My Two Cents
Monday, 17 December 2018 15:22

Girl in the Spider’s Web, Criterion’s March, Bohemian Rhapsody, Little Mermaid 4K, Superman: 40th retrospective & more

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We’re starting the new week with a reminder of something we posted over the weekend. On Saturday, our own Michael Coate delivered a terrific History, Legacy & Showmanship retrospective column looking back at Richard Donner’s original Superman: The Movie. Saturday was the film’s actual 40th anniversary. In honor of this, Michael offers details about that original release along with a great roundtable interview with film historians Jim Bowers, Kevin Burns, Mike Matessino, Bruce Scivally, and Larry Tye. It’s well worth your time, so don’t miss it!

Now then, the big news on Friday was that Criterion announced their March Blu-ray release slate, which is set to include Ted Wilde’s The Kid Brother starring Harold Lloyd (Cat #964 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Ingmar Bergman’s The Magic Flute (Cat #71 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 3/12, Edgar G. Ulmer’s Detour (Cat #966 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Barbara Loden’s Wanda (Cat #965 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 3/19, and Robert Zemeckis’ I Wanna Hold Your Hand (with some of his early short films too – Cat #967 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Carlos Reygadas’ Japón (Cat #968 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 3/26. We’ve updated The Criterion Spines Project page here at The Bits accordingly. [Read on here...]

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Sony has just officially announced Fede Álvarez’s The Girl in the Spider’s Web for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 2/5, with the Digital release expected on 1/22. Extras will include audio commentary with the director and screenwriter, 8 deleted scenes with optional commentary, and 4 featurettes (Claire Foy: Becoming Lisbeth, All About the Stunts, Secrets of the Salander Sisters, and Creating the World). Strangely, there is no mention of a 4K Ultra HD release, so it’s possible plans for it in physical 4K here in the States have been cancelled. I’ve asked the studio for confirmation, but they’ve not yet responded. I’ll update here when they do.

FYI, I’ll also post the news first on my Twitter page (@BillHuntBits) so be sure to follow me there if you’re interested.

However, for those of you who have been wondering, Sony’s new Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is currently planned for release on 4K early next year. You can pre-order it right here on Amazon (and doing so helps support our work here at The Bits so please do and thank you!).

Meanwhile, retail sources have informed us that Bohemian Rhapsody will street on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on 2/12. We expect an official announcement in the coming weeks.

Here’s a nice surprise: Just as we’ve been reporting, Disney is officially releasing their classic animated The Little Mermaid on 4K Ultra HD as a 30th Anniversary Edition. Target is the only retailer that has it listed at the moment, as a Target-exclusive, but that may just be the version with the Filmmaker Gallery and Storybook. In any case, you can pre-order it here. There’s no street date listed yet, but sources say it’s likely to be 2/26.

Some other titles newly available for pre-order on Amazon in 4K Ultra HD include: Mortal Engines and Green Book (from Universal), Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and Creed II (from Warner), and Widows (from 20th Century Fox). And this MAY be the early Amazon listing for Captain America: The First Avenger (from Disney).

We’ve updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits with all of these titles accordingly.

Kino Lorber Studio Classics has finally set a date for the release of their four Hope/Crosby Road movies on Blu-ray. Look for Road to Singapore (1940), Road to Zanzibar (1941), Road to Morocco (1942), and Road to Utopia (1945) on 3/26.

Also here at The Bits today, we’ve posted a trio of new Blu-ray reviews, including David’s look at Scorpion King: Book of Souls from Universal, as well as Dennis’ thoughts on Some Like It Hot from Criterion and The Black Windmill from KL Studio Classics.

And finally, something fun: If you live in Southern California, United Launch Alliance is set to fire off a Delta IV Heavy rocket tomorrow night from Vandenberg AFB at 5:57pm, an hour after sunset. If weather and fate permit, it should be an AMAZING show, visible all across the region. So be sure to look up around then. And you can check this live webstream to see if the launch happens as expected.

Stay tuned!

(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)

 

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