Top 20 Selling Blu-ray Discs

1. Oppenheimer
2. Five Nights at Freddy's
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
4. The Mandalorian: The Complete First Season
5. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
6. The Mandalorian: The Complete Second Season
7. Barbie
8. The Creator
9. The Equalizer 3
10. The Expendables 4
11. John Wick: Chapter 4
12. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One
13. PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie
14. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
15. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
16. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
17. Home Alone/Home Alonw 2: Lost in New York
18. The Grinch
19. Clue
20. Saw X

Top 20 Selling 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs

1. Oppenheimer
2. The Mandalorian: The Complete First Season
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
4. The Mandalorian: The Complete Second Season
5. The Creator
6. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
7. Five Nights at Freddy's
8. Clue
9. Titanic
10. Barbie
11. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
12. The Expendables 4
13. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One
14. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
15. John Wick: Chapter 4
16. The Wailing
17. Avatar: The Way of Water
18. The Equalizer 3
19. Interstellar
20. The Lost Boys

Source: MediaPlayNews.com

As reported by The Digital Bits,

Finally, we’ve learned from industry sources that the 4K Ultra HD release of James Cameron’s The Abyss (1989) in the UK has been cancelled, and for exactly the reason you think—the scene in which the rat is made to breath underwater. UK censors asked for the scene to be cut, Disney apparently wanted to comply, but Lightstorm vetoed it. So if you want this title in 4K and you live in the UK, you’ll have to import it from elsewhere.

For those who don't know the history, the RSPCA (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) made a complaint about the scene where the rat is forced to breathe the oxygenated liquid.

Despite James Cameron protesting that no rats were harmed in the making of the film, the BBFC upheld the complaint and the scene is cut in the UK.

I first saw the film on television, where the station accidentally broadcast the uncut version, so I was very surprised to find the scene cut when I purchased my copy of the Special Edition on VHS.

The scene in question is sloppily edited using alternate footage in a quality vastly different to that of the rest of the film and, if I remember correctly, the aspect ratio changed as well!

Yes, this news has annoyed me but at the end of the day, it's a region free 4K disc, and I'll simply import from a neighbouring country.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/5877989

They are:

• Cronos
• Following
• Stalker
• Diabolique
• The Piano Teacher
• Blow Out
• Paris, Texas
• Days of Heaven
• On the Waterfront
• Quadrophenia
• Pale Flower
• Woman in the Dunes
• La Haine
• My Life as a Dog
• Naked
• Do the Right Thing
• Brazil
• Cries and Whispers
• The Passion of Joan of Arc
• Le Samourai

Jackie Chan's Project A films are getting a 4K Blu-ray release courtesy of 88 Films

EJ Tangonan

4--5 minutes

The Jackie Chan classic franchise, Project A and Project A -- Part II, are getting 4K remasters to be released in the Spring.

December 20th 2023, 10:35am

One of Jackie Chan's action masterpieces is 1983's Project A. The film brought Chan together with his brothers from the China Drama Academy, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. Project A features Chan's signature action with the famous set pieces that have been inspired by such classic silent-era performers as Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin. Now, the home video distribution company 88 Films, which has released remastered Chan movies like Dragons Forever and the Police Story movies, will now be releasing Project A and Project A -- Part II on 4K Blu-ray. Blu-ray.com has announced that the set will be available on April 23, 2024.

Special Features and Technical Specs include:

• DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE HONG KONG CUT (106 min)
• DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE TAIWAN CUT (115 min)
• CANTONESE DOLBY ATMOS TRACK and Cantonese 1.0 and with newly translated subtitles + English Dub
• NEW Interview with Stuntman Mars (2024)
• Interview with Jackie Chan
• Interview with actor Lee Hoi San
• Interview with actor Yuen Biao
• Interview with actor Dick Wei
• Interview with producer Michael Chan Wai-Man
• Interview with composer Michael Lai
• Interview with writer and producer Edward Tang
• Interview with stuntman Mars
• LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE -- Perfect-bound book
• LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE -- Six Replica Lobby Cards
• LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE -- Double-sided foldout Poster
• LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE -- Slipcase with brand-new artwork from Kung Fu Bob
• AND MORE...

