Displaying items by tag: Imprint Films

Well, go figure. I’d planned on working on disc reviews today, but it turns out that Paramount’s War of the Worlds (1953) 4K color grading issue isn’t the only problem with that release.

First though, the rest of The Bits team has turned in a couple reviews of their own...

Stephen has taken a look at Pierre Chenal’s Native Son (1951) on Blu-ray from Kino Classics.

And Dennis has reviewed Lewis Milestone and Byron Haskin’s The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) on Blu-ray as well, from Kino Lorber Studio Classics proper.

Both titles are worth a look, and I promise that more reviews are on tap for next week, including 4K titles.

Now then (speaking of Byron Haskin), I mentioned yesterday that there’s a color grading problem with Paramount’s new War of the Worlds: Paramount Presents 4K Ultra HD release. [Read on here...]

We’re finishing the week here at The Bits with a spate of new disc reviews for you to check out and enjoy...

First, I’ve taken a look at Michael Mann’s Heat (1995) which is finally available in a long-awaited new 4K Ultra HD release from 20th Century Studios. The new 4K master is impressive, though not reference-quality.

It’s important to note, however, that Mann made creative changes to the film’s color grading in 2017, as he was preparing his new Director’s Definitive Edition (see his own comments on this at the time here). This means the film is somewhat darker looking, with slightly-desaturated color, than it was before—even with the new HDR grade. This in turn has caused a host of “fan” reviewers to claim that the disc is defective, when the truth is that they simply don’t like the new color grade. Meanwhile, professional reviewers have almost all praised the disc’s image improvements, while acknowledging the darker grading. Those of you with genuinely bright 4K displays (with effective tone-mapping) will appreciate the new color grade the most. The point is, you’re going to see a lot of diverse opinions about this title out there on the Interwebs and social media. It’s only by understanding that these changes were initiated by the director himself that you can sort the reality from opinion. Anyway, I break it down in the review.

Also today, Stephen has turned in his thoughts on Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in 4K Ultra HD from Marvel and Disney. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got some great catalog 4K Ultra HD news to report today, but first we have one more new review...

I spent some time this weekend looking at Stanley Kubrick’s landmark war film Paths of Glory (1957) thanks to a fine new 4K Ultra HD release from our friends at Kino Lorber Studio Classics. For the first time, the image has been scanned from the original camera negative in native 4K—Criterion’s 2010 Blu-ray release was only a 2K scan of a fine-grain master positive—so this is unquestionably the best the film has ever looked at home. It’s a beautiful presentation and not to be missed by Kubrick fans and cinephiles.

All right, now for that catalog news... VCI Entertainment has set Bob Clark’s Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things (1972) for release on 4K Ultra HD on 10/11 as a new 50th Anniversary Edition. The release will include a new video introduction and Q&A with actor Alan Ormsby, along with a new 90-minute documentary on Clark’s horror films called Dreaming of Death. You’ll get lots of legacy special features as well. And you can see the cover artwork below the break. [Read on here...]

We’ve got three more new disc reviews for you today here at The Bits, plus more new theatrical and catalog release news, including a fun catalog 4K title we’re looking forward to. Plus we’ve got word on a new film documentary series that’s now streaming and worth your time.

First those reviews...

Tim has turned in his thoughts on a great new Blu-ray release from our friends at ClassicFlix and the 3-D Film Archive: Jean Yarbrough’s Jack and the Beanstalk (1952) starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. The disc streets next week in honor of the film’s 70th anniversary and it includes a ton of great extras in addition to a terrific film restoration.

Stephen has taken a look at Ike Sanders’ Final Flesh (2009) on Blu-ray from AGFA via Vinegar Syndrome.

And Stephen has also offered his thoughts on a nifty little German thriller, Carl Schenkel’s Out of Order (1984), in 4K Ultra HD from Subkulture USA via Vinegar Syndrome.

All three titles are well worth a look. [Read on here...]

As always, we’ve got more new disc reviews for you today…

Tim has taken a look at Jack Cardiff’s The Long Ships (1964), a Viking adventure film on Blu-ray from Imprint Films in Australia.

And Dennis has turned in his thoughts on Mark O’Brien’s The Righteous (2021) on Blu-ray from our friends at Arrow Video.

In announcement news today, Paramount has made their Paramount Presents Blu-ray of Back to the Beach (1987) official for release on Blu-ray on 8/9. Newly-remastered from a new 4K scan of the film, the disc will include a new Filmmaker Focus featurette with director Lyndall Hobbs that includes previously-unseen home movies from the set. [Read on here...]

We’re wrapping up the week here at The Bits with a few new disc reviews...

I’ve turned in my thoughts on Sony’s recent Heavy Metal: Limited Edition 2-Movie Collection, a 4K Ultra HD Steelbook release that include the original film remastered with Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio, plus the Heavy Metal 2000 sequel as a Blu-ray bonus.

