So I spent a couple hours up in Hollywood yesterday afternoon to cover something pretty interesting…

At a press event at the Screen Actors Guild, members of the UHD Alliance, three major consumer electronics manufacturers, and leading Hollywood filmmakers officially announced a new partnership effort to implement Filmmaker Mode as an extension of the 4K Ultra HD spec.

The idea is to ensure that when you watch a movie at home in 4K on your new Ultra HD display, whether from a disc, stream, or cable/satellite broadcast, it will look exactly as it should. UHD Alliance research suggests that as many as 80% of people who buy 4K TVs never change the settings out of the box. This means irritating features like motion smoothing and unnecessary processing are being applied to the image by default – processing that actually takes the picture away from the filmmakers’ intent.

What the Filmmaker Mode will do is to allow the user – either with one push of a button on the remote, or with a very easy and obvious menu setting – to set the TV’s display parameters to most accurately display the 4K content. This would be a baseline setting for the image – any added adjustments signaled by HDR10, HDR10+, or Dolby Vision metadata would happen on top of that setting. [Read on here...]

Okay, we’ve got some big news for you today...

First though, we’ve posted a few new disc reviews in the last couple of days, including my own takes on Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 4K from Warner Bros, Air Force One in 4K from Sony Pictures, and Jonny Quest: The Complete Original Series on regular Blu-ray from Warner. Tim has also posted his thoughts on Shout! Factory’s new The Harder They Come: Collector’s Edition. All are work a look, so do check them out at the links provided.

Now then, let’s get to that news. First, this is not yet officially announced (even though we revealed it on social media a couple days ago), but retail links from various online sources confirm what we’ve been saying for a while now here at The Bits, namely that Warner will release The Wizard of Oz on 4K Ultra HD in October in honor of the film’s 80th anniversary. [Read on here...]

We’ve got some interesting announcement news for you today...

First up, Lionsgate has just announced the 10/8 Blu-ray and DVD release of Ari Aster’s horror film Midsommar, with the Digital version coming on 9/24 from A24. Extras will include the Let the Festivities Begin: Manifesting Midsommar featurette and the “Bear in a Cage” promo.

Speaking of horror, Paramount has set Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/15, including all 10 episodes plus extended director’s cut versions of 3 episodes (Steven Sees a Ghost, The Bent-Neck Lady, and Silence Lay Steadily) and audio commentary by director Mike Flanagan on 4 episodes (the three extended episodes plus Two Storms). [Read on here...]

All right, folks... we have some release news for you this afternoon.

But first, I’ve posted a review of Rob Reiner’s classic coming of age film Stand by Me on 4K Ultra HD. It streets on 8/27 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and it’s well worth a look. You can read more here.

The big release news today is that the Criterion Collection has announced their November Blu-ray and DVD slate, which is set to include Greg Mottola’s The Daytrippers (Spine #1001 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 11/12, Jean-Jacques Beineix’s Betty Blue (Spine #1002 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Paweł Pawlikowski’s Cold War (Spine #1005 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 11/19, and Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s All About Eve (Spine #1003 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Irving Rapper’s Now, Voyager (Spine #1004 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 11/26. [Read on here...]

All right, we have more news for you today. But first, a review...

I did indeed post my thoughts on Zhang Yimou’s Shadow in 4K last night from Well Go USA, and darned if it isn’t pretty spectacular. It’s a slow burn study in contrasts and well worth your time. You can check it out here.

Now then, Universal has officially announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and Ultra HD release of Danny Boyle’s Yesterday on 9/24, with the Digital release expected on 9/10. The 4K will include HDR10 and HDR10+ high dynamic range, with Dolby Atmos audio. The Blu-ray will also include Dolby Atmos audio. Extras on both will include audio commentary with director Danny Boyle and writer/producer Richard Curtis, an alternate opening, an alternate ending, 12 deleted scenes, a gag reel, a 3-song Live at Abbey Road Studios session with Himesh Patel (performing Yesterday, I Want to Hold Your Hand, and Let it Be), and 6 featurettes (Ed Sheeran: From Stadium to Screen, Agent of Comedy: Kate McKinnon, A Talented Duo, Playing for Real, Soul Mates, and A Conversation with Richard & Ed). You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a little bit of news for you today, as well as some new Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD reviews...

