Displaying items by tag: 4K Ultra HD

All right, we’ve got a couple more disc reviews and some news updates for you today...

First up, Tim has posted his thoughts on Scream Factory’s new Collector’s Edition Blu-ray release of John Carpenter’s Vampires.

And Dennis has take a look at Billy Wilder’s The Major and the Minor on Blu-ray, a Paramount title from Arrow Academy.

Also, I’m working on reviews of Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shining, and Toy Story 4, all in 4K. And again, I’ll post Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, and Doctor Strange in 4K as soon as the discs arrive from the Disney Movie Club.

Speaking of the DMC, we’ve learned that the studio has pulled The Black Hole on Blu-ray from their online store. The reason is that they’re fixing the disc to correct for the authoring error that prevents you from seeing the film’s Overture (see our review of the Blu-ray here). [Read on here...]

Evening, folks!

This is just a quick update here at The Bits to let you all know that we’ve posted FIVE new and recent 4K Ultra HD title reviews here today and over the weekend.

Available now for your reading enjoyment are my thoughts on: Gremlins (Warner Bros), Zombieland (Sony), Iron Man 3 (Marvel/Disney), Ratatouille (Pixar/Disney), and Daybreakers (Lionsgate)

Those first two street tomorrow. So enjoy those and know that more reviews (including more regular Blu-ray reviews) are on the way tomorrow and later this week. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a bunch of new disc reviews coming over the next week or so, starting with a couple later today. So be sure to watch for them.

We do have a new History, Legacy & Showmanship column from our own Michael Coate today, celebrating the 50th anniversary of TV’s classic The Brady Bunch. It features a new interview with historian Herbie J. Pilato, and is well worth a read if you’re a fan. You’ll find it here.

Meanwhile, we’ve got a bunch of release news to report today, so let’s get started...

First up, our friends at The Home Theater Forum have revealed that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is going to be releasing Farscape: The Complete Series – 20th Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray on 11/19. The set will include all 88 episodes of the series along with 15 hours of extras and – at long last on BD here in the States – the series finale miniseries Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars. The aspect ratio is 1.33 for most of the series, but the last season and film are 1.78. Audio will be DTS-HD MA 5.1. Extras will include audio commentary, featurettes and documentaries, director’s cuts, TV promos, etc. We don’t know if this will be a complete carry-over of the previous DVD and BD extras, but we’ll have to wait and see. You can see the cover artwork at left. [Read on here...]

All right. So first things first: Apologies for the lack of a post yesterday and on Friday. My wife and I have both been dealing with different types of family crises over the past week, so those have been demanding my attention.

But… in order to get a little bit of a break from the stress of it all, I went to see Ad Astra yesterday in Dolby Cinema.

WOW, do I wish I had my $20 back.

Now, I love the realistic spaceflight/science fiction genre. It’s kind of my whole milieu.

And I was really looking forward to Ad Astra, encouraged by all the rave reviews and the promising trailers.

But having now seen it, I really have to get my thoughts about it out before I have a brain aneurysm. [Read on here...]

We’ve been talking about this release for months now based on industry sources and retail leaks, but it’s finally official: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and MGM have set 007: The Daniel Craig Collection for release on 4K Ultra HD on 10/22.

The set will include Casino Royale (in its extended unrated version), Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, and SPECTRE.

Audio is DTS-HD Master Audio, but the discs will include Dolby Vision HDR.

Extras will be limited to audio commentary by the crew on Casino Royale, and two audio commentaries (one by director Sam Mendes and another by producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and production designer Dennis Gassner) on Skyfall. [Read on here...]

So I spent a couple hours up in Hollywood yesterday afternoon to cover something pretty interesting…

At a press event at the Screen Actors Guild, members of the UHD Alliance, three major consumer electronics manufacturers, and leading Hollywood filmmakers officially announced a new partnership effort to implement Filmmaker Mode as an extension of the 4K Ultra HD spec.

