc includes Doc Martin: Series 10 and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Season One, which is available as a standard editon and a SteelBook Edition. Keep in mind that 4K has been announced for Trek with a May 16th street date.
How about a horror movie from Vertical Entertainment titled Lullaby?
Comedy from LionsGate titled Seriously Red, a story about a Dolly Parton impersonator.
Anime highlights include Final Examination Kujira, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 The Movie, which is available as a standard edition, a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook and a Lenticular/Rightstuf Exclusive edition, Kill Me Baby - Complete Collection, Levius, One Piece: Season Twelve - Voyage Three and SAIYUKI RELOAD -ZEROIN- Complete Collection.
Worthy of mentioning, Shout Factory has classic comedy this week with Crazy People (Dudley Moore, Daryl Hannah) and Critical Condition (Richard Pryor). Add a dash of horror to your comedy and you get Dr. Giggles.
Don't feel left out of the upcoming 4K typhoon, next week is walletmageddon for blu-ray releases as well.
Criterion Collection's June slate has been revealed. Look for The Rules of the Game 4K, Time Bandits 4K and more. Check out the news story for all the deets.
HBO's The Last of Us Season One gets a 4K and blu-ray release July 18th. There have been images of overseas SteelBooks spotted, so one would expect the same here.
Another James Wan film that's not M3GAN will be getting a 4K/SteelBook, Insidious will be available on June 20th from Sony Pictures.
M. Night Shyamalan's Knock at the Cabin Arrives on 4K UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray May 9th.
Which titles are you buying this week? Which ones are on your wishlist, be it to buy as an impulse buy or to wait for the right price?
Coming this summer are The Rules of the Game and Time Bandits on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, as well as The Servant, Medicine for Melancholy, and Pasolini 101 on Blu-ray.
Coming in June: Medicine for Melancholy, the sublime San Francisco–set feature debut of love and connection by Barry Jenkins, rubs shoulders with The Servant, Joseph Losey's savagely witty British class-war classic, while two favorites—The Rules of the Game, Jean Renoir's merciless critique of French society, and Time Bandits, Terry Gilliam's fantastic odyssey to the limits of the imagination—arrive on 4K UHD. Plus, our recently announced nine-film box set Pasolini 101!
First up on June 6 is a 4K UHD upgrade of Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game coming June 6th
Considered one of the greatest films ever made, Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game is a scathing critique of corrupt French society cloaked in a comedy of manners in which a weekend at a marquis’s country château lays bare some ugly truths about a group of haut bourgeois acquaintances. The film has had a tumultuous history: it was subjected to cuts after the violent response of the audience at its 1939 premiere, and the original negative was destroyed during World War II; it wasn’t reconstructed until 1959. That version, which has stunned viewers for decades, is presented here.
1939 • 106 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • In French with English subtitles • 1.37:1 aspect ratio
4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
Following that is a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray edition of Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits on June 13.
In this fantastic voyage through time and space from Terry Gilliam, a boy named Kevin (Craig Warnock) escapes his gadget-obsessed parents to join a band of time travelers. Armed with a map stolen from the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson), they plunder treasure from Napoleon (Ian Holm) and Agamemnon (Sean Connery)—but the Evil Genius (David Warner) is watching their every move. Featuring a darkly playful script by Gilliam and his Monty Python cohort Michael Palin (who also appears in the film), Time Bandits is at once a giddy fairy tale, a revisionist history lesson, and a satire of technology gone awry.
1981 • 116 minutes • Color • Stereo • 1.85:1 aspect ratio
DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
On June 20 is a Blu-ray release of Joseph Losey's The Servant.
The prolific, ever provocative Joseph Losey, blacklisted from Hollywood and living in England, delivered a coolly modernist shock to the system of that nation’s cinema with this mesmerizing dissection of class, sexuality, and power. A dissolute scion of the upper crust (James Fox) finds the seemingly perfect manservant (a diabolical Dirk Bogarde, during his transition from matinee idol to art-house icon) to oversee his new London town house. But not all is as it seems, as traditional social hierarchies are gradually, disturbingly destabilized. Lustrously disorienting cinematography and a masterful script by playwright Harold Pinter merge in The Servant, a tour de force of mounting psychosexual menace.
1963 • 115 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • 1.66:1 aspect ratio
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
Also on June 20 comes Medicine for Melancholy from filmmaker Barry Jenkins on Blu-ray.
