My Two Cents
Tuesday, 16 May 2017 17:54

Criterion’s August has Sid & Nancy, plus new Twilight/Kino, Joe vs the Volcano, Shakes the Clown & more

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We’ve got some great new title announcements for you today!

First or all, The Criterion Collection has just revealed their August Blu-ray and DVD slate, which breaks down as follows. Look for Michael Curtiz’s The Breaking Point (Cat #889 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 8/8, Mike Leigh’s Meantime (Cat #890 – Blu-ray and DVD) and an updating of Ronald Neame’s Hopscotch (Cat #105 – Blu-ray, DVD, and iTunes) on 8/15, and Sacha Guitry’s La Poison (Cat #891 – Blu-ray and DVD) and an updating of Alex Cox’s Sid & Nancy (Cat #20 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 8/22. Also, it now appears that Orson Welles’ Othello (Cat #870 – Blu-ray and DVD) has finally been rescheduled for release on 9/26. We’ve updated our Criterion Spines Project page accordingly. [Read on here…]

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Twilight Time has announced their June slate of Blu-ray titles, due on 6/13 (pre-orders open 5/31 at 4 PM Eastern at Screen Archives and Twilight Time Movies). The titles include a double feature of the Jackie Chan films Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978) and Drunken Master (1978 – isolated music and effects tracks on both film, Drunken Master audio commentary with film historians Ric Meyers and Jeff Yang), The Valachi Papers (1972 – partial isolated music track), Hell and High Water (1954 – isolated music track, Richard Widmark: Strength of Characters, original trailers), The Quiet American (1958 – isolated music track with some effects, original trailer), and The Bridge at Remagen (1969 – isolated music track, original trailer).

Broad Green Pictures has now set The Lost City of Z for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 7/11.

Our friends at the Warner Archive have announced that they’re bringing The Gumball Rally (1976), Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) and The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970) to Blu-ray in June.

Any Mighty Ducks fans out there? We’ve learned that the complete trilogy, The Mighty Ducks, D2: The Mighty Ducks, and D3: The Mighty Ducks, will soon be released on Blu-ray as Disney Movie Club exclusives.

Mill Creek Entertainment has just set Bobcat Goldthwait’s Shakes the Clown for release on Blu-ray on  7/11. Mill Creek has also set Merlin: The Complete Miniseries for DVD only release on 6/6.

Here’s something interesting: We’ve learned that FUNimation’s Speed Racer: The Complete Series, which streets on 5/30, will include Dolby True HD 2.0 audio in both English and Japanese (with optional English subtitles). This would seem to indicate that the 1080p video presentation is the edited U.S. version of the series, but that the studio has included original Japanese audio that’s edited to match it. We don’t believe this means that the set includes the original Mach GoGoGo Japanese episodes, which are longer. FUNimation says those will be released on Blu-ray here in the U.S. later this year. Note, however, that this set is coded for Region A.

Speed Racer: The Complete Series (Blu-ray Disc)

And finally, Kino Lorber has announced their July slate, which is set to include the Bob Hope single films My Favorite Brunette (1947), Road to Rio (1947), The Lemon Drop Kid (1951), Son of Paleface (1952), and Road to Bali (1952) on Blu-ray and DVD on 7/5, Star Slammer (1986 – aka Prison Ship), Star Crystal (1986), The Hunting Party (1971) and Shalako (1968) on Blu-ray and DVD on 7/11, and No Man’s Land (1987), The Last of the Finest (1990), and Freeway (1988) on Blu-ray on 7/18 (Freeway will also be out on DVD). Also, Kino has revealed that Clambake (1967) and The Devil’s Brigade (1968) are coming soon to Blu-ray and William Friedkin’s The Birthday Party (1968) is coming soon to both Blu-ray and DVD – street dates for all three are TBA.

Here’s a look at the Blu-ray cover artwork for a bunch of the titles listed above (with pre-order links if available)…

Sid & Nancy (Criterion Blu-ray Disc) Meantime (Criterion Blu-ray Disc) Hopscotch (Criterion Blu-ray Disc)

Hell and High Water (Blu-ray Disc) Snake in the Eagle's Shadow/Drunken Master (Blu-ray Disc) Joe Versus the Volcano (Blu-ray Disc)

Star Slammer (Blu-ray Disc) Star Crystal (Blu-ray Disc) Shalako (Blu-ray Disc)

Stay tuned…

- Bill Hunt

 

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