In news today, Summit and Lionsgate will be releasing Nick Park’s Early Man on Blu-ray and DVD on 5/22. There’s no sign yet of a 4K Ultra HD release here in the States, but one IS expected in the UK on 5/28 for those who may be interested.
Kino Lorber is releasing Gross Anatomy (1989) on Blu-ray and DVD on 6/12 as part of their Studio Classics line. Also coming on 6/5 is William Wyler’s The Big Country (1958).
Here’s a complete surprise: I’ve said many times that Carroll Ballard’s Wind (1992) deserved to be released on Blu-ray and I’ve only just learned that Sony has recently (late last year) made it available as an MOD BD-R on Amazon. Let me now request that Sony release Michael Apted’s Thunderheart (1992) as well. I’d rather have it on standard Blu-ray, but I’d be pleased to see it on Blu-ray at all at this point.
And it’s looking more and more like all of Disney’s new Marvel and Lucasfilm Blu-ray releases are being released in the UK in Blu-ray 3D format. And here’s the thing: These discs are all-region, which comes as very good news for fans of Blu-ray 3D overall. This was recently true of Thor: Ragnarok and Star Wars: The Last Jedi (which I expect to have a copy of soon – I’ll review it here when I do), and it looks like it’s going to be true for Black Panther as well. So click on the title links provided to order them on Amazon.co.uk.
In other news today, here’s something you longtime Bits readers will appreciate: My wife Sarah and I had the chance to have lunch with a dear friend today here in SoCal… Linda Lukas, the co-owner of the great L.A. home theater institution Dave’s Video: The Laser Place! We covered many signing and Studio Day events there back in the days of laserdisc and the dawn of DVD. Dave and Linda have been great friends of The Digital Bits from the very start. Some of you will know that Dave passed away unexpectedly back in 2011, but Linda is doing well and it was wonderful to catch up with her and talk about great memories and the state of the home video industry.
Also today, we’re pleased to present another new episode of our Talking Blu YouTube webcast collaboration with our friends at Midnight’s Edge. In this installment (Part 1 of 2), Tom and Andre join me to chat about some of the great 4K catalog titles that have recently been announced by the major studios. We hope you enjoy it and be sure to watch for Part 2 very soon…
Finally today, we want to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of a truly wonderful human being, the great comedian and actor Chuck McCann. He passed away on Sunday at the age of 83. Many Gen-Xers will recall him for his iconic “I’m cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!” line on the classic cereal commercial. I probably first saw him on Captain Kangaroo or the Saturday-morning series Far Out Space Nuts as a kid, but of course he was a veteran of stage and screen with a long list of credits, including the film The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Foul Play, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, and many others. He was also a friend on Facebook and a prince every time I had the pleasure to meet or interact with him. Chuck, you’ll be missed. You can read more here via The New York Times.
Stay tuned…
- Bill Hunt
(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)