One of the great debut features of the twenty-first century, Barry Jenkins’s captivating, lo-fi romance Medicine for Melancholy unfolds against the backdrop of a rapidly gentrifying San Francisco, where a one-night stand between two young bohemians, Micah (Wyatt Cenac) and Jo’ (Tracey Heggins), spins off into a woozy daylong affair marked by moments of tenderness, friction, joy, and intellectual sparring as they explore their relationships to each other, the city, and their own Blackness. Shooting on desaturated video, Jenkins crafts an intimate exploration of alienation and connection graced with the evocative visual palette and empathetic emotional charge that has come to define his work.
2008 • 88 minutes • Color • 5.1 surround • 1.78:1 aspect ratio
DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
And finally at the end of the month on June 27 arrives the Blu-ray boxed set, Pasolini 101, in celebration of the 101th anniversary of Pier Paolo Pasolini's birth.
We've already covered Pasolini 101 in this article and as always, we will update with preorder links as soon as they are available.
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A collection of 10 more classic Disney animated shorts is on the way to DVD and Blu-ray on June 27. Digital will be available on April 4.
Celebrate 100 magical years of Disney with this collectible compilation of animated shorts! Join Mickey and his friends in these 10 hilarious, madcap adventures which have entertained generations of children and adults alike. Highlights include The Band Concert, where Maestro Mickey and his friends face wild challenges while performing outdoors. Then see what happens when Goofy is in the driver’s seat pulling Mickey’s Trailer. In Pluto’s Sweater, Pluto gets hot under the collar when Minnie knits him a warm turtleneck, and in Pluto and the Gopher, Pluto stops to smell the flowers, but finds himself outwitted by a mischievous rodent. And there’s no stopping Donald’s nephews from coming between their uncle and the lovely Daisy Duck when Mr. Duck Steps Out. Five more charming, funny stories complete this legacy collection that’s sure to delight.
The Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack will include stereo audio and 10 classic animated shorts:
Order the Blu-ray now and here is the full press release:
CELEBRATE 100 MAGICAL YEARS WITH MICKEY & FRIENDS!
Collect Another Piece Of Animation History When
Mickey & Friends 10 Classic Shorts – Volume 2
Arrives On Digital on April 4 and Blu-ray™ & DVD on June 27
BURBANK, CA (March 14, 2023) – Walt Disney Animation Studios announces the release of a second highly-collectible volume of ten classic animated short films, in a new collection, Mickey & Friends 10 Classic Shorts – Volume 2. Available together for the first time for audiences to enjoy at home, the exciting new collection combines hilarious animated classics, including favorites ‘The Band Concert,’ ‘Pluto’s Sweater’ and ‘Mickey’s Trailer.’ They are combined with a fun all-new animated interstitials introduction featuring Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald, Goofy and Pluto, as the beloved Disney characters gather together to watch a slideshow on some of their hilarious past adventures.
Mickey & Friends 10 Classic Shorts – Volume 2 debuts as part of the expansive celebration of Disney's 100th anniversary.
It will be available to purchase on Digital on April 4 and on Blu-ray and DVD on June 27.
Shorts Included:
Synopsis
Celebrate 100 magical years of Disney with this collectible compilation of animated shorts! Join Mickey and his friends in these 10 hilarious, madcap adventures which have entertained generations of children and adults alike. Highlights include The Band Concert, where Maestro Mickey and his friends face wild challenges while performing outdoors. Then see what happens when Goofy is in the driver’s seat pulling Mickey’s Trailer. In Pluto’s Sweater, Pluto gets hot under the collar when Minnie knits him a warm turtleneck, and in Pluto and the Gopher, Pluto stops to smell the flowers, but finds himself outwitted by a mischievous rodent. And there’s no stopping Donald’s nephews from coming between their uncle and the lovely Daisy Duck when Mr. Duck Steps Out. Five more charming, funny stories complete this legacy collection that’s sure to delight.
Product Specifications
Street Date
Digital: April 4, 2023
Physical: June 27, 2023
Product SKUs
Physical: Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray + DVD & Digital Code)
Run Time - Approx. 82 Minutes
Rating - Not rated
Aspect Ratios:
Digital: 1.78:1
Physical: 1.78:1
U.S. Audio:
Digital: English 2.0 Dolby Digital, Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital, French 2.0 Dolby Digital
Blu-ray: English 2.0 Dolby Digital, Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital, French 2.0 Dolby Digital
DVD: English 2.0 Dolby Digital, Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital, French 2.0 Dolby Digital
Digital: English SDH, Spanish, French (some platforms)
Blu-ray: English SDH, Spanish, French
DVD: English SDH, Spanish, French
Whether you're looking for a classic Dreamworks animated release, a sci-fi disaster movie, one of Walter Hill's best works, or more Rocky steel, this week has a bit for everyone, and just like last week, it's at a moderate pace. Two weeks to prepare ourselves for another case of walletmageddon.
