Displaying items by tag: Kino Lorber Studio Classics

Tim has posted a pair of new Blu-ray reviews today, featuring his thoughts on Lew Lehman’s The Pit from Kino Lorber and Jeffrey Delman’s Deadtime Stories from Scream Factory. Both are worth a look for fans, so do check them out.

I’m also going to be working on more new 4K reviews this afternoon, so watch for them to be posted here on the site later today and tomorrow morning. We’ll mention them here in tomorrow’s My Two Cents column.

By the way, I wanted to invite you all to follow The Bits on Facebook and Twitter if you don’t already. More importantly, I wanted to invite you to follow me personally (Bill Hunt) on Facebook and Twitter, if you’d like as well. Do keep in mind, however, that on my own personal pages I tend to talk more about other things of interest to me than just Blu-ray, 4K, and DVD specifically – films, great books, science topics, spaceflight, history, technology, and the like. You’re always welcome to communicate with me that way, particularly via Facebook Messenger, as e-mail these days seems to be inundated with junk and SPAM. Maybe I’ll see you there. [Read on here…]

All right, we’ve got a bunch of interesting release news today here at The Bits…

The big news today is that 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has just set Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Rise of the Planet of the Apes for 4K Ultra HD release on 6/13 (SRP $39.99 each). There’s no word yet on extras, but presumably they’ll include the previous Blu-ray editions with all of those extras. This certainly confirms what we already knew, which is that War for the Planet of the Apes is going to be released on the format as well later this year.

Also on the 4K front today, Universal has just set Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2 for release on the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format on 6/6 (SRP $39.98 each). As you may remember, we first revealed that these titles were coming to the format back on 2/14 (you can see that post here). [Read on here…]

In announcement news today, Summit Entertainment and Lionsgate have just officially announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of Damien Chazelle’s almost Best Picture La La Land on 4/24. The Digital HD release is due on 4/11. It looks like the disc will actually include a nice batch of extras, starting with an audio commentary by Chazelle and composer Justin Hurwitz. You’ll also get 11 behind-the-scenes featurettes (Another Day of Sun: They Closed Down a Freeway, La La Land’s Great Party, Ryan Gosling: Piano Student, Before Whiplash: Damien Chazelle’s Passion Project, La La Land’s Love Letter to Los Angeles, The Music of La La Land, John Legend’s Acting Debut, The Look of Love: Designing La La Land, Ryan and Emma: Third Time’s the Charm, Epilogue: The Romance of the Dream, and Damien & Justin Sing: The Demos) and a song selection option. You can see the official final cover artwork to the left and below. [Read on here…]

All right, just a quick one today, but we do bring you another pair of new Blu-ray reviews this afternoon…

Tim has checked out Scream Factory’s new IFC Midnight release, the B-horror title Hellions.

Also, our old friend Matt Rowe has revisited a classic in Giuseppe Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso, finally available in the U.S. in the form of Arrow Academy’s terrific 2-disc Special Edition Blu-ray (formerly available only in the U.K.) that includes both the restored Theatrical Version and The Director’s Cut plus extras. It’s not to be missed. [Read on here…]

All right, first things first today: We have a quick bit of follow-up for you this morning on those annual original Star Wars release rumors, the latest appearance of which caused a bit of a stir yesterday (and which we commented on in yesterday’s post). I know... we’re getting tired of talking about it too, but we have what seems to be rather definitive new information.

We’ve essentially confirmed that Disney’s current 4K scan of the film is the most recent revised version (essentially the latest “special edition”), not the original theatrical edition. What’s more, Disney’s director of Library Restoration and Preservation, Theo Gluck, held a special event at Ohio State University’s Wexner Center for the Arts last night, a presentation called Animation Restoration at Walt Disney Studios. Gluck was asked there about Star Wars and reported that the original cut negative for the film currently exists in its “SE” configuration only. (There’s more info, so do continue on past the jump.) [Read on here…]

All right, we’re closing out the week with some interesting announcement news and a few other odds and ends...

First up today, Warner Bros has just announced that HBO’s Westworld: The Complete First Season will be available in Digital HD on 3/6. The Blu-ray and DVD release is expected to follow later in 2017, ahead of the debut of the series’ second season. Meanwhile, the Digital release will have some extras, including 5 behind-the-scenes featurettes (Welcome to Westworld, Crafting the Narrative, An Invitation to the Set, Reality of A.I.: Westworld, and About the Series), as well as 7 The Big Moment clips (Bernard Faces an Unlikely Saboteur, Teddy Versus the Man in Black, A Host Self-Sabotages, Maeve Gets An Answer, Dr. Ford’s Blood Sacrifice, The Truth About Bernard, and Dr. Ford’s New Narrative). [Read on here…]

We’ve got a pair of new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray reviews for all of you to enjoy here at The Bits today. I’ve given Warner’s The Accountant and Sony’s Inferno a spin on the format, both of which are recent releases, and have a few things to say about each. Do give them a look.

Also today, it’s become fairly clear that Amazon and Disney are having another one of their strange business tiffs that involves Amazon pulling all of Disney’s forthcoming Blu-ray titles off of pre-order. Case in point, Moana, Doctor Strange, etc. This may also be why Disney and Lucasfilm have not yet announced the Blu-ray release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, even though it’s already available for pre-order on other retail sites. While they no doubt have their reasons, these actions are a major inconvenience to both Amazon’s customers and Disney’s Blu-ray consumers, so these two companies should get their act together. [Read on here…]

All right, folks... this is one of those posts it’s fun to write. None of this news has been officially announced, it comes from retail sources. But we know from our other industry sources that this information is legit. The street dates may change, but the titles should all be forthcoming.

The Swedish video retailer CDON.com has just listed for pre-order a number of catalog titles that we’ve known were either in production or planning for a while now, but the news is starting to break. They include (listed by studio and European street date):

Universal – The Mummy (1999 – 5/22), The Mummy Returns (5/22), The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (5/22), Despicable Me (6/12), Despicable Me 2 (6/12), Gladiator (6/12)

Sony – The Bridge on the River Kwai (6/19), Spider-Man (6/26), Spider-Man 2 (6/26), Spider-Man 3 (6/26), The Amazing Spider-Man (6/26) [Read on here…]

We’re kicking off today’s update here at The Bits with a trio of new disc reviews...

First up, I spent the whole day yesterday going through Sony’s new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray edition of Ang Lee’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. The package includes 4K, Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, and Digital HD. Whatever you may think of the film itself, this A/V presentation is a must have for 4K enthusiasts. Full native 4K in 60 frames per second with High Dynamic Range and Dolby Atmos audio is a helluva thing.

Also, Tim has checked out a pair of regular Blu-rays for you, including Sony’s Don’t Breathe and Kino Lorber Studio Classics’ Haunted Honeymoon. Both are worth your time. [Read on here…]

All right, the tweaking continues today on the upgraded Digital Bits site backend, but we’ve got a new review for you regardless. I’ve taken a look at Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format from Paramount. The film is a new classic of cinematic science fiction. It’s certainly well worth a look, so please enjoy the review.

In announcement news today, we’ve confirmed that Universal’s A Monster Calls is now officially set for Blu-ray and DVD release on 3/28, though no 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray version seems to be planned. Extras on the Blu-ray will include 2 featurettes (The Making of A Monster Calls and Making of the Tales), English audio commentary with writer Patrick Ness and Spanish audio commentary with director J.A. Bayona.  [Read on here…]