Displaying items by tag: Shout! Studios

The big news today is that Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has just set M. Night Shayamalan’s Trap (2024) for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 11/5, with the Digital release expected on 8/30. Extras on the 4K will include 2 featurettes (Setting the Trap: A New M. Night Shayamalan Experience and Saleka as Lady Raven), as well as 3 deleted scenes, and an extended concert scene. The press release doesn’t indicate the A/V specs, but it’s reasonable to expect Dolby Atmos audio and HDR10 high dynamic range.

Here’s something pretty terrific: Severin Films has just a 13-disc All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror – Volume Two box set for release on 11/12. The set includes 24 international folks horror classics, with 55+ hours of extras, and a 252-page hardcover of new folk horror fiction. [Read on here...]

All right, Bits readers, today is a tough one news-wise, and it has little to do with specific title release news or announcements.

We’ve learned from multiple sources now that the 15% US workforce cuts at Paramount Global—a restructuring that’s happening in advance of the company’s merger with Skydance Media to reduce annual costs by some $500 million—have landed very heavily on the Melrose lot. As reported widely last week, the layoffs amount to about 2,000 people, with most expected to be gone by the end of next month and the rest by year’s end.

Current co-CEOs George Cheeks, Brian Robbins, and Chris McCarthy have described the layoffs thusly in a memo to the workforce: “As we continue to advance our plan, we announced on our earnings call last week that we will be reducing our US-based workforce by approximately 15%, focusing on redundant functions and streamlining corporate teams.”

The expectation was that every division would be impacted. As reported last week, Paramount Television Studios has been shuttered completely. What’s not been reported widely yet is the impact on overall studio operations.

The Digital Bits sources indicate that nearly every department has been affected—in a few cases severely—from marketing, legal, and accounting, to production, post-production, finance, mastering, vault and library services, and unfortunately also Paramount Home Entertainment. The cuts are reportedly not so deep as to result in a complete loss of institutional knowledge, but they’re more than deep enough to result in major workflow disruptions. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a good bit of ground to cover here at The Bits today, so let’s start as always with new disc reviews...

Now available here are Stephen’s take on Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974) in 4K Ultra HD from StudioCanal, David Allen’s The Primevals (2023) as released on Blu-ray by Umbrella Entertainment, and the Blu-ray Audio version of Jonathan Demme and Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense (1984) live album, which includes Dolby Atmos.

Stuart’s look at the Philo Vance Collection on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics—which includes The Canary Murder Case (1929), The Greene Murder Case (1929), and The Benson Murder Case (1930)—as well as George King’s The Shop at Sly Corner (1947) and the Columbia Film Noir #6: The Whistler box set—which includes The Whistler (1944), The Mark of the Whistler (1944), The Power of the Whistler (1945), Voice of the Whistler (1945), Mysterious Intruder (1946), The Secret of the Whistler (1946), The Thirteenth Hour (1947), and The Return of the Whistler (1948)—both on Blu-ray from Indicator.

Dennis’ thoughts on Basil Dearden’s The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970) on Blu-ray from Imprint and Welcome Back, Kotter: The Complete Series (1975-1979) on DVD from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment.

And finally, Tim has taken a look at Arch Oboler’s Bwana Devil (1952) on Blu-ray 3D from Kino Lorber Studio Classics with the help of the 3-D Film Archive.

More reviews are forthcoming, so stay tuned!

Now then, before we get to the big release news today, I wanted to alert you all to the fact that we’ve just posted a big update to our Cover Art section here at The Bits, aka the Release Dates & Artwork section (thanks to our own Russell Hammond)! It now features TONS of new Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover art, all with Amazon.com pre-order links. You can browse and sort the titles by street date and format, and of course The Bits is an Amazon Affiliate, so anytime you click through one of our Amazon links and order literally anything from them, you’re helping to support our work and we really do appreciate it. It makes a real difference for us. [Read on here...]

We’re starting the new week as always with more new disc reviews…

First, our own Tim Salmons has turned in his thoughts on Imprint Films’ new double feature of The Uninvited (1944) and The Unseen (1945) on region-free Blu-ray, a pair of film noir titles both directed by Lewis Allen.

And Stephen has weighed in with a look at a hefty title of his own: Full Moon Features’ new The Primevals: Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blu-ray box set, featuring the restored 2023 David Allen film, which was originally greenlit in 1978 but wasn’t filmed until 1994. Sadly, Allen passed away in 1999 before the film was completed. But thanks to an Indiegogo campaign, it’s finally completed as much as is possible and available on disc. And what a nice package it is too.

