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Blu-ray & 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Release Guide - June 13-19, 2021What to say, what to do. It's kind of one of those in between weeks that a lot is business as usual. Begin Volume 2 Episode 4 of our weekly release guide. 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases- First let's talk imports, which means a Monday street date. Paul Verhoeven’s classic 1992 erotic thriller BASIC INSTINCT. Available as a standard release and as a Zavvi Exclusive SteelBook. It is a StudioCanal project so who knows if a U.S. distributor might not pick it up. I'd bet on Shout Select if it were to happen. Now for North America releases, which have a regular Tuesday release date... Getting the double-dips first, Gattaca comes out now in a standard package instead of a SteelBook. Also from Sony, Last Action Hero, the same way, a standard release instead of the SteelBook. And just the opposite from LionsGate, Sicario as a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook, previously released in a standard edition. For fresh content, Clint Eastwood's action/thriller In the Line of Fire. Delayed from last week, LionsGate releases Voyagers. This title breaks the norm in that it does NOT have Dolby Atmos or Dolby Vision. Probably a good reason for that. Last but not least, Godzilla vs. Kong, just like the previous two Godzilla movies, available as a standard edition and as a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook. These new movies remind me of the reinvention of Batman under Christopher Nolan. Edgy, gritty and good. And the effects budget certainly helps! HD Blu-ray/Digital releases- For Blu-ray releases this week looks to be average. First, Godzilla vs. Kong, available as a standard release blu-ray, a 3D blu-ray combo, and as a trilogy of the new franchise. Shout Factory's various labels this week will release The Awakening, Kindred and Sphinx. Michelle Pfeiffer's latest film, French Exit comes this week from Sony. Spine Number 18 from Paramount Presents is available this week, titled Last Train from Gun Hill. LionsGate also releases Voyagers on Blu-ray. Other entries from this week also include SAS: Red Notice and Rock Dog 2. Mill Creek releases Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle and Ultraman Zero Chronicles this week. Anime has a very slow week. Highlights are One Piece - Collection 26, Queen's Blade Rebel Warriors Collection and To Love Ru Darkness: Season 3: Complete Collection. From Universal, the hit TV series Parks and Recreation: The Complete Series. Criterion Collection's release of the week is Streetwise / Tiny: The Life of Erin Blackwell. Friday releases are the norm, music/arts releases. >Horrorpops - Live At The Wiltern >Joe Bonamassa: Now Serving: Royal Tea: Live From The Ryman >Love Duets: Sonya Yoncheva & Vittorio Grigolo at Arena di Verona >Wagner: Die Walkure Notable announcements from last week: Paramount has been busy this past week. The Paramount Presents label has three titles slated for August, Bugsy Malone, Nashville and A Place in the Sun. Bugsy Malone is set to release 8/31 while the other two are for 8/10. They've sent info to retailers that their next batch of Miramax reissues will be coming in July. There looks to be about 25 (and growing) of them, and just like last time, some of these titles went out of print so get ready to buy them again for a more reasonable price. All of them are likely the exact same discs as before so don't expect audio upgrades on the lossy audio ones. Criterion will be announcing its next batch of titles soon, for now they just added Melvin Van Peebles: Four Films for release on September 28. They usually announce one title, then a week later the next batch. Discotek has got the next batch in the works as well, all due on August 31st. Titles include Future Robot Daltanious, Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics - Season 2, Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple - The Complete First Season, Lupin the 3rd Part III: The Pink Jacket Adventures and Mitchiri Neko. 4K Release Calendar 2K/BD Release Calendar 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?Posted Sun Jun 13, 2021 at 12:00 PM PDT by: -
