Items filtered by date: November 2023
Where Were You in ‘73?: Remembering “American Graffiti” on its 50th Anniversary
“American Graffiti is one of those films where a filmmaker brings his youth to the screen with such a sense of sweetness and genuine nostalgia, that his or her personal recollections somehow become universal for the audience.” – Gary Leva, director of Fog City Mavericks: The Filmmakers of San Francisco
The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this longform retrospective commemorating the golden anniversary of the release of American Graffiti, George Lucas’s popular film that nostalgically asked, “Where were you in ‘62?”
American Graffiti starred Richard Dreyfuss (Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind), Ronny Howard (The Andy Griffith Show, Happy Days), Paul Le Mat (Aloha, Bobby and Rose, Melvin and Howard), Charles Martin Smith (Never Cry Wolf, The Untouchables), Candy Clark (The Man Who Fell to Earth, Blue Thunder), Mackenzie Phillips (One Day at a Time), Cindy Williams (The Conversation, Laverne & Shirley) and Wolfman Jack (popular radio DJ), plus a small, early-career performance by Harrison Ford (Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark). The film was nominated for five Academy Awards (Picture, Director, Supporting Actress—Candy Clark, Screenplay, and Film Editing). In 1995 the Library of Congress selected American Graffiti for preservation in the National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.” Its most recent home media release, on 4K UHD, was in November of this year (but received less than high marks for A/V quality in most reviews).[Read on here...]
Lots of new disc reviews, new KLSC 4K titles including Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, plus Exorcist at 50, The Abyss 4K gets cancelled in the UK
Afternoon, folks! I certainly hope that those of you who celebrate it have had a great Christmas holiday, and that the rest of you are enjoying the holiday season.
I’ve got just a quick update here for you today and I’ll post a little more as the week goes on. This time of year there’s typically very little news-wise worth reporting, but there are some odds and ends to cover.
First though, I want to catch you up on the latest disc reviews we’ve posted here at The Bits since our last news post last week. Now available for your reading pleasure here are...
My reviews of James Cameron’s Avatar: Collector’s Edition (2009) and Avatar: The Way of Water – Collector’s Edition (2022) in 4K Ultra HD from Lightstorm and 20th Century Studios.
Tim’s thoughts on Richard Donner’s Scrooged: 35th Anniversary Edition (1988) in 4K from Sony and George Mihalka’s My Bloody Valentine: Collector’s Edition (1981) in 4K from Scream Factory.
Dennis’ takes on David Gordon Green’s The Exorcist: The Believer (2023) in both Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD from Universal, as well as Oren Rudavsky’s The Treatment (2006) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber, and Richard Attenborough’s In Love and War (1996) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.
Stephen’s reviews of Charles Kaufman’s Mother’s Day (1980) in 4K from Troma via Vinegar Syndrome, Emma Tammi’s Five Nights at Freddy’s in 4K from Universal, and Ti West’s Pearl (2022) in 4K from A24 via Turbine Media.
And finally Stuart’s look at Succession: The Complete Series on DVD from HBO, Alain Resnais’ La Guerre est finie (1966) on Blu-ray from The Film Desk and Vinegar Syndrome, and Paul Lynch’s The Hard Part Begins (1973) on Blu-ray from Canadian International Pictures via Vinegar Syndrome. [Read on here...]
A Few Minutes with Nat Segaloff: Remembering “The Exorcist” on its 50th Anniversary
“Like all great art, people take from The Exorcist what they bring to it. For some it is a spiritual affirmation. For others it is simply a scary movie. For a few, it remains too challenging to watch.” — Nat Segaloff, author of The Exorcist Legacy: 50 Years of Fear
The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the golden anniversary of the release of The Exorcist.
Directed by William Friedkin (The French Connection, To Live and Die in L.A.) and based upon William Peter Blatty’s 1971 novel, the classic film chronicled a mother’s attempt to save her possessed daughter through an exorcism and scared millions of moviegoers in the process.
The Exorcist starred Ellen Burstyn (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore), Max von Sydow (The Seventh Seal), Lee J. Cobb (On the Waterfront), Kitty Winn (The Panic in Needle Park), Jack MacGowran (The Fearless Vampire Killers), Jason Miller (The Ninth Configuration/Twinkle, Twinkle, ‘Killer’ Kane), and Linda Blair (Roller Boogie).
The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards (including Best Picture) and the winner of two (Adapted Screenplay and Sound), and for a period of time was Warner Bros.’ most successful motion picture, spawning a series of films and television series and, of course, no shortage of imitations and parodies. [Read on here...]
