The Holdovers on physical media presents an unconventional aspect ratio and rare audio format.
Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers (2023) starring Paul Giamatti and Dominic Sessa is releasing for home viewing on Blu-ray Disc, DVD, and Digital. The film first arrives in digital formats on November 28, 2023, followed by disc formats on January 2, 2024.
On Blu-ray Disc, The Holdovers is presented in 1080p resolution at 1.66:1 aspect ratio with a DTS-HD Master Audio 3.0 LCR mix. Both of those formats are somewhat unconventional in the movie and home media space, making it a curious piece of physical media to add to your library.
1.66:1 is not as uncommon as 3.0 LCR audio. We’ve seen new films such as Jackie (2016) and The Witch (2015) use the aspect ratio, as well as classics Rear Window (1954) and Barry Lyndon (1975). The format (also known as the 5:3 ratio or the European widescreen standard) is not as square as 4:3 but not as quite 16×9 (the US standard), although it does come very close.
DTS-HD Master Audio 3.0 LCR, on the other hand, is a format rarely used in home media. The format describes discreet left, center, and right channels, and is notably missing a low-frequency channel. One movie I could find using 3.0 LCR in home media formats is Criterion’s Blu-ray of the Japanese film Sanjuro (1962).
In digital formats, the movie is available to stream/download in 4k UHD with HDR10+ High Dynamic Range. The audio from most providers is offered in Dolby 5.1, so it would be interesting to compare the disc to digital audio formats on a system that could support both mixes.
Bonus features on the Blu-ray and DVD editions include deleted scenes, featurettes “Working with Alexander” and “The Cast of The Holdovers,” and more.
The Holdovers is priced $24.99 (Blu-ray), $19.98 (DVD), and $29.99 (Early Digital Premiere). Buy on Amazon
Byline: A cranky history teacher at a remote prep school is forced to remain on campus over the holidays with a troubled student who has no place to go.
Summary: A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam.
