Displaying items by tag: Scream Factory

We’ve got a trio of new disc reviews to round out the week today, including...

My thoughts on David Anspaugh’s Rudy (1993) which streets in 4K Ultra HD from Sony next Tuesday (11/14), featuring not only the original Theatrical Version but also a new Director’s Cut that’s 13 minutes longer.

Stephen’s take on Chuck Russell’s 1988 remake of The Blob in 4K UHD from Shout! and Scream Factory.

And Dennis’ take on Ron Winston’s The Gamblers (1970) on Blu-ray from VCI Entertainment.

More reviews are on the way, including my own look at Billy Wilder’s Stalag 17 (1953) in 4K from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. So be sure to watch for those soon.

Also today, over on our Patreon we’ve kicked off an in-depth poll asking our supporters what video, audio, special features, and packaging options 4K Ultra HD fans value most on their catalog titles on the format. The poll will remain open until next Friday (11/17) at Noon Pacific, so if you sign up as a supporter between now and then, you can weigh in with your picks. And we’ll share the results here on the website.

We’re going to run these kind of polls regularly on Patreon, both for our own edification and also to provide that information to studio sources who might ask for it, so this is a great chance to make your opinions heard. [Read on here...]

All right, I certainly hope you all had a lovely weekend. We’ve got some great new disc reviews for you to enjoy today, as well as some terrific release news.

Before we get to that, however, I wanted to make another pitch for those of you who’ve long read and enjoyed our work here at The Digital Bits to consider supporting the site via our new Patreon (or PayPal, if you prefer). We’re up to 127 subscribers now (with nearly 50 more followers), and we appreciate each and every one. (Next stop… 200!) So if you value what we do here—if you find that our work regularly brings a little bit of joy into your life as a fan of physical media—please consider subscribing to help us keep The Bits going indefinitely. I’m making regular—really almost daily—blog posts on Patreon, most of which are exclusive to our backers, and I’m trying to ensure that those complement what we do here on the website. So please consider joining us, and we thank you for the support!

Now then, let’s get to those reviews...

First, I’ve posted my thoughts on Apple TV’s For All Mankind: Season One, which is new on Blu-ray from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, as well as For All Mankind: Season Two, which was released on Region B Blu-ray by Dazzler a few months ago. This is shaping up to be one of the great science fiction series, one that’s worthy of the legacy and spirit of optimism about the future that we all loved about classic Star Trek. It’s well worth your time.

Also, Dennis has turned in his thoughts on Tod Browning’s Sideshow Shockers on Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection, a disc that includes Browning’s Freaks (1932), The Unknown (1927), and The Mystic (1925).

And Stuart has delivered his take on Dan M. Kinem and Levi Peretic’s Adjust Your Tracking: The Untold Story of the VHS Collector (2013) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

Note that I’m also working on a review of Sony’s new Rudy 4K Ultra HD Steelbook release, which is pretty great. More on that here soon. [Read on here...]

Good afternoon (or evening as the case may be), Bits readers! My wife and I had a houseguest here visiting yesterday, so today’s post is a little later than usual. But we’re starting as always with some new disc reviews...

First of all, on Monday I posted my thoughts on Christopher McQuarrie’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) on 4K Ultra HD from Paramount, and just today I added a couple of additional Editor’s Notes discussing one of the film’s key story points as well as the 4K video quality (which I’ve revised downward just a tad from A to A-, the reason for which is explained in my review).

Also, Stephen has turned in his thoughts on Hideaki Anno’s (et al) Evangelion: 3.0+1.11 Thrice Upon a Time (2021) in 4K from GKids and Shout! Factory, and for those of you who aren’t familiar, he also gives you a good little primer on the topic.

Meanwhile, Stuart has weighed in with looks at William Dieterle’s The Life of Emile Zola (1937) and Richard Brooks’ The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection, as well as Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret’s The Worst Ones (2022) on DVD from Kino Lorber.

Dennis has offered his take on Julian Schnabel’s Before Night Falls (2000) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive as well as Mark Pellington’s The Severing (2022) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.

And finally, Tim has delivered an in-depth review of Kevin Connor’s Motel Hell (1980) in 4K Ultra HD from Scream Factory. [Read on here...]

