High Noon

Hey, look! It’s a new 2-disc special edition of High Noon. After the last couple of year’s awesome releases of classic westerns (I think practically every John Wayne western got released), we get the great Gary Cooper western that won him an Oscar that was accepted on his behalf by The Duke. Available to own on June 10, it will include a commentary with Maria Cooper-Janis, Jonathan Foreman , Tim Zinnemann and John Ritter, a 50 minute documentary entitled “Inside High Noon”, a Tex Ritter: A Visit to Carthage, Texas featurette, a full length Tex Ritter performance of the Oscar-Winning Original Song “Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin’”, a Making of High Noon featurette, a Behind High Noon featurette, and a radio broadcast. “And in the end you wind up dyin’ all alone on some dusty street. For what? For a tin star. It’s all for nothin’, Will. It’s all for nothin’.”

Casino Royale: 3 Disc Special Edition

Yes, there will be a double dip of last year’s James Bond flick. But what a double dip it will be with a 3-Disc Special Edition. The Daniel Craig starrer will include a crew commentary, deleted scenes, multiple behind the scenes featurettes, a Chris Cornell Music Video, Bond Girls are Forever (2006), a James Bond: For Real Documentary, a Becoming Bond documentary, filmmaker profiles, Catching a Plane: From Storyboard to Screen, and more. The street date is June 3, which I find strange since I thought they would wait until November to coincide with the next film.

Sony Computer Entertainment has recently issued a firmware update that will enable the PlayStation 3 to playback BD-Live (Profile v 2.0) Blu-ray movie discs. BD-Live allows your Blu-ray player (in this case, a PS3) to access additional content via an Internet connection. With this upgrade, the PS3 will become the first available BD-Live Blu-ray player on the market. The first standalone BD-Live Blu-ray player will be the Panasonic DMP-BD50, which is expected to be released this May.

The first two new releases to take advantage of the new technology will be Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and The 6th Day. Films such as War and Saw IV, which were released earlier this year, already have BD-Live features on the disc.

Features for the release of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (April 8) will include access to numerous theatrical and home video previews and the ability to download video of Bill Hader as Derek Stone, a historian and expert “Coxologist”. It will also come with an FAQ explaining BD-Live features and how to use them.

UPCOMING BLU-RAY RELEASES

UNBREAKABLE: APRIL 01
DEVIL’S OWN: MAY 06
CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, WITCH AND THE WARDROBE: MAY 13 (In its theatrical form, and not in the 147 minute extended form as offered on the 4-disc DVD release. Extras on this two disc release are ported from the 2-disc special edition DVD, which includes two audio commentary tracks, a seven-part “Creating Narnia” documentary, a three-part “Creatures, Lands, and Legends” featurette, and a “Bloopers of Narnia” gag-reel. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release will be a BD-J game entitled “Battle for Narnia”.)
MRS. DOUBTFIRE: MAY 13 (four featurettes (“From Man to Mrs. The Evolution of Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Aging Gracefully: A Look Back at Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Meet Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Original 1993 Featurette”), 22 deleted and alternate scenes, 3 still galleries (“Behind the Scenes,” “Publicity,” Theatrical Posters”) and a suite of three theatrical trailers and two TV spots.)
ANGER MANAGEMENT: MAY 20 (Extras include audio commentary with Adam Sandler and Peter Segal, the behind-the-scenes featurette “Skull Session”, the featurette “My Buddy, Jack”, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.)
PATTON: JUNE 03 (Extras include an introduction and full length commentary by screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola. A second disc will include the remainder of the bonus material, including the documentary “The Making of Patton”, two featurettes “History Through the Lens: Patton: A Rebel Revisited” and “Patton’s Ghost Corps”, a production still gallery (accompanied by the complete musical score), a behind-the-scenes gallery (accompanied by an audio essay), and the original theatrical trailer.)
SIGNS: JUNE 03 (Extras include a making-of featurette, deleted scenes, multi-angle storyboard presentation, and an early M. Night Shyamlan short film.)
THE RECRUIT: JUNE 03 (Extras will mirror the DVD release with audio commentary with Donaldson and Farrell, an “Inside the CIA” featurette, and deleted scenes.)
GANGS OF NEW YORK: JULY 01 (No extras have been announced at this time, but it will most likely feature the same extras as was found on the two disc DVD release.)
BATMAN: THE MOVIE: JULY 01 (Two audio commentaries (with actors Adam West and Burt Ward, and a second track with screenwriter Lorenzo Semple, Jr.), a 2001 “35th Anniversary Piece” featuring interviews with West and Ward, “The Batmobile Revealed” featurette, “The Batmobile Interactive Tour” 360-degree navigational tour, a “Holy Pop-Up Trivia Track, Batman!” subtitle fact track, no less than six still galleries (“From the Vaults of Adam West,” “Interactive Pressbook,” “Posters,” “Production Stills,” “Behind the Scenes,” “Premiere”), and both the original and re-release theatrical trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray will be a suite of three newly-produced featurettes: “Batman: A Dynamic Legacy,” “Caped Crusaders: A Heroes Tribute” and “Gotham City’s Most Wanted.”)

Finally, the upcoming Blu-ray release of Rambo (May 27) will be the first title to feature a digital copy of the film in the iTunes format. With this feature, you will be able to copy the film to your iPod or iPhone.

Upcoming Criterions

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may 27