Displaying items by tag: Janus Contemporaries

We have no less than four new disc reviews for you to enjoy today, and--surprise!--I even managed to finish one for a change...

First, Tim has taken a look at Sidney Lumet’s excellent Murder on the Orient Express (1974) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as Hanna-Barbera’s animated Top Cat: The Complete Series (1961-1962) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

Also, Dennis has reviewed another Warner Archive title: Norman Foster’s Journey Into Fear (1943) on Blu-ray.

And finally today, I’ve shared my thoughts on M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs (2003), a tense and effective alien invasion thriller, on 4K Ultra HD from Touchstone Pictures, Disney, and Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

As always, more reviews are forthcoming this week, so be sure to stay tuned for them!

In announcement news this afternoon, there is just not much to report. But we do have a couple things for you...

First, Paramount is reissuing Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) as a 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray combo on 1/14, simply without the Paramount Presents packaging. It also looks like the studio is doing the same thing with Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974) that same day. We assume they’re the same 4K discs as before. (If otherwise, we’ll confirm and post an update here.) You can see the new cover art for the former at left and also below. [Read on here...]

Greetings, Bits-ers! We’ve got some great announcement news for you this afternoon, but first...

Tim has taken a look at a couple of new releases on disc for you all, including Sergio Martino’s Torso (1973), an Italian giallo title from Arrow Video in 4K Ultra HD, and also Antonio Margheriti’s Cannibal Apocalypse (1980) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Cult. So that should take care of your schlock horror cravings for today.

Morning reviews are on the way, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled.

Now then, the big announcement news today is that 20th Century Studios has just officially set Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus (2024) for 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD release on 12/3, with the Digital release expected in a couple of weeks on 10/15. The title will come in Steelbook packaging only. Look for HDR10 high dynamic range and Dolby Atmos audio on a 66GB disc. The aspect ratio (per the press release) is 2.39:1.

[Editor’s Note: The studio press release indicates HDR10 only, but the open packaging shot—when zoomed in—reveals that the disc has the Dolby Vision logo on it. We’ve asked the studio to confirm and will post an update here when we hear back.]

[Editor’s Update – 10/1/24: Just a quick heads up to clarify... I’ve confirmed with studio sources that the Alien: Romulus 4K will indeed have Dolby Vision HDR, despite the fact that their press release suggested otherwise. However: No, Disney and 20th Century aren’t necessarily adding DV to all future Ultra HD titles. Instead, they’re making the decision to include it on a case by case basis going forward.]

Extras will include the Return to Horror: Crafting Alien: Romulus documentary, which includes 4 parts (The Director’s Vision, Creating the Story, Casting the Faces, and Constructing the World). You’ll also get 2 additional featurettes (Inside the Xenomorph Showdown and Alien: A Conversation which features Alvarez talking with original Alien director Ridley Scott). And a selection of Alternate/Extended Scenes will also be included. You can see the packaging at left and also below. [Read on here...]

We start as always today with several new disc reviews, including…

Sam Cohen’s take on Poul Bang and Sidney W. Pink’s Reptilicus (1961) in 4K Ultra HD from Vinegar Syndrome.

Stuart’s look at Something Weird Video and Kino Classic’s double-feature Blu-ray of The Pace that Kills (1928) and its “talkie” remake The Cocaine Fiends (1935).

Dennis’ reviews of Clarence Brown’s Idiot’s Delight (1939) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection and Chad Ferrin’s Night Caller (2021) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

Stephen’s thoughts on Guy Ritchie’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) in 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video.

And last but definitely not least, Tim’s review of Arrow Video’s new UK-only release of Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs (1991) in 4K Ultra HD, which corrects the color space issues that plagued the Kino Lorber Studio Classics 4K disc from 2021.

More reviews are forthcoming tomorrow, so be sure to watch for them!

Now then, the big news today is that Franklin J. Schaffner’s Planet of the Apes (1968) has just been upgraded to 4K on all your favorite Digital services, including Apple TV, Fandango at Home, Movies Anywhere, Kaleidescape and more! It actually has Dolby Vision HDR on Apple TV (and it may elsewhere as well). Naturally, we’ve asked about the possibility of a physical 4K release of this film. I suspect there are no current plans, but I also suspect that if the title does well on Digital, that could change. [Read on here...]

