Displaying items by tag: Denis Villeneuve

All right, we’ve got a few new disc reviews to start the day out…

Tim has turned in his thoughts on Eugenio Martin’s The Fourth Victim (1971), new on Blu-ray from Severin Films.

Dennis has taken a look at Jack Smight’s The Screaming Woman (1972) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Stephen has reviewed Edward Dmytryk’s The Sniper (1952) on Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment.

More reviews are on the way in the days ahead, so be sure to stay tuned for them.

Now then, Paramount has informed us that their Paramount Presents Blu-ray release of The Sheik has been delayed from 10/19 to 11/2. Adjust your plans accordingly.

Paramount has also set a wide-release of their Indiana Jones 4-Movie Collection 4K Steelbook for 11/2.

GKids (via Shout! Factory) is releasing the Hayao Miyazaki-directed anime series Future Boy Conan: The Complete Series on Blu-ray on 11/16. [Read on here...]

We’re starting out the new week today here at The Bits with a trio of new disc reviews...

First up, Tim and I have taken a look at Arrow Video’s terrific new Limited Edition Blu-ray of Ridley Scott’s Legend. The 2-disc set is absolutely loaded with vintage and new extras, and it includes the US Theatrical Cut newly-remastered from a 4K scan, as well as the Director’s Cut. Legend is a challenging title for a lot of reasons, but Arrow’s done a really great job with this one. If you’re a fan of the film, this is as good as it’s ever looked, and this is essentially a complete archive of all the previous special features and more.

Also today, Stephen has reviewed Chloe Zhao’s first film, Songs My Brothers Taught Me, newly-released on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber. If that name is familiar, it’s because Zhao is the filmmaker who’s just made The Eternals for Marvel Studios. It sounds like this earlier work is pretty terrific.

And finally, Dennis has given Wallace Worsley’s 1923 version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame a look on Blu-ray from Kino Classics. As many of you will already be aware, this version features the great Lon Chaney in the role of Quasimodo. It’s worth a look if you haven’t seen it yet.

While we’re on the subject of Universal Monsters, I’m currently working on a review of the Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection in 4K and should have that up by the end of the week. I’m giving myself the week to work on it, however, because I’m attending a studio screening of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune tomorrow afternoon. And I have a sneaking suspicion that’s going to occupy my mind for the next few days afterwards. I’ll definitely post a few non-spoiler thoughts about that film as well this week, rest assured. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ll have a bit of additional announcement news for the week tomorrow here at The Bits, and I’ll be spending the afternoon working on a review of Akira Kurosawa’s Ran in 4K UHD, which will be posted then as well.

But today, I want to talk about Denis Villeneuve’s DUNE.

I had the opportunity last night to attend one of Warner and Legendary’s IMAX sneak peek events for the film as a member of the press.

A little background first... I would definitely go so far as to call myself an expert on the subject of science fiction cinema. I’ve been reading literary science fiction my entire life (including DUNE many times), I’m known in some circles to be well-versed on the topic human spaceflight, and I’m a life-long student of science in general. I read physics and astronomy research papers like some people read comic books.

So as I noted in my recent review of Voyagers in 4K, I have certain critical expectations of science fiction films and TV series. Is the story and its science setup plausible, or does it require too many contrivances or conveniences? Is the story logically consistent? Is the world-building credible and convincing? And most importantly, is the story entertaining, engaging, or thought-provoking? The vast majority of genre programming fails on one or more of those criteria. In other words, on both the big and small screen, truly great science fiction is rare. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a bit of fun news today, some release news and some other...

First up though, we also have a new disc review. Dennis has just turned in a look at director George Marshall’s classic Destry Rides Again (1939) now on Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection. It’s a classic western starring James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich that’s well worth your time.

And while we’re speaking of Criterion, that brings us to our first bit of release news, which is that Criterion has just announced a Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits Blu-ray box set (Spine# 1036), which is set to include The Big Boss (1971), Fist of Fury (1972), The Way of the Dragon (1972), Enter the Dragon (1973), and Game of Death (1978). [Read on here...]

We have just a couple of quick release announcements and updates to offer you today, before we let you all head out for the weekend…

Shout! Factory has announced The ‘Burbs: Collector’s Edition for release on Blu-ray on 3/20 as part of their Shout Select line.

Also coming that day as part of their Select line is Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Downfall, an absoutely fantastic film about the last days of Hitler in WWII starring Bruno Ganz (and the source of a surprisingly persistent viral YouTube meme you may be familiar with – one of the early versions even referenced The Bits, as some of you longtime readers may recall). Shout! also has Macon County Line coming on 1/16 to the Select line. Extras on these titles are still TBA. [Read on here…]

All right, no sooner did we post our last column then word came in that Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has officially set Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner: 2049 for release on Blu-ray Combo, Blu-ray 3D Combo, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 1/16/18, as expected (SRP $35.99, $44.95, $28.98, and $44.95, respectively). The Digital HD release is set for 12/26.

It appears that the Blu-ray and 4K editions will all feature Dolby Atmos audio. There’s mention of High Dynamic Range in the official press release, but not Dolby Vision, so the HDR is likely HDR10.

Keep in mind that this film was finished as a native 4K Digital Intermediate (with digital capture at 3.4K), so it should look pretty great, especially in Ultra HD. [Read on here…]