Displaying items by tag: Roger Lay Jr

Afternoon, Bits readers! We’ve got something very special to share with you today here at the site, but first we also have some more new disc reviews...

Our very own Tim Salmons has delivered his thoughts on Roy William Neill’s Black Moon (1934) on Blu-ray from Columbia Pictures and Via Vision’s Imprint Films label. Tim has also taken a look at Jay Levey’s UHF (1989) in 4K Ultra HD from Shout! Studios in honor of the film’s 35th anniversary!

And Stuart has offered his take on another classic film, Arthur Ripley’s The Chase (1946) on Blu-ray from the good people at Kino Lorber Studio Classics. Enjoy!

Now then, some of you may remember that way back in 2010, visual effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull proposed an elaborate documentary on the making of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Unfortunately, he was never able to get Warner Bros. to fund the project, which was known as Beyond the Infinite, and the man sadly passed away in 2022 (you can read our salute to him here).

You may also remember that back in 2016, I published an in-depth look at the various behind-the-scenes books on the making of the film, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: The Ultimate Trip in Print, here at The Bits website.

Well... back in September I was honored to be contacted by my friends Michael and Denise Okuda (of Star Trek fame) to participate in a new documentary they were producing on 2001 with the team at OTOY. So I spent a lovely evening up in Burbank with Mike, Denise, and my old friend Roger Lay, Jr. (who created many of the excellent documentaries on Paramount’s Star Trek Blu-rays in recent years) shooting an interview about the film and its place in cinema history. Today, I am very pleased to say that the result of their work is finally available for all of you to see for yourselves! [Read on here...]

Afternoon, Bits readers! We’re back after the long 4th of July holiday here in the States with more reviews and announcements. As always, we’ll start with reviews...

Stuart has reviewed a pair of new Blu-ray titles, including Gregory La Cava’s Lady in a Jam (1942) and also Mervyn LeRoy’s Moment to Moment (1966) from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Stephen has checked in with his take on William Cameron Menzies’ Invaders from Mars (1953) on 4K Ultra HD from Ignite Films.

And Dennis has offered his look at Vincente Minelli’s The Courtship of Eddie’s Father (1963) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

Now then, in announcement news today, the big news is that our friends at Shout! and Scream Factory have just unveiled their September Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release slate, and—as always—there are some gems to report. [Read on here...]

All right, today’s post is going to be a quick one, as I’m celebrating my 26th wedding anniversary with my lovely wife, Sarah. But we do have a couple bits of very good news for you…

The first big announcement today is that CBS, Paramount, and the estate of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry are officially releasing a 3-disc Blu-ray collection on 12/13 called Star Trek: The Original Series – The Roddenberry Vault. Produced by our old friend Roger Lay, Jr., who created many of the amazing features for the recent Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: The Next Generation Blu-rays, this set will contain 12 classic Original Series episodes (specifically The Corbomite Maneuver, Arena, Space Seed, This Side of Paradise, The Devil in the Dark, The City on the Edge of Forever, Operation – Annihilate!, Metamorphosis, Who Mourns for Adonais?, Mirror, Mirror, The Trouble with Tribbles, and Return to Tomorrow) along with 3 new documentaries, including Inside the Roddenberry Vault (featuring Rod Roddenberry looking at long-lost film reels), Star Trek: Revisiting a Classic (a retrospective look at back at the making of the series), and Strange New Worlds: Visualizing the Fantastic (a look at the series’ visual effects and futuristic technology).  [Read on here…]

All right, we promised you some reviews and we’ve got a couple for you this morning.  Plus there’s some very exciting release news.  More on that in a minute.

First, I’ve turned in my thoughts on Twilight Time’s Oliver!, a nice Blu-ray upgrade of the classic musical.  It sports a fine transfer, nearly all of the previous DVD extras and new content as well.  Just 3,000 copies are available – see the review for details.

Also, I’ve finished a review of CBS’ forthcoming Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season Five on Blu-ray, which features 26 more episodes, all of the previous DVD extras (including the Best Buy bonus featurettes) and abundant new material too, including 4 audio commentaries, deleted scenes and a gag reel in HD and over 90 minutes of great new documentary content from our friends Roger Lay, Jr. and Robert Meyer Burnett.  Don’t miss it.  [Read on here…]