Blu-ray & 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Release Guide - Week of June 8, 2021With Summer being just around the corner, which films do you look forward to seeing in the theater, or do you feel like waiting to enjoy it at home? Begin Volume 2 Episode 3 of the Blu-ray & 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Release Guide. 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases- A few choices to ponder this week in the 4K disc category. Quickly getting the double-feature bundle packs out of the way, Paramount has repackaged 10 Cloverfield Lane / Cloverfield, Bumblebee / Transformers, Jack Reacher / Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. LionsGate's Voyagers got pushed back a week, no doubt out of respect (or fear) of lost sales when pitted against this week's must have purchase, Indiana Jones 4-Movie Collection, available as a standard edition release and as a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook edition. HD Blu-ray/Digital releases- Mill Creek's bulk of June releases come out this week, the titles are Alpha Dog, The Adjustment Bureau / The Good Shepherd (Matt Damon Double Feature), Contraband / Fear (Mark Wahlberg Double Feature), Finding Forrester, Miami Vice / The Kingdom (Jamie Foxx Double Feature) and Safe House. Toy Soldiers / December has been pushed back to the end of the month. Paramount brings us a 2021 action thriller Assault on VA-33 and recent action comedy The Lovebirds. The Indiana Jones 4-Movie Collection also gets a new Blu-ray package as well. Reissues, but as SteelBooks this round include Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Pretty in Pink and Some Kind of Wonderful. LionsGate's appearance this week gives us City of Lies, a crime drama from a couple of years ago and Flashback, a recent drama thriller. Anime highlights include Fruits Basket: Season 1, Nana Seven of Seven - Complete Collection, number24 - The Complete Series, Wave, Listen to Me! - The Complete Season and World Trigger - Complete Collection. Criterion Collectors look for The Human Condition. Arrow Video's release of The Stylist is still on track for a release on Tuesday. Friday release are all arts/music related, >Arena Di Verona Collection 2 >Charles Gounod: Mireille >Keersmaeker: Six Brandenburg Concertos >Mr. Bungle - The Night They Came Home >One Desire: One Night Only - Live In Helsinki >Written on Water Notable announcements from last week: Amazon has listed preorders for a lot of TV series, some of them pretty high quality. Listed are Batwoman: The Complete Second Season, The Flash: The Complete Seventh Season, The Nevers, Season 1 Part 1 and Superman & Lois: The Complete First Season. Shout Factory has a slew of titles announced for August, they are Fast Vengeance, Havoc, The Oh, God! Collection, The Rebels of PT-218, A Return to Salem's Lot and Take Back. Thjey also broke up the LAIKA Studios collection into four individual releases. Those titles are The Boxtrolls, Coraline, Kubo and the Two Strings and ParaNorman. These editions are loaded with extra features. LionsGate adds titles every week, this week the next Vestron Collector's title announced is The Wraith, with a street date of July 20th. Those titles usually go in pairs so I wonder what/if the other one will be. Also from LionsGate with July 20th in mind, Die in a Gunfight, Initiation and The Walking Dead: The Complete Tenth Season. The upcoming Arrow Video release of Dune can now be ordered on Amazon in all editions except the Deluxe Limited SteelBook. Reference the release calendar to August 31st. Amazon and Best Buy have listed preorders for Mortal Kombat (2021) in 4K combo, Best Buy 4K SteelBook and Blu-ray combo packs. Speaking of Best Buy, a recent trip to my closest one caused a fit of rage -- they ripped out more than 80% of their movies to make room for phone cases. Really?!??! Do you not want me to enter your store any more? 4K Release Calendar 2K/BD Release Calendar 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?Posted Sun Jun 6, 2021 at 12:00 PM PDT by: -
Blu-ray & 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Release Guide - Week of June 1, 2021Memorial Day week, many of us have a long weekend and many people will be running the grill and entertaining family. Of course the holday itself was never intended to be such a day, it started out as a military remembrance day, so let's take a moment to do just that. Begin Volume 2 Episode 2 of our weekly release guide. 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases- After last week, we needed a slower week for releases in general, not just 4K. This week we get a single new title and two double-dip skus. Double dips first, Backdraft gets a snazzy looking SteelBook, apparently not even available at Best Buy this go round. Universal had previous SteelBook 4K releases that were not Best Buy Exclusives but seemingly only available at Best Buy. The next double dip is Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider 2 as a double feature. The new release of the week is a comedy that's still funny today, Smokey and the Bandit. What a great cast, what they made together was memorable! HD Blu-ray/Digital releases- In the Blu-ray release category, this week is slightly below average. Here are the highlights. Highlights in the Anime category include APPARE-RANMAN! The Complete Series, Black Clover: Season 3 Part 4 and Shachibato! President It's Time for Battle! - The Complete Season. From Universal Studios, 2021 drama Boogie. Our weekly dose of LionsGate includes catalog title But I'm a Cheerleader, The