Displaying items by tag: Russell Hammond

All right, today is Election Day here in the States, which means that partisans on both sides (and everyone in between) are feeling grumpy, nervous, or just over the whole damn thing. Some folks this evening or tomorrow—or at some point in the next two months—will be happy-ish. But while none of this feels normal, it may actually be the new normal, and that too is unsettling for lots of people.

Given all of that, I wanted to share a post today here at The Digital Bits that might actually serve as a balm or a ray of sunshine for movie and 4K fans—or at least a bit of welcome news—no matter what the outcome of today’s voting might be. So stay tuned for that in a moment.

First though, we’ve got a trio of new disc reviews to share with you here today, including...

Stephen’s take on Robert Rossen’s All the King’s Men (1949) in 4K Ultra HD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s new Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection: Volume 5 box set.

Dennis’ review of Robert Rossen’s Body and Soul (1947) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Stuart’s thoughts on Alberto Cavalcanti’s Nicholas Nickleby (1947) on Blu-ray from Kino Classics.

More reviews are definitely on the way soon, including my own look at Arcane: League of Legends in 4K UHD from GKids and Shout! Studios. So be sure to watch for them. [Read on here...]

All right, our news update for this afternoon begins with a few more new disc reviews, including...

Dennis’ take on Steven Shainberg’s Secretary (2002) on Blu-ray from Via Vision’s Imprint Films, along with Richard Crine’s Synanon (1965) on Blu-ray also from Imprint Films.

And Stuart’s review of Roger Donaldson’s Marie: A True Story (1985) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

We’ve also posted our weekly update of the Release Dates and Artwork section here at The Bits (last night—thanks to our own Russell Hammond for his hard work on it), which features all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, whenever you order literally anything from Amazon after clicking to them through one of our links (like this one), you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we really appreciate it!

In more announcement news today, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has just revealed the Blu-ray and DVD release of Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock – Season 1 on 11/19! This will include all 14 episodes with English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, audio commentary on 3 episodes with puppeteers John Tartaglia and Karen Prell, a Blooper Reel, and 4 sing-a-longs. You can see the Blu-ray cover art at left. [Read on here...]

All right, I’d intended to have a news update yesterday, but we all day working on a major upgrade of the Release Dates & Cover Artwork section here at The Bits. Not only have added tons of new Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links, we’ve done some software and server upgrades to the section as well, so it should be working better than ever. Better yet, we’re going to have new updates of the section every Tuesday to keep it fresh with all the latest titles!

As you may know, The Digital Bits is an Amazon Affiliate, so anytime you order literally anything after clicking to them through one of our links, you’re helping to support our work at The Bits. It makes a big difference and we truly appreciate it. So we hope you’ll find our upgraded Release Dates & Cover Artwork useful and use it often!

Now then, we have some new disc reviews for all of you to enjoy here today...

Stephen has offered his in-depth thoughts on Robert Altman’s Thieves Like Us (1974) in 4K Ultra HD from Vinegar Syndrome’s Cinématographe label, along with Destin Daniel Cretton’s Just Mercy (2019) in 4K from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, and also Peter Hyams’ Sudden Death (1995) in 4K UHD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Stuart has weighed in with a look at Ken Loach’s The Old Oak (2023) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber, as well as Fred Zinnemann’s The Nun’s Story (1959) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

And Dennis has reviewed Phil Karlson’s 99 River Street (1953) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics as well.

In announcement news today, Universal and Illumination have just set the CG-animated Despicable Me 4 for Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release on 9/24, with the Digital version available next week on 9/10. Scores of featurettes and deleted scenes will be included. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a good bit of ground to cover here at The Bits today, so let’s start as always with new disc reviews...

Now available here are Stephen’s take on Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974) in 4K Ultra HD from StudioCanal, David Allen’s The Primevals (2023) as released on Blu-ray by Umbrella Entertainment, and the Blu-ray Audio version of Jonathan Demme and Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense (1984) live album, which includes Dolby Atmos.

Stuart’s look at the Philo Vance Collection on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics—which includes The Canary Murder Case (1929), The Greene Murder Case (1929), and The Benson Murder Case (1930)—as well as George King’s The Shop at Sly Corner (1947) and the Columbia Film Noir #6: The Whistler box set—which includes The Whistler (1944), The Mark of the Whistler (1944), The Power of the Whistler (1945), Voice of the Whistler (1945), Mysterious Intruder (1946), The Secret of the Whistler (1946), The Thirteenth Hour (1947), and The Return of the Whistler (1948)—both on Blu-ray from Indicator.

