Criterion’s August slate, plus The Arrival in 4K from Lionsgate, Interview with the Vampire & Practical Magic from WB, Scorsese’s NY NY & more!

Wednesday, 20 May 2026 17:04

Criterion’s August slate, plus The Arrival in 4K from Lionsgate, Interview with the Vampire & Practical Magic from WB, Scorsese’s NY NY & more!

by Bill Hunt

We’ve got a few great new disc reviews for you to enjoy here at the site today as we continue our efforts to get things back to normal here. And a couple of them are significant titles…

First, Stephen has turned in his thoughts on David Fincher’s newly remastered Fight Club (1999) in 4K Ultra HD from 20th Century Studios via Disney and Sony. Stephen has also taken a look at Luis Llosa’s Anaconda (1997) in 4K Ultra HD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Next, Tim has offered his take on Ralph Bakshi’s animated Fire and Ice (1983) in 4K Ultra HD from Blue Underground.

And Dennis has shared his look at Jack Conway’s Honky Tonk (1941) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

More reviews are forthcoming, and again there should be a lot more over the next week or so as we return to something like normal operations here at The Bits after our efforts to stabilize the first from intensive AI bot scraping and higher-than-ever site traffic.

Also, we’ve got a new update of the Release Dates and Artwork section for you all to enjoy as well.

So we really appreciate your patience as we’ve dealt with that over the last 6-8 weeks or so.

In terms of announcement news this week, our friends at the Criterion Collection have revealed their August slate, which includes Todd Haynes’ Safe (1995) (Spine #739 – 4K UHD + Blu-ray) on 8/4, Bertrand Tavernier’s Coup de torchon (1981) (Spine #106 – Blu-ray) on 8/11, and Barbara Koppe’s Harlan County USA (1976) (Spine #334 – 4K UHD + Blu-ray) and American Dream (1990) (Spine #1324 – Blu-ray), and James Gray’s Little Odessa (1994) (Spine #1323 – 4K UHD + Blu-ray) on 8/25. Also coming on 8/25 is Eclipse Series 49: Five Radical Documentaries by Kazuo Hara and Sachiko Kobayashi (1972-2016) on Blu-ray. [Read on here...]

Our friends at Lionsgate Limited have also announced a new June title as part of their Vestron Video Collector’s Series: David Twohy’s The Arrival (1996) in 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray. Look for that on 6/16. The title will include Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. New special features will include Convergence: Writer-Director David Twohy on The Arrival, Prescience: Actress Lindsay Crouse, Into the Vortex: Visual Effects, and Technosignatures: Remastering Picture + Sound, while legacy extras will include audio commentary by David Twohy, New Horizons, The Making of The Arrival, EPK B-Roll, EPK Interviews with Cast & Crew, an EPK Featurette, a Promo Reel, the theatrical trailer, and a TV spot. You can see the cover artwork above left. This is a great little sci-fi B-movie that’s worth your time.

Speaking of which, my friend Robert Meyer Burnett has written a great little retrospective appreciation of the film for the Lionsgate Limited website—you can find that here.

Now then… it appears that two new Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment 4K catalog titles are forthcoming. One we expected: Neil Jordan’s Interview with the Vampire (1994) and the other one is a nice surprise—but given the fact that the sequel is coming to theaters in September, we probably shouldn’t be—Griffin Dunne’s Practical Magic (1998). Both are now available for pre-order on Zavvi UK and Amazon UK, and we expect them to be available widely. The street dates are TBA, but August seems likely. And it’s likely there will be wide-release 4Ks, Steelbook 4Ks, and more elaborate UK-only Collector’s Edition 4K SKUs available.

Also today, MVD Visual is releasing Martin Scorsese’s New York, New York (1977) in 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on 8/11, in a package that includes both the theatrical and extended cuts of the film.

Coming 6/30 from Alliance Entertainment in 4K UHD and Blu-ray is Bart Layton’s Crime 101 (2026).

Our friends at Turbine in Germany are releasing a mega-mondo Legendary Bundle box set of Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) that includes 4K Ultra HD + 5 Blu-ray discs. You’ll also get the Chain Reactions book and a replica chainsaw.

And Kino Lorber Studio Classics will release Jean Becker’s La scoumoune (1972) and A Man Named Rocca (1961) on Blu-ray on 7/14.

Back with more soon! Stay tuned…

- Bill Hunt

(You can follow Bill on social media on Twitter/X, BlueSky, and Facebook, and also here on Patreon)

Published in My Two Cents

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