Courier (no, not that one) and Endangered Species. Paramount has finally decided to release the Showtime TV series Billions: Season Two. Additionally, TV mini-series Your Honor also arrives on an MOD format. Spine number 17 of the Paramount Presents catalog is available this week, the title is Mommie Dearest, starring Faye Dunaway. The next classic Doctor Who season is available from BBC and Warner Bros, this one of Jon Pertwee: Season Two. From Warner Archive, Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal: The Complete First Season. After several delays, Wisconsin: The Bill Rebane Collection appears to be on track for release from Arrow Video. Honorable mention -- The Classic Flix restoration of The Little Rascals: Volume One comes out this week. Notable announcements from last week: Kino Lorber has confirmed that they will be doing a 4K disc release of Van Damme's Hard Target. At this time it looks like it will have Dolby Vision HDR. I would suspect the DTS-HD MA 5.1 track to be reused, which isn't a bad thing. FUNimation has announced its August slate of titles. Nothing jumps right out at me, but there are a few that might vy attention. We have also added the Sentai Filmworks titles for August as well. Arrow Video has announced its August slate of titles. I would say the biggest announcement is the 4K release of David Lynch's 1984 flick many of you may have heard of, Dune. To be released on August 31, Arrow is outdoing themselves on this one. Offered as a "fat pack" Limited Edition, a SteelBook Limited Edition and a "fat pack" SteelBook Deluxe Limited Edition. I know if former blog writer Josh is reading this, he's probably saying "son of a $@$&@%" as he has to buy three more skus of the film. If you also count the 2 disc Blu-ray edition, that's four skus. Other U.S. and Canada releases for August include Blind Beast, The Brotherhood of Satan and The Sergio Martino Collection. According to other sources, Paramount Pictures also looks to be releasing A Quiet Place Part II on July 27th in both a 4K disc edition and on Blu-ray, and of course digital. Expect an official press release soon. Wrath of Man will be released on July 13th on Blu-ray. No 4K announced, and as is Warner Bros I doubt one will come later, except maybe as an import. Lastly, what I feel might be bad for physical media, Amazon.com has purchased MGM. Surely it is to bolster their streaming platform and potentially get legal rights to do spinoffs. I almost feel as though this is a parallel to Disney buying Fox and making their new business model primarly streaming. Would Kino have been able to license Spaceballs for 4K in this new environment? Is everything unreleased now up to independents negotiating release rights? Does this full circle their releases back to Warner Bros, who have already released Amazon titles on disc? 4K Release Calendar 2K/BD Release Calendar 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?Posted Sun May 30, 2021 at 12:00 PM PDT by: -
Blu-ray & 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Release Guide - Week of May 25, 2021The last Tuesday of May is upon us and this week is probably the busiest week of the month. Welcome to Volume 2, Episode 1 of our weekly look at the highlights of the week for new disc releases, as well as a look at major announcements from last week. 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases- First, let's get the 4K reissues out of the way. Universal releases a couple of additional SKUs from the Alfred Hitchcock Collection. The Birds, available as a standard release and as a SteelBook package. A release of Psycho (1960) as a standard release and as a SteelBook package. Again with so many Universal SteelBook releases, the SteelBook is not a Best Buy exclusive but seems to be available only at Best Buy. Maybe it is an exclusive release window. Paramount's offerings for the week start with My Fair Lady, a great title I don't think needs much of an explanation. And second, J.J. Abrams' Super 8, available as a standard release and as a SteelBook. LionsGate's 4K offering is 2021's Chaos Walking, available as a standard release and as a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook. The technical specs for this one indicate it should be a reference quality presentation. Specialty label releases include Arrow Video's Django, which also includes a blu-ray disc of Texas, Adios, Blue Underground's release of The Final Countdown (1980) and Screen Media's 4K release of The Outpost (2020). HD Blu-ray/Digital releases- In the Anime/Animation category, Ahiru no Sora Collection Two, as a standard release and a Premium Edition, BAKI - Complete Collection, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Set 9, Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics - Season 1, Made in Abyss - Theatrical Collection (SteelBook), Medabots - Complete 3rd Season and Plunderer - Part 1, standard edition and limited