Displaying items by tag: Kino Classics

All right, today is Election Day here in the States, which means that partisans on both sides (and everyone in between) are feeling grumpy, nervous, or just over the whole damn thing. Some folks this evening or tomorrow—or at some point in the next two months—will be happy-ish. But while none of this feels normal, it may actually be the new normal, and that too is unsettling for lots of people.

Given all of that, I wanted to share a post today here at The Digital Bits that might actually serve as a balm or a ray of sunshine for movie and 4K fans—or at least a bit of welcome news—no matter what the outcome of today’s voting might be. So stay tuned for that in a moment.

First though, we’ve got a trio of new disc reviews to share with you here today, including...

Stephen’s take on Robert Rossen’s All the King’s Men (1949) in 4K Ultra HD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s new Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection: Volume 5 box set.

Dennis’ review of Robert Rossen’s Body and Soul (1947) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Stuart’s thoughts on Alberto Cavalcanti’s Nicholas Nickleby (1947) on Blu-ray from Kino Classics.

More reviews are definitely on the way soon, including my own look at Arcane: League of Legends in 4K UHD from GKids and Shout! Studios. So be sure to watch for them. [Read on here...]

We’ve got one more new disc review to close out the week...

Stuart has turned in his take on Michel Boisrond’s Naughty Girl (1956) on Blu-ray from Kino Classics. It’s a French comedy starring Brigitte Bardot.

And more reviews are forthcoming, including possibly starting this weekend. So be sure to keep your eyes peeled both here and on our various social media (including @billhuntbits and @thedigitalbits).

Now then, the big news today is that our friends at Arrow Video have just unveiled their January Blu-ray and 4K slate.

And as you might expect, it includes a couple of long-awaited gems, as well as a few titles other labels have released previously (but Arrow always makes their own versions special). [Read on here...]

We’ve got some MAJOR announcement news to share with you all today, we’re starting things off as always with four new disc reviews...

Tim has checked in with his thoughts on Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass’ animated The Last Unicorn (1982) in 4K Ultra HD and 4K Steelbook from Shout! Studios.

And Dennis has weighed in with this take on Norman Z. McLeod’s My Favorite Spy (1951) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as Serge Bourguignon’s Two Weeks in September (1967) on Blu-ray from Kino Classics.

Now then, our friends at Shout! Studios and the Warner Archive Collection have announce major slates of Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD catalog titles for release in November and December!

The Warner Archive Collection has revealed 6 new classic Blu-ray titles for release on 11/26, including Jean Negulesco’s Humoresque (1946)—mastered from a 4K scan of original nitrate camera negative—Jack Haley Jr. That’s Entertainment! (1974)—re-constructed from original negatives and preservation elements—The Complete Thin Man Collection (1934-47)—a 6-disc set mastered from 4K scans of the best surviving elements, featuring WS Van Dyke’s pre-Code The Thin Man (1934), After the Thin Man (1936), Another Thin Man (1939), and Shadow of the Thin Man (1941), as well as Richard Thorpe’s Song of the Thin Man (1944), and Edward Buzzell’s The Thin Man Goes Home (1947)—Hanna-Barbera’s animated Wait Till Your Father Gets Home (1972-74) TV series—featuring 48 episodes on 6 discs—Gary David Goldberg’s Must Love Dogs (2005), and finally the Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice: Volume 4 (1937-64)—including 27 classic Looney Tunes fully restored and remastered shorts, including Friz Freleng’s Streamlined Greta Green (1937), Double Chaser (1942), Meatless Flyday (1944), Peck Up Your Troubles (1945), Along Came Daffy (1947), A Bone for a Bone (1951), Muzzle Tough (1954), Stork Naked (1955), Hyde and Go Tweet (1960), Lighter Than Hare (1960), D’ Fightin’ Ones (1961), Devil’s Feud Cake (1963), and Road to Andalay (1964), Tex Avery’s The Sneezing Weasel (1938) and Dangerous Dan McFoo (1939), Tex Avery and Bob Clampett’s The Cagey Canary (1941), Chuck Jones’ Fox Pop (1942), Mouse-Warming (1952), Double or Mutton (1955), and Hopalong Casualty (1960), Robert McKimson’s The Mouse-Merized Cat (1946), Henhouse Henery (1949), Leghorn Swoggled (1951), Muscle Tussle (1953), and Quack Shot (1954), Arthur Davis’ Holiday for Drumsticks (1949), and Norm McCabe’s The Impatient Patient (1942). Whew! [Read on here...]

