March is shaping up to be a crowded month in DVD/BD Release Land. Whether it’s because of the Academy Awards, or because there are some big new theatrical releases to piggyback on, or because March falls three months after the big holiday releases, there’s so much coming out this month that there’s no way The List is going to be able to touch on them all. Sorry gang. I hope and pray you’ll be able to track down info on 2012 somewhere else.
In the meantime, there are a few standouts to point to this week, easily grouped into trends. From the “prepping for the multiplex” department, Warner is releasing a Blu-ray of the 1981 version of Clash Of The Titans, while every home video company in the country is re-releasing whatever version of Alice In Wonderland they have the rights to. From the “a must for documentary fans” department, definitely check out Agnès Varda’s memoir-doc The Beaches Of Agnes and the dot-com-boom-and-bust reminiscence We Live In Public. And from the “family films that aren’t for the whole family” department, we have Spike Jonze’s Cassavetes-inspired version of Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are (not to mention Jonze and Lance Bangs’ excellent Sendak bio-doc Tell Them Anything You Want) and Hayao Miyazaki’s cheerfully surreal fishflick Ponyo, which should’ve been nominated for an Oscar. And now, in a bit of gratuitous cruelty, I’m going to lodge the Americanized Ponyo theme song in your head for the rest of the day:
Alice (2009)
Liongate, $19.98; Blu-ray, $29.99
Alice In Wonderland (1933)
Universal, $19.98
Alice In Wonderland (1966)
BBC Warner, $14.98
Alice In Wonderland (1999)
Rhi, $19.93
The Beaches Of Agnes
The Cinema Guild, $29.95
The Beiderbecke Collection
Acorn, $39.99
Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story
Salient, $26.97
Bitch Slap
20th Century Fox, $19.97
Bollywood Hero
Starz/Anchor Bay, $26.97
Clash Of The Titans
Warner, $14.98; Blu-ray, $34.99
Cold Souls
20th Century Fox, $19.98
Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey
Universal, $19.98
Designing Women: The Complete Third Season
Shout! Factory, $44.99
Elvis (1979)
Shout! Factory, $19.99
Frances
Lionsgate, $14.98
Gentleman Broncos
20th Century Fox, $27.98; Blu-ray, $39.99
Have Gun Will Travel: Season Four, Vol. 1
Paramount, $39.98
Jeremiah: The Complete Second Season
MGM, $39.98
Kettle Of Fish
Screen Media, $12.98
The Life
Screen Media, $12.98
Matlock: The Fourth Season
Paramount, $49.99
The Neverending Story
Warner, $14.98; Blu-ray, $28.99
Olivia: Olivia Takes Ballet
Nickelodeon, $16.99
The Penthouse
First Look, $24.98
Plenty
Lionsgate, $14.98
Poldark: Series One
Acorn, $69.99
Poltergeist – The Legacy: Season Two
MGM, $59.98
Ponyo
Disney, $29.99; Blu-ray, $39.99
The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee
Screen Media, $27.98; Blu-ray, $29.98
Return To The 36th Chamber
Vivendi, $19.93
The Road To Coorain
Acorn, $29.99
Spin
Screen Media, $12.98
Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait Of Maurice Sendak
Oscilloscope, $24.99
The 39 Steps (2008)
BBC Warner, $19.98
The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin
Vivendi Blu-ray, $19.97
This Emotional Life
PBS, $34.99
2012
Sony, $28.96; Blu-ray, $39.95
Under Heavy Fire
Screen Media, $12.98
We Live In Public
IndiePix, $24.95
Where The Wild Things Are
Warner, $28.98; Blu-ray, $35.99
With Or Without Me
Screen Media, $12.98
The Wraith
Lionsgate, $19.98
Wushu Warrior
Phase 4, $29.99