Welcome to Volume 3 Episode 41 of our weekly release guide. A look at the highlights of what's coming to disc the week of March 12th - March 18th, as well as a look at announcements from last week.
So there are no new release 4K titles this week, but there are a few catalog titles to snag up.
First, from Dreamworks animation, The Prince of Egypt gets a 4K release. Little by little we are seeing their catalog from that era come out. What's next, Shrek 3 or Road to El Dorado?
The sci-fi disaster mentioned above is in the form of The Core, brought to us by Paramount. What a perfect time, the earth's core has been in the news very recently, which in reality will not result in what we are seeing in this film.
One of Walter Hill's best known works, Streets of Fire gets a Shout Select release this week with a 3-disc combo pack.
Rocky III is the next SteelBook to be released in Best Buy's spaced out Rocky releases, this means that Rocky IV will be next week.
Phenomena gets a special edition release this week, just in case you missed out on the limited edition.
Next week is almost exclusively owned by Paramount, the last of the initial batch of Rocky SteelBooks, that other movie (Babylon) that I keep confusing with The Fabelmans, Wes Craven's Red Eye gets the 'Paramount Presents' treatment and the long awaited Dragonslayer with two hard to decide choices (get em both!)
There are no blu-ray counterparts of the above releases. There are twice as many titles in this category compared to last week to pick from though, here are the highlights.
If there are two single titles in the blu-ray category that get title of the week (or at least, the most attention), it's got to be A Man Called Otto starring Tom Hanks, brought to us by Sony Pictures,
and The Whale from LionsGate. With neither getting a 4K disc release, it has me scratching my head a bit.
Drama/thriller this week from LionsGate titled Alice, Darling.
TV on disc includes All Creatures Great and Small - Season 3, Highway to Heaven: The Complete Series, The Lost Symbol: The Complete Series and The Walking Dead: The Complete Eleventh Season.
John Woo directed Last Hurrah for Chivalry is available from Criterion Collection.
Anime highlights include Blue Thermal, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero and Sing a Bit of Harmony - Movie and WATAMOTE: No Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!.
Busy week for the Warner Archive Collection, Confessions of a Nazi Spy, Flamingo Road, Neptune's Daughter and The Prince and the Showgirl.
Honorable Mention: Ronin Flix is now offering the general release of Jet Li Double Feature: The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk 1 & 2. This was previously available direct from their own store front.
Friday import releases include Hammer Horror Vol. 1 and Pumping Iron.
No major activity this past week, but we didn't say no activity at all. Creed III already has preorder links for the 4K and blu-ray releases, and I have spotted artwork for an import SteelBook, which is done in the same style as the Rocky steels at Best Buy. So it is probable to see the same one offered at Best Buy shortly.
Kino Lorber will be offering Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) to 4K this year, guessing late May.
James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water has a streaming date of March 28th. This is a sign that a physical announcement is coming soon. Disney and Universal have both announced titles literally two weeks before street date. Sometimes retailers are receiving product with street dates on the box and the announcement has yet to be made. Will it be 4K, will it have Dolby Vision, will it be on a BD100 disc? How much closer are we to those other two movies we have seen hinted at over the past 10 years?
Sony Pictures' next Dolby Vision/SteelBook upgrade will be Cliffhanger, with a street date of May 30th.
Which titles are you buying this week? Which ones are on your wishlist, be it to buy as an impulse buy or to wait for the right price?
Nine films from controversial Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini will be available in a Blu-ray boxed set from the Criterion Collection on June 27.
One of the most original and controversial thinkers of the twentieth century, Italian polymath Pier Paolo Pasolini embodied a multitude of often seemingly contradictory ideologies and identities—and he expressed them all in his provocative, lyrical, and indelible films. Relentlessly concerned with society’s downtrodden and marginalized, he elevated pimps, hustlers, sex workers, and vagabonds to the realm of saints, while depicting actual saints with a radical earthiness. Traversing the sacred and the profane, the ancient and the modern, the mythic and the personal, the nine uncompromising, often scandal-inciting features he made in the 1960s still stand—on this, the 101st anniversary of his birth—as a monument to his daring vision of cinema as a form of resistance.
