Items filtered by date: March 2025

We’ve got one new disc review for you to enjoy here at The Bits today...

Tim has updated Barrie Maxwell’s 2011 Criterion Blu-ray review of Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le cercle rouge (1970) to reflect the company’s more recent 4K Ultra HD release. As long time Bits readers will know, Barrie was our dear friend and a classic cinema expert who wrote reviews and a Classic Coming Attractions column here at the site for many years. Barrie sadly passed away back in 2012. We can’t think of a better way to honor his memory than to ensure that his writing continues to find new audiences. So enjoy the review!

The big release news today is that our friends at the Warner Archive Collection have just announced their May catalog release slate, which includes not only great Blu-ray titles but also WAC’s next 4K Ultra HD release! That 4K title is none other than Charles Walters’ classic High Society (1956), starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Louis Armstrong!

The film has been remastered from new 13.5K scans of the original VistaVision negative. The 4K disc will include Dolby Vision HDR on a 100GB disc, with disc authoring and compression by Fidelity in Motion. The remastered film will also be included in the package on Blu-ray, a BD-50. [Read on here...]

We have three more new disc reviews for you all to enjoy today, including...

Stuart’s look at John M. Stahl’s When Tomorrow Comes (1939) on Region-B Blu-ray from Powerhouse Films and Indicator.

Tim’s review of Jack Arnold’s The Glass Web (1953) on Blu-ray 3D from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, with an assist by our friends at the 3-D Film Archive.

And Stephen’s thoughts on Renny Harlin’s The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) in 4K Ultra HD from the good folks at Arrow Video.

More reviews are on the way this week, so be sure to watch for them!

Now then, I’ve also posted a new Patreon blog entry asking the question: Why Aren’t More 4K Ultra HD Titles Released on 100GB Discs? And the reason might surprise you! You’ll find that here for our subscribers on The Bits’ Patreon page. Keep in mind, we have great and very affordable options for subscribing, and we have big plans for expanding our coverage of 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD there in addition to everything we do here on the website. And as I mentioned yesterday, it’s a great way to help support our work here at The Bits and we really appreciate it very much. [Read on here...]

This is a quick post to let you all know that our Release Dates & Cover Artwork section here at The Digital Bits has just been updated with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. Don’t forget that you can select to see just the Blu-ray, DVD, 4K Ultra HD, or even Criterion titles seperately if you like, to help you find exactly the ones you’re looking for. Just click on RELEASE DATES &  ART on the menu bar above to visit the page, and use the search options in the red bar (at the top) to sort by format and date. Once you find a title you like, just click on the cover art and you’ll be taken right to the Amazon.com pre-order page. Thank you for shopping through our links and don’t forget that anytime you order from Amazon through our links, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we really appreciate it! And thanks to our own Russell Hammond for the update work!

- Bill Hunt