Displaying items by tag: Tim Salmons

Afternoon, folks! We’ve got a few new disc reviews, some great release news, and a fine bit of streaming TV news for you today as well! First as always, those reviews...

Kicking things off, Stephen has turned in his thoughts on Michael Mann’s Ferrari (2023), as released in 4K Ultra HD by Eagle Pictures in Italy. It’s a great little film, and here’s hoping that Neon and Decal will see fit to release it here in the States in 4K soon as well.

Stephen has also reviewed Lucio Fulci’s City of the Living Dead (1980) in 4K Ultra HD from our friends at Arrow Video.

Not to be outdone, Tim has turned in his thoughts on Jesús Franco’s Night of the Blood Monster (1970), aka The Bloody Judge, in 4K Ultra HD from the good people over at Blue Underground.

Dennis has offered his take on Theodore J. Flicker’s The President’s Analyst (1967) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Stuart rounds things out today with his review of Yasuharu Hasebe’s Black Tight Killers (1966) on Blu-ray from the team at Radiance Films.

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

Now then, a quick follow up. As many of you know, we’ve been running an interactive poll on our Patreon and Twitter/X pages over the past week on behalf of Lionsgate Home Entertainment. The question was: For the studio’s new 4K catalog Steelbook line, would you prefer new custom artwork or original poster artwork? Nearly three thousand of you voted in all (2,959 to be exact), with 1,166 votes (38.41%) for new custom artwork and 1,793 votes (60.59%) for original poster artwork. [Read on here...]

To kick off a new week today, we have some interesting release news and a new disc review to share as well. Let’s get to the latter first...

Tim has offered his thoughts on Michele Soavi’s The Church (1989) in 4K Ultra HD from our friends at Severin Films.

More reviews are forthcoming this week, so be sure to stay tuned for them.

Also today here at The Bits, we’ve expanded our Patreon poll about Lionsgate 4K catalog Steelbooks to our Twitter/X page with just a day and a half left. The question is: Lionsgate Home Entertainment is developing a new line of 4K Ultra HD catalog Steelbooks, including many titles released previously as Best Buy exclusives, and they’d like your opinion: Would you prefer the covers to 1) feature newly-created custom artwork, or 2) the film’s original poster artwork? You can vote right now here on Patreon or here on Twitter/X and please take a moment to do so before the polls end on Wednesday. Thank you!

Now then, the big release news today is that Criterion has just announced its July 2024 slate of Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD titles, and this batch has some real gems as well as a couple of surprises. [Read on here...]

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...]

We have a new disc review for all of you to enjoy today here at The Bits...

Our own Tim Salmons has just weighed in on the Warner Archive Collection’s Looney Tunes: Collector’s Choice – Volume 1 Blu-ray, which includes 20 classic animated shorts from 1945 to 1959, among them some real rarities. Tim will be reviewing Volume 2 and Volume 3 on Blu-ray soon as well, so watch for those to follow in the coming days.

We’ve also updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits today with some new titles and Amazon.com pre-order links, so you’ll definitely want to check that out here.

And over on our Patreon page today, I’ve shared a feature entitled Steelbooks (And Why Hollywood Loves Them)! that looks back at the origins and history of Steelbook packaging, and why it’s become so popular with both the Hollywood studios and retailers. This post is free and open to everyone for a couple of reasons.

First, we want to give you all a taste of the kinds of content we’re creating exclusively for our paying supporters on Patreon. And second, we’re going to be running a poll on our Patreon page on behalf of a major Hollywood studio that wants your opinion on a Steelbook project they’re considering. That will appear in the next couple days there and it too will be free and available to all. [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...]

We’re closing out the week here at The Bits with a bunch of release news and more new disc reviews as well. The reviews include...

Tim’s take on Rocky Morton & Annabel Jankel’s Super Mario Bros. (1993) in 4K Ultra HD from Umbrella Entertainment—the deluxe Trust the Fungus edition.

Stuart’s look at Hal Ashby’s Coming Home (1978) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as his review of Kino Lorber’s Homicide Hills: The Complete Series on DVD.

And Dennis’ reviews of Frank Lloyd’s Blood on the Sun (1945) and Alfred L. Werker and Anthony Mann’s He Walked by Night (1948), both on Blu-ray also from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Also, just to let you know, we’ve been sharing some additional content for our supporters over on Patreon, including essays on Godzilla Minus One’s visual effects Oscar win and the difficulty in creating or evaluating home video transfers for film, along with an exclusive tease about a trio of forthcoming 4K Ultra HD catalog titles that are in the works for later this year, my in-depth film review of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two, and a little behind-the-scenes on a visit with some friends of The Bits who just so happen to have been involved with the Star Trek franchise for over 38 years.

Supporting The Bits on Patreon is a really great way to help us keep the site going, and doing so makes it possible for us to continue our work in support of physical media and disc fans everywhere. So please consider joining us there! [Read on here...]

Today’s new disc reviews here at The Bits include...

Tim’s look at Richard Fleischer’s Conan the Destroyer (1984) in 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video, as well as Rospo Pallenberg’s Cutting Class (1989) in 4K Ultra HD from the MVD Rewind Collection.

And Stephen’s thoughts on George P. Cosmatos’ Leviathan (1989) in 4K Ultra HD from MGM via Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

In announcement news today, Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has officially set Martin Scorsese’s The Departed (2006) for 4K Ultra HD and Digital release on 4/23. The 4K disc will also be available in Steelbook packaging. Extras include the new Guilt and Betrayal: Looking into The Departed featurette, along with the legacy Stranger than Fiction: The True Story of Whitey Bulger, Southie, and The Departed and Crossing Criminal Cultures featurettes, as well as 9 deleted scene with introduction by the director. The press release doesn’t indicate it, but the packaging lists 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Look for HDR10 high dynamic range only. [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...]

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...]

More new disc reviews and more release news—that’s the order of business for today here at The Bits!

We start with Tim’s look at S.S. Wilson’s Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996) in 4K Ultra HD from our good friends over at Arrow Video. Looks like they’ve done a nice job on this title, so do check it out.

Speaking of which, we’ve gotten a look at Arrow’s new Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Conan the Destroyer (1984) 4K Ultra HDs, and—by Crom—they’re fantastic! Watch for our in-depth reviews over the next few days here at the site.

Also today, we have another Toho Japanese kaiju 4K review from Stephen, who takes a look at Ishirō Honda’s Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) on Ultra HD. Keep in mind, these titles do not include English subtitles, but there’s a workaround for that with certain models of UHD player. Stephen explains it all in the review.

In announcement news this morning, Neon has finally officially set the Blu-ray and DVD release of Michael Mann’s Ferrari (2023) for 3/12, with the 4K Digital release expected to drop tomorrow. Extras will include 5 behind-the-scenes featurettes, among them Michael Mann: Building the World, Building Perfection, The Mille Miglia, Adam Driver on Enzo Ferrari, and Penélope Cruz on Laura Ferrari. The Blu-ray will include Dolby Atmos audio. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]