Displaying items by tag: The Digital Bits

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We’ve got a couple things for you today...

First, our own Michael Coate has a new History, Legacy & Showmanship column taking a look at the new Blu-ray release of 1776 with director Peter Hunt and Sony’s Grover Crisp. The disc streets today, so enjoy!  [Read on here…]

Nearly a decade after the high-definition Blu-ray Disc format was introduced, movie buffs and home theater consumers are finding there are still titles being released for the first time. Among the latest, 1776, the musical celebration of the founding of the United States, is being released this week by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

“I’m very happy that it is coming out on Blu-ray,” says Peter H. Hunt, the film’s director. “It’s not a major, major classic, but it is in its own right a ’classic.’ It has grown in that regard over the years. It’s like the little engine that could. It keeps chugging along. More and more people have seen it and love it.”  [Read more here...]

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We’re kicking the new week off today here at The Bits with a pair of new Blu-ray reviews...

First up, I’ve given Universal’s new Apollo 13: 20th Anniversary Edition a look and found it to be well worth the upgrade, especially given the newly-restored video presentation and the disc’s bargain $13 price on Amazon. Also, I’ve checked out Warner’s Jupiter Ascending on Blu-ray 3D... and I actually kind of liked it. The story is a glorious mess, but The Wachowski always manage to make their films interesting at least, and I found its send-up of camp 80s and 90s sci-fi cinema to be entertaining for a couple hours. Both titles street tomorrow, and Apollo 13 in particular is absolutely recommended.  [Read on here…]

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All right, sorry for the absence there for a couple days. I got hit by some kind of flu on Tuesday night and figured it would pass quickly. Instead it just got worse each day – throbbing headache, fever, body aches, lungs full of muck – the whole smash. I spent all of Wednesday and Thursday in bed in a haze of sleep, cold sweats, and flu meds. Finally, today, I’m functional again and feeling more like a human being. Moral of the story is: Avoid this flu at all costs if you can. It’s no fun.  [Read on here…]

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Well... I'm spending this first day of the new week, post Memorial Day, to get myself settled into a new computer. After years of loyal service, my old PC revealed a terminal flaw back in December, so I bought a new one that I'm affectionately calling the WOPR. But as I've been incredibly busy of late, getting all my files moved over and organized, and getting all the needed software installed and whatnot, has taken several months. So forgive me if today's update is a quick one as I finish up that process.

We have a bunch of reviews we're working on for posting hopefully this week, including Universal's new classic Battlestar Galactica box set. Meanwhile, we have a quick release news update for you.  [Read on here…]

“Unlike most of the Bond films, [A View to a Kill] lacks the sense of cleverness that is so instrumental to the success of 007. It is a film where everyone was working a bit too quickly, where the inherent tone of a Bond film was in short supply, the Bond film that feels the most like an expensive TV movie. It is the Bond film that should have gotten the Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment.” — John Cork

The Digital Bits is pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 30th anniversary of the release of A View to a Kill, the 14th (official) cinematic James Bond adventure and, most notably, the final to star Roger Moore as Agent 007.  [Read on here...]

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We’ve got a couple things for you today to close out the week. First though, I wanted to direct you all to our own Michael Coate’s latest History, Legacy & Showmanship column, which we posted yesterday, which features a great look back at The Empire Strikes Back in celebration of the film’s 35th anniversary (which was yesterday). Michael offers lots of extensively-researched details about the film’s initial theatrical release, as well as production trivia, a summary of critic reviews, and even a great new roundtable interview with cinema historians about the film. Do give it a look – I think you’ll really enjoy it.  [Read on here…]

“The Empire Strikes Back joins The Godfather, Part II as one of the rarest of films—a sequel that lives up to and expands upon its original.” — Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune

There is no question this year is a huge one for fans of Star Wars. While the whole galaxy awaits Episode VII: The Force Awakens, let us not forget this year also marks the 35th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, one of the most revered sequels of all time. The Digital Bits celebrates the occasion with this retrospective featuring a compilation of box-office data that places Empire’s performance in context, quotes from well-known movie critics, production and exhibition information, a list of the opening-week, limited-market theaters that were the first anywhere to play the movie, and an interview segment with a group of filmmakers and historians who discuss the attributes of the movie and examine why Empire is frequently labeled the fan favorite.  [Read on here...]

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First things first today: Our own Russell Hammond has just updated the Release Dates & Artwork section to include all the latest Blu-ray and DVD cover artwork, as well as Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, a portion of anything you order from Amazon through our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we surely do appreciate it!

In title announcement news this afternoon, Lionsgate has announced The Divergent Series: Insurgent for release on Blu-ray 3D Combo, Blu-ray and DVD on 8/4, as well as digital on 7/21. Extras on the Blu-ray versions will include audio commentary with producers Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher, the Insurgent Unlocked: The Ultimate Behind-the-Scenes Access feature length documentary, 5 featurettes (Diverging: Adapting Insurgent to the Screen, From Divergent to Insurgent, The Others: Cast and Characters, The Train Fight Unlocked, and The Peter Hayes Story), along with a marketing gallery.  [Read on here…]

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We’ve got a new Pick-Ups column from Tim for this week, featuring new reviews of George Miller’s The Road Warrior and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome on Blu-ray, as well as Mark Hartley’s Not Quite Hollywood documentary on the history of Ozploitation film. All of this is obviously in honor of the new Mad Max: Fury Road film now in theaters. It’s really a terrific film, so do check it out. The reviews don’t lie on this one. Meanwhile, enjoy the column and reviews.  [Read on here…]