Displaying items by tag: Todd Doogan

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Here at the site today, our own Michael Coate has posted another great History, Legacy & Showmanship column featuring a look back at Robert Wise’s The Sound of Music, celebrating the 50th anniversay of the film. The piece includes details of its original roadshow release and a new interview with film historians too. Don’t miss it.

All right, we’ve got a bunch of announcement news for you today, so let’s get right to it…

First up, the BIG catalog news is that HBO is releasing The Wire: The Complete Series on Blu-ray Disc on 6/2 (SRP $199.99). Extras on the 20-disc set will include 12 audio commentaries, 3 prequel videos, a gag reel, Q&A with series creator David Simon and the creative team, and multiple behind-the-scenes documentaries and featurettes. As many of you know, the show has been reformatted from 4x3 to 16x9 for its HD release, but this has been done in consultation with Simon himself, who views it as a “valid alternate version of the series” (you can read his in-depth thoughts about this here on his blog).  [Read on here…]

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All right, as I work to catch up on release news here at the site, we’ve got no less than four Blu-ray Disc reviews for you today.

First up, Tim has taken a look at Disney’s new 101 Dalmatians: Diamond Edition and Scream’s New Year’s Evil on Blu-ray. Both titles are now available.

Also, Doogan has also weighed in this afternoon with his thoughts on Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, which streets on Blu-ray tomorrow in a departure from the usual Tuesday release date. Unfortunately, as Amazon is currently engaged in another of its irritating pissing matches with a Hollywood studio, in this case Lionsgate, the title is not available for pre-order on Amazon. (More on that in a minute.) But you should be able to find it at your local Best Buy, Target or Walmart tomorrow morning.  [Read on here…]

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We’re back… rested, recouped, and ready to get back to business! For the record, my wife and I had a great time celebrating our anniversary early. So thanks for your patience.

It’s going to take a few days to get caught up on all the release news and whatnot, so I’ll get started with that in a moment.

First though, Tim Salmons has checked in with his thoughts on Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) on Blu-ray. As you know, the film won the Academy Award for Best Picture while we were away. Just as a heads-up, we’ve got many more new BD reviews coming over the next several days, so be sure stay tuned for them.  [Read on here…]

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We’ve got a few more reviews for you today, as promised.

Before we get to those though, I’ve got a quick note: This is going to be my last post on The Bits for a couple weeks. There are a couple reasons for this. First, I need a break. For the last several months now I’ve been working myself ragged without much of a let up. One of the problems – good to have, but problems no less – of running your own business is that there’s no end to the amount of hours you can work. So, I am sorely in need of a good staycation to recharge the batteries. The other reason, though, is that my wife and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary this year. Our actual anniversary is in the Fall, but we’re going to be busy then with other things, so we’ve decided to celebrate early this year. Anyway, I hope you all understand and I appreciate your patience. I’ll be back on March 4th to resume business as usual. Meanwhile, back to those reviews… [Read on here…]

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The big news today is that 20th Century Fox has officially set Alejandro Iñárritu’s Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) for Blu-ray and DVD release on 2/17. The film is already available digitally. Extras on both disc versions will include Birdman: All-Access and a gallery of Chivo’s on-set photos. To this, the Blu-ray will add the A Conversation with Michael Keaton and Alejandro G. Iñárritu featurette. The running time for the feature is 119 minutes, with audio in English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English 5.1 Descriptive Audio, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital and French 5.1 DTS (subtitles are English SDH, Spanish and French). You can see the cover artwork to the left and also below.  [Read on here…]

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Today’s update here at The Bits is going to be quick one, as we’re working on a bunch of big new Blu-ray reviews that we’re trying to get posted over the next week or so.

Speaking of which, I’ve posted my thoughts on James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, as newly released on Blu-ray 3D this week from Disney. It’s a fun film – much better than it really has any right to be – so I’d definitely recommend that you all give it a look. Check my review for all the details.  [Read on here…]

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Well… there’s not much happening in the home video industry for the rest of this week it appears. With the Thanksgiving holiday upon us, the studios seem to have shut down for the rest of the week.

We do have a couple quick things for you today…

First, Doogan has his weekly Queue for you – Thanksgiving edition. So be sure to check that out.  [Read on here…]

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We’ve got a few things for you today here at The Bits, so let’s get to it.

First, Doogan and I have reviewed a pair of new Blu-rays from Disney featuring animated films by Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. Todd’s taken a look at a favorite of his, Princess Mononoke, which is a classic from 1997. Unfortunately, Disney has made a major error on the disc’s English subtitles that they really need to correct. See the review for details. Meanwhile, I’ve reviewed Miyazaki’s latest effort from 2013, The Wind Rises, which fares better on disc quality-wise. It’s a fascinating film, with much more complex and mature than Miyazaki’s previous works. Plus, it’s beautiful, hand-drawn animation in HD – you should definitely check it out.  [Read on here…]

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All right, we’ve got a great piece of release news for you today, but first… we face the end of an era…

I’m sad to say that our dear friend and family member, Dr. Adam Jahnke, the inventor of the peanut butter-based scratch proof coating himself, is officially retiring from The Bits. [Read on here…]

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We’ve got a new Doogan’s Queue column for you today, featuring Todd’s picks for his Ten Favorite Space Exploration Films. He’s got some gems in there, so do give it a look. And if you’d like to share your own picks, be sure to do so on our Facebook page.

Meanwhile, Doogan has also checked in with a review of Brett Ratner’s new Hercules: Extended Cut on Blu-ray. Turns out, the film is worth your time. Check Todd’s review for all the details.  [Read on here…]