Displaying items by tag: Michael Coate

“The most wonderful, the most delightful entertainment of your life!”

The Digital Bits is pleased to present this TWO PAGE retrospective column commemorating the golden anniversary of the release of Mary Poppins, Walt Disney’s popular and award-winning musical-fantasy starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke.  [Read on here…]

All right, we’ve got three things for you today to close out the week…

First, our own Michael Coate has turned in a fine new History, Legacy & Showmanship column, celebrating today’s 35th anniversary of the theatrical debut of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. Included in the piece is a rundown of the initial 70 mm theatrical engagements, trivia, and a pair of interview with film historians Jon Lewis and Lee Pfeiffer. Enjoy!

Also today, Tim Salmons has turned in a review of Raro Video’s The Year of the Cannibals (1970) on Blu-ray, an Italian film from director Liliana Cavani.  [Read on here…]

“The first time, it will dazzle your senses. The second time, you’ll see it for the first time.”

The Digital Bits is pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 35th anniversary of the release of Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola’s award-winning Vietnam War epic.

The Bits marks the occasion with this retrospective article featuring a compilation of box-office data that helps place the film’s performance in context, quotes from a selection of movie critics, production and exhibition information, a list of the film’s original 70-millimeter presentations, and an interview segment.  [Read on here…]

All right, let’s get the new week started off right, shall we?

I believe I promised you a new column from our own Michael Coate, so here it is. Today being the official 25th anniversary of the original theatrical release of Tim Burton’s Batman, Michael has delivered the latest installment of History, Legacy & Showmanship column: Wings of Change: Remembering Tim Burton's Batman on its 25th Anniversary. It’s well worth a read, as Michael’s column always are, delivering not one but two fine interviews and a wealth of detail. So be sure to check it out today.

And now for that surprise title announcement we mentioned on Friday: Paramount is finally making good on the Star Trek Into Darkness Blu-ray debacle with the 9/9 release of the 4-disc Star Trek: The Compendium Blu-ray box set (SRP $39.99)!  [Read on here…]

“It has the personality not of a particular movie but of a product, of something arrived at by corporate decision.” — Vincent Canby, The New York Times

Blockbuster. Juggernaut. Game Changer.

The event, or tentpole, film was taken to new heights during the summer of 1989, and the industry hasn’t been the same since. Sure, there were hits — and megahits — before, but everything this did was new, unorthodox or amplified: mass-saturation marketing, title-less posters, narration-less trailers, loads of tie-in merchandise, dual soundtrack release, one-day-early sneak-preview screenings, anti-piracy electronic-coded release prints, shattered box-office records, home-video release while still in theaters, franchise. [Read on here…]

Okay... just a quick update today. I dropped my cell phone this weekend and cracked the screen. Naturally, I didn’t buy the insurance since Verizon talked me into buying the fancy indestructible case. So anyway, it’s meant a couple days scrambling while I try to get it fixed.

Meanwhile, we do have a new Doogan’s Queue for you today from Todd, covering today’s new releases on Blu-ray and DVD. We’ve also got Dr. Jahnke’s latest Burnt Offerings: MOD DVD column detailing the latest from Warner Archive and such. And be sure to check out our weekly update of the Release Dates & Artwork section from Russell. [Read on here...]

“Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. No job is too big. No fee is too big.”

The Digital Bits is pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 30th anniversary of the release of Ghostbusters, the supernatural comedy and smash hit of the summer of ’84 that introduced the world to Slimer, the Ecto-1, the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man and unlicensed nuclear accelerators. The Bits celebrates the occasion with this retrospective featuring some quotes from movie critics, production & exhibition trivia, a list of the movie’s deluxe 70-millimeter presentations, and a compilation of box-office data that places the movie’s performance in context. [Read on here…]

Here at The Bits today, Tim Salmons has turned in a review of Disney’s Frozen on Blu-ray. Do check that out.

Also, today happens to be the 15th anniversary of a little film called Free Enterprise, starring William Shatner, directed by our old friend Robert Meyer Burnett, and produced by Mark A. Altman (who also writes the occasional MOS DEF column here at The Bits). So our own Michael Coate has taken the opportunity to do a new interview with Rob and Mark for his latest History, Legacy & Showmanship column. You’ll find that here, so we hope you enjoy it! [Read on here...]

“Get a Life!” exclaimed William Shatner to a legion of Star Trek fans in a classic 1986 Saturday Night Live skit. Among those who did indeed get a life were Mark A. Altman and Robert Meyer Burnett. The pair succeeded in creating Free Enterprise, the affectionate 1999 comedy about a pair of pop culture geeks who meet their idol, William Shatner. Be careful about wanting to meet your heroes may have been the moral of the story as Mark (Eric McCormack) and Robert (Rafer Weigel) discover Mr. Shatner is not quite the person they think he is. [Read on here…]

“This picture is not called The Temple of Roses; it is called The Temple of Doom. The warning is clearly marked on the box.” — Steven Spielberg

The Digital Bits is pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 30th anniversary of the release of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the follow-up to the incredibly popular Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The Bits celebrates the occasion with this retrospective column. It features some quotes from movie critics, some trivia on the film, an interview segment (featuring film historians Scott Higgins and Eric Lichtenfeld), a list of the movie’s premium-format (70mm) presentations, and a compilation of box-office data that places the movie’s performance in context. [Read on here…]