WILLOW
(March 12, 2013 – MSRP $24.99)
Video: 2.39:1 1080p
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Special Features:

• Deleted Scenes with Ron Howard Commentary
• Making of an Adventure with Ron Howard Introduction
• Morf to Morphing with Dennis Muren Introduction and Closing
• Willow: An Unlikely Hero — Personal Video Diary of Warwick Davis
• Matte Paintings Gallery

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
(December 4, 2012 – MSRP $35.99)
Video: 2.40:1/1.78:1 1080p
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Special Features:

• “THE BATMOBILE” DOCUMENTARY: Witness all five Batmobiles together for the first time in history. Dive deep into every aspect of the most awe-inspiring weapon in Batman’s arsenal as you journey through the birth and evolution of this technological marvel and cultural icon. (01:00)
• ENDING THE KNIGHT: A comprehensive look into how Director Christopher Nolan and his production team made “The Dark Knight Rises” the epic conclusion to the Dark Knight legend.
  • Production
    • The Prologue: High-Altitude Hijacking
    • Return to the Batcave
    • Beneath Gotham
    • The Bat
    • Batman vs Bane
    • Armory Accepted
    • Gameday Destruction
    • Demolishing a City Street
    • The Pit
    • The Chant
    • The War on Wall Street
    • Race to the Reactor
  • Characters
    • The Journey of Bruce Wayne
    • Gotham’s Reckoning
    • A Girls Gotta Eat
  • Reflections
    • Shadows & Light in Large Format
    • The End of A Legend
• Trailers
• Art Galleries

ROSEMARY’S BABY
(October 30, 2012 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: monaural soundtrack

Special Features:

• New, restored digital transfer, approved by director Roman Polanski, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• New documentary featuring interviews with Polanski, actress Mia Farrow, and producer Robert Evans
• Interview with author Ira Levin from a 1997 broadcast of Leonard Lopate’s public radio program New York and Company, about his 1967 novel, its sequel, and the film
• Komeda, Komeda, a feature- length documentary on the life and work of jazz musician and composer Krzysztof Komeda, who wrote the score for Rosemary’s Baby
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Ed Park; Levin’s afterword to the 2003 New American Library edition of his novel; and Levin’s rare, unpublished character sketches of the Woodhouses and floor plan of their apartment, created in preparation for the novel

We here in North America haven’t seen many classic Hammer films make the transition to Blu-ray yet but the famous studio, now reborn, has partnered with Studio Canal for a massive restoration and release program in the UK. The next two titles in the series, due in stores June 18, are Plague of the Zombies and The Reptile, a couple of B-films that played in double features back in the day with their higher-profile siblings, Dracula, Prince of Darkness and Rasputin, the Mad Monk, respectively. Both discs feature a collection of newly produced bonus goodies, including retrospective docs (footage from which has no doubt been used to create the promo embedded above) and restoration demos, among many other extras. They’ll both likely be Region B locked discs, so those of us over on this side of the Atlantic without Region Free players will have to wait until domestic releases are announced. And the studio says we’ll hear all about that very soon. Then again, they’ve been singing that song since January. Their definition of “soon” clearly differs from mine…

Holy crap. Was Vincent Cassel ever this young? Watching the latest of Criterion‘s Three Reasons videos, which pimps their upcoming May 8th release of Mathieu Kassovitz‘ 1995 La Haine, reminds me that it’s been around 16 years since I first laid eyes on the film and Cassel. I’m sure I also looked a lot less like a tired but very famous older man married to Monica Bellucci back then but damn, it’s hard to believe this is the same actor I’ve recently watched in A Dangerous Method and Mesrine. I can’t wait to revisit La Haine and angry, young Cassel on Blu in a few weeks’ time.

Special Features:

• Restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director Mathieu Kassovitz, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• English-language audio commentary by Kassovitz
• Introduction by actor Jodie Foster
• Ten Years of “La haine,” an eighty-minute documentary that brings together cast and crew a decade after the film’s landmark release
• Featurette on the film’s banlieue setting, including interviews with sociologists Sophie Body-Gendrot, Jeffrey Fagan, and William Kornblum
• Production footage
• Deleted and extended scenes, each featuring an afterword by Kassovitz
• Gallery of behind-the-scenes photos
• Trailers
• PLUS: A new essay by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau and an appreciation by acclaimed filmmaker Costa-Gavras

How amazing does The War Room look? I mean, look, this film has got two strikes against it for me, right from the get-go – I’m not American and I’m not really into politics. But even I can see from Criterion‘s latest Three Reasons trailer, embedded above for your viewing pleasure, that directors D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus have got some incredible footage on their hands here. One of my close pals has been urging me to watch this flick for years now and I’ve just never had the opportunity. Thank goodness and the good folks at my favourite boutique home video label that it’s going to be available on Blu-ray next week, March 20th.

