May 30, 2005
Tuesday May 31, 2005

Savant's new reviews today are

The Complete James Dean Collection
 East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause & Giant; Warners
Marlon Brando: The Franchise Collection
 The Ugly American, The Appaloosa, A Countess from Hong Kong & The Night of the Following Day; Universal
and Abouna  Home Vision Entertainment

Two fat boxed sets on the review altar today, with the pricey-but-packed James Dean bunch heavily favored; I can't believe that the Warner Home Video department isn't half dead, what with the sheer volume of library product they've put out so far this year - and they still have Bette Davis and Joan Crawford boxed sets in the pipeline.

On the other hand, I got an email from MGM cancelling a particular title (nothing that I was waiting for), saying that it would be re-announced by Sony at a later date. I hope the rest of MGM's slated releases do come out as planned. There's still no word on Region 1 releases of the three Sergio Leone special editions that are already out in R2, so I have to assume that Sony will be visiting them at a later date. The Special Exhibition at the Los Angeles Museum of the American West is sixty days away and I had hoped they would be out in time, but no. (The link allows one to view a Quick Time rendering of one of the featurettes from the upcoming Duck You Sucker special edition.)

Am looking forward to spinning Criterion's au hazard Balthazar, an extremely unusual Robert Bresson movie I've been reading about for thirty years but have never seen. And there are more Fox thrillers and Home Vision Japanese films on the horizon. Hope your Memorial Day was a pleasant one & thanks for the corrections! Glenn Erickson

Posted by DVD Savant at May 30, 2005 04:45 PM