We’re finishing up the week with a pair of additional disc reviews here, including...

Stephen’s look at John Krasinski’s If (2024) in 4K Ultra HD from Paramount.

And Stuart’s thoughts on Vittorio De Seta’s Bandits of Orgosolo (1960) on Blu-ray from Radiance Films.

As always, more reviews are on the way, so be sure to watch for them.

We’ve also just finished a massive update of our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits as promised to include everything announced for the format in the last few weeks, with A/V details (if known) and Amazon.com pre-order links (if available). We’ve also included some rumored titles from our industry sources and there are a few surprises in there, so you’ll definitely want to give it a look!

And we’ve got a few more new disc announcements for you here today, starting with Imprint’s revelation that they’re releasing Wolfgang Petersen’s The NeverEnding Story (1984) on 4K Ultra HD on 11/27, the final of four catalog 4Ks the company is releasing that month! The release is timed to celebrate the film’s 40th anniversary. This will be a 5-disc set that includes the original US Theatrical Cut and the German Extended Cut on separate 4K Ultra HD discs, the former with Dolby Vision HDR and the latter with HDR10. Both cuts will also be included on separate Blu-rays, and you’ll get an additional Blu-ray that features Lisa Downs’ all-new Life After NeverEnding Story feature-length documentary. [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...]

As always, we’re rounding out the week with more new disc reviews here at The Bits, including...

Tim’s take on producer Roy Huggins’s Colt .45: The Complete Series (1957-60) and Hanna-Barbera’s Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose (1987), both on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

Dennis’ look at Dorothy Davenport and Melville Shyer’s The Road to Ruin (1934) on Blu-ray from Kino Classics and Something Weird.

And Stuart’s thoughts on Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s Allonsanfàn (1974), Pietro Germi’s The Facts of Murder (1959), and Damiano Damiani’s Goodbye & Amen (1977), all on Blu-ray from Radiance Films.

I’ve also just received Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two (2024) in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros., so watch for my in-depth review of that here at The Bits tomorrow sometime. [Read on here...]

Before we get to today’s release news, we’ve got a few new disc reviews for you to enjoy here at The Bits...

Tim has reviewed the Looney Tunes: Collector’s Choice – Volume 2 Blu-ray set from the Warner Archive Collection.

Dennis has reviewed R.O. Blechman and Christian Blackwood’s The Soldier’s Tale (1984) on Blu-ray from Kino Classics, along with Jerry London’s Rent-a-Cop (1988) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Stuart has offered his thoughts on Édouard Molinaro’s The Road to Shame (1959) on Blu-ray from Kino Classics, as well as Guy Green’s Diamond Head (1962) on Blu-ray from our friends at Imprint Films.

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

Now then... the big news today is that Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has officially set Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two (2024) for release on Blu-ray, DVD, 4K Ultra HD, and 4K UHD + Blu-ray Steelbook on 5/14, just as we expected. The Digital release is due on 4/16, which is just a week away.

Look for the 4K disc to include Dolby Vision and HDR10 high dynamic range and Dolby Atmos audio. Unfortunately, we’ve confirmed with the studio that the aspect ratio for all of these SKUs will be 2.39:1 only, matching the previous release of Dune: Part One (2021) on disc. These discs will not replicate the variable IMAX aspect ratio in 1.78:1, like the studio’s past 4K releases of Christopher Nolan’s films do (including TENET, Dunkirk, The Dark Knight, etc).