Featuring
Accatone, 1961
Mamma Roma, 1962
Love Meetings, 1964
The Gospel According to Matthew, 1964
The Hawks and the Sparrows, 1966
Oedipus Rex, 1967
Teorema, 1968*
Porcile, 1969
Madea, 1969
*All discs are new to Blu-Ray with the exception of this title
NINE-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION COLLECTOR’S SET FEATURES
ACCATTONE
Poet and painter turned filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini courted controversy with his very first feature by using Catholic iconography and liturgical music to render a plaintive, brutally beautiful portrait of a shiftless Roman pimp and thief (then-nonprofessional Franco Citti, in a revelatory performance) whose life of petty crime turns increasingly desperate when the woman who supports him is imprisoned. Melding a hardscrabble neorealist milieu with classical influences, Pasolini offers a vision of underclass struggle as a kind of modern sainthood.
1961 • 117 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • In Italian with English subtitles • 1.37:1 aspect ratio
MAMMA ROMA
Anna Magnani is Mamma Roma, a middle-aged prostitute who attempts to extricate herself from her sordid past for the sake of her son. Highlighting director Pier Paolo Pasolini’s lifelong fascination with the marginalized and dispossessed, Mamma Roma offers an unflinching, neorealistic look at the struggle for survival in postwar Italy. Though initially banned in the country for obscenity, today the film remains a classic, featuring a powerhouse performance by one of cinema’s greatest actors and offering a glimpse at Pasolini in the process of finding his style.
1962 • 106 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • In Italian with English subtitles • 1.85:1 aspect ratio
LOVE MEETINGS
Let’s talk about sex. In this radically engaged and engaging documentary, Pier Paolo Pasolini takes to the streets, town squares, beaches, factories, and universities of 1960s Italy to solicit everyday citizens’ thoughts on a host of hot-button subjects, including sex work, gender equality, homosexuality, and divorce (then illegal in Italy). What emerges is both a kaleidoscopic cross section of faces and places—from the industrialized cities of the North to the rural villages of the South—and an incisive portrait of a society where, despite the rapid modernization brought on by the postwar “economic miracle,” hypocrisy, repression, and conformism still hold sway.
1964 • 92 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • In Italian with English subtitles • 1.85:1 aspect ratio
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
A biblical epic that only the Marxist dissident Pier Paolo Pasolini could make, this intensely faithful adaptation of Saint Matthew’s Gospel depicts the life and teachings of Jesus Christ (Enrique Irazoqui, a Spanish economics student and Communist activist), whose unwavering compassion for the poor and defiant condemnation of moral hypocrisy make him a perhaps unexpected embodiment of the director’s own worldview. Stunningly shot amid the timeless landscapes of southern Italy and set to a soundtrack that encompasses everything from Bach to Black spirituals, The Gospel According to Matthew cuts past dogma and straight to the core of Jesus’s radical humanism.
1964 • 137 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • In Italian with English subtitles • 1.85:1 aspect ratio
THE HAWKS AND THE SPARROWS
While wandering the countryside, a pair of father-and-son vagabonds (played respectively by Italian cinema legend Totò, in his final major film role, and Ninetto Davoli) happen upon a talking crow who spouts philosophy and launches them on a freewheeling picaresque through time, space, and the margins of a rapidly modernizing Italy. A comic Marxist fable that balances heady ideas about religion, poverty, and class struggle with irreverent slapstick sight gags, The Hawks and the Sparrows finds Pasolini at his lightest yet as stingingly subversive as ever.
1966 • 89 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • In Italian with English subtitles • 1.85:1 aspect ratio
OEDIPUS REX
Pier Paolo Pasolini’s powerfully iconoclastic take on Sophocles’s tragedy blends eras and cultures to create a searing exploration of fate, free will, and the things we fear most in ourselves. Shot amid the stark, elemental landscapes of the Moroccan desert, and set in an indefinable ancient past, this bold reimagining casts the filmmaker’s frequent collaborator Franco Citti as the eponymous foundling, whose willful blindness to his own nature unleashes a cataclysmic reckoning. With a prologue and epilogue set in twentieth-century Italy, Pasolini connects the story to his own upbringing, daring to bare his soul on-screen.
