My Two Cents
There are some significant developments happening within the home video industry of late, developments that I’ve been spending a lot of time investigating and really digging into these past few weeks here at The Digital Bits.
And I can now confidently report that one of them is this:
Disney and Sony have just inked a major deal for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment to take over all of Disney’s physical media production going forward.
This means that Sony will handle and oversee the actual authoring and compression of discs, that they’ll work with the replicators and packaging vendors, and that they’ll oversee the titles as they go out to the distributors and on to retailers.
I first received word of this deal about two weeks ago, apparently within twenty-four hours of the ink drying, and I’ve now confirmed it with multiple independent sources within the industry—people that I trust and have known and worked with for many years.
This deal makes sense for Disney for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that Sony is far more efficient and cost effective at producing their discs, whereas Disney’s physical media operation has been subject to no small amount of internal/organizational turmoil recently. [Read on here...]
We have two more new disc reviews for you here at The Bits today, including…
Stephen’s thoughts on Walter Hill’s Southern Comfort (1981) in 4K Ultra HD from Vinegar Syndrome, as well as his take on another of Toho’s recent Godzilla 4K UHD releases, in this case Ishirō Honda’s Destroy All Monsters (1968). Once again, this is a region-free Japanese import release, but with no English subtitles.
The big announcement news today is that our friends at the Criterion Collection have officially unveiled their May release slate, which is set to include an upgrade of A Story of Floating Weeds/Floating Weeds: Two Films by Yasujiro Ozu (1934/1959) (Spine #232 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 5/7, followed by an upgrade of Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom (1960) (Spine #58 – 4K UHD + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) on 5/14, Three Revolutionary Films by Ousmane Sembène (Spine #1217 – Blu-ray and DVD)—which includes Emitaï (1971), Xala (1975), and Ceddo (1977)—on 5/21, and Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall (2023) (Spine #1218 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Karyn Kusama’s Girlfight (2000) (Spine #1219 – Blu-ray) on 5/28.
You can see the cover art for Peeping Tom at left, and all of them below the break. We’ve updated our Criterion Spines Project listing here at The Bits accordingly. [Read on here...]
We’ve got four more new disc reviews for you today, including...
Stuart’s take on Douglas Sirk’s Has Anybody Seen My Gal (1952) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.
Dennis’ look at Harry Beaumont’s Faithless (1932) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection, as well as Giuseppe Fiorello’s Fireworks (2023) on DVD from Cinephobia Releasing.
And Stephen’s review of Ishirō Honda’s Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) in 4K Ultra HD from Toho Studios in Japan (note that this release has no English subtitles).
Also this afternoon, we’ve asked our supporters on The Bits’ new Patreon page to share their Ten Favorite TV Series, and we’ve updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits with new titles as well.
In announcement news today, Kino Lorber Studio Classics has just officially set Fred Zinnemann’s High Noon (1942) for release on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD on 4/16. The film will include a collection of legacy special features (from previous Blu-ray and DVD releases) along with a pair of new audio commentary track by film historians, one by Alan K. Rode and another by Julie Kirgo. You can see the cover artwork above left and also below. Look for Dolby Vision HDR on the 4K disc. [Read on here...]
Today’s post starts with three new disc reviews, including...
Stuart’s take on the Film Focus: George Peppard box set from Imprint, which includes John Guillermin’s P.J. (1968), George Schaefer’s Pendulum (1969), Sam Wanamaker’s The Executioner (1970), and Richard T. Heffron’s Newman’s Law (1974).
Dennis’ look at Val Guest’s Assignment K (1968), also new on Blu-ray from Imprint.
And finally, Stephen’s thoughts on Vincente Minnelli and Busby Berkeley’s Cabin in the Sky (1943) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.
Note that we have lots more new disc reviews on the way, so be sure to watch for them. Also here at The Bits today, we’ve posted a significant update of our 4K Ultra HD Release List with lots of new 4K UHD titles and Amazon links.
And for our Patreon supporters, we’ve recently shared our thoughts on Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica and how well the series holds up some fifteen years after it ended its run on the Sci-Fi Channel, along with some preliminary commentary on changes that are brewing within the home entertainment industry, as well as Stephen’s thoughts on the ethics of film alteration and the challenges in determining how films should look on Blu-ray and especially 4K. Supporting The Bits on Patreon is a great way to help us continue our work in service of physical media, and we surely do appreciate it. [Read on here...]
We have a few good bits of release news for you today...
First up, our friends at Lionsgate have announced four new Walmart-exclusive 4K Ultra HD Steelbook titles for release on 4/1, including Cutthroat Island, Rambo: First Blood, Rambo: Last Blood, and a Red 2-Film Collection (including both Red and Red 2). All the Blu-ray extras should carry over. Note that these are essentially the same discs released previously.
Lionsgate has also set Kristoffer Borgli’s Dream Scenario (2023) for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 2/27. The film stars Nicolas Cage.
Film Masters is releasing Bert I. Gordon’s Tormented (1960) on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/23, restored in 4K from original 35mm archival elements. SRP will be $24.95 and $19.95 respectively. In terms of special features, look for:
“an unreleased TV pilot of Famous Ghost Stories, made by Bert I. Gordon and hosted by Vincent Price; the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of Tormented (1992), full feature (1:33.1), with captions; new documentary by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures, Bert I. Gordon in the 1950s & 1960s: Bigger Than Life, featuring C. Courtney Joyner; archival interview with writer-producer-director Bert I. Gordon, Bert I. Gordon: The Amazing Colossal Filmmaker; feature essay by Tom Weaver with a bonus essay by John Wooley, former president of the Susan Gordon fan club and a personal friend of the actress; commentary provided by film historian-writer-filmmaker Gary Don Rhodes; new, visual essay by The Flying Maciste Brothers, The Spirit is Willing: CineMagic and Social Discord in Bert I. Gordon’s “Tormented”; original trailer, scanned in 4K from 35mm archival elements, presented in its raw format; as well as a recut trailer using restored film elements.” [Read on here...]