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DVD
Blu-ray Releases
OnVideo's Weekly Guide to Home Video Releases
According to a report in the Washington Examiner, among other sources, DVD sales have been in a freefall. DVD and Blu-ray sales in the U.S. were an estimated $1.58 billion in 2022, according to the Digital Entertainment Group, a decline of nearly 20% from $1.97 billion in 2021. Disc rentals have also shrunk from $602.7 million in 2021 to $502.4 million in 2022. In terms of unit sales, the number of transactions made worldwide has dropped from 6.1 billion in 2011 to 1.2 billion in 2021, according to market research firm Omdia. Two billion DVDs were sold every year between 2005 and 2009. But 2023 is expected to end with a little more than 300 million. And, in a sad note, consumer electronics retailer Best Buy has confirmed that it is ending the sales of DVDs and Blu-rays in-store and online.
Still, people do buy DVDs -- and not just cult and niche collectors. According to Wired, "Why do DVDs and Blu-rays still exist? And why does Technicolor expect to print and ship 750 million discs this year? The answer is simple: Some people still buy them -- though not necessarily who you’d think. While pop psychology would suggest that older generations are clinging to their love of the physical disc, those over the age of 60 make up a smaller proportion of the disc-watching population than their share of the total US population. Instead, those aged 25 to 39 are more likely than most to watch DVDs, according to the MPAA. And they’re often collectors, locked into building out their collections."
So, don't expect DVDs to go the way of cassettes yet -- well, not at least in the foreseeable future.
•The Apu Trilogy (1956-59)
Journey to Bethlehem: This live-action Christmas musical adventure for the entire family weaves classic Christmas melodies with humor, faith, and new pop songs in a retelling of the greatest story ever told: the story of Mary and Joseph and the birth of Jesus. (DVD, Blu-ray release: January 16)
Roadkill: Lost while traveling through a rural county in 1983, a young woman crosses paths with a hitchhiker headed the same destination and offers a ride in exchange for directions. Their journey takes a violent turn when the two are caught up in a police manhunt for a fugitive killer. (Digital only)
Butcher's Crossing
(2023) Nicolas Cage, Fred Hechinger, Xander Berkeley, Rachel Keller, with Jeremy Bobb and Paul Raci. Cage stars in a gritty story about buffalo hunters in the Old West. Will Andrews (Hechinger) has left Harvard to find adventure. He teams up with Miller (Cage), a mysterious frontiersman offering an unprecedented number of buffalo pelts in a secluded valley. Their crew must survive an arduous journey where the harsh elements will test everyone's resolve, leaving their sanity on a knife's edge. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, Digital. (Sony). Read more here
There's not much on the DVD/Blu-ray front this week -- with Christmas falling on a Monday, the home video distributors have just laid low in terms of major theatrical releases -- or even "B" releases, for that matter. And, sadly, it's a trend that has been accelerating this year -- fewer "B" movies or direct-to-video being released to disc. That has now become the province of the Subscription VOD services -- Netflix, Max, Apple+, Disney+, Hulu, et al. In fact, this week alone it was possible to screen on our TV two major films still in theatrical: "Maestro" and "May-December," as well as a high-concept film with major stars that would normally go to theatres but that aired on Netflix instead -- "Leave the World Behind" with Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke and Kevin Bacon. You can also stream "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," "Killers of the Flower Moon" and "Trolls Band Together," all still in theatres. No waiting for discs here.
Happy Holidays
•The Facts of Murder (1959 -- Italy)
•The Marsh King’s Daughter
December 26
January 5
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December 24, 2023
(ISSN 1094-3676).
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