Displaying items by tag: Paul Thomas Anderson

We’ve got more new disc reviews to share with you today, to start the new week out right…

As promised, I’ve shared my in-depth thoughts on Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (1959) in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, and you’ll be pleased to know that it’s stunning. What’s more, those of you who saw the promotional trailer for the remaster need not worry—its missing fingers and cigarette are untouched in the actual 4K master. The film looks really great.

Also today, Stephen has taken a look at Shout! Factory’s new Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD box set of Jim Henson’s Labyrinth (1986).

Tim has offered his thoughts on Barry Sonnenfeld’s Addams Family Values (1993) in 4K Ultra HD from Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment.

And Sam has reviewed Nikhil Nagesh Baht’s Kill (2023) in 4K Ultra HD Steelbook from Lionsgate.

Next up on my review stack is Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles (1974) in 4K Ultra HD from Warner, but first I may share my look at Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (1954) in 4K UHD from Criterion, provided my copy arrives in the mail today as expected. Either way, both reviews should be posted in the next couple days.

Speaking of Criterion, the company has just unveiled its February 2025 release slate, as follows… [Read on here...]

We’re rounding out the week here with three more new disc reviews, including...

Dennis’ take on Costa-Gravas’ Mad City (1997) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

And Stuart’s thoughts on Frederic C. Hobbs’s Godmonster of Indian Flats (1973) on Blu-ray from AGFA, Something Weird, and Vinegar Syndrome, and the Villages of the Damned: Three Horrors from Spain Blu-ray release also from Vinegar Syndrome, which includes Pedro Olea’s The Forest of the Beast (1970), Silvio Narizzano’s The Sky Is Falling (1975), and Gonzalo Suárez’s Beatriz (1976).

Meanwhile, the rest of us are already working on a bunch more new Blu-ray and 4K UHD reviews for next week. And I do mean a bunch. So be sure to watch for them.

We also have a couple significant pieces of catalog news for you this afternoon before we go...

The first is that Kino Lorber Studio Classics has just officially set Ivan Reitman’s Kindergarten Cop (1990) for release on 4K Ultra HD on 1/23, featuring two new audio commentaries (by film historians Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson, and a second by film historian Samm Deighan). [Read on here...]

The big piece of announcement news today is that Universal Studios Home Entertainment has set Paul Thomas Anderson’s excellent and Best Picture-nominated film Licorice Pizza for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 5/17. The Digital version is already available (including 4K), though there are no current plans for a physical 4K Ultra HD release. Extras on the Blu-ray will include camera tests, a deleted scene, a Fat Bernie’s Commercial, and a Behind-the-Scenes featurette. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below.

Also, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has officially set The Boys: Seasons 1 & 2 Collection for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 5/17. Of course, the Amazon-exclusive series is already available for streaming on Amazon Prime. This release is no doubt timed to support the 6/3 debut of Season 3 on Prime. Extras on the discs will include deleted scenes and a blooper real for each season, plus Butcher: A Short Film. Again, you can see the cover artwork below.

One hopes that the this means Sony might consider releasing other series it produces for streamers on physical media eventually, including (hopefully) Apple TV’s outstanding For All Mankind (which I’d kill to own on physical 4K). [Read on here...]

So I spent a couple hours up in Hollywood yesterday afternoon to cover something pretty interesting…

At a press event at the Screen Actors Guild, members of the UHD Alliance, three major consumer electronics manufacturers, and leading Hollywood filmmakers officially announced a new partnership effort to implement Filmmaker Mode as an extension of the 4K Ultra HD spec.

The idea is to ensure that when you watch a movie at home in 4K on your new Ultra HD display, whether from a disc, stream, or cable/satellite broadcast, it will look exactly as it should. UHD Alliance research suggests that as many as 80% of people who buy 4K TVs never change the settings out of the box. This means irritating features like motion smoothing and unnecessary processing are being applied to the image by default – processing that actually takes the picture away from the filmmakers’ intent.

What the Filmmaker Mode will do is to allow the user – either with one push of a button on the remote, or with a very easy and obvious menu setting – to set the TV’s display parameters to most accurately display the 4K content. This would be a baseline setting for the image – any added adjustments signaled by HDR10, HDR10+, or Dolby Vision metadata would happen on top of that setting. [Read on here...]

We’ve got some great news for you today, which is that Criterion has just announced their November slate of Blu-ray and DVD releases, and it’s truly one of their best line-ups yet!

Starting on 11/8, you’ll get Lone Wolf and Cub (Cat #841 – Blu-ray and DVD) which includes all six films in the series (Sword of Vengeance, Baby Cart at the River Styx, Baby Cart to Hades, Baby Cart in Peril, Baby Cart in the Land of Demons, and White Heaven in Hell) as well as the Shogun Assassin edit of the first two films, plus amazing extras. Next up on 11/15 are Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (Cat #842 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love (Cat #843 – Blu-ray and DVD), both with great extras. Dreams will include a 150-minute documentary shot on the set by Nobuhiko Obayashi about the making of the film and more. Then on 11/22, look for Marlon Brando’s One-Eyed Jacks (Cat #844 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Noah Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale (Cat #845 – Blu-ray and DVD), again each with great extras. You can see the cover artwork and pre-order each below. What an amazing slate!  [Read on here…]