Let’s get right to the announcement news today...

Shout! and Scream Factory are going to release John Carpenter’s Body Bags and Assault on Precinct 13 on Blu-ray Combo on 11/12 and 11/19 respectively.  Extras on Body Bags will include three audio commentary tracks, interviews with Carpenter and the actors and the trailer.  Assault on Precinct 13 extras are still in development.

Sony has announced a number of new MOD Manufactured on Demand titles for release on DVD-R on 10/1, including Whatever, Gidget Gets Married, Kiss Me, Kill Me, The Comic, Air Hostess (1933), Babies for Sale, The Unwelcome Stranger, Made in Italy, Party of Five: The Complete Sixth Season and Happy Endings: The Complete Third Season.  […]

Okay, just a quick one today to round out the week...

First up, check this out... Syndctd Entertainment and International Films Management are releasing Perry Henzell’s cult classic The Harder They Come back into theaters for a limited time in the U.S. and U.K. starting on 9/5.  The film stars Jimmy Cliff.  Then later this year, Xenon Pictures is releasing the film on Blu-ray Disc.  All this is in honor of the film’s 40th Anniversary.  More information is available here.  Remember: “The hero can’t dead till the last reel!”

Warner Home Video is releasing the Paramount catalog title Terms of Endearment on Blu-ray Disc for the first time on 12/3 (SRP $19.98).  […]

Let’s start the day today with another new View from the Cheap Seats column from our very own Bud Elder, the cinematic Oracle of Oklahoma City!  As usual, Bud covers a range of film-related subjects – that I don’t wish to spoil here – and his thoughts are all worth reading.  Don’t miss it!

Meanwhile, back in Gotham City... Amazon.com is now taking pre-orders on the eventual Blu-ray release Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium.  Expect that to hit stores sometime right before Christmas we’d guess from Sony.  […]

Our topic today was prompted by a conversation I had after my dear friend Bill Thrash’s funeral a couple of weeks ago.  His surviving sister told me that when my pal, about whom I thought I knew everything, was 16, around 1954, in the small southeastern Oklahoma town of Ada, he commandeered a shitload of dimes and tried, to the very best of his ability, to call his hero, Frank Sinatra.

I started thinking then about how many of us have attempted to be in touch with our favorite movie star, director, producer, writer, composer or author?  I used to do that very thing a lot when I was single and bored.

Here are two stories that are so personal that I’ve never written about them before...  [...]

Afternoon, folks.  We’ve got some reviews for you today...

First, Doogan has delivered his thoughts on the Sony’s Blu-ray release of the recent Evil Dead remake.  Sounds like it’s okay if you have seen the original Sam Raimi films, but if you have it’s tough sledding.  It’s now available in stores.

Also, in honor of the theatrical debut of The World’s End, Tim Salmons has turned his attention to a pair of Universal catalog Blu-ray “Steelbook” re-issues, this time featuring a pair of his favorite comedies: Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz!  Both are also now available.

Now let’s get to today’s release news... [...]

All right, first up today, our own Russell Hammond has posted the Release Dates & Artwork update for this week, including all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Video Game cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links.  As always, a portion of anything you order from Amazon after clicking through to them from our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we surely do appreciate it.  We’d also like to send out a special nod to Russell this afternoon, as he became a proud papa again last night.  Congratulations to the whole family!

Also here at The Bits today, our own Dr. Adam Jahnke has turned in a new installment of Burnt Offerings covering all the latest MOD DVD-R release news for the week.  As part of the fun, he’s also reviewed Warner Archive’s awesome new DVD release, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels: The Complete Series – classic Saturday morning fare if ever there was such.  I can hear his club-raised battle cry now.  Enjoy!

Now then, in announcement news today…  […]

Before we get to this week’s new releases, I’d like to draw your attention to a worthwhile documentary project on the crowd-funding site Indiegogo.  If you’re reading this column, you probably have some interest in classic Hollywood and the history of Los Angeles.  If so, check out After 68, a documentary on the rise and fall of L.A.’s historic Ambassador Hotel.

The Ambassador and its adjacent nightclub, the Cocoanut Grove, was one of the key hot spots in Los Angeles, particularly throughout the 30s and 40s.  It hosted two Academy Award ceremonies, was frequented by pretty much every major star you can think of, and was used as a filming location for everything from The Graduate to Tobe Hooper’s Toolbox Murders, which is how I was able to visit it.  [...]

Okay, apparently we’re not done yet today...

Warner Home Video has just officially announced the Blu-ray 3D Combo, Blu-ray Combo and DVD release of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel on 11/12 (SRP $44.95, $35.99 and $29.98).  There will also be a 3D Limited Collector’s Edition (SRP $59.99) that includes the Blu-ray 3D Combo along with a limited release metal “S” glyph with lucite glass stand.

Here’s a look at the final official cover artwork for all four versions, which (except the box set) are now available for pre-order on Amazon.com by clicking on the covers…  […]

Afternoon, folks!  Let’s run down some today’s announcement news...

Lionsgate has officially announced the Blu-ray and DVD release of Mad Men: Season Six on 11/5 (SRP $49.97 and $49.98).  Extras will include 6 featurettes (Design of a Decade, Recreating an Era, Gay Power!, Gay Pride!, Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out and Summer of Love Archives) and more TBA.  Love the cover artwork – you can see it below.

Also CBS has announced that they’ll release Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season Five on Blu-ray Disc on 11/19 (SRP $129.99).  It will include all 26 episodes, audio commentary, deleted scenes, episode promos and all the previous DVD features, another multi-part documentary (Requiem: A Remembrance of Star Trek: The Next Generation) and the In Conversation: The Klingons and What He Left Behind: The Roddenberry Legacy featurettes.

Also coming from CBS on 11/19 is Star Trek: The Next Generation – Unification (SRP $28.28), which (as was the case with The Best of Both Worlds and Redemption) will feature the 2-part episode edited into a movie version along with a new exclusive documentary called From One Generation to the Next.  You’ll find the cover art for both of these titles below as well.  [...]

Well… it goes without saying that there’s nothing we could reveal here today that would be nearly as exciting as yesterday’s announcement by Criterion that they’re delivering a whopping 25-film Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman Blu-ray box set in November.  Our collective heads are still reeling from that awesome news here at The Bits today!

But we do have a couple release news odds and ends to report today… […]