Items filtered by date: July 2015

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We’ve got a couple title announcement odds and ends for you today…

First up though, our own Russell Hammond has updated the Release Dates & Artwork section with all the latest Blu-ray and DVD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, a portion of any order you make from Amazon after clicking through our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we greatly appreciate it.  [Read on here…]

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The big news today is that Criterion has just revealed their terrific November slate of Blu-ray and DVD titles, which is set to include Michael Haneke’s Code Unknown (Cat #780 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 11/10, Satyajit Ray’s The Apu Trilogy (Cat #782 – Blu-ray and DVD – includes Pather Panchali, Aparajito, and Apur Sansar) and Richard Brooks’ In Cold Blood (Cat #781 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 11/17, and D. A. Pennebaker’s Don’t Look Back (Cat #786 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru (Cat #221 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 11/24. Also coming from Criterion on DVD only on 11/3 is Eclipse Series 44: Julien Duvivier in the Thirties (SRP $59.95 – includes David Golder, Poil de Carotte, La tête d’un homme, and Un carnet de bal).  [Read on here…]

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We’re starting the week with a pair of new Blu-ray reviews. First up, Jim Hemphill has given Twilight Time’s The Best of Everything a good look for you. And I’ve turned in my thoughts on the BBC’s excellent 7-part Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell miniseries, which has just been released on Blu-ray. Both are well worth a look.  [Read on here…]

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All right, we’ve got some good reviews coming next week, so be sure to check back for that.

Meanwhile today, the big release news is that Disney and Pixar have officially set Inside Out for Blu-ray 3D Combo and Blu-ray Combo release on 11/3, with the digital release set for 10/13. The Blu-ray will include the exclusive Riley’s First Date? animated short film, as well as the LAVA theatrical short film. Other extras will include 7 featurettes (Story of the Story, Paths to Pixar: The Women of Inside Out, Mixed Emotions, Mapping the Mind, Our Dads, the Filmmakers, Into the Unknown: The Sound of Inside Out, and The Misunderstood Art of Animation Film Editing), 4 deleted scenes (Riley Grows Up, Joy’s Decline, Misdirection, and Construction), audio commentary with directors Pete Docter and Ronnie del Carmen, and producer Jonas Rivera, the Mind Candy toolkit/interstitials montage, and trailers.  [Read on here…]

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All right, let’s start with good news about CBS’ recent restoration of My Fair Lady. As we’ve been reporting, CBS has told us the title was delayed until the Fall. Playbill is now reporting that the My Fair Lady: 50th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray will officially street on 10/27. Why October? Well, the film originally premiered in New York on 10/21, followed by Los Angeles on 10/28 back in 1964.  [Read on here…] 

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More new announcements today…

Anchor Bay Entertainment and Starz have just set The Walking Dead: The Complete Fifth Season – Limited Edition for Blu-ray plus digital release on 12/1 (SRP $149.99). As we’ve announced previously, there will be a regular 5-disc BD set due on 8/25 (SRP $79.99, but Amazon has it for pre-order for just $44.97). The Limited Edition will feature “Asphalt Walker” packaging created by McFarlane Toys. Extras on both editions will include audio commentaries (featuring Showrunner/Executive Producer/Writer Scott M. Gimple, Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd, Executive Producer Tom Luse, Executive Producer/Special Effects Make-Up Supervisor /Director Greg Nicotero, Director Julius Ramsay; Actors Lauren Cohan, Chad L. Coleman, Michael Cudlitz, Sonequa Martin-Green, Danai Gurira, Alanna Masterson, Melissa McBride, Josh McDermitt, Norman Reedus, Christian Serratos and Steven Yeun), deleted scenes, and 10 featurettes (Inside “The Walking Dead”, The Making of “The Walking Dead”, The Making of Alexandria, Beth’s Journey, Bob’s Journey, Noah’s Journey, Tyreese’s Journey, A Day in the Life of Michael Cudlitz, A Day in the Life of Josh McDermitt, and Rotters in the Flesh).  [Read on here…] 

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First things first today... we’ve got another great new catalog Blu-ray review from our own Jim Hemphill. He’s taken a look at King Vidor’s Solomon and Sheba (1959), now available on Blu-ray from Twilight Time. Do give it a read.

For you Star Wars fans this afternoon, there’s a new Korean trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens circulating around the Net today, though it appears to have only one or two new shots. Still, you can watch it below.  [Read on here…]

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All right, there’s been no Hobbit announcement yet, but we expect it any time. Meanwhile, we do have one update concerning the running time of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Extended Edition. It is official 164 minutes – some 20 minutes longer than the theatrical cut. We’d previously reported 180 minutes, which we got from studio sources, but as is often the case the studio was incorrect. The 164 minutes comes directly from WingNut Films and the German ratings board is indicating the same. So please take note.  [Read on here…]

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November 17th.

That’s the street date Amazon.ca has now listed for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Extended Edition on Blu-ray and DVD in Canada at least, but those dates are almost always identical to Warner’s U.S. street dates, so it would seem reasonable to expect 11/17 to be the U.S. date as well. [Read on here…]

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We’ve got more interesting Blu-ray and DVD release news for you today…

First, while Warner Home Video hasn’t yet announced the Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D release of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Extended Edition yet (tentatively due on either 11/3, 11/10 or 11/17), we do know a few things about the release. First, it’s going to be about 20 minutes longer than the theatrical cut (in the neighborhood of 164 minutes long). Jackson had said previously the extended matertial would be about 30 minutes, but I’ve managed to confirm the 164 minute runtime with sources directly involved at WingNut Films, who tell me that the footage is “significant” and most of it has been added to the battle at the end. Second, it’s going to be screened in theaters in October, as part of a worldwide, week-long The Hobbit: Extended Edition screening event in theaters (you can see the AMC listing here, which includes the 3 hour run time, and The One Ring.net has more here). The Extended Edition of An Unexpected Journey will screen on 10/5, followed by the EE of The Desolation of Smaug on 10/7, and finally the EE or The Battle of the Five Armies on 10/13. Third, we now know that The Battle of the Five Armies – Extended Edition has received an R-rating from the MPAA (more here at Rope of Silicon). We expect an official Blu-ray release announcement from Warner any time now. Of course, we’ll post the details as soon as we have them.  [Read on here…]