New disc reviews, plus Changing Lanes, Leviathan & Last Castle in 4K, Arrow & Umbrella’s March slates, Collider’s For All Mankind season finale screening & more!
Good afternoon, everyone! We’re well into the week before Christmas now and—as seems to be true every year—the period right around the holiday tend to be packed with review work, as all of the big fourth quarter titles keep rolling in. Last week was certainly that way, and this week is proving to be no different. So with that in mind, here’s a look at...
Stephen’s review of Gareth Edwards’ terrific sci-fi tale The Creator (2023) in 4K Ultra HD from 20th Century Studios via Buena Vista Home Entertainment.
Tim’s look at Fred Dekker’s The Monster Squad (1987) in 4K Ultra HD form Kino Lorber Studio Classics, Andrzej Zulawski’s Possession: Collector’s Edition (1981) in 4K Ultra HD from Umbrella Entertainment, and ALF: The Complete Series on DVD from Shout! Factory.
Dennis’ take on Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel’s Deadgirl: 15th Anniversary Edition (2008) on Blu-ray from Dark Sky Films via Unearthed Films.
And Stuart’s thoughts on Georg Fenady’s Arnold (1973) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.
Of course, that’s not all. We’re still working on several more new disc reviews that we hope to share before the Christmas holiday. For my own part, I’m currently checking out Umbrella Entertainment’s new Frank Herbert’s Dune & Children of Dune: Collector’s Edition Blu-ray box set, and I expect any time now have the new Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water – Collector’s Edition 4K Ultra HDs in hand for review. So watch for those and more in the days ahead. [Read on here...]
Criterion’s March includes To Die For in 4K, plus new Imprint, Powerhouse, and KLSC titles, Vinegar Syndrome’s new Cinématograph label & more!
All right, as you’ve probably seen here on The Digital Bits, I’ve now shared my thoughts on the 4K Digital remasters of James Cameron’s The Abyss, True Lies, and Aliens. These reviews have been shared after looking at each of the remasters as they currently appear on Vudu, Movies Anywhere, and Apple TV/iTunes, allowing for streaming quality variations in each. So if you’re interested in those, you’ll find my take on each via the title links provided in this paragraph.
Rest assured, I will also be reviewing the forthcoming 4K Ultra HD disc versions of those films, and the forthcoming Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water collector’s editions when they arrive. And the rest of The Bits team is working on a whole slate of disc reviews for next week and beyond… allowing of course for the usual holiday season distractions of family and the like.
Based on some of the interesting… I’ll generously call them conversations (but they’re more like angry bitch-fests)… on social media over the past couple weeks about some of these 4K titles, I’m also written a essay entitled A Word About Screenshots, Reviewing, and Trusting Opinions on the Internet that you can find over on The Digital Bits’ new Patreon page.
Not only is subscribing to our Patreon page a great way to support our work here at The Digital Bits—if you believe in it and find that it brings your enjoyment of physical media some value—it’s also becoming a great place to respectfully share your thoughts and ideas about these topics with like-minded people without risking getting attacked or worrying about having snark and scorn heaped upon you… and there’s definitely some value in that too. So please consider check it out, and know that we appreciate each and every one of you, our readers, regardless. [Read on here...]
Fincher’s Se7en in Ultra HD at last, plus Footloose (1984) 4K, Beverly Hills Cop III (and a 3-Film 4K set), The Crow (1994) is coming to 4K & more!
All right, we’ve got a big week ahead of us here at The Digital Bits. As all of you know, the new James Cameron catalog 4K titles—The Abyss, True Lies, and Aliens—all drop via 4K Digital tomorrow. And we’ve got some big announcement news to share with all of you today as well. But first, we’ve got a new disc review for you...
Stephen has just turned in his thoughts on Kathryn Bigelow’s Point Break (1991) in 4K Ultra HD from Shout! Factory. Enjoy!
Now then... there’s big news today, more big news, and yet another piece of big news. So let’s start with that first one...
Paramount Home Entertainment has just officially set Herbert Ross’ original Footloose (1984) for release on 4K Ultra HD on 2/13/24. We’re awaiting confirmation of the A/V specs on this one, but the title will come in both Amaray and Steelbook packaging, and will have a Blu-ray and Digital copy code. All of the legacy extras from the Blu-ray will carry over. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]
Imprint’s February slate, plus new Walmart 4K Steelbooks, Paramount’s Beverly Hills Cop III 4K, The Case of the Bloody Iris 4K & more
Evening, folks!
