With the physical media release schedule now aiming at putting out most new titles every other week, the in-between weeks are boutique labels’ time to shine. Most of March relied heavily on boutique labels releasing older titles. The only recent titles I purchased this month included “Anyone But You” from Sony, “Poor Things” and “Wish” (a 4K Steelbook release) from Disney, and “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” which saw an exclusive Steelbook from Walmart and two different international Steelbooks. I passed on 2023’s “The Color Purple,” which received a 4K combo pack, 2024’s “I.S.S.” and “The Iron Claw,” which I will be receiving an international 4K Mediabook of in the next few weeks.
Walmart was the focus in the first week of March, with nine exclusive Steelbooks released. The second week belonged to the long-awaited James Cameron 4K restorations from Disney, including “The Abyss,” “Aliens,” and “True Lies.” The aforementioned boutique labels reigned supreme in the third week, with two new 4K Kino Lorber releases (“Changing Lanes” and “The Manchurian Candidate”), four new 4K Shout Factory releases (“Carrie,” “Child’s Play,” “K-19: The Widowmaker,” and “The Ring Collection”), and two new international Second Sight releases (“Green Room” and “Possessor”). Kino Lorber also had two more 4K releases in the fourth week of March (“North Dallas Forty” and “Paint Your Wagon”), while I also picked up a bunch of Vinegar Syndrome releases, including the 4K release of “Goin’ South” and the Blu-Rays of “Nightsiren,” “Simon Killer,” and “Where The Devil Roams.”
My favorite artwork from this month’s releases were from the Second Sight releases, especially “Green Room.” The Steelbook artwork for Turbine’s “Barb Wire” was also outstanding. My least favorite was the “Kickboxer” Steelbook from Walmart or the “Amelie” Steelbook from Sony. The following month projects to be relatively slow on all fronts regarding physical media. Walmart Steelbooks and Kino Lorber will be the major ones to get once again, but as far as new releases, “Night Swim,” “Lisa Frankenstein,” “Mean Girls,” and “The Beekeeper” are all titles I will likely pass on. Disney will release their latest streaming shows on Steelbook at the end of the month, and the only brand new title I plan on picking up is the much-panned “Madame Web.”
MARCH 5, 2024
Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017)
Walmart Exclusive 4K Steelbook