Displaying items by tag: Paramount

Welcome back from the holiday, Bits readers! We hope and trust that each of you were able to enjoy a great celebration with your family and friends.

Sarah and I have my mother staying here over the holidays, so we’ve been cooking up a storm, enjoying some great food, and watching lots of movies. I also just finished watching the season finale of HBO’s His Dark Materials—more on that in a moment—and I’ve started in on the new season of Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime. I still need to check out Avatar: The Way of Water at my local IMAX theater, but I’ll get to that soon enough.

We’ve got a new contribution from each member of the Bits reviewing team for you today, including...

Dennis’ look at Robert Mandel’s School Ties (1992) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films and Via Vision.

Stephen’s take on James Whale’s By Candlelight (1933) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

My thoughts on the new single-film 4K Ultra HD SKU of Wilson Yip’s Ip Man (2008) from Well Go USA.

And last, but certainly not least, Tim’s in-depth take on Peter Jackson’s The Frighteners: Ultimate Edition (1996) on 4K Ultra HD from our friends at Turbine Media in Germany! This is a pretty spectacular box set release, and Tim will tell you all about it in his review, so you definitely don’t want to miss it. [Read on here...]

Before we get to today’s brief bit of release news, we have two more new disc reviews for you...

Dennis has turned in his thoughts on Ol Parker’s Ticket to Paradise (2022), which is new on Blu-ray from Universal. The film stars Julia Roberts and George Clooney.

And Stephen has delivered a look at Ted Kotcheff’s North Dallas Forty (1979) on Blu-ray from our friends down under at Imprint and Via Vision.

Also here at The Bits today, we’ve just posted a major update of our Upcoming Cover Artwork section, featuring all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD cover art and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, whenever you order literally anything from Amazon after clicking to them through one of our links (like this one) you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we appreciate it! [Read on here...]

Today’s post is going to be a quick one here at The Bits, but as always we have a few more new disc reviews, and some more good disc release news as well. First the reviews...

Dennis has posted his thoughts on Robert Benton’s Twilight (1998) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Stephen has offered his take on León Klimovsky’s The Werewolf Versus the Vampire Woman (1971) in 4K Ultra HD from our friends at Vinegar Syndrome.

Now to the news... Kino Lorber Studio Classics will release Orson Welles’ The Lady from Shanghai (1947) on Blu-ray on 1/31. The company has also set Alexander Hall’s Little Miss Marker (1934) and David Greenwalt’s Secret Admirer (1985) for release on Blu-ray on 3/7. Also announced as “coming soon” to Blu-ray from the company are Rouben Mamoulian’s High, Wide and Handsome (1937) and Dave Thomas’ The Experts (1989).

Cult Epics has set Martin Koolhoven’s AmnesiA (2001) for release on Blu-ray on 4/11/23.

ClassicFlix will release Victor Saville’s The Long Wait (1954) on 4K Ultra HD on 3/21/23. [Read on here...]

We’ve got a couple more new disc reviews, some release news, and more big 4K Ultra HD catalog updates for you all this afternoon to start Christmas week off right. First up, the reviews...

I’ve taken a look at Blue Underground’s new wide-release 4K Ultra HD edition of Don Taylor’s The Final Countdown (1980), with a bit of help from our own Tim Salmons.

Dennis has turned in his thoughts on George Seaton’s The Counterfeit Traitor (1962) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics and also Daniel Mann’s The Rose Tattoo (1955) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films and Via Vision Entertainment.

And Stephen has delivered a look at Neil Marshall’s Dog Soldiers (2002) in 4K Ultra HD from Scream Factory.

We’ve got a few more new disc reviews on the way this week before the holiday, so be sure to watch for them. [Read on here...]

We’ve got some breaking release news to cover today here at The Bits, so let’s get right to it...

Criterion has just announced their new March 2023 titles, and fans of David Lynch should be very pleased. The slate includes a 4K upgrade of Michael Curtiz’s classic noir Mildred Pierce (Spine #860 – 4K + Blu-ray Combo) on 3/7, John Woo’s Last Hurrah for Chivalry (Spine #1174 – Blu-ray only) on 3/14, David Lynch’s long awaited remaster of Inland Empire (Spine #1175 – Blu-ray only) on 3/21, and Joan Micklin Silver’s Chilly Scenes of Winter (Spine #1176 – Blu-ray only) on 3/28.

We’ve been hoping for an actual 4K UHD release of Lynch’s Inland Empire, but like so many of the other Criterion titles that have been remastered in 4K yet released on Blu-ray first (only to be upgraded later), we suspect that an Ultra HD edition will come in time.

Also coming to 4K Ultra HD from Dark Sky Films on 2/28 is Tobe Hooper’s Texas Chain Saw Massacre, with Dolby Vision HDR, Dolby Atmos audio, and a new documentary called The Legacy of the Texas Chain Saw Massacre. [Read on here...]

We start with two more new disc reviews today (and there might be one more from me later this evening, but it should certainly be up by tomorrow morning)...

Tim has reviewed Crane Wilbur’s The Bat (1959), which is available in a fine new Blu-ray edition from our friends at The Film Detective.

