Displaying items by tag: Vinegar Syndrome

All right, here’s today’s new disc reviews for all of you to enjoy...

Stephen has taken a look at Aleksandr Ptushko’s Ruslan and Ludmila (1972) on Blu-ray from Mosfilm via Deaf Crocodile and Vinegar Syndrome.

Dennis has reviewed William C. Reilly’s Men of Respect (1990) on Blu-ray from Columbia Pictures via Imprint Films.

And Tim has checked in with his thoughts on Nancy Walker’s Can’t Stop the Music (1980) in 4K Ultra HD from EMI via Kino Lorber Studio Classics!

Now then, we have a bunch of great announcement news for you today, so let’s get right into it...

For starters, Criterion has just announced their December release slate, which is set to include Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas (1984) (Spine #501 – 4K + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) on 12/3, Joel and Ethan Coen’s No Country for Old Men (2007) (Spine #1243 – 4K + Blu-ray and Blu-ray) and Federico Fellini’s 8½ (1963) (Spine #140 – 4K + Blu-ray) on 12/10, and Sammo Hung’s Eastern Condors (1987) (Spine #1244 on Blu-ray) on 12/17! Paris, Texas and No Country for Old Men will both include Dolby Vision HDR. No Country for Old Men is a Miramax title currently controlled by Paramount, so this is a licensing situation (and a welcome one). More details are available here, and you can see the cover artwork for all of these below the break. [Read on here...]

All right, I’d intended to have a news update yesterday, but we all day working on a major upgrade of the Release Dates & Cover Artwork section here at The Bits. Not only have added tons of new Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links, we’ve done some software and server upgrades to the section as well, so it should be working better than ever. Better yet, we’re going to have new updates of the section every Tuesday to keep it fresh with all the latest titles!

As you may know, The Digital Bits is an Amazon Affiliate, so anytime you order literally anything after clicking to them through one of our links, you’re helping to support our work at The Bits. It makes a big difference and we truly appreciate it. So we hope you’ll find our upgraded Release Dates & Cover Artwork useful and use it often!

Now then, we have some new disc reviews for all of you to enjoy here today...

Stephen has offered his in-depth thoughts on Robert Altman’s Thieves Like Us (1974) in 4K Ultra HD from Vinegar Syndrome’s Cinématographe label, along with Destin Daniel Cretton’s Just Mercy (2019) in 4K from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, and also Peter Hyams’ Sudden Death (1995) in 4K UHD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Stuart has weighed in with a look at Ken Loach’s The Old Oak (2023) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber, as well as Fred Zinnemann’s The Nun’s Story (1959) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

And Dennis has reviewed Phil Karlson’s 99 River Street (1953) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics as well.

In announcement news today, Universal and Illumination have just set the CG-animated Despicable Me 4 for Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release on 9/24, with the Digital version available next week on 9/10. Scores of featurettes and deleted scenes will be included. [Read on here...]

We start as always today with several new disc reviews, including…

Sam Cohen’s take on Poul Bang and Sidney W. Pink’s Reptilicus (1961) in 4K Ultra HD from Vinegar Syndrome.

Stuart’s look at Something Weird Video and Kino Classic’s double-feature Blu-ray of The Pace that Kills (1928) and its “talkie” remake The Cocaine Fiends (1935).

Dennis’ reviews of Clarence Brown’s Idiot’s Delight (1939) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection and Chad Ferrin’s Night Caller (2021) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

Stephen’s thoughts on Guy Ritchie’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) in 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video.

And last but definitely not least, Tim’s review of Arrow Video’s new UK-only release of Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs (1991) in 4K Ultra HD, which corrects the color space issues that plagued the Kino Lorber Studio Classics 4K disc from 2021.

More reviews are forthcoming tomorrow, so be sure to watch for them!

Now then, the big news today is that Franklin J. Schaffner’s Planet of the Apes (1968) has just been upgraded to 4K on all your favorite Digital services, including Apple TV, Fandango at Home, Movies Anywhere, Kaleidescape and more! It actually has Dolby Vision HDR on Apple TV (and it may elsewhere as well). Naturally, we’ve asked about the possibility of a physical 4K release of this film. I suspect there are no current plans, but I also suspect that if the title does well on Digital, that could change. [Read on here...]

We’re starting today with a bunch of new and recent disc reviews here at The Bits, including...

Stephen’s look at Michael Mann’s Collateral (2004) in a new 4K Steelbook from Paramount, The Flash: The Original Series (1990) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection, and Bosco Lam and Kin-Nam Cho’s A Chinese Torture Chamber Story 1 & 2 (1994 & 1998) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

Tim’s thoughts on Park Chan-wook’s JSA: Joint Security Area (2000) in 4K Ultra HD from Umbrella Entertainment.

