Recession? What recession? For those still struggling to finish their Christmas or other holiday shopping for this year, the studios are proving more than happy to take your hard-earned dollars in exchange for some great Blu-ray disc titles hitting stores just in time for the holidays. (And for those struggling to pay for that holiday shopping retailers are offering some of the best deals yet on new titles.) Take a look at some of the biggest hits yet hitting stores now or over the next few weeks.
Leading off the month, on December 2, Universal released the hit film Wanted, while Fox put out both X-Files: I Want to Believe and 1998’s X-files: Fight the Future. Disney, meanwhile, goes after the family market with The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, in both 2-disc and 3-disc versions. Warner sticks to their catalog this week, but what terrific titles they have: Casablanca hits stores in an “Ultimate Collector’s Edition,” while Shawshank Redemption and the Austin Powers Collection hit in less ostentatious packaging. For those in a holiday mood, Fox also brought out Home Alone and Jingle All the Way.
On December 9, Warner will likely destroy everything in their path (along with all previous sales records) when they release The Dark Knight. In case that wasn’t enough for the week, they are also releasing the Jim Carey comedies Dumb and Dumber and The Mask on the same day. Meanwhile, Fox is set to release Horton Hears a Who, Dodgeball, and Super Troopers, and Disney will bring out Lost: Season 4, prior to the show’s return in January.
On December 16, Universal will release The Mummy: Tomb of the Emporer Dragon (also available as The Mummy Trilogy), the summer’s hit musical Mamma Mia!, and 8 Mile (presumably for those whose holiday gathering typically deteriorate into rap battles). Paramount, meanwhile, drops this year’s flop remake of The Heartreak Kid and the Andy Samberg vehicle Hot Rod onto store shelves, but makes up for it by also releasing Into the Wild, comedy hits Tommy Boy and Old School, and Coach Carter on Blu-ray. Weinstein Company will also bring out both halves of last year’s Grindhouse double feature, Death Proof and Planet Terror, to store shelves for those who want to pay twice to get “extended cuts” of slasher gore in their stockings. HBO also continues to churn out their titles as slowly and agonizingly as humanly possible, bringing this summer’s mini-series Generation Kill out. Finally, for fans of classic and avant-garde cinema, Criterion’s first wave of titles hits, including Bottle Rocket, Chungking Express, The Man Who Fell to Earth, and The Third Man.
On December 23, while most studios sleep well knowing that if nothing else they survived the season (Sony, where the hell are you?) or that they now rule the video world (Warner, I bow to you, “Dear Leader”), Universal, habitually trapped somewhere in the middle, inexplicably brings out the Coen Brother’s latest film Burn After Reading as well as Death Race (sure to become a holiday classc… or not).
Lastly, on December 27 & 30, the studios will make one final cash grab to get those holiday gift cards back into stores before the end of the year. Paramount makes the biggest moves, putting out Eagle Eye and The Duchess, as well as catalog titles such as The Truman Show, Event Horizon, Last Holiday, and Ghost Town. Universal and Warner also release Serenity and Wedding Crashers respectively.
And that pretty much wraps up the year! To see the full lists of available Blu-ray titles, use the menu at the top of the page, and stay tuned for weekly hot deals on titles from various etailers and retailers.
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