Displaying items by tag: Kino Lorber Studio Classics

(As I am writing this month’s column, word spread that the world had lost Nick Redman, a man of incomparable vision and love of classic films. He was a friend of mine and this entire website. I’ll write more next time.)

Maybe it was the mustache. Or the unscripted quips. Or the genteel Southern manner.

Or just maybe it was that laugh, a bombastic cackle delivered by one comfortable in his own skin – inviting his audience gut bust with him, as though they were all in a private joke.

That’s our Burt. And he’s, unbelievably, gone. [Read on here...]

All right, today’s Bits update offers 4K Ultra HD news, some of it good and some of it bad, as well as some good standard Blu-ray news...

The good news first: We’ve learned from our studio and industry sources that Disney is bringing Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War to physical 4K Ultra HD in April. Our retail sources suggest the street date is likely to be 4/23. This makes sense as it’s the same week that Avengers: Endgame hits theaters. Keep in mind, Captain America: The First Avenger hits the format next Tuesday, 2/26. It appears that Best Buy will have exclusive Steelbook packaging and Zavvi is already taking pre-orders on a Captain America Trilogy 4K set.

We’ve also learned from our sources that essentially all of the other Marvel Cinematic Universe titles not yet released on physical 4K are coming over the next year or so. This includes Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), Iron Man 3 (2013), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Ant-Man (2015), and Doctor Strange (2016). We would expect the next batch to arrive with the home release of Captain Marvel, somewhere around Q2 2019. [Read on here...]

Let’s start with the big news first: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has just set Clint Eastwood’s The Mule for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 4/2, with the Digital release expected on 3/19. There’s no indication of Dolby Vision in the press release, so I would assume HDR10. Audio on both the Blu-ray and 4K is expected to be DTS-HD MA. Extras will include the Nobody Runs Forever: The Making of The Mule featurette and a Toby Keith music video. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below.

Also today, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has just announced the Blu-ray and DVD release of Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk on 3/26, with the Digital release expected on 3/12. No physical 4K UHD release is currently planned. Audio on the Blu-ray is DTS-HD MA with extras including audio commentary by Barry Jenkins, the If Beale Street Could Talk: Poetry in Motion featurette, and deleted scenes. Again, you can see the cover artwork below. [Read on here...]

We’ve got some more interesting 4K Ultra HD release news for you today, and some Blu-ray news as well...

First up, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has just officially set Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla (1998) for release on 4K Ultra HD on 5/14, complete with Dolby Atmos audio. The film has been remastered in 4K from the original camera negative. The 4K disc will include a trio of trailers. You’ll also get the film on Blu-ray with all of its legacy extras, and a Digital copy will be included as well. You can see the cover artwork at left.

While we’re on the subject of Sony, this is both good news and bad news: Sony has recently made Sir David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia available in 4K... as a digital exclusive (on iTunes, Amazon Prime, and elsewhere). To which we reply: WHAT THE HELL?! The download reportedly doesn’t have HDR, but so what? Sony... what the hell are you waiting for?! [Read on here...]

All right, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has officially set director James Wan’s Aquaman for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 3/26, with the Digital release expected on 3/5. Amazon and a couple of other retailers (including Zavvi and Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, etc) are currently listing a Blu-ray 3D SKU, but one wasn’t not mentioned in the studio’s official press release. So we’ll have to wait and see if it actually appears. US Retail exclusives including book packaging at Target, Steelbook packaging at Best Buy. Note that the 4K will feature Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio (the Blu-ray will also include Atmos).

Extras will include 12 featurettes (Going Deep Into the World of Aquaman, Becoming Aquaman, James Wan: World Builder, Aqua Tech, Atlantis Warfare, The Dark Depths of Black Manta, Heroines of Atlantis, Villainous Training, Kingdoms of the Seven Seas, Creating Undersea Creatures, A Match Made in Atlantis, and Scene Study Breakdowns) and an Exclusive Sneak Peek of Shazam!

