“Licorice Pizza” Gets Long Awaited Blu-ray Release

Talk about old school. While many movies now hit home video around 90 days after their theatrical debut - and some arrive on streaming even sooner - Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza has taken its sweet time coming home. The '70s-set comedy earned rave reviews and three Oscar nominations, as well as a lot of angry rants on Twitter. But now it will finally be available to own on a physical format.

The Blu-ray release includes special features like camera tests, a deleted scene and the typical behind-the-scenes stuff. And for fun, a commercial for Fat Bernie's arcade, which Gary (Cooper Hoffman) opens near the end of the film. There's also a limited edition poster. It's a top-notch package, though I'm surprised only a single deleted scene is included. A freewheeling movie like this probably has hours of unused footage. I know I could use more of Sean Penn and Tom Waits reminiscing about shooting war movies.

Licorice Pizza arrives on Blu-ray and DVD on May 17.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.