My Two Cents
Tuesday, 02 January 2018 14:29

Welcome to 2018, Bits readers! We’ve got a BD & 4K release update for you…

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All right, we’re back! We hope you all had a lovely and safe Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and/or New Year’s celebration – as the case may be – with your family and friends. My wife and I had a pretty solid case of the flu over Christmas, but we’re mostly recovered now (save for a lingering cough) so we spent New Year’s in Joshua Tree National Park with family. I brought my telescope and so we got some nice star watching in along with the usual hiking and whatnot. By the way, if you’re ever in Twentynine Palms, California and you’re in the mood for barbecue, be sure to visit The Rib Co., because they know what they’re doing.

In any case, we’ve got a number of things going on here at The Bits this week. First, I’ll spend the next couple of days catching you up on new and recent Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD announcement news. I’ll also be getting back into the BD and 4K review rhythm. And of course, the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) kicks off next week in Las Vegas, so we’ll keep you up to date on developments there too. [Read on here…]

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We’re also going to be launching a couple of interesting new features here at The Bits in the weeks ahead that will allow you to get more involved with what we do at the site. But more on that soon enough.

First of all today, don’t forget to check out all the recent History, Legacy & Showmanship columns that our own Michael Coate has posted here at The Bits. He delivered some great ones to close out 2017, including in-depth retrospectives on Casino Royale (1967), Camelot, Tomorrow Never Dies, The Dark Crystal, Die Another Day, and The Graduate, each with fine new film historian interviews or roundtable discussions.

Also today, we’ve updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List to include a bevy of new titles that are either announced or known (from retail sources) to be coming to the format in the weeks and months ahead. You can check that out here and don’t forget that we’re including handy reference information on whether the titles have Dolby Vision HDR, Dolby Atmos or DTS:X object-based audio, and we indicate titles that are standouts (marked *) or reference quality (marked **). We even link to our own Bits reviews and to the Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk pre-order pages for each title. Bookmark the list and I think you’ll find it useful.

In announcement news, the Criterion Collection has revealed their March slate as follows: Look for Martin Scoesese’s The Age of Innocence (Cat #913 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 3/13, Volker Schlöndorff’s Baal (Cat #914 – Blu-ray and DVD) and an updating Carl Theodor Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc (Cat #62 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 3/20, and John Murray Anderson’s King of Jazz (Cat #915 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Ken Russell’s Women in Love (Cat #916 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 3/27. We’ve updated our Criterion Spines Project listing page here accordingly.

Criterion has also posted a teaser image that hints at some of their yet-to-be-announced 2018 Collection titles. You can see that here…

Criterion 2018 tease

Meanwhile, the BBC is releasing Blue Planet II on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on 3/6.

Sony has The Dark Crystal: Anniversary Edition coming to 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray that same day.

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has set Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri for release on Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, and DVD on 2/27.

Paramount is releasing Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life on 4K Ultra HD on 2/27.

Arrow Video has set Killer Klowns from Outer Space for release on Blu-ray on 3/27. Arrow also has a Blu-ray double feature of Duccio Tessari’s A Pistol for Ringo and The Return of Ringo set for release on 3/20, as well as George Romero’s Crazies, Season of the Witch, and There’s Always Vanilla on Blu-ray on 3/13.

Arrow Academy is releasing Robert Altman’s Images on Blu-ray on 3/20.

Severin Films is releasing Mick Jackson’s UK nuclear holocaust film Threads on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/20.

MVD is releasing Vincent Monton’s Windrider on Blu-ray on 6/26.

And finally, Amazon pre-orders are now being taken for Fox’s The Greatest Showman, Universal’s I, Tonya, Darkest Hour, and Molly’s Game, Paramount’s Downsizing, Sony’s All the Money in the World and LBJ, and Lionsgate’s Lady Bird. Click on the title links to visit their respective Blu-ray pre-order pages.

We’ll leave you with a look at the Blu-ray cover artwork for all of Criterion’s new March titles, plus Killer Klowns from Outer Space (just on the cover art to pre-order them on Amazon)...

The Age of Innocence (Criterion Blu-ray) The Passion of Joan of Arc (Criterion Blu-ray) Killer Klowns from Outer Space: Special Edition (Blu-ray Disc)

King of Jazz (Criterion Blu-ray) Women in Love (Criterion Blu-ray) Baal (Criterion Blu-ray)

Back tomorrow with more. Stay tuned!

- Bill Hunt

(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)

 

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