edition. LionsGate's entries for Blu-ray are American Figher and Chaos Walking. Paramount has a couple of catalog titles this week, they are Days of Heaven, Don't Look Now (available in 4K overseas), Get Rich or Die Tryin', La Dolce Vita, The Last Castle, The Legend of Bagger Vance, A Night at the Roxbury, Rosemary's Baby, The Saint, Tupac: Resurrection and The Tuxedo. For recent film, 2021's Happily also releases this week. Warner Bros. brings us Supernatural - The Complete Fifteenth and Final Season and Supernatural - The Complete Series. I would love to have the Complete Series set, it has a little bit of swag and is a decent value, considering it is 15 seasons worth of TV. Criterion Collection releases Nightmare Alley. WWE fans probably already know Wrestlemania 37 comes out this week, but just in case, hey, Wrestlemania 37 comes out this week. Friday releases are a bit different this week, in addition to the usual music/arts releases, >Baywatch - The Complete TV Series >Funny Face >Giuseppe Verdi: Falstaff >Mozart: Così fan tutte >Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet >Rimsky-Korsakov: The Snow Maiden Notable announcements from last week: Christmas is coming, that's a pretty sure thing. Criterion Collection releasing a 4K disc, probably not a safe bet. But, their August slate of Blu-ray/DVD releases have been announced, they are After Life, Ashes and Diamonds, Beasts Of No Nation and Original Cast Album: "Company". The film Almost Famous has a confirmed street date of July 13th, but what becomes a bit annoying is that there are two SKUs available that compete with each other. The 4K disc release is in a SteelBook case while the regular Blu-ray release is part of the 'Paramount Presents' line. Come on Paramount, Days of Thunder all over again. If Paramount Presents is supposed to be the best you have to offer, are you saying the Blu-ray presentation is better than the 4K? 4K Release Calendar 2K/BD Release Calendar 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?Posted Sun May 23, 2021 at 12:00 PM PDT by: -
RoboCop Blu-ray ComparisonThe "fun" part of collecting your favorite movies on disc is dissecting the A/V Presentation. Since LaserDisc, high-end video formats have been promoted for offering your favorite films with the best image and sound quality possible. Well - as we know with past experience that's just not the case. Blu-ray offered some impressive titles early on, but there were quite a few that dropped the ball leaving fans wondering why they even bothered to upgrade from DVD - let alone the thousands of dollars spent on new A/V equipment. One of the most controversial home video releases has been Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi masterpiece RoboCop. This one saw half a dozen questionable releases on DVD alone before it arrived on Blu-ray in 2007 from Fox/MGM with a resounding and very expensive "Thud." Prior to that there supposed to be another Blu-ray release from Sony but it was so bad it was pulled from the market before it could get wide distribution - even though a few discs slipped out. Then in 2014 we finally got the 4K sourced remaster we've long been hoping for approved by Verhoeven himself. Then in 2019, Arrow gave the film the genuine Limited Edition treatment with an ever so slightly brightened transfer sourced from the same 2014 remaster. For this Blu-ray Comparison Video, we're going to showcase the MGM/Fox 2007 disc, the MGM/Fox 2014 disc, and the 2019 Arrow Video release. As you can see there's a pretty big difference from the MGM/Fox 2007 disc and the MGM/Fox 2014 disc and less so with the 2019 Arrow Video release. The Arrow presentation is slightly brighter, maybe a little bluer in a couple of scenes, but that's it. The Arrow Video release has the advantage of offering both cuts of the film along with hours of excellent bonus features. If you can find the Limited Edition or the SteelBook - that's your best way to go.Posted Sat May 15, 2021 at 04:01 AM PDT by: -
Blu-ray & 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Release Guide - Week of May 18, 2021Welcome to Episode 52 of our Blu-ray/4K Release Guide. This week marks the 1 Year Anniversary of our weekly guide, bringing you the highlights of what's coming out to home video, and as an added bonus, any major announcements from last week. 