My Two Cents
Afternoon, Bits readers!
If you’re seeing this, it’s a good sign that we’re making progress in stabilizing the site in the face of relentless efforts by AI companies to scrape our content.
Fingers crossed, we’re getting a handle on this. Chalk it up to a problem none of us foresaw thirty twenty-eight years ago when we started this website.
All right, we do have some good 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray announcements for you today, so let’s get right into it…
First, our friends at the Warner Archive Collection have just unveiled their June slate of deep catalog Blu-ray classics, which is set to include Clarence Brown’s Letty Lynton (1932), W.S. Van Dyke’s Rose-Marie (1936), Frank Borzage’s Strange Cargo (1940), Clarence Brown’s Come Live with Me (1941), Mervyn LeRoy’s Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944), Michael Curtiz’s Night and Day (1946), Frank Perry’s Last Summer (1969), Hanna-Barbera’s Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machine: The Complete Series (1969-70), Bud Yorkin’s Start the Revolution Without Me (1970), and Roger Vadim’s Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971). The street date for all of these is 6/30.
Keep in mind, the Warner Archive also has a number of great 4K catalog titles coming, which we expect to be announced in the next few months. [Read on here...]
My goodness. What a week this has been!
No kidding, the last seven days or so have been filled with so many moments or bits of news that made me say, “Oh my God, that’s incredible!” or “Oh man, that’s terrible!” that it’s damn near impossible to process it all today.
Let’s start the post with some great news for cinephiles: Yes, Ken Russell’s The Devils (1971) has received a stunning, no expenses spared restoration in 4K by the A-team at Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging. Yes, it is the uncut, uncensored version.
And yes, a Blu-ray and 4K disc release is almost certain to follow the film’s limited theatrical run from Warner’s new indie label, Warner Bros. Clockwork, which is due to happen on October 16.
Word is, Warner Clockwork is partnering with the BFI in the UK on the theatrical screenings. The restoration premieres at this year’s Cannes Film Festival in France (which runs from May 12-23).
In terms of a physical media release, it remains to be seen if Warner Clockwork will have their own branded label within the Warner Bros. family—not unlike the Warner Archive Collection. But it seems likely that they will, and the BFI is an obvious partner on any such disc release. So we’ll have to wait and see.
But you can bet that Blu-ray and probably 4K discs are likely coming later this year, or early next. [Read on here...]
As always, we start the week with more new disc reviews for you to enjoy, including…
Stuart’s look at Cedric Gibbons’ Tarzan and his Mate (1934) and Boris Ingster’s Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) both on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.
And Dennis’ look at Herbert Ross’ True Colors (1991) on Blu-ray from Imprint and Via Vision.
Watch for more reviews here at the site all this week.
In announcement news today, our friends at Shout! and Scream Factory have revealed their July slate of Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD titles, which is set to include Ringo Lam’s Full Contact (1992) in 4K on 7/14 as part of the HK Cinema Classics line, followed by Albert Pyun’s The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982) in 4K Steelbook, Jonathan Kaplan’s Unlawful Entry (1992) in 4K, Wes Craven’s The People Under the Stairs (1991) in 4K Steelbook, John Carpenter’s Vampires (1998) in 4K Steelbook, and Gary Ross’ Pleasantville (1998) 4K as a Shout Select title on 7/21, and finally David Ayer’s End of Watch (2012) 4K as another Shout Select title on 7/28.
Also, Shout and GKids are releasing Kenichiro Akimoto’s animated All You Need Is Kill (2025) on Blu-ray on 7/7, followed by Dan da Dan: Season Two (2025) on Blu-ray on 7/14, and Takeshi Koike’s Lupin the IIIrd: The Movie – The Immortal Bloodline (2025) on Blu-ray on 7/28. [Read on here...]
We’ve got a few more reviews for you today, and a few more great bits of announcement news to round out the week here…
First, Stuart has turned in his thoughts on Howard Zieff’s House Calls (1978) and Gilles Grangier’s Maigret Sees Red (1963) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.
And Dennis has offered his take on John Binder’s UFOria (1985), also on Blu-ray from KLSC.
Now then, here’s something fun: Our friends at Vinegar Syndrome have revealed they’ve licensed Joe Dante’s Explorers (1985) from Paramount and they’ve about to release a new 4K Ultra HD edition! Limited to 8,000 units, it will ship following their next Halfway to Black Friday sale that runs from May 22nd to 25th! And in addition to legacy extras, you’ll get a 40-page book and a new 77-minute documentary on the making of the film by Elijah Drenner! [Read on here...]
Welcoming to a new week, Bits readers!
So the good news is that the site appears to be stable, our email is working, and all of our functionality appears to be restored. If you’re having any trouble, please let us know.
In the meantime, we have some new reviews for you to enjoy today…
Stephen has taken a look at Guy Hamilton’s Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as Frank Henenlotter’s Frankenhooker (1990) in 4K Ultra HD from Synapse Films.
Tim has offered his thoughts on Hanna-Barbera’s The New Fred and Barney Show: The Complete Series (1979) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection. He’s also assisted Dennis with 4K Ultra HD reviews of Terry Jones’ Monty Pythons’ Life of Brian (1979) from the Criterion Collection and Alvin Rakoff’s Death Ship (1980) from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.
And Dennis has turned in a solo review of Mike Figgis’ Mr. Jones (1993) on Blu-ray from Imprint films.
More reviews are on the way all this week, so be sure to watch for them!
Now then, in release and announcement news today, Disney officially announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of Pixar’s CG-animated Hoppers (2026) on 6/2, with the Digital release expected tomorrow on 4/28. The 4K disc will come in Steelbook packaging and interestingly, it will be released on a 100 GB disc with Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio. Extras will include 5 featurettes (The Critter Dairies, Hopping In: The Making of Hoppers, Meet King George: Scene Breakdown, Beaverton Revealed, and Damn Good Bloopers) plus 6 deleted scenes. You can see the cover art at left. [Read on here...]