Displaying items by tag: A Hard Day's Night 4K

We have a couple more new disc reviews this afternoon and more release news for you as well. As always, reviews first...

Stephen has checked out a pair of Blu-ray titles today, including Craig Lahiff’s Black and White (2002) from Umbrella Entertainment—another Sunburnt Screens label title—and also Allan Arkush’s Get Crazy (1983) from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. Both are well worth a look, and it sounds like Get Crazy in particular includes a bunch of great bonus content. So enjoy Stephen’s reviews.

Now then, our friends over at The Warner Archive Collection have begun to reveal some great new catalog Blu-ray titles that they’re working on for release in 2022 (they’re listed as “coming soon” at the moment) and the three they’ve mentioned so far are real gems.

First up is Michael Curtiz’s Captains of the Clouds (1942) starring James Cagney. This is mastered from a new 4K scan of the original nitrate Technicolor camera negatives. Extras will include a 1942 Newsreel, the vintage 1942 color WB short Rocky Mountain Big Game, the classic Bugs Bunny cartoons What’s Cookin’, Doc? and Hold the Lion, Please (in HD), and the original theatrical trailer. [Read on here...]

We’re starting off the week with a trio of new Blu-ray reviews...

Stephen has taken a look at Nadia Tass’ Malcolm (1986) on Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment, along with Ralph Thomas’ Percy (1971) on the format from Code Red via Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Dennis has given Jonathan Mostow’s Breakdown (1997) a thorough going-over on Blu-ray via the new Paramount Presents release. As most of you know, the film stars Kurt Russell, J. T. Walsh, and Kathleen Quinlan.

More reviews are on the way all this week, so be sure to check back for them.

Now then, in announcement news today, our friends at Kino Lorber Studio Classics have revealed that they’re prepping a new 4K Ultra HD release of the 1963 John Sturges classic The Great Escape for release sometime in January. [Read on here...]

We’re closing out the week today here at The Bits with a bit of announcement news, word of a few 4K title delays, and more new disc reviews.

First up, Tim has turned in reviews of Stephen King’s Children of the Corn (1984), directed by Fritz Kiersch and newly released on 4K Ultra HD by Arrow Video, as well as Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds which is new on 4K Ultra HD from Universal.

Also, Stephen has reviewed Nick Murphy’s The Awakening (2011) on Blu-ray from the Cohen Media Group, along with Nadia Tass’ Malcolm (1986) on Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment.

More reviews are on the way, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for them.

Now then, the big announcement news today is that Criterion has just revealed their January 2022 release slate, which is set to include Thomas Vinterberg’s The Celebration (Spine #1108 – Blu-ray) on 1/11, Garrett Bradley’s Time (Spine #1109 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Richard Lester’s A Hard Day’s Night (Spine #711 – Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K) on 1/18, and Kirsten Johnson’s Dick Johnson Is Dead (Spine #111 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Jane Campion’s The Piano (Spine #1110 – Blu-ray and 4K) on 1/25. We’ve updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List and Criterion Spines Project pages accordingly. [Read on here...]

All right folks, this is a day a lot of us have been waiting a very long time for. Let’s get right into what is arguably the year’s biggest news...

Our friends at The Criterion Collection have finally announced that their first titles on the physical 4K Ultra HD format will include David Lynch’s Mulholland Dr., Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane, Jane Campion’s The Piano, Allen and Albert Hughes’s Menace II Society, Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell’s The Red Shoes, and Richard Lester’s A Hard Day’s Night! The first of these is expected to arrive in November (we believe it will be Mulholland Dr.) and will be officially detailed next week when Criterion announces its full November slate. The rest will follow in subsequent months (starting—we believe—with Citizen Kane in December, given that 2021 is the film’s 80th anniversary). Per Criterion, each of their 4K titles will include the film on both 4K and Blu-ray (with most extras on the Blu-ray, allowing the 4K disc to have maximum room for video and audio data). Select films will also feature Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos sound.

Any way you slice it, this is outstanding news. We actually knew (thanks to our longtime industry sources) about three of those titles and had a pretty good line on a fourth. But by our reckoning, the fact that the company has announced no less than SIX 4K titles tells us that Criterion is seriously ALL IN on the Ultra HD format at long last. And that is the best news we’ve had all year for physical media.

But that’s not all of the news we have for you today, so let’s keep going! [Read on here...]