1967 • 104 minutes • Color • Monaural • In Italian with English subtitles • 1.85:1 aspect ratio
TEOREMA
With Teorema, a coolly cryptic exploration of bourgeois spiritual emptiness, Pier Paolo Pasolini moved beyond the poetic, proletarian earthiness that first won him renown. Terence Stamp stars as the mysterious stranger—perhaps an angel, perhaps a devil—who, one by one, seduces the members of a wealthy Milanese family (including European cinema icons Silvana Mangano, Massimo Girotti, Laura Betti, and Anne Wiazemsky), precipitating an existential crisis in each of their lives. Unfolding nearly wordlessly, this tantalizing metaphysical riddle—blocked from exhibition by the Catholic Church for degeneracy—is at once a blistering Marxist treatise on sex, religion, and art and a primal scream into the void.
1968 • 98 minutes • Color • Monaural • In Italian with English subtitles • 1.85:1 aspect ratio
PORCILE
“I killed my father. I ate human flesh. I quiver with joy.” Provocateur Pier Paolo Pasolini is at his most incendiary in this double-edged allegory on fascism, consumerism, and resistance. In one story, a defiant man (Pierre Clémenti) perpetrates increasingly barbaric acts while wandering a mythic, volcanic landscape. In the other, the scion (Jean-Pierre Léaud) of a wealthy, ex-Nazi industrial family conceals a shocking proclivity. Taken together, these stories of transgression form a scathing commentary on postwar European moral rot and the meaning of rebellion in the face of a corrupt world.
1969 • 98 minutes • Color • Monaural • In Italian with English subtitles • 1.85:1 aspect ratio
MEDEA
In this hypnotic adaptation of Euripides’s immortal tragedy, Pier Paolo Pasolini casts opera diva Maria Callas (utterly arresting in her only film role) as the sorceress of Greek legend, whose separation from her homeland of Colchis and betrayal by her lover, Jason, lead her down a path of shocking vengeance. Melding Western myth with aesthetic and musical influences from numerous world cultures, Pasolini fashions a mesmerizing cinematic pageant that gathers in force until it explodes in rage and a stunningly nihilistic condemnation of injustice.
1969 • 110 minutes • Color • Monaural • In Italian with English subtitles • 1:85:1 aspect ratio
SRP for this Special Edition Collector's Set is $249.95.
Preorders should be available in the coming days
Liam Neeson's 100th feature film directed by Academy Award winner Neil Jordan and co-starring Jessica Lange, Diane Kruger, Alan Cumming and Danny Huston will be available on Blu-ray and DVD on April 18. The crime thriller is now available digitally.
Set in late 1930’s Bay City, MARLOWE centers around a street-wise, down-on-his-luck detective; Philip Marlowe (Liam Neeson), who is hired to find the ex-lover of a glamorous heiress (Diane Kruger), daughter of a well-known movie star (Jessica Lange). The disappearance unearths a web of lies, and soon Marlowe is involved in a dangerous, deadly investigation where everyone involved has something to hide.
The Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack will include a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack and there doesn't appear to be any supplements as of yet.
Order your copy today and here is the full press release:
Universal City, California, March 7, 2023 – Liam Neeson (Memory, Blacklight) stars in his 100th feature film and joins the roster of iconic Hollywood talent portraying Raymond Chandler’s hard-boiled private detective Phillip Marlowe in Open Road Film’s MARLOWE, now available to own or rent on digital at home from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. A gripping noir crime thriller that will keep you guessing, the film also debuts on Blu-ray™ and DVD April 18, 2023 and will continue to be available to own in high definition and standard definition from participating digital retailers.
From Academy Award®-winning director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game), MARLOWE features a star-studded ensemble cast alongside Neeson including Academy Award® winner Jessica Lange (Blue Sky, Tootsie, The Gambler), Diane Kruger (Inglorious Basterds, Unknown, The Infiltrator), Emmy Award® nominee Alan Cumming (The Good Wife, Battle of the Sexes, X2: X-Men United), and Golden Globes® nominee Danny Huston (The Constant Gardener, The Aviator, 21 Grams).
Set in late 1930’s Bay City, MARLOWE centers around a street-wise, down-on-his-luck detective; Philip Marlowe (Liam Neeson), who is hired to find the ex-lover of a glamorous heiress (Diane Kruger), daughter of a well-known movie star (Jessica Lange). The disappearance unearths a web of lies, and soon Marlowe is involved in a dangerous, deadly investigation where everyone involved has something to hide.
With the purchase of MARLOWE on disc or Digital, fans are eligible to earn points towards digital movies via the Universal All-Access Rewards program. Members can redeem their points for digital movies, swag and more! For registration and details please visit www.MyUniversalRewards.com.
