Morning, everyone! So, there's not a lot of news to report on this Thanksgiving week, but there are a couple things worth noting...

First though, our very own Russell Hammond has once again updated the Release Dates & Artwork section to include all of the latest DVD and Blu-ray cover artwork, and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, a portion of anything you order from Amazon through our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits, and we really appreciate it.

Speaking of Amazon, the retailer is running some amazing Black Friday deals ALL THIS WEEK on DVD and Blu-ray hardware and software, as well as gaming gear and lots more! Be sure to check them out each week via this link to see what specials are available and to take advantage of them while you can. And again, thanks for supporting us by using our links to them.

Okay... let's get to those announcements. First of all, Disney has officially announced the DVD and Blu-ray release of Surrogates on 1/26/10 (SRP $29.99 and $39.99). Extras on the Blu-ray will include audio commentary with director Jonathan Mostow, 4 deleted scenes, 2 featurettes (A More Perfect You: The Science of Surrogates and Breaking the Frame: A Graphic Novel Comes to Life) and Breaking Benjamin's I Will Not Bow music video. The DVD includes just the commentary and music video.

Meanwhile, Sony has set Black Dynamite for DVD and Blu-ray release on 2/2/10 (SRP $24.96 and $34.95). Extras will include filmmaker and case audio commentary, deleted and alternate scenes and 2 featurettes (Lighting the Fuse and The Comic-Con Experience). The Blu-ray will add an exclusive featurette (The '70s: Back in Action) and movieIQ.

Also coming from Sony on 2/2/10 is the DVD and Blu-ray release of Universal Soldier: Regeneration (SRP $24.96 and $34.95), featuring commentary with Dolph Lundgren and the director and the Behind the Lines featurette. The BD will also add movieIQ.

On 2/9, Sony will release the 2010 remake film Ice Castles on DVD only (SLP $24.96).

This one's interesting: Icarus Films is releasing Patricio Guzmán's The Battle of Chile on DVD on 12/8 (SRP $44.98). The 4-disc DVD set includes Part I: The Insurrection of the Bourgeoisie (96 min.), Part II; The Coup d'Etat (88 min.) and Part III: The Power of the People (79 min.), along with Guzmán's Chile, Obstinate Memory (57 min.), a video interview (22 min.) with Guzmán and a 16-page booklet.

Blue Underground has set Vampyres for Blu-ray release on 3/30/10 (SRP $29.95). Extras will include audio commentary with director José Ramón Larraz and producer Brian Smedley-Aston, the Return of the Vampyres featurette, and the film's international and U.S. trailers. The title is already available on DVD.

Fox has announced a number of new titles including Kendra: Season One for DVD on 1/5/10, Cheaper by the Dozen 2 for Blu-ray on 1/5 and The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Season Six for DVD on 2/2.

Warner has set the direct-to-video animated film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths for release on DVD, DVD special edition and Blu-ray Disc on 2/23.

And finally, Paramount has set Paranormal Activity for DVD and Blu-ray release on 12/29 (SRP $29.99 and $40.99). Each will include the theatrical cut, plus an unrated version with an alternate ending not seen in theatres. The Blu-ray will also include a Digital Copy version.

Here's both versions of Paramount's Paranormal Activity, Criterion's Make Way for Tomorrow DVD (2/23/10) and Revanche Blu-ray (2/16/10), Blue Underground's Vampyres Blu-ray and Disney's Surrogates on Blu-ray...





We'll be back tomorrow with Barrie's latest Classic Coming Attractions column, so be sure to check back for it. Stay tuned until then!

11/23/09

Well... good evening, folks! Man, have I ever had a day...

So there I am last night, working on a couple of disc reviews... watching discs on my PC to check various quality issues... when suddenly my Windows Vista desktop completely freezes on me. Just totally locks up, nothing to do for it but reboot. And then, when I reboot... every time it gets to the desktop, same result. Crash! Again and again, with me getting more and more pissed off. So after a night (and most of today) of troubleshooting, turns out the culprit is my NVIDIA graphics driver. I'd recently (about two weeks ago) updated my video card drivers, and apparently Vista didn't like it one bit, but took a couple weeks to let me know about it. HELL'S BELLS! Once I suspected what the problem was, I went and picked up a new video card - with an ATI chipset, cause NVIDIA can BLOW ME - ripped out the old card, swapped the new one in, and bam - problem solved. Then I went online just to see if anyone else had been having such problems, and it turns out something like 30% of the Vista crashes are because of corrupt or buggy NVIDIA drivers. Go figure. Tell you what: I will NEVER buy an NVIDIA graphics card again. Not for a very long time anyway.

And yeah... I know you Mac guys are all smirking your asses off right now, thinking how superior your hardware is versus anything running Windows, and I don't even want to hear it. Bastards. ;)

All right... the long and the short of it is, here's a review: The promised Farscape: The Complete Series, newly re-issued on standard DVD from the good folks at A&E Home Entertainment. The Cliff's Notes version is that the set is pretty good, especially if you've never owned the show on DVD before. For the SRP and sale price, it's a great value. But if you already have the previous Starburst Edition discs from ADV, you'll definitely want to stick with those instead. Anyway, you'll find all the details in the review. Enjoy.

Back tomorrow with more news, etc... hopefully with less aggravation involved. Stay tuned...!

11/20/09

Afternoon, everyone! Today's post is going to be a quickie, but we've finally got a couple of those reviews for you...

Our own Barrie Maxwell has checked in with a look at Sony's new Angels & Demons: Two-Disc Theatrical & Extended Edition Blu-ray, which hits stores next Tuesday (11/24). Also, Jeff Kleist has turned in his thoughts on Disney and Pixar's excellent UP Blu-ray, which is now available. Both are well worth your time and attention, so enjoy!

Meanwhile, I'm working on a review of A&E Home Video's new Farscape: The Complete Series DVD box set, among other titles. There's a LOT to cover in the box, but I hope to have that review for you on Monday.

Before we sign off for the week, however, I do have one quick update for you on Let the Right One In. As we posted yesterday, Magnolia has finally re-released the Region 1 DVD version in the States with corrected theatrical subtitles, but a corrected Blu-ray version is still MIA here. HOWEVER, the good news is that if you love the film and you just can't wait for Magnolia to get its BD fix in stores... we're told that Momentum Pictures' U.K. Blu-ray release (available here at Amazon.co.uk for about $22 USD shipped to the States) DOES have the correct theatrical English subtitles AND it's an all-region disc, compatible with U.S./Region A players. Thanks to all you crafty/import-savvy Bits readers who sent us e-mails to let us know about this edition. Where there's a will, there's a way... [EDITOR'S NOTE: We're now getting reports that the DTS-HD MA track on this import BD is defective, and that Momentum will have fixed copies available soon. Wait to order your copy until we've confirmed that fixed copies are in stock at Amazon.co.uk. Guess this film just had bad luck all around on Blu...]

All right, it's back to Farscape for me. Have a great weekend and we'll see you back here on Monday!

Bill Hunt, Editor
The Digital Bits
billhunt@thedigitalbits.com