Upcoming Releases

[Film_Fatale]

Well, I genuinely hope this is not repeat info, I don't remember reading about it here and the forum search didn't bring up anything.

 

This collection (and each individual title) will be available exclusively through tcm.com:

 

*THE COMPLETE LOST AND FOUND RKO COLLECTION*

*Save now and collect all 6 rare titles, each with fascinating bonus features. This 6 disc set features every title from TCM?s Lost and Found RKO Collection and comes in a handsome slipcase. Not available in stores or anywhere but TCM.com, this is a unique gift for any film lover. Order today*

 

 

http://turnerclassic.moviesunlimited.com/vault/

[edgeciff]

The RKO set is a bit on the expensive side, although its cheaper to buy the whole set.

 

Just seen the cover art for OUR MAN IN HAVANA and as usual Sony has another ugly cover.

[Film_Fatale]

The RKO set is a bit on the expensive side, although its cheaper to buy the whole set.

 

I do agree it seems expensive... but you have to think, if these movies are only going to be available on tcm.com, then there's probably not going to be any way to rent them or to shop around for better prices in other stores. And when they're gone, they'll probably be OOP forever.

 

Many of us have wanted to see DVD releases of some of the most obscure movies that TCM has shown from time to time. In this case, they obviously didn't think there would be enough demand to offer it more widely. It's probably going to be a very short pressing, which adds to the cost I suppose.

[filmlover]

According to blu-ray.com, the next six James Bond films on Blu-ray have been announced for a release in Australia in mid-March, so should be avbailable here, too. The titles are:

 

Diamonds Are Forever

Goldeneye

Goldfinger

Licence to Kill

The Spy Who Loved Me

The World is Not Enough

 

So that leaves only You Only Live Twice to produce of the original Connery films out there (plus, of course, the Moore films, if that is your cup of teas, and the rest). No details of extras but will likely duplicate the Ultimate Editions DVDs from a few years ago.

 

By the way, saw Quantum of Solace last night. Not very memorable, and a James Bond film should ALWAYS be memorable.

[LsDoorMat]

To you Blu-Ray fans: Thanks a million for being tickled pink about going blue. Thanks to you I'm picking up a bunch of really good stuff on standard DVD for a song this month. I'll never know for sure, but I have a feeling that the stampede to Blu is at least part of why these sales are going on. I'm sure the bad economy is keeping prices low too. My 51 year-old diabetic eyes can't tell any perceivable difference between Blu-Ray and SDVD on the older films I'm interested in anyways.

 

As for the RKO Lost and Found set, that is really great news. I'll be sure to support it even at the rather steep price, because

1. I want these films and

2. I want to encourage TCM to release the other obscure stuff in the Warner archives.

[Film_Fatale]

As for the RKO Lost and Found set, that is really great news. I'll be sure to support it even at the rather steep price, because

1. I want these films and

2. I want to encourage TCM to release the other obscure stuff in the Warner archives.

 

Y'know, that's exactly how I feel. And while the price for individual titles seems quite steep, it's a lot better if you buy the bundle it's a lot closer to $10 per DVD.

 

And yes, of course we can hope there might be more tcm.com exclusive DVDs in the future.

[filmlover]

from today's digitalbits.com Rumor Mill:

 

Our sources have reported to us that Universal and DreamWorks are working on a Blu-ray version of Ridley Scott's *Gladiator* for release sometime in the first half of 2009. We've actually been hearing this from our sources here for a while, but Bits reader Christian O. e-mailed us this morning from Germany to report that copies of Universal's The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor there include a promotional flyer that reveals the title as "coming soon" to the format, so we felt this would be a good time to mention it.

 

We've also been hearing recently that the folks at Disney and Pixar are already hard at work on the eventual Blu-ray releases of *Toy Story* and *Toy Story 2* (possibly due in late 2009, but more likely 2010), which are designed be part of the build-up to the theatrical release of Toy Story 3 in 2010.

