Displaying items by tag: Shout! Factory

Well folks, we hope you all had a nice Halloween… and we sure hope you all enjoyed this year’s Hell Plaza Oktoberfest.  Dr. Jahnke and the rest of The Bits team pulled out all the stops to make it a goodun for you all, so there you go.  We sure appreciate your readership.

Now then, today’s update is going to be a quick news roundup from the last couple days, and then we expect to be back next week with more reviews, including a couple titles you guys have probably been waiting for, including Warner’s Man of Steel and New Line’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Extended Edition among others.  [Read on here…]

About a month ago, I received an anonymous package.  Well, anonymous except for The Digital Bits logo in the return address and a single word scrawled across the side: “GLUTTONY”.

“What’s in the box?” I yelled out loud to nobody in particular.  I opened it and was horrified by its contents.  It was full of DVDs and Blu-rays, all horror movies.  Oh, and Gwyneth Paltrow’s severed head, which I thought was kind of odd.  [...]

We’re kicking things off today with a review of the Blu-ray 3D experience of Star Trek Into Darkness from our own Jeff Kleist, for those of you who have 3D-capable home theater systems.

In announcement news today, Shout! and Scream Factory have set Night of the Comet for release on Blu-ray Combo on 11/19.  Check out this list of extras they’ve compiled: audio commentary with writer/director Thom Eberhardt, audio commentary with stars Kelli Maroney and Catherine Mary Stewart, audio commentary with production designer John Muto, 3 featurettes (Valley Girls at the End of the World, The Last Man on Earth? and Curse of the Comet), a stills gallery and the film’s theatrical trailer.  Not bad!  [Read on here...]

Afternoon, folks!  We’ve got still more Blu-ray reviews for you today...

First up, our own Dr. Adam Jahnke has checked in with his thoughts on Warner Archive’s new BD release of Sidney Lumet’s Deathtrap from 1982.  Do check it out.

Also, Tim Salmons has given Disney’s The Great Mouse Detective: Mystery in the Mist Edition a look for you on Blu-ray Disc.  Sounds like it’s far and away better than their recent Sword in the Stone BD, so thank goodness for that.

And we’ve added 8 more classic Blu-ray Disc reviews from The Original Bits website into our new review database here, including Universal’s Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series and Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, MPI’s Baraka, Blue Underground’s The Final Countdown, Warner’s King Kong (1933), A&E/New Video’s The World at War, Vivendi’s Monty Python: Almost the Truth – The Lawyer’s Cut and the original Bandai Visual release of Katsuhiro Otomo’s landmark anime Akira.  Enjoy!

Now then, let’s get to today’s release news... [Read on here...]

Today is Blu-ray review day here at The Bits...

First up, we have a couple of brand new reviews for you.  From our own Todd Doogan comes a look at Criterion’s excellent special edition of Brazil, lovingly upgraded for high-definition and so better than ever.  Don’t miss it!

Also, Tim has turned in his thoughts on Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man, which is a darned fine special edition release produced by our old friend Charles de Lauzirika.  And the movie’s not half bad too!

Plus, we’ve also upgraded a whopping ten previous Blu-ray reviews from The Original Bits into our new review database.  This includes Sony’s Ghostbusters, Dr. Strangelove: 45th Anniversary Special Edition and the Close Encounters of the Third Kind: 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition, Warner’s Barry Lyndon, Heat, Contact and 2010: The Year We Make Contact, Universal’s Dune, DreamWorks’ Galaxy Quest and A&E’s Space: 1999 – Season 1.  Good stuff all.  We have many more classic Blu-ray reviews that we’re gradually upgrading into our review database, so be sure to check them all out and watch for lots more.  [Read on here…]

All right, we’ve got a screaming new server for The Bits now – just a few little DNS issues here and there need to be worked out and we’ll be completely back to normal.  Let us know on The Bits Facebook page if you notice anything amiss.  And thanks again for your patience.

First up here at The Bits today, we’ve got a pair of new Blu-ray Disc reviews for you:  Tim Salmons has checked in with his thoughts on Disney’s disappointing new The Sword and the Stone: 50th Anniversary Edition.  Sadly, it looks like the studio dropped the ball on the remastering.  And our own Todd Doogan has turned in his two cents on Michael Bay’s new Pain & Gain on Blu-ray from Paramount.  As with the case with Star Trek Into Darkness, it appears you get great A/V quality and bupkis for extras – in this case (given the apparent lack of retail exclusive versions) it probably means a double-dip is in the offing.  Anyway, enjoy the reviews.  [Read on here…]

Quick important note:  Because of all the extra traffic this week, we’re going to be upgrading our server this evening to be able to handle these kinds of traffic spikes more easily.  We may be down for a couple hours later tonight but we should be back up by tomorrow morning better than ever.  Certainly by Monday, Scotty tells us that the warp core should be purring like a kitten again.  So thanks for your patience and know that things will be much better soon.

Now then, there’s big release news today…

Our friends at Kino Lorber have announced their November Blu-ray and DVD release slate and there are some real gems, including a Nosferatu: 2-Disc Deluxe Remastered Edition (DVD & Blu-ray) and a Russian Ark: Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray and DVD) on 11/19!  F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu will include two versions of the 1922 classic, the original German Intertitles (with optional English subs) or English Intertitles, Hans Erdmann’s original 1922 score in 5.1 Surround or 2.0 Stereo, the 53-minute The Language of Shadows documentary chronicling Murnau’s early career, clips and highlights from other Murnau films and a photo gallery.  Features on Russian Ark are still TBA.  [Read on here…]

Well... I guess it’s been a while since we went on a good old fashioned Blu-ray or DVD related rant, so yesterday’s post here at the site was probably going to happen sooner or later.  As longtime readers know, it wouldn’t be The Digital Bits without such rants every once in a while – we’ve been doing it since 1997.  But I still think what I said needed saying.  Whenever we go on rants here at The Bits, it’s for a good reason – because in our experienced point of view, something is amiss.  And after more than 16 years of working in and around the home video industry (not to mention having correctly predicted and advised our readers through two format wars), we certainly have that experience.  [Read on here…]

Our topic today was prompted by a conversation I had after my dear friend Bill Thrash’s funeral a couple of weeks ago.  His surviving sister told me that when my pal, about whom I thought I knew everything, was 16, around 1954, in the small southeastern Oklahoma town of Ada, he commandeered a shitload of dimes and tried, to the very best of his ability, to call his hero, Frank Sinatra.

I started thinking then about how many of us have attempted to be in touch with our favorite movie star, director, producer, writer, composer or author?  I used to do that very thing a lot when I was single and bored.

Here are two stories that are so personal that I’ve never written about them before...  [...]

All right, first up today, our own Russell Hammond has posted the Release Dates & Artwork update for this week, including all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Video Game cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links.  As always, a portion of anything you order from Amazon after clicking through to them from our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we surely do appreciate it.  We’d also like to send out a special nod to Russell this afternoon, as he became a proud papa again last night.  Congratulations to the whole family!

Also here at The Bits today, our own Dr. Adam Jahnke has turned in a new installment of Burnt Offerings covering all the latest MOD DVD-R release news for the week.  As part of the fun, he’s also reviewed Warner Archive’s awesome new DVD release, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels: The Complete Series – classic Saturday morning fare if ever there was such.  I can hear his club-raised battle cry now.  Enjoy!

Now then, in announcement news today…  […]