The synopsis for Project A reads,
"Dragon Ma (Jackie Chan, Rush Hour) is a lieutenant in the 19th-century Hong Kong marines. Pirates have been terrorizing local waters, with assistance from the corrupt authorities. Dragon Ma hopes to defeat the evil pirate clan led by Sanpao (Dick Wei), but his plan is short-circuited. Ma then teams with a navy admiral (Hak Suen Lau), a police captain Tzu (Biao Yuen) and a crafty thief (Sammo Hung) in a new round of high-seas battles with Sanpao and his pirates."

The synopsis for Project A -- Part II reads,
"Corrupt police inspector Chun (David Lam) has made himself the most powerful law enforcement officer in Hong Kong by staging high-profile arrests of the criminals and mobsters with whom he's in cahoots. The British authorities know Chun is a dirty cop but have not been able to infiltrate his inner circle. Enter fearless and incorruptible military policeman "Dragon Ma" Yun (Jackie Chan), who comes back to his hometown to pose as Chun's new right-hand man and take down both cops and criminals."

George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead: Why is it so hard to find?

Cody Hamman

7--8 minutes

A new video looks at George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead, which is getting hard to find on physical media and digital

The JoBlo Original video covering Dawn of the Dead's physical media and digital releases was Written by Paul Bookstaber, Edited by Lance Vlcek, and Narrated by Kier Gomes.

Would it be a total buzz kill to find out one day, when you decide to open your streaming service and see some of your own digital copies gone in an instant? What if you didn't have the chance to pick up a physical copy as backup, when it was put on store shelves at your local retailer months or years prior? Chances are, it's happening much more frequently and that's a sad, hard pill to swallow. As an avid film collector and movie junkie, I always preorder a steelbook of my favorite films that I need to obtain for my own volition, but it seems that window is getting much harder as well -- thanks Best Buy for your low inventory of Oppenheimer steelbooks, what the hell is the matter with you? Today, let's talk about a film that has disappeared in the ether when it comes to physical and digital release. A movie so prevalent in zombie lore that you may scratch your head wondering how this came to be? When you think of Damon Lindelof's HBO hit series, The Leftovers, you think of "The Departure." Those 2% that left the world in an instant, without a trace, loved ones gone in the blink of an eye. Well, let's replace human lives for Blu-rays and digital copies of George A. Romero's 1978 zombie epic, Dawn of the Dead.

Dawn is a zombie film so good, cemented in time, dealing with countless censorship violations abroad due to its gore-filled nature. You can't help but be in total shock of its disappearance. And when you say, "woah, woah I can just get a quick copy of it on Youtube to watch," that doesn't count because a rip of the film can lose the actual intended quality and experience put on disc or digital streaming in exchange for a horrible aspect ratio on Youtube's viewing browser. Or you can say, "Well, let me just watch Zack Snyder's, 2004 Dawn of the Dead." That's great and all, but it doesn't hold a candle, or in better terms, guts to the original. It also deviates a whole lot from its 1978 counterpart, especially in the whole zombie chase component. So nice swing and a miss there.

Now even though there are region-free discs available, why is it so hard to obtain a physical copy today through its primary licensor or film distributor? Let me take you back to simpler times when George A Romero's Dawn of the Dead was easily accessible to the masses. Its popularity ran deep within the roots of horror movie cinema, coming hot off the heels of Romero's first installment, Night of the Living Dead, which is attainable to watch digitally or in physical release, along with George's other zombie films like Day of the Dead and Land of the Dead, but why not Dawn? Surely, there are possibilities of getting an updated physical release by Scream/Shout Factory, or another disc manufacturer down the road, right? There have been multiple ways to purchase Dawn of the Dead back in the day either by VHS, laserdisc, and DVD, but that all seemed to fade rather quickly due to Dawn's messy legalities and distribution rights that were unspooled. Although there is no concrete answer as to why we can't find physical and digital copies at our local retailer or streaming apps, let us go down that rabbit hole and get some much-needed clues. I just wish everyone got their Anchor Bay Limited Edition version some time ago to avoid the heartache and sorrows that's about to unfold with all the behind-the-scenes politics.

Dawn of the Dead was funded by Italian horror directing legend, Dario Argento, when Romero's production group Laurel Group Production, couldn't find the necessary funds within the United States prior to yelling action. This resulted in a Frankenstein-monster styled release of Dawn of the Dead through Romero's eyes, and the second version of Dawn of the Dead, retitled and edited differently called Zombi, through the eyes of Argento which was released internationally. This also required Dario Argento to file for foreign distribution rights in the process which can have legal ties with the Laurel Group and its producer, Richard P. Rubenstein. We'll get to him next.

