Displaying items by tag: Adam Jahnke

All right, we’ve got a bunch more great new 4K Ultra HD catalog news to report today, and more new disc reviews as well...

As expected, I posted my review of producer Glen A. Larson’s original Battlestar Galactica (1978) in 4K Ultra HD from Universal late last night, and it’s a pretty detailed look at the film and its history.

Also today, Tim has gone in-depth on Martin Scorsese’s Hugo (2011), which is now available in a terrific new 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray 3D package from the good people of Arrow Video.

Dennis has checked in today as well with a look at Robert Wise’s Helen of Troy (1956) on Blu-ray from the always excellent Warner Archive Collection.

And Stuart rounds things out this afternoon with his thoughts on Marcel Ophul’s fascinating documentary on the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, The Sorrow and the Pity (1969) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.

Back to Arrow briefly: The company has just revealed on their social media feed that—in response to customer requests—they’re going to be including Michael Mann’s excellent Blackhat: Director’s Cut on Blu-ray in their forthcoming 4K UHD and Blu-ray packages! Thus the street date is going to be pushed back from 10/31 to 11/28. But the Director’s Cut—which has never been released on home video—is significantly different that the other two cuts of the film already being included on the release, so this is a terrific and welcome addition. Tip of the hat to Arrow for going the extra mile on this one. [Read on here...]

We’ve got no less than four new disc reviews for you today, starting with...

Stephen’s looks at Valerio Zurlini’s Le Soldatesse (1965) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber and Raro Video, Robert Siodmak’s The Devil Strikes at Night (1957) on Blu-ray from Kino Classics, and Matt Reeves’ Cloverfield: 15th Anniversary Limited Edition in 4K Ultra HD Steelbook from Paramount.

And our old friend Dr. Adam Jahnke and yours truly have taken a look at John Sturges’ classic Western, The Magnificent Seven (1960), coming soon on 4K Ultra HD from Shout! Factory.

Be sure to watch for more new disc reviews over the coming days.

Now then, it seems to be a rather slow day in terms of title announcements and new disc release news, but we do have one interesting item for you... [Read on here...]

On this final day of 2022, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the past year and, really, on the past twenty-five years here at The Digital Bits website.

First though, our own Michael Coate has just delivered one final History, Legacy, and Showmanship retrospective for the year, a look back at Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in celebration of the film’s 40th anniversary. The piece features another epic and multi-page roundtable interview with film experts and historians. Note that the piece will also be updated early in the new year with additional images and information, but the interview as it is is thorough and well worth your time, so be sure to check it out.

Now then… it’s an extraordinary thing to look back at twenty-five years of this website, a site I first started back in 1997 to cover the advent of DVD and to introduce the appreciation of cinema to a wider audience. As a film student at the Universal of Wisconsin in Madison, I had the honor of studying the subject under two of the finest film historians and theorists working today, David Boardwell and Kristin Thompson, not to mention the pleasure of discovering not just the Hollywood classics but the wider world of international cinema. And it’s been my goal—both then and now—to share that love and joy of discovery with everyone who might be interested. [Read on here...]

We’ve got three more new disc reviews for you today...

Stephen has taken a look at Ben Stiller’s uneven Vietnam war comedy Tropic Thunder (2008) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Dennis has offered his thoughts on Alexander Hall’s I Am the Law (1938) on Blu-ray from Imprint films.

And I’ve taken a look at Universal’s new 4K Ultra HD release of Robert Mulligan’s To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), with an assist by our old friend Dr. Adam Jahnke via his thoughts on the film itself.

We’ve got more new disc reviews coming all week, so be sure to watch for them. And tomorrow, we expect to have a brand new History, Legacy & Showmanship column from our own Michael Coate for you to enjoy—a nice longform read for cinephiles to distract from all the Election Day lunacy here in the States. So be sure to watch for that.

In announcement news today, 20th Century Studios and New Regency have set David O. Russell’s Amsterdam for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 12/6, with the Digital release expected on 11/11. Look for the 4K to include HDR10 high dynamic range, Dolby Atmos audio, and one extra: Welcome to Amsterdam. [Read on here...]

All right, this is just another quick news update here at The Bits as we continue to work on our back-end software upgrade. We’ll start as usual with new disc reviews...

Tim has posted his thoughts on Walter Hill’s 48 Hours (1982) from Paramount and Paul Donovan and Maura O’Connell’s Siege (1983) from Severin Films, both on Blu-ray, as well as Genndy Tartakovsky’s Hotel Transylvania 3 (2018) on Blu-ray 3D from Random Space Media.

Also, Dennis has checked out Danton Trumbo’s Johnny’s Got His Gun (1971) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films.

And Stephen has reviewed Erie C. Kenton’s You’re Telling Me! (1934) from Kino Lorber Studio Classics and Miklos Jancso’s Round-Up (1966) and The Red and the White (1967) from Kino Lorber, both on Blu-ray.