Now then... before we get into more release news, we have some new Blu-ray reviews for you here at The Bits today. Tim has checked in with his thoughts on Severin Film’s All the Colors of Giallo and Dread Central Presents’ Dry Blood. Enjoy! [Read on here...]

All right, it’s not officially announced yet but we expect it to be at any time. At left you can see the official final cover artwork for Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse on 4K Ultra HD. It’s available for pre-order now on Amazon (see this link) and the street date is listed as 3/19 (SRP $38.99 but Amazon has it listed for just $22.95, which is a whopping 41% off). We don’t know yet what the HDR will be, but you can certainly expect Dolby Atmos audio. You can also bet that this film is going to look amazing in high dynamic range.

We don’t yet know if there will be a Blu-ray 3D release in the States, but stay tuned. We’ll post the official details as soon as they come in.

Before we continue, we’ve got three new Blu-ray reviews for you today, including Tim’s look at the Out of Time: Special Edition from MVD and All the Colors of the Dark (1972) from Severin Films. Dennis has also checked in with his thoughts on So Dark the Night (1946) from Arrow Academy. Enjoy! [Read on here...]

We’ve got a nice bit of official 4K news to start the new week: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is releasing The Karate Kid on 4K in honor of the film’s 35th anniversary. Look for the disc to street on 4/16, following the film’s limited return to theaters across the US on 3/31 and 4/2.

The disc will feature the film remastered in native 4K from the original camera negative, along with a new Dolby Atmos audio mix (you will also get the original stereo and 5.1 mixes). In terms of extras, legacy content will include a “Blu-Pop” Pop-Up Track (with trivia, interviews, and more secrets from the film), audio commentary (with director John G. Avildsen, writer Robert Mark Kamen, and actors Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita), The Way of the Karate Kid multi-part featurette, 3 additional featurettes (Beyond the Form, East Meets West: A Composer’s Notebook, and Life of Bonsai) and the theatrical trailer (on the 4K disc). You’ll also get the all new Remembering The Karate Kid retrospective (featuring new interviews with Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, and Martin Kove – on the 4K disc).

Now then... a quick bit of regular site business: Tim has posted a trio of new Blu-ray reviews for you guys to enjoy today, including his thoughts on Hammer Films’ The Plague of the Zombies (1966) from Scream Factory and Horror Express (1972) from Arrow Video, as well as Dennis’ take on the Joseph H. Lewis/Columbia film My Name Is Julia Ross (1945) from Arrow Academy. Enjoy! [Read on here...]

The big news today is that our friends at The Criterion Collection have officially announced the launch date for their forthcoming streaming service, The Criterion Channel. Look for it to debut on 4/8. And those who signed up to be Charter Subscribers can create their accounts today and start watching a new Movie of the Week series until the launch.

Not a day after we hinted at it in our daily column, Lionsgate has officially set Man on a Ledge for release on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on 4/9. Look for it to include both Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio.

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has announced the Blu-ray and DVD release of Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite on 3/5, with the Digital release expected on 2/12. Extras will include deleted scenes and The Favourite: Unstitching the Costume Drama featurette.

Fox will also release the Melissa McCarthy drama Can You Ever Forgive Me? on DVD only on 2/19 with Digital due on 2/5. [Read on here...]

We’ve got just a quick update for you today, but we’ve got a bit of release news and some new reviews too.

First up those reviews... Tim has checked out National Lampoon’s Class Reunion on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, and David has posted his thoughts on Black Widow (1954) from Twilight and The [Rec] Collection from Scream Factory.

Now then, we’ve confirmed with Sony that there are currently no plans to release The Girl in the Spider’s Web on physical 4K Ultra HD in the States. This could change if the title performs unexpectedly well on Blu-ray, but the film’s failure at the box office seems to have put the kabosh on the studio’s initial release plans. It may also have cramped plans to release David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on 4K and Panic Room on Blu-ray/4K. But we’ll have to wait and see. [Read on here...]

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...]