Rummaging Through Boxes

Filmcritic Robert Cashill had a difficult task, to review a pack of DVD boxes published by Warner Bros. »The task I had been given was immediately complicated by the sheer volume of releases rushing down the pike, not one or two collections per month, but several, for all tastes. True to its scrappy roots, and its more recent history as the first distributor to embrace the decade-old format, the studio was turning up the heat, and fast. WB was rebuking, with a vengeance, its lazier Hollywood rivals, who are still content to squeeze out a vintage catalog release every few weeks or so, or milk a more modern-day hit just one more time (surely Fox's 20th Century legacy extends beyond Revenge of the Nerds: Panty Raid Edition). The largest film library in the world—which, thanks to mergers and acquisitions, contains not just Warner Bros. releases but MGM's pre-1986 titles, RKO and United Artists films, and more—has thrown open its doors, and is in unprecedented circulation.« Read more on www.cineaste.com