My Two Cents
Monday, 11 April 2016 16:33

Sony sets Risen for BD, DVD & 4K, plus new Twilight/Kino & using DNA storage to preserve films for the far future

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[Editor’s Note: Be sure to follow us on Twitter @thedigitalbits @BillHuntBits and on Facebook here and here. And you can help support The Bits by pre-ordering Blu-rays and other items from Amazon through this link.]

All right, hope you all had a fine weekend. We begin today with a new Pick-Ups column from our own Tim Salmons, featuring the first of several new Blu-ray reviews this week: Grindhouse Releasing’s Pieces: Deluxe Edition, which is now available.

In announcement news today, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has set Risen for release on the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray formats on 5/24. [Read on here…]

Our friends at Twilight Time have just announced their July and August limited edition Blu-ray slates, which are set to include The Black Stallion Returns (1983), The Russia House (1990), Woody Allen’s Zelig (1983), The Gang’s All Here (1943), and Miss Sadie Thompson (in 3D – 1953) all on 7/12, followed by Hardcore (1979), Theatre of Blood (1973), The Glory Guys (1965), a double feature of Tony Rome (1967) and Lady in Cement (1968), La moglie più bella (1970 – aka The Most Beautiful Wife), and a Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia: Encore Edition (1974) all on 8/16. That’s another fine batch of titles from Twilight, as always. We’ll post additional details and cover art soon.

Meanwhile, Kino Lorber has officially set The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) and Yellow Sky (1948) for Blu-ray release on 7/12, along with Invisible Invaders (1959) on both Blu-ray and DVD. This will be followed by Cuba (1979) on Blu-ray and DVD on 7/19, and Deadline – U.S.A. (1952) and Five Miles to Midnight (1963) on both formats on 7/26. Cry of the City (1948) and Table for Five (1983) are also coming soon to Blu-ray only from the company, and Gunsmoke: One Man’s Justice (1994) is coming on DVD only.

Warner Home Video has set Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle: Complete Season One for DVD release on 6/14.

HBO is re-releasing Game of Thrones: Seasons 3 & 4 on Blu-ray on 6/7 in new Steelbook packaging and with Dolby Atmos audio. SRP is $79.98 each. These SKUs match the similar editions of Seasons 1 & 2 already available.

Arrow Video has set Crimes of Passion for Blu-ray release on 7/12.

Magnolia has added the Norwegian disaster film The Wave for Blu-ray and DVD release on 6/21.

Acorn Media has set Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries Series: 1-3 Collection for Blu-ray release on 8/30 (SRP $119.99). They’ve also set Jack Irish: Season 1 and Jack Irish: The Movies for Blu-ray and DVD release on 7/26, both starring Guy Pearce.

Oscilloscope Laboratories will release Ciro Guerra’s Embrace of the Serpent on Blu-ray and DVD on 6/21.

Universal is releasing a Conan: The Complete Quest 2-pack (containing Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer) on Blu-ray on 6/14 (SRP $19.98).

Universal has also set Mr. Right for Blu-ray and DVD on 6/7.

And UDR Music has set Motörhead: Clean Your Clock for Blu-ray release on 6/7.

Also this afternoon, though it has yet to be officially announced, we’ve learned that Warner’s 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray version of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will include Zack Snyder’s new director’s cut on the actual 4K disc, along with the theatrical cut on the enclosed Blu-ray edition. The Blu-ray DC and Blu-ray 3D versions will be available separately. We expect more details on the release to be announced soon.

Baa Baa Black Sheep: The Black Sheep Squadron - The Final Season (Walmart exclusive DVD)Get this: You know how we’ve been talking about Shout! Factory and Timeless Media’s Baa Baa Black Sheep: The Black Sheep Squadron – The Final Season on DVD? It was originally due in stores earlier this year and then it was to be a wide release on 5/10... and then it finally disappeared from Amazon. Well know we know why: The title is now officially a Walmart exclusive release, still due on 5/10. You can see it here. Hey, at least it’s still coming. Perhaps it will be a wide DVD release later in the year. Here’s the cover artwork for the Walmart version (on the right).

And finally today, here’s something really truly extraordinary. You may recall that, a couple months ago, I posted a link to a science article about the ongoing effort to record and archive huge amounts of digital data in using lasers in quartz crystals. Well now, Technicolor (building on work done at Harvard University) is working on a new storage method – digital movie data encoded into DNA molecules! The idea is that as long as the DNA is stable (and it’s very stable), you can store huge amounts of data – many petaflops of it – in a tiny vial. And Technicolor has proven it, by encoding millions of copies of the 1902 French silent film A Trip to the Moon using this process. They’re now working to make the process faster, easier, and standardized for use. It’s absolutely fascinating and a magnificent breakthrough that could really change the game for film and music preservation – really for archiving any kind of data at all for deep time. You can read more here at Phys.org. (Special thanks to Bits reader Ben C. for the link.)

All right, here’s a little bit of new cover artwork (click on the covers to pre-order on Amazon)...

Risen (4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc)    Crimes of Passion (Blu-ray Disc)    The Wave (Blu-ray Disc)

Stay tuned...

- Bill Hunt (@BillHuntBits)

 

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