Displaying items by tag: The Criterion Collection

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Today’s update is a quick one, as I was up pretty late working on Bits-related stuff for the site.

BUT... we’re very pleased today to kick off Dr. Jahnke’s annual Hell Plaza Oktoberfest here at The Bits! As you longtime readers know, each year in the month of October, Adam posts a new Halloween-themed Blu-ray or DVD review daily here at the site and this year is no exception. Adam kicks things off this year by continuing to review the individual films in Anchor Bay and Scream Factory’s new Halloween: The Complete Collection box set. Up today is Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. So be sure to check back each weekday for new Oktoberfest reviews. The Hell Plaza Oktoberfest 8 is on!  [Read on here…]

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to like TheDigitalBits.com page on Facebook for great Blu-ray, DVD and film discussion with other readers and for live updates on your mobile device when new content is posted here!]

We have one more quick news update for you this afternoon, with word that Criterion has just announced their December Blu-ray and DVD release slate. Look for Todd Haynes’ Safe on 12/9 (Cat #739 – Blu-ray and DVD), along with upgraded editions of Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits (Cat #37 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Liliana Cavani’s The Night Porter (Cat #59 – Blu-ray and DVD – the film will also appear on Hulu Plus). These will be followed on 12/16 by a new Eclipse DVD release featuring the work of director Keisuke Kinoshita – Eclipse Series 41: Kinoshita and World War II (which includes the films Port of Flowers, The Living Magoroku, Jubilation Street, Army, and Morning for the Osone Family, made between 1943 and 1946).  [Read on here…]

All right, I’m getting a little bit of a late start today after spending the morning at the dentist. Yeah. One of those days.

Anyway, the big news for today is that Criterion has officially revealed their June BD/DVD slate and, though it’s getting cliché to keep saying it every month, it’s another great list of titles. It starts with new HD updatings of Douglas Sirk’s All That Heaven Allows (Spine #95) and Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’Eclisse (Spine #278) on 6/10, followed by an updating of Peter Davis’ Hearts and Minds (Spine #156), the new Georges Franju’s Judex (Spine #710), and an updating of Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock (Spine #29) on 6/17. As if that wasn’t great enough, Richard Lester’s The Beatles: A Hard Day’s Night (Spine #711) rounds things out on 6/24. SRP for each of them is $39.95. Be sure to visit Criterion.com for a complete list of all the great extras. Meanwhile, you’ll find the cover artwork below.  [Read on here...]

Afternoon, folks!  Hope you’re all having  a great start to your Thanksgiving holiday.  I know from e-mails that a lot of you are headed out to the movies in between shopping and Thanksgiving preparations.  Thor: The Dark World and Hunger Games: Catching Fire seem to be big draws.  I’ve seen the latter and it’s pretty decent.  If you like the first one, you’ll enjoy this one too.

For those of you in the L.A. area tonight, don’t forget that that screening of Ladyhawke at the Arclight is tonight at 7:30 PM, with Q&A to follow with director Richard Donner and producer Lauren Shuler Donner, moderated by our good friend Cliff Stephenson.  Tickets are still available here, but remember to plan a little extra travel time to get there – the President’s in town apparently, so there may be unexpected traffic delays.  [Read on here…]

Welcome to Thanksgiving week, folks! 

We’re very pleased this morning to bring you a review that we’ve been waiting years to write.  It’s our epic, in-depth look at Criterion’s amazing new Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman box set!  You get 25 remastered films in both Blu-ray and DVD, plus terrific extras.  Our own Todd Doogan – and yours truly – have reviewed every single feature and every single film.  There’s nothing… and we mean nothing… that we love more than Shintaro Katsu’s Blind Swordsman films.  And though we’ve certainly dreamed of it, we never seriously imagined that we’d ever see a Blu-ray box set of these films.  But here it is.  And it’s every bit as good as we could have hoped.  This is a gem that ranks right up there with the best box sets released on the Blu-ray format.  The set streets this Tuesday (11/26) and we wouldn’t miss it for the world.  [Read on here…]

Okay, today’s update is a quick one as we’re hard at work on more reviews...

Speaking of which, Tim has checked in with his thoughts on Ernst Lubitsch’s classic WWII screwball comedy To Be or Not to Be, available on Blu-ray from Criterion.

Now then, Lionsgate has announced the release of a number of popular catalog titles on Blu-ray Disc in new Steelbook packaging.  They’ll be available initially only at Best Buy stores starting this weekend in order to be around for Black Friday deals week.  Titles will SRP for $19.99 each and include Pulp Fiction, Total Recall, Sin City, Kill Bill Vol. 1, Kill Bill Vol. 2, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Rambo: First Blood, Stargate, Highlander, Hero and Apocalypse Now/Apocalypse Now: Redux.  [Read on here...]

All right, we have a new review for you: Tim’s checked out Luis Buñuel’s 1967 surrealist classic Belle de Jour on Blu-ray from Criterion.  More BD reviews are on the way tomorrow and Friday, so be sure to check back.

Our own Russell Hammond has also checked in with this week’s Release Dates & Artwork update, featuring all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Video Game cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links.  Keep in mind that the section now includes Xbox One and PS4 games.  A portion of anything you order from the retailer after clicking to them though our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we surely do appreciate it!

Now then, let’s have some announcement news... [Read on here]

Criterion has just announced their February release slate and it includes great filmmakers and films, both new and old.  Starting on 2/4, you’ll get a BD/DVD Dual Format updating of François Truffaut’s Jules and Jim (Cat #281).  On 2/11, Abdellatif Kechiche’s Blue Is the Warmest color arrives in separate Blu-ray and DVD versions (Cat #695).  This film was a bit of a sensation at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (winning the Palme d’Or), and this is its debut release on home video in the States, thus the separate SKUs.  However, Criterion says that a true BD/DVD Dual Format special edition is coming at a later date.  Moving on, 2/18 will see Alfred Hitchcock’s Foreign Correspondent (Cat #696) as a Dual Format release along with Wes Anderson’s animated Fantastic Mr. Fox (Cat #700).  Finally, Jean-Luc Goddard’s Breathless (Cat #408), Steven Soderbergh’s King of the Hill (Cat #698) and Roman Polanski’s Tess (Cat #697) will all street on 2/25 as Dual Format releases. [Read on here…]