Displaying items by tag: JW Rinzler

We’re kicking off a new week with a pair of 4K Ultra HD reviews from Sony’s terrific new Columbia Classics 4K Collection: Volume 1 box set, which streets on June 16th. Now available for your reading pleasure are my thoughts on Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove (1964) and David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Both look and sound better than ever. Before you ask, these films are ONLY available in this box set for now, and it does not appear that Sony has any plans to release them individually this year (though it’s certainly possible that could change later in 2020 or 2021).

Also up here at The Bits today is a review of Dorothy Arzner’s Dance, Girl, Dance (1940) on Blu-ray from Criterion by Dennis, and my own look at Kino Lorber’s animated The Inspector (1965-69) on Blu-ray—part of a larger series of reviews on the DePatie-Freleng Collection I hope to post over the coming weeks.

In other news today, Arrow Films has announced a UK only release of David Fincher’s The Game for Blu-ray on July 24th (SRP £44.99). It’s limited to 3K units and will include a 200-page hardback book. On this side of the Pond, Universal controls the title, so we’ll have to wait and see if Arrow Video has licensed it for release here in the States at some point. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a couple interesting things for you this afternoon before we get to today’s release news...

First up, reviews... I’ve posted my in-depth thoughts on Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) in 4K Ultra HD here at The Bits and will have reviews of Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin in 4K over the next few days. The upshot of this first Batman film in 4K is that Warner’s new transfer and Atmos mix are terrific, but the HDR may take a little getting used to and a few of the sound effects have been changed for reasons explained in the review. You can read that here.

Also, Tim has posted a review of Archer: Danger Island – The Complete Season Nine on DVD from Fox and Dennis has looked at Isn’t It Romantic on Blu-ray from Warner.

And some of you may know that this past weekend was the 40th anniversary of Ridley Scott’s original Alien (1979). So our own Michael Coate has posted a new History, Legacy, and Showmanship retrospective column looking back at the film’s theatrical release. It includes a great new roundtable of experts to discuss the film, including authors Chris Barsanti, Paul M. Sammon, and J.W. Rinzler (whose new book The Making of Alien is coming in July). You can read the piece here and if you’re a fan of the film, I think you’ll really enjoy it. [Read on here...]

“Alien (like other 1970s films such as Jaws, Superman, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Godfather, and Star Wars) was a seminal landmark in the upgrade of shopworn B-movie clichés — monsters, comic book characters, flying saucers, gangsters, Saturday afternoon serials — into major A-movie assets.” — Paul M. Sammon, author of Ridley Scott: The Making of His Movies

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 40th anniversary of the release of Alien, the sci-fi/horror classic about the five-man, two-woman (and one cat) crew of the Nostromo, who got more than they bargained for after investigating a distress signal from a mysterious planet.

Suspense, atmospheric moodiness and Oscar-winning visual effects were among the highlights of Alien, directed by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Gladiator) and starring Tom Skerritt (Top Gun), Veronica Cartwright (The Right Stuff), Harry Dean Stanton (Repo Man), John Hurt (The Elephant Man), Ian Holm (Chariots of Fire), Yaphet Kotto (Live and Let Die), and Sigourney Weaver (Ghostbusters) as Ellen Ripley. [Read on here...]

Dr. Jahnke’s Hell Plaza Oktoberfest continues today with a review of Jess Franco’s Nightmares Come at Night on Blu-ray Disc from Kino via their Redemption Films label.  Enjoy!

Speaking of Oktoberfest, we’ve got a special deal for you:  Our friends at Factory Entertainment, who are sponsoring the Fest, have provided a special discount code just for Bits readers.  All throughout the month of October, Bits readers can get 25% off any Factory Entertainment order of IN STOCK ITEMS over $50 by using the code D1G1TALB1TS10 at checkout.  Again, this is good on any order of IN STOCK ITEMS over $50 and it runs until the end of the day on October 31st.  Don’t forget, we’re also going to be giving away great Universal Monsters prop replicas from Factory Entertainment starting next week over on The Digital Bits Facebook page and the Jahnke’s Electric Theatre Facebook page, so be sure to head on over there and give them a “like” if you’re interested.  [Read on here…]

Earlier this year, The Digital Bits celebrated the 30th anniversary of Return of the Jedi with this retrospective article.  Now, we continue our anniversary coverage of Jedi, the concluding chapter of George Lucas’s original Star Wars trilogy, with this Q&A with author J.W. Rinzler regarding his new book, The Making of Return of the Jedi, which is due out this week from Del Rey/LucasBooks.  [Read on here…]

All right, as you can probably see... The Hell Plaza Oktoberfest Se7en is here!  Doc Jahnke and I kicked things off early this morning with the official Fest page and Adam’s first review: Scream Factory’s The Amityville Horror Collection on Blu-ray!  Every weekday, all this month, Adam will offer up another Halloween-themed movie review on Blu-ray and DVD for your reading (and creepy viewing) pleasure!

Also, we strongly recommend that you guys head on over to Facebook and give both The Digital Bits and Jahnke’s Electric Theater pages there a “like” because all month long we’re going to be giving away (on both Facebook pages) a bunch of great Blu-rays from Shout! Factory, Scream Factory and Anchor Bay, as well as one each of those badass Universal Monsters prop replicas from our friends at Factory Entertainment, including the Dracula Medallion, the Dracula Ring, the Fossil Creature Hand and the Frankenstein Bust!  We’ll have more details on the giveaways very soon.  Oktoberfest is one of our favorite times of year and it’s going to be a great month, so we hope you all enjoy it!  [Read on here...]