FILMMAKERS:
Cast: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, Jessica Lange, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ian Hart, Colm Meaney, Daniela Melchior, François Arnaud, Seána Kerslake with Danny Huston and Alan Cumming
Casting By: Dan Hubbard CSC, CSA
Hair Designer: Lorraine Glynn
Costume Designer: Betsy Heimann
Music By: David Holmes
Editor: Mick Mahon
Production Designer: John Beard
Director of Photography: Xavi Giménez AEC
Executive Producers: Elisabeth C de B Segel, Patrick Muldoon, Harris Tulchin, Juan Antonio García Peredo, Alberto Burgueño, Andreas Wentz, Celine Haddad, Monte Lipman, Dana Sano, Jared D. Underwood, Andrew C. Robinson, Slava Vladimirov, Peter M. Lenkov, A.J. Buckley
Spanish Producer: Colette Aguilar
French Producer: Victor Hadida
Producers: Philip Kim, Patrick Hibler
Produced By: Alan Moloney p.g.a., Gary Levinsohn p.g.a., Mark Fasano p.g.a., Billy Hines
Based Upon The Book: “The Black-Eyed Blonde” by John Banville
Screenplay By: William Monahan and Neil Jordan
Directed By: Neil Jordan
TECHNICAL INFORMATION BLU-RAYTM:
Street Date: April 18, 2023
Selection Number: 1000824501 (US)
Layers: BD 50
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 2.40:1 Widescreen
Rating: Rated R for language, violent content, some sexual material and brief drug use.
Subtitles: English SDH and Latin American Spanish
Languages/Sound: English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1)
Run Time: 01:49:33
TECHNICAL INFORMATION DVD:
Street Date: April 18, 2023
Selection Number: 1000824502 (US)
Layers: DVD 9
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 2.40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Rating: Rated R for language, violent content, some sexual material and brief drug use.
Subtitles: English SDH and Latin American Spanish
Languages/Sound: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Run Time: 01:49:40
Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Banderas, oh my! Sprinkle in some Joan Crawford and it's a quality week. After last week, it's time to catch a breath and prepare ourselves for the next wave. At this point it looks like April is lining up to be another huge month.
Welcome to Volume 3 Episode 41 of our weekly release guide. A look at the highlights of what's coming to disc the week of March 5th - March 11th, as well as a look at announcements from last week.
There are zero, none, nada, zilch new releases this week. Brand new to 4K though is Mildred Pierce (1945), a classic melodrama crime mystery starring Joan Crawford, brought to us via Criterion.
Sony reissues a pair of 4Ks as SteelBooks, and just like before, a Dolby Vision upgrade on each release. First, Air Force One, the action/thriller starring Harrison Ford. And second, The Mask of Zorro starring Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Closing out the category, I did mention Best Buy was spacing out their Rocky SteelBooks over 4 weeks, this week you can get Rocky II.
Next week, the next Rocky, a hard to get out of print film debuts to 4K and one of director Walter Hill's finest.
There are no blu-ray counterparts of the above titles releasing this week. Let's just get to the highlights for the rest of the category.
New drama release from Universal with Women Talking.
The Warner Archive has drama/romance Camille starring and Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor (I). Also this week look for a bipoic about Broadway star Lillian Roth with I'll Cry Tomorrow, starring Susan Hayward.
Who doesn't want a Christmas movie in March? RLJ & Shudder Originals has Christmas Bloody Christmas this week. Another Christmas movie with Santa on a killing spree, worth a look I s'pose.
Horror release The House That Screamed comes via Arrow Video (previously released by Scream Factory).
Three more VHS Retro Look titles from Mill Creek, Fear, The Fan and Problem Child.
Anime highlights include Heaven Official's Blessing - Season 1, which comes in a Standard Edition and as a Limited Edition, and Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation - Season 1 Part 2.
Honorable Mention: This one goes out to those that want everything Cecil B. DeMille, Kino Lorber releases The Crusades this week.
Warner Bros. has officially detailed the Superman 5-Film Collection for 4K release on April 18th. What you get is Superman I - IV, with two cuts of Superman II. Amazon also is offering the collection as a SteelBook set.
Sandpiper Pictures has added several more blu-ray titles to their April 25th slate, they are The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, The Fantasticks, Kid Galahad and Stanley & Iris. The latter three were all previously available on the Twilight Time label.
Shout! Factory has revealed several titles for May, in no particular order they are Conquest Of Space / I Married A Monster From Outer Space (Double Feature), The Morning After (1986), The Tiger Cage Collection, Skyline 4K, Brotherhood Of The Wolf 4K, Highwaymen and The Haunting 4K. This seems a little light to me, I really would't be surprised to see more titles added in the next week or so, definitely some Anime.
