03 November 2009

Sony's New Hollywood Set Delayed; the original Scent of a Woman premieres on DVD; and more

While Sony's Rita Hayworth set got a new release date (23 February) for its delay, no date has been listed for the now-delayed New Hollywood box set, which most notably contains the US DVD premiere of Jack Nicholson's Drive, He Said. Sony's Film Noir Classics, Volume 1 released today, but it looks as though Volume 2 has also been postponed indefinitely. Hen's Tooth Video, however, announced the first Region 1 release of Dino Risi's Profumo di donna, which was remade in the 90s as Scent of a Woman with Al Pacino in the Vittorio Gassman role, on 16 February. Rob Zombie's Halloween 2 is set for 12 January but through Sony, not The Weinstein Company... which leads me to wonder if we'll be seeing any more releases from TWC. Universal is releasing Inglourious Basterds in December, but it was a co-production between the studios. Hmm.

Nothing especially enticing on the Blu-ray front, other than Disney's upcoming Beauty and the Beast on 5 October 2010. I do have a soft spot for Renny Harlin's Cliffhanger, which Sony has dated for 12 January; I do not have any warm feelings toward their other Blu-ray release for that day, John McTiernan's Last Action Hero. And finally, bad news for all you Billy Jack fans: Image has yet again pushed its date; this time to 1 May. Gee, and I thought that would have been a film to get people to make the conversion. The DVD releases are listed in descending order of release.

Also, in the next coming day or two, I'll be posting the first of sure-to-be-many end-of-the-year/decade lists. This list will cover the notable Region 1 DVD premieres in 2009, as it looks as though most of the year's releases have been announced by now. One question I do ask: can anyone confirm that the DVDs Facets was releasing of Hans-Jürgen Syberberg's Ludwig: Requiem for a Virgin King and Karl May actually came out? Thanks in advance!

- Cash, 2008, d. Eric Besnard, IFC Films, 12 January, w. Jean Reno, Jean Dujardin, Valeria Golino, François Berléand, Alice Taglioni, Eriq Ebouaney, Ciarán Hands, Jocelyn Quivrin
- Damages, Season 2, 2009, Sony, 12 January
- Halloween 2, 2009, d. Rob Zombie, Sony?, also on Blu-ray, 12 January
- Death in Love, 2008, d. Boaz Yakin, Screen Media, also on Blu-ray, 19 January, w. Jacqueline Bisset, Josh Lucas, Lukas Haas, Adam Brody
- Moscow, Belgium [Aanrijding in Moscou], 2008, d. Christophe Van Rompaey, Terra Entertainment, 26 January
- Profumo di donna [Scent of a Woman], 1974, d. Rino Risi, Hen's Tooth, 16 February
- The Alcove [L'alcova], 1984, d. Joe D'Amato, Severin, 23 February
- Blood on the Flat Track: The Rise of the Rat City Rollergirls, 2007, d. Lainy Bagwell, Lacey Leavitt, Strand, 23 February
- Examined Life, 2008, d. Astra Taylor, Zeitgeist, 23 February
- Power Play, 1978, d. Martyn Burke, Scorpion Releasing, 23 February, w. Peter O'Toole, Donald Pleasence, David Hemmings
- Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day, 2009, d. Mike Clattenburg, Screen Media, also on Blu-ray, 23 February
- The Vicious Kind, 2009, d. Lee Toland Krieger, Image, 23 February, w. Brittany Snow, J.K. Simmons, Adam Scott, Alex Frost

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