It's been said that producer, Mr. Richard P. Rubenstein cut all of Dawn's physical and digital releases due to his losses in the 3D version of Dawn that has barely seen the light of day, a loss of a few million. He also added exuberant fees to the home media licensing that Dawn needs for it to hit store shelves or streaming services again so that you, yourself could obtain a copy if it came to it. Call it bitter and unreasonable actions due to one man's spite, or so it seems. Dawn of the Dead has seen its time in the sun, which has been released in multiple formats throughout the years. I possess the director's cut double decker VHS back in the 90s that was released as well as the Anchor Bay edition. Dawn of the Dead is a crowning achievement due to its practical effects, its demanding scope, excellent direction by Romero, and quite an excellent cast, most notably Ken Foree. For a film done in 1978 that still stands the test of time is an accomplishment in itself.

If you're in quite the pickle when it comes to watching Dawn of the Dead, there are quite a few ways into trying to attain it. This seems like its unfolding into a turbo man, Wonka golden ticket, situation, but try Ebay or Amazon, they still have availability for you to obtain a copy. You need to realize what the value is to you when it comes to needing the physical copy. One man's treasure might mean a different sort of worth to another. But you might get a deal when it's all said and done. It might even entail driving around several entertainment retailers and getting lucky with a lone copy submerged deep within shelving or bargain bins (It's happened to me). And like I stated above, you can purchase a region-free Korean-import disc through Amazon, but that may come with limitations. Unfortunately for digital, there is no solution, and you may have to just wait, even if that means until you're old and frail, let's hope not, but invest in physical. Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan stresses the importance of physical media and how it's a safeguard from digital streamers selecting what stays, and what goes, on a timely basis, neglecting you of your entertainment experience. Let's just hope a solution is reached in the not-too-distant future and we can enjoy the flesh chomping, intestine ripping, zombie mayhem at home whether it be in physical media or digital form.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/5728857

These are:

• All That Money Can Buy (1941) 4k
• All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022).
• The Runner (1984)
• Saint Omer (2022)
• To Die For (1995) 4k

Tech specs: Blu-ray.com

The quote is,

“The streamers are denying us any access whatsoever to certain films, and I think people are responding with their natural reaction, which is ‘I’m going to buy it, and I’m going to watch it any time I want."

Yes, that's certainly true for me, Mr Cameron, that's why I'm currently curating my collection of your films in the best possible Blu-ray format. I'm not a big fan of your AI upscales, but I will purchase The Abyss because it's better than my twenty-year-old DVD.

It's bad enough that Disney's doing it, but Sony too? I extend my sympathy to the Aussies...looks like you guys will have no choice but to sail the seven seas for Sony films...

(Good thing 4K discs are region-free!)

After reading through several threads over on Bluray.com forums, it seems that James Cameron now wants his older films to look a certain way.

If you didn't know, new 4K presentations of Aliens, The Abyss and True Lies were released today on various digital platforms in the US.

Rather than simply perform 4K scans of the original negative like other transfers, Cameron has tweaked the picture, including the use of AI, to make the films look brand new.

The best way to describe this is by repeating a passage I saw on the discussion of Aliens.

I didn't hate it. Part of the problem is there's this cognitive dissidence with these new transfers. They're too clean...but not waxy. They should be grainy, but they almost look digitally shot. They're sharp but don't look edge enhanced. It looks great. But it seems wrong... Color timing looked proper. Shadow detail was great. Blacks are deep without crush. The new 5.1 mix is a lot more active, you can tell it's an Atmos downconvert. No, no new sounds have been added.

And there's proof that AI tinkering doesn't always work...

Generally, it sounds like True Lies is the weakest of the bunch (interestingly, the bonus features include interviews from 2012 which confirm a 2013 Blu-ray was prepared but never approved by Cameron) followed by Aliens and then The Abyss comes out on top relatively unscathed.

At the end of the day, it's all down to personal preference. It'll be interesting to read the reviews.

No official spec sheet, but you can see pictures of the packaging, including the back cover with bonus details, over at Amazon (UK)

Some great news via The Digital Bits.

Still on the subject of Paramount, cinematographer Dariusz Wolski shared on Instagram this weekend that he’s been asked by Paramount to supervise a new 4K HDR restoration of Alex Proyas’ The Crow (1994). So that’s likely coming to 4K Digital and probably physical 4K Ultra HD as well next year. Thanks to Bits reader Scotty W. for the heads-up.

