Garv’s Pick of the Week: Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2
For the release week of December 15th:
Garv’s Pick of the Week: Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 [Blu-ray / Warner Archive]: Tex Avery directed the wildest cartoons of the Forties and Fifties, and his work at MGM was his very best. The original negatives of these cartoons were destroyed in the 1965 MGM vault fire, but a restoration project is currently underway to preserve the shorts with 4K scans of the best surviving elements. These cartoons are being released in single-disc Blu-ray collections by the Warner Archive Collection as the restorations are completed. Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 is available this week, containing 21 cartoons — Little Rural Riding Hood, The Cuckoo Clock, Magical Maestro, One Cab’s Family, The Cat That Hated People, Doggone Tired, The Flea Circus, Field and Scream, The First Bad Man, Out Foxed, Droopy’s Double Trouble, Three Little Pups, Homesteader Droopy, Dixieland droopy, Counterfeit Cat. Ventriloquist Cat, House of Tomorrow, Car of tomorrow, TV of Tomorrow, and Farm of Tomorrow. Here are links to my full reviews of Volume 1 and Volume 2. Both discs should be considered “must own” Blu-rays for animation enthusiasts.
Additional Titles of Interest —
The Curse of Frankenstein [Blu-ray / Warner Archive]: This is where the Hammer Horror phenomenon really began. The Curse of Frankenstein was one of the most impactful and influential horror films ever made, but home video releases looked less than stellar. The Warner Archive have corrected that with a new 4K restoration from the original camera negatives.
A Night in Casablanca [Blu-ray / ClassicFlix]: The Marx Brothers were getting a bit long in the tooth by the time they made A Night in Casablanca (1946), but in many ways, the film was a return to form, after the lackluster MGM films. The Blu-ray also includes rare, previously unreleased audio of the Marx Brothers on stage testing out material for the film.
Mister Roberts [Blu-ray / Warner Archive]: Much ado about a palm tree.
The Harvey Girls [Blu-ray / Warner Archive]: Judy sings and Ray Bolger dances, but it isn’t the movie you’re thinking of.
Diary of a Mad Housewife [Blu-ray / Kino Lorber]: Who knew that Richard Benjamin could be so unlikeable?
Tremors [4K UHD / Arrow Video]: The movie that proved that Michael Gross is a badass gets a 4K upgrade.
