Upcoming Releases

[HollywoodGolightly]

It seems that shortly before it gave up on releasing its classics on DVD, Fox Video managed to release a DVD version of *The Egyptian*... in Spain.

 

Here is more info about this R2 DVD:

http://www.starscafe.com/en/movie/the-egyptian-spanish.aspx?hi=egyptian

 

Apparently, it's easily available from eBay sellers in Europe, for about 20 pounds plus shipping.

[filmlover]

Two British TV comedy classics are being released here in the U.S.as remastered editions on DVD on October 20th through BBC Warner.

 

*Fawlty Towers Remastered*. For the first time, John Cleese will be providing commentary on all 12 episodes.

 

Other extras will be:

All-New Digital Restoration from the original program masters

2009 Extended Interviews

Includes exclusive interview with Connie Booth

Accompanying booklet

Interviews with John Cleese, Prunella Scales and Andrew Sachs.

Series 1 director?s commentary by John Howard Davies

Series 2 director?s commentary by Bob Spiers

Artist profiles

Outtakes

Torquay Tourist Guide (short documentary film)

Cheap Tatty Review

Audio Description & Navigation Option

 

*BlackAdder Remastered*

 

All-New Digital Restoration from the original program masters

All-new commentary with Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry, Ben Elton, Richard Curtis, Tony Robinson, and Tim McInnerny

All-new interviews with Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Richard Curtis, Ben Elton, and Tony Robinson

Blackadder Rides Again

Footnotes to History - An interactive guide to historical figures and events in Blackadder hosted by Tony Robinson

 

(BlackAdder Remastered is already available in the UK but Fawlty Towers Remastered will be released there on Oct. 19th.)

[HollywoodGolightly]

dvdbeaver.com has reviewed the new William Castle DVD boxset from Sony. It looks like the movies that had been previously released don't look much better...

 

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews47/william_castle_collection.htm

[HollywoodGolightly]

There is a new version of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly on blu-ray available from Italy. Those who've seen it say it looks *way* better than the U.S. release from MGM. However, it has only Italian soundtracks and no English subtitles.

 

I will find out the best place to order this from and add that in later....

[HollywoodGolightly]

MGM has announced the James Bond 10-pack Blu-ray Collection which includes *Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, The World is Not Enough, Die Another Day*, and *Quantum of Solace*, to be released on Nov. 3. Online price seems to be around $140.

 

 

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/James-Bond-10-pack-Blu-ray-Collection-Blu-ray/7596/

 

(Apparently this is the same set that was previously available as a Costco exclusive)

[HollywoodGolightly]

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment have announced the US DVD and Blu-ray Disc release of *It Might Get Loud* on 22nd December 2009. A documentary on the electric guitar from the point of view of three significant rock musicians: The Edge, Jimmy Page, and Jack White.

 

Available on DVD ($27.96 SRP) and Blu-ray Disc ($37.95 SRP), details are outlined below?

 

*DVD*

 

* 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen

* English DD5.1

* Toronto Film Festival Press Conference

 

 

*Blu-ray Disc*

 

* 1080P 1.78:1 Widescreen

* English, Portuguese and Spanish 5.1

* Toronto Film Festival Press Conference

[filmlover]

Though some titles haven't been announced, there is some very good news for fans of classic movies coming to Blu-ray in a column on homemediamagazine.com:

 

Ask an average Blu-ray Disc consumer what they?re buying for their player, and they?ll probably say its the latest big-budget action adventure.

 

But for studios, film experts and enthusiasts alike, black-and-white content on Blu-ray is just as amazing as any bright and colorful blockbuster. And sometimes it?s better.

 

?Without qualification, black-and-white films deserve to be on Blu-ray,? said John Lowry, founder of Lowry Digital, which specializes in digital restoration. ?It?s a fabulous opportunity to show those movies the way they were meant to be seen in the first place.?