Warner Bros. UK is preparing a 4K Blu-ray release of David Fincher's Seven (1995), starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Richard Roundtree, and R. Lee Ermey. The release is expected to arrive on the market early next year.

Description: When retiring police Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) tackles a final case with the aid of newly transferred David Mills (Brad Pitt), they discover a number of elaborate and grizzly murders. They soon realize they are dealing with a serial killer (Kevin Spacey) who is targeting people he thinks represent one of the seven deadly sins. Somerset also befriends Mills' wife, Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow), who is pregnant and afraid to raise her child in the crime-riddled city.

10 Movies That Are Surprisingly Hard to Find (So Keep Your Discs)

A surprising amount of prominent, classic movies are unavailable on disc or streaming.

By Chris Bumbray

December 9th 2023, 11:01am

Recently, I wrote an article about how Ron Howard's Cocoon was hard to find in any format. It came out on DVD many years ago but went out of print and has never been issued on Blu-ray. You also can't find it digitally on any platform. This is a perfect example of why you should always hang on to your physical media, as I'm lucky enough to own the now out-of-print DVD of that movie, and while it's far from an ideal copy, it's something. 

But that got me thinking. What other movies are hard to find? I opened up the forum on Twitter, and I was shocked by how many prominent films aren't available digitally and have gone out of print on disc, making them all the more precious for collectors. At the same time, there are some happy endings, such as Martin Campbell's No Escape, which got a beautiful Blu-ray recently; too many of these films are caught up in legal limbo (or studio antipathy). 

Here are 10:

Cocoon: 

The one that started it all. How does a movie that won Don Ameche an Oscar and revitalized the careers of Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn, and the great Wilford Brimley go out of print? This is the movie that made Ron Howard an A-list director, and it was enough of a smash hit that it spawned a (pretty crappy) sequel, which, ironically, is very easy to find. What's going on here? Disney may be working on a significant restoration, but it's been gone for a long time.

Strange Days: 

Kathryn Bigelow's Strange Days was a major flop when it came out in 1995 but has since been reevaluated as a classic. As it stars Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Lewis and Angela Bassett and is widely considered one of the greatest films of the nineties, some significant release -- possibly through a company like Criterion would seem like a no-brainer. However, Disney has been sitting on this one for a while now, with the likely culprit being that James Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment owns the movie. Presumably, any redux has to be cleared by him. With The Abyss, True Lies and Aliens all getting 4K re-releases, Strange Days may be coming. This one is streaming on Max but in the wrong aspect ratio. The existing DVD is non-anamorphic, meaning it gets window-boxed on your TV unless you stretch it out.

Showtime: 

This minor Eddie Murphy/ Robert De Niro comedy made a decent amount of coin when it came out, but it wasn't a blockbuster. Yet, it's a decent little action comedy, with a funny performance by William Shatner as himself. While it came out on DVD in an excellent anamorphic transfer, and you can buy it digitally in HD, it's never been issued on Blu-ray.

Crossroads: 

This Brittany Spears cult classic would have gotten a Blu-ray re-release with all sorts of bells and whistles. Yet, outside of its original DVD run, it's never been issued on Blu-ray and can't be bought digitally. However, it was recently released to theatres in a special limited run to celebrate Spears' new autobiography so the movie may be coming relatively soon.

Dawn of the Dead: 

This one comes with a caveat. George A. Romero's zombie classic has been released on a beautiful 4K disc internationally and is region-free. Yet, it still needs to get a North American release on 4K and isn't available digitally, which is a shame. Younger horror fans watch most of their stuff this way, and one hates to think they could be missing out on one of the genre's best movies. 

Looking for Mr. Goodbar: 

This 1977 film helped establish Diane Keaton as a star and was a significant hit. It's based on the true story of a teacher who was played the bar scene in the early seventies and was eventually murdered by a man she had a one-night stand with. It's a haunting film with a disturbing ending, but very hard to find. It's only ever been released on VHS and Laserdisc, with rights issues surrounding the film's music, which is what's kept this in limbo. It doesn't help that Paramount Pictures is famously slow regarding releasing library titles. Again, this would be a great one for the Criterion Collection.