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases- We are really getting into the nitty gritty of the month of May. This month has a lot of great titles that are sure to bust your bank account. First, let's get to the release that will get the most attention this week, I am referring to Raya and the Last Dragon. This title was stewing on a soft-release date of May 18th, but not a single retailer had an order link available until May 10th. Maybe someone can tell me their strategy, something other than self-sabotaging physical media. For 4K this release has your standard slew of releases, do you buy one, both, or all three because you love Disney releases? The standard 4K release, the Target Exclusive 4K release and the Best Buy 4K Exclusive SteelBook release all beckon you. Delayed from last month, Severin Films releases their 4K disc of Santa Sangre. Sony Pictures releases the SteelBook of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Last Action Hero. The standard (non-SteelBook) is due in June. I still have my laserdisc somewhere, this is one of those films you either love or hate. It too seems to be unavailable to order, maybe it will get delayed (?) Universal Pictures has two titles to pick from this week. The oddity though is that the SteelBooks are not available on Amazon, but yet they are not Best Buy Exclusives, but seem only available from there. First, National Lampoon's Animal House. Standard Release Here and SteelBook Release Here. And second, look for The Sting (1973), Standard Release Here and SteelBook Release Here. HD Blu-ray/Digital releases- Slightly above average week for Blu-rays. Here are some of the highlights... Lets start with dragons first. Raya and the Last Dragon gets a Blu-ray combo this week if you choose. And from Universal, the Dragonheart: 5 Movie Collection. This compilation was previously only available on DVD. LionsGate's obligatory releases this week include Above Suspicion and Minari. Bruce Willis in a mecha suit? That's what it looks like in Cosmic Sin from Paramount Pictures. Academy nominee The Father starring Anthony Hopkins debuts this week. Also from Paramount/CBS TV, Charmed: The Complete Third Season (2000). Let me remind them that they left us hanging with MacGyver Season One and never gave us a hint at more seasons. From CBS this week also, Star Trek: Lower Decks Season One, available as a standard release and as a SteelBook release. Anime/Animated titles to consider this week include Cannon Busters - The Complete Series, available as a standard release and as a Limited Edition release. InuYasha: Set 5, Sakura Wars the Animation and The Prince's Voyage close out Anime. From Warner Bros, Tom & Jerry - The Movie. Drunken Master II comes this week from Warner Archive Collection. Criterion Collectors look for the foreign film Flowers of Shanghai. Friday releases are all Opera or Classical Music titles: >George Frideric Handel: Ariodante >Handel: Rinaldo (2020) >Mahler: Symphonies Nos. 1-2 & 4-9 >Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Cosi fan tutte Notable announcements from last week: Visual Entertainment has just announced that Baywatch - The Complete TV Series will be available for purchase on May 28th. The show has been remastered and will be presented in a 1.77:1 widescreen format. On the 4K front from Universal, Howard the Duck and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World were announced and have a confirmed date of July 6th. From Warner Bros. Space Jam also has a street date of July 6th. A 3D release of Godzilla vs. Kong has been added to the mix and the order link for the Best Buy Exclusive 4K SteelBook has gone live. 4K Release Calendar 2K/BD Release Calendar 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?Posted Sun May 9, 2021 at 12:00 PM PDT by: -
Blu-ray & 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Release Guide - Week of May 11, 2021Why not celebrate Mother's Day with dinner and a movie. This week's bill has got a few decent choices to ponder. Welcome to Episode 51 of our Blu-ray & 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release guide. A look at the highlights of the week as well as announcements from last week. 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases- There are seven SKUs this week for 4K discs, which cover four movie titles. Next week there are potentially seven (or more) SKUs and the week after, there are ten. This week, direct to video comes the animated release Justice League: World War II from Warner Bros. Next in the animated category, the original smash hit Shrek debuts on 4K disc, available as a standard edition release and as a SteelBook release. The SteelBook is not touted as a Best Buy exclusive but seems to not be available on Amazon. In the reissue category, the original The Fast and the Furious gets a SteelBook release. Best Buy is also offering an exclusive version SteelBook which also seems to come with swag. And in the last minute announcement to release date category, LionsGate brings us the original Saw movie, as a standard release and as a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook release. HD Blu-ray/Digital releases- For Blu-ray releases, I like to think this is a good healthy average week. In the Anime/Animated category, look for 7 Seeds - Part Two, Babylon - Complete Collection, Infinite Dendrogram - The Complete Series, available as a standard release and as a limited edition box set, Naruto: Set 3 as a standard release and One Piece: Season Eleven - Voyage