Looks like a brand new date has been given to John Huston's The African Queen by Paramount to either get delayed again or finally see the light of day on, now, both DVD and Blu-ray: 23 February. I would quit mentioning the thing until I had a copy of it in my hand, but it's kinda fun keeping track of all the false starts it's gotten.
The Blu-ray schedule for the US is seriously disappointing, when I hear about all sorts of exciting films getting put out in Europe. The Precious phenomenon has thankfully brought us one good thing in the announcement that Lee Daniels' glorious/awful Shadowboxer is going to come out on Blu-ray on 16 March, so I can see all its absurdity in the highest quality possible. I can't wait. The only other Blu release I found is Dragon Dynasty's release of The 36th Chamber of Shaolin on 2 March.
Magnolia announced John Woo's Red Cliff for 30 March in two different versions: the U.S. theatrical cut, which edited both films together into a two-and-a-half-hour package, and a 2-disc international version, which contains both of the Red Cliff films uncut. And, thanks a lot, Lionsgate for once again tapping into Republic's library to release two films that have been released previously (Frances and Plenty). More exciting than the Casper Van Dien/James Dean made-for-television flick coming to DVD is a Kurt Russell-as-Elvis TV movie directed by John Carpenter! Shout! Factory will release the film, which also stars Shelley Winters, Ed Begley Jr., Pat Hingle and Joe Mantegna, on 2 March. And finally, it would appear as though here! Films release of Brillante Mendoza's Service [Serbis] will be the uncut version as the box cover lists it as the "unrated version." The DVDs below are in descending order of release.
- Cold Souls, 2009, d. Sophie Barthes, 20th Century Fox, 2 February- The African Queen, 1951, d. John Huston, Paramount, Centennial Collection, also on Blu-ray, 23 February
- Shall We Kiss? [Un baiser s'il vous plaît], 2007, d. Emmanuel Mouret, Music Box Films, 23 February
- Castle in the Sky, 1986, d. Hayao Miyazaki, Special Edition, Studio Ghibli/Disney, 2 March
- Elvis, 1979, d. John Carpenter, Shout! Factory, 2 March
- Frances, 1982, d. Graeme Clifford, Republic/Lionsgate, 2 March
- My Neighbor Totoro, 1988, d. Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli/Disney, 2 March
- Plenty, 1985, d. Fred Schepisi, Republic/Lionsgate, 2 March
- The Wraith, 1986, d. Mike Marvin, Lionsgate, Special Edition, 2 March
- The Art of Being Straight, 2008, d. Jesse Rosen, here! Films, 9 March
- Bulletproof Salesman, 2008, d. Petra Epperlein, Michael Tucker, First Run Features, 23 March
- Red Cliff, 2008/2009, d. John Woo, Magnet/Magnolia, also on Blu-ray, 30 March
- The Yes Men Fix the World, 2009, d. Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno, Kurt Engfehr, New Video, 1 April
- Alice Neel, 2007, d. Andrew Neel, New Video, 27 April
