My Two Cents
Wednesday, 19 October 2016 15:40

Snowden, Hitchcock/Truffaut, Lifeboat, Ben-Hur (2016), Kino & Takashi Miike’s Black Society Trilogy

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We’ve got another trio of disc reviews for you today, including my take on Sony’s Ghostbusters (2016) on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format and Shout! Factory’s new Nighthawks: Collector’s Edition (1981) on Blu-ray, which is one of the company’s new Shout Select titles. Whatever else you think of the Ghostbusters remake, Sony has included Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, and Digital HD versions in the same package with the 4K without increasing the price - I wish more studios would do this. And fans of Nighthawks will be pleased to learn that the film’s soundtrack has been restored to include both The Rolling Stone’s Brown Sugar and Keith Emerson’s I’m a Man during the club scene. Meanwhile, Tim Salmons has also reviewed Entertainment One’s WNUF Halloween Special on good old DVD. Don’t miss them.  [Read on here…]

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Also here at The Bits today, our own Russell Hammond has updated the Release Dates & Artwork section with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, whenever you order anything from Amazon through our links, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we really appreciate it!

In announcement news today, Universal has set Oliver Stone’s Snowden for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 12/20. No word yet of a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release.

Universal will also release Mr. Robot: Season Two on Blu-ray and DVD on 1/10 (SRP $49.98 and $44.98). Extras will include deleted scenes and a pair of featurettes (named as files: Careful.Massacre.of.the.Bourgeoisie.1984-VHSrip.mp4 and Behind_The_Mask_Mr_Robot_2.0.mov).

The Cohen Media Group has set Kent Jones’ Hitchcock/Truffaut documentary for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 12/20. Extras will include 5 featurettes (Q&A with Kent Jones & Noah Baumbach, An Appreciation of Notorious, Peter Bogdanovich Remembers Hitchcock, Richard Linklater on Truffaut, and Rope: Pro and Con).

Paramount’s Ben-Hur (2016) remake is available for Blu-ray and DVD pre-order on Amazon with a street date of 12/13. Again, no word of a 4K release yet.

Paramount has also set Florence Foster Jenkins for Blu-ray and DVD release on 12/13.

Cinedigm will release Stagecoach: The Texas Jack Story on Blu-ray and DVD on 12/13.

Shout! Factory has set Dead of Winter for Blu-ray release on 1/10.

Anchor Bay will release Larry Charles’ Army of One on Blu-ray and DVD on 11/15.

Image Entertainment has set a double feature of Crystal Lake Memories and Never Sleep Again for Blu-ray release on 1/10 as well.

Arrow Video has set Takashi Miike’s Black Society Trilogy (includes Shinjuku Triad Society, Rainy Dog, and Ley Lines) for 2-disc Special Edition release on Blu-ray on 1/17 (SRP $49.95). You’ll get new HD transfers of all three films, with original uncompressed PCM stereo audio and optional English subtitles. Extras will include new interviews with director Takashi Miike and actor Show Aikawa, new audio commentaries for all three films by Miike biographer Tom Mes, original theatrical trailers for all three films, and reversible sleeve packaging featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Chris Malbon. The first pressing will also include an illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the films.

While we don’t have a street date yet, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has already set Gavin O’Connor’s The Accountant for pre-order on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray formats on Amazon.

Also coming soon from Kino Lorber are J. Lee Thompson’s What a Way to Go! (1964), Henry Koster’s No Highway in the Sky (1951), Henry King’s Prince of Foxes (1949), Paul Wendkos’ The Mephisto Waltz (1971), Allan Dwan’s Zaza (1923), and William Witney’s Sunset in the West (1950). And they’ve set Loophole (1981), Who? (1975), Stryker (1983), and The Internecine Project (1974) for Blu-ray and DVD release on 1/3, followed by Scavenger Hunt (1979), David and Bathsheba (1951), and The Unholy Four (1970) for 1/10.

Finally today, we’ve learned from Kino Lorber that they’re working on a long-awaited new Blu-ray release of Alfred Hitchcock’s Lifeboat (1944), featuring a new audio commentary by film historian Tim Lucas, audio commentary by film professor Drew Casper, The Making of Lifeboat featurette, and an animated montage of images.

Here’s a look at the Blu-ray cover artwork for some of the titles listed above (click on each to pre-order them on Amazon.com)...

Black Society Trilogy (Blu-ray Disc)   For the Love of Spock (Blu-ray Disc)   Mr. Robot: Season 2.0 (Blu-ray Disc)

Florence Foster Jenkins (Blu-ray Disc)   Fear the Walking Dead: Season Two (Blu-ray Disc)   Ben-Hur (2016 Blu-ray Disc)

Stay tuned...

- Bill Hunt (@BillHuntBits)

 

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