Displaying items by tag: The Digital Bits

We’ve got a pair of new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray reviews for all of you to enjoy here at The Bits today. I’ve given Warner’s The Accountant and Sony’s Inferno a spin on the format, both of which are recent releases, and have a few things to say about each. Do give them a look.

Also today, it’s become fairly clear that Amazon and Disney are having another one of their strange business tiffs that involves Amazon pulling all of Disney’s forthcoming Blu-ray titles off of pre-order. Case in point, Moana, Doctor Strange, etc. This may also be why Disney and Lucasfilm have not yet announced the Blu-ray release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, even though it’s already available for pre-order on other retail sites. While they no doubt have their reasons, these actions are a major inconvenience to both Amazon’s customers and Disney’s Blu-ray consumers, so these two companies should get their act together. [Read on here…]

All right, folks... this is one of those posts it’s fun to write. None of this news has been officially announced, it comes from retail sources. But we know from our other industry sources that this information is legit. The street dates may change, but the titles should all be forthcoming.

The Swedish video retailer CDON.com has just listed for pre-order a number of catalog titles that we’ve known were either in production or planning for a while now, but the news is starting to break. They include (listed by studio and European street date):

Universal – The Mummy (1999 – 5/22), The Mummy Returns (5/22), The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (5/22), Despicable Me (6/12), Despicable Me 2 (6/12), Gladiator (6/12)

Sony – The Bridge on the River Kwai (6/19), Spider-Man (6/26), Spider-Man 2 (6/26), Spider-Man 3 (6/26), The Amazing Spider-Man (6/26) [Read on here…]

The big release news today is that Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment has just set Assassin’s Creed for Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release on 3/21, with the Digital HD release expected on 3/10. We’re awaiting official details on the extras from the studio and will post them as soon as they’re available.

Also today, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced the 3/21 Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD release of Pedro Almodóvar’s Julieta. Disc-based extras will include a pair of featurettes (Portrait of Julieta and Celebrating Director Pedro Almodóvar).

Lionsgate will release Isolation on DVD on 4/18 as a Walmart exclusive. The film will also be widely available on Digital HD that same day. [Read on here…]

So, here’s something very interesting. File this in the Rumor Mill category, but Disney may finally be about to take the leap into 4K Ultra HD.

According to the German BD site Bluray-Disc.de, Disney and Marvel have licensed Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Iron Man 3 to Concorde Home Entertainment for release in Germany on the 4K Ultra HD format on 4/6, both individually and as a Steelbook trilogy. You can see more here and also here.

If this is true, it would seem likely that a U.S. release is also soon to be announced. After all, the 4K Ultra HD format is all-region. It’s very hard to imagine Marvel and Disney sacrificing potential sales here in the States due to enthusiasts importing copies. [Read on here…]

We’re kicking off today’s update here at The Bits with a trio of new disc reviews...

First up, I spent the whole day yesterday going through Sony’s new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray edition of Ang Lee’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. The package includes 4K, Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, and Digital HD. Whatever you may think of the film itself, this A/V presentation is a must have for 4K enthusiasts. Full native 4K in 60 frames per second with High Dynamic Range and Dolby Atmos audio is a helluva thing.

Also, Tim has checked out a pair of regular Blu-rays for you, including Sony’s Don’t Breathe and Kino Lorber Studio Classics’ Haunted Honeymoon. Both are worth your time. [Read on here…]

All right, we’ve got a couple things for you this evening here at The Bits…

First up, I’ve spent some time this afternoon talking with those involved in mastering and QC for Paramount Home Entertainment, and have just updated my review of Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival in 4K Ultra HD format with much new information about the transfer and HDR. There’s been some concern by other reviewers that the film image is too dark, and that there must be a mastering error, but having reviewed the 4K disc myself here at The Bits, it was my suspicion that the darker image on the 4K disc (compared to the Blu-ray) was a deliberate creative decision by the filmmakers, similar to the situation with Fox’s The Revenant. That suspicion, as it turns out, was correct. So the review has been fully updated with additional details and information that should help to illuminate the situation. You can find that here. [Read on here…]

All right, the tweaking continues today on the upgraded Digital Bits site backend, but we’ve got a new review for you regardless. I’ve taken a look at Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format from Paramount. The film is a new classic of cinematic science fiction. It’s certainly well worth a look, so please enjoy the review.

In announcement news today, we’ve confirmed that Universal’s A Monster Calls is now officially set for Blu-ray and DVD release on 3/28, though no 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray version seems to be planned. Extras on the Blu-ray will include 2 featurettes (The Making of A Monster Calls and Making of the Tales), English audio commentary with writer Patrick Ness and Spanish audio commentary with director J.A. Bayona.  [Read on here…]

All right, after several days of hard work (with lots more to go), The Bits is finally up and running on newly-updated database software. You may have noticed that The Bits looks a little different here today, and this is why. We’ve got lots more tweaking to do, and there will probably be some things that are broken around here that we’ll have to get around to fixing, but for now the basics seem to be working. Please bear with us as we dial everything in here at the site and get things buttoned up. Code and functionality updates like this are the bane of any webmaster, but you gotta get them done.

Meanwhile, here at The Bits today, we’ve got a pair of new Blu-ray reviews. Tim has checked out William Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A.: Collector’s Edition from Shout Select, as well as Michael Anderson’s Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze from the Warner Archive.

And I’ve got a whole mess of 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray reviews coming, now that our server updates are nearly completed. Watch for those starting Monday with Denis Villeneuve’s The Arrival from Paramount first up on deck.  [Read on here…]

Afternoon, folks! Okay, we’re still working on website and server stuff off and on here, but I’m going to try and sneak updates in regularly.

Before we get started, our own Russell Hammond has just posted the Release Dates & Artwork section update, complete with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. A portion of any order you may through our links goes to help support our work here at the site and we do appreciate it.

First up today, Warner’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them finally has official cover artwork and is due to street on 3/28. There will be a Blu-ray ($24.99), a Blu-ray 3D ($29.99), a DVD ($17.99), and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray ($29.96) versions. According to the Blu-ray packaging, the set will include “Over an hour of expansive, multipart featurettes” listed as Before Harry Potter: A New Era Begins, plus deleted scenes. Not that it appears there will be an Amazon-exclusive version of the Blu-ray packed with a statuette of the character “Nifflers” from the film. You can see the 4K art to the left, and all of the BD art below, with Amazon.com pre-order links. [Read on here…]

There’s very little in the way of release news to report today, but we did want to check in with something else this afternoon…

First of all, we’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of actress Mary Tyler Moore on Wednesday. The bright star of The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and many other film and TV productions, Moore was a comedian, an actress, and an inspiration to many. She died of complications from pneumonia. She was 80 years old.  [Read on here…]