 

He and other experts agree that Blu-ray presents the first opportunity to show the best of black-and-white films in the home, especially older fare. Warner Home Video has done Casablanca, and Paramount Home Entertainment put both black-and-white and color versions of It?s A Wonderful Life in its Nov. 3 release. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment gave Dr. Strangelove special Blu-ray treatment, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment did the same with Young Frankenstein. Criterion has worked magic on a number of black-and-white classics, including The Seventh Seal, The 400 Blows, Last Year at Marienbad and The Third Man.

 

Robert A. Harris, a film archivist, preservationist and restorer, quoted producer and founding studio executive Samuel Goldwyn, when talking about black-and-white vs. color on Blu-ray: ?When someone asked him how long a film should be, his possibly apocryphal answer was ?as long as it?s good.? Same thing for black-and-white vs. color,? Harris said.

 

?I would question whether there is a place for garbage color films in high-definition,? he continued. ?There is little difference between bringing classic color titles to Blu-ray as opposed to black-and-white. The easiest color material is the pre-1955 three-strip Technicolor. Eastman negatives have the fade problem. A film element is a film element, regardless.?

 

Van Ling, an independent Blu-ray producer, said black-and-white classics on Blu-ray offer an opportunity to introduce some of the best films ever made to a new generation that has only seen them on TV.

 

?Many folks are under the impression that black-and-white films are somehow visually inferior to color films, but in many cases the exact opposite is true,? he said. ?Monochrome film can often have a sharpness and clarity that color film just could not match, even decades later.?

 

He said the biggest challenge for studios is to find the best original elements possible and ?do a restoration that brings the film alive in all of its original vibrancy and clarity.?

 

?When done right, it can take your breath away in the same manner that an Ansel Adams photograph can,? Ling said.

 

Bill Hunt, editor of TheDigitalBits.com, suggested that Blu-ray early adopters and classic film fans are most likely to appreciate black-and-white content in high-def. ?It?s really the same challenge in delivering any classic film: making sure the original film elements are in top condition, and then doing a really good job of scanning and mastering,? he said.

 

George Feltenstein, SVP of theatrical catalog marketing at Warner Home Video, said black-and-white films on Blu-ray are following the same pattern they did with DVD.

 

?If we want to go back 12 years, nobody wanted to go near the classics for DVD,? he said. ?We believe that Blu-ray is a transformational way to represent these films. And the proof was in the pudding with Casablanca.?

 

The Casablanca Ultimate Edition Blu-ray release in December 2008 earned high marks from nearly every high-def reviewer, Feltenstein said.

 

For Warner, cleaning up a black-and-white film for Blu-ray isn?t an easy or cheap process. ?There?s an extraordinary expense in bringing these to Blu-ray,? Feltenstein said.

 

Next, Warner hopes to bring some of the *Marx Brothers* black-and-white comedies to Blu-ray, as well as films starring *Errol Flynn, Betty Davis* and *Humphrey Bogart*. Look for the 1941 *The Maltese Falcon* on Blu-ray from Warner in 2010, Feltenstein said.

 

Hunt praised Warner?s work on classics, but said Criterion ?is setting the standard.?

 

?Watching a Criterion black-and-white title in a home theater projection setting, it feels like you?re sitting in a real movie theater,? he said. ?The image looks like film ? as it should. I really can?t wait to see films like Seven Samurai on Blu-ray.?

 

For Criterion, which prides itself on only working with the best film elements available for the best films available, working on black-and-white Blu-ray has been a labor of love.

 

?Now we?re able to replicate more precisely these films as they first appeared,? said Lee Kline, technical director for Criterion.

 

He pointed to the July Blu-ray release of Roman Polanski?s Repulsion as a great example.

 

?Once you look at Blu-ray, you can?t imagine watching the DVDs of these films ever again,? he said.

 

Both Kline and Feltenstein noted that when making a black-and-white film ready for Blu-ray, the studios have to be careful not to treat the original film grain as noise.