More disc reviews are on the way soon, so be sure to check back for them. [Read on here...]

[Editor’s Note: This interview was originally posted on The Digital Bits on 9/17/02, coinciding with the Columbia TriStar Home Video DVD release of Enough and Enigma. We would like to dedicate it to the memory of Michael Apted.]

There are some directors who find a genre they’re particularly comfortable with or adept at and make an entire career out of it. Think Wes Craven with horror movies or the Farrelly brothers in comedy. Michael Apted is not one of these directors. Apted is a jumper, having tackled everything from courtroom dramas to comedy to rock and roll. When you look at his filmography, the phrase you are most likely to repeat over and over is, “He directed that, too?”

Apted began his career as a researcher and director for British television. In the 1970’s, he crossed over to theatrical films with movies like Stardust, a terrific, criminally underrated movie that traces the rise and fall of a rock group (note to the studios: Stardust needs to be released on DVD and the sooner the better). His major American breakthrough came in 1980 with Coal Miner’s Daughter, for which Sissy Spacek won the Oscar as Best Actress. Since that time, Apted has worked with some of the best actors in recent memory, including Sigourney Weaver (also Oscar nominated for her work in Apted’s Gorillas in the Mist), Jodie Foster (Nell), Val Kilmer (Thunderheart), and Gene Hackman (Class Action and Extreme Measures). Oh yeah, he also helmed one of the most recent adventures of some guy named James Bond (The World is Not Enough). [Read on here...]

All right, I hope you guys all had a great weekend. I turned 50 and got a new cat, whose name is Max. So all things considered, I think I came out ahead.

First of all today, we trust you all saw the outstanding news we posted late yesterday, which is that our friends at The Warner Archive have revealed that they’re going to be releasing – due to popular demand, we imagine – the outstanding Batman: The Animated Series on Blu-ray in 2018! It was announced at a New York Comic-Con panel celebrating the series’ 25th anniversary. We don’t have any other information at the moment, but we expect that they’re going to be starting work soon, or have just recently started. We’d guess it’ll be a few months yet before we have significant details, but rest assured we’ll keep you posted. We’ve been lobbying for this for some time now; the show is a big favorite here at The Bits. Thanks to everyone at Warner and Warner Archive for making this possible. Very exciting indeed! [Read on here…]

All right, we’ve got another quick one for you today, as I’m still working on reviews. My look at Warner’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 4K Ultra HD review will be up shortly and I’ll update this link when it’s posted (update: here it is). Meanwhile, we also have a new review from Tim Salmons, who looks at Scream Factory’s new Firestarter: Collector’s Edition on regular Blu-ray.

Also today, we have a couple of great new feature columns... Bud Elder has chimed in with a new View from the Cheap Seats and he’s pretty sure he’s figured out what’s wrong with movies these days. Do give it a look. Not to be outdone, our old friend Dr. Adam Jahnke has turned in new Jahnke’s Electric Theatre Special column today here at The Bits, in which he says something that’s badly needed saying for a while now. You’ll find that in Open Along Edge: Netflix’s DVD Problem. Enjoy! [Read on here…]

In the fall of 2015, Cary Fukunaga’s Beasts of No Nation debuted at the Venice International Film Festival where it was acquired for distribution by Netflix for a whopping $12 million. The film went on to rack up an impressive list of awards and nominations, many singling out Idris Elba’s powerful supporting performance as the Commandant of a battalion of child soldiers. It appeared on several critics’ year-end top ten lists, including, among others, Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune, Drew McWeeny (then at HitFix), and Erin Whitney of ScreenCrush. It is “certified fresh” by review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes with an enviable 91% standing on Ye Olde TomatoMeter. It also made less than a million dollars at the box office, received zero Academy Award nominations, and, as of spring 2017, is not available on Blu-ray or DVD. You probably haven’t thought of it at all in at least a year. [Read on here...]

Welcome to our newest column addition Scream for a Week!

We here at The Digital Bits are big fans of Shout!’s Scream Factory division and, not unlike Todd Doogan’s Criterion Spines Project, we wanted to cover Scream Factory’s releases by catching up on a bunch that we’ve missed while acknowledging the previous ones. We’ll also be covering new ones here as well. This column will go up on a bi-weekly basis, so be sure to check back in another two weeks for another pile of Scream Factory goodness.

First up is Escape from New York, a title that Bill covered sometime ago. It’s a solid release with a great transfer and extras, and just happens to be one of my favorite movies. New to Blu-ray this week is Bubba Ho-Tep, another personal favorite of mine, with a barrage of terrific extras to check out. Following that up is the great Amityville Horror Trilogy boxed set, which is another older review, but this time from good old Dr. Jahnke. Also new to the chopping block is the Blacula/Scream Blacula Scream double feature Blu-ray release. And last but not least, Wes Craven’s Deadly Blessing, one of Scream Factory’s very first releases. [Read on here…]