Next week is going to be another big one here at The Digital Bits, as all three of the new James Cameron catalog titles—Aliens, The Abyss, And True Lies—drop in 4K Digital on Tuesday. And it’s very possible that they could start appearing on Digital services sooner, especially if you already own HD Digital copies (iTunes/AppleTV sometimes upgrades the files to 4K a little early). So I’ll be back on Tuesday to review them from an A/V standpoint, in anticipation of the disc releases arriving in March. And I’ll have more restoration details from Lightstorm as well, so be sure to check back next week.
In the meantime, we have a little big more announcement news today...
Imprint has just unveiled their February 2024 Blu-ray slate. They include Ingmar Bergman’s Face to Face (1976), Peter Yates’ The Dresser (1983), Bob Rafelson’s Mountains of the Moon (1990), Diane Kurys’ A Man in Love (1987), Gabriele Salvatores’ I’m Not Scared (2003), and Majid Majidi’s Children of Heaven (1997). Face to Face, Mountains of the Moon, and I’m Not Scared are all arriving on Blu-ray for the first time. All of these titles are limited to 1500 copies. Street date is 2/28/24 and you can pre-order them here on the Imprint webstore.
Kino Lorber Studio Classics has set Pat Rocco’s Drifter (1974) for Blu-ray release on 2/20/24 as the next title (#6) in its new Kino Cult label.
It looks very much like Paramount Home Entertainment will be releasing John Landis’ Beverly Hills Cop III (1994) and a new Beverly Hills Cop 3-Movie Collection in 4K Ultra HD on 2/20 as well. [Read on here...]
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One, eXistenZ 4K & more news and reviews, plus Norman Lear (1922-2023)
We’ve got more new disc reviews from The Bits’ team for you this evening...
They start with Stephen’s look at Richard Lester’s Juggernaut (1974) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.
Dennis has offered his thoughts on Tod Browning’s The Devil Doll (1936) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection, along with Jagoda Szelc’s Tower. A Bright Day. and Monument (2018) on Blu-ray from Yellow Veil Pictures via Vinegar Syndrome.
And Stuart has checked in with a look at Dušan Vukotić’s Visitors from the Arkana Galaxy (1981) on Blu-ray from Deaf Crocodile via Vinegar Syndrome, as well as Imprint’s excellent Directed by Sidney J. Furie Blu-ray box set, which includes The Lawyer, Little Fauss and Big Halsy (both 1970), Hit! (1973), Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York (1975), and The Boys in Company C (1978).
As always, more reviews are forthcoming, so be sure to stay tuned for them.
Speaking of reviews... I had the chance this week to talk directly with Lightstorm about the remastering work done for James Cameron’s Titanic on 4K Ultra HD, a disc which should now be in all your of hands. If that’s the case, you’ll know for yourselves that the film looks and sounds fantastic. When I reviewed the title here at The Bits last week, I promised that I would soon be updating that review with details on exactly how the film was remastered for UHD release. And indeed, I’ll be doing exactly that here at the site tomorrow afternoon. But if you subscribe to The Digital Bits’ new Patreon, you can read those details right now. And hey—it’s a great way to help us in our work here at the website if you believe, as we do, in supporting cause of physical media. [Read on here...]
We’ve got big new disc reviews, plus Killers of the Flower Moon, Darkman & more Shout/Scream February titles & Daniel Langlois RIP
Afternoon, Bits readers! It’s been a few days since we’ve done a major news update here on the site, and the reason is that we’ve been very focused on completing new disc reviews for you guys. This is the time of year when all of the big fourth quarter titles start arriving for review, and we’re right in the thick of it now. So today we’re pleased to offer you...
My reviews of James Mangold’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), along with The Mandalorian: The Complete First Season (2019) and The Mandalorian: The Complete Second Season (2020), all in 4K Ultra HD from Lucasfilm via Disney, as well as my review of James Cameron’s Titanic: 25th Anniversary Limited Edition in 4K Ultra HD from Paramount.
We also have Stephen’s reviews of WandaVision: The Complete Series (2021) in 4K Ultra HD from Marvel via Disney, as well as Tommy Wirkola’s Violent Night (2022) in 4K UHD via Universal, and Michael Crichton’s The Great Train Robbery (1978) on Blu-ray from MGM via Kino Lorber Studio Classics.
And Stuart has weighed in on Henry Decoin’s Strangers in the House (1942) on Blu-ray from Gaumont via Kino Lorber Studio Classics.
Rest assured, we have many more new disc reviews on the way as well, so be sure to watch for them. [Read on here...]