Dennis’ take on Philip Kaufman’s Twisted (2004) on Blu-ray from Paramount via Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And finally, Stuart’s reviews of George King’s Tomorrow We Live (1943) and Barbet Schroeder’s Single White Female (1992) on Blu-ray from Powerhouse Films’ Indicator label.

Speaking of Indicator, they’ve just unveiled their November slate, which includes a UK-only box set called Pryor & Wilder that features Sidney Poitier’s Stir Crazy (1980), Arthur Hiller’s See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), and Maurice Phillips’ Another You (1991) on Blu-ray. Look for that on 18 November. In the US, Indicator will release Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat’s Left Right and Centre (1959), Ken Loach’s Family Life (1971), and John Krish’s The Man Who Had Power Over Women (1970) all on Blu-ray on 11/19. [Read on here...]

All right, Bits readers, today is a tough one news-wise, and it has little to do with specific title release news or announcements.

We’ve learned from multiple sources now that the 15% US workforce cuts at Paramount Global—a restructuring that’s happening in advance of the company’s merger with Skydance Media to reduce annual costs by some $500 million—have landed very heavily on the Melrose lot. As reported widely last week, the layoffs amount to about 2,000 people, with most expected to be gone by the end of next month and the rest by year’s end.

Current co-CEOs George Cheeks, Brian Robbins, and Chris McCarthy have described the layoffs thusly in a memo to the workforce: “As we continue to advance our plan, we announced on our earnings call last week that we will be reducing our US-based workforce by approximately 15%, focusing on redundant functions and streamlining corporate teams.”

The expectation was that every division would be impacted. As reported last week, Paramount Television Studios has been shuttered completely. What’s not been reported widely yet is the impact on overall studio operations.

The Digital Bits sources indicate that nearly every department has been affected—in a few cases severely—from marketing, legal, and accounting, to production, post-production, finance, mastering, vault and library services, and unfortunately also Paramount Home Entertainment. The cuts are reportedly not so deep as to result in a complete loss of institutional knowledge, but they’re more than deep enough to result in major workflow disruptions. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a good bit of ground to cover here at The Bits today, so let’s start as always with new disc reviews...

Now available here are Stephen’s take on Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974) in 4K Ultra HD from StudioCanal, David Allen’s The Primevals (2023) as released on Blu-ray by Umbrella Entertainment, and the Blu-ray Audio version of Jonathan Demme and Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense (1984) live album, which includes Dolby Atmos.

Stuart’s look at the Philo Vance Collection on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics—which includes The Canary Murder Case (1929), The Greene Murder Case (1929), and The Benson Murder Case (1930)—as well as George King’s The Shop at Sly Corner (1947) and the Columbia Film Noir #6: The Whistler box set—which includes The Whistler (1944), The Mark of the Whistler (1944), The Power of the Whistler (1945), Voice of the Whistler (1945), Mysterious Intruder (1946), The Secret of the Whistler (1946), The Thirteenth Hour (1947), and The Return of the Whistler (1948)—both on Blu-ray from Indicator.

Dennis’ thoughts on Basil Dearden’s The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970) on Blu-ray from Imprint and Welcome Back, Kotter: The Complete Series (1975-1979) on DVD from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment.

And finally, Tim has taken a look at Arch Oboler’s Bwana Devil (1952) on Blu-ray 3D from Kino Lorber Studio Classics with the help of the 3-D Film Archive.

More reviews are forthcoming, so stay tuned!

Now then, before we get to the big release news today, I wanted to alert you all to the fact that we’ve just posted a big update to our Cover Art section here at The Bits, aka the Release Dates & Artwork section (thanks to our own Russell Hammond)! It now features TONS of new Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover art, all with Amazon.com pre-order links. You can browse and sort the titles by street date and format, and of course The Bits is an Amazon Affiliate, so anytime you click through one of our Amazon links and order literally anything from them, you’re helping to support our work and we really do appreciate it. It makes a real difference for us. [Read on here...]

We start as always today with more new disc reviews, including…

Stephen’s look at Jonathan Demme’s Last Embrace (1979) in 4K Ultra HD from Vinegar Syndrome’s excellent Cinématographe line, as well as John Waters’ Cry-Baby (1990) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Stuart’s reviews of Andrzej Żuławski’s L’important c’est d’Aimer... (1975) on Blu-ray from Film Movement via Vinegar Syndrome, along with John Guillermin’s The Whole Truth (1958) on Blu-ray from Powerhouse Films’ Indicator label.