 

And our studio sources have confirmed that Warner Home Video is getting ready to bow a *Gremlins: 25th Anniversary Edition Special Edition Blu-ray* in sometime in early 2009 as well. We're also told that a similar edition of The Goonies is not far behind. (The Goonies is already available in Japan - it streeted there in October).

 

For those of you who have recently made the leap to Blu-ray Disc, we thought we'd give you a little round-up/update/summary today of some of the great titles you can look forward to on the format in the next year or so. Many of these titles we've reported here at The Bits previously, while a select few of them we're revealing for the first time. All are known to us to be in the planning or production stages for release on Blu-ray, and much of this information has come to us directly from studio sources... though please keep in mind that none these titles are as yet set in stone. That said, titles to watch out for in the next 12 months or so include *Escape from New York, The Silence of the Lambs, a Star Trek "Kirk and Spock" box set* (including films 1-6), *six more catalog Bond titles (see Monday's Rumor Mill post)*, the theatrical versions of *The Lord of the Rings films*, possibly some or all of the *Alien* films, *Sin City, Chinatown, Deep Impact, The Ten Commandments, Sunset Boulevard, Apocalypse Now, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Saturday Night Fever, Flashdance, The Elephant Man, Battlestar Galactica* (the new series), possibly *Titanic, Gigi, An American in Paris, Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on the River Kwai, Dr. Strangelove, Ghostbusters 1 & 2, Mutiny on the Bounty, The Matix: 10th Anniversary,* a more elaborate version of *300*, the original *King Kong, Rush Hour, Forbidden Planet, Grand Prix, Excalibur, The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Woodstock, North by Northwest, Ben-Hur*, all the major theatrical releases for the next year and much, much more. The point is, if you love Blu-ray, there's a LOT of great titles in the works.

 

As always, keep in mind that these titles and dates ARE unofficial and are subject to change until they're actually officially announced by the studios in press releases and retail solicitations.

 

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/rumormill.html#120308

[edgeciff]

ClassicFlix is offering all these rare RKO films for rental.

[Film_Fatale]

> {quote:title=Edgecliff wrote:}{quote}

> ClassicFlix is offering all these rare RKO films for rental.

 

That's great news! Anyone who doesn't want to buy them can rent them from them. However I expect that over time, if the movies go OOP, they'll end up getting "lost" somewhere. So the day might still come when you won't be able to rent them from anywhere.

[filmlover]

Here is a smattering of upcoming news (a few of which we know about) from Barrie Maxwell's column at digitalbits.com today:

 

All Day Entertainment, after its recent American Slapstick volumes, gets back in harness on January 27th with its release of *Becoming Charlie Chase*. It will be a four-disc set containing 42 shorts from the 1915-1925 period. Bonus features will include *The Parrott Chase* - a 45-minute retrospective on Chase's career, *The Sounds of Silence* - a featurette with the Snark Ensemble on the making of the music for the set, and an archival interview with Chase's daughter.

 

 

Alpha Video's latest announced set of releases is scheduled for December 30th. Included are *The Adventures of Robin Hood: Vol. 18* (4 episodes); *The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet*: Vol. 8 (4 episodes); a Harry Carey double feature of *The Night Rider* and *Without Honor* (both 1932); a Bill Cody double feature of *Mason of the Mounted* and *Law of the North* (both 1932); *Girls in Chains* (1943, directed by Edgar Ulmer); *Guns for Hire* (1932, with Lane Chandler); a William S. Hart silent double feature of *The Silent Man* (1917) and *Blue Blazes Rawden* (1918); *Here's Flash Casey* (1938, with Eric Linden); *It Happened Out West* (1937, with Paul Kelly); a Tom Keene double feature of *Louisiana Girl* (1937) and *Battle of Greed* (1938); Mercy Plane (1939, with James Dunn); *The Milton Berle Show: Volumes 1&2* (4 shows from 1953 and 1956 on 2 discs); *Pardon My Gun* (1930, with Tom Keene); *Public Defender:* Vol. 4 (4 episodes); *Racket Squad: Vol. 4* (4 episodes); a Tex Ritter double feature of *Rhythm of the Rio Grande* and *Rainbow over the Range* (both 1940); *Roy Rogers with Dale Evans: Vol. 10* (4 episodes of The Roy Rogers Show); a Texas Rangers double feature of *Pinto Bandit* (1944) and *Boss of Rawhide* (1943); *Thunder Over Texas* (1934, directed by Edgar Ulmer and starring Guinn Williams); *Unholy Love* (1932, with Joyce Compton); a vintage serials 5-disc collection of *The Black Coin*, *The Clutching Hand*, *The Mystery Squadron*, *The Galloping Ghost*, and *The Vanishing Legion*; and a vintage western serials 5-disc collection of *The Miracle Rider,* *Mystery Mountain,* *Phantom of the West, Fighting with Kit Carson,* and *Flaming Frontiers*.

