Displaying items by tag: Imprint Films

Before we get to today’s release news, we’ve got a few new disc reviews for you to enjoy here at The Bits...

Tim has reviewed the Looney Tunes: Collector’s Choice – Volume 2 Blu-ray set from the Warner Archive Collection.

Dennis has reviewed R.O. Blechman and Christian Blackwood’s The Soldier’s Tale (1984) on Blu-ray from Kino Classics, along with Jerry London’s Rent-a-Cop (1988) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Stuart has offered his thoughts on Édouard Molinaro’s The Road to Shame (1959) on Blu-ray from Kino Classics, as well as Guy Green’s Diamond Head (1962) on Blu-ray from our friends at Imprint Films.

More reviews are on the way, as always, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for them!

Now then... the big news today is that Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has officially set Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two (2024) for release on Blu-ray, DVD, 4K Ultra HD, and 4K UHD + Blu-ray Steelbook on 5/14, just as we expected. The Digital release is due on 4/16, which is just a week away.

Look for the 4K disc to include Dolby Vision and HDR10 high dynamic range and Dolby Atmos audio. Unfortunately, we’ve confirmed with the studio that the aspect ratio for all of these SKUs will be 2.39:1 only, matching the previous release of Dune: Part One (2021) on disc. These discs will not replicate the variable IMAX aspect ratio in 1.78:1, like the studio’s past 4K releases of Christopher Nolan’s films do (including TENET, Dunkirk, The Dark Knight, etc).

This is something that a LOT of Dune and 4K fans very much want. Since the discs went up for pre-order a few weeks ago, I’ve gotten many hundreds of questions about it. And since I shared the 2.39 confirmation on Twitter yesterday, the post has been seen by more than 1 million people! So there is clearly very keen interest in a disc release that does have the IMAX ratio. Hopefully, Warner is planning an IMAX 4K and BD disc re-release in the future. [Read on here...]

Welcome to a new week, Bits-ers! Hope you all had a good one, including all those of you who attended WonderCon in Anaheim this weekend.

Today is obviously April Fool’s Day, but rest assured we aren’t going to waste time with such tomfoolery here at the site this afternoon because we’ve got more new disc reviews for you, as well as some really great actual news too.

Let’s get to those reviews first. Today we have...

Stephen’s review of Ted Kotcheff’s North Dallas Forty (1979) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as his take on György Kovásznai’s Bubble Bath (1980) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

And Stuart’s look at William Grefé’s Impulse (1974) on Blu-ray from Grindhouse Releasing, as well as Emmanuel Carrère’s Between Two Worlds (2021) on Blu-ray from Cohen Media Group.

Late last week, we also posted Tim’s reviews of Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell (2009) in both regular and limited edition Blu-ray, as well as his reviews of Quentin Tarantino (etc)’s Grindhouse (2007) in both regular and limited edition Blu-ray, all from Via Vision’s Imprint Films.

And not to be outdone, Dennis has also reviewed Peter Yates’ The Dresser (1983) on Blu-ray from Imprint as well. [Read on here...]

Happy Leap Day, Bits readers! February 29th only comes around once every four years, so enjoy it while you can.

I want to take a moment to thank all of you for your patience. We haven’t done a news update here for a couple days, and the reason is that I’ve been doing a lot more digging about that Disney and Sony physical media distribution deal, and I have in fact learned a little bit more information that will put the deal in better context. So after having a few last conversations with sources tonight, I’ll have a bit more to share on that front in tomorrow’s news update here at The Bits.

In the meantime, we’ve posted a bunch more new disc reviews here at the site as follows...

Dennis has posted his thoughts on Raoul Walsh’s The Roaring Twenties (1939) on Blu-ray from our friends at The Criterion Collection, as well as Ralph Murphy’s The Man in Half Moon Street (1945) on Blu-ray from Imprint, Robin Spry’s One Man (1977) and Elly Kenner and Norman Thaddeus Vane’s The Black Room (1982) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome, and Damien LeVeck’s A Creature Was Stirring (2023) on Blu-ray from Well Go USA.

Stewart has taken a look at Norman Jewison’s The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, Nigel Cole’s Saving Grace (2000) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection, and Alan Rudolph’s Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994) on Blu-ray from Imprint.

And finally, Stephen has check in with his take on David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ (1999) on 4K Ultra HD from Vinegar Syndrome. All are well worth a look (both the films and the discs). [Read on here...]

We’ve got some more new announcement for you today, including a few interesting ones. And we have new disc reviews today as well. But first, I saw Dune: Part Two last night. So let me just share some very quick and non-spoiler comments. Here’s my initial reaction posted on social media afterwards...