 

 

?We?ve done some electronic grain reduction here and there but not completely eliminated it,? Kline said. ?We?re still feeling that out with Blu-ray, but we feel grain has to be close to what was originally presented.?

 

For black-and-white on Blu-ray, unlike newer, color fare, ?It?s not about sharpness, it?s about dynamic range. How black are the blacks, how white are the whites?? Lowry said.

 

It?s not just the major studios trying out black and white on Blu-ray. Kino International announced in September the Nov. 10 release of Buster Keaton?s 1926 comedy The General on Blu-ray. Thanks to an original print that survived with only minor problems, Kino was able to make an HD transfer out of a 35mm print and paint out the few blemishes left over.

 

And it?s not just older films either: consumers can find Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) from Warner Home Video and a little-seen, black-and-white version of The Mist (2007) from Genius Products as Blu-ray releases.

 

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/blu-ray-disc/black-white-blu-17280

[CelluloidKid]

*WOW ... Oh My God I just found about this today shopping in a DVD store!!!*

 

 

 

*_House on Haunted Hill:_ 50th Anniversary (1958)*

 

 

 

*Johnny Legend released a 50TH Anniversary DVD containing a whole slew of Extras!*

 

 

 

*_On the DVD_*

 

 

Original theatrical trailer

Return To the House

Castle & Price previews

Surprise William Castle TV Spot

Carol Ohmart profile

Gold Age Price

 

 

 

 

Edited by: CelluloidKid on Oct 12, 2009 11:44 AM

[filmlover]

Since it is not an upcoming release, a better place for this would have been in the Horror thread:

http://forums.tcm.com/jive/tcm/thread.jspa?threadID=88253&tstart=45

[filmlover]

Here's a nicer look at that b&w on Blu piece I posted here this morning. This is their actual magazine and they show some good pics to go with it:

 

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom279884VBB/#/2

[filmlover]

I just noticed that *Say Anything*, that exceptional love story starring John Cusack and **** Skye from 1989, is making its way to Blu on November 3rd. Directed by Cameron Crowe.

[HollywoodGolightly]

For fans of the classic TV series Columbo, there's good news - provided you have a multi-region player.

 

In the UK, Universal Playback is releasing *Columbo: The Complete Series*, which bundles together all 10 seasons of the detective drama starring Peter Falk, on Oct. 19th. That?s 35 discs of content with an ?129.99 SRP.

 

(Seasons 8, 9 and 10 were never released in the U.S.)

 

The set comes in a box apparently designed to look like a cigar box.

[HollywoodGolightly]

*Kenneth Brannagh?s Hamlet comes to Blu-Ray*

Warner Home Video has just added Kenneth Brannagh?s 1996 adaptation of Hamlet to their high definition schedule, bringing the film to Blu-Ray Disc in mid-2010.

"Hamlet has the kind of power, energy and excitement that movies can truly exploit," award-winning actor/director Kenneth Branagh says. In this first-ever full-text film of Shakespeare's greatest work, the power surges through every scene. The timeless tale of murder, corruption and revenge is reset in an opulent 19th-century world, using sprawling Blenheim Palace as Elsinore and staging much of the action in shimmering mirrored and gold-filled interiors. The energy is electrifying, due to a luminous cast. The excitement of the Bard's words and an adventurous filmmaking style lift the story from its often shadowy ambience to fully-lit pageantry and rage.

No specs or details have been announced yet, but expect the release on August 17, 2010 if everything goes according to plan.

[HollywoodGolightly]

Last month, I posted some of the classic titles that are being released in blu-ray in the UK under the Studio Canal Collection label.

 

At the time, I wasn't aware of any plans to release those titles in North America. However, it has just come to my attention that they have, in fact, officially announced that the line will also be available in the U.S. in 2010:

 

> *This international collection will be available by the end of 2009 in Europe, followed by Australia, Japan, and the USA early 2010.*

 

The above is from their website:

http://www.studiocanalcollection.fr/collection

[filmlover]

A few days ago, I listed an article in which it mentioned *The Maltese Falcon* is coming out in 2010 on Blu-ray. It appears now that Warner-France have given out a possible release date of November 3, 2010.