Boy, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover here at The Bits over the next few days! It’s been very busy here around the office these past several days. For one thing, my wife and I have had family staying with us for the weekend. I’ve also finally replaced my defunct Epson 5040UB home theater projector here at The Bits with a brand new JVC DLA-RS1100/NP5, and have spent time installing and calibrating it. (I’ll definitely have more to say about that later this week, though I’ll just note for now that I’m very pleased with the choice.)

But I would like to take this opportunity to thank my good friends John Schuermann (of The Screening Room AV, the fantastic home theater design and equipment retailer well known for their annual Projector Shootouts) and Kris Deering (the outstanding ISF calibrator, formerly of Sound and Vision magazine as well as his own Deep Dive AV) for their help and advice in selecting the RS1100 and getting it up and running. (Your counsel is very much appreciated, my friends!) If you’re ever in the market for home theater hardware or calibration, there’s no better place to start.

Needless to say, while I’ve been occupied with all that, our dedicated team here at The Bits has posted a number of great new disc reviews. So let’s quickly run them all down...

First of all, Stuart has offered his thoughts on Anthony Mann’s A Dandy in Sapic (1968) and Abraham Polonsky’s Force of Evil (1948) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as Suzanna Raes’ documentary Close to Vermeer (2023) on DVD from Kino Lorber.

Dennis has shared his thoughts on Peter Hall’s Three Into Two Won’t Go (1969) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as Luis Valdez’s La Bamba (1987) on Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.

Stephen has delivered his reviews of Jean Renoir’s legendary classic The Rules of the Game (1939) in 4K Ultra HD from Criterion, along with Jiří Barta’s The Pied Piper (1986) on Blu-ray from Deaf Crocodile (via Vinegar Syndrome), and Ulli Lommel’s The Boogey Man (1980) in 4K UHD from Vinegar Syndrome.

And finally, our hard-working reviews editor Tim Salmons has posted his own take on David Lynch’s Lost Highway (1997) in 4K Ultra HD, also from Criterion.

As always, more new disc reviews are forthcoming all week, so be sure to check back for them.

All right… now let’s move on to the latest release news. And there’s quite a lot of it today. In fact, it’s fair to say that it’s going to be a very expensive Q4 for fans of Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD! [Read on here...]

We’ve got one more quick update for you today here at The Bits. But first, we have two new disc reviews from Stephen...

He’s taken a look at Thom Eberhardt’s Night of the Comet (1984) in 4K Ultra HD from Shout and Scream Factory. And he’s also reviewed Scott Walker’s The Tank (2023) on Blu-ray from Well Go USA Entertainment.

Now then, the quick bit of news we have to report today is a follow up on something we predicted was coming here at The Bits several months back, which is that Universal Studios Home Entertainment is officially releasing the next wave of Alfred Hitchcock 4K Ultra HD titles on 10/31!

You’ll get the next box set of five films—The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection: Volume 3—as well as 4K single-film SKUs of each of the films in the set, including Rope (1948), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Torn Curtain (1966), Topaz (1969), and Frenzy (1972). You can see the cover art for the box at left, and the singles below the break. [Read on here...]

We’re starting the week off here at The Digital Bits this afternoon with a great new disc review, this one featuring Tim and Stephen’s tag-team take on Arrow Video’s fantastic Enter the Video Store: Empire of Screams Blu-ray box set, which includes The Dungeonmaster (1984), Dolls (1986), Cellar Dweller (1987), Arena (1989), and Robot Jox (1990). It’s a boxed release that’s well worth checking out if you can get your hands on a copy—the title is sold out and basically only available on the secondary market. One hopes that the films will be released individually on Blu-ray from Arrow in the future.

In announcement news today, Paramount has revealed a new School of Rock: 20th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Steelbook for release on 9/26. The disc will include audio commentary with Jack Black and director Richard Linklater and nearly an hour of legacy special features.

Paramount will also release a new Halloween H20: 20 Years Later 4K Ultra HD Steelbook Edition on 9/26, celebrating the film’s 25th anniversary. You can see the packaging below the break.

