Displaying items by tag: Bob Furmanek

Three more new disc reviews are available here at The Bits today, including...

Stephen’s look at Joseph Cates’s Who Killed Teddy Bear? (1965) in 4K Ultra HD from Vinegar Syndrome’s excellent and endlessly surprising Cinématographe label.

Stuart’s review of Don Siegel’s Edge of Eternity (1959) on Blu-ray from Powerhouse Films via their Indicator brand.

And Dennis’ take on H.C. Potter’s Mr. Lucky (1943) on Blu-ray from RKO via our friends at the Warner Archive Collection.

We’ve also just completed a major update of our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits with a ton of new titles, including some of the latest announcement news just breaking today. That news includes...

Word that Arrow video is releasing Sergio Leone’s beloved Dollars Trilogy in 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray in the UK only over the next few months. [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’re starting the week here at The Bits with more new disc reviews, including...

Stephen’s take on Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter (1955) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Dennis’ look at Fritz Lang’s Clash by Night (1952) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

And Stuart’s thoughts on Dennis Hopper’s Backtrack (aka Catchfire) (1990) on Blu-ray also from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Be sure to watch for more new reviews from The Bits’ team all this week.

In announcement news today, we have a couple of big items to report. First, Paramount will release Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow (1999) on 4K Ultra HD in both Amaray and Steelbook packaging on 9/5. This is a title we’ve had in our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits as “coming in 2023” for a few months now. Expect them to include both Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

We’re starting off the new week here at The Bits as we often do, with more new disc reviews...

Stephen has taken a look at Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile (2022) in 4K Ultra HD from 20th Century Studios and Disney. The film was shot in large format on both 65 mm film and 8K digital, so the disc’s image quality is uniquely impressive.

But that’s not all: Stephen has also posted his thoughts on Henry Levin and George Pal’s The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, which has been newly-restored for release on Blu-ray by our friends at The Warner Archive Collection in both 2.85:1 widescreen and also Smilebox format, replicating the look of the film on a 146-degree curved Cinerama screen.

More disc reviews are on the way tomorrow and all this week, so be sure to check back.

In release news today, Showtime Entertainment has announced the Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD release of Ray Donovan: The Movie on 5/25. [Read on here...]

We’ve got some good news today for those of you who are fans of The Beatles. But first one more new disc review...

Tim has just posted an in-depth look at ClassicFlix’s new Blu-ray release of The Abbott and Costello Show: Season 1, a 3-disc set that includes all 26 episodes fully restored from the original camera negatives by our old friend Bob Furmanek and his restoration team at 3-D Film Archive.

Plus, the set includes a remarkable batch of extras, including many new audio commentary tracks, alternate audio tracks (full or partial audience laugh tracks), and a featurette on the process of saving the negatives and restoring the image and sound. Do give it a look.

Now then, Disney has officially confirmed that they plan to release the 3-part The Beatles: Get Back documentary on Blu-ray and DVD on 2/8. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a quick release news update here at The Bits for you today. But first, more new disc reviews...

I’ve just given a pair of titles from Sony’s new Columbia Classics: Volume 2 box set a look in 4K Ultra HD, including Carol Reed’s Oliver! (1968) and Otto Preminger’s Anatomy of a Murder (1959). That last review includes film comments by our dear friend Barrie Maxwell, the late great Digital Bits classic film columnist.

Also, Tim has taken a look at Random Space Media’s recent Resident Evil: Six Movie Collection, which includes the first six films in that series in 4K Ultra HD. It’s very similar in content to Sony’s 2020 release and it’s an all-region Australian import.

And Stephen has reviewed Ari Aster’s Misdommar: Director’s Cut in 4K Ultra HD, which is only available directly from A24 via their online web shop.

All of these releases are well worth a look for cinema fans, so do check out the reviews.

Just to give you a sneak peek at what’s coming next review-wise, I’m going to continue working my way through Sony’s Columbia Classics: Volume 2 4K titles as well as the Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection in 4K. All of those reviews should be posted here at The Bits by mid next week. Tim’s also working on Legend on Blu-ray from Arrow, and Stephen and Dennis are working through a stack of new titles too. So stay tuned for lots more reviews in the week ahead and beyond. [Read on here...]

We begin today’s My Two Cents column with another big new 4K Ultra HD review...

Our own Tim Salmons has taken a look at Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko (2001), as recently released in a 4K Ultra HD Limited Edition box set by our friends at Arrow Video. It sounds like an excellent set from start to finish, so do give that a look here.

On the same note, we know that some of you have been experiencing a video frame rate/studdering issue on some models of 4K player on this title that Arrow has been quietly investigating for a couple of weeks now. Well, the good news is that they’ve just announced an official disc replacement program for those of you who are having an issue, and you can now find out how to apply for a fixed copy via this page on their website.

Also today, Dennis has posted a review of A. Edward Sutherland’s Every Day’s a Holiday (1937), a classic Mae West film now available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classic. Enjoy! [Read on here...]

We start things off today here at The Bits with a pair of new Blu-ray Disc reviews...

Tim has taken a look at Marty Feldman’s The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977), new on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. It comes with a terrific audio commentary by our friend Alan Spencer—the longtime writer, executive producer of TV’s Sledge Hammer, and personal friend of Feldman—that’s worth the purchase price of the disc all by itself. Don’t miss it.

Also, Dennis has offered his thoughts on Elia Kazan’s Baby Doll (1956) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection. Do give that a look as well.

Speaking of the Warner Archive Collection, we want to take a moment to remind everyone that even though WB Shop has officially closed, Warner Archive Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K titles can now be purchased from their brand store on Amazon.com (click here for that). Warner Archive has just revealed more new upcoming titles (see our post yesterday) and we have word that they’ll have new titles through the end of 2021 at least. It’s likely that the label will continue indefinitely, just run by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment itself, rather than its former, dedicated team. [Read on here...]

We have a little bit more interesting release news for you to check out today (by way of closing out the week)...

First of all, our friends at Arrow Video have just announced their January 2021 slate of home video titles, and it’s pretty terrific. It starts with UK only Blu-ray releases of Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza’s [Rec] and Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy. Oldboy will also be released on 4K Ultra HD (in the UK only), but remember that 4K discs are not region locked.

Next up, Arrow is releasing Park Chan-wook’s JSA: Joint Security Area and Richard Kelly’s Southland Tales on Blu-ray Disc in the UK, US, and Canada.

Finally, those of you who missed out of Arrow’s recent (and fast selling) Gamera box set (reviewed here on The Bits) will be pleased to know that its films are being reissued on Blu-ray (again in the UK, US, and Canada) in a more wide-release configuration. Three SKUs will be available: Gamera: The Heisei Era (3 films plus a documentary and the Gamera the Brave film as a bonus) as both a wide-release box set and as a Steelbook, and Gamera: The Showa Era (8 films) as a wide-release box set. Obviously, you won’t get all the swag their original big box included, but at least this gives more of you access to the films in HD. [Read on here...]

Today, we’ve got just a very quick My Two Cents update for you, however not with release news.

But as promised, we’ve got a bunch of new disc reviews...

First, our own Tim Salmons has checked out Via Vision Entertainment’s new region-free Blu-ray import version of Police Squad! The Complete Series. (Note that the CBS/Paramount Blu-ray version has also been reviewed here.)

Speaking of Paramount, Dennis has turned in his thoughts on their new Alfred Hitchcock/Paramount Presents title, To Catch a Thief (1955). [Read on here...]