Displaying items by tag: director's cut

All right, we’ve got some good 4K catalog news for you guys today, plus some more new disc reviews. But first, please allow me a brief diversion...

It’s been kind of a roller coaster week for me here at Digital Bits HQ. Last Tuesday, it became clear that one of our cats, a 17-year-old tortie named Maddie, was ailing and my wife and I needed to take her to the vet. We did immediately, and learned that she was in kidney failure—common for cats of that age. The vet recommended that we do sub-q fluids and feed her a special diet to try to get her to bounce back, which I spent most of last week administering. But by Friday, it became clear that she just wasn’t strong enough to. She’s always lived with a heart murmur, so when we adopted her the vet said she probably wouldn’t live a long time. Yet she almost made it to 18. Maddie definitely lived life on her own terms.

Anyway, we had to let her go on Friday, which was rough. Then on Saturday night, some friends invited us to join them for their 35th anniversary celebration, and that was wonderful. Then I got up at 6 AM to watch the Vikings play the Jets in London, and my team squeaked out a win—I’m a lifelong Vikings fan, having grown up in North Dakota, so their 5-0 record seems surreal. (And I’m just going to enjoy it while it lasts.) Last night, I convinced a friend—who is visiting his brother in Fargo—to drive out of town to see the Northern Lights; something he’s always wanted to experience. Well, experience it he did, and he shared pictures of it with me in real time. And today is my 57th birthday. So, it’s been a lot of good this past week, with a bit of really terrible. But I suppose that’s life.

All right, let’s knock out those disc reviews...

Stuart has offered his thoughts on Bert I. Gordon’s Empire of the Ants (1977) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Tim has taken a look at Roland West’s The Bat (1926) on Blu-ray from Undercrank Productions.

More are on the way, including my look at The Hitcher in 4K and also The West Wing: The Complete Series on Blu-ray, so do watch for those this week. [Read on here...]

We’re starting today with a new History, Legacy & Showmanship column, in which own Michael Coate and producer Van Ling celebrate the legacy of Terminator 2: Judgment Day on its 25th Anniversary! Don’t miss it.

Also today, Tim Salmons checks in with a review of Eric Red’s Bad Moon, now on Blu-ray from Scream Factory.  [Read on here…]

All right Bits readers – this post I’ve wrestled with all night and all morning as well.

Yesterday afternoon, I received a Blu-ray review copy of Paramount’s Star Trek Into Darkness.  As regular readers will probably know, I actually liked the film.  But when it was finally announced for Blu-ray release, I was surprised at the list of bonus content in the press release, specifically the lack thereof – just seven featurettes.  I quickly sent an e-mail to the studio PR people, asking if this was indeed the complete list of bonus content, and was told that it was.  But somehow, I guess I just didn’t believe it.  So somehow, I was still excited to see and review the disc.  [Read on here...]