All right, we’ve got some big announcement news to report today, as well as some very interesting industry news. But first, more new disc reviews...
Stuart has turned in his thoughts on Franco Zeffirelli’s The Taming of the Shrew (1967) on Blu-ray from Via Vision’s Imprint Films label, as well as Robert Clouse’s Black Belt Jones (1974) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.
And Dennis has turned in a look at Todd Solondz’s Happiness (1998) on Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection.
Also here at The Bits today, we’ve posted major updates of our 4K Ultra HD Release List, as well as our Release Dates & Cover Art section, both of which feature all the latest Amazon pre-order links. So be sure to check those out, and remember that we’re an Amazon Affiliate which means that clicking through one of our links (like this one) before shopping for literally anything from Amazon is a great way to help support our work here at the site. It makes a BIG difference. So thank you!
Now then, speaking of Criterion, let’s get right to today’s big release news: Criterion has just announced their January 2025 release slate, and every single title will include 4K UHD! On 1/7, look for Yojimbo/Sanjuro: Two Samurai Films by Akira Kurosawa, which itself has no Spine # but which includes 4K UHD upgrades of Yojimbo (1961) (Spine #52 – 4K+BD) and Sanjuro (1962) (Spine #53 – 4K UHD + BD). Following on 1/14, you’ll get Jean Eustache’s The Mother and the Whore (1973) (Spine #1245 – 4K+BD, BD & DVD) and Richard Pryor’s Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986) (Spine #1247 – 4K+BD & BD). On 1/21, look for Stephen Frears’ The Grifters (1990) (Spine #1246 – 4K+BD & BD). And finally, 1/28 will bring Anthony Mann’s Winchester ‘73 (1950) (Spine #1247 – 4K+BD & BD). You can see the cover artwork at left and below the break. [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
Morning everyone!
Today is a holiday here in the States, so we’re giving the team a break. But we do have a bunch of new reviews that we’ve posted recently, including...
Tim’s look at Thomas Schlamme’s So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993) in 4K Ultra HD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
Dennis’ reviews of Alvin Rakoff’s Crossplot (1969) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films and Via Vision, and Harmony Korine’s Mister Lonely (2007) on Blu-ray from IFC Films and Vinegar Syndrome.
Sam’s thoughts on Vera Drew’s The People’s Joker (2022) on Blu-ray from Altered Innocence.
And finally, Stuart’s look at Philip Kaufman’s The White Dawn (1974) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics and Luchino Visconti’s L’Innocente (1976) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.
Meanwhile, in announcement news today, Kino Lorber Studio Classics has set a pair of much-loved Universal live action films for release on 4K Ultra HD, including Chris Noonan’s Babe (1995) and George Miller’s Babe: Pig in the City (1998). Both are “coming soon” to the format, with details TBA. [Read on here...]
Heads up Digital Bits readers: A bunch of new Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD titles have now become available for pre-order on Amazon.com, which has also been having sales on select titles this week for Prime members as well.
What’s more, it looks like the listed sale prices on some of the Disney and 20th Century Studios 4K titles are finally starting to creep down a little bit.
Knowing that many of you like and appreciate these pre-order links when we shared them (because boy—do we ever hear from you about them), here’s the latest batch...
(Don’t forget: The Bits is an Amazon Affiliate, so anytime you order literally anything from them after using our links, you’re helping to support our work at the site and we appreciate it.)
COLUMBIA CLASSICS 4K UHD COLLECTION V3 (60% OFF!)
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0B9C847Z2/tag=thedigitalbits-20
COLUMBIA CLASSICS 4K UHD COLLECTION V5
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0D9CJZCT7/tag=thedigitalbits-20
THE HITCHER (WARNER 4K)
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0DJ3J6DQK/tag=thedigitalbits-20
THE HITCHER (WARNER BD)
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0DJ3GLJG5/tag=thedigitalbits-20
ALIEN: ROMULUS (4K+BD)
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0D8LG1W31/tag=thedigitalbits-20
ALIEN: ROMULUS (4K+BD STEELBOOK)
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0D8LH17QL/tag=thedigitalbits-20
ALIEN: ROMULUS (BD)
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0D8LC2DJ6/tag=thedigitalbits-20.
Continued below the break... [Read on here...]
We’ve got several more new disc reviews for you here at The Bits today, including...
Tim’s look at Bryan Bertino’s The Strangers (2008) in 4K Ultra HD and Kevin Tenney’s Night of the Demons (1998) in 4K Ultra HD, both from Shout! Studios and Scream Factory.
Stephen’s look at Peter Hyams’ Capricorn One (1978) on Blu-ray from Via Vision’s Imprint Films and also their new Two Films by Wayne Wang box set which includes Smoke (1995) and Blue in the Face (1995) on Blu-ray.
Dennis’ thoughts on Basil Dearden’s Woman of Straw (1964) on Blu-ray also from Imprint.
