Displaying items by tag: Paramount

All right, we have just a couple of quick updates for you here at The Bits today, but first we have a new disc review...

Stephen has taken a look at Stephen Sommers’ G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) as newly-released on 4K Ultra HD by Paramount. Sounds like it’s a modest but decent upgrade over the existing Blu-ray, so do give it a look if you’re a fan.

Now then, in terms of announcement news, Lionsgate has set writer-director Janicza Bravo’s Zola for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on 9/14. Extras will include audio commentary with Bravo and editor Joi McMillon, the Y’all Wanna Hear a Story: Making Zola featurette, and deleted scenes with optional audio commentary.

Lionsgate will also release Twist on Blu-ray and DVD on 9/28. The film stars Lena Headey and Michael Caine. Extras will include The Artful Dodger: Twist’s Underworld featurette. [Read on here...]

The big news today comes from our friends at The Criterion Collection, who have just announced their July slate of Blu-ray and DVD titles.

That slate is set to include Andrei Tarkovsky’s Mirror (Spine #1084 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Howard Hawks’ Bringing Up Baby (Spine #1085 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 7/6, followed by Bill Duke’s Deep Cover (Spine #1086 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Lizzie Borden’s Working Girls (Spine #1087 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 7/12, and finally Jacques Deray’s La piscine (Spine #1088 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 7/20. You can read more details on each here at The Criterion Collection website. Our Criterion Spines Project pages here at The Bits have been updated accordingly. You can see the cover art for Mirror at left, and all the rest are below.

Meanwhile, Paramount has added In Harm’s Way, Le Mans, and Bonneville to their June catalog Blu-ray slate (street date 6/29). They’ll also release the Apple TV+ limited series Defending Jacob on DVD only on 7/6. [Read on here...]

Today’s update is going to be a quick one, but we do have a couple of interesting things to report.

First, CBS and Paramount’s Star Trek: Discovery – Season Three is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com (click here for the link). We don’t have a street date yet, but you can see the cover artwork at left and also below.

Speaking of Paramount, they’ve added a couple more catalog Blu-ray titles to their June slate, including Flight of the Intruder and The General’s Daughter on 6/29. In & Out, The Stepford Wives (2004), and a Ladies Night In 3-Movie Collection (of What Men Want, Nobody’s Fool, and Like a Boss) are also coming on 6/1. And if we’re not mistaken, Flight of the Intruder and The General’s Daughter are new to Blu-ray (as is The Saint, which streets on 5/25).

The BBC series The Watch: Season One is due on Blu-ray and DVD on 6/29. [Read on here...]

We’ve got some interesting announcement news for you today...

First up, Paramount has just set Robert Altman’s Popeye (1980) for release on Blu-ray Disc on 12/1, just in time for the film’s 40th anniversary (on 12/6). No kidding! The film stars Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall, Paul L. Smith, and Paul Dooley.

From the press release: “The new Blu-ray includes access to a Digital copy of the film, along with nearly 30 minutes of all-new bonus content featuring excerpts from one of Robin Williams’ final interviews, an interview with director Robert Altman from 2014, as well as a newly conducted interview with Stephen Altman.”

Those extras will include 4 featurettes (Return to Sweethaven: A Look Back with Robin and the Altmans, The Popeye Company Players, Popeye’s Premiere, and The Sailor Man Medleys) and the film’s theatrical trailer. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

We’ve got another quick update for you as we work on new disc reviews today. Speaking of which...

I’ve just posted my in-depth thoughts on GKids and Shout! Factory’s new Blu-ray release of Hayao Miyazaki’s 2013 animated masterpiece The Wind Rises. It streets on 9/22, and like all of these new GKids/Shout! Studio Ghibli Blu-ray reissues, it’s absolutely the definitive release of the film on disc for fans in the US. Don’t miss it.

My review of Bill & Ted 4K is up next, and over the weekend I’ll be looking at Goonies and Beetlejuice 4K as well. Tim and Dennis are hard at work on reviews too. So be sure to watch for those.

Now then... the big 4K announcement news today is that StudioCanal has officially set the 4K Ultra HD release of Paul Verhoeven’s Total Recall: 30th Anniversary Edition in the UK for 23 November. The 16-bit 4K scan and remaster was done from the original camera negative, with color grading in HDR10 and Dolby Vision HDR. [Read on here...]

All right, today’s post is going to be a quick one and for a good reason: Today, my wife and I celebrate our 30th anniversary. But know that I have a number new of Blu-ray and 4K reviews cooking that I’ll start posting this week.

We also have a review from Dennis today of Guy Hamilton’s 1980 film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. As some of you may know, Guy Hamilton was also the director of the Bond film Goldfinger. You can find Dennis’ thoughts here.