 

 

...coming from Criterion... *Essential Art House: Volume 2.* The latter will contain six films available as a box set or also individually. The films are: *Black Orpheus* (1959), *The 400 Blows* (1959), *Ikiru* (1952), *The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp* (1943), *Pygmalion* (1938), and *La Strada* (1954). Criterion has also delayed its planned Blu-ray launch from this month until next. Thus, The Third Man (1949) is now scheduled to appear on December 16th. Meanwhile, the latest Criterion newsletter appears to identify *The Friends of Eddie Coyle* (1973, with Robert Mitchum) as a forthcoming release. This would be courtesy of Criterion's arrangement with Paramount. Speaking of Criterion hints, those of you who regularly frequent the Criterion forum (criterionforum.org) will be aware that a list of titles expected to be forthcoming from the company is maintained there. This list is based on "various forms of communication through announcements, including newsletters, emails, blogs, websites, and non-official sources with valuable creditability". Classic titles included on the list are: The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936, Jean Renoir), Cul-de-sac (1966, Roman Polanski), A Day in the Country (1936, Jean Renoir), Dillinger Is Dead (1969, Marco Ferreri), Dodes'ka-Den (1970, Akira Kurosawa), The Four Feathers (1939, Zoltan Korda), The Human Condition (1959-61, Masaki Kobayashi), Jour de Fete (1949, Jacques Tati), A Man Escaped (1956, Robert Bresson), Naked Kiss/Shock Corridor (1964/1963, Samuel Fuller) re-release, Odd Man Out (1947, Carol Reed), People on Sunday (1930, Curt & Robert Siodmak, Edgar G. Ulmer, Fred Zinnemann), Red Desert (1964, Michelangelo Antonioni), Shanghai Express (1932, Josef von Sternberg), Things to Come (1936, William Cameron Menzies), Vivre Sa Vie (1962, Jean-Luc Godard), The Wedding March (1928, Erich von Stroheim) and some silents by Josef von Sternberg. Some of these titles are targeted for 2009 (including Dodes'ka-Den, Jour de Fete, Shanghai Express, and the von Sternberg silents), while most of the others have no timeframe yet indicated. The direct link for further information is here.

 

 

Fox has a been a little quiet regarding classic plans for early in 2009, but we do have news that the Lowry restoration of *The Robe* that the studio commissioned will make its way to DVD and Blu-ray for Easter. Both CinemaScope and flat versions will be provided as well as a good array of supplements. March 31st will see the release of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: Season Four, Volume 1.

 

 

Set for December 9th from Kino is Great Directors: Volume 1. This will be a 5-disc set containing Dersu Uzala (1975, Akira Kurosawa), The Mirror (1976, Andrei Tarkovsky), Les Bonnes Femmes (1960, Claude Chabrol), Il Grido (1957, Michelangelo Antonioni), and Circle of Deceit (1981, Volker Schlondorff). Coming on March 17th is a new F.W. Murnau box set simply titled Murnau. It will contain six titles: The Haunted Castle, The Finances of the Grand Duke, Tartuffe, Faust, The Last Laugh, and Nosferatu. Only The Finances of the Grand Duke is new to DVD. All titles in the set appear to be single-disc editions even though Nosferatu and The Last Laugh are already available as two-disc special editions, and a new Faust two-disc deluxe restored edition is being announced at the same time (to include U.S. and original German editions).

