The List is Life - 1:16pm

Kicking off today's news is the announcement long expected, the last of Steven Spielberg's major works not yet released on DVD, the Oscar-winning epic Schindler's List. The news is good for fans of the film but maybe not so good for those expecting a lavish, feature-packed set brimming with extras. Three versions will be released on March 9th - 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and 4:3 open matte versions, plus a collector's gift set that includes the widescreen edition of the film. Both the widescreen and full screen versions are two-disc sets that include the 196-minute theatrical cut of the film, with Dolby Digital and DTS tracks, plus the featurettes "Voices From the List" and "Behind the Shoah Foundation With Steven Spielberg," production notes and trailers. As of now, no other extras have been announced. The gift set also includes the book Schindler’s List: Images of the Steven Spielberg Film the CD Soundtrack, a Senitype and Certificate of Authenticity. Retail is only $19.95 for the two-disc versions, and $79.95 for the box. (And for a little more insight on what was included on the release and why, see the December 16th post here.)

A Foreign Affair - 5:57pm

Rounding out this week's news is the announcement by  BBC Video of the launch of their new BBC Film label, which will bring prestigious and acclaimed theatrical motion pictures to DVD. The first title in this new line will be the Academy Award-winning Merchant Ivory classic A Room With a View. This new two-disc reissue will replace the previous bare bones release from Image Entertainment, and include a new anamorphic widescreen transfer and remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, plus a new Merchant and Ivory audio commentary, vintage interviews with cast and crew, the BBC Biography special about the life of writer E.M. Forster, rare archival material from the Merchant Ivory vaults, and trailers. Retail will be $26.95.

BBC has also announced that the next title in the series will be the Rupert Evertt and Colin Firth romance Another Country, which will hit stores this fall. Watch this space for further announcements.