First, I’ve just posted a review of Jon Favreau’s original Iron Man in 4K Ultra HD, from Marvel (distributed by Paramount and now Disney). For you guys, I bit the bullet and picked up a copy myself. The new Atmos mix is pretty great, but the 4K image quality is a bit disappointing. Click here for the details. The title streets today.

And Tim has just posted his thoughts on Gordon Hessler’s Scream and Scream Again from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as Riccardo Freda’s Double Face from Arrow Video, both on regular Blu-ray. [Read on here...]

All right, a quick update today...

First, we’ve just posted a trio of new Blu-ray reviews, including my thoughts on Dome Karukoski’s Tolkien from Fox, Tim’s take on Leszek Burzynski’s Trapped Alive from Arrow Video, and Dennis’ look at Michael Chaves’ The Curse of La Llorona from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

And I’m just finishing a review of Zhang Yimou’s Shadow in 4K Ultra HD from Well Go USA and should have that up before the end of the day.

Speaking of reviews, several of you have asked if we’re going to cover the new Disney and Marvel MCU titles that street tomorrow in 4K, including Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3, Thor, and Thor: The Dark World. We would love to, but unfortunately Disney isn’t making them available to reviewers, which means we’d have to go out and buy them. That puts indie sites like The Bits in a pickle. So the answer is, I don’t know. Maybe. [Read on here...]

All right, today’s update is a quickie, but it’s a good one.

All of those re-issued Star Wars Blu-rays from Disney we mentioned yesterday are now up for pre-order on Amazon with a street date of 9/22 (that’s not a Tuesday, so it could be just a “week of” placeholder date until the announcement is made).

The SRP is $34.99, but Amazon’s usual sale price should kick in soon. All of them are up now except Episode IV: A New Hope, which should go live soon. In any case, you can see the cover art – now with pre-order links – below.

In 4K catalog news today, Ridley Scott’s American Gangster is now official for release on 4K Ultra HD by Universal on 10/15. You can see the cover artwork and pre-order it below. It will have DTS:X audio and HDR10 high dynamic range. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover today, so bear with us.

First, very quickly, we’re currently working on those disc reviews we mentioned the other day, so watch for those starting tomorrow. But breaking news – and the need to dig into it – has keep us busy yesterday and today.

Let’s get some regular announcement news out of the way first...

CBS Home Entertainment has set Star Trek: Discovery – Season Two for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 11/12. The 4-disc Blu-ray release will include audio commentary on 4 episodes (with various combinations of Sonequa Martin-Green, Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Alex Kurtzman, Jonathan Peck, and Olatunde Onsunanmi), promos, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and 8 featurettes (Star Trek: Discovery: The Voyage of Season Two, Enter the Enterprise, The Red Angel, Designing Discovery: Season Two, Prop Me Up: Season Two, Dress for Success: Season Two, Creature Comforts: Season Two, and Creating Space). You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

Today’s new update is a quickie, as we’re in full Blu-ray and 4K review mode here at the site, trying to catch up on a backlog titles worthy of our attention. As such, we’ve just posted my thoughts on the Russos’ Avengers: Endgame in 4K Ultra HD from Marvel and Disney, along with a tag-team review by Tim and myself of Duncan Jones’ Moon in 4K from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Both are well worth a look, and Endgame in particular really shines in 4K with HDR, with a great Dolby Atmos mix to boot. So don’t miss them.

And we’re working on more, including Jonny Quest: The Complete Series, Alita: Battle Angel (4K) and much more.

Now then, the big news today is that Paramount has finally relented to releasing its beloved holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life on physical 4K Ultra HD. Look for it on 10/29, months after it first became available digitally in 4K. The good news is that the film has been completely restored and scanned in full native 4K from the original nitrate camera negative (along with two fine grain masters made in the 1940s), so it should look and sound fantastic. Extras will include the colorized version of the film on Blu-ray along with the classic extras. You can see the cover artwork at the left. [Read on here...]