 

Also, very exciting, for the same date, Warner-France are saying Bogart's *The Treasure of the Sierra Madre* will be released on Blu.

 

(Falcon's 70th anniversary wilo be in 2011.)

 

Also, looks like Framce will have different cover art for their Blu-ray release of GWTW:

 

[HollywoodGolightly]

The Italian film *Johnny Stecchino* is being re-issued in the UK; the R2 DVD will be released on Oct. 19th by Arrow Films, and amazon.co.uk will be selling it for ?8.98:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Johnny-Stecchino-DVD-Nicoletta-Braschi/dp/B002KM9V1K/

 

(This movie has never been released on DVD in the US; previous UK editions had gone OOP)

 

*Also, looks like Framce will have different cover art for their Blu-ray release of GWTW:*

 

 

That is not the general release version that all stores are going to get. As it says at the bottom of the photo, it is a FNAC special edition. FNAC is a large retailer in France, and they frequently get exclusive versions of major new releases. (Maybe like Best Buy does sometimes in the U.S.). They will also sell it on their website, fnac.com, for about 35 euros:

 

http://video.fnac.com/a2720926/Autant-en-emporte-le-vent-Blu-Ray-Edition-Prestige-Speciale-Fnac-Vivien-Leigh-Blu-Ray?PID=3

[HollywoodGolightly]

Warner Home Video has announced it is repackaging *Malcolm X* to celebrate Black History Month in 2010. The repackaged DVD will be released on 2/10/10 and the new cover art will more prominently feature Denzel Washington. The SRP is $14.96.

 

[HollywoodGolightly]

*Ghost Story* released on R2 DVD set next month

 

 

Nucleus Films have announced the UK DVD release of *Ghost Story* on 9th November 2009. This 1974 British chiller from director Stephen Weeks is set in 1930?s England where it tells of three former public schoolmates, Larry Dann (The Bill), Murray Melvin (The Devils) and Vivian Mackerrell (the inspiration for Bruce Robinson' s creation 'Withnail', seen here in his only major screen role), who reunite in a country mansion haunted by the spirit of insane former resident Marianne Faithfull (Girl On A Motorcycle). The haunting transports them to a surreal world of demonic dolls, sadistic doctors, incest and murder.

 

Available for the first time on DVD as a 2-Disc CE, features include:

 

* 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen

* English DD2.0 Mono

* Ghost Stories - an all-new 72 minute featurette including interviews with Director/Producer Stephen Weeks, Actors Larry Dann and Murray Melvin, British Horror Icon Barbara Shelley, composer (and Pink Floyd collaborator) Ron Geesin, with comments from UK critic Kim Newman.

* Audio Commentary with Stephen Weeks, moderated by Professor Samuel Umland

* Theatrical Trailer

* Alternative Opening Credits sequence

* The Chelsea Cobbler store commercial

* Trailer

* 4 PDF files

-Stephen Weeks? The Making of Ghost Story

-Stephen Weeks? My Early Films

-Essay by Drew Shimon

-Original Press Book

* 7 previously unseen early short films

-Owen's War (1965 / B+W / 10m)

-Deserted Station (1965 / B+W / 7m)

-The Camp (1965 / B+W / 4m)

-Moods of a Victorian Church (1967 / Colour / 9m)

-Two At Thursday (1968 / B+W / 10m)

-1917 (1968 / Colour / 35m)

-Flesh (1969 / Colour / 3m)

[HollywoodGolightly]

In the UK, Optimum Entertainment has announced the extras and revealed the final cover art for the French-language film *Coco Before Chanel*, which was mentioned earlier in this thread on Oct. 5:

 

 

Optimum Home Entertainment have announced the UK DVD and Blu-ray Disc release of *Coco Before Chanel* on 23rd November 2009. Audrey Tautou plays the legendary Coco Chanel in this exploration of her early life before she rose to worldwide fame as the most celebrated fashion designer of the 20th Century.