Paramount will be releasing Deep Impact to 4K disc on May 2nd.
LionsGate is releasing The Man Who Fell to Earth to 4K Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook on April 25th.
Which titles are you buying this week? Which ones are on your wishlist, be it to buy as an impulse buy or to wait for the right price?
The comedy/drama starring Channing Tatum and Salma Hayek-Pinault will be teasing its way to Blu-ray and DVD on April 18. The Digital release is now available.
In “Magic Mike’s Last Dance,” “Magic” Mike Lane (Tatum) takes to the stage again after a lengthy hiatus, following a business deal that went bust, leaving him broke and taking bartender gigs in Florida. For what he hopes will be one last hurrah, Mike heads to London with a wealthy socialite (Hayek Pinault) who lures him with an offer he can’t refuse…and an agenda all her own. With everything on the line, once Mike discovers what she truly has in mind, will he—and the roster of hot new dancers he’ll have to whip into shape—be able to pull it off?
The Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack will include Magic Mike's New Moves and a Deleted Scene with a SRP of $34.98.
Order your copy today and here is the full press release:
INDIEWIRE / Jude Dry
“‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ Is Wish Fulfillment at Its Sexiest”
THE ATLANTIC / Shirley Li
Magic Mike’s Last Dance
COMES HOME FROM
WARNER BROS. HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Premium Digital Ownership
debuts early on February 28th
Blu-ray and DVD arrive on April 18th
Burbank, CA, February 28th – Embark on Magic Mike’s last hurrah, featuring Channing Tatum reprising his role as Mike Lane when “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” arrives for Premium Digital Ownership at home on February 28th . The film is directed by Steven Soderbergh from a script by Reid Carolin, with help from Soderbergh’s creative team behind the scenes includes production designer Pat Campbell (TV’s “The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself”), costume designer Christopher Peterson (“The Irishman”) and music supervisor Season Kent (“KIMI,” “Let Them All Talk”), with choreography by Alison Faulk and Luke Broadlick, both part of the “Magic Mike” franchise, starring “Magic” Mike Lane (Tatum). The film also stars Salma Hayek Pinault (“House of Gucci,” “Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard”), along with dancers from the “Magic Mike Live” shows in London and Las Vegas. The film will be available on Blu-ray and DVD beginning on April 18th.
The film also stars Ayub Khan Din (TV’s “Ackley Bridge”), newcomer Jemelia George, Juliette Motamed (TV’s “We Are Lady Parts”) and Vicki Pepperdine (“Johnny English Strikes Again”). The film was produced by Nick Wechsler, Gregory Jacobs, Tatum, Carolin and Peter Kiernan with Julie M. Anderson executive producing.
The film was recently released in limited theaters as a special opportunity for fans and they came out in numbers to experience this final film.
“Magic Mike’s Last Dance” can be enjoyed at home with Filmmaker Mode TM. Developed by studios, TV manufacturers and some of Hollywood’s leading directors, Filmmaker Mode disables all post processing (e.g. motion smoothing), preserves the correct aspect ratios, colors and frame rates, and enables your TV to display the film precisely as it was intended by the filmmaker. Filmmaker Mode is available on televisions from select manufacturers.
“Magic Mike’s Last Dance” will also be available on Movies Anywhere. Using the free Movies Anywhere app and website, consumers can access all their eligible movies by connecting their Movies Anywhere account with their participating digital retailer accounts.
SYNOPSIS
In “Magic Mike’s Last Dance,” “Magic” Mike Lane (Tatum) takes to the stage again after a lengthy hiatus, following a business deal that went bust, leaving him broke and taking bartender gigs in Florida. For what he hopes will be one last hurrah, Mike heads to London with a wealthy socialite (Hayek Pinault) who lures him with an offer he can’t refuse…and an agenda all her own. With everything on the line, once Mike discovers what she truly has in mind, will he—and the roster of hot new dancers he’ll have to whip into shape—be able to pull it off?
DIGITAL, BLU-RAY & DVD ELEMENTS
“Magic Mike’s Last Dance” Premium Digital Ownership contains the following special features:
“Magic Mike’s Last Dance” Blu-ray contains the following special features:
Naval aviators of the 'forgotten war', Antonio Banderas' best known animated character, a star studded crime/thriller, two more Laikas, Rocky Balboa, Denzel Washington trains a rookie and more. This week we might just need to extend our line of credit or empty our savings account, there's a lot of something for everyone.
