Displaying items by tag: Reel Art Press

[Editor’s Note: Since the original publication of this column back in 2016, a new book on 2001 has been published that deserves to be mentioned here—Michael Benson’s Space Odyssey. I’ve added a new section at the end to address it. There is also an excellent 2018 Michael Coate retrospective on the film here at The Bits that we’ve included as well.]

–Originally published on The Digital Bits on 9/28/2016–

I decided that I wanted to do something a little different with today’s My Two Cents column on The Digital Bits, so I thought I’d review a few new and/or recent books that may be of interest to cinephiles, especially those of you who are fans of Stanley Kubrick’s legendary 2001: A Space Odyssey.

As many of you would agree, I’m sure, 2001 is a landmark of filmed science fiction. Based loosely on a short story by visionary author Arthur C. Clarke, it depicts an AI-guided but manned journey through deep space, first to Earth orbit, then the Moon, and eventually out to the distant gas giant Jupiter and beyond, in response to the discovery of an alien artifact on the Moon’s surface, apparently having been buried there millions of years ago.

Not only was Kubrick’s film notable for its realistic depiction of the Moon’s surface fully a year before NASA’s Apollo astronauts actually landed there, it’s been lauded ever since for its realistic approach to depicting future spaceflight technology. Indeed, some of those who contributed designs to the project were actually involved in the space program. [Read on here…]

So... did you guys happen to see/enjoy/rage at last night’s penultimate episode of Game of Thrones? It was doozy, that’s for sure. But more on that in a minute (and I assure you, there will be no spoilers).

First, we have some new Blu-ray reviews for you... Tim has posted his thoughts on Nicolas Roeg’s Track 29 (1988) in a new Region B Blu-ray release from Indicator and Powerhouse Films. Meanwhile, Dennis has offered his thoughts on Tom O’Horgan’s Rhinoceros (1974) from Kino Classics.

Now then, in release news, Lionsgate has just announced the Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital debut of Claire Denis’ new high-concept science fiction film High Life on 7/9. I actually hope they’ll consider releasing this in 4K, because the film’s visuals certainly deserve it. In the meantime, the Blu-ray will include 2 featurettes (Audacious, Passionate, and Dangerous: Making High Life and Visualizing the Abyss: The Look of High Life) with audio in 5.1 DTS-HD MA. You can see the cover artwork at the left and also below. [Read on here...]