Displaying items by tag: Sam Raimi

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...]

Welcome to a new week, Bits-ers! Hope you all had a good one, including all those of you who attended WonderCon in Anaheim this weekend.

Today is obviously April Fool’s Day, but rest assured we aren’t going to waste time with such tomfoolery here at the site this afternoon because we’ve got more new disc reviews for you, as well as some really great actual news too.

Let’s get to those reviews first. Today we have...

Stephen’s review of Ted Kotcheff’s North Dallas Forty (1979) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as his take on György Kovásznai’s Bubble Bath (1980) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

And Stuart’s look at William Grefé’s Impulse (1974) on Blu-ray from Grindhouse Releasing, as well as Emmanuel Carrère’s Between Two Worlds (2021) on Blu-ray from Cohen Media Group.

Late last week, we also posted Tim’s reviews of Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell (2009) in both regular and limited edition Blu-ray, as well as his reviews of Quentin Tarantino (etc)’s Grindhouse (2007) in both regular and limited edition Blu-ray, all from Via Vision’s Imprint Films.

And not to be outdone, Dennis has also reviewed Peter Yates’ The Dresser (1983) on Blu-ray from Imprint as well. [Read on here...]

We’ve got only a quick news update for you today, as we’re busy working on more new disc reviews. Speaking of which...

Stephen has just posted his thoughts on Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Air Doll (2009) on Blu-ray from Dekanalog via Vinegar Syndrome.

More Blu-ray and 4K UHD reviews are definitely on the way.

Now then, the big news this afternoon is that Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution has officially announced that Taika Waititi’s latest Marvel Cinematic Universe entry, Thor: Love and Thunder, will arrive on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 9/27. The Digital and Disney+ streaming release is set for 9/8. As always, the 4K will feature Dolby Atmos audio and HDR10 high dynamic range. [Read on here...]

All right, sorry for the lack of an update over the last couple of days. We’ve been very busy here at the site, working on reviews, preparing for some big upcoming reviews, and finishing a few more site upgrades. But the major reason is that there’s a ton of breaking and evolving release news to cover, and getting to the bottom of it all—collating all the details, checking in with sources, confirming key pieces of release information—takes a huge amount of time. But I’m always up for a challenge.

Before we get to that, however, let’s share those disc reviews we’ve been working on over the past few days...

First up, I’ve posted my thoughts on John Milius’ Red Dawn (1984) from Shout! Factory and also Colin Trevorrow’s Jurassic World: Dominion (2022) from Universal, both in 4K Ultra HD.

Tim has delivered a look at Joel Schumacher’s Flatliners (1990) in 4K UHD from Arrow Video, as well as John Carpenter’s Escape from New York (1981) in 4K from Scream Factory.

Dennis has reviewed a number of regular Blu-ray titles in the last few days, including Lon Chaney: Before the Thousand Faces – Volume 2 from Undercrank Productions, Josh and Benny Safdie’s Daddy Longlegs (2009) from Criterion, and Jack Gold’s The Tenth Man (1988) and Ken Hughes’s The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960) from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And finally, Stephen has delivered in-depth looks at Paul W.S. Anderson’s Event Horizon (1997)—a Steelbook release that’s getting hard to find here in the States—and Jeff Fowler’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) both in 4K Ultra HD from Paramount, along with Michael Findlay’s Shriek of the Mutilated (1974) on Blu-ray from American Films via Vinegar Syndrome.

As always more disc reviews are on the way in the coming days. [Read on here...]

All right, yesterday was a little crazy here at The Bits, what with Paramount finally dropping their long-awaited Star Trek 4K announcement. That deluxe Complete Adventure 4K package for the Star Trek: The Motion Picture – Director’s Edition was unexpected and frankly a fantastic surprise. But it’s worth a quick follow up today just to clarify everything...

The Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition: The Complete Adventure Limited Edition is a 3-disc set here in the States that includes the DE in 4K, a newly-authored 4K of the previously-released Theatrical Cut as well as the Special Longer Version (included via seamless branching), and a Blu-ray full of bonus content that I’m told includes basically everything ever created and released for the film on home video. (I’m awaiting confirmation of the exact contents from the studio.) But it does NOT include a Blu-ray of the DE itself, nor are Blu-rays of the Theatrical and SLV versions included. The DE is available separately on Blu-ray, and obviously the Theatrical Cut Blu-ray was included in the original 4-Movie Collection from last year.

To be 100% clear, the Special Longer Version is ONLY going to be available in The Complete Adventure package, and producer David C. Fein has said that it’s a genuine limited edition. Much like Sony’s recent Ghostbusters: Ultimate Collection, it’s very likely to sell out in pre-orders, and it’s NOT going to be re-released. So if you were planning to wait for Black Friday to pick it up at a discount, or you’re expecting some future “ultimate” 4K box that includes the TNG films as well all The Complete Adventure content, you’re likely to be disappointed. The new 4K disc with both the Theatrical Cut and the Special Longer Version on it is exclusive to this set and when they’re gone, they’re gone. Be sure to plan accordingly.

[Editor’s Note: It appears that the UK version of this set MAY be a 5-disc set, which includes the Blu-rays of The Director’s Edition and the Theatrical Cut. And its discs should be all-region.]  [Read on here...]

All right Bits readers, we’ve got a pretty significant news update for you today...

We’ve been tracking many of these titles, but a few of the 4K catalog titles we’re going to talk about today are breaking news, thanks to our old friends over at Media Play News.

They’ve just issued the September 2020 Digital edition of their magazine, which features an extensive look at the recent surge of 4K Ultra HD catalog releases. The publication’s editor, Stephanie Prange (who, full disclosure, I’ve known for many years), wrote a great longform piece for the issue called 4K Ultra HD: Into the Vaults about the process of preparing classic catalog films for release on the format.

Not only is it informative (and I should note that I was among the people interviewed therein), it includes some great news about forthcoming titles. [Read on here...]

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to like TheDigitalBits.com page on Facebook for breaking news, site updates on the go, discussion with our staff and other readers, giveaways and more!]

We’ve got a quick one for you today...

First up, we have a trio of new disc reviews. Tim Salmons has checked out Shout! Factory’s new Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume 1 DVD reissue a look. Jim Hemphill has done the same for Kino Lorber’s recent Blu-ray release of The Reivers (1969), starring Steve McQueen. Finally, I’ve given Disney’s new Star Wars: Rebels – Complete Season One a spin on Blu-ray and found it to be surprisingly fun and engaging, not just for kids of classic trilogy fans of all ages. Do give them a look.  [Read on here…]