Welcome to Volume 3 Episode 39 of our weekly release guide. A look at the highlights of what's coming to disc the week of Febrary 26th - March 4th, as well as a look at announcements from last week.
If you want everything 4K, your video rack is going to add quite a few titles. Excluding the import, there are a total of 17 skus. It's not as bad when you do a break down, but it's still rough.
For new releases, first let's visit the "Forgotten War" with another 'first' in Devotion, a true story about the first black Naval aviator. Partaking in the Korean war, two elite pilots turn the tide in a brutal battle.
The other new release this week stars Antonio Banderas in a reprisal role with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
Moving right along to catalog titles, sorted by distributor, let's begin with Kino Lorber and Marathon Man, a crime/thriller with the likes of Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier and Roy Scheider.
LionsGate has a double-dip of sense, the John Wick Stash Book Collection – SteelBook Box Set which is only available at Best Buy.
Finally no need to import it, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre comes to us via the MPI Media Group. Available as a standard edition and as a SteelBook edition.
Shout Factory's next batch of Laika Studios releases is available this Tuesday. Look for The Boxtrolls, available as a Standard edition and as a SteelBook edition, and Kubo and the Two Strings, also available as a Standard edition and a SteelBook edition. Thus far these new SteelBooks have had some incredible artwork.
Last, but certainly not least comes Warner Bros., Rocky leads off the pack with Rocky: The Knockout Collection (I-IV), part IV having both the theatrical and director's ultimate cut. If you are for the SteelBooks, Best Buy is sprinkling each film over the next three weeks, this week you get the original film, Rocky.
Also from Warner, Training Day gets a standard edition, a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook, and if you want to import a much nicer version, a Zavvi Exclusive Premium SteelBook. The latter might not be available to ship directly as of press date as Zavvi is making some changes to how they operate.
From Vinegar Syndrome, the general release of From Beyond. The limited edition is no longer available from their site.
Import Friday brings Possessor Uncut edition, from Turbine media.
Next week has more Rocky, Sony reissues two more SteelBooks with Dolby Vision upgrades and Criterion Collection has a classic melodrama.
The same holds true for blu-ray releases this week, your financial well being is in danger.
Blu-ray counterparts of the above category first, Devotion comes to us from Paramount and for Puss in Boots, we get a standard edition, a Walmart Exclusive and the two-movie collection.
Our favorite action actor Bruce Willis returns this week with the third film of the trilogy, Detective Knight: Independence, which comes to us via LionsGate. In a different genre, think fantasy/horror, B'Twixt Now and Sunrise.
From Warner Bros, late 60s animated release The Adventures of Batman: The Complete Collection debuts on blu-ray.
Sony Pictures has the Whitney Houston biopic Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody.
Criterion Collection has Hollywood Shuffle and Two Films By Marguerite Duras.
If you want to see a Western done Hong kong style, try out Millionaires’ Express from Arrow Video.
Anime highlights include a Fist of the North Star feature, Ghost Stories - Complete Collection, Jujutsu Kaisen: Season 1 Part 1, which is available as a Standard Edition and as a Limited Edition, Revisions: Complete Collection and Sailor Moon R: Complete Second Season.
Honorable Mention: A few weeks ago we saw a handful of 'Disney 100' blu-ray releases at Walmart, which had a special cover art and a limited edition pin. I spotted the same ones (minus the limited edition pin) at Best Buy as well. This week gives us the next wave that includes 101 Dalmatians, The Aristocats, Frozen II, The Jungle Book, Lady and the Tramp, Robin Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Tangled, Wreck it Ralph and Zootopia. No doubt the same editions will be at Best Buy and the Disney movie club.
Amazon U.S. has the February Imprint Films titles available on Friday, they are:
Paramount has officially announced the Star Trek Next Generation films for 4K release on April 4th. There will also be remastered blu-rays available the same day.
Warner Bros. will be releasing Superman I - IV to 4K disc on April 18th. It will include two cuts of Superman II. Also available will be the collection, as an Amazon Exclusive SteelBook.
LionsGate will be releasing Plane (starring Gerard Butler and Mike Colter) to 4K and blu-ray on March 28th.
Arrow Video's May release slate is pretty exciting, for the US/Canada market look for Blackhat, Blackhat 4K, Hand of Death and The Last Starfighter 4K. The UK will be getting Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 4K as well as The Beta Test on blu-ray.
Which titles are you buying this week? Which ones are on your wishlist, be it to buy as an impulse buy or to wait for the right price?
