It’s been so many years since I’ve seen Willow that I can barely recall whether or not I cared for it. It seems like the sort of thing I would have been wild for as a boy but the fact that I can barely remember it doesn’t speak that highly for the film. That said, I’m pleased to see that it’s been restored and it’s on its way to Blu. Watching the trailer, embedded below (or after the jump, depending on where you’re reading this) I can’t help but feel that Fox is releasing this now to take advantage of Hobbit fever. What are the chances that the Blu-ray edition of Peter Jackson‘s latest will hit around the same time as this disc, huh? March 12th, three months from now? Seems fairly likely. Good thinking, Fox.

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I didn’t love The Dark Knight Rises but it’s by no means a terrible film. In fact, I found it quite thrilling. It’s just not what I want from a Batman movie. Nerd-hopes and expectations aside, it provides and fitting and fairly satisfying conclusion to Christopher Nolan‘s superhero trilogy and will, no doubt be one of this holiday season’s best selling Blu-ray discs. Warner has posted a Blu-ray trailer to promote the Dec. 4 disc release. Check it out after the jump.

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In a lot of ways, this has really been the finest season of Halloween Blu-ray releases ever! I don’t think there have ever been so many classic horror films restored and unleashed into the world on high-def disc ever (and, good God, if you happen to live in the UK, there a million and one Hammer horror films now available to you on Blu, you lucky bastard!) Adding to the lineup of killer flicks, Criterion‘s fantastic new Blu-ray edition of Rosemary’s Baby hits shelves tomorrow. Pray that it turns up in your trick ‘r treat loot bag. Watch Criterion’s latest “Three Reasons” trailer advertising the release, after the jump.

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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…

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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.

LA HAINE

(May 8, 2012 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.33:1 1080p
Audio: monaural soundtrack

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

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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. “

THE WAR ROOM

(March 20, 2012 – MSRP $29.95)
Video: 1.33:1 1080p
Audio: 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio

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

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