Dennis’ thoughts on Basil Dearden’s The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970) on Blu-ray from Imprint and Welcome Back, Kotter: The Complete Series (1975-1979) on DVD from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment.

And finally, Tim has taken a look at Arch Oboler’s Bwana Devil (1952) on Blu-ray 3D from Kino Lorber Studio Classics with the help of the 3-D Film Archive.

More reviews are forthcoming, so stay tuned!

Now then, before we get to the big release news today, I wanted to alert you all to the fact that we’ve just posted a big update to our Cover Art section here at The Bits, aka the Release Dates & Artwork section (thanks to our own Russell Hammond)! It now features TONS of new Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover art, all with Amazon.com pre-order links. You can browse and sort the titles by street date and format, and of course The Bits is an Amazon Affiliate, so anytime you click through one of our Amazon links and order literally anything from them, you’re helping to support our work and we really do appreciate it. It makes a real difference for us. [Read on here...]

All right, we haven’t had a lot of news updates this week, because frankly there just hasn’t been a lot of news to report. And also because we’ve all been working on a lot of disc reviews for you to enjoy. In fact, today we have no less than TEN to share with you, including...

My thoughts on Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) in 4K Ultra HD from Lionsgate, Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (1990) in 4K UHD from The Criterion Collection, and Gil Kenan’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) in 4K UHD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Tim’s review of Ernie Fosselius’ Hardware Wars (1978) on Blu-ray and Albert Band’s Ghoulies II (1987) in 4K UHD from the MVD Rewind Collection, Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi’s Goodbye Uncle Tom (1971) in 4K from Blue Underground (which is definitely not for the faint of heart), and Jason Reitman’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) in 4K UHD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Dennis’ take on Ted Geoghegan’s Brooklyn 45 (2023) on Blu-ray from Shudder.

And Stephen’s look at Mark Waters’ Mean Girls (2004) on 4K Ultra HD from Paramount, as well as the import version of Michael Mann’s Ferrari (2023) in 4K UHD from Neon and Sky via Universal in UK.

More reviews are on the way for Monday, including my look at Luc Besson’s La Femme Nikika (1990) in 4K from Sony, and Alex Garland’s Civil War (2024) in 4K from Lionsgate, so be sure to watch for them.

Also, just a heads up: Our very own Russell Hammond has posted the new update of our ever-popular Release Dates and Cover Art section (see Cover Art above), which includes all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover art and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, you can sort by date, by format, even isolate the Criterion titles! And as an Amazon Affiliate, literally anything you order from Amazon after clicking to them through one of our links (like this one) goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we greatly appreciate it! [Read on here...]

All right, a quick heads-up for those of you who have purchased Paramount’s new Rosemary’s Baby 4K Ultra HD: An error has been discovered on the 4K disc’s soundtrack. When Dr. Sapirstein’s line “We happen to be in labor here” is spoken in the film, the only word audible in the mix is “here.” Note that this also pertains to the disc included in Paramount’s new Paramount Scares 4K box set.

Having been made aware of this error, Paramount intends to fix it and launch a disc replacement program. So if you have the new disc, visit this online form: https://phe-physical-consumer-support.imoxiemedia.com/

Select issue type “Other,” format “UHD,” put “Rosemary’s Baby 4K Ultra HD” in the title field, and in the brief description box add “Replacement Disc.” You might also want to specify whether you have the stand-alone disc or the Paramount Scares box set version.

You’ll be asked for your shipping info and (possibly) for a proof of purchase (which is often just a picture of the disc and its packaging). The fixed discs will be shipped out in the next couple of months when they’re ready. Thanks to Paramount for responding to this issue and taking steps to make it right.

Now then, in announcement news today, our friends at Arrow Video have indeed announced their January 2024 Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD slate as planned, and it’s pretty exciting.

It includes Brian De Palma’s Carrie (1976) on 4K Ultra HD on 1/22 (in the UK only—Scream Factory has already released the film here in the States on the format), as well as Peter Yates’ Murphy’s War (1971) on Blu-ray on 1/30 (in the US and Canada only), and both John Milius’ Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Richard Fleischer’s Conan the Destroyer (1984) on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD on 1/16 (in the US and Canada only). You’ll be able to buy the two Conan films individually, or in The Conan Chronicles: Limited Edition 3-disc set on Blu-ray or 4K Ultra HD. [Read on here...]

All right, we’re working on a bunch things here at the website today, including more reviews, follow-up on upcoming titles from our industry sources, and a big My Two Cents editorial/commentary piece on the current state of the home video industry that I’ll be posting here after the July 4th holiday.

