Displaying items by tag: Scream Factory

All right, we’ve been busy here at The Bits these last couple days. Just a quick note first: Tomorrow is my birthday, so I’m not working. I turn 49, if you can believe it, which I can’t. But that’s how these things go. In any case, to make up for it, we’ve got a bunch of good stuff for you all to enjoy today. So let’s get to it...

First, I’ve just spent the last six months putting Samsung’s launch 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player, the UBD-K8500, through its paces and I have my full review for you to check out today. Suffice it to say that there’s never been a debut player for any format (that I know of) that offers so much quality and performance for such a low price. If you’re thinking about upgrading to 4K Ultra HD and you’re looking for the best value for your dollar, this is the player for you. [Read on here…]

Welcome to a new edition of Pick-Ups!

Welcome to October! I’ve been gone on vacation for the past couple of weeks, but it’s good to be back. I have a lot of reviews to get in this month, including both new and older titles that we haven’t covered here previously, so be prepared for that. I also have a new bi-weekly feature at the beginning of next month, and if you’re a Scream Factory fan, you will definitely appreciate it.

And since it’s the Halloween season, I’ll be attending several theatrical events this month. This weekend we checked out Tim Burton’s latest, which is Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, and anybody who follows me on Facebook knows how I felt about it... not good. Anyways, Rifftrax is doing a live riffing of Carnival of Souls later this month as well, which I’m a little torn over, but I never miss one of their shows. Also, on October 5 (Wednesday), Fathom Events is presenting Young Frankenstein in theaters for a one night event, which includes a live introduction from Mel Brooks himself. I’m also attending a marathon of all of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies on October 29 at my local Alamo Drafthouse. Needless to say, Halloween certainly keeps me busy every year.

And if you’re staying in for much of Halloween this year, then there’s plenty on TV to check out. As a matter of fact, you might want to clear your DVRs as there is a ton of Halloween programming, especially on Turner Classic Movies. They’re showing quite a range of monster movies, slashers, and everything in between. You can read all about it here.

Anyways, let’s move on to some reviews. [Read on here…]

Afternoon folks! Hope you’re all doing well and Happy Rosh Hashanah to those of you who celebrate it.

We’ve got a couple things for you today... first a new Blu-ray review: Our own Tim Salmons has just checked in with his Pick-Ups thoughts on Shout! Factory’s new Shout Select title, Bill & Ted’s Most Excellent Collection, which arrived on disc last Tuesday. Tim would like you to know that the set is most definitely non, non, non, non, non-heinous. Do check out his review here.

Tim has also updated his recent review of Scream Factory’s The Thing: Collector’s Edition on Blu-ray to reflect the updated audio track found on all final product copies now in stores. The track is fixed and sounds great.  [Read on here…]

Just a quick update for you today, as we’re working on new Blu-ray and 4K UHD reviews for you...

First up, Scream Factory has just announced the list of extras you’ll find on their 2-disc The Exorcist III: Collector’s Edition Blu-ray, which streets on 10/25. Disc One will include The Exorcist III: Theatrical Cut via new 2K IP scan, with a vintage featurette, vintage interviews, a delete scene, alternate takes, bloopers, a deleted prologue, theatrical trailers, TV spots, and photo galleries. Disc Two will include Legion (the Original Director’s Cut) with all-new extras including an audio interview with writer/director William Peter Blatty and 5 featurettes (A “Wonderfull” Time, Signs of the Gemini, The Devil in the Details, Music for a Padded Cell, and All This Bleeding). You can see the cover artwork at right and below.  [Read on here…]

The big news today is that Sony is bringing Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver back to theaters (on 10/16 and 10/19) for its 40th Anniversary, and will re-issue the film on Blu-ray in a new Taxi Driver: 40th Anniversary Edition that’s mastered from the film’s 4K restoration (which was supervised by Scorsese and cinematographer Michael Chapman). The 2-disc set, which streets on 11/8, will include much legacy bonus material along with a new 40-minute Q&A with Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster and more, recorded live at the Beacon Theatre in New York City at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival.

