Displaying items by tag: Alfred Hitchcock

Good afternoon, friends. Hope you all had a lovely weekend.

We’ve got a couple things for you today, starting with a new Blu-ray review. Our own Tim Salmons has done yeoman’s work sinking his teeth into/reviewing Arrow Video’s mammoth and outstanding Gamera: The Complete Collection box set on the format.

The good news: If you’re a fan of kaiju films—and this specific giant turtle in particular—it’s an amazing box set. The bad news: It sold fast and now seems to be out virtually everywhere online. There are a few retailers getting limited stock in now and again, but they go quickly. So unfortunately, unless Arrow is able to reprint it (which I’m told is unlikely at least for now), you might be out of luck. But we couldn’t let their good work go unacknowledged.

And though the set came out on 8/18, it’s literally taken Tim this long to go through it all. Here’s his epic review and we hope you enjoy it.

Also, I posted my thoughts on Lionsgate’s new Ghost in the Shell (1995) 4K release on Friday (click here in the event you missed it). And Dennis has reviewed George Marshall’s The Ghost Breakers (1940), starring Bob Hope, on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. [Read on here...]

HBO has just officially announced the 4K Ultra HD release of their Chernobyl miniseries on 12/1. The 5-episode series was finished natively in 4K and will include the Blu-ray and Digital copies as well (SRP $44.98). High Dynamic Range will presumably be HDR10.

Extras will include 5 featurettes (Meet the Key Players, Inside the Episode, Behind the Curtain: Director Johan Renck, Script to Screen: The Divers, and Pivotal Moment: The Trial).

Best Buy will also have an exclusive Steelbook version of the set. You can see the wide-release cover artwork pictured at left and also below.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has finally announced V for Vendetta for release on 4K Ultra HD on 11/3.

This should be no surprise to Bits readers, as we’ve been talking about this disc for weeks now. [Read on here...]

Heads-up, folks!

This is just a quick news update (and a rare Saturday post) to let you all know that we’ve added or updated a number of titles in our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Digital Bits based on new information from our industry and retail sources.

Specifically...

Universal is apparently working on an Alfred Hitchcock 4K Collection that’s set to include Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds, and Rear Window. We’ve mentioned these titles before on The Bits, but European retail sources are now suggesting that they’ll arrive around September (and Psycho has just been listed on the Best Buy website). Also coming in September or October is the long awaited Back to the Future Trilogy: 35th Anniversary Edition Collection. [Read on here...]

“Psycho should be remembered as the gold standard of psychological horror thrillers because it respects the audience by paying as much attention to delivering memorable, relatable characters, smart dialogue, a gripping plot, and emotional punch as well as jump scares.” — Stephen Rebello, author of Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 60th anniversary of the release of Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock’s popular psychological horror film starring Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates, owner-manager of the Bates Motel.

Psycho, which also starred Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, John McIntire, and Janet Leigh as Marion Crane, was released sixty years ago this month. For the occasion The Bits features a package of statistics and box-office data that places the movie’s performance in context, along with passages from vintage film reviews, a reference/historical listing of the movie’s major-market first-run presentations, and, finally, an interview segment with a film historian who reflects on the film six decades after its debut. [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...]

We’ve got a little bit of release news for you today, along with some reviews and a few good section updates here at the site. Let’s get to the reviews first...

Tim has just posted his in-depth look at Powerhouse Films and Indicator’s terrific new William Castle at Columbia: Volume One – Limited Edition Blu-ray set, which includes The Tingler, 13 Ghosts, Homicidal, and Mr. Sardonicus. Also now available are Dennis’ review of The Farmer’s Daughter from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, and David’s look at Barbershop, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, and Beauty Shop from MVD Entertainment.

Also here at The Bits today, we’ve posted the weekly update of the Release Dates & Artwork section with all of the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, whenever you order literally anything from Amazon after clicking to them through our links, you’re helping to support our work here at the site and we appreciate it! [Read on here...]

We’ve got a couple things for you today, starting with a new batch of Blu-ray reviews...

First up is Tim’s take on Steve Mitchell’s King Cohen documentary from La-La Land Entertainment, along with his look at John Landis’ Schlock from Arrow Video. It continues with Jason’s take on Molly from Artsploitation Films and David’s thoughts on Welcome to the Dollhouse from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Now then... while we’re talking Blu-ray discs, we’re getting the first reports from Bits readers that their Revenge of the Creature/The Creature Walks Among Us replacement discs are starting to arrive from Universal, replacing the identical defective discs in their Universal Classic Monsters 30-Film Collection and Creature from the Black Lagoon: Complete Legacy Collection Blu-ray sets. So if you’ve requested a replacement from the studio (via the instructions we’ve posted at the end of those reviews) keep an eye on your mail, folks. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a bunch of good stuff for you today here at The Bits so let’s get right to it...

First up, Tim has just posted his review of Tibor Takacs’ The Gate from Lionsgate, part of their new Vestron Video Collector’s Series. The disc is now available in stores.

Meanwhile, Michael Coate has chimed in with a new History, Legacy & Showmanship column, celebrating today’s 40th anniversary of the hit ABC sitcom Three’s Company. It features an interview with author and series authority Chris Mann. Do give it a look. [Read on here…]

All right, first things first today: We have a quick bit of follow-up for you this morning on those annual original Star Wars release rumors, the latest appearance of which caused a bit of a stir yesterday (and which we commented on in yesterday’s post). I know... we’re getting tired of talking about it too, but we have what seems to be rather definitive new information.

We’ve essentially confirmed that Disney’s current 4K scan of the film is the most recent revised version (essentially the latest “special edition”), not the original theatrical edition. What’s more, Disney’s director of Library Restoration and Preservation, Theo Gluck, held a special event at Ohio State University’s Wexner Center for the Arts last night, a presentation called Animation Restoration at Walt Disney Studios. Gluck was asked there about Star Wars and reported that the original cut negative for the film currently exists in its “SE” configuration only. (There’s more info, so do continue on past the jump.) [Read on here…]

Morning, folks!

After Friday’s web issues (which continued yesterday), we’re back with a normal daily news post here at The Bits and also some new disc reviews. But we’re going to be doing some additional work all this week to try and make some improvements to the server. So updates over the next few days may be a little spotty. However, we’re working on lots of new disc reviews, including Independence Day: Resurgence and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on 4K Ultra HD which we hope to post later this week.  [Read on here…]