Our final reviews of 2024, plus Towering Inferno at 50, new KLSC 4K & Blu-ray titles, plus Tommy Boy, Venom (1981) & The English Patient are coming to 4K!

Monday, 30 December 2024 23:00

Our final reviews of 2024, plus Towering Inferno at 50, new KLSC 4K & Blu-ray titles, plus Tommy Boy, Venom (1981) & The English Patient are coming to 4K!

by Bill Hunt

We’ve got a couple of good things to share with you today, starting with new discs reviews. Among them are…

My look at John Ford’s legendary Western classic The Searchers (1956) in 4K Ultra HD from the Warner Archive, an absolutely stunning title that I think deserves to be considered the 4K Disc of the Year.

Stephen’s review of Sydney Pollack’s Tootsie (1982) in 4K Ultra HD from Sony via their excellent Columbia Classics: Volume 5 box set, as well as David Chung’s Royal Warriors (1986) on Blu-ray from 88 Films.

And Dennis’ review of Buster Keaton’s Seven Chances (1925) and Sherlock Jr. (1924) on Blu-ray from Kino Classics.

All three are well worth a look, and we’re going to have more new disc reviews here on Wednesday.

Also today, our own Michael Coate has just shared a new History, Legacy & Showmanship column today featuring film historian and author Nat Segaloff as they celebrate the 50th anniversary of John Guillermin’s The Towering Inferno (1974). It’s a short read, but still well worth your time. [Read on here...]

In release news this afternoon, our friends at Kino Lorber Studio Classics have announced that Penelope Spheeris’ Black Sheep (1996) will arrive on 4K Ultra HD on 3/25. Also, they’ve revealed that Greg Mottola’s Paul (2011), Gary Fleder’s Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead (1995), Taylor Hackford’s Ray (2004), and Daryl Duke’s The Silent Partner (1978) are all “coming soon” to 4K Ultra HD. In addition, Kirk Douglas’ Posse (1975) and Andrew Marton’s Crack in the World (1965) are coming soon to Blu-ray.

Blue Underground will release Piers Haggard’s Venom (1981), staring Klaus Kinski, in 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on 3/25 as well.

And Paramount has set Peter Segal’s Tommy Boy (1995) for release on 4K Ultra HD and 4K Steelbook on 3/25.

Also today, this isn’t official certainly but it’s a piece of information from our industry sources that I’ve actually been sitting on for a while now: Miramax (via Paramount) has licensed one of my favorite films, Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient (1996), to Criterion. This makes perfect sense, as the label previously released it on LaserDisc way back in 1997. So look for remastered Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD editions to arrive in 2025.

Finally today, we’re going to check back in here tomorrow to share our Digital Bits staff picks for The Best Blu-ray and 4K Titles of 2024! We’ve invited each member of the team to share their selections and I think you’ll find it interesting.

And while we’re on that subject, we’ve also invited subscribers to our Digital Bits Patreon page to share their own picks for the Best Discs of the Year! So if you’re interested in joining, you can chime in on Patreon via this link.

We’ll see you back here tomorrow on New Year’s Eve!

Until then, stay tuned…

- Bill Hunt

(You can follow Bill on social media on Twitter, BlueSky, and Facebook, and also here on Patreon)

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Our final reviews of 2024, plus Towering Inferno at 50, new KLSC 4K & Blu-ray titles, plus Tommy Boy, Venom (1981) & The English Patient are coming to 4K!

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