And Dennis’ take on Boaz Yakin’s Fresh (1994) on Blu-ray from Via Vision’s Imprint Films.

Now then, there’s some exciting release news for us to share with you today, but first we want to take a moment to clear up some confusion: The Warner Archive Collection is still the Warner Archive Collection!

Many of you have probably seen that their Facebook page was suddenly rebranded as Warner Classics (click here for the link). But rest assured, the Warner Archive Collection remains! Warner is simply trying to unite all of its “classic film” marketing activity in one social media space. So while the Warner Archive Collection remains the core of this page, you’ll also learn here about forthcoming classic film releases on Blu-ray and 4K UHD from the studio proper, as well as theatrical screening activity, and the like. So everyone can relax—Warner Archive has not disappeared!

In fact, Warner Archive has just shared some excellent release news: The Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice: Volume 4 Blu-ray is officially coming on 11/26! You can see their official Facebook post here. Details of the actual shorts the set will include are yet to be announced, but the release is definitely now in production. Great news indeed! [Read on here...]

We’ve got more interesting release news here today to close out the week, and a few more new disc reviews as well. First the reviews...

Stephen has turned in his thoughts on Abel Ferrara’s Dangerous Game (1993) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome via their fine new Cinématographe line.

And Dennis has reviewed Bryce McGuire’s Night Swim (2024) on Blu-ray from Blumhouse via Universal, as well as Raoul Walsh’s The Man I Love (1947) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

More reviews are on the way for next week, including my take on Hayao Miyazaki’s animated The Boy and the Huron (2023) in 4K Ultra HD from GKids. So be sure to stay tuned for them.

Also, my apologies for the lack of news updates this week, but I was struck a bout of vertigo last Saturday, and I’ve been having to take it a bit easy to reset everything back to normal. It’s nothing serious—mine is caused by tension in my shoulders aggravating the nerves in my neck, in this case triggered by sleeping with my neck in an awkward position. So the key is to fix my pillow situation and try to relax a little bit more. I’m sure some of you out there can relate!

Anyway, the big news lately is that Second Sight in the UK has finally set their long-awaited 4K remaster of Robert Harmon’s The Hitcher (1986) for release on both 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on 9/30. It’s currently exclusive to their website in a 4K + Blu-ray Limited Edition, as well as separate (and standard) 4K UHD and Blu-ray editions. [Read on here...]

We’ve got several new disc reviews to share with you today, including...

My take on Michael Apted’s Thunderheart (1992) in its first-ever U.S. Blu-ray release from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Stephen’s look at Adam Wingard’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024) in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment.

Dennis’s thoughts on Adam Egypt Mortimer’s Daniel Isn’t Real (2019) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome and Jeremy Kagan’s Big Man on Campus (1989) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Stuart’s reviews of Ingmar Bergman’s Face to Face (1976) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films and Noboru Nakamura’s The Shape of Night (1964) on Blu-ray from Radiance Films.

We’ll have more new reviews here at The Bits tomorrow as well, so be sure to check back for them early!

In title announcements today, the big news is that Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has officially set George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) for release on Blu-ray, DVD, 4K Ultra HD, and 4K + BD Steelbook on 8/13. The Digital release is expected on 6/25. [Read on here...]

We’re rounding out the week here at The Bits with a pair of additional disc reviews, including...

Stephen’s thoughts on Yuzuru Tachikawa’s anime Blue Giant (2023) on Blu-ray from GKids via Shout! Studios.

And Dennis’ take on Sophie Compton and Reuben Hamlyn’s Another Body (2023) on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

Also today, we’ve updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List here at The Bits with all the latest announced 4K titles as well as those we’ve learned are coming from our industry sources.

Over on our Patreon page, many of you have asked us for an Annual Membership option in order to get the best value while backing us and supporting The Bits there. So we’re very pleased to finally make it available today. Signing up as a Patreon supporter of The Bits via the Annual Membership option (at whatever support level you choose) gives you a 10% discount.

And while we’re talking Patreon, we’re going to be holding a members-only Digital Bits: “Ask Us Anything” Live Chat on Patreon tomorrow (Saturday, June 15th) at 11 AM Pacific (1 PM Central, or 6 PM UTC). I’ll be on hand to participate, along with Tim Salmons and Stephen Bjork. You can ask us about physical media, 4K, Blu-ray, film in general, our work, our interests—pretty much any topic other than politics is fair game. While there may be a few questions (about specific upcoming titles) that we can’t answer, we’ll do our best to tackle all questions as they come in. Our goal is to go live for at least an hour. And if everything goes smoothly, we’ll continue for a second hour (provided there’s enough demand/questions to warrant doing so). We hope to see you there! [Read on here...]