My Two Cents
Welcome to a new week, Bits-ers! Hope you all had a good one, including all those of you who attended WonderCon in Anaheim this weekend.
Today is obviously April Fool’s Day, but rest assured we aren’t going to waste time with such tomfoolery here at the site this afternoon because we’ve got more new disc reviews for you, as well as some really great actual news too.
Let’s get to those reviews first. Today we have...
Stephen’s review of Ted Kotcheff’s North Dallas Forty (1979) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as his take on György Kovásznai’s Bubble Bath (1980) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.
And Stuart’s look at William Grefé’s Impulse (1974) on Blu-ray from Grindhouse Releasing, as well as Emmanuel Carrère’s Between Two Worlds (2021) on Blu-ray from Cohen Media Group.
Late last week, we also posted Tim’s reviews of Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell (2009) in both regular and limited edition Blu-ray, as well as his reviews of Quentin Tarantino (etc)’s Grindhouse (2007) in both regular and limited edition Blu-ray, all from Via Vision’s Imprint Films.
And not to be outdone, Dennis has also reviewed Peter Yates’ The Dresser (1983) on Blu-ray from Imprint as well. [Read on here...]
We’ve got one more new disc review for you all to enjoy today, which is Stephen’s look at Simon Wincer’s Quigley Down Under (1990) in 4K Ultra HD from Shout! Studios—a new Shout Select title.
We’ve also updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits, and we’ve posted a big update of the Release Dates & Cover Art section (click on Cover Art in the navigation bar at the top of the page) with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. Don’t forget, any time you order literally anything from Amazon after clicking to them through one of our links, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we really appreciate it.
And I just posted an interesting column over on our Patreon page that details some of the extraordinary changes currently underway behind-the-scenes within the home video industry—changes that begin with Disney making a deal for Sony to take over their physical media production but definitely don’t end there. I think you’ll find it interesting—and don’t forget that joining our Patreon is also a great way to help support our work here at the site. [Read on here...]
We’re starting this week with a trio of great new disc reviews here at The Bits, including...
Stuart’s thoughts on Kenneth Branagh’s A Midwinter’s Tale (1995) on Blu-ray from Castle Rock Entertainment via the always excellent Warner Archive Collection.
And Stephen’s take on Oldřich Lipský’s The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians (1981) on Blu-ray from Deaf Crocodile and Vinegar Syndrome, as well as his look at John Carpenter’s Starman (1984) in 4K Ultra HD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment as featured in their excellent Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection: Volume 4 box set!
All of these are fascinating titles and well worth a look.
Before we continue, I mentioned Warner Archive a moment ago: All of us here at The Digital Bits would like to take a moment today to salute our dear friend George Feltenstein and everyone who has contributed to the Warner Archive Collection over the years—the fan-favorite boutique label just celebrated its 15th anniversary on Saturday! Here’s to many more years and all the fantastic Blu-ray and DVD catalog titles to come. Well done, folks!
In announcement news today, Kino Lorber Studio Classics has just set Mark DiSalle’s The Perfect Weapon (1991) and Stephen Norrington’s Death Machine (1994) for Blu-ray release on 5/21. The company has also revealed that Gary Nelson’s Noble House (1988) miniseries is coming soon to Blu-ray, and also that Richard Stanley’s Dust Devil (1992) is coming soon to both Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD. [Read on here...]
We have just one new disc review for you today (but a lot more are coming next week): Dennis’ look at Billy Wilder’s Witness for the Prosecution (1957) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.
Meanwhile, we have some good announcement news today, so let’s get right to it...
First up this afternoon, our friends at The Warner Archive Collection have just revealed more great new Blu-ray titles that are all due to street on 4/30, including Charles Brabin’s The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), Fred Zinnemann’s The Nun’s Story (1959), William Wyler’s Friendly Persuasion (1956), Francis Ford Coppola’s The Rain People (1969) and You’re a Big Boy Now (1966), and finally a Hanna-Barbera Double Feature of Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998) and Scooby-Doo: Return to Zombie Island (2019)!
We’ll share all of the cover art and Amazon pre-order links as soon as they go live, but in the meantime you can see The Rain People at left.
Moving on, Kino Lorber Studio Classics has just set both Mark DiSalle’s The Perfect Weapon (1991) and Sam Firstenberg’s Revenge of the Ninja (1983) for release on Blu-ray Disc on 5/21. [Read on here...]
We have six new disc reviews for all of you to enjoy today, including...
Stuart’s look at Denys Arcand’s Dirty Money (1972) and Paul Vecchiali’s The Strangler (1970) both on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.
Dennis’ take on Norman Jewison’s The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics
And Stephen’s look at Robert Benton’s Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Stanley Kramer’s Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) in 4K from Sony’s Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection: Volume 4 box set, as well as Michael Mann’s Ferrari (2023) in Blu-ray from Neon via Decal Releasing.
All are well worth a look, so we hope you enjoy them. And more are forthcoming.
Before we get to announcement news today, Amazon has finally made Andor: The Complete First Season and Obi-Wan Kenobi: The Complete Series available for pre-order in 4K Ultra HD Steelbook format. (The Blu-ray Steelbook pre-orders should soon be live as well.) We’ve included the links and cover art below. [Read on here...]