Something Wicked This Way Comes: 

We recently covered this movie in our series Fantasizing About Fantasy Films, which was available on DVD/ Blu-ray for a while. Yet, Disney has vaulted this Ray Bradbury adaptation, and you can't stream it or buy it digitally, either.

The Blood of Heroes (aka Salute of the Jugger):

This post-apocalyptic action movie comes from David Webb Peoples, the writer of Blade Runner, Unforgiven and Soldier. It was a rare directorial effort that reteamed him with Rutger Hauer, who stars opposite a young Joan Chen and Vincent D'Onofrio. Legal rights limbo has kept this one obscure in North America, with various cuts circulating in bad transfers. Hopefully, it gets some kind of restoration, and it's a neat little sci-fi movie.

John Woo's Hong Kong Films: 

Recently, John Woo mentioned that he would love to restore his Hong Kong classics with a company like Criterion, but that the rights to most of the movies are caught up in legal limbo. The Killer and Hard Boiled are streaming and on Blu-ray (albeit in interlaced transfers), but A Better Tomorrow 1 & 2 and Bullet in the Head are MIA.

The Heartbreak Kid:

Elaine May is a revered figure on film Twitter, but her biggest hit, The Heartbreak Kid, which got remade by the Farrelly Bros, is impossible to find. This is a shame as it's one of star Charles Gordon's best movies and features two Oscar-nominated performances by Jeannie Berlin (also May's daughter) and Eddie Albert.

Sam Raimi's Darkman is getting a 4K release from Scream Factory

JoBlo

By: Cody Hamman

8 December 2023 at 16:24

Before he made his Spider-Man trilogy and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but after he unsuccessfully tried to get the job directing a Batman or The Shadow movie, Sam Raimi made his debut in the superhero world with a character he created: Darkman. Raimi's film Darkman was first released in 1990, and in recent years Scream Factory has brought that movie and its direct-to-video sequels Darkman II: The Return of Durant and Darkman III: Die Darkman Die to Blu-ray. Now the company has announced that they'll be giving Darkman a 4K release on February 20th!

Scream Factory hasn't announced what special features will be found on the 4K release, but they are accepting pre-orders for it. You can get the 4K / Blu-ray combo on its own, get it in a limited edition steelbook, get the steelbook with a prism sticker and poster, get the steelbook with a prism sticker, poster, a pin, and lobby cards, get the regular collector's edition with a prism sticker and poster, get the regular collector's edition with a pin, prism sticker, poster, and lobby cards, or get both the collector's edition and the limited edition steelbook with a pin, a prism sticker, two posters, and lobby cards.

Scripted by Sam Raimi with Chuck Pfarrer, Ivan Raimi, Daniel Goldin, and Joshua Goldin, Darkman has the following synopsis: When the laboratory of Dr. Peyton Westlake is blown up by gangsters, he is burned beyond recognition. Altered by an experimental medical procedure, he assumes alternate identities in his quest for revenge.

Liam Neeson stars as Dr. Peyton Westlake and is joined in the cast by Frances McDormand, Colin Friels, Larry Drake, Ted Raimi, Nicholas Worth, Dan Bell, and Danny Hicks. Of course, Bruce Campbell makes a cameo appearance.

Scream Factory's Blu-ray release of Darkman had the following special features:

NEW interviews with Liam Neeson and Frances McDormand
NEW interview with Larry Drake
NEW interview with Makeup Designer Tony Gardner
NEW interviews with actors Danny Hicks and Dan Bell
NEW interviews with Production Designer Randy Ser and Art Director Philip Dagort
Audio Commentary with director of photography Bill Pope
Vintage "Making of" and interview featurettes featuring interviews with Sam Raimi, Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand and more...
Vintage full-length interviews with Sam Raimi, Liam Neeson and Frances McDormand
Theatrical Trailer
TV Spots
Still Galleries -- Posters & production stills, Behind the Scenes, Make-up Effects and Storyboards

David Cronenberg's mind-bending virtual reality epic eXistenZ is coming to 4K Blu-ray. The two-disc Vinegar Syndrome set will feature a number of special features and, for the adventurous, a gruesome flesh-textured slipcase. The set will feature an all-new 4K restoration of the 1999 film from its 35mm interpositive, letting you see the film's gruesome special effects in unparalleled detail.