We start as always today with more new disc reviews, including…

Stephen’s look at Jonathan Demme’s Last Embrace (1979) in 4K Ultra HD from Vinegar Syndrome’s excellent Cinématographe line, as well as John Waters’ Cry-Baby (1990) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Stuart’s reviews of Andrzej Żuławski’s L’important c’est d’Aimer... (1975) on Blu-ray from Film Movement via Vinegar Syndrome, along with John Guillermin’s The Whole Truth (1958) on Blu-ray from Powerhouse Films’ Indicator label.

And Dennis’ take on Boaz Yakin’s Fresh (1994) on Blu-ray from Via Vision’s Imprint Films.

Now then, there’s some exciting release news for us to share with you today, but first we want to take a moment to clear up some confusion: The Warner Archive Collection is still the Warner Archive Collection!

Many of you have probably seen that their Facebook page was suddenly rebranded as Warner Classics (click here for the link). But rest assured, the Warner Archive Collection remains! Warner is simply trying to unite all of its “classic film” marketing activity in one social media space. So while the Warner Archive Collection remains the core of this page, you’ll also learn here about forthcoming classic film releases on Blu-ray and 4K UHD from the studio proper, as well as theatrical screening activity, and the like. So everyone can relax—Warner Archive has not disappeared!

In fact, Warner Archive has just shared some excellent release news: The Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice: Volume 4 Blu-ray is officially coming on 11/26! You can see their official Facebook post here. Details of the actual shorts the set will include are yet to be announced, but the release is definitely now in production. Great news indeed! [Read on here...]

All right, we haven’t had a lot of news updates this week, because frankly there just hasn’t been a lot of news to report. And also because we’ve all been working on a lot of disc reviews for you to enjoy. In fact, today we have no less than TEN to share with you, including...

My thoughts on Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) in 4K Ultra HD from Lionsgate, Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (1990) in 4K UHD from The Criterion Collection, and Gil Kenan’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) in 4K UHD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Tim’s review of Ernie Fosselius’ Hardware Wars (1978) on Blu-ray and Albert Band’s Ghoulies II (1987) in 4K UHD from the MVD Rewind Collection, Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi’s Goodbye Uncle Tom (1971) in 4K from Blue Underground (which is definitely not for the faint of heart), and Jason Reitman’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) in 4K UHD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Dennis’ take on Ted Geoghegan’s Brooklyn 45 (2023) on Blu-ray from Shudder.

And Stephen’s look at Mark Waters’ Mean Girls (2004) on 4K Ultra HD from Paramount, as well as the import version of Michael Mann’s Ferrari (2023) in 4K UHD from Neon and Sky via Universal in UK.

More reviews are on the way for Monday, including my look at Luc Besson’s La Femme Nikika (1990) in 4K from Sony, and Alex Garland’s Civil War (2024) in 4K from Lionsgate, so be sure to watch for them.

Also, just a heads up: Our very own Russell Hammond has posted the new update of our ever-popular Release Dates and Cover Art section (see Cover Art above), which includes all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover art and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, you can sort by date, by format, even isolate the Criterion titles! And as an Amazon Affiliate, literally anything you order from Amazon after clicking to them through one of our links (like this one) goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we greatly appreciate it! [Read on here...]

We have four new disc reviews to share with you today, as well as some exciting catalog 4K release news! But first those reviews...

Stephen has taken a look at Jack Nicholson’s Goin’ South (1978) in 4K Ultra HD from Paramount and Vinegar Syndrome via their new Cinématographe label.

Dennis has turned in his thoughts on Henry Hathaway’s western 5 Card Stud (1968) on Blu-ray also from Paramount via Vinegar Syndrome.

Stuart has reviewed Franklin J. Schaffner’s Islands in the Stream (1977) on Blu-ray via Imprint Films.

And I’ve just given Peter Gabriel: Back to Front – Live in London (2014) a review in 4K Ultra HD from Real World and Eagle Rock via Mercury Studios.

