Displaying items by tag: Todd Doogan

On this final day of 2022, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the past year and, really, on the past twenty-five years here at The Digital Bits website.

First though, our own Michael Coate has just delivered one final History, Legacy, and Showmanship retrospective for the year, a look back at Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in celebration of the film’s 40th anniversary. The piece features another epic and multi-page roundtable interview with film experts and historians. Note that the piece will also be updated early in the new year with additional images and information, but the interview as it is is thorough and well worth your time, so be sure to check it out.

Now then… it’s an extraordinary thing to look back at twenty-five years of this website, a site I first started back in 1997 to cover the advent of DVD and to introduce the appreciation of cinema to a wider audience. As a film student at the Universal of Wisconsin in Madison, I had the honor of studying the subject under two of the finest film historians and theorists working today, David Boardwell and Kristin Thompson, not to mention the pleasure of discovering not just the Hollywood classics but the wider world of international cinema. And it’s been my goal—both then and now—to share that love and joy of discovery with everyone who might be interested. [Read on here...]

All right, Halloween is here at long last, so we’ve got the remainder of our new Halloween Bag-o-Tricks disc reviews for you all to enjoy today! Since we last posted here on Friday, we’ve added:

Stephen’s thoughts on Le Binh Giang’s KFC (2016) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome, the Italian-import version of Joe Dante’s The Hole (2009) on Blu-ray from Medusa, Dario Argento’s Dracula 3D on Blu-ray 3D from IFC Midnight, and Simon Nuchtern’s Silent Madness (1984) on Blu-ray 3D from Vinegar Syndrome.

Tim’s take on Francis Ford Coppola’s Dementia 13: Director’s Cut (1963) on Blu-ray from the Vestron Video Collector’s Series, Amando de Ossorio’s Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972) on Blu-ray from Synapse Films, Chris LaMartina’s WNUF Halloween Special (2013) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome, the Universal Horror Collection: Volume 6 on Blu-ray from Scream Factory, The Halloween 4K Collection: 1995-2002 in 4K Ultra HD from Scream Factory, and Dan O’Bannon’s The Return of the Living Dead (1985) in 4K Ultra HD from Scream Factory.

Dennis’ look at Sean Donohue’s Blood, Guts and Sunshine: The History of Horror Made in Florida Blu-ray box set from Vinegar Syndrome and Tim Kincaid’s Mutant Hunt (1987) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

My own review of Jordan Peele’s Nope (2002) in 4K Ultra HD from Universal. [Read on here...]

We’re finishing the week with several new disc reviews today, including my joint review (with our old friend Todd Doogan) of Stanley Kubrick’s Killer’s Kiss (1955) on 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Dennis has also turned in his thoughts on George Sidney’s The Three Musketeers (1948) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

And Stephen has delivered a look at John Ford’s The Horse Soldiers (1959) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, along with a music title: The Prince and the Revolution: Live – Collector’s Edition, a 3-LP, 2-CD, and Blu-ray box set which is exclusive to the Paisley Park Records webstore.

As always, more reviews are on the way next week, so be sure to check back for them.

I also wanted to take a moment this afternoon to talk about For All Mankind, which returns today for the start of its terrific third season on Apple TV+. I’ve talked about the series here at The Bits before. It’s essentially an alternate history of the manned space program, which attempts to answer the question: What if the Soviets had beaten NASA to the Moon in 1969? [Read on here...]

Afternoon, folks. We’re starting off the new week with a pair of new Blu-ray reviews for you to enjoy. Tim Salmons has turned in his look at Scream Factory’s The Legend of Hell House and longtime Bits veteran Todd Doogan has returned with a look at Kino Lorber’s terrific new One Million Years B.C. Blu-ray. Both are well worth your time, so be sure to check them out.

In release news today, first up a biggie: 20th Century Fox’s Logan is now available for Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD pre-order on Amazon (via the links in this sentence and also the temp cover artwork below). We hear it’s pretty damn good, so go check it out in theaters and use our links to pre-order (we appreciate it!) if you enjoy the film. [Read on here…]

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We’ve got a couple things for you today...

First up, our own Michael Coate has just posted a new History, Legacy & Showmanship column featuring a look back at Disney’s animated classic Fantasia on the occasion of the film’s 75th anniversary. It includes a new interview with film historian Jeff Kurtti. Do give it a look.

Also today, we have a pair of new Blu-ray reviews: my thoughts on Lionsgate’s new Mr. Holmes, directed by Bill Condon and starring Ian McKellen as Sherlock Holmes. And we have Doogan’s thoughts on Akira Kurosawa’s terrific Ikiru, in honor of Criterion’s new Blu-ray release which streets on 11/24. Both films are terrific and the discs are well worth your attention. Enjoy the reviews.  [Read on here…]

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We have just a quick update for you this afternoon, as we’re doing a little server work here today.

We’re pleased to present a pair of new Blu-ray reviews for you all to enjoy. First, our own Joe Marchese has turned in a look at Kino Lorber’s recent BD edition of Hal Walker’s At War with the Army (1950), starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Also today, Doogan has taken a nice deep dive into P.T. Anderson’s fascinating Inherent Vice – now on Blu-ray from Warner Home Video – and found it worthy of your time. Enjoy the reviews!  [Read on here…]

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Well... we’re kicking off a new week here today and this is a big one: The first full trailer for Star Wars: Episode VII is going to be unveiled at Star Wars Celebration on Thursday, ahead of its public debut attached to Avengers: Age of Ultron later this month. We don’t know if the trailer will be released online before then, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Here at The Bits today, we’ve got a new Blu-ray review for you. Todd Doogan has given Grindhouse Releasing’s new 3-disc Blu-ray edition of Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond (1981) a look for you. Sounds like the set is absolutely loaded with great content. Also, our own Joe Marchese turned in a look at Twilight Time’s new BD of Stormy Weather (1943) on Friday, in case you missed it. We’re working on more BD reviews over the next few days, so be sure to check back.  [Read on here…]

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We’ve got a pair of new Blu-ray reviews for you to enjoy today. First up, Todd Doogan has given Grindhouse Releasing’s new 3-disc Blu-ray edition of Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond (1981) an epic look. Also our own Joe Marchese has taken turned in his thoughts on Andrew Stone’s 1943 musical Stormy Weather, which was one of the early Hollywood films to feature an all-black cast. Both BD sets (and the films they contain) are well worth a look, so enjoy the reviews!

- Bill Hunt

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All right, sorry for the lack of a news post yesterday, but I’ve been wrapped up in Blu-ray review work. Some big titles are coming out over the next few weeks and a number of them are well worth diving into.

Speaking of which, though it took all day yesterday to go through everything, I’ve posted my in-depth review of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar on Blu-ray from Paramount. The disc streets on 3/31. For those of you who experienced problems (in theaters) with the sound mix making lots of the dialogue unintelligible amid the sound effects and music, I can report that’s much less of a problem here. The mix is still pushed toward the low end, and there are still one or two lines where you have to listen more closely than normal, but this does seem to be a deliberate artistic choice. Still, I can attest that this is a much better audio experience than the one I had at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. And the extras are pretty terrific. Do check it out.  [Read on here…]

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We have a pair of new Blu-ray Disc reviews for you today. Doogan has checked out a bit of an Japanese live-action oddball from Drafthouse Films called R100 (2013). And Tim has given Scream Factory’s Phantom of the Opera: The Motion Picture (1989) a look too. Both reviews are well worth your time.

Speaking of reviews, Warner’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and Paramount’s Interstellar are both now in hand, so watch for my own reviews of them in the next few days.  [Read on here…]