Two. From Warner Bros., if you didn't opt for the 4K, Justice Society: World War II is available on Blu-ray. Criterion Collections releases for the week? First, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I have heard the name of this one a lot but can't say I ever have seen it. Would this one be worthy of a 4K disc? And also look for Merrily We Go To Hell (1932). From Shout Factory, among other titles, King Kong (1976) gets a Collectors Edition this week. Universal's 2021 drama Land debuts this week on Blu-ray. The action thriller The Marksman also comes out this week. Friday releases comprises of just Bizet: Carmen, a well known opera. Notable announcements from last week: Arrow Video has revealed their July title line up. The UK will be getting a 4K and Blu-ray release for True Romance. The U.S. and Canada will get The Cat o' Nine Tails - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Daimajin Trilogy, Threshold and Vengeance Trails: Four Classic Westerns. For 4K disc news, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory will be coming on June 29th. Also from Warner Bros, it looks like The Lost Boys (1987) will be coming soon as well, most likely on the same date. And last but not least with Warner Bros, Godzilla vs. Kong will be coming to home video on June 15th as a 4K/Blu-ray Combo Standard Edition, a 4K/Blu-ray Combo Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook edition, a standard Blu-ray/DVD combo edition and as a three film blu-ray edition. Word is that Universal is also prepping Howard the Duck for 4K disc on or around the same time period. Lionsgate will be releasing the 2021 Sci-Fi Voyagers on June 8th in both 4K+Blu-ray and Blu-ray + DVD combo packs. 4K Release Calendar 2K/BD Release Calendar 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?Posted Sun May 9, 2021 at 12:00 PM PDT by: -
Blu-ray & 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Release Guide - Week of May 4, 2021"May the 4th be with you" should connect with a lot of our readers. I was not fortunate enough back in 1977 to be a part of the hubbub, going to movie theaters back then was quite the luxury. I never really was able to see the original Star Wars until years later. Welcome to Episode 50 of our weekly release guide, bringing you the highlights of what's being released this week, as well as news from last week about upcoming releases. 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases- For 4K discs this week, we have all catalog titles, which isn't really a bad thing is it? My Fair Lady was on the list but it got pushed to May 25th. Director Tim Burton's Big Fish gets a 4K disc debut this week. The movie has an all star cast and no doubt Sony did a fine job on the presentation. And next, look for the 1994 surprise hit Speed to hit 4K disc as well, and this one will be available as a standard release and as a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook. Both have reinvented cover art and while the standard release is tolerable, WTH are they thinking with the SteelBook? Both of our links go to Best Buy as the dispute between Disney and Amazon continues, years later. HD Blu-ray/Digital releases- Fortunately for our wallets, this week is a little bit light. The rest of the month, not so much. In the Anime/Animated category there are several titles of interest, for starters look for Bleach: Set 10. A RightStuf exclusive, Emma: Victorian Romance Season One debuts this week. Sentai Filmworks brings us Gate - Complete Collection. NCircle releases Sonic Boom: Season One. From Arrow Video, known for bringing us many lost gems, a 2020 film titled A Ghost Waits. I know people that write plots are goot at what they do, but this one realy does sound pretty good. From Warner Bros this week, a bio/history drama titled Judas and the Black Messiah. Not stopping there, Warner also releases The Little Things, a crime thriller with Denzel Washington. Mill Creek releases a handful of titles this week. They include Hellfighters, Macgruber and Scars of War: 4 Vietnam Stories. Criterion Collection's single release this week is Trances, which appears to be a foreign film in a very specific dialect, 'Moroccan Arabic.' LionsGate's obligatory appearance this week is to bring us The Virtuoso, an action thriller featuring Anthony Hopkins, someone that pops up every so often just to let us know he's still around. Notable announcements from last week: Blue Underground has announced Two Evil Eyes for 4K disc on August 24th. This film is directed by both George Romero and Dario Argento. It will feature Dolby Vision HDR and a ton of extras. Paramount will be releasing several 2021 films soon, Action/Thrillers Night of the Sicario on June 22nd and Assault on VA-33 on June 8th, Action/Comedy The Lovebirds on June 8th, the Crime/Thriller The Vault on June 1st and Comedy/Romance Happily on May 25h. Under the Paramount Presents label, look for 48 Hrs. and Another 48 Hrs. on July 6th. If these two movies were 4K discs I would rate my likelihood of buying them close to 100%, but as standard Blu-rays, I am looking at perhaps 75%. Paramount, THANK YOU for keeping physical media alive, but this seems like a blown opportunity to me. How about the original as a 4K and the sequel as Blu-ray? Mill Creek has announced its July 13th releases, they include I Dream of Jeannie: The Complete Series, Saving Silverman, Skin Deep and Two If By Sea. Pretty exciting to see more classic television coming our way. 4K Release Calendar 2K/BD Release Calendar 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?Posted Sun May 2, 2021 at 12:00 PM PDT by: -
