Displaying items by tag: Skydance

We’re starting the new week here at The Bits with a host of new disc reviews for the team, including...

My thoughts (with longtime Bits contributor Todd Doogan) on Antony Hoffman’s Red Planet (1990) in 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video.

Tim’s take on Terence Fisher’s The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) in 4K Ultra HD from the Warner Archive Collection, as well as Warner Archive’s Hollywood Legends of Horror: 6-Film Collection on Blu-ray, Jag Mundhra’s Hack-O-Lantern (1988) in 4K from Massacre Video, and Tom Savini’s Night of the Living Dead (1990) in 4K Steelbook from Sony.

Dennis’ thoughts on Dan Curtis’ Dead of Night (1977) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Stuart’s take on Richard Thorpe’s The Prisoner of Zenda (1952) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

And Stephen’s reviews of John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness (1994) in 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video, and the new Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone (2007) and Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance (2009) anime films on Blu-ray from GKids via Shout! Studios.

More reviews are definitely on the way all this week, so be sure to keep checking back.

Now then, we’ve got a bunch of release news to report today... [Read on here...]

More news and more reviews are the order of the day today here at The Bits. Starting with the latter first, as always, we’re pleased to bring you…

Stephen’s take on Ken Russell’s Altered States (1980) in 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from our friends at the Criterion Collection.

And Tim’s look at Glen A. Larson’s classic Knight Rider: The Complete Series (1982-1991) on 4K Ultra HD from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment!

Also, yesterday we posted the following as well…

Stuart’s look at Anthony Asquith’s French Without Tears (1939) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Tim’s reviews of Severin Films’ High Tension: Four Films by Lamberto Bava Blu-ray box set and also the final films in Arrow Video’s Shawccope: Volume Two Blu-ray box set.

More reviews are definitely on the way, so be sure to keep checking back.

Also today, speaking of the Criterion Collection, they’re holding a quick 24-hour flash sale today that runs for about the next 19 hours as of the time of this writing. The sale is good for 50% off all in-stock titles on their website here. So if there’s something you’ve been looking for, now might be a good time to pick it up if you act fast! [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...]