 

 

After its recent release of the Studio One Anthology, Koch Vision has several other upcoming releases of interest. November 25th will bring Sounder (1972, with Cicely Tyson). The 1959 television drama originally seen on "NBC Sunday Showcase", What Makes Sammy Run (with Larry Blyden, John Forsythe, Barbara Rush and Dina Merrill), will be released on February 10th and will include audio commentary by Rush and Merrill and an interview with writer Budd Schulberg. The Max Fleischer version of Gulliver's Travels (1939) will see a DVD and Blu-ray release on March 10th.

 

 

Legend Films will offer colourized and the original black and white versions of Abbott and Costello: The Christmas Show (1952) for release on November 18th. Similar presentations also coming on the same date will be Framed (1975, with Joe Don Baker), House on Haunted Hill (1959), The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), Night of the Living Dead (1968), Phase IV (1974), Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), Reefer Madness (1938), and The Three Stooges in Color.

 

 

 

More feedback from the Home Theater Forum Hollywood Meet indicates that Paramount/CBS remain committed to getting out the rest of the *Have Gun, Will Travel* seasons. It appears that the studio and CBS have been finding resistance to the cost of entire season sets when they require the number of discs necessary for 39-episode seasons. The approach on the rest of the seasons may be to split them into two releases each. Regardless though, there was no indication of when we may actually see such releases. Apparently Paramount is also working on getting several classic titles out on *Blu-ray* in 2009, including The *Ten Commandments, Sunset Boulevard, Breakfast at Tiffany's* (the latter two possibilities are further reason to take a pass on the new DVD Centennial editions of the titles), and *Chinatown* (1974). The studio's current work on restoring *Wings* and *The African Queen* may yield 2009/2010 Blu-ray versions as well. Meanwhile Paramount has announced a February 17th release date for *The Beverly Hillbillies: The Official Third Season* (34 episodes on 5 discs).

 

 

Questar (questarhomevideo.com) will release the Victor Borge Classic Collection on November 18th. It will include six discs containing The Best of Victor Borge Act One & Two; The Legendary Victor Borge; Victor Borge's Funniest Moments; Victor Borge: Then & Now; Lost Episodes of Victor Borge, Volume One; and Lost Episodes of Victor Borge, Volume Two.

 

 

Restored Serials has provided some updated information on its future release plans. The company hopes to have the 1933 John Wayne serial *The Three Musketeers* available in a few months, so presumably in early 2009. The 1931 Mascot Rin-Tin-Tin serial The Lightning Warrior and the 1920 silent serial Son of Tarzan are both at least six months away from release.

 

 

Sony will release Bewitched: The Complete Seventh Season and The Partridge Family: The Complete Fourth Season on February 3rd. Another four classic releases in Sony's mystifying Martini Movies line are also set for the same date: Five (1951), Our Man in Havana (1959), Getting Straight (1970), and Gumshoe (1971).

 

 

Timeless Media Group plans to release *The Ultimate Red Skelton Collection* on November 25th. It will be an 8-disc set, authorized by the Skelton estate, and will contain 35 complete TV shows. Supplements include trailers from Red Skelton's movies. The company will also issue *Laredo: Season 2, Part 2* on January 6th. The 3-disc set will contain 13 episodes.

[Film_Fatale]

Are you (or anyone here) getting any of the Criterion Blu-Rays? I'd definitely like to get *The Third Man*, possibly *The Last Emperor* as well.

[TripleHHH]

Nope because I am not converting at this time. I like my TV and Im happy with my picture quality. I think someday I will convert, but not until my TV gets completely obsolete or it starts to wear down. I am in no hurry to go BluRay and I really dont want to replace DVDs..

[filmlover]

Yes, I am planning to get both titles.

[filmlover]

Sony has announced the Blu release of *Ghandi* and *Kramer vs. Kramer*, both for Feb. 17th.

