Posted Sun Aug 22, 2021 at 12:00 PM PDT by D. LaFontaine
The last week of August is upon us. Where has the Summer gone?
Welcome to Volume 2 Episode 14 of our weekly release guide. A look at the highlights of what's coming to disc this week, as well as a look at announcements from last week.
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Digital Releases-
For 4K releases, there are two new releases and two catalog titles.
The Covid delayed title Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway comes to 4K disc from Sony Pictures. I recall one of the movie posters using the word 'finally!' when referring to the theatrical release date. I had imported the first movie over a matter of cover art preference, at least this one isn't terrible, albeit a bit YELLOW.
The next movie has been retitled for marketing purposes, Warner Bros releases The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It. It originally was not named Conjuring 3 in case you were wondering. Hope this means the first two will see a 4K upgrade as well. Again, I imported the first one on blu-ray as a SteelBook, it had a much nicer cover art.
If you enjoyed Arrow's 4K release of The Bird With the Crystal Plumage, or are a completionist, Dario Argento's follow up titled The Cat o' Nine Tails sees 4K disc, offered as another one of those releases I like to refer to as a 'fat pack.' This one is loaded with all the extras we have come to expect and enjoy from a 'fat pack' release.
And the final 4K disc of the week from Blue Underground is titled Two Evil Eyes.
Thus far Arrow Video and Blue Underground have done phenomenal work on their 4K releases.
HD Blu-ray/Digital releases-
Getting the blu-ray versions out of the way first, Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway and The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It are available if 4K is not for you. Franchise releases of Peter Rabbit and The Conjuring are also being offered on blu-ray.
Criterion Collection this week, look for Ashes and Diamonds, a Polish Drama/War film that I will not even pretend to know or explain. You can be sure that Criterion put as much care and effort on this one as they do on all their releases.
The Oh, God! Collection from Shout Select marks the first time you can get all three releases on Blu-ray, and as a single SKU package to boot.
Also from Arrow Video this week, horror master Yasuzô Masumura brings us Blind Beast.
From LionsGate this week, look for Habit, a film that at first seemed like a meh, but after watching a few extended previews, looks like a lot of fun. Then there's Lansky, a bio/crime film starring Sam Worthington and Harvey Keitel.
For animated/anime releases, the highlights are Dreambuilders, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Season 3, Naruto: Set 4 and Show By Rock!! Mashumairesh!! - Season Three.
Warner Archives releases this week include Prince of the City and Prodigal Son: The Complete Second Season.
Honorable Mention -- this week Severin is releasing a lot of forgotten films, but I think the movie Overboard (Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell) is a first time that breaks from the norm of their horror releases and brings us something a little bit lighter.
Friday releases include the usual music/arts releases. The Imprint releases that were due this week were pushed back four weeks, most likely related to production issues. (Amazon lists them as September 3rd, but Imprint's site itself says September 15th.)
Notable announcements from last week:
More information about Criterion's November releases has come out including which 4Ks and when. Check out the article for details!
Multiple October titles have been revealed from the various Shout! Factory labels. They include Coppelia, Deadly Friend, Don Knotts: 5-Film Collection, Killer Party, A Letter to Momo, Liam Neeson Double Feature, Little Vampire, Martial Arts Double Feature, Nothing But Trouble, Shirobako: The Movie, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For and Six Minutes to Midnight.
Discotek's October batch so far includes City Hunter: The Complete First Series, Hajime No Ippo The Fighting! TV Series Collection 3, Lupin the 3rd Part V: Misadventures in France, Sgt. Frog: The Complete First Season and Shaman King.
Disney will be releasing Who Framed Roger Rabbit on 4K disc, a standard edition and an overly YELLOW Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook. Find out who framed the rabbit on December 7th (tentatively.)
StudioCanal UK has announced a 40th Anniversary Edition 4K release of The Howling. Much like they did with the John Carpenter releases, they will release a fat-pack release and a SteelBook release. Both releases are expected October 25th. If you don't want to import, we can hope that Shout Factory gets around to it in the next year or so. Maybe they can at least confirm it is in the works, even if they don't offer an exact date.
Which titles are you buying this week? Which ones are on your wishlist, be it to buy as an impulse buy or to wait for the right price?
The latest news on all things 4K Ultra HD, blu-ray and Gear.