Displaying items by tag: Scream Factory

Today is Blu-ray review day here at The Bits...

First up, we have a couple of brand new reviews for you.  From our own Todd Doogan comes a look at Criterion’s excellent special edition of Brazil, lovingly upgraded for high-definition and so better than ever.  Don’t miss it!

Also, Tim has turned in his thoughts on Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man, which is a darned fine special edition release produced by our old friend Charles de Lauzirika.  And the movie’s not half bad too!

Plus, we’ve also upgraded a whopping ten previous Blu-ray reviews from The Original Bits into our new review database.  This includes Sony’s Ghostbusters, Dr. Strangelove: 45th Anniversary Special Edition and the Close Encounters of the Third Kind: 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition, Warner’s Barry Lyndon, Heat, Contact and 2010: The Year We Make Contact, Universal’s Dune, DreamWorks’ Galaxy Quest and A&E’s Space: 1999 – Season 1.  Good stuff all.  We have many more classic Blu-ray reviews that we’re gradually upgrading into our review database, so be sure to check them all out and watch for lots more.  [Read on here…]

All right, we’ve got a screaming new server for The Bits now – just a few little DNS issues here and there need to be worked out and we’ll be completely back to normal.  Let us know on The Bits Facebook page if you notice anything amiss.  And thanks again for your patience.

First up here at The Bits today, we’ve got a pair of new Blu-ray Disc reviews for you:  Tim Salmons has checked in with his thoughts on Disney’s disappointing new The Sword and the Stone: 50th Anniversary Edition.  Sadly, it looks like the studio dropped the ball on the remastering.  And our own Todd Doogan has turned in his two cents on Michael Bay’s new Pain & Gain on Blu-ray from Paramount.  As with the case with Star Trek Into Darkness, it appears you get great A/V quality and bupkis for extras – in this case (given the apparent lack of retail exclusive versions) it probably means a double-dip is in the offing.  Anyway, enjoy the reviews.  [Read on here…]

Quick important note:  Because of all the extra traffic this week, we’re going to be upgrading our server this evening to be able to handle these kinds of traffic spikes more easily.  We may be down for a couple hours later tonight but we should be back up by tomorrow morning better than ever.  Certainly by Monday, Scotty tells us that the warp core should be purring like a kitten again.  So thanks for your patience and know that things will be much better soon.

Now then, there’s big release news today…

Our friends at Kino Lorber have announced their November Blu-ray and DVD release slate and there are some real gems, including a Nosferatu: 2-Disc Deluxe Remastered Edition (DVD & Blu-ray) and a Russian Ark: Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray and DVD) on 11/19!  F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu will include two versions of the 1922 classic, the original German Intertitles (with optional English subs) or English Intertitles, Hans Erdmann’s original 1922 score in 5.1 Surround or 2.0 Stereo, the 53-minute The Language of Shadows documentary chronicling Murnau’s early career, clips and highlights from other Murnau films and a photo gallery.  Features on Russian Ark are still TBA.  [Read on here…]

Well... I guess it’s been a while since we went on a good old fashioned Blu-ray or DVD related rant, so yesterday’s post here at the site was probably going to happen sooner or later.  As longtime readers know, it wouldn’t be The Digital Bits without such rants every once in a while – we’ve been doing it since 1997.  But I still think what I said needed saying.  Whenever we go on rants here at The Bits, it’s for a good reason – because in our experienced point of view, something is amiss.  And after more than 16 years of working in and around the home video industry (not to mention having correctly predicted and advised our readers through two format wars), we certainly have that experience.  [Read on here…]

Let’s get right to the announcement news today...

Shout! and Scream Factory are going to release John Carpenter’s Body Bags and Assault on Precinct 13 on Blu-ray Combo on 11/12 and 11/19 respectively.  Extras on Body Bags will include three audio commentary tracks, interviews with Carpenter and the actors and the trailer.  Assault on Precinct 13 extras are still in development.

Sony has announced a number of new MOD Manufactured on Demand titles for release on DVD-R on 10/1, including Whatever, Gidget Gets Married, Kiss Me, Kill Me, The Comic, Air Hostess (1933), Babies for Sale, The Unwelcome Stranger, Made in Italy, Party of Five: The Complete Sixth Season and Happy Endings: The Complete Third Season.  […]

Afternoon, folks!  Let’s run down some today’s announcement news...

Lionsgate has officially announced the Blu-ray and DVD release of Mad Men: Season Six on 11/5 (SRP $49.97 and $49.98).  Extras will include 6 featurettes (Design of a Decade, Recreating an Era, Gay Power!, Gay Pride!, Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out and Summer of Love Archives) and more TBA.  Love the cover artwork – you can see it below.

Also CBS has announced that they’ll release Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season Five on Blu-ray Disc on 11/19 (SRP $129.99).  It will include all 26 episodes, audio commentary, deleted scenes, episode promos and all the previous DVD features, another multi-part documentary (Requiem: A Remembrance of Star Trek: The Next Generation) and the In Conversation: The Klingons and What He Left Behind: The Roddenberry Legacy featurettes.

Also coming from CBS on 11/19 is Star Trek: The Next Generation – Unification (SRP $28.28), which (as was the case with The Best of Both Worlds and Redemption) will feature the 2-part episode edited into a movie version along with a new exclusive documentary called From One Generation to the Next.  You’ll find the cover art for both of these titles below as well.  [...]

All right, in case you missed it when we posted it late yesterday, please check out our Virtual Tour of Bob’s Basement!  Our dear friends Bob and Kathy Burns are the “keepers of Hollywood’s attic” and they’ve cared for and preserved a treasure trove of film props and movie artifacts over the years, including the original 1933 King Kong stop-motion armature, the classic Time Machine and so many more cool items it’s impossible to list them all here.  But we photographed a bunch of these amazing treasures and with Bob and Kathy’s permission we’ve created a gallery of 150 of the best photos so that you can all share in the experience of a typical visit to Bob’s Basement.  Bob e-mailed this morning to say he’s thrilled with how it came out: “This is wonderful as now so many folks can see the collection.”  So we really hope you all take the time to check it out and enjoy it.

Also here at The Bits today, we’ve got another Blu-ray review for you – my own thoughts on Fox’s recent Von Ryan’s Express, an old favorite WWII film from 1965.  It’s a fine film but… well, best to read the review.  Do check it out.

Now for some announcement news…  […]

All right, we’ve got a couple things for you today.  First though, we promised you details on our Comic-Con panel next week, so here goes…

Next Thursday afternoon (7/18 – from 4-5 PM in Room 5AB of the San Diego Convention Center), The Digital Bits crew will return to Comic-Com to host our annual Blu-ray/DVD Producers panel event!  Here’s the most updated description of the panel (as it would be featured in the Comic-Con catalog – except that this is the latest and correct list of panelists):

<<4-5  The Digital Bits Presents Blu-ray Producers 2013 – Join Bill Hunt, Adam Jahnke and Todd Doogan of The Digital Bits.com as they host a panel discussion with leading independent and indie studio producers of Blu-ray extras.   Panelists will include Brian Ward and Cliff MacMillan (from Shout! and Scream Factory), Charles de Lauzirika (Pain & Gain, Prometheus, The Amazing Spider-Man), Robert Meyer Burnett (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Enterprise) and Cliff Stephenson (Escape Plan, The Vatican Tapes, The Hunger Games).  We’ll be talking about great upcoming and unannounced titles, we may show teaser clips and we really want to get a lively Q&A session going with the audience, so be sure to bring lots of BD & DVD-related questions!  Room 5AB>>