Coincidentally, shortly after we ran a plea for a North American DVD release of Hannie Caulder, comes word that the film will be out in July through a company called Olive. The Western boasts a great cast topped by Raquel Welch, Robert Culp, Ernest Borgnine, Strother Martin, Jack Elam and Christopher Lee. Click here to pre-order from Amazon. (Thanks to reader Ted Davis for the head's up!)

 

Warner Home Video has introduced a new service that will allow consumers to upgrade from standard DVD titles to Blu-ray editions. Under the DVD2Blu program, you can send in a copy of your standard DVD and receive the Blu-ray edition in return. There are varying fees, depending on the title you are exchanging. If you order more than $35 in exchanged DVDs, WB will pick up the postage. For more click here

 

Warner Home Video is putting the classics Ben-Hur and Citizen Kane on moratorium in preparation for major Blu-ray releases of both titles in late 2011. For more click here

 

The Warner Archive is offering a 30% off sale on burn-to-order silent movies from the Warner Brothers vault. For complete details visit the Warner Archive site by clicking here

 

By Lee Pfeiffer

It might give new meaning to the term "Coming Soon!" The porn industry is feeling the heat from all those free dirty movies that are omnipresent on the web. Consequently, revenues have declined for X-rated DVDs and downloads. However, the industry is quite adept at renewing itself with clever concepts and it looks like the latest plan may result in a temporary surge in profits. The porn company Vivid is unleashing a series of X-rated retro spoofs of legendary pop culture heroes beginning with Batman XXX. The video will be based on the classic 1960s spoof TV series that starred Adam West and Burt Ward. In the works are X-rated versions of Superman, Wonder Woman and The Hulk. Unlike low-budget porn spoofs of the past, these will have considerable production values. The teaser trailer for Batman XXX features a genuine Batmobile as well as superb graphics that recreate the credits sequence of the original show. (Click here to view- it's squeaky clean.) There are also plans in the works for an Addams Family X-rated spoof, but we draw the line at any vision of Lurch getting it on with Grandmama. Click here for more

 

The Warner Archive has released the 1971 WWI film Zeppelin as part of it's burn-to-order DVD series. Price is $19.95. The film stars Elke Sommer and Michael York. For more details, and to view the trailer, click here

The Offence, the highly acclaimed 1972 crime drama in which many critics believe Sean Connery gave the performance of his career, will finally be coming to DVD in the American market, having previously been available in Europe. The film is part of a batch of burn-to-order titles now available from MGM through Amazon. The film was directed by Sidney Lumet and features Connery as a burned-out British detective whose interrogation of a child molester/murderer leads to a shattering series of events. The grim film was virtually buried by United Artists and played only briefly in a few art houses. Click here to order and to view the trailer