It will also feature a number of special features, both new and archival, including commentaries from Cronenberg, cinematographer Peter Suschitzky, visual effects supervisor Jim Isaac, and film historian Jennifer Moorman, as well as featurettes on the film and its cast. The limited-edition set will include all of these features, as well as a special flesh-textured slipcase and a perfect-bound book featuring essays on the film. The standard edition will retail for $34.99 USD, while the limited edition will sell for $44.99; both can be pre-ordered now on Vinegar Syndrome's website.

edit: apparently it could be bought from their website but December is Partners Only month, so it is now hidden away. 🤷

Tech specs

Season's greetings, physical media lovers! Christmas is almost upon us. Hopefully we've all been good little boys and girls and our stockings will be stuffed with high definition film goodness!

What are you buying others or just for yourself as a sneaky little present? I'm sure you deserve it!

I've just received my copy of Arrow Video's rather nice release of Tremors 2: Aftershocks.

I have another film currently in the postal system, but I'll save that for another post.

December is a busy month for films, and I wish I had the money! The excellent Prey has just been released, with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Titanic just around the corner.

This is going slightly off track for this community but come December 15th, we'll finally have a look at The Abyss, True Lies and Aliens in their new 4K editions via digital services, the physical discs will arrive in March.

The top 10 selling discs of this week:

BLU-RAY

1. Oppenheimer
2. Barbie
3. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
4. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
5. John Wick: Chapter 4
6. The Expendables 4
7. Fast X
8. The Equalizer 3
9. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
10. Saw X

4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY

1. Oppenheimer
2. Fast X
3. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
4. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
5. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
6. John Wick: Chapter 4
7. The Expendables 4
8. The Flash
9. Top Gun: Maverick
10. Interstellar

Source: MediaPlayNews.com, Blu-ray.com

cross-posted from: https://real.lemmy.fan/post/2056003

♫♪♪ Near, far, whereevvvvvvvvvver you are ♫♪♪

Every time JD adds another VHS copy of Titanic to his collection, he feels like he’s the king of the world.

“You know, Titanic is best on VHS,” said JD. “'September 1, 1998, take the voyage home,' that’s what they were saying. That’s what I was playing on the VCR, I was watching this thing over and over and over again.”

The more people learn about JD’s collection, the more tapes he receives, coming in from all over the world.

“I check that P.O. Box. I mean, I got to fill the car up because there is so much Titanic, baby,” said JD. ‘’I’m trying to get to one million. We have 2,467 right now, so we are so close to that one million.”

Don’t forget, Titanic includes two VHS tapes, which means it takes up double the space in JD’s house. He said eventually, he’s going to have to rent out storage.

He even built a Titanic out of all the Titanics, one of the many fun videos you’ll find on his YouTube Channel, TitanicFan 97.

I'm assuming this is once again from the Oppenheimer pre-orders. For the week of 2023-11-25, the chart should be interesting, since all 4K copies of Oppenheimer sold out in two days.

Source: MediaPlayNews.com

The Exorcist: Believer reaches 4K, Blu-ray, DVD, and digital in December

Director David Gordon Green's The Exorcist: Believer will be receiving its 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD release in December

BY CODY HAMMAN

NOVEMBER 27TH 2023, 3:45PM

Amazon listings had previously said that The Exorcist: Believer (our review can be read HERE), the latest entry in the Exorcist franchise, wouldn't be reaching physical media until July of 2024, but thankfully that's not the case. The movie is available on PVOD -- you can buy it from Amazon's Prime Video at THIS LINK -- and will be available to watch through the Peacock streaming service as of December 1st. But if you're holding out for physical media, you'll only have to wait until December 19th for The Exorcist: Believer to get its 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD release.

Director David Gordon Green crafted the story for The Exorcist: Believer with Danny McBride (who wrote all three of his recent Halloween sequels with him) and their Halloween Kills co-writer Scott Teems, then wrote the screenplay with Peter Sattler (Broken Diamonds). Here's the synopsis: Since the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake 12 years ago, Victor Fielding has raised their daughter on his own. But when Angela and her friend Katherine, disappear in the woods, only to return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, it unleashes a chain of events that will force Victor to confront the nadir of evil and, in his terror and desperation, seek out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like it before: Chris MacNeil.

