How Universal stole Christmas - 12:32pm

Sigh...here we go again. In their continuing quest to reissue everything in two-disc special editions, Universal has announced a new 2-disc set of 2000's mega-hit remake of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas on 11/5. More than a mere reissue, this one does include an all-new audio commentary with director Ron Howard, the same featurettes from the previous release, "outrageous" deleted scenes and outtakes, trailers, a sneek peek at the new "Dr. Seuss' The Cat In the Hat" feature film, plus a spate of DVD-ROM extras for kids featuring brand-new games including "Amazing Printable Coloring Sheet," "Print Your Own Holiday Cards," "Brain-Teasing Puzzles," "Who-liday Recipes," and "Grinch A Friend - Put The Grinch In Your Holiday Cards." Retail is $29.95, and no aspect ratio or audio format information is yet available, so stay tuned...

Taking a bite out of the Big Apple - 12:05am

Yikes! It's all about scary movies today, with the studios raiding the vaults to unleash plenty of horror hits just in time for Halloween...

Let's start with a new batch from Paramount, all due on 9/3 and joining the already announced 80's horror faves Friday the 13th Part VII and Part VIII, April Fool's Day and My Bloody Valentine (see the May 20 update for more info.) Also hitting stores are Roman Polanski's classic The Tenant, Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now and No Way to Treat a Lady. All are presented in anamorphic widescreen, with trailers and extras, and The Tenant also includes a new retrospective featurette. Retail is $24.95 a pop.

In non-horror Paramount news, arriving on 9/10 is the recent box office hit Changing Lanes, starring Ben Affleck and Samuel ("This party's over!") Jackson. Presented in anamorphic widescreen with English 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby surround tracks, extras include an audio commentary with director Roger Michell, "The Making Of Changing Lanes" and "A Writer's Perspective" featurettes, deleted and extended scenes, alternate endings, and the trailer. Retail is $29.95.

And just announced for a 9/3 arrival is Star Trek The Next Generation: Season 4, which like all the previous Next Gen collections features the entire season presented in full frame with new 5.1 Dolby surround remixes, four featurettes and a collectible booklet. Retail goes for around $149.95 retail.

Day walkers - 12:05am

Blazing into theaters this past winter with a first-weekend gross of over $30 million, Blade II was one of those rare sequels to actually outperform the original, so perhaps it is only fitting that on 9/3, New Line will pull out all the stops with a new 2-disc Platinum Series edition of the horror hit. Complete with an anamorphic widescreen transfer and Dolby Digital and DTS tracks, there's tons of extras, so check out the press release for the full details. Looks like another great one from New Line...

Night of the 'Demon' - 12:05am

In more scary movie news, Columbia has just announced a groovy new double feature of Night of the Demon and Curse of the Demon on 8/13. Both are presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and English mono with English, French and Spanish subtitles, plus extras including production notes and bonus trailers. Retail is $24.95.

Putting out fire with gasoline - 12:05am

In yet more horror news, Universal has just announced their imaginatively-titled "Halloween 2002" promotion, but compared to what other studios are doing with their scary movie library titles lately, it's pretty disappointing. A number of titles are due on 8/27, but there's only one real new release in the bunch, a special edition reissue of the 1982 cult fave Cat People. Boasting a new anamorphic widescreen transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 remix, extras include multiple featurettes including a new doc on the making of the film entitled "An Intimate Portrait by Paul Schrader," plus "On the Set with Director Paul Schrader" and "Special Makeup Effects by Artist Tom Burman," filmographies, production notes and and trailers. Retail is $24.95.

Also a part of this Halloween special are repromotions of Blood Simple, Cape Fear, Halloween II, Tremors and The Frightners (nothing new and MSRP remains $24.95) plus new low prices on DreamWorks The Haunting (Dolby Digital and DTS editions, $19.95 each) and In Dreams ($14.95.) And that's it...