Displaying items by tag: Tim Salmons

All right, we’ve got a few new reviews of for you to enjoy today...

Tim has turned in his thoughts on Takashi Miike, Renpei Tsukamoto, and Manabu Aso’s One Missed Call Trilogy, recently released on Blu-ray by Arrow Video. He’s also got a look at Roman Polanski’s The Fearless Vampire Killers, released late last year on Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.

And Dennis has got a look at Glenn Danzig’s Verotika on Blu-ray as sell, new from Cleopatra Entertainment.

Meanwhile, I’m finally recovered from my post-Star Wars review blitz, so I’ll have some new Blu-ray and 4K reviews toward the end of this week as well. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a couple things to report today...

First up, NBCUniversal’s Fandango service is going to purchase Vudu from Walmart, according to reports in the trades today (see this link at Variety). This is interesting and it doesn’t surprise me. I expect there will be lots of consolidation in the Digital space in the months and years ahead, and I also expect every major studio to try and grow their own footprint in the digital space or to team up with others who have. And of course the Digital category includes not just streaming/subscription services but transactional purchases too. So it makes a lot of sense.

Also today, I’ve been invited—and have just begun—to check out the high-end digital movie service Kaleidescape. I’ll have more on that experience here at The Digital Bits in a few weeks, after I’ve really given it a thorough test and tryout. [Read on here...]

All right, after months of “we knew it was coming” to last week’s early studio leak that was quickly pulled back, Universal has finally made it official: Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is coming to 4K Ultra HD on 6/2 in honor of the film’s 45th anniversary. The package will include the film on 4K and Blu-ray with a Digital code, lenticular packaging and a 44-page booklet with introductions, rare photos, storyboards and more from the archives.

Both the 4K UHD disc and the Blu-ray will include The Making of Jaws, The Shark Is Still Working: The Impact & Legacy of Jaws, Jaws: The Restoration, deleted Scenes and outtakes, From the Set, and the film’s theatrical trailer. The Blu-ray will add storyboards, production photos, Marketing Jaws, and The Jaws Phenomenon.

The 4K Ultra HD disc will also include HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision high dynamic range, along with Dolby Atmos audio. Additional audio options will include DTS and Dolby Digital 2.0 mono. And yes, that IS correct: There’s no DTS-X. Also, our sources tell us that the Atmos mix is a 12-channel expansion of the revisionist 7.1 mix done in 2013. The good news is that the original mono options are included. You can see the cover artwork above left and also below. [Read on here...]

The big news today is going to make some of you very happy. The Criterion Collection has just unveiled its full July slate of Blu-ray titles, and it’s set to include the classic War of the Worlds! The full slate is as follows...

Look for Byron Haskin’s War of the Worlds (Spine #1037 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 7/7, the previously-announced Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits box set (Spine #1036 – includes The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, The Way of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon, and Game of Death – Blu-ray only) and Preston Sturges’ The Lady Eve (Spine #103 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 7/14, and Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story (Spine #1038 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry (Spine #45 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 7/21. [Read on here...]

It’s kind of a slow news day today, but we do have some more disc reviews for you to check out...

Dennis has posted his thoughts on Franklin Gollings’ Connecting Rooms (1970) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. The film stars Bette Davis and Michael Redgrave.

Also, Tim has taken a look at Ovidio G. Assonitis’ Beyond the Door (1974) on Blu-ray from Arrow Video.

In announcement news today, Fox has set Chris Sanders’ The Call of the Wild for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 5/12. The 4K will include English Dolby Atmos, while the Blu-ray will feature DTS-HD MA. Extras on both will include 4 featurettes (Origins, The On-Set Experience, State of the Art, and The World of the Wild), along with a Digital-only featurette (A Man and His Dog). [Read on here...]

All right, we’re closing out another week in pandemic isolation with some new reviews and a bit more announcement news...

First up those reviews... Tim has checked in with a look at FIVE recent Blu-ray titles from our friends at Severin Films—running the gamut from Eurosleaze to erotic to the rarely-seen and undervalued—so here are his thoughts on Just Jaeckin’s Gwendoline (1984 – aka The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik Yak), the Russian genre film Viy (1967), Jess Franco’s Cries of Pleasure (1983) and Night of Open Sex (1983), and Leopoldo Savona’s Byleth: The Demon of Incest (1972).

And yes, we recognize that some of these aren’t for the faint of heart or for mainstream audiences (particularly those titles we had to blank out the cover art on or Google advertising will flag it), but the range of cinema on disc is wide and far-reaching. There’s something for everyone. And they can’t all be Star Wars or Marvel films. So there you go. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got some more release news today and a follow-up on recent news as well...

First though, Tim has turned in his thoughts on Andrew Lane’s Jake Speed (1986), recently released on Blu-ray by Arrow Video.

Now them, first up today: I’ve officially confirmed with Universal Studios Home Entertainment that they have not officially announced the release of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws on 4K Ultra HD yet. HOWEVER... they will be doing so soon. So we’ll have the officially details for you when they do.

I guess this is a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, or more likely there are simply a LOT of people who need to weigh in and approve such things before they get officially announced. Which we expect to happen soonish. [Read on here...]

The news today is brief, but we’ve got a couple things to report today...

First though, Tim has reviewed a couple of Blu-ray titles for you, including Universal’s Munster, Go Home! (1966) from Scream Factory and Bone Tomahawk (2015), a kind of western horror film from RLJ Entertainment starring Kurt Russell.

But the big news today is that Universal is releasing Steven Spielberg’s Jaws as a 45th Anniversary Edition on 4K Ultra HD on 6/2.

Of course, we first mentioned this title was coming many weeks ago here at The Bits. You can now consider the release almost—but not quite—official. [Read on here...]

Well, last night I finished the Star Wars—all 11 films in 4K. Pretty good, I have to say. I guess the thing I was most surprised by, now that we know it’s a larger narrative—and that some of the films are admittedly better than others—is that it all works together so well. The larger narrative does fit together pretty nicely. Admittedly, the sequel films feel a little more distant from the original trilogy than the prequels do, but visually and tonally they’re actually closer in spirit. Anyway, it’s an interesting experience and one I’m glad I waited for 4K to have. The films have never looked or sounded better, imperfect though some of them are.

All right, let’s have a news post, shall we?

First up here today, Tim has just turned in a review of Richard Stanley’s Color Out of Space on 4K Ultra HD from RLJ Entertainment. It’s an interesting film (and a solid disc) that’s worth a look. You’ll find that here. [Read on here...]

All right, just before midnight last night I finished posting in-depth reviews of three more of the Star Wars films in 4K, as I work my way through Disney’s new Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga box set.

So now available for your reading enjoyment are (just click on the titles): The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.

Today, I’m going to tackle The Force Awakens, the re-issue of The Last Jedi (and it’s not just rebranded packaging—this is a newly-authored 4K disc, with a newly-authored movie Blu-ray, and a new Bonus Blu-ray too), and finally Rogue One: A Star Wars Story all in 4K. [Read on here...]