Displaying items by tag: DC Universe

Well, the big news this week is so big that we’re going to address it right off the top: In a sudden and unexpected move, Disney’s board of directors has ousted CEO Bob Chapek and re-hired Bob Iger. The news came out of the blue on Sunday night and seems to have taken everyone by surprise. Bob Iger of course was the company’s previous CEO, who took over for Michael Eisner—the man who’d served in that role for over two decades at that point—back in 2005. It was under Iger’s watch that Disney acquired Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, and the film division of 20th Century Fox. He also laid the groundwork for the launch of Disney+ in 2019.

Chapek was no stranger to Disney, having joined the company in 1993 as the director of marketing for Buena Vista Home Entertainment. In this capacity he helped steer Disney through the “Golden Age” of DVD and eventually the launch of Blu-ray, which is how I came to know him. He was so successful in that capacity that he was promoted to president of Home Entertainment in 2006, and eventually took over at Disney Consumer Products (in 2011) and Parks and Resorts (in 2015), which seemed to make him a natural fit to become CEO of Disney himself when Iger eventually stepped down.

But apparently, Iger and Chapek did not often see eye to eye. Iger, who could (and probably should) have worked more aggressively to groom a clear successor to lead the company in his own image, failed to do so, resulting in Chapek’s elevation to CEO in 2020. But Chapek’s reign was troubled from the very start, stricken first by the COVID-19 pandemic and next by a series of public “self-owns” and media missteps. [Read on here...]

All right, I’m still working on that Criterion WALL-E 4K review and hope to have it up this weekend. Real life got in the way a little bit here over the last couple of days, not to mention some necessary behind-the-scenes work here at the site. But I will say this: Both the 4K presentation and the accompanying Blu-ray presentation, are absolutely fantastic. As in best-ever image quality for this film.

In the meantime, Tim has posted his thoughts on Rod Serling’s Night Gallery: Season Three on Blu-ray from our friends over at Kino Lorber Studio Classics. Sounds like it’s another fabulous set with more great extras.

And we do have several good pieces of release news to report here at the site today...

First, Turbine Media in Germany has finally announced their planned 6-Disc 4K Ultra HD Ultimate Edition of Peter Jackson’s The Frighteners (1996) for release on 12/2 (Yes, that is a Friday—keep in mind, this is a German release). The film has been fully remastered from the original camera negative and graded for high dynamic range (including Dolby Vision) in a process supervised by the director. [Read on here...]

Today’s is a quick update, but we do have a couple interesting items to report...

First, Tim has turned in another new Blu-ray Disc review, this of Gene Fowler Jr.’s B-movie classic I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958) from Paramount via Aussie indie Imprint Films/Via Vision Entertainment. The disc is ALL REGION.

In announcement news today, Warner Bros. and DC have just officially set the DC Universe animated movie Superman: Man of Tomorrow for release on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD on 9/8 (the Digital release is set for 8/23).

Extras on both disc versions will include Lobo: Natural Force of Chaos, Martian Manhunter: Lost and Found, Look Back: Justice League vs. The Fatal Five, Look Back: Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, From the DC Vault: Superman: The Animated Series – The Main Man, Part I, From the DC Vault: Superman: The Animated Series – The Main Man, Part II, trailers for Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge, and Superman: Red Son, and A Sneak Peek at the next DC Universe Movie. You can see the cover artwork above left and also below. [Read on here...]