BILL’S BEST DISCS OF 2023

Here’s my list, in no particular order...

• Oppenheimer (4K UHD – Universal)
• Titanic, Avatar, and Avatar: The Way of Water Collector’s Editions (4K UHD – Paramount/20th Century Studios)
• Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams and Days of Heaven (4K UHD – Criterion)
• The Fugitive and The Maltese Falcon (4K UHD – Warner Bros.)
• Ronin and The Train (4K UHD – Kino Lorber Studio Classics)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation 4-Movie Collection (4K UHD – Paramount)
• Three Colors Trilogy (4K UHD – Curzon Film)
• Lars von Trier Collection (Blu-ray – Curzon Film)
• Barbarella and Blackhat (4K UHD – Arrow Video)
• Tod Browning’s Sideshow Shockers (Blu-ray – Criterion)
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Cinderella (4K UHD – Disney)
• Prey and The Creator (4K UHD – 20th Century Studios)
• Enter the Video Store: Empire of Screams (Blu-ray – Arrow Video)
• Dragonslayer (4K UHD – Paramount)
• JFK: Shout Select (4K UHD – Shout! Factory)
• The Mist and Young Guns (4K UHD – Lionsgate)
• The Vinegar Syndrome Lost Picture Show (Blu-ray – Vinegar Syndrome)
• Peter Gabriel: i/o (Blu-ray Audio – Real World)
• Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon (Blu-ray Audio – Legacy Recordings)
• The Puppetoon Movie: Volume 3 (Blu-ray – Puppetoon Productions)

Also noteworthy…

• The Walking Dead: The Complete Collection (Blu-ray – Lionsgate)
• Babylon 5: The Complete Series (Blu-ray – Warner Bros.)
• Star Trek: Picard – The Complete Series (Blu-ray – CBS/Paramount)
• Monk: The Complete First and Second Seasons (Blu-ray – Kino Lorber Studio Classics)
• Frank Herbert’s Dune: Complete Collection (Blu-ray – Umbrella Entertainment)

TIM’S BEST DISCS OF 2023

Here’s Tim’s list, in no particular order...

• 12 Angry Men (4K UHD – Kino Lorber Studio Classics)
• Enter the Video Store: Empire of Screams (Blu-ray – Arrow Video)
• The Last Starfighter (4K UHD – Arrow Video)
• Looney Tunes: Collector’s Choice Volumes 1 & 2 (Blu-ray – Warner Archive)
• The Monster Squad (4K UHD – Kino Lorber Studio Classics)
• Oppenheimer (4K UHD – Universal)
• Robot Monster (Blu-ray 3D – Bayview Entertainment)
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (4K UHD – Disney)
• Tod Browning’s Sideshow Shockers (Blu-ray – Criterion)
• The Vinegar Syndrome Lost Picture Show (Blu-ray – Vinegar Syndrome)

MICHAEL’S BEST DISCS OF 2023

Here’s Michael’s list, in no particular order...

• A Disturbance in the Force: How the Star Wars Holiday Special Happened (BD – Giant Interactive)
• Oppenheimer (4K UHD – Universal)
• Barbie (4K UHD – Warner Bros.)
• The Nightmare Before Christmas (4K UHD – Disney)
• Titanic (4K UHD – Paramount)
• Dragonslayer (4K UHD – Paramount)
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (4K UHD – Disney)
• The Fugitive (4K UHD – Warner Bros.)
• The Maltese Falcon (4K UHD – Warner Bros.)
• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (4K UHD – Disney)

Best Box Set:

• Directed by Sidney J. Furie: 1970-1978 (Blu-ray – Imprint)

Best TV Release

• Leave it to Beaver: The Complete Series (Blu-ray – Universal)

It was a great year for physical media releases. I am appalled, though, by the volume of online chatter from movie “fans” who never seem to run out of complaints when it should be obvious we are currently enjoying a Golden Age of Home Media when it comes to the sheer quantity of available product and the unprecedented presentation quality and the fantastic cover art. Okay, okay, bitching about atrocious cover art is justified—carry on! See ya in 2024.