Ellen Burstyn reprises the role of Chris MacNeil, the character she played in the 1973 classic The Exorcist. She is joined in the cast by Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton) as Victor, Lidya Jewett (Nightbooks) as Angela, and newcomer Olivia O'Neill as Angela's friend Katherine. Ann Dowd (The Handmaid's Tale) plays Victor and Angela's neighbor, and Jennifer Nettles (The Righteous Gemstones) and Norbert Leo Butz (Fosse/Verdon) play Katherine's parents. Okwui Okpokwasili (Master) is also in the cast as Doctor Beehibe, and Raphael Sbarge (Carnosaur) plays a pastor. Linda Blair is in there as well.

The Exorcist: Believer was produced by Jason Blum, David Robinson, and James Robinson. Green, McBride, Stephanie Allain, and Couper Samuelson serve as executive producers. Ryan Turek oversaw the project for Blumhouse.

This film is supposed to be the start of a new trilogy of Exorcist sequels, and Universal Pictures and Peacock forked over an amount somewhere in the range of $400 million to acquire the rights to distribute the trilogy. Universal has already announced a release date for the second entry; The Exorcist: Deceiver will be reaching theatres on April 18, 2025.

According to ComingSoon, The Exorcist: Believer is coming to 4K, Blu-ray, DVD, and digital with the following bonus features:

MAKING A BELIEVER ­­-- Filmmakers and cast reveal their collective approach to bringing differing perspectives into this drama about synchronized possessions.

ELLEN AND LINDA: REUNITED -- THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER expertly weaves the fates of Chris and Regan MacNeil into its story. Witness a moment of cinema history as these two Hollywood icons meet on-set for the first time in years.

STAGES OF POSESSION -- Hear from Lidya Jewett, Olivia O'Neill, and special makeup FX designer Christopher Nelson as they discuss the physical and mental changes the girls go through as they advance through the possession.

THE OPENING -- The first scene of the film takes place in Haiti, a location far from the rest of the story. Filmmakers and star Leslie Odom, Jr. discuss how this scene sets up the rest of the film.

EDITING AN EXORCISM -- THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER culminates with a riveting exorcism scene featuring all the main characters. Director David Gordon Green and editor Tim Alverson explore the challenges of editing such a big scene.

MATTERS OF FAITH -- Experts in theology weigh in on how they consulted filmmakers to ensure depictions of the religious ceremonies in the film were as accurate as possible.

FEATURE COMMENTARY -- with co-writer/director David Gordon Green, executive producer Ryan Turek, co-writer Peter Sattler, and special makeup FX designer Christopher Nelson.

Will you be buying The Exorcist: Believer on 4K, Blu-ray, or DVD? Let us know by leaving a comment below -- and head over to Amazon to secure your copy.

At one point in time, there was no way to watch your favourite movies of all time without the humble DVD, a video format that compressed a movie onto a handy disc rather than a bulky VHS tape. First released in 1996 before the rise of Netflix in 2007 would spark its downfall, DVDs were immensely popular in the early 2000s, providing Hollywood with a great deal of revenue long after the release of the actual movie.

The iconic actor Matt Damon spoke recently about how movie productions have changed since the 1990s, naming the change in DVD sales as a major shift. “So what happened was the DVD was a huge part of our business, of our revenue stream,” Damon stated: “Technology has just made that obsolete, and so the movies that we used to make you could afford to not make all of your money when it played in the theatre because you knew you had the DVD coming behind the release”.

It is indeed hard to forget just how popular those humble little discs were in the early 2000s, with the list of the ten best-selling DVDs of all time revealing just how much money they used to make.

They are:

10: The Incredibles (Brad Bird, 2004) – 15,600,000

9: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (Gore Verbinski, 2006) – 16,500,000

8: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Gore Verbinski, 2003) – 16,600,000

7: Transformers (Michael Bay, 2007) – 17,000,000

6: Shrek 2 (Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, Conrad Vernon, 2004) – 18,200,000

5: Avatar (James Cameron, 2009) – 19,000,000

4: The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008) – 19,200,000

3: Spider-Man (Sam Raimi, 2002) – 19,500,000

2: Cars (John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, 2006) – 23,100,000

1: Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton, 2003) – 38,800,000

The digital world, I’m realising, is a bit of a racket. Recently most of my iTunes library disappeared from my iPhone, and I just don’t know if I can be bothered to go through all the different hoops, portals, queueing systems and long forgotten passwords to get them back again. I’ve also had the repeated experience of trying to view a film I’ve downloaded on Amazon, only to get that little square in the middle of the screen telling me that the player’s having issues at the moment, and would I, could I try again later? Meanwhile, the CDs and DVDs reproach me from my shelves like an abandoned spouse. ‘We were once your rock,’ they remind me, ‘And you traded us for tech-tinsel, a piece of cyber-skirt. How are you feeling now?’

