My Two Cents
Wednesday, 05 January 2022 15:54

The Green Mile, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, Hurt Locker & The Hitcher in 4K, plus Ordinary People on Blu-ray & more

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Wednesday afternoon here at The Bits brings new disc reviews and more release news as well...

First, Tim has posted his thoughts on Michael Felsher’s excellent new documentary After Effects: Memories of Pittsburgh Filmmaking, now available on Limited Edition Blu-ray from his own new label, Red Shirt Video. Sounds like it’s a pretty terrific release so do check it out.

By the way, after you enjoy that, here’s a link to an interview I did way back in 2005 (on the original Bits website) with writer/director John Harrison about Effects and his work with Romero and other Pittsburgh filmmakers. (Just pardon the messy formatting.)

Also this afternoon, Stephen has posted reviews of William Beaudine’s The Old Fashioned Way (1934) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as Sarah Smith, Jean-Philippe Vine, and Octavio E. Rodriguez’s Ron’s Gone Wrong in 4K Ultra HD from 20th Century Studios.

More reviews are forthcoming in the days ahead, including several that I’m working on, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for them. [Read on here...]

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In announcement news today, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has just officially set Frank Darabont’s The Green Mile for release on 4K Ultra HD on 2/22, as we’ve long been expecting now. Extras in the package will include the previously-released Blu-ray features, among them audio commentary by Darabont, Additional Scenes, the Walking the Mile: The Making of The Green Mile documentary, a Miracle and Mystery: Creating The Green Mile featurette gallery, Tom Hanks Makeup Tests, Michael Clarke Duncan Screen Test, The Teaser Trailer: A Case Study, and theatrical trailers. We expect HDR10 high dynamic range and DTS-HD MA audio. [UPDATE: It’s not mentioned in the studio’s press release, but the back of the 4K packaging indicates a new Dolby Atmos mix.] You can see the cover artwork above left and also below.

Lionsgate has set Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker (2009) for 4K Ultra HD Steelbook release exclusively at Best Buy stores on 2/22 as well. Extras will include the previous audio commentary with Bigelow and writer Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker: Behind-the-Scenes, and an image gallery. Audio is Dolby Atmos. Look also for HDR10 high dynamic range.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has officially announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City on 2/8, with the Digital release expected on 1/18. Regular 4K and Steelbook 4K versions will be available. The Blu-ray, 4K, and Digital versions will each include 20 minutes of featurettes, including Replicating the DNA, Cops, Corpses and Chaos, and Zombies, Lickers and the Horrors of Resident Evil. Look for HDR10 high dynamic range and Dolby Atmos audio on the 4K.

Also today, Second Sight Films in the UK has revealed that they’re located the original camera negative to Robert Harmon’s excellent Rutger Hauer thriller The Hitcher (1986), with the help of Warner’s studio archives team, and will be releasing newly-restored 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray versions later in 2022! Very exciting indeed.

Kino Lorber Studio Classics has revealed that their previously-announced 4K Ultra HD edition of Billy Wilder’s The Apartment (1960) will officially street on 3/8.

And in regular Blu-ray news, Paramount has just announced their next Paramount Presents Blu-ray title that’s due on 3/29: Robert Redford’s Ordinary People (1980), starring Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch, and Timothy Hutton. Extras will include a new featurette with Hutton called Swimming in the Rose Garden, along with Feeling Is Not Selective with original novelist Judith Guest, and the theatrical trailer. Here’s what the package looks like...

Ordinary People: Paramount Presents (Blu-ray Disc)

Finally today, CES 2022 is now underway in Las Vegas, though it must be acknowledged that it’s a somewhat reduced affair (and a full day shorter than usual) due to several major CE companies having pulled out because of the surge in the Omicron COVID variant. But lots of folks are taking about the so-called “Metaverse” there, as well as Artificial Intelligence, EVs, new display technology, and many other gadgets.

Among them is luxury movie player maker Kaleidescape, which has just announced a new “entry-level” Terra 6 movie server that’s meant to be paired with their new Strato C player (which has replaced the previous Strato S model). Per the company, “The Kaleidescape compact Terra 6TB movie server is initially offered as a bundle with the Strato C movie player at a special price of $7,995 through March 31, 2022.” We realize that may not seem like the definition of entry-level for most of you, but anyway there it is. More details are available here on the Kaleidescape website.

We’ll leave you today with a look at the cover artwork for The Green Mile in 4K, as well as Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, and Last Night in Soho, all of which are now available for pre-order on Amazon by clicking on the covers...

The Green Mile (4K Ultra HD) Last Night in Soho (4K Ultra HD) Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (4K Ultra HD)

Stay tuned...!

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

 

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