Blood in the streets - 9:24pm

Not since the Jets invaded New York in West Side Story has a street gang been this scary! Full specs have come in for Martin Scorsese's Oscar no-show Gangs of New York, which will hit the streets on July 1st after all. This two-disc set features the 166-minute theatrical cut in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround, plus a new audio commentary by Scorsese, five featurettes "Exploring The Sets," "Set Design," "Costume Design," "History Of The Five Points," "Five Points Study Guide"), The Discovery Channel's "Uncovering The Real Gangs Of New York" documentary, U2's "The Hands That Built America" music video, and the theatrical trailer. Retail is $29.95.

More new Buena Vista announcements include a June 10th street date for They, "presented by" master of horror Wes Craven. This one features an anamorphic widescreen transfer, English 5.1 Dolby Digital surround track, a featurette, an alternate ending and trailers. Retail is $29.95. Scary!

For you classics fans, I bet you can't wait until May 20th, when Disney finally gives Herbie the deluxe treatment in The Love Bug, huh? This two-disc set features a remastered anamorphic widescreen transfer and 5.1 Dolby Digital surround remix under the auspices of THX, plus a ton of extras: audio commentary by stars Dean Jones, Michele Lee and Buddy Hackett, six featurettes "That Lovable Bug," "The Man Who Gave Herbie His Voice," "The Many Lives Of Herbie," "Herbie Mania," "Lost Treasures: Searching For Herbie" and "Love Bug Day At Disneyland," additional "Herbie On The Rocks" and "Thorndyke And The Bear" Sound Studio featurettes, deleted scenes, the "Susie The Little Blue Coupe" cartoon short, the 1969 Disney Studio Album; two still galleries, a screenplay excerpt, trailers and radio spots. Retail is $29.95 for this gem.

Girls kick ass - 9:24pm

Yikes, how much TV on DVD can one format hold!? Warner Home Video has just announced the latest cult series to make its way to our beloved 5-inch digital disc, La Femme Nikita: The Complete First Season. This 7-disc set streets on July 8th and features all 22 first season episodes presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 2.0 surround, plus plenty of extras: audio commentary by series co-creator Joel Surnow on select episodes, deleted scenes, a featurette, still gallery and a booklet. Retail is $99.95.

In other Warner news, the studio has also announced a June 10th street date for the James Dean classic Giant, which will be released as a double-disc special edition with plenty of extras. The film is presented in 1:66:1 anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 2.0 surround audio, and features a new introduction and audio commentary by George Stevens Jr., and joined by screenwriter Ivan Moffat and critic Steven Farber, almost 3 hours of new and vintage documentaries, the "Gala New York" and "Hollywood Premiere" newsreels, 3 still galleries, production notes and filmographies. Retail is $26.95.

Rounding out today's update, a couple of weeks ago I lamented the increasingly-speedy arrivals theatrical films are making to video these days, citing the quick two-week turnaround given Columbia TriStar's Tears of the Sun. Well, here's one that's being announced even before the flick hits theaters: The Blue Collar Comedy Tour, which will arrive on DVD on June 18th. If I'm not mistaken, this has yet to play in a cinema and we already have the DVD announcement? Yikes! Watch this space for the full details soon.