Hi there, Dear Reader. It is early afternoon here in Lithia, Florida, on Sunday, February 6, 2022. It is a chilly and gray Florida winter day. Presently, the temperature is 61˚F (16˚C) under cloudy skies. With humidity at 91% and the wind blowing from the north-northwest at 6 MPH (9 KM/H), the wind chill factor is 60˚F (16˚C). Today’s forecast calls for partly sunny skies and a high of 73˚F (23˚C). Tonight, skies will be partly cloudy. The low will be 58˚F (14˚C).
While I was looking on Amazon to see if Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story was available for pre-order yet – a silly notion, since it is Sunday and studios usually don’t give updates about home media releases on weekends – I stumbled on a deal that I could not resist.
No, it wasn’t Paramount Home Media Distribution’s 4K UHD box set of The Godfather Trilogy, an offer that I can refuse because it goes for $86.99 on Amazon in pre-order (it “drops” on March 22, one week after West Side Story). I like Francis Ford Coppola’s trio of films about the Corleone family, but not enough to shell out nearly $90 for it. If I didn’t already own the restored version of The Godfather Trilogy on Blu-ray, maybe I would hit the yellow “Purchase Item” button. But I’m not as devoted to Coppola’s works as I am to Steven Spielberg’s, so unless I get it for my birthday – a highly unlikely eventuality – or Paramount cuts the price to something more affordable, I’ll pass.
What I did see, though, was Universal Pictures Home Entertainment’s Schindler’s List – 25th Anniversary Edition 4K UHD/2K HD Blu-ray two-disc set from 2018. It’s on sale at Amazon for $17.99 (15% off the regular price of $20.99).
I own Schindler’s List on DVD (since 2003 or 2004) and the 2013 20th Anniversary Edition 3-disc (two DVDs, one Blu-ray) re-issue. It’s not a movie that I watch often – at best, it gets played once a year, if at all – but it earned Spielberg his first Academy Award for Best Director back in 1994. And it’s one of the few films that I’ve owned in almost every major format, including VHS videotape.
Barring a last-minute issue with my delivery by Amazon, I should have my 72nd 4K UHD movie in my possession by 10 PM tomorrow.
About West Side Story, though, I have a feeling that 20th Century Studios and Buena Vista Home Entertainment will probably – huge grain of salt here, folks – put the home media release of Spielberg’s version of the acclaimed 1957 Broadway musical drama this week. I don’t think that’ll happen tomorrow, but maybe on Tuesday the 8th.
Why do I say that?
On the website Blu-ray.com, the 4K UHD release of West Side Story (2021) already has a page built, with the packaging for the U.S. release and technical specs included. For North America (Canada and the U.S.), the pre-order option is still – no surprise – unavailable.
However, the page shows that Disney – which owns 20th Century Studios and Buena Vista Home Entertainment – has greenlit the preorders for the Australian market (it goes on sale Down Under on March 2, 13 days before West Side Story is released in North America). So, we can assume that if Australia can preorder West Side Story now, American and Canadian movie buffs will surely be able to preorder it this week.
One can hope, anyway.
Aside from that, I don’t have anything to report. I will probably read a bit from West Side Story: The Making of the Steven Spielberg Film, and maybe I’ll watch a movie or watch something on Disney+. I have yet to watch Episodes Five and Six of The Book of Boba Fett, so it’s likely that I’ll pick that.
On that note, then, I’ll take my leave of you, Dear Reader. Until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and I’ll catch you on the sunny side of things.
A Certain Point of View, Too 
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