More reviews are on the way of course, but today we’ve got a TON of Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD release news to catch up all up on. It starts with Arrow’s Friday morning announcement of their October slate, which includes John Boorman’s Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) on Blu-ray (in the UK only) on 10/7, William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist III (1990) on 4K (in the UK only) on 10/7, the Hellraiser: Quartet of Torment box set—which includes Clive Barker’s Hellraiser (1987), Tony Randel’s Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), Anthony Hickox’s Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992), and Kevin Yagher’s Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996)—on Blu-ray and 4K (in the US and Canada only, it was already released in the UK) on 10/22, Michael Dougherty’s Trick ‘r Treat (2007) on 4K (in the UK, US, and Canada) on 10/28, and the J-Horror Rising: Limited Edition Blu-ray box set—which includes Shunichi Nagasaki’s Shikoku (1999), Toshiyuki Mizutani’s Isola: Multiple Personality Girl (2000), Masato Harada’s Inugami (2001), Ten Shimoyama’s St. John’s Wort (2001), Kōji Shiraishi’s Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman (2007), Takashi Komatsu’s Persona (2000), and Koji Shiraishi’s Noroi: The Curse (2005)—on Blu-ray (in the UK, US, and Canada) also on 10/28. [Read on here...]

Afternoon, Bits readers! We’ve got something very special to share with you today here at the site, but first we also have some more new disc reviews...

Our very own Tim Salmons has delivered his thoughts on Roy William Neill’s Black Moon (1934) on Blu-ray from Columbia Pictures and Via Vision’s Imprint Films label. Tim has also taken a look at Jay Levey’s UHF (1989) in 4K Ultra HD from Shout! Studios in honor of the film’s 35th anniversary!

And Stuart has offered his take on another classic film, Arthur Ripley’s The Chase (1946) on Blu-ray from the good people at Kino Lorber Studio Classics. Enjoy!

Now then, some of you may remember that way back in 2010, visual effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull proposed an elaborate documentary on the making of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Unfortunately, he was never able to get Warner Bros. to fund the project, which was known as Beyond the Infinite, and the man sadly passed away in 2022 (you can read our salute to him here).

You may also remember that back in 2016, I published an in-depth look at the various behind-the-scenes books on the making of the film, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: The Ultimate Trip in Print, here at The Bits website.

Well... back in September I was honored to be contacted by my friends Michael and Denise Okuda (of Star Trek fame) to participate in a new documentary they were producing on 2001 with the team at OTOY. So I spent a lovely evening up in Burbank with Mike, Denise, and my old friend Roger Lay, Jr. (who created many of the excellent documentaries on Paramount’s Star Trek Blu-rays in recent years) shooting an interview about the film and its place in cinema history. Today, I am very pleased to say that the result of their work is finally available for all of you to see for yourselves! [Read on here...]

Morning everyone, and welcome to the first week of July!

I’ve been very busy over the weekend working on new disc reviews, frankly probably a little too hard—I should probably have taken more of a break to recharge. Nevertheless, I’ve completed a trio of new reviews for you all to enjoy, so today we present...

My take on Luc Besson’s La Femme Nikita (1990) new on 4K Ultra HD Steelbook from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment—a great 4K remaster of one of my favorite films.

My look at Ron Frank’s funny and poignant documentary Remembering Gene Wilder (2023) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber—which covers the actor’s life and career in detail, and features interviews with Mel Brooks and other friends.

And finally, my review of a surprise title that just arrived on Sunday morning: Jan de Bont’s Twister (1996) in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment—a terrific remaster that leaves this film looking and sounding better than it ever has before.

I’m also working to finish another review today, which is Alex Garland’s Civil War. I expect to have that up here by tomorrow. And of course, the rest of the Bits team is working on new reviews as well, so be sure to check back for those over the coming days.

Now then, in announcement news this afternoon, Universal has officially set David Leitch’s The Fall Guy (2024) for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 7/23. The package will include both the Theatrical Cut and an Extended Cut of the film with 20 minutes of additional footage. Extras will feature audio commentary on both of those with director Leitch and producer Kelly McCormick, a gag reel, alternate takes, the 5-part Stunts on Stunts: Breaking Down the Action documentary, and 6 featurettes (Making a Meta Masterpiece, How to Break a World Record, Nightclub Mayhem, The Art of Doubling, Making Metalstorm, and Falling for The Fall Guy with Rob Reese). You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

We’re rounding out the week here at The Bits with a pair of additional disc reviews, including...

Stephen’s thoughts on Yuzuru Tachikawa’s anime Blue Giant (2023) on Blu-ray from GKids via Shout! Studios.

