Paramount Pictures Proudly Celebrates the 75th Anniversary of One of the Crown Jewels in its Storied Film Library SUNSET BOULEVARD

  

Legendary Director Billy Wilder’s Acclaimed and Haunting Portrait of Hollywood

is Newly Restored and Ready for Its Close-Up

 

ABOUT THE FILM

Originally released on August 10, 1950, SUNSET BOULEVARD was among the first films selected for preservation in the National Film Registry and is in the top 20 of the AFI’s Greatest American Films of All Time.  The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards®, including Best Picture, and won three for Best Art Direction, Best Music and Best Writing.^*

 

Gloria Swanson and William Holden give riveting performances as two of the silver screen’s most memorable characters: the aging silent film queen Norma Desmond and struggling young screenwriter Joe Gillis.  The bizarre and twisted story that unfolds between them is a brilliant combination of noir, black comedy and character study, as well as a scathing and pitch-black commentary on Hollywood that continues to resonate in today’s influencer-driven, true crime-obsessed, and self-reflective culture.

 

SUNSET BOULEVARD also features masterful, Oscar®-nominated performances by Erich von Stroheim as Desmond’s ex-husband/butler and Nancy Olson as the wholesome script reader who falls for Gillis, along with cameo appearances by director Cecil B. DeMille, gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, and silent film actor Buster Keaton.  

 

FILM RESTORATION

To mark the film’s diamond anniversary, this cinematic masterpiece has been meticulously restored in 4K using the highest quality surviving element—a 35mm duplicate negative—and every step of the restoration was approached with great care to faithfully honor Billy Wilder’s original vision.  The Library of Congress provided a 35mm print from its archive to serve as a reference for color accuracy throughout the restoration. This release also features an exceptional new 5.1 audio mix that was produced by Deluxe Audio with support from Park Road Post in New Zealand, whose proprietary technology enabled the isolation of dialogue, music, and effects tracks.

 

THEATRICAL RE-RELEASE

The newly restored film had its theatrical world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May and fans throughout the U.S. will have the opportunity to experience the stunning new restoration on the big screen in 4K when it returns to theatres nationwide on August 3 & 4 from Fathom Entertainment and Paramount Pictures.  Every film in Fathom’s Big Screen Classics series features an exclusive introduction by cinema critic and historian Leonard Maltin, offering insight into the landmark film and its enduring impact and relevance.

 

ENJOY AT HOME

SUNSET BOULEVARD is available now to buy or rent in sparkling 4K Ultra HD with more than two hours of legacy bonus content^** exploring the film’s production, stars, and cinematic significance on select Digital platforms. 

 

BROADWAY SHOW

Underscoring the film’s timeless appeal, Jamie Lloyd’s extraordinary reimagination of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic musical Sunset Blvd., which is based on the Paramount Pictures film, won three 2025 Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival and Best Lead Actress in a Musical for Nicole Scherzinger’s sizzling portrayal of Norma Desmond. The twice extended musical will end its Broadway run on Sunday, July 20, 2025. For more information and tickets to the final performances, visit www.sunsetblvdbroadway.com.  

 

Sunset Blvd: The Album, the chart-topping cast album of the stunning new production, is available now to stream and on vinyl from The Other Songs label. Recorded live on the stage at London’s Savoy Theatre, the album captures the depth and power of Nicole Scherzinger’s Tony and Olivier Award- winning performance. To discover the album, visit https://bio.to/SunsetBLVDTheAlbum

 

FILM SYNOPSIS

Fame isn’t forever—just ask Norma Desmond. Once a Hollywood legend, now a forgotten relic, she refuses to fade away. When struggling screenwriter Joe Gillis stumbles into her decaying mansion, he becomes trapped in her web of obsession, control, and delusion. What starts as an opportunity soon spirals into something far more dangerous. Dark, twisted, and eerily relevant, SUNSET BOULEVARD is a haunting look at Hollywood’s unrelenting cycle—where youth is currency, talent is fleeting, and no one stays in the spotlight forever.  Are you ready for your close-up? 

  

 

SUNSET BOULEVARD is not rated

 

 

*Winner: Best Writing, Story and Screenplay; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black & White; Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, 1951.  Additional nominations: Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (William Holden), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Gloria Swanson), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Erich von Stroheim), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Nancy Olson), Best Director (Billy Wilder), Best Cinematography, Black & White, Best Film Editing.