This is something that a LOT of Dune and 4K fans very much want. Since the discs went up for pre-order a few weeks ago, I’ve gotten many hundreds of questions about it. And since I shared the 2.39 confirmation on Twitter yesterday, the post has been seen by more than 1 million people! So there is clearly very keen interest in a disc release that does have the IMAX ratio. Hopefully, Warner is planning an IMAX 4K and BD disc re-release in the future. [Read on here...]

We’re back as promised this morning with another big announcement news round-up (and definitely be sure to check out our packed news update from yesterday evening as well, if you missed it)...

We’ll start with Barbie news (and there’s a phrase I officially never imagined I’d say): Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has just set Greta Gerwig’s pink-hued box office bonanza for “Premium Digital” release on 9/12 (SRP $29.99). Extras will include 6 behind-the-scenes featurettes (Welcome to Barbie Land, Becoming Barbie, Playing Dress-Up, Musical Make Believe, All-Star Barbie Part, and It’s a Weird World). The physical media release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD will be announced at a later date (but our sources are still telling us to expect it on 10/3).

Also today, Kino Lorber Studio Classics has officially announced that Billy Wilder’s Stalag 17 (1953) is coming on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD on 11/21! Also coming that day on Blu-ray only is Clive Donner’s Babes in Toyland (1986), featuring both 1.33:1 and 1.78:1 aspect ratio versions. And coming on 11/14 on Blu-ray only will be Monte Markham’s Neon City (1991).

Stalag 17 will include a new 4K scan of the original camera negative with Dolby Vision HDR. The Blu-ray will also be mastered from the new 4K scan. Each disc will include new audio commentary with film historians Steve Mitchell and Steven Jay Rubin, as well as a second commentary with film historian Joseph McBride. You’ll also get the legacy commentary with Richard Erdman, Gil Stratton, and Donald Bevan, as well as 2 featurettes (Stalag 17: From Reality to the Screen and The Real Heroes of Stalag XVII B).

In terms of titles that are coming soon from KLSC, a 4K Ultra HD release of Clint Eastwood’s Play Misty for Me (1971) is in the offing. And the company has revealed that Kino Cult and Something Weird are working together on a Two Cult Classics by Betty Page Blu-ray double feature of Varietease (1954) and Teaserama (1955). Look for that to street sometime in 2024. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a lot of announcement news to cover today, so we’re going to share some of it here now, and then we’ll come back early tomorrow morning with the rest of it. But first, as always, here are some new disc reviews that we’ve posted recently...

Tim has taken a look at Albert Band’s Ghoulies II (1987) on Blu-ray from the MVD Rewind Collection.

Stephen has reviewed Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Michael (1924) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber via their Kino Classics label.

And Stuart has offered his thoughts on Max Ophüls’ There’s No Tomorrow (1939) on Blu-ray also from Kino Classics, as well as Otto Preminger’s Angel Face (1953) and Anthony Mann’s Border Incident (1949) both on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

Now then! Let’s get to that release news...

First up, just as we predicted the other day, Paramount has set David Zucker’s The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) for release in 4K Ultra HD Steelbook format on 11/28. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. It’s not up for pre-order yet, but the Amazon listing is there, so we’ll include the link below. The 2-disc set will include the film in 4K UHD and also Blu-ray. We don’t yet know if the Blu-ray is remastered as well, and if there will be any new extras, but you can certainly expect many of the legacy extras to carry over. The release is timed to honor of the film’s 35th anniversary, which takes place on 12/2. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve some great announcement news today. We also have a MAJOR and exclusive 4K Ultra HD catalog scoop to share with you this afternoon here at The Digital Bits, and we’ve got the video to prove it! But first, a couple more new disc reviews...

Stuart has posted his thoughts on the BBC’s Maigret: Season 2 on Blu-ray from our friends at Network and Kino Classics.

And Dennis has offered his take on André Téchiné’s Wild Reeds (1994) on Blu-ray from the good people at Altered Innocence and Vinegar Syndrome.

So give those a look, and don’t forget that more reviews are on the way all week—be sure to check back from them. Now then, today’s great announcement news is that The Criterion Collection has just officially unveiled their June Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD release slate. [Read on here...]