And Dennis’ take on Sophie Compton and Reuben Hamlyn’s Another Body (2023) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

Also today, we’ve updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits with all the latest announced 4K titles as well as those we’ve learned are coming from our industry sources.

Over on our Patreon page, many of you have asked us for an Annual Membership option in order to get the best value while backing us and supporting The Bits there. So we’re very pleased to finally make it available today. Signing up as a Patreon supporter of The Bits via the Annual Membership option (at whatever support level you choose) gives you a 10% discount.

And while we’re talking Patreon, we’re going to be holding a members-only Digital Bits: “Ask Us Anything” Live Chat on Patreon tomorrow (Saturday, June 15th) at 11 AM Pacific (1 PM Central, or 6 PM UTC). I’ll be on hand to participate, along with Tim Salmons and Stephen Bjork. You can ask us about physical media, 4K, Blu-ray, film in general, our work, our interests—pretty much any topic other than politics is fair game. While there may be a few questions (about specific upcoming titles) that we can’t answer, we’ll do our best to tackle all questions as they come in. Our goal is to go live for at least an hour. And if everything goes smoothly, we’ll continue for a second hour (provided there’s enough demand/questions to warrant doing so). We hope to see you there! [Read on here...]

Today’s update is a quick one, but we’re starting with more new disc reviews...

Tim has posted his thoughts on Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak (2015) in 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video, as well as Hanna-Barbera’s Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats (1988) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

And Dennis has reviewed Francis Ford Coppola’s The Rain People (1969) on Blu-ray, also from the Warner Archive Collection.

In announcement news today, Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has just made Albert Magnoli’s Purple Rain (1984) official for release in physical 4K Ultra HD and 4K Digital on 6/25 (SRP $33.99 for the disc). As expected, the disc will include audio commentary by Magnoli, Robert Cavallo, and Donald E. Thorin, 3 featurettes (First Avenue: The Road to Pop Royalty, Purple Rain Backstage Pass: Behind the Scenes, and Riffs, Ruffles and a Revolution: The Impact and Influence of Purple Rain), the MTV Premiere Party Original Broadcast, a gallery of Prince movie trailers, and 8 music videos for songs from the film. [Read on here...]

We’re closing out the week here at The Bits with a bunch of release news and more new disc reviews as well. The reviews include...

Tim’s take on Rocky Morton & Annabel Jankel’s Super Mario Bros. (1993) in 4K Ultra HD from Umbrella Entertainment—the deluxe Trust the Fungus edition.

Stuart’s look at Hal Ashby’s Coming Home (1978) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as his review of Kino Lorber’s Homicide Hills: The Complete Series on DVD.

And Dennis’ reviews of Frank Lloyd’s Blood on the Sun (1945) and Alfred L. Werker and Anthony Mann’s He Walked by Night (1948), both on Blu-ray also from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Also, just to let you know, we’ve been sharing some additional content for our supporters over on Patreon, including essays on Godzilla Minus One’s visual effects Oscar win and the difficulty in creating or evaluating home video transfers for film, along with an exclusive tease about a trio of forthcoming 4K Ultra HD catalog titles that are in the works for later this year, my in-depth film review of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two, and a little behind-the-scenes on a visit with some friends of The Bits who just so happen to have been involved with the Star Trek franchise for over 38 years.

Supporting The Bits on Patreon is a really great way to help us keep the site going, and doing so makes it possible for us to continue our work in support of physical media and disc fans everywhere. So please consider joining us there! [Read on here...]

We have two more new disc reviews for you here at The Bits today, including…

Stephen’s thoughts on Walter Hill’s Southern Comfort (1981) in 4K Ultra HD from Vinegar Syndrome, as well as his take on another of Toho’s recent Godzilla 4K UHD releases, in this case Ishirō Honda’s Destroy All Monsters (1968). Once again, this is a region-free Japanese import release, but with no English subtitles.

The big announcement news today is that our friends at the Criterion Collection have officially unveiled their May release slate, which is set to include an upgrade of A Story of Floating Weeds/Floating Weeds: Two Films by Yasujiro Ozu (1934/1959) (Spine #232 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 5/7, followed by an upgrade of Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom (1960) (Spine #58 – 4K UHD + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) on 5/14, Three Revolutionary Films by Ousmane Sembène (Spine #1217 – Blu-ray and DVD)—which includes Emitaï (1971), Xala (1975), and Ceddo (1977)—on 5/21, and Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall (2023) (Spine #1218 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Karyn Kusama’s Girlfight (2000) (Spine #1219 – Blu-ray) on 5/28.

You can see the cover art for Peeping Tom at left, and all of them below the break. We’ve updated our Criterion Spines Project listing here at The Bits accordingly. [Read on here...]