“You see a film like DUNE: PART TWO and you think: That’s either the last great film of a dying Hollywood, or proof that there’s still a bit of life left in this industry. Either way, it’s a wonder. And absolutely perfect. Don’t look now, but Denis Villeneuve has just casually knocked out three of the greatest science fiction films of all time. See it on the BIGGEST POSSIBLE SCREEN.”

I guess “three of the greatest” depends on whether you calculate Dune as a single film or not. But Arrival, Blade Runner: 2049, and the combined Dune adaptation are all superb. I would rank them right up there with Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner and Alien, and the Wachowskis’ The Matrix. Maybe I’d add Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind in there as well. All extraordinary pieces of hard science fiction cinema.

Honestly, if you liked Dune: Part One—and particularly if you loved Frank Herbert’s original novel, which is rightly regarded as the greatest work of science fiction literature—Villeneuve has just nailed the landing. [Read on here...]

Well, yesterday was kind of a big day in terms of industry news, but as it happens, there have been quite a lot of interesting 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray announcements in the last 24 hours too!

But before we get to those, we have a few more new disc reviews for you...

I’ve just taken a look at John Sturges’ Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as Ron Maxwell’s cult classic Little Darlings (1980) in 4K UHD from Vinegar Syndrome’s new Cinématographe Films label.

Stephen has turned in his thoughts on Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels (2023) in 4K Ultra HD from Marvel and Disney, along with Yoshimitsu Banno’s Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) on 4K UHD (sans English subs) from Toho Studios in Japan.

Dennis has given Ted Kotcheff’s Split Image (1982) a look on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, along with Vincente Minnelli’s Madame Bovary (1949) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

And Stuart has reviewed Andrew V. McLaglen’s The Devil’s Brigade (1968) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics and Steve Zaillian’s Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films.

Many more reviews are forthcoming, including Footloose, Conan the Destroyer, and Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One in 4K, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for them.

Now then... in terns of title announcements, Paramount’s just dropped a couple of big ones starting with confirmation of a title we’ve mentioned here at The Bits recently: Alex Proyas’ The Crow (1994) officially streets on 4K Ultra HD and 4K Steelbook on 5/7. The 4K disc will include Dolby Vision and HDR10 high dynamic range. [Read on here...]

Today’s post starts with three new disc reviews, including...

Stuart’s take on the Film Focus: George Peppard box set from Imprint, which includes John Guillermin’s P.J. (1968), George Schaefer’s Pendulum (1969), Sam Wanamaker’s The Executioner (1970), and Richard T. Heffron’s Newman’s Law (1974).

Dennis’ look at Val Guest’s Assignment K (1968), also new on Blu-ray from Imprint.

And finally, Stephen’s thoughts on Vincente Minnelli and Busby Berkeley’s Cabin in the Sky (1943) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

Note that we have lots more new disc reviews on the way, so be sure to watch for them. Also here at The Bits today, we’ve posted a significant update of our 4K Ultra HD Release List with lots of new 4K UHD titles and Amazon links.

And for our Patreon supporters, we’ve recently shared our thoughts on Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica and how well the series holds up some fifteen years after it ended its run on the Sci-Fi Channel, along with some preliminary commentary on changes that are brewing within the home entertainment industry, as well as Stephen’s thoughts on the ethics of film alteration and the challenges in determining how films should look on Blu-ray and especially 4K. Supporting The Bits on Patreon is a great way to help us continue our work in service of physical media, and we surely do appreciate it. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a few interesting items for you today, including some new release news and more. But first, more new disc reviews...

Tim has taken a look at Peter Walker’s House of the Long Shadows (1983) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, a Cannon Films cult title featuring no less than Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and John Carradine. Tim has also reviewed Umbrella Entertainment’s wide-release 4K UHD edition of Andrzej Zulawski’s Possession (1981) in 4K Ultra HD, and he’s updated his review of the Collector’s Edition 4K too.

Dennis has taken a look at Daphné Baiwir’s King on Screen (2022) documentary on the film adaptations of author Stephen King. That comes to Blu-ray by way of Dark Star Pictures and Vinegar Syndrome.

And Stephen has reviewed another Toho kaiju classic in 4K Ultra HD, this time Ishirō Honda’s Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964). Once again, being a Japanese import title it does not include English subtitles, but there’s a work around for that.

