Displaying items by tag: Event Horizon 4K

Well, it’s the Friday after Thanksgiving, so I’m sure you all know what that means: There are a HUGE number of Black Friday sales going on at online stores around the Internet and at brick-and-mortar retailers near you. Seemingly everyone is offering 40 or 70% discounts, so be sure to take advantage if there’s something you’re looking for.

Here at The Digital Bits, we’re obviously an Amazon affiliate, so if you are busy shopping for online deals today via that particular retailer, we would certainly appreciate it if you clicked through one of our affiliate links first (like this one for US readers, or these for Canadian, UK, French, Spanish, Japanese, or German readers). Once you click through any of our links, literally anything you purchase in that same shopping session counts in our favor and it makes a big difference in helping to support our work here, so we really do appreciate it.

Of course, we hope all you U.S. readers had a great Thanksgiving holiday yesterday. We certainly did here at The Bits, and—given the holiday—there’s not a ton of release news to report. But we do have a few things of note to talk about, and we have a few new disc reviews as well. So let’s cover those reviews first... [Read on here...]

Well, the big news this week is so big that we’re going to address it right off the top: In a sudden and unexpected move, Disney’s board of directors has ousted CEO Bob Chapek and re-hired Bob Iger. The news came out of the blue on Sunday night and seems to have taken everyone by surprise. Bob Iger of course was the company’s previous CEO, who took over for Michael Eisner—the man who’d served in that role for over two decades at that point—back in 2005. It was under Iger’s watch that Disney acquired Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, and the film division of 20th Century Fox. He also laid the groundwork for the launch of Disney+ in 2019.

Chapek was no stranger to Disney, having joined the company in 1993 as the director of marketing for Buena Vista Home Entertainment. In this capacity he helped steer Disney through the “Golden Age” of DVD and eventually the launch of Blu-ray, which is how I came to know him. He was so successful in that capacity that he was promoted to president of Home Entertainment in 2006, and eventually took over at Disney Consumer Products (in 2011) and Parks and Resorts (in 2015), which seemed to make him a natural fit to become CEO of Disney himself when Iger eventually stepped down.

But apparently, Iger and Chapek did not often see eye to eye. Iger, who could (and probably should) have worked more aggressively to groom a clear successor to lead the company in his own image, failed to do so, resulting in Chapek’s elevation to CEO in 2020. But Chapek’s reign was troubled from the very start, stricken first by the COVID-19 pandemic and next by a series of public “self-owns” and media missteps. [Read on here...]

We’ve got some significant title news for you today, along with what could be a surprise for 3D fans. But first, a couple of quick new disc reviews...

Tim has turned in his thoughts on Cheh Chang’s Disciples of Shaolin (1975), a Shaw Brothers title on Blu-ray from 88 Films.

And Stephen has taken a look at Buzz Kulik’s The Hunter (1980) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films, which also happens to be the final film of actor Steve McQueen.

Both are worth a look, and as always there are more new disc reviews on the way all this week so be sure to watch for them.

In terms of announcement news today, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has just made George Stevens, Sr.’s Giant (1956) official for 4K Ultra HD release on 6/21. The epic western stars Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and of course James Dean in his final role. [Read on here...]

All right, this is just another quick news update here at The Bits as we continue to work on our back-end software upgrade. We’ll start as usual with new disc reviews...

Tim has posted his thoughts on Walter Hill’s 48 Hours (1982) from Paramount and Paul Donovan and Maura O’Connell’s Siege (1983) from Severin Films, both on Blu-ray, as well as Genndy Tartakovsky’s Hotel Transylvania 3 (2018) on Blu-ray 3D from Random Space Media.

Also, Dennis has checked out Danton Trumbo’s Johnny’s Got His Gun (1971) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films.

And Stephen has reviewed Erie C. Kenton’s You’re Telling Me! (1934) from Kino Lorber Studio Classics and Miklos Jancso’s Round-Up (1966) and The Red and the White (1967) from Kino Lorber, both on Blu-ray.

More disc reviews are on the way soon, so be sure to check back for them. [Read on here...]