Blu-ray & 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Release Guide - Week of April 27, 2021A return to normal volume this week for disc releases. I will buy the ones that most interest me of course, but in a month there are a ton of good titles coming so I am going to be a little more selective in what I actually buy to maintain an appearance I am trying to be making the right choices financially, ha ha ha. Welcome to Episode 49 of our weekly guide to releases for the week, as well as a look at the highlights of what was announced (last week) for upcoming titles. 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases- Nice assortment of catalog titles highlight the 4K disc category this week. Dirty Dancing, the surprise smash hit from the Vestron Video days leads off as a Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook. There is no standard release as of yet, best guess would be a couple of months. Watch the back story of how this movie was rejected by every studio except Vestron on the Netflix series The Movies That Made Us. A lot of smash hit movies had the same sort of beginning. Next from Arrow Video, look for Donnie Darko in the familiar 'fat-pack' release format. When I had bought the Blu-ray release I thought it would never see 4K but I'm kind of glad it did. I almost expect a last minute delay but we shall see. Closing out the 4K category this week, Kino Lorber brings us one of Sergio Leone's finest Westerns, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Extensive work was done to bring us this release so kudos goes to team Kino. This one does not feature HDR, but it is the best this film has ever looked. HD Blu-ray/Digital releases- Compared to last week, this week is huge as far as Blu-ray releases. From Warner Archive look for Another Thin Man, the third 'Thin Man' movie released by Warner Archive. Film-Noir release starring James Cagney titled Each Dawn I Die sees a release this week. A more recent film starring Bill Murray titled Quick Change also debuts on Blu-ray. If you like Rock Hudson or Douglas Sirk films, look for Battle Hymn from Kino Lorber this week. Also from Kino this week and done previously by Twilight Time, Heartworn Highways and Heartworn Highways Revisited is back in print! Kirk Douglas' A Lovely Way To Die also gets the Kino treatment this week. Maybe not a brand new release, but Elvira: Mistress of the Dark gets a spiffy looking SteelBook release this week. Arrow Video's other Blu-ray this week is a release titled Switchblade Sisters. Anime releases have been sporadic the past month or two. This week though there are a couple to ponder. HERO MASK Seasons 1 & 2 for starters. Discotek's releases this week are pretty much Japanese only (no dubs) but if that interests you, go for it. Their only English dubbed release this week is s-CRY-ed - The Complete TV Series. Just like last week, Criterion Collection is gaining two (non-4K) entries this week. Irma Vep is the first one, and French film Masculin Féminin being the second one. LionsGate's obligatory weekly entry this week is titled Vanquish, an action/crime/thriller starring Ruby Rose and Morgan Freeman. And speaking of Morgan Freeman, it looks like Shawshank Redemption might finally be getting a 4K disc this year. Notable announcements from last week: FUNimation's July batch of releases have been announced, the titles are Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater, Arte - The Complete Season, Plunderer - Part 2, Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar - The Complete Series (Classics), Listeners - The Complete Season, Uzaki-Chan Wants to Hang Out! The Complete Season, Uzaki-Chan Wants to Hang Out! The Complete Season (Limited Edition), A Certain Magical Index: Season 1 (Essentials), Isekai Quartet2 - Season 2, Gleipnir - The Complete Season, All Out!!: The Complete Series (Essentials), The Vision of Escaflowne - Complete Series (Classics), One Piece: Season Eleven - Voyage Three and Shironeko Project ZERO Chronicle - The Complete Season. Shout Factory has also added State and Main and House of Wax (2005) to their July title mix. TV on Blu-ray is good. A couple of years ago CBS decided it was going to release the original MacGyver and the