Displaying items by tag: Criterion June Slate

Okay, we’ve got some serious ground to cover in today’s My Two Cents update, so let’s get right to it...

First, we’ve just posted Michael Coate’s brand new History, Legacy & Showmanship column here at The Bits, featuring a terrific new retrospective of George Lucas’ THX 1138 in honor of the film’s 50th anniversary (which was last week on 3/11 – the piece was delayed due to a technical issue). The column takes an in-depth look back at the original theatrical release and also features a great roundtable discussion with film historian Chris Barsanti, documentary filmmaker Gary Leva, and original Director of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm Craig Miller. I think you’ll really enjoy it. So you’ll find that here.

Next up, as some of you may have noticed over the weekend, we posted word on Saturday (see here) that video distributors had begun listing a 4-film Indiana Jones Collection for release on 4K Ultra HD on 6/8. This is still not to be considered official until Paramount and Lucasfilm make their actual announcement, however be aware that I’ve now confirmed it with multiple film industry sources in addition to retail and distribution sources. And it’s really not all that surprising given that 6/12 is marks the 40th anniversary of the original film’s theatrical release. We expect the set to include all four existing films in 4K with HDR10 high dynamic range and the previous DTS-HD Master Audio lossless sound mixes (but that’s still subject to change). [Editor’s Note: We’ve just confirmed that the set WILL include Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. Details to follow shortly.] The 5-disc set will also include a disc of bonus features that are TBA. Of course, we’ll post more information on this as it comes in.

The other big news today is that our friends at The Criterion Collection have just unveiled their June slate of titles. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a bunch of good stuff for you today here at The Bits so let’s get right to it...

First up, Tim has just posted his review of Tibor Takacs’ The Gate from Lionsgate, part of their new Vestron Video Collector’s Series. The disc is now available in stores.

Meanwhile, Michael Coate has chimed in with a new History, Legacy & Showmanship column, celebrating today’s 40th anniversary of the hit ABC sitcom Three’s Company. It features an interview with author and series authority Chris Mann. Do give it a look. [Read on here…]

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The big news today here at The Bits is that Criterion has just announced their June Blu-ray and DVD release slate and it’s got some real gems. Look for Michelangelo Antonioni’s Le amiche (1955 – Cat# 817 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 6/7, Jean Renoir’s La Chienne (1931 – Cat# 818 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Alexander Hall’s Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941 – Cat# 819 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 6/14, René Laloux’s animated Fantastic Planet (1973 – Cat# 820 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 6/21, and Olivier Assayas’ Clouds of Sils Maria (2014 – Cat# 822 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964 – Cat# 821 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 6/28.  [Read on here…]

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All right, sorry for the lack of a news post yesterday, but I’ve been wrapped up in Blu-ray review work. Some big titles are coming out over the next few weeks and a number of them are well worth diving into.

Speaking of which, though it took all day yesterday to go through everything, I’ve posted my in-depth review of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar on Blu-ray from Paramount. The disc streets on 3/31. For those of you who experienced problems (in theaters) with the sound mix making lots of the dialogue unintelligible amid the sound effects and music, I can report that’s much less of a problem here. The mix is still pushed toward the low end, and there are still one or two lines where you have to listen more closely than normal, but this does seem to be a deliberate artistic choice. Still, I can attest that this is a much better audio experience than the one I had at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. And the extras are pretty terrific. Do check it out.  [Read on here…]