The specific list of extras includes: Disc One – Taxi Driver Q&A, Interactive Script to Screen, original 1986 commentary with Scorsese and writer Paul Schrader (recorded by The Criterion Collection), additional commentaries by Schrader and by Professor Robert Kolker, 6 featurettes (Martin Scorsese on Taxi Driver, Producing Taxi Driver, God’s Lonely Man, Taxi Driver Stories, Travis’ New York, and Travis’ New York Locations), and the film’s theatrical trailer; Disc Two – The Making of Taxi Driver documentary, Storyboard to Film Comparisons (with Scorsese introduction), and Animated Photo Galleries. You can see the cover artwork above left and below.  [Read on here…] 

We’ve got a couple things for you today, and obviously a bit of sad news to report. But first things first...

Our own Tim Salmons has checked in with another new Blu-ray review, as part of his latest Pick-Up/Dailies column for the week, this time featuring his thoughts on Ken Russell’s new Crimes of Passion: Special Edition from Arrow Video. The disc is now available, and Tim says that while the film is a bit of challenge, it’s worth a look on disc. Do check out his review.  [Read on here…]

Welcome to a new edition of Pick-Ups!

This week I managed to catch a screening of Rifftrax Live! Mothra, which was a lot of fun and well-worth your time if you want to see the encore showing Tuesday. I also had a birthday this past Saturday, so I got stay home, eat lots of food, lay in bed all day, and watch movies with my gal. To say the least, it was a pleasant day, but more like a relaxing and fun day. It’s funny how when you start getting older you want to do nothing more than to kick back and do nothing as much as you can... that or I’m just getting lazier.

On a related subject, I just wanted to quickly apologize for not getting a third review up last week. I had one in the works, but due to many real life activities getting in the way, I wasn’t able to meet my Friday deadline. It’s a title that you’ll definitely sometime down the road, that’s for sure.

Anyways, let’s move on to some reviews.  [Read on here…]

So um... yeah. Since yesterday morning, when the SRP and final product images first went up on Amazon – and even before we posted our column on the subject yesterday afternoon – we started getting e-mails and private messages from diehard Rings fans asking: “Is Warner’s Middle Earth: Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blu-ray set really $799.99?!”

I understand the feeling behind that question, believe me, because I feel it too. When I first saw that $799 price listed, I thought surely it was an error. Especially when you consider that the theatrical set was listed at $68.99, and when that price info quickly disappeared.

I figured there was absolutely no way Warner would charge $800 for a Blu-ray release of these films that contained no new disc-based content whatsoever. Had to be a mistake. [Read on here…]

Welcome to a new edition of Pick-Ups!

Back this week some more reviews. Nothing new to report personally. I would like to note that I’ll be out of town for a couple of weeks in September, so don’t expect a column or reviews much from me around that time. Until then, I’m catching up on a ton of reviews (as is Bill), and I’m preparing myself for some upcoming events here at The Bits for October and November.

More on that when we get closer to that timeframe.  [Read on here…]

Welcome to a new edition of Pick-Ups!

Well, like many of you, I checked out Suicide Squad this past weekend, and also like many of you, I just didn’t care for it all that much. I won’t go into any major details about it because it’s still pretty fresh and I don’t want to spoil anything for those who still want to see it, but I’m sure many of you already know many of the ins and outs of why certain folks didn’t like it. On the flipside, I also managed to see Star Trek Beyond as well, and I was a bit floored on that one. It’s easily the best of the new Treks, as well as the most solid film in that new franchise. It felt like they were done making the references and trying to copy what had come before and decided to tell a new story with the new cast for a change, which is what the major misstep of Into Darkness was, in my opinion. It’s not a flawless movie, but it was damned entertaining and very well made. Try to see that one in the theaters if you can before it’s gone. It’s worth the cash. [Read on here…]