WHV’s Batman 75th plans, Olive’s May BD, Scream’s Summer of Fear & James Cameron’s Years of Living Dangerously

Friday, 28 March 2014 14:39

WHV’s Batman 75th plans, Olive’s May BD, Scream’s Summer of Fear & James Cameron’s Years of Living Dangerously

by Bill Hunt

So the big news today is that Warner Home Video has announced their Batman 75th Anniversary celebration plans. As many of you know, the character first appeared in the comic book Detective Comics #27, which hit newsstands on March 30, 1939. That makes this Sunday the character’s official 75th Anniversary. And if the deliberate leak by WHV earlier this year (with assist by Conan O’Brien) wasn’t official enough, the studio has now confirmed that the classic Adam West and Burt Ward Batman ‘66 TV series will arrive on Blu-ray and DVD this year, though they are still yet to announce a street date (we suspect you’ll hear more at Warner’s Batman 75th panel at WonderCon in Anaheim next month, or at San Diego Comic-Con in July). Warner has also set the all-new animated films Son of Batman for release on BD/DVD on 5/6, followed by Assault on Arkham this summer. Warner also has a pair of new animated shorts coming this year from Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series) and Darwyn Cooke (Batman Beyond). You’ll get a new Batman: 25th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray release of the Tim Burton film. Obviously, there’s the new Gotham TV series coming to FOX later this year. And production begins this year on the new Batman vs. Superman feature film. Lotta Batman for one year. We’d sure love to see the Bruce Timm animated series find its way to Blu-ray this year, but no sign of it yet. Anyway... [Read on here...]

Now then... yesterday we ran down Olive Films’ April BD and DVD release slate. We can officially confirm that their May slate will include Johnny Come Lately (1943) and the Marx Bros’ last film Love Happy (1949) on 5/6, followed by Home of the Brave (1949) and the John Wayne classic Flying Tigers (1942) on 5/13.

Meanwhile, our friends at Shout! Factory – specifically their Scream Factory label – have now fully announced their “Summer of Fear” Blu-ray/DVD release slate, which is set to include Final Exam (5/13), Evilspeak (5/13), Nosferatu the Vampyre (5/20), House in the Alley, and Sleepaway Camp: Collector’s Edition (5/13) in May, Ravenous (6/3) and The Monkey’s Paw (6/17) in June, The Final Terror, Lake Placid: Collector’s Edition, Deadly Eyes, and Ginger Snaps: Collector’s Edition in July, and Phantom of the Paradise: Collector’s Edition (8/5), Motel Hell: Collector’s Edition, Leviathan, The Legend of Hell House, Dog Soldiers: Collector’s Edition and Without Warning (a JET’s Most Wanted title for sure) in August! That’s an A-List B-Grade slate if ever we saw one! Phantom of the Paradise?! Awesome.

Also today, we have word that Paramount is re-soliciting all of the Transformers movies on Blu-ray on 6/3, including a Trilogy box set, as part of the build-up to the new sequel Transformers: Age of Extinction which hits theaters in June.

Universal has set Curious George: The Complete Seventh Season for DVD release on 6/3.

Are there any rock ‘n’ roll fans in the house? Eagle Rock Entertainment is releasing the Dio: Live in London – Hammersmith Apollo 1993 concert on Blu-ray on 5/13.

Video Services Corp has set the star-filled Sunset Strip documentary for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 7/22.

And here’s something interesting. First there was the BBC’s Wonders documentary series with Brian Cox (Wonders of the Solar System, Wonders of the Universe, Wonders of Life), then the new Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey with Neil deGrasse Tyson (there’s a new episode this Sunday night on Fox!). Now James Cameron and Showtime have teamed up to produce a new eight-part science series called Years of Living Dangerously on the impacts of climate change. The series debuts on Sunday 4/13 on Showtime, and we would imagine it will find its way to Blu-ray and DVD soon after it finished airing. Looking forward to it. Here’s a trailer...

We’ll leave you today with a look at the Blu-ray cover artwork for Olive’s Flying Tigers, Home of the Brave and Love Happy, as well as a sneak peek at the art for Scream’s Without Warning, Phantom of the Paradise and Leviathan…

Without Warning (Blu-ray Disc) Leviathan (Blu-ray Disc) Phantom of the Paradise (Blu-ray Disc)

All right, that’s all for this week. If you’re looking for something to do at the movies this weekend, Darren Aronofsky’s Noah opens (anyone who has seen Pi knows or The Fountain knows Aronofsky’s a pretty interesting filmmaker) and I think Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel goes into wider release too. Plus there’s the Final Four if you’re a fan of college basketball.

So have a great weekend and we’ll see you back here on Monday with some very cool new Blu-ray reviews. Stay tuned!

- Bill Hunt

Published in My Two Cents

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WHV’s Batman 75th plans, Olive’s May BD, Scream’s Summer of Fear & James Cameron’s Years of Living Dangerously

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