Displaying items by tag: Michael Coate

We’re just checking in this evening in with a quick Christmas Eve post to close out the week on a high note!

First order of business: I’ve just posted my in-depth review of Denis Villeneuve’s magnificent, pure-cinema science fiction epic Dune, which is coming soon in a demo-worthy 4K Ultra HD release from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

And our own Michael Coate has turned in a great new History, Legacy & Showmanship column in which he celebrates the 75th anniversary of Frank Capra’s beloved holiday classic, It’s a Wonderful Life, with a roundtable of historians that includes Thomas A. Christie, Steve Cox, and Joseph McBride.

You cinema fans out there should dig both of those items I think, so please do share and enjoy!

And rest assured that we’ll be back with more news and reviews next week, after the holiday.

With that, on behalf of all of us here at The Digital Bits, I’d like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas!

Peace out!

(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)

“It's a Wonderful Life is truly the platinum standard in Christmas movies; the benchmark by which all other entries in the genre are judged.” — Thomas A. Christie, author of The Christmas Movie Book

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 75th anniversary of the release of It’s a Wonderful Life, the Christmas classic directed by Frank Capra (It Happened One Night, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) and starring James Stewart (The Philadelphia Story, Vertigo) and Donna Reed (From Here to Eternity, The Donna Reed Show).

In 1990 the Library of Congress selected It’s a Wonderful Life for preservation in the National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” and in 1998 the American Film Institute (AFI) recognized the film as the 11th greatest movie ever made. The film has been released countless times on home media formats with its most recent release (on 4K UHD) in 2019 (and reviewed here). [Read on here...]

We’ve got more disc reviews for you today, along with another great film retrospective column, a bit more release news, and some news that... well, I’m not sure what to think of it. But you’ll understand what I mean in a minute. First, those disc reviews...

Tim has checked in over the last couple of days with no less than four new reviews, starting with his thoughts on Mei-Chun Chang’s Revenge of the Shogun Women (1982) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, a disc that includes both polarized 3D and anaglyph 3D presentations (as well 2D) thanks to our friends at The 3-D Film Archive. It’s a good disc and a rare 3D treat for those who love that format, so do give it a look.

Tim has also reviewed Arrow Video’s Giallo Essentials: Red Edition – Volume One and Yellow Edition – Volume Two, each of which includes three classics of the genre on Blu-ray.

And Tim has posted his thoughts on Brian Trenchard-Smith’s Stunt Rock (1978) on Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment (#8 in their Ozploitation Classics line-up) ad well. All are worth your time. [Read on here...]

“Fiddler on the Roof belongs on the list of the best and most successful musicals, which would include West Side Story, My Fair Lady, and The Sound of Music.” — Matthew Kennedy, author of Roadshow!

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the golden anniversary of the release of Fiddler on the Roof, the popular, award-winning screen adaptation of the Broadway musical and the writings of Sholem Aleichem.

Directed by Norman Jewison (In the Heat of the Night, Moonstruck), Fiddler starred Topol (Flash Gordon, For Your Eyes Only) as Tevye, the poor Jewish milkman determined to marry off his daughters amidst turmoil in his small Ukrainian village.

Also starring Norma Crane, Leonard Frey, Molly Picon, and Paul Mann, and featuring Oscar-winning cinematography, music, and sound, Fiddler rolled out to movie theaters, initially as a roadshow, beginning fifty years ago this autumn. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a little more announcement news for you today here at The Bits. But first, a new feature...

Our own Michael Coate has just posted a new History, Legacy & Showmanship column celebrating the 60th anniversary of The Dick Van Dyke Show. It features a great Q&A with television historian Herbie J. Pilato, who reflects on the series’ appeal, impact, and legacy six decades after its debut. We hope you all enjoy it!

Now then, let’s get to the announcement news...

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has just announced Wes Anderson’s latest film, The French Dispatch, for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 12/28, with the Digital release (including 4K) set for 12/14. Audio will be DTS-HD MA. There’s no indication of special features, but you can reasonably imagine that a Criterion special edition is forthcoming next year. The film stars Benicio Del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Timothée Chalamet, Jeffrey Wright, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Christoph Waltz, Edward Norton, and Jason Schwartzman. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

“The Dick Van Dyke Show is simply superior television with an appeal that remains timeless.” – TV historian Herbie J Pilato

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 60th anniversary of the television broadcast premiere of The Dick Van Dyke Show, the popular situation comedy starring Dick Van Dyke (Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) and Mary Tyler Moore (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Ordinary People) as Rob and Laura Petrie.

The award-winning series, which originally aired on CBS from 1961 through 1966, revolved around Rob and his co-workers as the writing staff of a television show and Rob’s home life with wife Laura and son Ritchie.