Now then, the big news today is that StudioCanal has set a new 4K restoration of Francis Ford Coppola’s neo-noir thriller The Conversation (1974) for release on 4K Ultra HD on July 15 in the UK. This is in honor of the film’s 50th anniversary. The film is also returning to theaters in the UK on July 5.

The legendary film stars Gene Hackman as San Francisco surveillance expert Harry Caul, who finds himself confronted with a moral dilemma when his wiretapped conversation recordings reveal a possible murder. The supporting cast includes John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, Robert Duvall, and Harrison Ford. [Read on here...]

We’ve got some great release news for you today to start out the new week.

And we’ve also got more new disc reviews for you, so let’s get to the latter first...

Over the weekend, Stephen posted his thoughts on Disney+ and Marvel’s new release of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The Complete First Season (2024) in 4K Ultra HD. He’s also given Riccardo Freda’s The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962) a review in 4K Ultra HD from Vinegar Syndrome.

Not to be outdone, Tim has reviewed Hanna-Barbera’s animated The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones (1987) on Blu-ray from our friends at the Warner Archive Collection, as well as Paul Leni’s The Cat and the Canary (1927) on Blu-ray from Eureka Entertainment.

Lots more reviews are on the way this week, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for them!

Now then, in announcement news, let’s start with the big one first... GKids and Shout Factory have officially set Hayao Miyazaki’s animated The Boy and the Heron (2023) for release on Blu-ray + DVD, 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray, and 4K UHD + BD Steelbook on 7/9! The Digital release expected on 6/25. [Read on here...]

Happy Leap Day, Bits readers! February 29th only comes around once every four years, so enjoy it while you can.

I want to take a moment to thank all of you for your patience. We haven’t done a news update here for a couple days, and the reason is that I’ve been doing a lot more digging about that Disney and Sony physical media distribution deal, and I have in fact learned a little bit more information that will put the deal in better context. So after having a few last conversations with sources tonight, I’ll have a bit more to share on that front in tomorrow’s news update here at The Bits.

In the meantime, we’ve posted a bunch more new disc reviews here at the site as follows...

Dennis has posted his thoughts on Raoul Walsh’s The Roaring Twenties (1939) on Blu-ray from our friends at The Criterion Collection, as well as Ralph Murphy’s The Man in Half Moon Street (1945) on Blu-ray from Imprint, Robin Spry’s One Man (1977) and Elly Kenner and Norman Thaddeus Vane’s The Black Room (1982) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome, and Damien LeVeck’s A Creature Was Stirring (2023) on Blu-ray from Well Go USA.

Stewart has taken a look at Norman Jewison’s The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, Nigel Cole’s Saving Grace (2000) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection, and Alan Rudolph’s Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994) on Blu-ray from Imprint.

And finally, Stephen has check in with his take on David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ (1999) on 4K Ultra HD from Vinegar Syndrome. All are well worth a look (both the films and the discs). [Read on here...]

In reviews today, Stephen has taken a great in-depth look at Terry Gilliam’s acclaimed Time Bandits (1981) in 4K Ultra HD from the Criterion Collection.

And Tim has weighed in with his thoughts on Chris McKay’s horror comedy Renfield (2023) on Blu-ray from Universal. The film stars Nicolas Cage, Nicholas Hoult, and Awkwafina.

As far as title announcements, the big one today is that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has officially set the animated sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 9/5. The Digital version becomes available on 8/8. The 4K will include Dolby Atmos audio, while the Blu-ray will feature 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Extras will include audio commentary with the filmmakers, a deleted scene (Miguel Calling), lyric videos, and 10 behind-the-scenes featurettes (Obscure Spiders and Easter Eggs, I’mma Do My Own Thing, Across the Worlds: Designing New Dimensions, Designing Spiders and Spots, Scratches, Score and The Music of the Multiverse, Escape from Spider-Society, Across the Comics-Verse, Creating the Ultimate Spider-Man Movie, Raising a Hero, and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Cast). You can see the final cover artwork for the 4K UHD at left and also below, along with the wide release Blu-ray cover. Note that there will also be retail-exclusive packaging SKUs, including a Steelbook at Best Buy.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has also set Cobra Kai: Season 5 for DVD only release on 9/12. [Read on here...]