[Film_Fatale]

I do hope *Lawrence of Arabia* won't be too far behind in Sony's list of Blu titles. If it looked nearly as good as *HTWWW* it would quickly become one of the top (if not the top) Blu-Ray titles of 2009. B-)

[filmlover]

Netflix.com announced today *In Cold Blood* and *Capote* are set for a double feature Blu release on Feb. 17th.

 

classicflix.com says *Martin Luther* (1953) will be issued by VCI on DVD on Feb. 24th. Also, *British Cinema - Renown Pictures Literary Classics Collection* ($39.99) containing *The Pickwick Papers, Tom Brown's Schooldays*, and *Svengali* will release the same day from them. The titles will be available in the set and individually.

 

And VCI will alse be having *Gasoline Alley and Friends*, featuring:

 

The features are *Gasoline Alley* (1951) and *Corky, of Gasoline Alley* (1951). The programmers (the friends) are the last two Joe Sawyer/William Tracy service comedies, As You Were (1951) and Mr. Walkie Talkie (1952) and two Sid Melton comedies, Stop That Cab (1951) and Leave it to the Marines (1951). Release date is also the 24th and will cost $29.99

[filmlover]

*The Silence of the Lambs* is now scheduled for April 3 on Blu.

[Film_Fatale]

Here's one 80's flick I may actually look forward to... (from digitalbits.com)

 

They haven't officially announced it yet, but retailers say that Universal will be releasing the long-awaited Howard the Duck on DVD on 3/10. (You can already preorder it on Amazon by clicking the link provided.) You'll get anamorphic widescreen video, Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, 6 featurettes (A Look Back at Howard the Duck, Releasing the Duck, News Featurette, The Stunts of Howard the Duck, The Special Effects of Howard the Duck and The Music of Howard the Duck) and trailers. Hey, I think another pig just flew by my window...

[chinaseas]

Has anyone heard anything about box sets for Jean Harlow and Ann Sheridan?

[iowahawkeye]

There have been rumors of the Harlow one for the past year or longer, but nothing yet. I've never heard anything about an Ann Sheridan one. On a related note however, there are RUMORS that Fox (Harlow set is w/WB or MGM i believe) is going to cut back its classic title releases severely, perhaps to just one per year.

[Film_Fatale]

There's a bit of new info today in digitalbits.com's "rumor mill" that I don't recall having heard before. Remember, it's not official info yet, but their "rumor mill" generally tends to be accurate.

 

This is just a quick update to let you all know that our industry sources tell us that 20th Century Fox is getting ready to release The Robe (1953) and The Sound of Music (1965) on Blu-ray Disc in early 2009! Neither title is yet official, but both are tentatively planned for release in March or April, so watch for announcements in the next few weeks.

 

As always, keep in mind that these titles and dates ARE unofficial and are subject to change until they're actually officially announced by the studios in press releases and retail solicitations.

[filmlover]

The Robe has been announced for awhile, but The Sound of Music is news!

[Film_Fatale]

> {quote:title=filmlover wrote:}{quote}

> The Robe has been announced for awhile, but The Sound of Music is news!

 

I did remember them saying something about a re-issue of *The Robe* on DVD, but I wasn't sure if they'd also said it would be on Blu-Ray.

 

I agree, it's good to see Fox start to release its classic musicals on Blu-Ray. Hope they'll follow up with more musicals soon!

[edgeciff]

Good news: A box set of four of Douglas Sirk's films is being released: TARNISHED ANGELS, ALL I DESIRE, INTERLUDE and THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW. The bad news is this release is only for Region 2 (France). Universal please wake up and release this box set in this country!!! The set has plenty of extras including interviews with Billy Gray, Pat Crowley and Gig Perreau, all of whom acted in some of these films.

[filmlover]

digitalbits.com is now reporting there was an error in their Rumor Mill yesterday. It is not The Sound of Music coming to Blu. It is South Pacific. Off all the R&H films, that would have been the one I would have picked last to transfer to Blu The film was a mess, that poor use of color filters. And I don't see why they picked SP, as there would be more money if they had gone with The Sound of Music.