Displaying items by tag: My Two Cents

We’re starting today with more new disc reviews, and then we have a major piece of catalog 4K news for you here at The Bits. First up...

Tim has taken a look at Sidney Lumet’s Murder on the Orient Express (1974) on Blu-ray from Paramount.

Dennis has reviewed J. Lee Thompson’s Eye of the Devil (1966) and Karl Freund’s Mad Love (1935), both new on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

And Stephen has delivered his thoughts on a pair of new Umbrella Entertainment Region-Free Blu-ray releases, including Steve Jodrell’s Shame (1988) and Bruce Beresford’s Puberty Blues (1981).

Now then, let’s get to that big release news: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has set Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s musical comedy Singin’ in the Rain (1952) for 4K Ultra HD release on 4/26, just as we first revealed here at The Bits way back in November. [Read on here...]

All right, as some of you may know, we had a pretty interesting early post here at The Bits today with news of a great bunch of Shout! and Scream Factory Blu-ray and 4K titles coming in May. Turns out, that was just scratching the surface! Not only has Shout! now fully fleshed out their May release slate, they’ve added an additional Ultra HD title and more Blu-ray titles too. What’s more, Sony has revealed a pair of much-wanted 4K titles in June, and Paramount has announced a significant slate of Blu-ray and 4K titles for May as well!

This is going to take a little while to go through, so let’s get right into it. We’ll start with those new Sony titles first, then circle our way back to Shout...

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has just announced a pair of new Steelbook 4K titles for release on 6/7, one a title released previously and the other also released previously but only in one of their Columbia Classics 4K box sets: The Bridge on the River Kwai: 65th Anniversary Limited Edition and a Lawrence of Arabia: 60th Anniversary Limited Edition. These will be essentially the same discs released previously (reviewed here and here on The Bits), except that both now feature Dolby Vision HDR (Kwai had only HDR10 in its initial UHD release). Both also feature Dolby Atmos audio plus legacy mixes. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a quick early news update for you here at The Bits this morning featuring a major new disc review and some great breaking title announcement news as well. First the review...

Tim has just weighed in with his thoughts on John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London: Limited Edition in 4K Ultra HD from our friends at Arrow Video.

Sounds like it’s a loaded package, with best-ever image and sound quality for this film, so if you’re a fan you won’t want to miss it.

Now then, we’ve learned that Shout! and Scream Factory are just about to announce their May Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD slate, and it includes a trio of great and much-loved catalog titles in 4K Ultra HD. [Read on here...]

We’re starting things off today with Tim’s review of Lewis Teague’s Alligator (1980) in 4K Ultra HD from Scream Factory. It sounds like this is not only the best the film has ever looked and sounded, but it’s also one of Shout! and Scream’s best 4K releases to date. So do give it a look if you might be interested.

We’ve also just updated our Release Dates and Artwork section with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. Remember, any time you order literally anything from Amazon after clicking to them from one of our links, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we really do appreciate it.

I also wanted to address one other thing here on the site today: Some of you may have noticed that there were “roadblock” ads appearing on The Bits over the last few months. Ads that appeared when you clicked from the home page to other content—ads that you had to click away to continue reading. Rest assured, we’ve killed those and they will not be returning. [Read on here...]

We’ve got three more new disc reviews for you to enjoy today, starting with Tim’s look at Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run (1998), as recently released on Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment. It’s an Aussie import title, but all-region.

Also today, Dennis has turned in his thoughts on Alan J. Pakula’s The Parallax View (1974), which is newly released on Blu-ray from Imprint Films in Australia, also a region-free disc.

And Stephen has offered his thoughts on Shinsuke Terasawa’s animated Catwoman: Hunted in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, the latest installment in their DC Animated Universe.

What’s more, we have another “bonus” film retrospective from our own Michael Coate today in his History, Legacy and Showmanship column, as he takes a look back at Robert Wise’s original West Side Story (1961) in honor of the film’s 60th anniversary. Michael is joined by film and musical experts Matthew Kennedy, Bruce Kimmel, and Mike Matessino for a great roundtable discussion. Enjoy! [Read on here...]

We have more new disc reviews for you today, and finally some official details on the Blu-ray and 4K release of West Wide Story from 20th Century Studios. As always, reviews first...

Dennis has turned in his thoughts on Ian Sharp’s The Final Option (1982) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Tim has delivered his take on Jack Gold’s The Medusa Touch (1978) on Blu-ray from Imprint.

And Stephen has taken a look at Paramount’s new 30th anniversary Steelbook Blu-ray release of Wayne’s World (1992), as directed by Penelope Spheeris. Enjoy!

Now then, as we mentioned yesterday 20th Century Studios is releasing Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story (2021) on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 3/15, with the Digital and Disney+ streaming offerings available on 3/2. [Read on here...]

We have a quick President’s Day news update for you here at The Bits with some good title announcement news, both new and catalog. And of course, another new disc review.

Stephen has checked in with his in-depth thoughts on Chloe Zhao’s Eternals in 4K Ultra HD from Disney and Marvel, a somewhat polarizing entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We think you’ll find his take interesting, and you can find it right here.

In new announcement news today, 20th Century Studios has just put Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story (2021) up for pre-order on Amazon in Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD with a street date of 3/15.

The 4K disc will include English Dolby Atmos audio, with HDR10 high dynamic range. [Read on here...]

We’re rounding out the week with a trio of additional disc reviews here at the site...

Stephen and Tim have checked in with thoughts on Scream Factory’s new 4K Ultra HD release of Joe Dante’s The Howling.

Tim has also taken a look at Mario and Lamberto Bava’s Shock (1977), which is now available on Blu-ray from Arrow Video.

And Dennis has delivered a new look at Nicholas Ray’s Party Girl (1958) on Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.

More reviews are on the way for next week too, including my own of Frank Darabont’s The Green Mile in 4K from Warner. So be sure to check back then.

In terms of announcement news today, we expect Disney and 20th Century Studios to officially announce Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD any time now, with an anticipated street date of 3/15. You can see the retail cover artwork below. [Read on here...]

We’ve got some great release news for you all today and of course more new disc reviews as well. As always, we’ll start with the reviews...

I’ve just posted my thoughts on Rian Johnson’s science fiction time-twister Looper (2012), which is finally available in 4K Ultra HD here in the States from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. What’s more—and unlike last year’s UK 4K release from eOne—this edition features fresh remastering by cinematographer Steve Yedlin, with a new Dolby Vision and HDR10 high dynamic range grade and a new Dolby Atmos mix too. Not only is it a big improvement on the original Blu-ray, it improves on the eOne 4K release too, so it’s definitely worth a look for fans.

Also today, Tim has posted a look at Bruce Beresford’s The Adventures of Barry McKenzie on Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment.

Stephen has offered his thoughts on Mervyn LeRoy and Busby Berkeley’s long-awaited Gold Diggers of 1933 new on Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.

And Dennis has turned in his takes on Kino Classics’ Princess Tam Tam (1935) and Zou Zou (1934) double-feature and Philip Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, both on Blu-ray. [Read on here...]

We’re all busy working on new disc reviews here at The Bits today, but I wanted to chime in quickly here today to acknowledge a bit of sad news.

The great filmmaker Ivan Reitman has died. He apparently passed away in his sleep on Saturday at the age of 75.

Reitman was of course the director of such comedy classics as Meatballs, Stripes, Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II, Twins, Kindergarten Cop, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Draft Day, and more.

Reitman also produced or executive produced many additional films, among them Animal House, Heavy Metal, Private Parts, and the recent Ghostbusters: Afterlife. [Read on here...]