My Two Cents
Thursday, 05 November 2020 15:02

Lovecraft Country Blu-ray in February, plus Castle of Cagliostro 4K in January & RIP to VideoScope’s Joe Kane

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We’re working on more new disc reviews here at The Bits today. Specifically, I’ve got District 9 in 4K from Sony, and V for Vendetta in 4K from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. So I’m going to try to get at last one of those up tomorrow. Tim and Dennis have more in progress today as well.

Meanwhile, Tim has a look at Harry Kümel’s 1971 Belgian horror film Daughters of Darkness, now available in 4K Ultra HD from Blue Underground. Tim says the new 4K scan—from the first time taken from the original camera negative—is a revelation. You’ll find his thoughts here.

The big news today is that Discotek Media has just officially announced their long-awaited 4K Ultra HD release of Hayao Miyazaki’s first animated film, Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979). Look for it to street on 1/26/2021. [Read on here...]

This will be a 40th Anniversary Edition. The disc will include the original Japanese theatrical mono audio, the new Japanese 2.0 track, a new 7.1 Japanese track, the 2000 English dub (by Manga, remixed from the original stems by Les Claypool—including both the original and “family friendly” version), and the 1992 Streamline English dub. You’ll also get an isolated score, audio commentary by Reed Nelson, English subtitles, vintage 1980 Theatrical subtitles, and English for the Hearing Impaired. In addition, there will be art galleries in 4K, all the liner notes from the original release (newly updated and expanded), and new liner notes by Nelson as well. It promises to be an impressive release. You can now pre-order it on Amazon.com here and also by clicking on the cover artwork below. You can also learn a bit more in Discotek’s Twitter announcement here.

Also, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has just set HBO’s Lovecraft Country: The Complete First Season for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 2/16/21 (SRP $39.99 and $29.98). All 10 episodes will be included, along with 5 behind-the-scenes featurettes (Compendium of Horrors, Orithyia Blue and the Imagination of Diana Freeman, Crafting Lovecraft Country, Exploring Lovecraft Country, and Lovecraft Country The Craft). You can see the cover artwork above left and also below.

Here’s a look at the cover artwork for Castle of Cagliostro and lots more new and upcoming 4K titles, with Amazon pre-order links...

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (4K Ultra HD) V for Vendetta (4K Ultra HD) Lovecraft Country: The Complete First Season (Blu-ray Disc)

IP Man: The Complete Collection (4K Ultra HD) District 9 (4K Ultra HD) Blade (4K Ultra HD)

The Hobbit Trilogy (4K Ultra HD) The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (4K Ultra HD) Game of Thrones: The Complete Series (4K Ultra HD)

Finally today, it’s with sadness that I must report the death of the great Joe Kane, the great Phantom of the Movies and the longtime publisher and editor of VideoScope magazine. Joe was a true champion of cult movies and a passionate and loyal friend to all who love genre cinema. He started VideoScope back in 1993 and it’s been a rich resource for cinephiles ever since, both in print and via the official website. Joe passed on November 1 (as announced here on Facebook). All of us here at The Digital Bits doff our caps in his honor. Thank you for everything, Joe.

Rest in Peace, Joe Kane

Finally today, given 2020’s current difficult economic times (which have unfortunately crushed online advertising and affiliate sales income), we ask that if you believe in and appreciate the work we do here at The Digital Bits, please consider making a donation to the site via PayPal (click here or the button below). Every little bit makes a difference in terms of helping us to keep the site going strong, and we really do appreciate it very much. We’re grateful to have all of you as readers, no matter what. So thank you!

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Back tomorrow with more. As always, stay tuned...

(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)

 

 

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