original Charmed TV series on blu-ray. Out came season 1, then season 2 for Charmed, and now for this coming May, Charmed gets Season 3 released. Did they forget MacGyver? LionsGate has announced the 2018 Bio/Crime/Drama City of Lies will be available for purchase on Blu-ray and DVD on June 8th. Also a 2019 film titled Siberia (not the Keanu Reeves film) will be available on June 22nd. One last side note -- those curious about what's going on with blu-ray.com, if you visit their Facebook page or try going directly to their forum (forum.blu-ray.com), they indicate there was a drive failure, among other things. We take pride in HighDefDigest and never wish an ill will of other sites. I find their site useful on several avenues so I am a bit anxious too to see the outage going so long. 4K Release Calendar 2K/BD Release Calendar 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? All the 4Ks this week interest me. I preordered Dirty Dancing and Donnie Darko, will most likely get The Good, The Bad and The Ugly soon. I will probably finally break down and get the Elvira movie thanks to the new cover art SteelBook. Wishlist? Hero Mask Season 1 & 2, Nomadland, s-CRY-ed The TV Series, Vanquish and the Saint Seiya Collection. I really with the Saint Seiya had an English dub, I have the DVDs of Knights of the Zodiac tucked away somewhere.Posted Sun Apr 25, 2021 at 12:00 PM PDT by: -
Home Video Release Guide For The Week of April 20, 2021This week is one of those in-between weeks as far as entertainment releases. But there are a few decent titles to pick from, so do take a look. Welcome to Episode 48 of our Home Video Release Guides. 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases- There are no 4K discs slated for this week Alejandro Jodorowsky's Santa Sangre was originally slated for this week but now it is next week on Severin's website and May 18th elsewhere (including Amazon). HD Blu-ray/Digital releases- One of the slowest weeks in a long time for Blu-ray releases. I may not be a marketing genius but it seems as though a slow week would be more advantageous to release reissues as there are fewer titles to ponder when making a purchase. There are some titles in the calandar too that would take advantage of the Tuesday street date of 4 20, if you know what I mean. I've never touched the stuff but I know culture well enough to know. Even LionsGate has nothing for us this week, which is quite rare. Warner Archive Collection has a couple of titles this week. First the musical Annie Get Your Gun. Next, look for a reissue of Chariots of Fire. Often times the reissues are semi-pointless as I have observed that the original Digibooks are still available at the same price, but not the case here. And not stopping there, Warner Archive brings us a reissue of the 1935 version of Mutiny on the Bounty. Criterion Collection has a pair of (non-4K) titles for us this week. First the Drama/Romance/Western The Furies starring well known actress Barbara Stanwyck. Also this week, Criterion brings us Bong Joon-ho's 2003 film Memories of Murder. The next chapter of the animated films Space Dogs releases this week, this one's titled Space Dogs: Tropical Adventure. The first film was from Universal Pictures and this one is not, so I'm not entirely sure what's up with that. Friday's release is another arts/opera release titled Puccini: La Bohème. Notable announcements from last week: Sony has announced the 4K disc release for In the Line of Fire starring Clint Eastwood. Expect to see it on June 15th. LionsGate will be bringing us Chaos Walking both on 4K and Blu-ray on May 25th. This film was shot in 6.5K and a 4K DI was used for mastering, so it should look stunning. I thought I had seen a 4K SteelBook for it in a Zavvi email, but may have been mistaken. Additionally, they will also bring us a movie titled Flashback on June 8th. If you've been waiting for Criterion Collection to announce their first 4K disc release, keep on waiting as July will not be the month for that. But, they do have a rounded assortment of Blu-ray releases coming. The titles are Bringing Up Baby, Deep Cover, La Piscine (The Swimming Pool), Mirror and Working Girls. Shout Factory has also announced their July Blu-ray slate as well and several of the titles have never been on commercial Blu-ray anywhere in the world.The titles include Brotherhood of the Wolf, Chamber of Horrors, Dark Spell, The Dead Zone, Eight Legged Freaks, Ernest & Célestine, Fire, Little Big League, The Night, No Man's Land, The Pianist and A Stranger Is Watching. The Pianist did make HD-DVD, but not Blu-ray domestically. 4K Release Calendar 2K/BD Release Calendar 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? I'm down for all three 4K releases this week. Truthfully, I might take this week off on buying discs, nothing sticks out to me that I must buy. Annie Get Your Gun is a maybe.Posted Sun Apr 18, 2021 at 12:00 PM PDT by:
