My Two Cents
We’re starting the new week with a reminder of something we posted over the weekend. On Saturday, our own Michael Coate delivered a terrific History, Legacy & Showmanship retrospective column looking back at Richard Donner’s original Superman: The Movie. Saturday was the film’s actual 40th anniversary. In honor of this, Michael offers details about that original release along with a great roundtable interview with film historians Jim Bowers, Kevin Burns, Mike Matessino, Bruce Scivally, and Larry Tye. It’s well worth your time, so don’t miss it!
Now then, the big news on Friday was that Criterion announced their March Blu-ray release slate, which is set to include Ted Wilde’s The Kid Brother starring Harold Lloyd (Cat #964 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Ingmar Bergman’s The Magic Flute (Cat #71 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 3/12, Edgar G. Ulmer’s Detour (Cat #966 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Barbara Loden’s Wanda (Cat #965 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 3/19, and Robert Zemeckis’ I Wanna Hold Your Hand (with some of his early short films too – Cat #967 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Carlos Reygadas’ Japón (Cat #968 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 3/26. We’ve updated The Criterion Spines Project page here at The Bits accordingly. [Read on here...]
All right, we have a bunch of good release news and reviews for you today…
Before we get to it though, a quick personal note: Often, the first place I post breaking news about Blu-ray and 4K (along with other items I find interest in related to film, science, spaceflight, science fiction, etc) is on my personal Twitter page (@BillHuntBits). So I encourage you all to follow me there if you’re interested. Everyone is welcome and I’m also easier to reach there than via email. So follow if you wish.
Now then, let’s get down to business…
First up, though it’s not officially announced yet, we have word from retail and studio sources that Warner’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald will street on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 3/12/19. Watch for the official announcement in the weeks ahead.
This one IS officially announced: Warner’s A Star Is Born will street on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 2/19. The 4K disc will include Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. Extras will include The Road to Stardom: Making A Star Is Born, 3 Jam Sessions and Rarities (Baby What You Want Me to Do, Midnight Special, and Is That Alright), and 4 Music Videos (Shallow, Always Remember Us This Way, Look What I Found, and I’ll Never Love Again). [Read on here...]
We start today with a pair of new Blu-ray reviews, including Tim’s take on John Waters’ Female Trouble from the Criterion Collection, and also Dennis’ look at The Nun from Warner. More reviews are on the way this week and next, including (next week) several new 4K reviews from myself. Among them will be M:I – Fallout and The Lion King. My wife and I have family visiting here at the moment though, so it’s been tough to break away to do the reviews with the justice they deserve.
The BIG announcement news today is that Universal has officially set Damien Chazelle’s First Man for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 1/22, with the Digital release expected on 1/5. Here’s the great news... while the film is presented in its original 2.40:1 theatrical aspect ratio, the final scenes will be presented in full 1.78:1 to preserve the IMAX aspect as seen in theaters. Audio is English Dolby Atmos and the 4K image will include both HDR10 and Dolby Vision.
Extras on the Blu-ray versions will include feature commentary (with director Damien Chazelle, screenwriter Josh Singer, and editor Tom Cross), deleted scenes, and 8 featurettes (including Shooting for the Moon, Preparing to Launch, Giant Leap in One Small Step, Mission Gone Wrong, Putting You in the Seat, Recreating the Moon Landing, Shooting at NASA, and Astronaut Training). This is certainly the 4K Ultra HD I’m most looking forward to right now here at The Bits. It should be terrific. [Read on here...]
[Editor’s Note: We know the cover artwork at left is the same as yesterday. We’ll fix it soon.]
All right, we’ve got just a quick news update for you today, as we’ve got family visiting here this week.
A couple of notes though: I will be reviewing Disney’s Lion King and Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout on 4K Ultra HD. Both releases are worth your time. The latter film is absolutely terrific, and the 4K release does preserve the shifting aspect ratio for scenes filmed in IMAX (which look great).
And though Disney didn’t send out Lion King for review, I did pick up a copy and have given it a cursory look. The HDR grade is restrained, but the wide color gamut makes a big difference for this film, even though it’s traditional hand-drawn animation. And I do believe that a bit more detail is visible in the image (especially in the backgroud artwork) than the Blu-ray. I’ll try to have both reviewed by this time next week, but don’t hesitate to pick up either if you’re interested. [Read on here...]
We’re starting things off today with a quick heads-up: Amazon is having a sale on select anime titles on Blu-ray and DVD today, and the titles include Cowboy Bebop: The Complete Series and Space Battleship Yamato. Worth checking out if you’re interested and the link is here.
Speaking of Amazon, we’ve updated the Release Dates & Artwork section with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD artwork and Amazon pre-order links. So be sure to click here for that.
And speaking of 4K, our own Matthew Weflen has just posted his thoughts on A Quiet Place on the format from Paramount. He has a few issues with the film. Click the review to learn more.
In announcement news today, Shout! Factory has just announced the 1/8 Blu-ray release of their When Harry Met Sally...: Collector’s Edition as part of their Shout Select line-up. The film is mastered from a new 4K scan. Extras will include all the legacy special features, along with the new Scenes from a Friendship interview featurette with Rob Reiner and Billy Crystal. [Read on here...]