Kino Lorber Studio Classics has officially set Lewis Teague’s Cujo (1983) for 4K Ultra HD release on 10/24, complete with a new 4K scan of the original camera negative, Dolby Vision HDR, and a great new special feature, Cujo Revisited, which is a never-before-seen 2014 roundtable discussion with Dee Wallace, Danny Pintauro, Daniel Hugh Kelly, and the director.

The company has also revealed that Harold Becker’s Sea of Love (1989) is coming to 4K Ultra HD in the months ahead.

And coming to regular Blu-ray from KLSC are Mario Bava’s Black Sabbath (1963) on 10/24 and Jules Dassin’s Topkapi (1964), the street date for which is still TBA. [Read on here...]

We have two new disc reviews of you to enjoy today...

Stephen has taken a look at Dusty Nelson’s Effects (1979) in 4K Ultra HD, a film that originated from the minds of several Pittsburgh-area collaborators of George A. Romero. It’s now available from Image Works via the American Genre Film Archive and our friends at Vinegar Syndrome.

If you’re interested in this film, you might also enjoy reading a 2005 archived interview we did on the original Bits website about the project with our old friend John Harrison (Takes from the Darkside, Frank Herbert’s Dune). You’ll find that here (and pardon the messy HTML).

Also today, Dennis has taken a look at Cheryl Dunye’s The Watermelon Woman (1996) on Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.

We don’t have a lot in the way of new announcement news today, but a number of long-awaited 4K Ultra HD catalog titles are finally available for pre-order on Amazon. [Read on here...]

Today’s new disc reviews here at The Bits include...

Stephen’s review of Robert Aldrich’s The Longest Yard (1974) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

His take on James Wan’s Insidious (2010) in 4K Steelbook from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Tim’s reviews of The Five Venoms (1978) and Crippled Avengers (1978) from Arrow’s Shawscope: Volume One Blu-ray box set.

And Stuart’s look at Philippe Le Guay’s The Man in the Basement (2021) on DVD from Kino Lorber and Greenwich Entertainment.

Don’t forget that today is the final day of Amazon’s Prime Day Deals, and there are still LOTS of them to be had on 4K Ultra HD titles, movie and TV collections, and much more. And if you click to Amazon through one of our links (like this one) before you start shopping with them, it makes a huge difference in helping us to keep The Digital Bits going. So we appreciate the support! [Read on here...]

We have three new disc reviews and a nice batch of Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD title announcements to start the week off for you today...

First, Dennis has reviewed Dave Thomas’ The Experts (1989) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Dennis and Tim have jointly reviewed Jan de Bont’s The Haunting (1999) in 4K Ultra HD from Scream Factory.

And Tim has reviewed another Shaw Brothers title on disc, in this case Chang Cheh’s Chinatown Kid (1977) from Arrow Video’s fantastic Shawscope: Volume One Blu-ray box set.

In announcement news this morning, Paramount has just made Steven Caple Jr.’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023) official for release on Blu-ray, DVD, 4K Ultra HD, and 4K Steelbook on 10/10, with the Digital release set to drop tomorrow (7/11). Extras will apparently include extended and deleted scenes (including an alternate opening and ending) and 9 behind-the-scenes featurettes (Human Affairs, Life in the 90s, Heroes, Villains, The Chase, The Battle of Ellis Island, Into the Jungle, The Switchback Attack, and The Final Conflict). Unfortunately, we don’t have any disc specs. But you can see what we believe is the near-final cover artwork at left and also below the break. [Read on here...]

We’re closing out the week this afternoon with some newsy odds and ends, a few more tidbits about forthcoming titles from our industry sources, and of course more new disc reviews. Today’s reviews include...

Tim’s take on Wes Craven’s The People Under the Stairs (1991) in 4K Ultra HD from our friends at Scream Factory.

His look at Craig R. Baxley’s Stone Cold (1991) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Stuart’s thoughts on Richard Thorpe’s The Truth About Spring (1965) on Blu-ray, also from the good folks over at Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

In 4K Ultra HD release news, you might recall that yesterday we mentioned that Sony was bringing Martin Campbell’s The Legend of Zorro (2005) to the format on 8/22. Likewise, Universal was working on a 4K release of Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman (2020) for that same day. [Read on here...]