STEPHEN’S BEST DISCS OF 2023

Since everyone may do this a bit differently, here’s the personal ground rules that I followed. I only included discs that I own, so while some things like Imprint’s Directed by… Walter Hill collection very likely would have made my list, I haven’t picked it up yet. I also only included discs from my own collection that I had either watched or at least sampled, so that left out a ton of stuff sitting on my inbox pile that I haven’t even cracked open yet. (So much physical media, so little time.) That also ended up excluding some titles that either were released late in the year, or else I just received too late to assay. (Some, like the Toho 4K Godzilla titles won’t land at my doorstep until January, so they’re out of luck for this list.)

There are plenty of great discs like Oppenheimer that didn’t make my list because you just can’t include everything. Such is the nature of list-making. I did hedge my bets by including a second list of runner-ups, but that’s just because I’m incapable of following other people’s rules.

• Dragonslayer (4K UHD – Paramount)
• Enter the Video Store: Empire of Screams (Blu-ray – Arrow Video)
• Four Flies on Grey Velvet (4K UHD – Severin)
• Gorgo (4K UHD – Vinegar Syndrome)
• Hellraiser “Quartet of Torment” (4K UHD – Arrow Video)
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (4K UHD – Disney)
• Solomon King (Blu-ray – Deaf Crocodile)
• Streets of Fire (4K UHD – Shout! Factory)
• Swamp Thing (4K UHD – MVD Rewind Collection)
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Limited Edition (4K UHD – Second Sight)

Runners up:

• Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (4K UHD – Warner Bros.)
• The Creator (4K UHD – 20th Century Studios)
• Doctor Who: Limited Edition New Who Collector’s Set (Blu-ray – BBC)
• Juggernaut (Blu-ray – Kino Lorber Studio Classics)
• The Last Starfighter (4K UHD – Arrow)
• Michael Haneke: Trilogy (Blu-ray – Criterion)
• The Pied Piper (Blu-ray – Deaf Crocodile)
• Picnic at Hanging Rock Limited Edition (4K UHD – Second Sight)
• The Rules of the Game (4K UHD – Criterion)
• The Train (4K UHD – Kino Lorber Studio Classics)

JOHNNIE’S BEST DISCS OF 2023

Here’s Johnnie’s list, in no particular order...

• After Hours (4K UHD – Criterion)
• Blast of Silence (Blu-ray – Criterion)
• Cinderella (4K UHD – Disney)
• Duel (4K UHD – Universal)
• Face/Off (4K UHD – Kino Lorber Studio Classics)
• Tod Browning’s Sideshow Shockers (Blu-ray – Criterion)
• Gay Purr-ee (Blu-ray – Warner Archive)
• JFK: Shout Select (4K UHD – Shout! Factory)
• To Live and Die in L.A. (4K UHD – Kino Lorber)
• The Long, Long Trailer (Blu-ray – Warner Archive)
• The Monster Squad (4K UHD – Kino Lorber Studio Classics)
• The Prophecy 1-3 (4K UHD – Vinegar Syndrome)
• Showgirls (4K UHD – Vinegar Syndrome)
• Stalag 17 (4K UHD – Kino Lorber Studio Classics)
• Streets of Fire: Shout Select (4K UHD – Shout! Factory)
• T.R. Baskin (Blu-ray – Fun City)
• The Warriors (4K UHD – Arrow Video) 

DENNIS’ BEST DISCS OF 2023

Here’s Dennis’ list, in no particular order...

• Caged (Blu-ray – Warner Archive) – A gripping look at conditions inside a women’s prison.
• Deadgirl (Blu-ray – Unearthed Films) – An unforgettable horror film that explores the limits of friendship and pushes boundaries.
• The Devil Doll (Blu-ray – Warner Archive) – Early special effects take the spotlight in a tale of murder and revenge.
• The Fabelmans (4K UHD – Universal) – Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical story of his early years and his fascination with the possibilities of film.
• Full Time (Blu-ray – Music Box) – A tour-de-force performance by Laure Calamy as a young woman pushed to the edge by stress and mounting responsibilities.
• Imitation of Life (Blu-ray – Criterion) – A heartbreaking look at two families—one white, the other Black—who come together during the Depression to become successful businesswomen as one of their daughters seeks to deny her heritage.
• Little Women (Blu-ray – Warner Archive) – Katharine Hepburn stars as Jo March, perfect casting in a story of the bond of sisters in 19th-century New England.
• Thelma & Louise (4K UHD – Criterion) – A road trip takes a couple of working-class women on a journey of self-assertion and freedom.
• Tod Browning’s Sideshow Shockers (Blu-ray – Criterion) – Three of director Browning’s circus-related films including Freaks are showcased in a beautiful Criterion Collection release.
• Westward the Women (Blu-ray – Warner Archive) – A determined group of women make the rigorous journey out west to establish new lives.

