Displaying items by tag: The Criterion Spines Project

Boy, we’ve got a LOT of new announcement and catalog release news to report on today, so let’s get right into it…

First up, the big news: Criterion has just announced their October title slate, and as expected it includes a couple of great 4K Ultra HD titles, along with some Blu-ray gems.

It all starts with a title we revealed last week: George A. Romero’s classic zombie film Night of the Living Dead (1968 – Spine #909 – 4K Ultra HD) on 10/4. Following on 10/11 is another title we revealed a couple months ago here at The Bits, David Lynch’s Lost Highway (1997 – Spine #1152 – Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD), as well as Frank Capra’s Arsenic and Old Lace (1944 – Spine #1153 – Blu-ray and DVD). On 10/18, look for Jayro Bustamante’s La Llorona (2019 – Spine #1156 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cure (1997 – Spine #1155 – Blu-ray and DVD). And finally, Kasi Lemmon’s Eve’s Bayou (1997 – Spine #1154 – Blu-ray) round the month out. Lost Highway will include Dolby Vision HDR.

You can read more about these titles here at the Criterion website, and we’ve updated our Criterion Spines Project and 4K Ultra HD Release List pages here at The Bits accordingly. You can also see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

All right, this is going to be the first of two news updates here at The Bits today, as we have multiple 4K and Blu-ray related developments that deserve their due attention. But first, more new disc reviews...

Tim has checked in with a look at Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, as recently released on Blu-ray by Umbrella Entertainment.

Dennis has turned in his thoughts on Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci and Douglas Sirk’s Written on the Wind on Blu-ray, from Universal and Criterion respectively.

And Stephen has offered his take on Simon Kinberg’s The 355, David Hamilton’s Bilitis, Fred Schepisi’s The Devil’s Playground, and Mik Cribben’s Beware: Children at Play on Blu-ray, from Universal, Fun City Editions, Umbrella Entertainment, and Vinegar Syndrome.

Rest assure more reviews are on the way, so keep checking back! [Read on here...]

We’ve got a new disc review today from Tim—actually a pair of reviews, but it’s essentially the same title in two different packaging SKUs—featuring his thoughts on John McTiernan’s Last Action Hero (1993) in 4K Ultra HD and 4K UHD Steelbook from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Sounds like it’s a good release, so do give it a look.

Now then, the big news today is that Criterion has officially announced their September slate, which is set to include Neil Jordan’s Mona Lisa (Blu-ray and DVD – Spine #107) on 9/14, Gina-Prince-Bythewood’s Love & Basketball (Blu-ray and DVD – Spine #1097) and Johnnie To’s Throw Down (Blu-ray and DVD – Spine #1092) on 9/21, and Luchino Visconti’s The Damned (Blu-ray and DVD – Spine #1098) and Melvin Van Peebles: Four Films (Blu-ray only, includes The Story of a Three Day Pass – Spine #1093, Watermelon Man – Spine #1094, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song – Spine #1095, and Don’t Play Us Cheap – Spine #1096) on 9/28. You can see the cover artwork for Melvin Van Peebles: Four Films at left and also below the break. Click here for all the A/V and extras details on the Criterion website.

We’ve updated our Criterion Spines Project pages here on The Bits accordingly. [Read on here...]

All right, we’re rounding out the week today with some great release news and some new disc reviews too. First up, those reviews...

I’ve just turned in my thoughts on John Carpenter’s They Live, as recently released in 4K Ultra HD by Scream Factory. Both the UHD and included Blu-ray are mastered from the 2018 4K scan and restoration, and Scream has tossed in a new Dolby Atmos mix to boot. It’s a fine release, so don’t miss it.

I’ve also reviewed Roland Emmerich’s epic disaster flick 2012 on 4K Ultra HD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and I’ve given a great little indie release a review on Blu-ray too: Dmitriy Kiselev’s Spacewalker (2017) from MPI Home Video, which tells the story of cosmonaut Alexey Leonov and humanity’s first spacewalk in 1965.

Tim’s also posted a review of William Campbell’s Ingagi (1930), recently released on Blu-ray by Kino Classics as part of their Something Weird line-up. Ingagi is definitely something weird.

And just a heads-up: We’re working on reviews of Prince of Darkness in 4K from Scream Factory, along with the new 4K releases of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing from Universal and Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro from Discotek Media, among other titles. So watch for those starting on Monday. [Read on here...]

