A little preface – I started writing my little nickel and dime pieces for the holidays not before December 25 but after. And I’ll tell you why. How many of us receive as presents gift cards – they’re easily purchased and delivered. However, many have time limits and they’re incredibly easy to lose. Come on, you’ve lost a few, haven’t you?

So, I write up these fabulous video gifts because you have gift money to spend. And please do so.

When I was in the throes of graduation from Purcell Oklahoma High School about 40 years ago, we Seniors observed a tradition that I’m sure in some form or fashion was copied throughout the country – we had to complete a form that listed our personal “likes.” You know, favorite song, favorite type food, favorite movie, etc. [Read on here...]

All right, we’re wrapping up the week with a big title announcement and additional release news, some new disc reviews, and a few words about HDR. But first, those reviews...

Tim has just turned in his thoughts on a trio of great new Blu-ray titles, including MVD’s The Man from Earth: Special Edition, Warner Archive’s The Green Slime, and Synapse’s Suspiria: 40th Anniversary Edition Steelbook. All three packages are quite good and well worth a look, so do check them out when you have time.

Now then... let’s have that big title news: Disney and Pixar have just announced Coco for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 2/27, with the digital and Movies Anywhere release expected on 2/13. The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release will feature HDR10 and Dolby Atmos audio, while the 4K digital release will feature HDR10 or Dolby Vision with Dolby Atmos audio. The Blu-ray will feature English 7.1 DTS-HD MA. [Read on here…]

First off, before we begin today, a number of you have asked about Lionsgate’s delayed Terminator 2: Judgment Day 4K Ultra HD EndoArm edition. We’ve contacted the studio for an update and we’ll keep you informed when they respond.

Now then, in news from CES 2018, the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) says that there’s been an eightfold increase in Ultra HD disc sales in 2017 from the previous year. 4K Ultra HD player sales are also up 133% in 2017 over 2016. FutureSource data suggests that more than a third of households globally anticipate purchasing a 4K TV by 2021, while fully half of the households in Western Europe and the US expect to do so by then. The BDA has also officially added HDR10+, SL-HDR2 (for Philips and Technicolor), and Dolby Vision to the Ultra HD spec, in addition to regular HDR10. They’ve also approved the spec for a new UHD BD recording format for use in Japan. [Read on here…]

All right, we’ve got more news for you here at The Bits today, both in terms of title announcements and also CES 2018. But first, we’ve got a trio of new disc reviews for you...

Tim has checked out The Breakfast Club on Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection and well as the new Shout Select Blu-ray Matinee: Collector’s Edition. And I’ve given an in-depth look to Denis Villeneuve’s remarkable Blade Runner 2049 in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. All three titles are well worth your time, so be sure to give the reviews a read when you’ve the time. [Read on here…]

All right, let’s talk about the latest news from CES 2018 in Las Vegas related to 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and HDR…

First up, the HDR10+ Alliance has announced that Warner Bros. has joined Samsung, Panasonic, 20th Century Fox, and Amazon in supporting their open standard “dynamic metadata” competitor for Dolby Vision. Any content producer who wants to use HDR10+ for their media needs only to pay an small annual fee, but there are no royalty fees, unlike Dolby Vision which requires a license fee for every use.

It will be interesting to see what impact Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox might have on this alliance, if any. Will Disney join or will Fox’s participation become more passive?

On a related note, our friends at Scenarist – which creates software and systems for Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD, and Ultra HD title authoring – is adding HDR10+ support into the work flow of its Scenarist UHD authoring system, currently used to create many Ultra HD Blu-ray releases. They’re actually demonstrating it in person at CES 2018. So you can expect movie software that supports HDR10+ to start arriving this year. Word is that Amazon will be adding HDR10+ to its 4K streaming offerings in the next few months as well. [Read on here…]

Afternoon, folks. We’re sure many of you are looking forward to the first weekend of the new year today, and we’re also gearing up for CES next week here at The Bits, so we’ll make this quick today.

First of all, in 4K release news, Paramount has set Daddy’s Home 2 for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 2/20. They’ll have the original Daddy’s Home available on 4K that same day. [Read on here…]

All right, we’ve got a couple things for you today here at The Bits…

First, Tim Salmons has just turned in a pair of new Blu-ray reviews, including Shout! Factory’s A Town Called Panic: The Collection and also Scream Factory’s Hell Night: Collector’s Edition. Both are well worth a look.

Also here at The Bits today, our own Russell Hammond has posted the weekly update of the Release Dates & Artwork section featuring all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, we appreciate it when you shop for great movie titles and other items through our Amazon links, so thank you! [Read on here…]

All right, we’re back! We hope you all had a lovely and safe Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and/or New Year’s celebration – as the case may be – with your family and friends. My wife and I had a pretty solid case of the flu over Christmas, but we’re mostly recovered now (save for a lingering cough) so we spent New Year’s in Joshua Tree National Park with family. I brought my telescope and so we got some nice star watching in along with the usual hiking and whatnot. By the way, if you’re ever in Twentynine Palms, California and you’re in the mood for barbecue, be sure to visit The Rib Co., because they know what they’re doing.

In any case, we’ve got a number of things going on here at The Bits this week. First, I’ll spend the next couple of days catching you up on new and recent Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD announcement news. I’ll also be getting back into the BD and 4K review rhythm. And of course, the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) kicks off next week in Las Vegas, so we’ll keep you up to date on developments there too. [Read on here…]

We’ll be back to our regular Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD news and reviews work here at The Bits starting on Tuesday, but in the meantime we just wanted to drop in and wish you all a very Happy New Year and best wishes to your family and friends.

And if you’re looking for a little cinephile reading, be sure to check out Michael Coate’s recent History Legacy & Showmanship columns featuring anniversary celebrations of Casino Royale (1967), Camelot, Tomorrow Never Dies, The Dark Crystal, Die Another Day, and The Graduate, all of which have been posted in the last week or two.All right… be safe, be happy, and may 2018 bring better things for all of us. Peace out!

- Bill Hunt

(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)

“Casino Royale is the Star Wars Holiday Special of James Bond films.” — 007 historian John Cork

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 50th anniversary of the release of Casino Royale, the James Bond comedy spoof starring Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, David Niven, Orson Welles and Woody Allen.

Our previous celebratory 007 articles include Tomorrow Never Dies, Die Another Day, Dr. No, The Living Daylights, The Spy Who Loved Me, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever, Casino Royale, For Your Eyes Only, Thunderball, GoldenEye, A View to a Kill, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Goldfinger, and 007… Fifty Years Strong.

The Bits continues the series with this retrospective featuring a Q&A with an esteemed group of James Bond historians who discuss the virtues, shortcomings and legacy of Casino Royale (1967). [Read on here...]