 

**Availability of bonus content varies by digital retailer

 

“ACADEMY AWARD” and “OSCAR” are the registered trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

 

The Drew Carey Show: The Complete Series On DVD Box Set Review

 

Warner Brothers Discovery Home Entertainment’s The Drew Carey Show: The Complete Series On DVD Box Set is not so complete. Four Special Episodes detailed as Drew’s Dance Party Special, Drew Carey’s Back To School Rock ‘n’ Roll Comedy Hour Parts 1 & 2 and What’s Love Got To Do With it? are not included with this set although one might be able to find the missing episodes on their own on YouTube or by searching The Internet Archive. 

All nine seasons are presented across two large DVD keep cases within a high-quality cardboard slip case. The presentation is a (1.33:1) aspect ratio, preserving the method in which this series are originally exhibited on broadcast television English Dolby Digital and Digital Stereo Soundtrack options are encoded across all of the discs along with English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired. The menus are rudimentary standard interactive, steel frames that are easy to navigate. There is only one extra value feature, which is a short look at the series entitled Inside The Cubicle. 

This might be the final time to actually get the series on physical media so if you are a fan of the series, this is well worth picking up. The Drew Carey Show: The Complete Series On DVD Box Set is available now at retailers on and off-line courtesy of Warner Brothers Discovery Home Entertainment.

(C) Copyright 2025 By Mark A. Rivera

All Rights Reserved.

Alien Earth Update.

 ALIEN: EARTH (FX)

Premiere Date: Aug. 12, 2025 (Two episodes at launch then weekly)
Finale Date: Sept. 23, 2025
On Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ Internationally

Genre: Drama
Season:  1
Episode Count: 8

Synopsis: When the mysterious deep space research vessel USCSS Maginot crash-lands on Earth, Wendy (Sydney Chandler) and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet’s greatest threat in FX’s “Alien: Earth.”

In the year 2120, the Earth is governed by five corporations: Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic and Threshold. In this corporate era, cyborgs (humans with both biological and artificial parts) and synthetics (humanoid robots with artificial intelligence) exist alongside humans. But the game is changed when the wunderkind founder and CEO of Prodigy Corporation unlocks a new technological advancement: hybrids (humanoid robots infused with human consciousness). The first hybrid prototype named “Wendy” marks a new dawn in the race for immortality. After Weyland-Yutani’s spaceship collides into Prodigy City, Wendy and the other hybrids encounter mysterious life-forms more terrifying than anyone could have ever imagined.

Cast: The series stars Sydney Chandler, Timothy Olyphant, Alex Lawther, Samuel Blenkin, Babou Ceesay, Adrian Edmondson, David Rysdahl, Essie Davis, Lily Newmark, Erana James, Adarsh Gourav, Jonathan Ajayi, Kit Young, Diêm Camille, Moe Bar-El and Sandra Yi Sencindiver.

Credits: FX’s “Alien: Earth” is created for television and executive produced by Peabody and Emmy® Award-winning Noah Hawley. Ridley Scott, David W. Zucker, Joseph Iberti, Dana Gonzales and Clayton Krueger also serve as executive producers. “Alien: Earth” is produced by FX Productions.

Amazing Music Video by The Talking Heads released nearly 50 years after the album. Link below.

 I’m amazed at the amount of work that must’ve gone into making this video because I was sure that these were scenes from a movie put to the Talking Heads song since it’s not unheard of that happening especially on YouTube. However, doing my research it turns out that all of this was done, especially For the Talking Heads song psycho killer. It’s a shame that not more people will be able to see this video only because it’s done so well. I think that in the days of MTV when it was actually a music channel, this would get a special award. It’s done beautifully in every way possible. I’m getting amazed that the amount of work done to make this complete. Thank you, Mike Mills, and the Talking Heads.

https://youtu.be/CJ54eImz88w?si=Q5e-MzLOQugfocc1

Snow White 2025 Digital Copy Review.

Rachel Ziegler is actually the least problem within the recent digital release of Disney’s Snow White live action 2025 adaptation. The quality has nothing to do with the sound and picture which are excellent and the bonus extra value features that are provided are also spot on. The main problem is not anything other than the fact that the story is completely mishandled with poor casting and terrible costuming. 

To begin with the CGI dwarves simply look out of place and they look rushed and are more frightening than they are cute. In addition to this, the costuming, particularly given to Rachel Ziegler does not fit her at all and in trying to make her look like some version of the original animated classic, they actually Made her look silly in an outfit that never gets dirty and in an environment where she supposed to be hiding from her life and all she does is stick out like a sore thumb. Gal Gadot cannot sing and she is also poorly cast in this film. 