STUART’S BEST DISCS OF 2023

Top Blu-ray Releases of 2023

• Robot Monster (Blu-ray 3D – Bayview Entertainment)
• Uptight (Blu-ray – Imprint)
• Invaders from Mars (Blu-ray – Ignite Films)
• The Hard Part Begins (Blu-ray – Canadian International Pictures)
• King Solomon’s Mines (Blu-ray – Warner Archive)
• Destroy All Monsters (Blu-ray – Toho Video)
• The Long Voyage Home (Blu-ray – Imprint)
• Counsellor-at-Law (Blu-ray – Kino Lorber Studio Classics)
• The Sorrow and the Pity (Blu-ray – Milestone)
• Big Time Gambling Boss (Blu-ray – Radiance Films)

Notes: I consider this less a “Top 10” list than representative titles emblematic of the incredibly diversity on Blu-ray from a wide range of (mostly) indie labels during 2023, releases that surprised me with their video transfers, restorations, extra features, and/or their very existence on Blu-ray at all. The Warner Archive continues to impress with superlative transfers also including Du Barry Was a Lady and The Last Time I Saw Paris, while the 3-D Archive and Ignite Films positively dazzled with their restorations and extra features for Robot Monster and Invaders from Mars, movies previously available only in old, crummy video transfers. Others like Imprint’s The Long Voyage Home, with its influential Gregg Toland black-and-white cinematography, reminds viewers just how film-like home video presentations have become relative to commercial movie theaters. And releases like Uptight and The Hard Part Begins are allowing viewers to reassess long unjustly obscure titles. For Blu-ray, it has been another outstanding year.

Top Box Sets of 2023

• Directed by Sidney J. Furie: 1970-1978 (Blu-ray – Imprint)
• Laurel & Hardy: Year One (Blu-ray – Flicker Alley)
• Film Focus: Marlon Brando (Blu-ray – Imprint)
• Mr. Wong Collection (Blu-ray – Kino)
• Essential Film Noir, Volume 4 (Blu-ray – Imprint)

Through what seems to be a combination of licensing availability but also great imagination on the part of Imprint’s producers, their boxed sets have really stood out from the pack. Directed by Sidney J. Furie, and the sets on actors Gene Hackman and Marlon Brando have all been intriguingly unpredictable, reexaminations of films that aren’t, say, Ipcress File or French Connection or On the Waterfront, but less-seen works, many of which, such as I Never Sang for My Father in the Hackman set, and Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York in the Furie, have been revelatory. Kudos also to Flicker Alley and Kino for their Laurel & Hardy and Mr. Wong sets, great and not-so-great movies nevertheless sparkling in high-def. Who knew they could look this good?

Top DVDs of 2023

• The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet (DVD – MPI)
• Succession: The Complete Series (DVD – Warner Home Video/HBO)
• Dear Mr. Brody (DVD – Greenwich)
• The Man in the Basement (DVD – Greenwich)
• Close to Vermeer (DVD – Kino Lorber)

One of the great things about the DVD revolution was that, in the releasing of complete series boxed sets of old TV shows, many of these programs found new appreciative audiences. Like Leave it to Beaver (more progressive and truthful than many imagined) and the original version of Dragnet (far more innovative than most realized), The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, far from reflecting conservative ‘50s values (as Beaver was likewise imagined), viewers discovered one of the more subversive sitcoms of its time. Succession is one of many fine new dramas now available, and the latter are a mix of two great documentaries and a French drama you’ll not want to miss.

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From all of us here at The Bits, we wish you and yours a very HAPPY NEW YEAR and the best of all things in the year ahead!

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