 

Extras include:

 

* ?Coco Before Chanel:The Meeting?: includes interviews with director Anne Fontaine and Actress Audrey Tatou

* Making of featurette

* Commentary with Writer/Director Anne Fontaine

[HollywoodGolightly]

It looks like another _exclusive_ title has been released on blu-ray in the U.S. without any advance notice:

 

*Another Best Buy Exclusive: The Green Mile BD*

 

We definitely haven't seen the last of Blu-ray exclusives at select retailers. Again without any formal announcement, our forum members have found the Blu-ray of Frank Darabont's 'The Green Mile' sitting on the shelves of Best Buy. The disc comes in the now-familiar Warner digibook, and carries a $29.99 price tag.

There is no information as to when other US retailers will start offering it.

 

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3542

 

However, for those in Canada, it will not be an exclusive, and WHV will release it on Nov. 10th.

[CelluloidKid]

*YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!*

 

October 13, 2009

Examiner.com

 

 

*The original version of The Stepfather, releases today on DVD for the first time. The movie gets a new hi-def widescreen transfer with several bonus features including the following:*

 

 

Audio commentary by director Joseph Ruben, moderated by yours truly

 

All new ?The Chronicles? retrospective documentary featuring interviews with Ruben, producer Jay Benson, actress Jill Schoelen, writer Brian Garfield and others

 

U.S. theatrical trailer

 

 

Finally, this cult classic starring Terry O'Quinn and Jill Schoelen is getting its own DVD. Who knows why it took so long but it's finally going to happen, no doubt due, in part, by the remake that is having its theatrical release this week.

 

 

 

 

Stepfather 2 was released on September 29 from Synapse Films. That DVD release includes interviews with the cast and crew, deleted scenes and a trailer.

 

 

[filmlover]

The first review is up for the Blu-ray UK release of Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller, *The 39 Steps*. Unfortunately, it isn't good.

 

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-39-Steps-Blu-ray-Review/6621/

[filmlover]

New releases coming in January from Criterion:

 

 

 

*8 ?* (On Blu-ray on January 12, 2010; already released on DVD)

 

Disc Features

? High-definition digital transfer of restored film elements (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on Blu-ray edition)

? Introduction by filmmaker Terry Gilliam

? Audio commentary featuring film critic and Fellini friend Gideon Bachmann and NYU film professor Antonio Monda

? High-definition digital transfer of a new restoration of Fellini: A Director?s Notebook, a 52-minute film by Federico Fellini

? The Last Sequence, a new 52-minute documentary on Fellini?s lost alternate ending for 8 1/2 (available on Blu-ray edition)

? Nino Rota: Between Cinema and Concert, a compelling 48-minute documentary about Fellini?s longtime composer

? Interviews with actress Sandra Milo, director Lina Wertm?ller, and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro

? Rare photographs from Bachmann?s collection

? Gallery of behind-the-scenes and production photos

? U.S. theatrical trailer

? New and improved English subtitle translation

? PLUS: A booklet featuring writings by Fellini and essays by critics Tullio Kezich and Alexander Sesonske

http://www.criterion.com/films/150

 

 

 

*Paris, Texas* (on Blu-ray and DVD on Jan. 26, 2010)

 

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION:

? New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Wim Wenders, with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition

? Audio commentary featuring Wenders

? Interview with Wenders by German journalist Roger Willemsen

? Excerpts from the 1990 film Motion and Emotion: The Road to ?Paris, Texas,? featuring interviews with Wenders, actors Harry Dean Stanton, Hanns Zischler, Dennis Hopper, and Peter Falk, composer Ry Cooder, cinematographer Robby M?ller, novelist Patricia Highsmith, and filmmaker Samuel Fuller

