Displaying items by tag: Warner Bros

All right, we’ve got a bunch of ground to cover today, and the subject for today’s My Two Cents post is what we’re hearing from our industry and retail sources about forthcoming 4K Ultra HD catalog titles expected in the new year. But first, we have a pair of new reviews for you this afternoon...

Dennis has turned in his thoughts on Daniel Man’s 1952 drama Come Back, Little Sheba, which is now available on region-free Blu-ray from the Aussie label Imprint Films. The film stars Burt Lancaster and Shirley Booth.

And Stephen has delivered his in-depth take on AGFA and Something Weird Video’s nine-film, three-disc The Films of Doris Wishman: The Moonlight Years Blu-ray box set, distributed by Vinegar Syndrome.

As always, more new disc reviews are on the way over the coming days, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for them.

Now then, we’ve been circling back with our many industry and retail sources here at The Bits, and we’ve got an update on some interesting titles that are coming to 4K Ultra HD in the months ahead. [Read on here...]

Well, the big news this week is so big that we’re going to address it right off the top: In a sudden and unexpected move, Disney’s board of directors has ousted CEO Bob Chapek and re-hired Bob Iger. The news came out of the blue on Sunday night and seems to have taken everyone by surprise. Bob Iger of course was the company’s previous CEO, who took over for Michael Eisner—the man who’d served in that role for over two decades at that point—back in 2005. It was under Iger’s watch that Disney acquired Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, and the film division of 20th Century Fox. He also laid the groundwork for the launch of Disney+ in 2019.

Chapek was no stranger to Disney, having joined the company in 1993 as the director of marketing for Buena Vista Home Entertainment. In this capacity he helped steer Disney through the “Golden Age” of DVD and eventually the launch of Blu-ray, which is how I came to know him. He was so successful in that capacity that he was promoted to president of Home Entertainment in 2006, and eventually took over at Disney Consumer Products (in 2011) and Parks and Resorts (in 2015), which seemed to make him a natural fit to become CEO of Disney himself when Iger eventually stepped down.

But apparently, Iger and Chapek did not often see eye to eye. Iger, who could (and probably should) have worked more aggressively to groom a clear successor to lead the company in his own image, failed to do so, resulting in Chapek’s elevation to CEO in 2020. But Chapek’s reign was troubled from the very start, stricken first by the COVID-19 pandemic and next by a series of public “self-owns” and media missteps. [Read on here...]

All right, I’m still working on that Criterion WALL-E 4K review and hope to have it up this weekend. Real life got in the way a little bit here over the last couple of days, not to mention some necessary behind-the-scenes work here at the site. But I will say this: Both the 4K presentation and the accompanying Blu-ray presentation, are absolutely fantastic. As in best-ever image quality for this film.

In the meantime, Tim has posted his thoughts on Rod Serling’s Night Gallery: Season Three on Blu-ray from our friends over at Kino Lorber Studio Classics. Sounds like it’s another fabulous set with more great extras.

And we do have several good pieces of release news to report here at the site today...

First, Turbine Media in Germany has finally announced their planned 6-Disc 4K Ultra HD Ultimate Edition of Peter Jackson’s The Frighteners (1996) for release on 12/2 (Yes, that is a Friday—keep in mind, this is a German release). The film has been fully remastered from the original camera negative and graded for high dynamic range (including Dolby Vision) in a process supervised by the director. [Read on here...]

Yes, it’s true!

This is information I first heard from industry insiders about six months ago, but was asked to keep quiet about to allow the work to be completed. But retailers are just now starting to catch wind of it, so I can unofficially confirm it here:

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is planning to release Superman II, Superman III, and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace in 4K Ultra HD in early 2023!

Superman II will include both the original theatrical version and the Richard Donner Cut.

Our sources suggest that—like Superman: The Movie in 4K—all three of these will feature Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Street date is still TBA on these officially, however we’ve been hearing Q2 2023, and Amazon UK has just leaked a 3 April street date for Superman III on their website (click here for that).

Do keep in mind that none of this should be considered 100% kosher and official until the studio makes their actual announcements in the weeks and months ahead. But Superman fans should be very happy around April of next year. [Read on here...]

Today’s news update is a quick one here at The Bits today, but also a very good one for fans of a certain WB catalog film. More on that in a moment. First, we’ve got a bunch of new Halloween Bag-o-Tricks reviews for you to enjoy...

Tim has reviewed Tom Holland’s Fright Night (1985) in 4K Ultra HD from Sony, as well as the Universal Horror Collection: Volume 5 on Blu-ray from Scream Factory, Rouben Mamoulian’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection, the Suspiria: 45th Anniversary Soundtrack – Prog Rock Version on CD from Rustblade Records, and the Gothic Fantastico: Four Italian Tales of Terror box set on Blu-ray from Arrow Video.