The idea is to ensure that when you watch a movie at home in 4K on your new Ultra HD display, whether from a disc, stream, or cable/satellite broadcast, it will look exactly as it should. UHD Alliance research suggests that as many as 80% of people who buy 4K TVs never change the settings out of the box. This means irritating features like motion smoothing and unnecessary processing are being applied to the image by default – processing that actually takes the picture away from the filmmakers’ intent.

What the Filmmaker Mode will do is to allow the user – either with one push of a button on the remote, or with a very easy and obvious menu setting – to set the TV’s display parameters to most accurately display the 4K content. This would be a baseline setting for the image – any added adjustments signaled by HDR10, HDR10+, or Dolby Vision metadata would happen on top of that setting. [Read on here...]

Okay, we’ve got some big news for you today...

First though, we’ve posted a few new disc reviews in the last couple of days, including my own takes on Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 4K from Warner Bros, Air Force One in 4K from Sony Pictures, and Jonny Quest: The Complete Original Series on regular Blu-ray from Warner. Tim has also posted his thoughts on Shout! Factory’s new The Harder They Come: Collector’s Edition. All are work a look, so do check them out at the links provided.

Now then, let’s get to that news. First, this is not yet officially announced (even though we revealed it on social media a couple days ago), but retail links from various online sources confirm what we’ve been saying for a while now here at The Bits, namely that Warner will release The Wizard of Oz on 4K Ultra HD in October in honor of the film’s 80th anniversary. [Read on here...]

We’ve got some interesting announcement news for you today...

First up, Lionsgate has just announced the 10/8 Blu-ray and DVD release of Ari Aster’s horror film Midsommar, with the Digital version coming on 9/24 from A24. Extras will include the Let the Festivities Begin: Manifesting Midsommar featurette and the “Bear in a Cage” promo.

Speaking of horror, Paramount has set Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/15, including all 10 episodes plus extended director’s cut versions of 3 episodes (Steven Sees a Ghost, The Bent-Neck Lady, and Silence Lay Steadily) and audio commentary by director Mike Flanagan on 4 episodes (the three extended episodes plus Two Storms). [Read on here...]

All right, folks... we have some release news for you this afternoon.

But first, I’ve posted a review of Rob Reiner’s classic coming of age film Stand by Me on 4K Ultra HD. It streets on 8/27 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and it’s well worth a look. You can read more here.

The big release news today is that the Criterion Collection has announced their November Blu-ray and DVD slate, which is set to include Greg Mottola’s The Daytrippers (Spine #1001 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 11/12, Jean-Jacques Beineix’s Betty Blue (Spine #1002 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Paweł Pawlikowski’s Cold War (Spine #1005 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 11/19, and Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s All About Eve (Spine #1003 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Irving Rapper’s Now, Voyager (Spine #1004 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 11/26. [Read on here...]

All right, we have more news for you today. But first, a review...

I did indeed post my thoughts on Zhang Yimou’s Shadow in 4K last night from Well Go USA, and darned if it isn’t pretty spectacular. It’s a slow burn study in contrasts and well worth your time. You can check it out here.

Now then, Universal has officially announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and Ultra HD release of Danny Boyle’s Yesterday on 9/24, with the Digital release expected on 9/10. The 4K will include HDR10 and HDR10+ high dynamic range, with Dolby Atmos audio. The Blu-ray will also include Dolby Atmos audio. Extras on both will include audio commentary with director Danny Boyle and writer/producer Richard Curtis, an alternate opening, an alternate ending, 12 deleted scenes, a gag reel, a 3-song Live at Abbey Road Studios session with Himesh Patel (performing Yesterday, I Want to Hold Your Hand, and Let it Be), and 6 featurettes (Ed Sheeran: From Stadium to Screen, Agent of Comedy: Kate McKinnon, A Talented Duo, Playing for Real, Soul Mates, and A Conversation with Richard & Ed). You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]