And finally Stuart’s review of Elijah Drenner’s That Guy Dick Miller (2014) on Blu-ray from Dekanalog and Vinegar Syndrome.
More reviews are on the way, so be sure keep your eyes peeled from them.
Also here at The Bits today, we’ve posted our weekly update of our Release Dates & Cover Art section with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K UHD cover art and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, whenever you order literally anything from Amazon after clicking to them through one of our links, you’re helping to support our work here at the site and we really appreciate it. [Read on here...]
Amadeus is coming to 4K next year, plus Daylight & Dante’s Peak in Ultra HD from Kino Lorber & more!
All right, we’ve got some good 4K catalog news for you guys today, plus some more new disc reviews. But first, please allow me a brief diversion...
It’s been kind of a roller coaster week for me here at Digital Bits HQ. Last Tuesday, it became clear that one of our cats, a 17-year-old tortie named Maddie, was ailing and my wife and I needed to take her to the vet. We did immediately, and learned that she was in kidney failure—common for cats of that age. The vet recommended that we do sub-q fluids and feed her a special diet to try to get her to bounce back, which I spent most of last week administering. But by Friday, it became clear that she just wasn’t strong enough to. She’s always lived with a heart murmur, so when we adopted her the vet said she probably wouldn’t live a long time. Yet she almost made it to 18. Maddie definitely lived life on her own terms.
Anyway, we had to let her go on Friday, which was rough. Then on Saturday night, some friends invited us to join them for their 35th anniversary celebration, and that was wonderful. Then I got up at 6 AM to watch the Vikings play the Jets in London, and my team squeaked out a win—I’m a lifelong Vikings fan, having grown up in North Dakota, so their 5-0 record seems surreal. (And I’m just going to enjoy it while it lasts.) Last night, I convinced a friend—who is visiting his brother in Fargo—to drive out of town to see the Northern Lights; something he’s always wanted to experience. Well, experience it he did, and he shared pictures of it with me in real time. And today is my 57th birthday. So, it’s been a lot of good this past week, with a bit of really terrible. But I suppose that’s life.
All right, let’s knock out those disc reviews...
Stuart has offered his thoughts on Bert I. Gordon’s Empire of the Ants (1977) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.
And Tim has taken a look at Roland West’s The Bat (1926) on Blu-ray from Undercrank Productions.
More are on the way, including my look at The Hitcher in 4K and also The West Wing: The Complete Series on Blu-ray, so do watch for those this week. [Read on here...]
All right, we’ve got three new disc reviews for you to finish out the week, plus some more great new title announcements. The reviews first...
Stephen has taken a look at David Twohy’s The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) in 4K Ultra HD, as released by our friends at Arrow Video.
And Stuart has turned in his thoughts on Francis Ford Coppola’s You’re a Big Boy Now (1996) on Blu-ray, also from the Warner Archive Collection. And how fitting it is that we’re reviewing Coppola’s first feature film, even as what may be his last—Megalopolis (2024)—is now in theaters.
As always, more reviews are on the way, so be sure to watch for them.
Now then... the big news today is all on the classic TV front: First, Paramount Home Entertainment and CBS have officially set I Love Lucy: The Complete Series for release on Blu-ray for the first time ever! Expected on 11/5, the 33-disc set will include all 180 episodes of I Love Lucy (1951-57), plus all episodes of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957-60) remastered with long-missing footage restored, plus the newly-colorized episode Lucy and the Loving Cup. In addition, the series’ opening and closing credits have been restored along with many original cast commercials. Three long-lost “flashback” scenes have been remastered. And a portion of the 1959 CBS Fall Preview Special has been included. You’ll also get the original I Love Lucy pilot episode (remastered from original 35mm kinescope), I Love Lucy: The Movie, audio commentaries on select episodes, Lucy on the Radio broadcasts, flubs, slideshows, cast bios, photo galleries, and production notes. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]
We start today with two new disc reviews...
Tim has taken a look at Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs (2024) in 4K Ultra HD from Neon and Decal Releasing.
And Stephen has offered his thoughts on Michael Lehmann’s Heathers (1988) as released in 4K UHD in the UK only by the good people of Arrow Video.
Just to let you know, we’ve also updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits and our Release Dates & Artwork section, featuring all kinds of new Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD titles with cover artwork and Amazon pre-order links. Whenever you order titles (or literally anything) from Amazon through our links, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we appreciate it!
Now then, the big news today is that Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has finally set Lee Isaac Chung’s Twisters (2024) for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 10/22, with the Digital release expected next week on 10/8. The 4K disc will include HDR10 only with Dolby Atmos sound. A 4K Steelbook version will also be available. Extras on all SKUs will include audio commentary with the director, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and 6 featurettes (Tracking the Fronts: The Path of Twisters, Into the Eye of the Storm, Glen Powell: All Access, Front Seat to a Chase, Voice of a Villain, and Tricked-Out Trucks). You can see the cover artwork at left and also below the break. [Read on here...]