There’s nothing wrong with organic diversity, but the attempt to appeal to just about every single demographic there makes it Unrelatable for nearly anyone who watches it. Some of the logic of the story does not work at all, and ultimately the sub storyline with the thieves is just a mess as well. 

I had difficulty sitting through this film so much that I’m grateful I talked to my brother into watching it with me because I knew that he would sit with me and then we could talk about it and we both agreed that while Ziegler’s singing is great, she really is also the least problem with this movie. 

Look in my humble opinion she’s a young woman, and who hasn’t said something they regret after the fact when they were young, or who hasn’t double down on something in the defensive take. What I’m trying to state is let he or she, who is without sin, throw the first stone. Ziegler is a great singer and in under the right casting as she gets a little bit older and more savvy, I believe that she has great promise if not in the movie theaters then on Broadway. 

The music for the most part is actually pretty good, especially when they stick close to the traditional Disney style music that one has come to expect for the last 25 years. The extra value features on the digital copy include sing-along featurettes as well as behind the scenes looks and more. Once again, the picture quality and sound quality is excellent with nice deep bass tones and an atmospheric feeling in Dolby Atmos. 

I really wish I could say nicer things about this film, but I would be lying. Little kids should like it regardless, especially those who are just coming into it without any pre-judgment or understanding of the media surrounding the making of the film, which definitely tinged it. Yet since little kids are open minded, they should enjoy it.  Again I want to emphasize that there are good things in this film. It’s not a total washout. Miss Ziegler sings well. It’s the script and the costuming that fail her. 

In short, you might want to wait till it streams on Disney+. Snow White 2025 is available at digital online retailers now.

(C) Copyright 2025 By Mark A. Rivera

All Rights Reserved.

Official Press Information For Predator: Killer of Killers and Alien Earth.

Official Press Information For Predator: Killer of Killers and Alien Earth.

PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS
Premiere Date: June 6, 2025
On Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ Internationally

Genre: Animated Action-Adventure Film

Synopsis: “Predator: Killer of Killers,” an original animated action-adventure film set in the Predator universe, will premiere June 6, cidijqvb2025, exclusively on Hulu. The anthology story follows three of the fiercest warriors in human history: a Viking raider guiding her young son on a bloody quest for revenge, a ninja in feudal Japan who turns against his Samurai brother in a brutal battle for succession, and a WWII pilot who takes to the sky to investigate an otherworldly threat to the Allied cause. But while all these warriors are killers in their own right, they are merely prey for their new opponent – the ultimate killer of killers.

Cast: The series stars Lindsay LaVanchy, Louis Ozawa, Rick Gonzalez and Michael Biehn.

Credits: “Predator: Killer of Killers” is directed by Dan Trachtenberg with Josh Wassung, from animation company The Third Floor, serving as co-director. The film is written by Micho Robert Rutare and story by Trachtenberg and Rutare, based on characters created by Jim Thomas & John Thomas. The producers are John Davis, Dan Trachtenberg, p.g.a., Marc Toberoff, Ben Rosenblatt, p.g.a., with Lawrence Gordon, James E. Thomas, John C. Thomas and Stefan Grube as executive producers.

ALIEN: EARTH (FX)
Premiere Date: Aug. 12, 2025 (Two episodes at launch then weekly)
Finale Date: Sept. 23, 2025
On Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ Internationally

Genre: Drama
Season:  1
Episode Count: 8

Synopsis: When the mysterious deep space research vessel USCSS Maginot crash-lands on Earth, Wendy (Sydney Chandler) and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet’s greatest threat in FX’s “Alien: Earth.”

In the year 2120, the Earth is governed by five corporations: Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic and Threshold. In this corporate era, cyborgs (humans with both biological and artificial parts) and synthetics (humanoid robots with artificial intelligence) exist alongside humans. But the game is changed when the wunderkind founder and CEO of Prodigy Corporation unlocks a new technological advancement: hybrids (humanoid robots infused with human consciousness). The first hybrid prototype named “Wendy” marks a new dawn in the race for immortality. After Weyland-Yutani’s spaceship collides into Prodigy City, Wendy and the other hybrids encounter mysterious life-forms more terrifying than anyone could have ever imagined.

Cast: The series stars Sydney Chandler, Timothy Olyphant, Alex Lawther, Samuel Blenkin, Babou Ceesay, Adrian Edmondson, David Rysdahl, Essie Davis, Lily Newmark, Erana James, Adarsh Gourav, Jonathan Ajayi, Kit Young, Diêm Camille, Moe Bar-El and Sandra Yi Sencindiver.