? New interviews with filmmakers Allison Anders and Claire Denis

? Cin?ma cin?mas: ?Wim Wenders Hollywood April ?84,? with Wenders and Cooder working on the score

? Deleted scenes and Super 8 home movies

? Gallery of Wenders?s location-scouting photos, from his book Written in the West

? Behind-the-scenes photos by Robin Holland

? Theatrical trailer

? PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Nick Roddick and interviews with Stanton, writer Sam Shepard, and actors Nastassja Kinski and Dean Stockwell

http://www.criterion.com/films/1502

 

 

 

*Che* (on Blu-ray and DVD January 19, 2010)

 

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION:

? High-definition digital transfers of Che: Part One and Che: Part Two, supervised and approved by director Steven Soderbergh, with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition

? Audio commentaries on both films, featuring Jon Lee Anderson, author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life

? Making ?Che,? a new documentary about the film?s production, featuring interviews with Soderbergh, producer Laura Bickford, actor-producer Benicio del Toro, and writers Peter Buchman and Ben van der Veen

? New interviews with Cuban historians as well as participants in the 1958 Cuban Revolution and Che?s 1967 Bolivian campaign

? Deleted scenes

? Theatrical trailers

? PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Amy Taubin

? More!

NOTE: Che: Part One appears in 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Che: Part Two appears in 1.78:1 aspect ratio.

http://www.criterion.com/films/20987

 

 

*Rossellini War Trilogy (Rome Open City, Paisan, Germany Year Zero)* (on DVD Jan. 26, 2010)

 

SPECIAL EDITION THREE-DISC SET:

? New, restored high-definition digital transfers

? Video introductions by Roberto Rossellini to all three films, from 1963

? New video interviews with Rossellini scholar Adriano Apr?, Rossellini?s friend and confessor Father Virgilio Fantuzzi, and filmmakers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani

? Audio commentary on Rome Open City by film scholar Peter Bondanella

? Once Upon a Time . . . ?Rome Open City,? a 2006 documentary on the making of this historic film, featuring rare archival material and footage of Anna Magnani, Federico Fellini, Ingrid Bergman, and many others

? Rossellini and the City, a new documentary on Rossellini?s use of the urban landscape in these films, by film scholar Mark Shiel

? Excerpts from rarely seen videotaped discussions Rossellini had with faculty and students at Rice University in 1970 about his craft

? Into the Future, a new visual essay about the War Trilogy by film scholar Tag Gallagher

? Roberto Rossellini, a 2001 documentary by Carlo Lizzani, assistant director on Germany Year Zero, tracing Rossellini?s career through archival footage and interviews with family members and collaborators, with tributes by filmmakers Fran?ois Truffaut and Martin Scorsese

? Letters from the Front: Carlo Lizzani on ?Germany Year Zero,? a 1987 podium discussion with Lizzani

? Italian credits and prologue for Germany Year Zero

? New illustrated essay by film scholar Thomas Meder on Rossellini?s relationship with his mistress Roswitha Schmidt

? New and improved English subtitle translations

? PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by director Irene Bignardi and film scholars Colin McCabe, James Quandt, and Jonathan Rosenbaum

http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/689

 

 

 

*Eclipse Series 19: Chantal Akerman in the Seventies* (on DVD Jan. 19, 2010)

 

Includes La Chambre, Hotel Monterey, News from Home, Je Tu Il Elle, and Les Rendez-vous D?Anna.

http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/691

[filmlover]

Classicflix.com has announced a very unusual item coming from Flicker Alley on December 15th. It is a Russian movie serial from 1926 called "Miss Mend."

 

Take a look at the following link for cover art and details:

 

http://www.classicflix.com/flicker-alley-soviet-serial-adventure-miss-mend-1926-december-a-594.html?osCsid=d9499788705b9c2d9b447d05d94df8de#

 

Edited by: filmlover on Oct 16, 2009 11:12 AM

[filmlover]

*Life is Beautiful* is scheduled to be released in Italy on Blu under its original title, La vita e bella, in December.