In more great news for fans of the classics (who isn't?) Fox Home Entertainment has just announced a new line of special editions celebrating the best of their vast back catalogue, starting in 2003. The first four titles in the collection, including All About Eve, How Green Was My Valley, Gentleman's Agreement, and (via only by special offer) F.W. Murnau's Sunrise, will debut in January, to be followed by more newly remastered classics every month throughout the year.

While most of these titles have already been released on DVD, including All About Eve (Fox's recipient of its most Oscar nominations up until Titanic), these new editions will be fully remastered and restored with new extras. Stay tuned for further details, and check out this article in Video Business for more.

Snapper, we hardly knew ya - 12:23pm

What a perfect way to wrap up this week's news! With few fans, the dreaded "snapper" case has long been the subject of controversy and scorn, and even a few anti-snapper online petitions. While some like this type of DVD packaging - with its cardboard covers and plastic "snap" backing - few, if any, prefer it over the durable "keepcase," which has now become the de facto industry standard. With only Warner and its subsidiaries New Line and HBO still using the packaging, many enthusiasts have called for an end to the snapper and standardized, industry-wide adoption of the keepcase.

Now, New Line has broken with its parent company, announcing that by the end of 2002, it will cease using the snapper on all its releases, opting instead for the keepcase and combinations of other packaging (such as the Digipak) for multi-disc and other special releases. While Warner has offered no comment on New Line's move away from the snapper, check out this story from Video Store Magazine for more.