Hey everyone! Well... another week is officially in the can and, as promised, I’ve got an update for you on some release news and whatnot.

First up, I wanted to alert you to a 4K Ultra HD deal: Amazon currently has Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite available in 4K for just $11.00 for a limited time only. So click here to order a copy if you’re interested.

Also today, we’ve got a great new History, Legacy & Showmanship column from our own Michael Coate—one that was delayed from the very end of 2020 due to all of the site maintenance we’ve been doing over the past several weeks. This one is a terrific look back at the early 70mm cut of The Empire Strikes Back, featuring a new roundtable discussion with historian and soundtrack producer Mike Matessino along with director Saul Pincus. We think you’ll really enjoy it, so do give that a look here.

Now then, in announcement news today, Severin Films has revealed that it’s working on a new 4K Ultra HD release of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Santa Sangre (1989) that’s due on 4/27. The title will also be released on Blu-ray and DVD. You can see the cover artwork for the 4K at left. Click here to pre-order on Amazon: 4K, Blu-ray, DVD.

But that’s not the only 4K catalog title we now know is coming from our retail sources... [Read on here...]

Welcome to the new week!

We’re starting things off today with a new Blu-ray review from our own Dennis Seuling. He’s given Ryan Nicholson’s Gutterballs (2008) a look on disc for you from the folks at Unearthed Films.

This is just a quick update to bring you word that The Criterion Collection has just dropped news of their September Blu-ray and DVD title slate.

And as usual, it’s a good one, including the likes of David Lynch, Claire Denis, Francesco Rosi, Jules Dassin, and more of Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project.

The full list includes the following... [Read on here...]

All right, we’ll be back in just a little bit with a link to Michael Coate’s new History, Legacy & Showmanship film retrospective in a little bit.

[Editor’s Note: Here’s the link to Michael’s new retrospective of the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun, in honor of the film’s 45th anniversary. Note that this piece was unavoidably delayed from late last year, but we think you’ll find the wait was worth it. Michael is joined by historians Jon Burlingame, John Cork, and Lee Pfeiffer for a great roundtable discussion. Enjoy!]

In the meantime, Tim has posted a new Blu-ray review today, this one of Fred Walton’s 1986 April Fool’s Day: Collector’s Edition from Scream Factory. The disc streets on 3/24.

And we do have some new announcement news for you... [Read on here...]

Our friends at the Criterion Collection have just announced their April slate of Blu-ray and DVD titles, and it’s a nice line-up.

They include: A re-issue of Jean-Pierre Melville’s Army of Shadows (1969 – Spine #385 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 4/7, George Marshall’s Destry Rides Again (1939 – Spine #1024 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 4/14, Jura Herz’s The Cremator (1969 – Spine #1023 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 4/21, and Miranda July’s Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005 – Spine #1026 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014 – Spine #1025 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 4/28.

Naturally, we’ve updated our Criterion Spines Project pages here at The Bits accordingly. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a quick update for you today, to report that Criterion has just announced their January 2020 Blu-ray and DVD titles.

They include: George Cukor’s Holiday (Spine #1009 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 1/7, Sidney Lumet’s The Fugitive Kind (Spine #515 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 1/14, Jean-Luc Godard’s Le petit soldat (Spine #1010 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 1/21, and Sidney Lumet’s Fail Safe (Spine #1111 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Pedro Almodóvar’s All About My Mother (Spine #1012 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 1/28.

We’ve updated our Criterion Spines Project page here at The Bits to include them, and you can read more about each title on the Criterion website. You can also see the cover artwork below. [Read on here...]

All right, the big news today is that our friends at the Criterion Collection have just announced their December Blu-ray and DVD release slate. And it includes a film that I’ve been waiting for a long time on Blu-ray... the extended director’s cut of Wim Wenders’ melancholy sci-fi road movie Until the End of the World.

I have so much love for the film and managed to record a TCM showing of it a couple years ago on my DVR. I’m glad I’ll finally be able to free up the drive space! Here’s the full slate...

Look for Stephen Roberts’ The Story of Temple Drake (Spine #1006 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Ronald Neame’s Tunes of Glory (Spine #225 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 12/3, followed by Wim Wenders’ Until the End of the World (Spine #1007 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Kelly Reichardt’s Old Joy (Spine #1008 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 12/10. We’ve updated the relevant pages of our Criterion Spines Project here at The Bits accordingly. [Read on here...]