In the meantime though, we do have a few more new disc reviews for you today, including...

Dennis’ thoughts on Harvey Hart’s Bus Riley’s Back in Town (1965) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films and Via Vision.

Stuart’s take on Don Siegel’s Steve McQueen/WWII drama Hell Is for Heroes (1962) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Stephen’s look at Steve Jodrell’s Shame (1988) on Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment via Vinegar Syndrome. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a few things to share with you today here at The Digital Bits...

First, our own Russell Hammond has completed a major new update of our interactive Release Dates & Cover Artwork section, featuring all kinds of new Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork, with Amazon.com pre-order links! All of the latest title announcements are included and we’re going to be adding more every week to keep the section fully up to date. The section also now features an option to sort the displayed page results by format and even by Criterion titles! And as always, whenever you pre-order literally anything from Amazon after clicking through to them from one of our links, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we really appreciate it.

Also, before we get to new release news for this afternoon, today marks the 46th anniversary of the theatrical release of George Lucas’ original Star Wars (1977). It’s also the 43rd anniversary of Richard Marquand’s Return of the Jedi (1983) and the 44th anniversary of Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979). So to celebrate the occasion, we’d like to call your attention to a few of our own Michael Coate’s History, Legacy & Showmanship retrospectives on these films here at The Bits:

A Force to be Reckoned With: Remembering “Star Wars” on its 40th Anniversary

Remembering “Return of the Jedi” on its 30th Anniversary

Celebrate the Love: Remembering “Return of the Jedi” on its 35th Anniversary

Still Screaming in Space: Remembering “Alien” on its 40th Anniversary

All of these are well worth your reading time and are filled with tremendous detail about the production and original theatrical release of these iconic films. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a bunch of ground to cover today, including a TON of new and recent disc reviews, lots of 4K Ultra HD catalog and new release news, and some regular Blu-ray news as well. I’ve been so distracted over the last week or so, what with all of the major announcements and the time required to track down and confirm release rumors, that I’ve neglected to mention the many disc reviews that we’ve posted here at the site during that time. So, let’s tackle those first...

Stephen has turned in his thoughts on Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch (2021) and Scott Cooper’s Antlers (2021) from 20th Century Studios, James C Wasson’s Night of the Demon (1980) from Severin Films, and Dario Argento’s Trauma (1993) from Vinegar Syndrome, all on Blu-ray Disc.

Tim has looked at Barry Sonnenfeld’s The Addams Family (1991) from Paramount, David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive (2001) from Criterion, Dennis Donnelly’s The Toolbox Murders (1978) from Blue Underground, and William Lustig’s Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence (1993) from Blue Underground, all in 4K Ultra HD, as well as the Nasty Habits: The Nunsploitation Collection from Severin Films, John Hancock’s Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971) from Imprint Films, Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996) from Paramount, and Brian Trenchard-Smith’s Turkey Shoot (1982) from Umbrella Entertainment, all on Blu-ray.

And Dennis has delivered his take on Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) as recently re-issued by Paramount, as well as Hal Ashby’s Harold and Maude (1971), also from Paramount and both released on regular Blu-ray.

All of these titles are worth a look and there’s certainly something for everyone in that line-up. If you’re a fan of It’s a Wonderful Life, don’t forget that our own Michael Coate recently profiled the film for its 75th anniversary in his most recent History, Legacy and Showmanship column here at The Bits—it’s definitely worth a look if you missed at Christmas time. [Read on here...]

All right, this is our final Bits post of 2020. And it’ll be a quick one.

This has certainly been a difficult year for all of us here and no doubt it has been for all of you, our readers, as well. But a new year at least brings the hope that things can and will get better on Planet Earth going forward.

On a personal note, I’m pleased to say that—though it’s been a struggle—The Digital Bits is still here. We’ve made it through some difficult times, we’re still alive and ticking. And we intend to keep cracking on in 2021 and beyond.

I’ve also been working on a second science fiction novel, and hope to see my first actually published sometime in 2021—something I’ve had to put on the back-burner this past year in order to keep the site going. But the writing process has certainly been personally satisfying, and it’s kept me going in dark moments. That, plus having a telescope to look at the stars a few times a month, and of course great family and friends—even though we’ve only been able to see them from afar.

In any case, I know I speak for all of us here at the site when I say that we’re grateful to have each and every one of you as readers of The Digital Bits.

So with that, we’d like to wish you all a very happy and safe New Year! And together we’ll make 2021 a better time for all of us.

See you back here on Monday. Peace out!

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