Credits: FX’s “Alien: Earth” is created for television and executive produced by Peabody and Emmy® Award-winning Noah Hawley. Ridley Scott, David W. Zucker, Joseph Iberti, Dana Gonzales and Clayton Krueger also serve as executive producers. “Alien: Earth” is produced by FX Productions.

Rick And Morty: The Anime Blu-ray Disc Review

Rick And Morty: The Anime is it’s own thing complete with different English and Japanese Voice Talent providing our heroes with distinct speech that helps to set it apart from the main series. This is a standalone 10 episode arc by Takashi Sano, who directed two episodes previously for the Adult Swim Digital Platform.

The disc on Blu-ray contains all ten episodes presented in their original broadcast aspect ratio in glorious 1080p Full HD with an engaging English DTS-HD MA Soundtrack along with Japanese Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired. The run time is 207 minutes.

Rick And Morty: The Anime is available on Blu-ray Disc and DVD, but sold separately now retailers on and offline courtesy of Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment.

(C) Copyright 2025 By Mark A. Rivera

All Rights Reserved.

Dune: Prophecy: The Complete First Season on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Set Review

Dune Prophecy: The Complete First Season is the HBO MAX/ Warner Brothers Discovery series loosely adapted from the Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson prequel novel, Sisterhood of Dune and is set 10,000 years before the birth of Paul Atreides. We are in the rule of the Empire under House Corrino from the Planet Salusa Secundus. The planet is quite different from what we saw in Dune Part One with beautiful vistas and a bustling Imperial Capital City near by. 

When the mysterious Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel) arrives at court on the eve of a royal marriage unifying the Great Houses Corrino and Richese.  Events surrounding his presence captures the attention Reverend Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson) with their interactions illustrating how formidable both characters are. Fimmel plays crazy so well that one can almost imagine that he has built his whole career playing these types of characters.

What follows is a kind of Chess game between different factions and agendas for control of the Imperium. 

The production value value of the series is captured beautifully on a 4K ultra HD Blu-ray Disc and the Dolby Atmos soundtrack also is quite atmospheric and discrete at the same time. What I also like about these discs as well as the original series when it aired this past November 2024 is that we get to see things that Dune fans are aware of from reading the books, but have never seen dramatized in any other format that I am aware of. 

This is a slow burn, which means that you do need to have some patience, but it will reward viewers by the end. I highly recommend watching this program and now that it’s on 4K Ultra HD, it’s it more than easy to be able to watch it on physical media, which is the best way to view something with the highest possible picture, quality And sound quality available for home users.

The five exclusive extended featurettes appear to been derived at least partially  from what was originally provided by MAX when the episodes originally premiered. The disc come packaged in a four disc black keep case with two discs on one side and two discs on the other for safe transport. There are no inserts containing episode information. The packaging is understated, but does the job. English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired are provided along with its Dolby Atmos surround soundtrack.

Dune: Prophecy: The Complete First Season is available now on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc, Blu-ray Disc and DVD, but the formats are sold separately, at retailers on and offline courtesy of Warner Brothers Discovery Home Entertainment. Get your copy now. The spice must flow.

(C) Copyright 2025 By Mark A. Rivera

All Rights Reserved.

BAMBI: THE RECKONING The Twisted Childhood Universe Welcomes Bambi

LOS ANGELES (May 15, 2025) - From Jagged Edge Productions and ITN Studios, the makers of Winnie-The-Pooh:Blood and Honey 1 & 2, comes Bambi: The Reckoning, the newest entry in the Twisted Childhood Universe. Directed by Dan Allen and written by Rhys Warrington, Bambi: The Reckoning arrives in theaters on July 25, 2025 by Seismic Releasing.

The official synopsis for Bambi: The Reckoning reads: After a mother and son get in a car wreck, they soon become hunted by Bambi, a mutated grief-stricken deer on a deadly rampage seeking revenge for the death of his mother.

"We are excited to bring the first live-action Bambi film ever to the screens...of course, a horror version," notes Stuart Alson, President of ITN Studios. Tickets to see the haunting new take on the classic tale will go on sale July 10, 2025.

Warner Bros. Discovery Announces Max to Become HBO Max this Summer

May 14, 2025 – At the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront presentation in New York today, it was announced that Max, the company’s premier streaming platform, will be rebranded HBO Max this summer.   

WBD’s streaming business has incredible momentum, turning around its profitability by almost $3B in just two years and scaling globally with 22M subscribers added over the past year, with a clear path to over 150M+ by the end of 2026. This is thanks to an enormous amount of hard work, investment and re-focusing the strategy on the programming that is working best like HBO, recent box-office movies, docuseries, certain reality series, and Max and local originals, and de-prioritizing other genres that drive less engagement or acquisition. 

