For the week of May 3rd, Walt Disney Home Entertainment will release Jan de Bont's Speed, starring Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock, Joe Morton and Jeff Daniels. Newly remastered and presented with HDR on the 4K UHD disc, Speed, which was initially released on Blu-ray in 2007 and contained only two audio commentaries and a trailer, now also features approximately 90 minutes of archival video extras on the newly remastered Blu-ray. A Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook edition will also be available.
New releases this week include two titles from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. First up is Shaka King's Judas and the Black Messiah, starring Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback, and Ashton Sanders. Originally slated for a summer 2020 release, the biopic of Fred Hampton, the chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, was eventually released in February 2021 to critical acclaim. Six Oscar nominations followed, including Best Picture, and the film ultimately won two, including Best Supporting Actor for Daniel Kaluuya, who was nominated alongside Stanfield. Randy Miller calls the Blu-ray's picture "a very good-looking transfer" but bemoans the lack of a 4K UHD Blu-ray and the film's Dolby Atmos audio. His review with screenshots can be found here.
Also new this week from Warner Bros. is John Lee Hancock's crime thriller The Little Things, starring Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto, Chris Bauer, and Michael Hyatt. Released at the end of January 2021 (just ahead of Judas and the Black Messiah), The Little Things topped the box office for two weeks in a row and has made over $15 million domestically in spite of the pandemic. Globally, the film has made just shy of $30 million and it also nabbed Jared Leto a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor. About the Blu-ray, Randy Miller says in part: "[T]his is a pervasively dark film but the Blu-ray handles even its blackest moments nicely with excellent shadow detail and almost zero crush. The same applies to its largely muted color palette, which often stands out nicely against all that darkness but without the distracting artificial pop of contrast boosting; this results in a more smoothly refined appearance than one that's artificially pumped up". Once again, however, Randy must point out that Warner have not offered either a 4K UHD Blu-ray or the film's Dolby Atmos audio. His review with screenshots can be found here.
Finally for new releases this week, Lionsgate Home Entertainment will release on Blu-ray Nick Stagliano's thriller The Virtuoso, starring Anthony Hopkins, Abbie Cornish, and Anson Mount. Synopsis: Danger, deception, and murder descend upon a sleepy country town when a professional assassin (Anson Mount) accepts a new assignment from his enigmatic mentor and boss (Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins). Given only where and when along with a cryptic clue, the methodical hit man must identify his mysterious mark from among several possible targets, including a local sheriff (David Morse). Meanwhile, a chance encounter with an alluring woman (Abbie Cornish) at the town's rustic diner threatens to derail his mission in this noir-style cloak-and-dagger thriller.
On the catalog front this week, first we have a 4K UHD upgrade from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment for Tim Burton's Big Fish, starring Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, and Helena Bonham Carter. Newly remastered in 4K from the original camera negative, with HDR picture and a new Dolby Atmos audio option, Big Fish will also contain a Blu-ray sourced from the new 4K master and will include many featurettes and other archival video extras that were omitted from the previous 2007 Blu-ray release.
Next, we have several releases from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. First from Kino is a new standalone Blu-ray for Dennis Hopper's thriller The Hot Spot, starring Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, Jennifer Connelly, Charles Martin Smith, and William Sadler. Sourced from a new 2K master color-graded and approved by cinematographer Ueli Steiger, Kino's Blu-ray also includes a new audio commentary with entertainment journalist and author Bryan Reesman and new interviews with Virginia Madsen and William Sadler as well as the film's theatrical trailer.
Other titles coming from Kino this week include:
Gilbert Cates' comedy The Last Married Couple in America, starring Natalie Wood, George Segal, Richard Benjamin, and Arlene Golonka. The Blu-ray contains an audio commentary by film historian Lee Gambin and a theatrical trailer.
Alan Alda's comedy Sweet Liberty, starring Alan Alda, Michael Caine, Michelle Pfeiffer, Bob Hoskins, and Lillian Gish. The Blu-ray contains a new audio commentary by film historian/filmmaker Daniel Kremer and film historian/biographer Nat Segaloff and a theatrical trailer.
David Kellogg's film Cool as Ice, starring Vanilla Ice, Naomi Campbell, Kristin Minter, Michael Gross, and Kathryn Morris. The Blu-ray contains an audio commentary by film historians Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Joshua Nelson and a theatrical trailer.