And Stephen has chimed in with his thoughts on Shin’ichiro Ueda’s One Cut of the Dead: Hollywood Edition (2017) on Blu-ray from Third Window Films and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s Ready or Not (2019) on Blu-ray from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

We’ll have more Bag-o-Tricks reviews tomorrow, Sunday, and of course Halloween Monday, so be sure to check back for them. [Read on here...]

Today’s round of Halloween Bag-o-Tricks title reviews kicks off My Two Cents here at The Bits today, including...

Stephen’s look at Shin’ichiro Ueda’s One Cut of the Dead on Blu-ray from RLJE Entertainment.

His review of David Schmoeller’s Tourist Trap: VHS Retro Big Box Collection on Blu-ray from Full Moon Features.

And Tim’s take on the 1980 British TV entry Hammer House of Horror: The Complete Series on Blu-ray from Imprint Films. Enjoy!

Meanwhile, the big news this morning—though it’s not yet official in the form of an actual press release/announcement—is that HBO will definitely be releasing its excellent House of the Dragon: The Complete First Season on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD on 12/20.

Extras on the set will feature “over one hour of bonus content” including two exclusive featurettes: Return to the Seven Kingdoms and Welcome to Westeros (with Ryan Condal, Miguel Sapochnik, and George R.R. Martin).

The 4K/Blu-ray combo set will be available in two different wide-release product SKUs, one in regular packaging and the other in Steelbook packaging. You can see the wide release version at left and both below. Both will feature Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10, as well as Dolby Atmos audio. [Read on here...]

We begin today with our latest Halloween Bag-o-Tricks reviews for Tuesday, 10/25...

Stephen has turned in his thoughts on William Eubank’s Underwater (2020) on Blu-ray from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment—one of the last films the studio greenlit before the Disney takeover.

Dennis offers his take on Gerard Kikoine’s Buried Alive, aka Edgar Allan Poe’s Buried Alive (1990) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

And Tim has posted his review of Mario Bava’s Spanish-Italian science fiction/horror class, Planet of the Vampires (1965) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

So enjoy the reviews and be sure to check back for more of them here at The Bits tomorrow! [Read on here...]

We’re finishing out the week here at The Bits beginning with two more new disc reviews, including...

Tim’s look at Martin Campbell’s No Escape (1994, aka Escape from Absolom) on Blu-ray from Unearthed Films.

And Dennis’ take on Joseph Anthony’s The Rainmaker (1956) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And we definitely have some significant news to report today, both in terms of titles and more general industry goings-on...

First up, Imprint Films has just announced their very first 4K Ultra HD title and it’s an upgrade of their debut Imprint Collection Blu-ray release... Byron Haskin’s The War of the Worlds (1953). The street date is 12/15. The 2-disc set will feature both a 4K UHD and the previous Blu-ray edition in Steelbook packaging, housed in a 3D lenticular hardcase with a 44-page collector’s booklet. You can see the packaging below. [Read on here...]

Today’s news update here at The Digital Bits is a quick one, with one new disc review and a couple pieces of release news to close out the week. First, that review...

Tim has turned in his in-depth thoughts on The Outer Limits: Season Two (1964-65) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. And don’t forget that he reviewed Season One on Blu-ray just yesterday. Both are great box sets, packed with audio commentaries and rare extras, and are well worth a look.

Now then, the only major piece of announcement news we have today is that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has just set P.J. Hogan’s romantic comedy My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) for release on 4K Ultra HD on 12/13.

The 4K presentation has been remastered from the original camera negative and will feature Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. All of the legacy Blu-ray features will be included, and—just for this release—the studio had added an alternate ending and nearly 20 minutes of deleted scenes, all never-before-seen. You can see the cover artwork above left. [Read on here...]

“If you are the rare person who has never seen a Clint Eastwood film and wonder what all the fuss is about, Dirty Harry would be a good place to start.” – Patrick McGilligan, author of Clint: The Life and Legend

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the golden anniversary of the release of Dirty Harry, the popular action-thriller about San Francisco Police Department Inspector “Dirty” Harry Callahan and his quest to apprehend a psychopath. Starring Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) in the titular role, the film was inspired by the Zodiac Killer case and spawned a series of Dirty Harry films.

Directed by Don Siegel (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Escape from Alcatraz), the film also starred Andy Robinson (Hellraiser, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Harry Guardino (Pork Chop Hill, Rollercoaster), Reni Santoni (Bad Boys, Cobra), and John Vernon (The Outlaw Josey Wales, Animal House). [Read on here...]