Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet...

...The Film Noir Foundation has confirmed the dates for this year's Noir City Hollywood Festival; it will take place the weekends of April 3-5 and April 10-12 at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. The 2026 festival will be somewhat shorter than the 2025 festival, running six days instead of eight; that said, the festival will feature 20 movies!

...Universal has announced plans for a "Digital Vault" which will sell digital copies of films from a variety of eras. Thanks to Lou Lumenick for the site link.

...Better news, for those of us who prefer physical media, is that Universal is continuing its recent spate of classic film Blu-ray releases. Late March titles: THIS IS THE NIGHT (1932) and GAMBLING SHIP (1933) with Cary Grant, GIVE ME A SAILOR (1938) and THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1938 (1938) with Bob Hope, and VARIETY GIRL (1947), a Paramount all-star film I reviewed in 2011.

...The March streaming schedule for the Criterion Channel is now available. Themes include "VHS Forever" and a tribute to Gwyneth Paltrow.

...Coming to Blu-ray soon from Kino Lorber Studio Classics: Brit Noir Collection 1, featuring CAGE OF GOLD (1950), THE RINGER (1952), and THE FRIGHTENED CITY (1961). Stars of the films include names such as Jean Simmons, Sean Connery, Herbert Lom, and David Farrar. Toby Roan has more details on the films at The Hannibal 8.

...Toby also shares information about a 3D release of DRAGONFLY SQUADRON (1954), from BayView Entertainment. It has a fun cast including John Hodiak, Barbara Britton, Bruce Bennett, Chuck Connors, and Gerald Mohr.

...Coming for fall cookbook season this October: KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE: THE OFFICIAL COOKBOOK and THE OFFICIAL DISNEY PARKS HOLIDAYS COOKBOOK.

...February 21st was the birthdate of both actor Zachary Scott and dancer-actress Lucille Bremer. I invite readers to visit my past photo-filled tributes to Scott and Bremer here and here.

...I was disappointed that SHIP, a planned sequel to PLANE (2023), appears to be cancelled, as this was a case where I actually thought there was much more story to tell.

...Upcoming Blu-rays and DVDs listed on the Film Masters site: THE LITTLE PRINCESS (1938), OUR TOWN (1940), and THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO (1952). All are currently listed for release in March 2026.

...Notable Passings: As mentioned in my review of THE PAPER (1994) a few days ago, Oscar-winning actor Robert Duvall has passed away at 95...Disney animator Jane Baer, whose long career included work on my favorite Disney cartoon, SLEEPING BEAUTY (1959), has died at 91...Eric Dane, who made a splash as Dr. Mark "McSteamy" Sloan on GREY'S ANATOMY, has sadly passed on of Lou Gehrig's Disease, aged 53.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please visit my February 14th column.

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