Tim has taken a look at Umbrella Entertainment’s new Blu-ray release of Heavy Metal, which is available as an all-region import.

Tim has also turned in his thoughts on Christopher Landon’s Happy Death Day and Happy Death Day 2U in 4K Ultra HD from our friends at Scream Factory.

And Dennis closes out our review selections today with a look at Boomerang (1992) on Blu-ray from Paramount. [Read on here...]

We’re closing out the week with a trio of new disc reviews today, including...

Tim’s look at John McNaughton’s Wild Things (1998) in 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video.

Tim’s review of Francesco Barilli’s Hotel Fear (1979) on Blu-ray from Mono Macabro.

And Stephen’s thoughts on Makoto Shinkai’s animated Children Who Chase Lost Voices (2011) on Blu-ray from GKids via Shout! Factory.

By the way, we’ve also updated our 4K Ultra HD Release List and our Upcoming Cover Artwork sections here at The Bits with lots of new titles and Amazon.com pre-order listings.

In 4K Ultra HD catalog release news this afternoon, Severin Films has set Jess Franco’s Faceless (1978) for release on 8/30. [Read on here...]

Morning, folks! We’re checking in early here at The Bits today with some new disc reviews.

Over the weekend, I managed to turn out reviews of three new 4K Ultra HD Steelbook releases, including Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) from Paramount, and David Lean’s Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962) from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

It should be noted that the 4K Steelbook edition of Bridge on the River Kwai now includes Dolby Vision HDR and the original theatrical mono mix, both of which were missing from the 2017 4K release.

And this marks the first time Lawrence of Arabia has been available in 4K outside of Sony’s expensive (and long out-of-print) Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection: Volume 1 box set from 2020, so this will likely be the first time many of you get to experience the film in 4K UHD at home (and let me tell you, that experience is terrific). [Read on here...]

Now it’s time to run down some of the major announcement news that’s broken over the past few days, and we have some real gems to report for you. Let’s start with 4K Ultra HD catalog news...

First up, our friends at Shout! and Scream Factory have just unveiled a great batch of new 4K Ultra HD titles for August release, including John Milius’ Red Dawn (1984) as a Shout Select 4K UHD release (a Collector’s Edition box with exclusive pins and a poster will also be available directly from the Shout! website) and new 4K UHD Collector’s Editions of Child’s Play, Child’s Play 2, and Child’s Play 3 on 8/16, followed by Mamoru Hosoda’s BELLE on 4K Ultra HD on 8/30. You can see the cover artwork for these at left and below the break. Note that the release of Scream’s 4Ks of Cat People and The Funhouse have also been pushed back to 8/2 and 8/9 respectively (from 7/19 and 7/26).

Kino Lorber Studio Classics has now teased new 4K UHD releases of George P. Cosmatos’ Leviathan (1989) and Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder (2008). Both are listed as “coming soon.” That last one is particularly interesting, as it’s part of a new content distribution deal the company has signed with Paramount Home Entertainment. The deal apparently includes some 65 titles in all on Blu-ray (8 of which are being released on disc for the first time), including 16 on 4K Ultra HD. Among these are old Republic titles, though reportedly none released previously by Olive Films. Given KLSC’s recent focus on Sergio Leone westerns, we think it’s a good bet that Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) will be among the 4K titles. [Read on here...]

All right, folks... you are now looking at the new and upgraded Digital Bits website! The cosmetic changes are minimal, but they include more uniform and easy to read font weights across all browsers and devices. Previously, some of you who viewed the site on Apple devices would have difficulty reading certain pages (including reviews) because the text was too light or faint. That should now be corrected. What’s more, the site should be much faster to load, which is no small upgrade. We’re also working on some additional search functionality improvements that will our make older content/reviews easier to find.

And you may notice the “25 Years” icon next to The Bits logo. 2022 is indeed The Digital Bits’ 25th anniversary. The site launched in late 1997 after many months as an email newsletter within the home video industry. We’ve obviously grown over the years to cover new formats and topics, and we’ve had a great bunch of writers and staffers contribute to The Bits during that time—we value each and every one of them. And let it not go unsaid: We also value each and every one of you, our readers! Some of you may be new to the website, while others have been reading since the very beginning. Just know that we’re glad to count you all as part of The Digital Bits family, and we appreciate each of you. Thanks for sticking with us!

We’ve got a lot of catching up to do today, now that this first batch of site upgrades is complete, including reporting on lots of new release news and rumors. But first, we have more new disc reviews to share with you—reviews that have been posted here at The Bits in the last few days while I’ve been focused on the site upgrades. So let’s run down those now, and I’ll check back in an hour or two with that news update.

First up, Tim and I have taken an in-depth look at Matt Reeves’ The Batman (2022) in 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. [Read on here...]