The series—created by Carl Reiner (2000 Years with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks, The Jerk, All of Me) and memorably featuring Rose Marie as Sally Rogers, Morey Amsterdam as Buddy Sorrell, Larry Mathews as Ritchie, Richard Deacon as Mel Cooley, and Carl Reiner as Alan Brady—premiered 60 years ago this autumn, and for the occasion The Bits features a Q&A with television historian Herbie J Pilato who reflects on the series appeal, impact and legacy six decades after its debut. [Read on here...]

We’re starting out the new week today here at The Bits with a trio of new disc reviews...

First up, Tim and I have taken a look at Arrow Video’s terrific new Limited Edition Blu-ray of Ridley Scott’s Legend. The 2-disc set is absolutely loaded with vintage and new extras, and it includes the US Theatrical Cut newly-remastered from a 4K scan, as well as the Director’s Cut. Legend is a challenging title for a lot of reasons, but Arrow’s done a really great job with this one. If you’re a fan of the film, this is as good as it’s ever looked, and this is essentially a complete archive of all the previous special features and more.

Also today, Stephen has reviewed Chloe Zhao’s first film, Songs My Brothers Taught Me, newly-released on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber. If that name is familiar, it’s because Zhao is the filmmaker who’s just made The Eternals for Marvel Studios. It sounds like this earlier work is pretty terrific.

And finally, Dennis has given Wallace Worsley’s 1923 version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame a look on Blu-ray from Kino Classics. As many of you will already be aware, this version features the great Lon Chaney in the role of Quasimodo. It’s worth a look if you haven’t seen it yet.

While we’re on the subject of Universal Monsters, I’m currently working on a review of the Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection in 4K and should have that up by the end of the week. I’m giving myself the week to work on it, however, because I’m attending a studio screening of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune tomorrow afternoon. And I have a sneaking suspicion that’s going to occupy my mind for the next few days afterwards. I’ll definitely post a few non-spoiler thoughts about that film as well this week, rest assured. [Read on here...]

“As soon as Indy stepped out of the shadows in that first scene and revealed himself to us with that badass confidence and intensity, I feel like in that moment, Harrison Ford truly became a movie star of the highest order.” – Charles de Lauzirika, producer/director of Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this multi-page retrospective article commemorating the 40th anniversary of the release of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Lucas & Spielberg action classic that introduced moviegoers to the globe-trotting adventures of Indiana Jones and spawned a franchise of sequels, prequels, games, and theme park attractions.

Raiders, featuring Harrison Ford as everyone’s favorite cinematic archaeologist, was the most successful movie of its year of release and for a period of time the third highest-grossing motion picture of all time. The Oscar-winning movie also starred Karen Allen as heroine Marion Ravenwood, Paul Freeman as archvillain Belloq, Ronald Lacey as villain Toht, John Rhys-Davies as sidekick Sallah, and Denholm Elliott as colleague Marcus Brody.

In 1999 the Library of Congress selected Raiders of the Lost Ark for preservation in the National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant,” and earlier this year, Raiders and the other movies in the series were released for the first time on 4K UHD (reviewed here). [Read on here...]

All right, we’ll likely have at least one more review for you to check out later today, and we’re all working on more over the weekend. But in the meantime, we have a couple of quick site updates for you and some big announcement news to catch you all up on...

First, our own Michael Coate has delivered a great new History, Legacy & Showmanship column here at The Bits, featuring a look back at the theatrical release of Richard Lester’s Superman II. The retrospective includes an interview with our old friend Jim Bowers of the excellent Caped Wonder website. And we’d like to dedicate the piece to the memory of director Richard Donner, without whom the film would not be possible. So here’s Battle on Planet Houston: Remembering Superman II on its 40th Anniversary. Enjoy!

Also today, we’ve just posted a major update of our Release Dates & Artwork section, featuring lots of new Blu-ray and 4K UHD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, whenever you order literally anything from the retailer after clicking through to them from one our links, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we really do appreciate it.

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

“Clark Kent’s alley transformation into Superman and Superman’s flight to the White House to return the American Flag are two of the best moments; they are just as chill-inducing and magical today as they were 40 years ago!” — Jim Bowers, CapedWonder.com

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this multi-page retrospective commemorating the 40th anniversary of the release of Superman II, the 1980/1981/2006 follow-up to 1978’s Superman: The Movie and featuring Christopher Reeve reprising his legendary dual role of Superman and alter ego Clark Kent.

Taking over from Richard Donner midway through production, Richard Lester (The Three Musketeers, Help!) directed and re-shot much of the Saturn Award-winning sequel, which focused on the three Kyptonian outlaws (Terrence Stamp, Sarah Douglas and Jack O’Halloran) breaking free from their cosmic imprisonment and seeking revenge on the Man of Steel.

The first Superman sequel—also starring Clifton James as Sheriff and E.G. Marshall as The President—featured reprisal performances by Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, Ned Beatty as Otis, Jackie Cooper as Perry White, Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, Valerie Perrine as Miss Teschmacher, Susannah York as Superman’s biological mother Lara, and Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen. [Read on here...]