Before we get to the announcement news this afternoon, a number of online retailers have begun taking pre-orders on the 3/12 4K Ultra HD release of James Cameron’s The Abyss (1989), True Lies (1994), and Aliens (1986), with the odd exception of Amazon. The links are up on Amazon (click on the title links in the previous sentence, and we’ll including them on the cover artwork below) but for whatever reason they haven’t been made live yet. I don’t know if this is a Disney oversight, or an Amazon oversight, but we’ll keep our eyes on the situation and update you when they go live. [Read on here...]

Whew! Yesterday was a big day, was it not? I was up all night prior to the announcement, formatting the post for 7 AM Pacific release, and man was it ever good to finally share that! I’ve been sitting on some of that information for months, so I’m very glad to finally be able to speak about it openly. And after thirteen years, it’s damn good to finally confirm that those James Cameron titles are indeed coming to 4K and Blu-ray at long last.

We have more new disc reviews to share today here at The Bits, and there’s more release news today as well. But first, I wanted to let you all know that I’ve just done a new blog post over on Patreon: My Two Cents on the New Abyss Trailer, and the Subject of DNR and Film Grain. It’s based on an impromptu Q&A thread I was involved in over on Twitter/X this morning, but with some added detail that will definitely be of interest to fans of these James Cameron films in remastered 4K. So if you’re a backer of The Bits’ new Patreon—and if you’re not, you should be, as we really need and appreciate the support!—I think you’ll certainly enjoy that. But for the rest of you, rest assured: Much of the substance of that post will be shared here on The Bits website when we review The Abyss, True Lies, Aliens, and Titanic in 4K, first on Digital in a few weeks and then in a few months on actual 4K UHD disc.

Now then, speaking of reviews... Stephen has posted his thoughts on Roger Spottiswoode’s The Best of Times (1986) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Dennis has reviewed Éric Gravel’s Full Time (2021) on Blu-ray from Music Box Films and Vinegar Syndrome, as well as Jared Moshe’s Aporia (2023) on Blu-ray from Well Go USA.

Stuart has weighed in with his take on Roy Del Ruth’s Du Barry Was a Lady (1943) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection, along with Jules Dassin’s Uptight (1968) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films.

And for you Peckinpah fans, Tim has shared his in-depth look at Sam Peckinpah’s Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974), also on Blu-ray from Imprint Films.

As always, more new disc reviews are on the way for tomorrow and all next week, so be sure to watch for them. [Read on here...]

We’re starting our first big news update of the week here at The Bits with some new disc reviews, as always. So now available for your reading enjoyment are...

Stephen’s in-depth reviews of both the wide release 4K Ultra HD and the Disney Movie Club-exclusive “quad” 4K Ultra HD release of Walt Disney’s classic animated Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). The good news is that Disney’s positive change in direction with 4K catalog releases is officially no fluke—the disc features absolutely beautiful 35mm film remastering with lovely grain structure and wonderfully vibrant colors.

Stephen has also turned in a review of Michael Cimino’s Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, which also features terrific new remastering.

And Stuart has delivered a look at Norman Taurog’s Spinout (1966) on Blu-ray from our friends at the Warner Archive Collection.

As always, more new reviews are on the way later this week, so be sure to watch for them.

Now then... in announcement news today, the Criterion Collection has officially revealed their January 2024 release slate. [Read on here...]

All right, today’s update is going to be brief, because of a couple factors. First, I’m talking with a number of sources about some forthcoming and exciting 4K Ultra HD catalog titles, which I’ll talk about here when I can. Second, I’m dealing with replacing my recently defunct Epson 5040ub projector. And more on that soon as well.

In the meantime, we have some very exciting 4K Ultra HD news today that I know a lot of you will be pleased about. And of course, we have more new disc reviews for you as well. So let’s start with those first...

Stephen has posted his thoughts on Warner’s long-awaited 4K Ultra HD release of Eric Radomski and Bruce W. Timm’s animated Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)! And it appears the title has been worth the wait.

Stuart has also weighed in with a look at Robert Mulligan’s The Spiral Road (1962) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films and Via Vision Entertainment.

Dennis has offered his two cents on Jacques Tourneur’s Wichita (1955) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection, as well as Charlotte Le Bon’s Falcon Lake (2022) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

And last but not least, Tim has shared a review of Luca Bercovici’s Ghoulies (1985) in 4K Ultra HD from the MVD Rewind Collection, as well as Ray Kellogg’s The Giant Gila Monster (1959) and The Killer Shrews (1959) in a new double-feature Blu-ray release from Film Masters.

More disc reviews are forthcoming, so be sure to stay tuned for them. Now then, let’s get to the big release news... [Read on here...]