Displaying items by tag: My Two Cents

Morning, everyone! We’re kicking off the new week with some great news here at The Digital Bits...

We’re very pleased today to welcome a new member to our coterie of film and disc reviewers—the acclaimed film historian, essayist, and author Stuart Galbraith IV!

If you’re a cinephile, no doubt you’re well acquainted with Stuart’s work already, but here’s a little background.

After graduating from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema-Television, Stuart worked as an archivist for the USC-Warner Bros. Archives and eventually MGM.

In 2002, he published the first English-language biography of director Akira Kurosawa and actor Toshiro Mifune entitled The Emperor and the Wolf, a book that’s been a part of my own library here at The Bits for years, and one that I can’t recommend more highly.

This of course is one of several books Stuart has written about Japanese cinema, which include Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films (1994) and Monsters Are Attacking Tokyo! The Incredible World of Japanese Fantasy Films (1998) among others. [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...]

Well! Only a few days after sharing your first look at the cover artwork for Paramount’s forthcoming 4K Ultra HD releases of the Star Trek: The Next Generation feature films, we’ve got another piece of Star Trek 4K news to share with you, but this time on the TV front…

Paramount has just officially set Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Season One for 4K Ultra HD Steelbook release on 5/16!

Keep in mind, Season One of the series is already set to street on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/21. That Blu-ray release is expected to include over 90 minutes of special features.

Among them will be a trio of documentary featurettes (Pike’s Peak, World Building, and Exploring New Worlds), audio commentary on the pilot episode by Anson Mount and Akiva Goldsman, deleted scenes, and a gag reel. [Read on here...]

We start today with a new disc review: Stephen’s look at Tommy Wirkola’s Violent Night (2022) on Blu-ray from Universal Pictures.

We’re all working on more new disc reviews here at The Bits, including myself and including 4K titles. But of course, there’s been quite a lot of release news to cover recently, which tends to derail my own review efforts a bit.

Still, the good news is: I’m excited to say that we’re adding a terrific new staff reviewer here at The Digital Bits, and I’ll have a lot more to say about that in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, we have a bit of new release news to report on today, starting with this: Lionsgate has officially set Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on 3/14. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a LOT of ground to cover today for you 4K Ultra HD catalog fans, especially those of you who like new cover artwork (because we’ve got a bunch for it for you). But first as always, we’ve got a couple more new disc reviews for you to check out...

First, Dennis has checked out Sidney Lanfield’s Sorrowful Jones (1949) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Tim has also reviewed Rafael Romero Marchent’s Santo vs Dr. Death (1973) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

Now then, let’s get to come 4K catalog news. We’ll start with a quickie: Our friends at Kino Lorber Studio Classics have confirmed over the weekend that they’re working on a 4K UHD release of Stephen King’s Cujo (1983), as directed by Lewis Teague. As usual, look for the new master to include a Dolby Vision HDR grade.

Any Star Trek fans in the house? Well, we have your first look at the 4K Ultra HD cover artwork for Paramount’s forthcoming Star Trek: The Next Generation catalog films: Generations (1994), First Contact (1996), Insurrection (1998), and Nemesis (2002). [Read on here...]

We’re finishing the week off with a trio of new disc reviews here at The Bits...

Tim has reviewed another film in Arrow’s Shawscope: Volume One Blu-ray box set, specifically Chang Cheh and Hsueh Li Pao’s The Boxer from Shantung (1972).

Stephen has taken a look at Todd Haynes’ music documentary The Velvet Underground (2021) on Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.

And Stephen and yours truly have given Ryan Coogler’s latest MCU installment Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) a spin on 4K Ultra HD from Marvel and Disney.

In terms of catalog release news today, our retail sources are reporting that Paramount will be bringing F. Gary Gray’s The Italian Job (2003) remake and Antoine Fuqua’s Shooter (2007)—a wide-release Amaray, as the film was released as a 4K Steelbook last year—to Ultra HD likely on 5/16. We’ve confirmed that Mimi Leder’s Deep Impact (1998) is coming to 4K as well in the next few months (street date is TBD). [Read on here...]

All right, Bits-ers... we’re checking in early this morning with more breaking news. But first as always, we have some new disc reviews for you...

First, Stephen has taken a look at Yves Boisset’s The Cop (1970) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Stephen has also taken a deep-dive into Doug Liman’s Edge of Tomorrow (2014 – aka Live Die Repeat) in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

As always, more reviews are forthcoming, so be sure to stay tuned for them.

Now then, let’s get to that news: As we first reported here at The Digital Bits back on 12/6 (with follow ups on 12/20 and 1/4, not to mention the first hint way back in 2020), Paramount Home Entertainment has just officially announced the Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, and Limited Edition 4K UHD Steelbook release of Matthew Robbins’ Dragonslayer (1981) on 3/21! [Read on here...]

Heads up Bits readers! No sooner had I posted the early news update here at the site, more significant news broke today...

Mill Creek Entertainment (a division of Alliance Entertainment) has just officially announced that they’ve inked a multi-year home entertainment distribution deal with The Walt Disney Company.

Per the company’s press release today (which is available here), this entitles Mill Creek to distribute “hundreds of select physical (Blu-ray and DVD) live-action film and television properties from the ABC Signature, 20th Television, Hollywood Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, and 20th Century Studios content libraries.”

Now then... I’ve confirmed some key points about this news with Disney sources, and it’s important for film and disc fans to keep them in mind when considering this arrangement going forward. [Read on here...]

We have a bunch of new title announcements to start the week off right today...

First up, Paramount has just officially set Damien Chazelle’s Babylon for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 3/21, with the Digital release expected tomorrow on 1/31. The Blu-ray and 4K disc will include a trio of behind-the-scenes featurettes (A Panoramic Canvas Called Babylon, The Costumes of Babylon, and Scoring Babylon) along with deleted and extended scenes. Note that a Steelbook 4K SKU will also be widely available the same day. You can see the Amaray art at left and both versions below.

Paramount has now made Adrian Lyne’s Flashdance (1983) official for release in 4K Ultra HD on 4/11 as a new 40th Anniversary Edition. You can see that below as well.

They’ve also set Jon Chu’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013) for 4K Ultra HD re-release as well as a 4K Steelbook 10th Anniversary Edition on 3/28 with Dolby Vision HDR.

And on the TV front, Paramount and Comedy Central have announced South Park: The Complete Twenty-Fifth Season for Blu-ray and DVD release on 4/4. [Read on here...]

We’re closing out the week with some new Blu-ray and 4K title announcements and a few updates on 4K titles we’ve mentioned here at The Bits previously.

In terms of official announcements, Disney and Searchlight Pictures have set Sam Mendes’ Empire of Light for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 2/21, with the 4K Digital release expected on 2/7. Extras will include the Creating the Empire of Light featurette. You can see the cover artwork at left.

Lionsgate has set Brett Donowho’s western The Old Way, starring Nicholas Cage, for Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital release on 2/21.

And Film Movement will release Mario Martone’s The King of Laughter on DVD and Digital on 2/14.

Also, Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has set their new animated Duck Dodgers: The Complete Series for release on Blu-ray on 3/28. [Read on here...]