Jack Lemmon

CHICAGO – I’ve long said that one of the main reasons that Blu-ray didn’t take off as quickly as people thought it would is because too many of movie lover’s favorite movies weren’t available on the format. It took years to get “Alien,” “Star Wars,” and even “Back to the Future.” “Jaws” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” still aren’t in HD. Well, a wave of catalog releases last week that included some of my personal favorite films ever made should help the format overall. With several Oscar winners and some of the most influential filmmaking of all time, this is an amazing catalog wave. Buy all six.

CHICAGO – Twentieth Century Fox & MGM released an onslaught of catalog titles on Blu-ray, many for the first time, on May 10th, and most seem well-timed to the upcoming Father’s Day holiday. The company was kind enough to send us a sample of the ten titles and it seems like this will be an odd mix, from which you can surely choose at least one or two faves.

CHICAGO – Kenneth Branagh’s “Hamlet” got a raw deal. In the shadow of not just the legend of William Shakespeare’s play but the incredible film versions that had come before, “Hamlet” couldn’t even break $5 million at the box office. And yet this gorgeous, incredibly-made retelling of one of the most influential pieces of theater ever written looks simply amazing on Blu-ray. It’s a fantastic release.

CHICAGO – Few but the most professorial of Broadway aficionados recall with clarity the short-lived “Sugar,” which is one of the first film-to-stage transfers that premiered on the Great White Way in 1972 to lowly acclaim and even lower financial prowess. Though serving as a harbinger for the soon-to-be endowed trend of film derivatives, “Sugar” debuted in the throws of an era thirsty for the provocation of Michael Bennett and the insight of Stephen Sondheim.

CHICAGO – Tony Curtis, who rolled into town to introduce his classic “Some Like it Hot” – December 5th and 6th at the Hollywood Palms in Naperville, IL – has a sharp and voracious intelligence, plus the adventurous life story to share.

CHICAGO – A Disney movie and two all-time classics being inducted in Paramount’s “Centennial Collection” make up this week’s version of the “DVD Round-Up,” your safety net for titles that may have slipped by your home entertainment radar.