“The 1992 presidential election was a triumph not only for Bill Clinton but also for the new breed of strategists who guided him to the White House and changed the face of politics in the process. For this thrilling, behind-closed-doors account of that campaign, renowned cinema verité filmmakers D. A. Pennebaker (Monterey Pop) and Chris Hegedus (Startup.com) closely followed the brainstorming and bull sessions of Clinton’s crack team of consultants—especially the folksy James Carville and the preppy George Stephanopoulos, who became media stars in their own right as they injected a youthful spirit and spontaneity into the process of campaigning. Fleet-footed and entertaining, The War Room is a vivid document of a political moment whose truths (“It’s the economy, stupid!”) still ring in our ears. “

Special Features:

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by directors D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• Return of the War Room, a 2008 documentary in which advisers James Carville, George Stephanopoulos, and Paul Begala and others reflect on the effect the Clinton war room had on the way campaigns are run
• Making “The War Room,” a conversation between the filmmakers about the difficulties of shooting in the campaign’s fast-paced environment
• Panel discussion hosted by the William J. Clinton Foundation and featuring Carville, Clinton adviser Vernon Jordan, journalist Ron Brownstein, and surprise guest Bill Clinton
• Interview with strategist Stanley Greenberg on the increasing importance of polling
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by writer Louis Menand

I love Louis Malle and I love David Mamet. But I have to admit, I’m just not as excited as I probably should be to watch their 1994 film Vanya on 42nd Street, making its high-def debut this week. Perhaps it’s all those years I spent working in the theatre and my general distaste for stage actors (all true!) Perhaps it’s also the lackluster cover art on the new Criterion Blu-ray disc. Either way, this isn’t my most anticipated release this month from my favourite boutique label. But I have faith in their selection of this film and faith in the creative talents behind and in front of the camera. The notion that they’d all deliver something less than stellar is… INCONCEIVABLE! (See what I did there?) Watch the new Three Reasons video embedded above.

Special Features:

• New high-definition digital restoration, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• New documentary featuring interviews with André Gregory, the play’s director; actors Lynn Cohen, George Gaynes, Julianne Moore, Larry Pine, Wallace Shawn, and Brooke Smith; and producer Fred Berner
• Trailer
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Steven Vineberg and a 1994 on-set report by film critic Amy Taubin

I actually don’t need any more reasons to be excited about Criterion‘s upcoming Blu-ray edition of Rainer Werner Fassbinder‘s World on a Wire but this new ‘Three Reasons’ trailer from the studio has got me seriously chomping at the bit to get my hands on the disc. In a muscular month of releases that includes the likes of Preminger‘s Anatomy of a Murder and Lena Dunham‘s Tiny Furniture, World on a Wire is the one that gets my blood pumping. Just look at that photography! My god, ’70s retro-sci-fi is super cool. Even cooler when it’s German.

The Blu-ray disc will be in shops in a little over two weeks.

Special Features:

• New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• Fassbinder’s “World on a Wire”: Looking Ahead to Today, a fifty-minute documentary about the making of the film by Juliane Lorenz
• New interview with German-film scholar Gerd Gemünden
• New English subtitles
• Trailer for the 2010 theatrical release
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Ed Halter

Can you believe this? To this day, I have yet to see a single film in the Twilight series. It’s true. So the trailer above means very little to me. Nor does the release of the Blu-ray disc of the penultimate film, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1. It’ll be on store shelves in a few weeks, which I take to mean that the final installment of the series will be hitting cinemas shortly thereafter. At this point, I think I’m just going to wait ’till this whole things is wrapped up before I dive in and experience sparkling vampires for myself.

Special Features:

• 6-PART MAKING-OF DOCUMENTARY
• WEDDING VIDEO
• JACOB’S DESTINY
• EDWARD FAST FORWARD and JACOB FAST FORWARD
• AUDIO COMMENTARY by director Bill Condon

Was I, like, the only thirty-something guy in North America who didn’t think The Hangover was the best comedy of the last few years? I’m sure I wasn’t alone, but it feels like it at times. My ho-hum feelings about the original film led me to skip out on catching the sequel in the theatre. I understand it brought in a lot of cash for Warner but was universally panned by critics. Can’t say I’m surprised by either result. But what I am surprised by, is that I’ve hit a sufficient point of Hangover de-saturation that I’m now ready to dive into the sequel. I guess my sour feelings have passed and I’m in the mood for sophomoric man-comedy. The Hangover Part II Blu-ray hits shops next week, on December 6th. Check out the Blu-ray trailer above.

Special Features:

• Comedy Rhythm of Todd Phillips
• Not Your Everyday Monkey
• Bangkok Tour with Mr. Chow
• Action Mash-Up
• Hangover 2 Laugh Track
• Gag Reel