Criterion’s November includes Godzilla, Seven Samurai, Scarface, Funny Girl, Shape of Water & Paper Moon in 4K, plus Friday Night Lights (2004) & more!

Thursday, 15 August 2024 14:39

Criterion’s November includes Godzilla, Seven Samurai, Scarface, Funny Girl, Shape of Water & Paper Moon in 4K, plus Friday Night Lights (2004) & more!

by Bill Hunt

We’ve got a good bit of ground to cover here at The Bits today, so let’s start as always with new disc reviews...

Now available here are Stephen’s take on Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974) in 4K Ultra HD from StudioCanal, David Allen’s The Primevals (2023) as released on Blu-ray by Umbrella Entertainment, and the Blu-ray Audio version of Jonathan Demme and Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense (1984) live album, which includes Dolby Atmos.

Stuart’s look at the Philo Vance Collection on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics—which includes The Canary Murder Case (1929), The Greene Murder Case (1929), and The Benson Murder Case (1930)—as well as George King’s The Shop at Sly Corner (1947) and the Columbia Film Noir #6: The Whistler box set—which includes The Whistler (1944), The Mark of the Whistler (1944), The Power of the Whistler (1945), Voice of the Whistler (1945), Mysterious Intruder (1946), The Secret of the Whistler (1946), The Thirteenth Hour (1947), and The Return of the Whistler (1948)—both on Blu-ray from Indicator.

Dennis’ thoughts on Basil Dearden’s The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970) on Blu-ray from Imprint and Welcome Back, Kotter: The Complete Series (1975-1979) on DVD from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment.

And finally, Tim has taken a look at Arch Oboler’s Bwana Devil (1952) on Blu-ray 3D from Kino Lorber Studio Classics with the help of the 3-D Film Archive.

More reviews are forthcoming, so stay tuned!

Now then, before we get to the big release news today, I wanted to alert you all to the fact that we’ve just posted a big update to our Cover Art section here at The Bits, aka the Release Dates & Artwork section (thanks to our own Russell Hammond)! It now features TONS of new Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover art, all with Amazon.com pre-order links. You can browse and sort the titles by street date and format, and of course The Bits is an Amazon Affiliate, so anytime you click through one of our Amazon links and order literally anything from them, you’re helping to support our work and we really do appreciate it. It makes a real difference for us. [Read on here...]

In fact, when you order ANYTHING from Amazon after clicking through one of our affiliate links—not just movie discs—all of those sales help to support The Bits. So please do so whenever you can, and thank you for doing so!

Now then... the big news today is that Criterion has just unveiled their November Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD release slate, and it’s one of the best they’ve had in a very long time. Starting on 11/5, look for Ishiro Honda’s Godzilla (1954) (Spine #594 – 4K + Blu-ray). Following on 11/12 are Howard Hawks’ Scarface (1932) (Spine #1239 – 4K + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) and Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (1954) (Spine #2 – 4K + Blu-ray). On 11/19, you’ll get the previously-announced CC40 box set, as well as William Wyler’s Funny Girl (1968) (Spine #1240 – 4K + Blu-ray and Blu-ray). And finally on 11/26, look for Peter Bogdanovich’s Paper Moon (1973) (Spine #1241 – 4K + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) and Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water (2017) (Spine #1242 – 4K + Blu-ray and Blu-ray)! You read that right, every single title (apart from the CC40 box) includes 4K Ultra HD! You can see the cover artwork for all these below.

You may also have noticed an interesting detail: Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water is a Fox Searchlight title. And yes, I’ve been able to confirm that Criterion is now able to license Fox titles from Disney! It’s being done on a case by case basis, but that should be considered very good news for fans of Fox catalog films hoping to see more of them released in 4K. Rest assured, I’ll have more to say on that subject in the weeks ahead. Anyway, here’s a look at the November cover art (Amazon pre-order links will be added as soon as they go live)...

Seven Samurai (4K Ultra HD) Godzilla (4K Ultra HD) The Shape of Water (4K Ultra HD)

Scarface (4K Ultra HD) Funny Girl (4K Ultra HD) Paper Moon (4K Ultra HD)

Also today, Universal has set Peter Berg’s Friday Night Lights (2004) for release on 4K Ultra HD and 4K Steelbook on 10/8.

Universal is also releasing a 2-film 4K Steelbook package that includes Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017) and Us (2019) on 10/8.

And look for a 4K Steelbook release of Emma Tammi’s Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023) on 10/8 from Universal as well.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has set Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024) for Blu-ray, DVD, 4K Ultra HD, and 4K Steelbook release on 9/24.

Shout! Factory has revealed a new 4K Steelbook version of Bryan Bertino’s The Strangers (2008) for release on 9/10.

And finally today, Vinegar Syndrome has set a wide-release 4K Ultra HD of Sean MacGregor’s Devil Times Five (1974) for release on 9/24.

Back tomorrow with more. Stay tuned!

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Criterion’s November includes Godzilla, Seven Samurai, Scarface, Funny Girl, Shape of Water & Paper Moon in 4K, plus Friday Night Lights (2004) & more!

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