Items filtered by date: December 2017

We’ve got another Blu-ray review for you today from Tim: A look at Warner Archive’s new Blu-ray release of Freebie and the Bean. You can find that here.

We’ve also updated the Release Dates & Artwork section with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. You’ll find that here.

Meanwhile, the big news today is that Criterion has just announced their April Blu-ray release slate, which is set to include Leo McCarey’s The Awful Truth (Cat #917 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Sergei Parajanov’s The Color of Pomegranates (Cat #918 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 4/17, and Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides (Cat #920 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Jim Jaramusch’s Dead Man (Cat #919 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 4/24. They’re also releasing Eclipse Series 46: Ingrid Bergman’s Swedish Years on DVD on 4/10, including The Count of the Old Town (1935), Dollar (1938), Intermezzo (1936), Walpurgis Night (1935), A Woman’s Face (1938), and June Night (1940). [Read on here…]

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We wanted to check in this morning with a quick heads-up on a great Blu-ray deal on Amazon today...

You can get HBO’s The Sopranos: The Complete Series for just $49.99. This is a 28-disc set with all 86 episodes in 1080p HD and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, with extras that include 25 audio commentaries, deleted scenes, roubtable interviews, and more.

You can see the cover artwork and opening packaging below. [Read on here…]

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Good afternoon, Bits readers. Hope you’re all having a fine day. Obviously, this is the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday here in the States, so there’s not a lot of work getting done today. But I’m having trouble concentrating today for another reason Minnesota Vikings fans will appreciate. Whew! It’s going to take me a few days to calm down after the end of that playoff game.

All right, we’ve got a pair of new Blu-ray reviews for you today from Tim Salmons: A look at Warner Archive’s Night School and The Sea Wolf, both of which are now available.

Our own Bud Elder has also checked in with a good new View from the Cheap Seats column in which he looks at some interesting deep catalog titles released on Blu-ray and/or DVD in recent weeks. [Read on here…]

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Monday, 15 January 2018 02:14

The Place to Be

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…]

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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…]

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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…]

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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…]

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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…]

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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…]

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