Posted Sun Feb 25, 2024 at 09:00 AM PST by D. LaFontaine
With the final week of the month essentially here, March will bring us all sorts of things. An excuse to be Irish, an uptick in disc releases, major college basketball action, Spring. What does March mean for you?
Welcome to Volume 4 Episode 39 of our weekly release guide. A look at the highlights of what's coming to disc the week of February 25th - March 2nd, as well as a look at announcements from last week.
Before we kick off Tuesday's slate, let's look at Monday. Nope, not for imports either, but rather a new term, 'Walmart Monday.' Walmart Exclusive SteelBooks of previously released catalog titles (mostly Shout! Factory or RLJ Entertainment) all appear to have Monday street dates. That pattern is not just this week either, but coming weeks. Titles this week include Creepshow, Dragonheart, The Magnificent Seven (1960) and Platoon.
Moving on to Tuesday, the new release this week is Wonka from Warner Bros. Alternately, there is also a Walmart Exclusive SteelBook available.
Next and on to catalog titles, from Warner Bros., Steven Soderbergh's Contagion. Is it a drama, is it a thriller? YES.
Kino Lorber has a pair of releases this week with an early Stanley Kubrick work, Fear and Desire. And, the 1957 edition of Gunfight at the O.K. Corral with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas.
From Vinegar Syndrome, the general release of The Horrible Dr. Hichcock. If you want the release with the limited edition slipcase, follow the link in the description, or follow this link.
Sort of echoing Dr. Hichcock, Southern Comfort also gets a standard release, with the original limited release available here.
From the Vinegar Syndrome partner label Cinématographe, a well represented release of Little Darlings. Amazon is offering this special release too, so there is no need to visit VS if this is all you would like to purchase.
From Criterion Collection, The Roaring Twenties. Just reading the first paragraph of David's review has me off the fence and ready to order this one. (Like the well dressed men with Tommyguns wasn't enough?)
Somewhat of a double-dip, All Quiet on the Western Front now becomes available in a SteelBook. No doubt the same exact discs as the mediabook release from last March.
And lastly, available Friday the BFI import of The Wages of Fear. This title was released on February 19th, but we found an Amazon US link when the Amazon UK link became unavailable for purchase.
Oh-Oh, there is more. As a last 3.5 second release announcement, Universal has decided to grace us with Illumination animated title Migration for a release this week. Quack Quack!
Another slow(ish) week next week. Meanwhile March 12th is going to be ridiculously busy with those James Cameron releases, more catalog titles and THREE new release titles.
Blu-ray releases-
Blu-ray counterparts of the above 4K releases include Wonka, available in a standard edition and as a Target Exclusive, Fear and Desire and The Roaring Twenties. Added at the last second is Migration from Universal.
Now then, the blu-ray category itself looks quite busy this week.
New comedy from Sony Pictures with Anyone But You.
In the comedy horror department, LionsGate has Dream Scenario with Nicolas Cage. Also available this week in the Western genre, The Night They Came Home.
From Searchlight Pictures, the blu-ray release of Next Goal Wins.
TV on disc this week includes Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete Eighth Season and Monk: Season Four.
Anime highlights this week include (gotta love the length of some of these titles) Chillin' in My 30s After Getting Fired From the Demon King's Army: The Complete Season, Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure, Extreme Dinosaurs - Complete Series, Hand Maid May - Complete Collection and I've Somehow Gotten Stronger When I Improved My Farm-Related Skills - Complete Collection and Puss 'N Boots: Around the World.
Collectors of Kino Lorber's Film Noir box sets can get Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XVII this week.
Honorable Mention: From Radiance Films and available for the first time on blu-ray worldwide, the drama/history Allonsanfan.
Friday imports available via Amazon US include both Imprint and Umbrella titles:
Reported by The Digital Bits and other outlets, Disney is shutting down their movie club and getting out of the physical media business. Now that the shock is over, what does this mean? In this case they are partnering with Sony to do future releases. Time will tell if this is a positive thing or a negative. Will Sony have more autonomy to release catalog titles from Fox? Will Sony release a 4K where otherwise Disney would have done a standard blu-ray? Will we finally be rid of the BD66 HDR10 Atmouse shell? Will this just be a glorified licensing agreement where Sony has to beg Disney for rights to produce a disc? I also have doubts of future inclusion of digital codes, afterall, they're trying to push their monthly subscription fees on us. One last thing... what becomes of Disney Movie Insiders, their rewards site? We will no doubt know more in the coming weeks or months, so stay tuned.
We now have a street date for the 4k releases of Brandon Lee's The Crow from Paramount, that would be May 7th. The next Paramount Presents release will be a 4K of Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West. Expect that one a week later, May 14th.
Sony Pictures will be releasing Steel Magnolias to 4K as a 35th Anniversary Edition on April 23rd.
Arrow Video has revealed their May 2024 slate. For the US and Canada (and UK on select titles), titles include Narc, blu-ray and 4K skus, Crimson Peak 4K, Pandemonium blu-ray and Night Falls on Manhattan. For the UK exclusively, a 4K release of The Long Good Friday.
Kino Lorber adds new titles to their up and coming list quite regularly. The one that stood out last week to me was the 1955 release of The Ladykillers to 4K and blu-ray. I very strongly considered the StudioCanal Vintage Classics release from several years ago.
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?
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