Displaying items by tag: Via Vision Entertainment

Afternoon, folks! Hope you all had a great long weekend—at least those of you here in the States. And for the rest of you, I hope this post finds you all safe and sound.

We’ve got a couple of interesting items for you today.

First though, I wanted to let you all know that I’m currently working on my review of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws in 4K Ultra HD. The 4K restoration is terrific. And I hope to have that review up for you later this afternoon or early this evening, so be sure to watch for it then.

Meanwhile, Tim and Dennis have turned in a couple new Blu-ray Disc reviews, including Tim’s take on Kevin Connor’s From Beyond the Grave (1974) from the Warner Archive Collection, as well as Dennis’ thoughts on David Miller’s Lonely Are the Brave (1962) from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, and also his look at Leigh Whannell’s recent take on The Invisible Man (2020) from Universal and Blumhouse. Enjoy! [Read on here...]

All right, we’re working on FOUR more 4K Ultra HD reviews for the next couple of days, at least of the first of which we hope to have posted later this afternoon.

In the meantime, we’ve just launched our second giveaway on The Digital Bits’ Facebook page, offering readers the chance to win one of Paramount’s three new Tom Cruise 4K Ultra HD titles – Top Gun, Days of Thunder, or War of the Worlds. All you have to do to enter is follow The Bits’ Facebook page and reply to this post (linked here) with your answer to the question you’ll find. Entries will be accepted until 11 AM Pacific tomorrow (Thursday, May 21). The contest is open to US residents only (due to COVID shipping restrictions—sorry!). THREE winners will be selected at random from the list of those who enter and will be announced tomorrow afternoon. Good luck!

Meanwhile today, we have a bit more announcement news... [Read on here...]

Today, we’ve got just a very quick My Two Cents update for you, however not with release news.

But as promised, we’ve got a bunch of new disc reviews...

First, our own Tim Salmons has checked out Via Vision Entertainment’s new region-free Blu-ray import version of Police Squad! The Complete Series. (Note that the CBS/Paramount Blu-ray version has also been reviewed here.)

Speaking of Paramount, Dennis has turned in his thoughts on their new Alfred Hitchcock/Paramount Presents title, To Catch a Thief (1955). [Read on here...]

Checking in today with some great release news...

First, Paramount has just announced the launch of a new label designed to highlight marquee catalog titles on Blu-ray beginning on 4/21. Paramount Presents will debut with Adrian Lyne’s Fatal Attraction, the 1958 Elvis Presley drama King Creole, and Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief (which celebrates its 65th anniversary this year). Each title will be remastered and will include new bonus content focused on the film and the filmmakers, hosted by historian Leonard Maltin. Each will also include foldout movie poster artwork. You can see what they look like at left and also below.

Very good news indeed—it’s great to see Paramount finally starting to get more aggressive with their catalog releases on disc. In fact, the idea of creating a premium Paramount label for their classic catalog is actually something I’ve been suggesting to them privately for a while now, so it’s great to see it beginning to happen. Now let’s have a few more marquee catalog titles on 4K. We know that the original Top Gun is coming, along with Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds, and Days of Thunder. And you can bet that if a new Indiana Jones sequel starts filming this year for release next year, you can almost certainly expect the classic Indy films on 4K in 2021. Let’s go ahead with the classic Star Trek films in 4K, folks! [Read on here...]

All right, there’s not a whole lot going on today news-wise, so we’re busy working on new disc reviews.

But we did want to check in briefly with a new interesting odds and ends.

To start with, we have a sneak peek at temp cover artwork from our retail sources (in Europe in this case) for Universal’s Spartacus and Jaws on 4K Ultra HD, which are expected to street widely in June or July (street date TBA). You can see Jaws at left and both of them below. This should be close to final, but know that it’s not actually final until the studio officially announces the titles.

Also coming from Universal on 6/2 (only at Best Buy stores in the US) is a new 4K Ultra HD Steelbook version of Ron Howard’s Apollo 13. You also can see that below. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a couple things for you today here at The Bits...

We begin with a pair of new Blu-ray Disc reviews, the first from Dennis, who checks out Girl on the Third Floor from Dark Sky Films.

Tim also has a new review for you: Deadly Manor, newly released on Blu-ray from Arrow Video.

And as promised today, our own Michael Coate returns with a new History, Legacy & Showmanship film retrospective. This time, he’s joined by historians Robert A. Caplen, Lisa Funnell, and John Cork in looking back at the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. The piece is presented in honor of the film’s 20th anniversary in 2019, but was unavoidably delayed from last year. But great content is great content, and we think you’ll enjoy Michael’s work as always. You’ll find it here. [Read on here...]

All right, sorry there wasn’t a post yesterday—rest assured there was a good reason for it, which I’ll explain in a moment. But first, we have a new Blu-ray review for you to enjoy...

Dennis has posted his thoughts on Michael Engler’s Downton Abbey: The Motion Picture, which is now available on Blu-ray from Focus Films and Universal. If you liked the series (as we did), you’ll definitely like the movie too. It delivers everything you’ve enjoyed from the show with a bigger, grander, and more much cinematic aspect that fits the material and the period well. Not every big screen experience needs a superhero, and we look forward to more sequels should they be forthcoming. So enjoy the review!

Now then, we have few pieces of announcement news today...

As most of you will know by now, the Golden Globe nominees were announced yesterday and you can see the full list here via The New York Times. Netflix dominated in the film categories and there were a number of surprises. The Best Picture nominees include 1917, The Irishman, Joker, Marriage Story, and The Two Popes. The Best Musical or Comedy category includes Dolemite Is My Name, Jojo Rabbit, Knives Out, Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, and Rocketman. Again, you’ll find the rest here. [Read on here...]

All right, we’re rounding out the week with a couple things here at The Bits.

First up, Tim has posed two new Blu-ray reviews featuring John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China, now available on Blu-ray from Scream Factory. Tim covers both the regular version and the limited edition Steelbook as well, so do give them a look. Whichever version you pick, it’s a great Collector’s Edition.

Also, we posted a new History, Legacy, and Showmanship column from our own Michael Coate late yesterday, featuring a look back at John Hughes’ National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation with film historian Thomas A. Christie.

It’s a great piece, with much for fans of the film to enjoy, so you’ll find that here. [Read on here...]