Displaying items by tag: The Digital Bits

On January 2, 2014, Mike Vraney died of lung cancer at the obscenely young age of 56.  Mike’s name may not ring a bell but if you’re a fan of cult movies, exploitation flicks and bizarre ephemera like stag films and burlesque shows, you owe Mike a huge debt of thanks.  In 1990, Mike founded Something Weird Video, one of the first and best labels dedicated to rescuing forgotten films from the dustbin of obscurity.  Something Weird was a trailblazer in the industry.  I’d argue that Mike’s passion for these movies and the success of Something Weird helped pave the way for all the cult boutique labels to follow, including Mondo Macabro, Synapse, Blue Underground and so many others.  [Read on here…]

Let’s close out the week with a couple more great title announcements...

Disney has also officially confirmed that Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World will arrive on Blu-ray 3D Combo, Blu-ray Combo and DVD on 2/25, with digital versions available on 2/4.  The Blu-ray will include audio commentary with director Alan Taylor, producer Kevin Feige, actor Tom Hiddleston (Loki) and cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau, deleted and extended scenes, a gag reel, 2 featurettes (A Brothers’ Journey: Thor & Loki and Scoring Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World with Brian Tyler) and an exclusive look at Marvel’s forthcoming Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  One imagines there will be various retail exclusive versions as well.  [Read on here…]

All right, obviously with New Year’s falling mid-week, many people aren’t headed back to work until after the weekend.  But still, we’ve got a little something for you to check out today.  Specifically, we have some new Blu-ray cover art for you to look at.

Some of what you see here is official U.K. artwork and the rest of it is studio temp art, but the final U.S. covers are likely to be very similar to what you see below.  [Read on here…]

This is our last post for 2013, so we’ve got a couple quick things for you today...

First, our own Michael Coate has posted a new installment of his History, Legacy and Showmanship column, featuring a look at the restoration of Funny Girl with Sony’s Grover Crisp, as well as a look back at its roadshow engagement history.  Don’t miss it!  [Read on here...]

The Digital Bits is pleased to present this retrospective article commemorating the 45th anniversary of the release of Funny Girl, the popular William Wyler-Ray Stark motion picture adaptation of the stage musical featuring Barbra Streisand’s Academy Award-winning performance as comedienne Fanny Brice.

Earlier this year, Sony Pictures’ restoration of Funny Girl was featured in the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival and subsequently released on Blu-ray Disc.

Now, The Digital Bits celebrates the classic musical’s 45th anniversary with a detailed listing of the film’s original, major-market, reserved-seat roadshow engagements in the United States and Canada as well as an interview with Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Grover Crisp, who speaks about the film’s recent restoration.  [Read on here…]

All right, hope you all had a great weekend…

We’ve added 14 more classic Blu-ray reviews from the original Bits website into the new review database here, including Adam Jahnke’s thoughts on Gamer, The Thing (1982), The Nightmare Before Christmas, Land of the Dead, Scream 4, Mimic, The Final Destination 3D, The Last Circus, Whip It, Halloween II: 30th Anniversary Edition, The New York Ripper, The Prowler, Splice and Frozen (2010).  Lots more are coming, so we’ll keep at it until all of the old BD reviews are updated.  [Read on here…]

Morning, folks!  Hope you guys are all enjoying your holiday break.  We’ve actually got some Blu-ray announcement news for you today...

First up, Twilight Time has announced the limited Blu-ray release of Zulu (1964), Khartoum (1966), Titus (1999) and Man in the Dark 3D (1953) – 3,000 copies each will be available.  They’ve also revealed that less than 600 copies each remain of Enemy Mine (1985) and Stagecoach (1966).  SRP for these BDs is $29.95 each.  Head to Screen Archives Entertainment to get your copies.  [Read on here…]

Back as promised today and we’ve got a great new holiday-themed View from the Cheap Seats column from our own Bud Elder!  This time around, Bud looks back on his favorite non-Christmas Christmas films, and also runs down some great new indie Blu-ray and DVD offerings.  We hope you enjoy it!

We’ll be off the next couple of days, but we’ll be back on Thursday with more new reviews and a round-up of any release news worth reporting.

So with that, we bid you all a very Merry Christmas!  We wish you and yours a great and safe holiday.

Stay tuned!

- Bill Hunt

Most film columnists start writing their Christmas pieces around August, churning out their memories of It’s a Wonderful Life (which is a story in itself – this generation has no idea that the film was considered an oddity and a flop until Jimmy Stewart mentioned it on The Tonight Show and, as it was in the public domain and available for cheap airings, it has since been considered a “classic”) and other routine movies that just happen to tell a Christmas like story.  Movies like Miracle on 34th Street and Christmas in Connecticut still hold up and there are others I’m sure that do as well, but few movies that are singularly about Christmas float my boat.  I’ve seen them a million times and most are creaky.  Here are my favorite Christmas movies, a list my successful and thoughtful brother calls Christmas Movies for People Who Aren’t Enamored with Christmas Movies.  [Read on here…]

All right, I know we don’t get The Rumor Mill updated nearly as often as we should.  So how’s about a little holiday Rumor Mill cheer?  We’ll make that one of our New Year’s resolutions – to get more Rumor Mill updates going for you guys in 2014.

So here’s today’s installment…  [Read on here….]