I feel what I’ve always felt – that DVDs and Blu-rays were the summit of the film-lovers’ experience, and that progress should have stopped forever after that. Perhaps downloads or streamable films can have the picture quality of a Blu-ray (someone will doubtless tell me they do), but works of art should produce an artefact, something you can hold in your hand and own.

...

So my Blu-ray collecting goes on, but it’s strictly finite. I don’t want any film I don’t actually love (this rules out the collected Tarkovsky or Bergman, things I’d like to think of myself as liking rather than actually wanting to watch). My ambitions in fact are modest: the middle period works of Woody Allen (they’re about £25 a piece and should be), the odd Hollywood classic (the more technicolour the better) and some of those gritty 1960s northern films (the kind Morrissey purloined for his album covers) starring Tom Courtenay and Rita Tushingham. Then, barring the odd hiccup, I’m done.

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Here's why you should never get rid of your Blu-rays (or DVDs)

One of the reasons physical media still matters is that movies can vanish. One notable example is Ron Howard's 1985 classic, Cocoon.

BY CHRIS BUMBRAY

NOVEMBER 26TH 2023, 4:38PM

Something inevitable has started to happen. Hardcore movie fans have stopped buying Blu-rays (although they're in the midst of a slight comeback). Maybe it was the pandemic, when we were all stuck at home, or perhaps it was the closure of all of our favorite mom-and-pop physical media stores, but fans started to build digital libraries rather than physical ones. I get it. One of the reasons I got into buying movies on iTunes was that whenever a fancy new 4K restoration came out, they would upgrade the version you already bought. But, as Christopher Nolan warned recently, you should buy the movies you love on physical media because when you own something digitally, you don't really own it.

Here's why:

Digital Copies are basically long-term rentals:

While you can be reasonably sure that the digital copy you buy will stay in your library for a long time, there's no guarantee that it will be available forever -- like a piece of physical media. Rights ownership changes, and movies suddenly drop out of circulation. If you own a digital copy, there's no guarantee that one day, when you access your library, you might find a few titles missing.

Movies vanish:

Try locating a digital copy of the Ron Howard classic Cocoon. It has completely vanished from circulation despite being one of the biggest hits of the eighties. The much less popular sequel, Cocoon: The Return, is available, but the original movie is seemingly gone. It's a movie that I'm grateful I still own on DVD, as it's been gone for a pretty long time, with writer Mike Ryan writing about its absence way back in 2020. Three years later, it still hasn't been re-released.

Different cuts become popular:

The most infamous example is the Special Edition versions of the original Star Wars Trilogy. The only legitimate versions of the original cuts are the non-anamorphic laserdisc transfers George Lucas released on DVD many years ago. But there are lots of examples. I own Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice digitally, and one day, I found that the theatrical version had been replaced with Zack Snyder's restoration, which reframes the IMAX sequences to 4:3, something I'm not a massive fan of. Yet, this is the version I'm stuck with. Directors sometimes do this, with a notable recent example being a censored version of The French Connection that William Friedkin had released digitally shortly before he passed away. It seems this is the only version available digitally now.

Physical Media Matters: 

When you buy a Blu-ray, or better still, a 4K Blu-ray, you become a custodian of that film. Think about it: you own a brilliant mastering of one of your favorite films. If something happened and the movie ever went out of circulation, that copy you hold physically still exists. While it's unlikely a significant movie will ever one day vanish, I bring you again to the strange case of Ron Howard's Cocoon. While Disney (who owns the studio that released it -- 20th Century Fox) still likely has a great 4K master of the movie in their vaults, they're not making it publicly available for whatever reason. While my DVD copy is just 480p, at least it's something. For many years, James Cameron's The Abyss was impossible to see. The same -- strangely -- was the case with True Lies. While Cameron is finally re-releasing them, for a long time the non-anamorphic DVD's were the only versions of the movies out there.

All that said keep collecting Blu-rays and DVDs. While they've been making a comeback on the niche market, these physical copies of the movies still matter, even if digital versions are cheaper and more convenient. Because at the end of the day, unless you can hold a copy of the movie in your hands, you don't really own it.