And Dennis has offered his thoughts on Lynne Littman’s Testament (1983), a post-apocalyptic drama from PBS’ American Playhouse and Paramount Pictures that includes William Devane, Jane Alexander, Kevin Costner, Rebecca De Mornay, and Lukas Haas. That’s new on Blu-ray from the good folks at Imprint Films.

Now then, the big announcement news today is that Disney has just officially set Don Hall and Qui Nguyen’s animated Strange World for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 2/14. Look for the Digital and Disney+ streaming release to happen on 12/23. Audio will be Dolby Atmos on the 4K and DTS-HD MA on Blu-ray, as always. Extras will include 4 featurettes (Anatomy of a Scene: Creating A Strange World, Strange Science, Creature Feature, and The Hidden Secrets of Strange World), outtakes, and 4 deleted scenes (The Ballad of Jaeger Clade, Lightning Lynx, Funerals and Promises, and Ethan and Searcher). You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

Today’s My Two Cents update begins as always with more new disc reviews...

Tim and I have taken a look at Kino Lorber Studio Classics’ new 4K Ultra HD upgrade of the classic Joseph Sargent heist thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), which stars Robert Shaw and Walter Matthau. Among other things, it’s a great New York City movie and if you’ve ever wondered where director Quentin Tarantino got the idea for his character names in Reservoir Dogs, look no further.

Also today, we’ve gone in-depth on Via Vision’s new Dirty Dancing: Limited Edition Steelbook 4K Ultra HD release, which takes Lionsgate’s already fine remastering work on the title and adds a few more extras via their own exclusive bonus Blu-ray Disc.

And Tim has also reviewed Bob Clark’s Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things: 50th Anniversary Edition in 4K Ultra HD from VCI Entertainment, which includes a new 4K scan and remaster but only Standard Dynamic Range, as well as Nico Mastorakis’s Nightmare at Noon (1988) on Blu-ray from our friends at Arrow Video.

More reviews are on the way tomorrow and beyond, so be sure to watch for them. [Read on here...]

All right, obviously we broken some significant news over the weekend, namely that director James Cameron has confirmed to a French reporter (during the PR push for Avatar: The Way of Water) that The Abyss is finally coming to 4K Ultra HD by March of next year. (See our reporting on this yesterday here at The Bits. The director also mentioned The Abyss in an interview with Space.com last year). So rest assured we’ll post more details as soon as we have them.

In the meantime, we have some more great 4K catalog news to share with you today, as well as new disc reviews. So let’s start with the latter first, as always...

On Friday evening, I posted my in-depth review of Phil Tippett’s stunning stop-motion magnum opus Mad God on limited edition Steelbook Blu-ray from the folks at Shudder. The film is just astonishing. It’s really something—definitely not for all tastes, but boy is it something to see.

I also posted my review of the John Krasinski TV actioner Jack Ryan: Season One in 4K Ultra HD from Paramount. Both that and Season Two are being released in UHD in anticipation of the debut of Season Three on Amazon Prime on 12/21. And the picture quality is stunning.

Tim has also reviewed another Amazon Original on Blu-ray from Paramount, specifically Reacher: Season One which also has tremendous image quality. It’s also available in 4K and soon as we have our hands on that (and Jack Ryan: Season Two in 4K), we’ll post the reviews here.

In addition, Tim has reviewed a pair of new Scream Factory 4K Ultra HD titles, including Brian De Palma’s Carrie (1976) and Bob Clark’s Black Christmas (1974).

And I’m not kidding when I say that we have a lot more Blu-ray and 4K UHD reviews coming over the next week or two, so be sure to check back for them. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a bunch of ground to cover today, and the subject for today’s My Two Cents post is what we’re hearing from our industry and retail sources about forthcoming 4K Ultra HD catalog titles expected in the new year. But first, we have a pair of new reviews for you this afternoon...

Dennis has turned in his thoughts on Daniel Man’s 1952 drama Come Back, Little Sheba, which is now available on region-free Blu-ray from the Aussie label Imprint Films. The film stars Burt Lancaster and Shirley Booth.

And Stephen has delivered his in-depth take on AGFA and Something Weird Video’s nine-film, three-disc The Films of Doris Wishman: The Moonlight Years Blu-ray box set, distributed by Vinegar Syndrome.

As always, more new disc reviews are on the way over the coming days, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for them.

Now then, we’ve been circling back with our many industry and retail sources here at The Bits, and we’ve got an update on some interesting titles that are coming to 4K Ultra HD in the months ahead. [Read on here...]

Welcome to the first full week of December, Bits readers!

We’ve got a couple interesting items to report here today, but first a pair of new disc reviews:

I’ve turned in my thoughts on Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994) in 4K Ultra HD from Miramax, via Paramount. The good news is, whether you buy the Steelbook or the regular Amaray version, the 4K remastering is fantastic. Fans should be very pleased.

I’ve also reviewed Andrew Stanton’s CG-animated classic WALL•E (2008) in 4K UHD from Pixar via the Criterion Collection. The highlight here is that it’s a terrific package and the film looks and sounds great, but the new 4K presentation isn’t really dramatically different than the previous Disney 4K edition—it simply now adds HDR10+ and Dolby Vision metadata. But some of the new special features are wonderful.

More new Blu-ray and 4K UHD reviews are coming soon, as always, so please keep checking back for them! [Read on here...]