Now then, we have a couple of good pieces of announcement news today...

Lionsgate has set Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass for release on 4K Ultra HD in Steelbook on 11/3. This is the same disc released on the format earlier, just in the new packaging. Extras include 2 featurettes (A New Kind of Superhero: The Making of Kick-Ass and It’s On! The Comic Book Origin of Kick-Ass), audio commentary by director Matthew Vaughn, a Marketing Archive, and (on the Blu-ray only) The Art of Kick-Ass Gallery. Look for Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio on the UHD. SRP is just $24.99. [Read on here...]

We have just a couple of items to report today, but there’s definitely some good catalog Blu-ray news. First though, another new Blu-ray review...

Dennis has turned in his thoughts on Leslie Norman’s The Night My Number Came Up (1955), a WWII-era drama from Ealing Studios that’s now available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. Do give it a look.

And while we’re on the subject of KL Studio Classics, the company has revealed its October slate of Blu-ray and DVD releases, which is set to include The Face at the Window (1939 – BD), Herbert Ross’s The Secret of My Success (1987 – BD), John Badham’s The Hard Way (1991 – BD), Richard T. Heffron’s Newman’s Law (1974 – BD and DVD), Lamont Johnson’s The Groundstar Conspiracy (1972 – BD and DVD), John Guillerman’s P.J. (1968 – BD and DVD), and Edward Dein’s Curse of the Undead (1959 – BD) all on 10/6, Ronald Neame’s The Chalk Garden (1964 – BD) and William Hale’s S.O.S. Titanic (1979 – BD and DVD) on 10/13, Bert I. Gordon’s Picture Mommy Dead (1966 – DVD and BD) and William Nigh’s The Ape (1940 – BD and DVD) on 10/20, and of course Clint Eastwood’s High Plains Drifter (1973 – BD and DVD) and Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970 – BD and DVD) on 10/27. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a couple things to report on for you today here at The Digital Bits.

First, European retail sources have begun sending us information suggesting that a trio of additional Paramount catalog titles is on the way to physical 4K Ultra HD later this year, at least in Europe. Those titles are: Collateral (2004), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), and Coming to America (1988). I’ve asked Paramount for confirmation that they’re coming to disc here in the States as well. I’ll post an update here when and if they respond.

Meanwhile, the Italian DVD retailer DVD-Store IT has started listing them (here, here, and here) with no street date given.

Also today, call this one Rumor Mill worthy: MGM’s physical media distribution deal with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment officially expired on 6/30, and word on the street within the industry is that Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will now pick up those rights. There’s been no official announcement of this, and as yet no news reporting on it from the other industry trades, but that’s what we’re hearing through the grapevine. More on that as it comes in too. [Read on here...]

All right, we’re working on more reviews here today and there’s not a lot of release news to report, but we do want to let you all know that we’re going to be giving away SIX copies of new Paramount’s new Tom Cruise 4K Ultra HD titles on our Digital Bits social media channels this week—2x Top Gun, 2x War of the Worlds, and 2x Days of Thunder!

And our first giveaway starts NOW on Twitter...

Follow @BillHuntBits on Twitter and respond to THIS TWEET by telling us which of these three films (Top Gun, War of the Worlds, or Days of Thunder) is your favorite and why. Please respond just once, and note that this giveaway is only open to US readers (due to shipping restrictions, which are especially difficult during this pandemic). Every person who follows and responds will be entered in a giveaway for a chance to win a copy of that favorite 4K Ultra HD title. Three total discs will be given away on Twitter, one per winner. Entries will be accepted until 11 AM Pacific tomorrow (Tuesday 5/19) and the winners will be announced tomorrow afternoon (and also here on the site). Then we’ll message you to confirm your shipping address (which is why you need to follow). Good luck!

We’ll be running a similar contest on our Digital Bits Facebook page too later this week, so be sure to watch for the details. [Read on here...]

Well, last night I finished the Star Wars—all 11 films in 4K. Pretty good, I have to say. I guess the thing I was most surprised by, now that we know it’s a larger narrative—and that some of the films are admittedly better than others—is that it all works together so well. The larger narrative does fit together pretty nicely. Admittedly, the sequel films feel a little more distant from the original trilogy than the prequels do, but visually and tonally they’re actually closer in spirit. Anyway, it’s an interesting experience and one I’m glad I waited for 4K to have. The films have never looked or sounded better, imperfect though some of them are.

All right, let’s have a news post, shall we?

First up here today, Tim has just turned in a review of Richard Stanley’s Color Out of Space on 4K Ultra HD from RLJ Entertainment. It’s an interesting film (and a solid disc) that’s worth a look. You’ll find that here. [Read on here...]