Items filtered by date: May 2014

All right, some quick news updates today...

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has set the CG-animated film Appleseed Alpha for Blu-ray, DVD and digital release on 7/22. The discs includes audio commentary with the filmmakers and an 11-part “making of” documentary.

PBS Distribution is releasing the British sitcom Vicious, starring Sir Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi, on DVD on 7/8. [Read on here…]

Our very own Dr. Adam Jahnke has weighed today on a topic near and dear to many of you. His latest installment of An Honor to Be Nominated in Jahnke’s Electric Theatre looks back at this little 1977 space fantasy adventure that some of you might have heard of. I’ll let him tell you about it.

Also today, Tim reviews another great Blu-ray release from Shout! and Scream Factory, circa 1983... Sleepaway Camp! Enjoy.

Before we get to the announcement news today, just a quick heads-up: Paramount’s 4-disc Star Trek: The Compendium Blu-ray set, which includes the 2-disc Star Trek (2009) SE and also the new 2-disc Star Trek Into Darkness SE (featuring the IMAX version of the film) is now available for pre-order on Amazon for just $31.99. Click on the link or on the cover artwork below to get your orders in. Street date is 9/9 and rebate details are still TBA. [Read on here...]

(If it can be difficult to remember who won the Academy Award for Best Picture, it’s downright mindbending trying to remember everything else it was up against. In An Honor To Be Nominated, I’ll be taking a look back at some of the movies the Oscar didn’t go to and trying to determine if they were robbed, if the Academy got it right, or if they should ever have been nominated in the first place.) [Read on here...]

We’ve got two more Blu-ray reviews for you to enjoy today, starting with Joe Marchese’s look at Cohen Media Group’s The Vivien Leigh Anniversary Collection, which includes Dark Journey, Fire Over England, Sidewalks of London, and Storm in a Tea Cup. Tim Salmons also checks in with his thoughts on B3MP’s recent Blu-ray release of George Pal and Arnold Leibovit’s 1987 stop-motion gem The Puppetoon Movie. Enjoy! [Read on here…]

We’ve got some good stuff here at The Bits for you today from our staffers...

Tim Salmons has checked in with reviews of a pair of Wes Anderson films on Blu-ray, including Criterion’s upgrade of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and Fox’s brand new The Grand Hotel Budapest. They’re two of my favorites and come highly recommended by both myself and Tim, so do check them out. [Read on here…]

Maaaaaan… it’s getting hot out there this final week of June. Maybe Global Warming isn’t some sort of scam. Or maybe it is. I have no idea. I’ll leave it for your truthers and “we actually landed on the moon” debaters to figure that one out.

As for me, it’s my birthday week – so I’m all about me this week and weekend. And then it’s BBQ and beer and more BBQ and even more beer next week during American Fourth of July. It’s gonna be a good next two weeks. For me at least. For you: this week’s disc releases are only “okay” but there’s some good stuff in here. Let’s start with the big title... [Read on here…]

All right, let’s get the new week started off right, shall we?

I believe I promised you a new column from our own Michael Coate, so here it is. Today being the official 25th anniversary of the original theatrical release of Tim Burton’s Batman, Michael has delivered the latest installment of History, Legacy & Showmanship column: Wings of Change: Remembering Tim Burton's Batman on its 25th Anniversary. It’s well worth a read, as Michael’s column always are, delivering not one but two fine interviews and a wealth of detail. So be sure to check it out today.

And now for that surprise title announcement we mentioned on Friday: Paramount is finally making good on the Star Trek Into Darkness Blu-ray debacle with the 9/9 release of the 4-disc Star Trek: The Compendium Blu-ray box set (SRP $39.99)!  [Read on here…]

“It has the personality not of a particular movie but of a product, of something arrived at by corporate decision.” — Vincent Canby, The New York Times

Blockbuster. Juggernaut. Game Changer.

The event, or tentpole, film was taken to new heights during the summer of 1989, and the industry hasn’t been the same since. Sure, there were hits — and megahits — before, but everything this did was new, unorthodox or amplified: mass-saturation marketing, title-less posters, narration-less trailers, loads of tie-in merchandise, dual soundtrack release, one-day-early sneak-preview screenings, anti-piracy electronic-coded release prints, shattered box-office records, home-video release while still in theaters, franchise. [Read on here…]

We’re closing out the week today with a few more major title announcements.

First though, a quick note: We invite you all to check back here at The Bits bright and early on Monday morning, because we’re going to have a couple fun things for you. The first is a new column from our own Michael Coate, looking back at Tim Burton’s Batman on the occasion of the film’s 25th anniversary. The other is a surprise bit of announcement news. So be sure to check back then. [Read on here…]

All right, there was no update yesterday because I was up in L.A. checking out Robert Harris’ recent restoration tests of The Alamo with my own two eyes. Despite what MGM has claimed officially, let me assure you, having now seen the tests firsthand – which the studio has apparently not done yet for some strange reason (and how weird is that?) – this film is in serious need of restoration. The good news, however, is that I’ve also seen tests of how good the film could look like if given a restoration. The result would easily be worth theatrical presentation and a solid Blu-ray release. So keep spreading the word and keep the pressure on the studio. Fingers crossed. [Read on here…]