This evolution has also been influenced by changing consumer needs, and the fact that no consumer today is saying they want more content, but most consumers are saying they want better content. With other services filling the more basic needs with volume, WBD has clearly distinguished itself through its quality and distinct stories, and no brand has done that better and more consistently over 50+ years than HBO.   

Returning the HBO brand into HBO Max will further drive the service forward and amplify the uniqueness that subscribers can expect from the offering. It is also a testament to WBD’s willingness to keep boldly iterating its strategy and approach – leaning heavily on consumer data and insights – to best position itself for success.

David Zaslav, President and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, said: “The powerful growth we have seen in our global streaming service is built around the quality of our programming. Today, we are bringing back HBO, the brand that represents the highest quality in media, to further accelerate that growth in the years ahead.”

During the WBD Upfront on stage at Madison Square Garden, JB Perrette, President and CEO of Streaming, and Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content, provided further details on the upcoming change.
 
Perrette: “We will continue to focus on what makes us unique – not everything for everyone in a household, but something distinct and great for adults and families. It’s really not subjective, not even controversial – our programming just hits different.”

Bloys: “With the course we are on and strong momentum we are enjoying, we believe HBO Max far better represents our current consumer proposition. And it clearly states our implicit promise to deliver content that is recognized as unique and, to steal a line we always said at HBO, worth paying for.”

HBO Max^® is the premier global streaming platform from Warner Bros. Discovery that delivers the most unique and captivating stories, ranging from the highest quality in scripted programming, movies, documentaries, true crime, adult animation, and live sports and news (where available). HBO Max is the destination for prestigious entertainment brands such as HBO, Warner Bros., Max Originals, DC, Harry Potter, A24 Films, as well as iconic shows like “Friends” and “The Big Bang Theory,” all in one place.

THE DREW CAREY SHOW: THE COMPLETE SERIES Available Now on DVD and Digital The Official YouTube Channel for The Drew Carey Show Also Launches Today, All in Celebration of the Series’ 30thAnniversary

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

TV’s Favorite Everyman Returns!

 

THE DREW CAREY SHOW: THE COMPLETE SERIES 

Available Now on DVD and Digital

 

The Official YouTube Channel for The Drew Carey Show Also Launches Today, All in Celebration of the Series’ 30^thAnniversary

BURBANK, CA (May 13, 2025) – Get ready to laugh out loud and relive one of television’s most beloved sitcoms when Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment brings The Drew Carey Show: The Complete Series to DVD. For the first time ever, all nine hilarious seasons* will be available in a collectors’ boxset starting May 13, just in time to celebrate the series’ 30th anniversary. Whether you're a longtime fan or discovering it for the first time, this collection is the ultimate way to experience the comic genius of Drew Carey and his misfit crew. 

 

In addition to the DVD, The Drew Carey Show: The Complete Series is also available now to purchase Digitally from AppleTV, Fandango at Home, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and more.

 

To top it off, fans and newcomers alike can explore classic moments and some of their favorite episodes on the Official YouTube Channel for The Drew Carey Show, which also launches today, May 13. 

 

The Drew Carey Show was created by Drew Carey and Bruce Helford and starred Carey, Diedrich Bader, Christa Miller, Ryan Stiles, Kathy Kinney, Craig Ferguson, John Carroll Lynch, Cynthia Watros, and many more throughout its nine seasons.

The series was produced Mohawk Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. 

 

SYNOPSIS:

Actor, comedian, author and television comedy sensation Drew Carey stars in The Drew Carey Show as an average, single everyguy struggling to stay financially and romantically afloat in an unpredictable era. Whether he’s getting roped into a hilarious prank war with his buddies or trying to survive the outrageous of his nemesis, Mimi, Drew and his mishaps will keep you entertained. This average Joe’s life is anything but ordinary! 

  

PRODUCT                                   

DVD and Digital 

SPECIAL FEATURES

Previously released Life inside the Cubiclefrom the Season 1 DVD

 

Audio: English

Subtitles: English 

Running Time: Approx. 86 hours

Rated: PG

*The following (4) special episodes are not included in this collection: Drew’s Dance Party Special, Drew Carey’s Back-to-School Rock ‘n’ Roll Comedy Hour – Parts 1 & 2and What’s Love Got to Do with it?

Musical compositions in certain episodes of this series have been replaced or altered from their original broadcast versions.